Patagonia and Goodbye

Hola chicos,


Ok, so I know I said that the last post was going to be my last, but I just returned from 10 days in Patagonia and I think it's pretty blog-worthy. Plus I'm bored in the Santiago airport with a six-hour layover:


My parents flew in to Buenos Aires on the 30th, so the three days before, when literally all of my friends in this city had already left for Patagonia, were spent frantically trying to finish all of my academic work so that I wouldn't have to worry about it.  Anyways, my parents miraculously found their way to my house from the airport without speaking a word of Spanish (and not having a functioning cell phone, either), and we set off for our hotel in Palermo.  Our flight to El Calafate left the following day at 8am, so we spent the afternoon at the Jardín Japonés (Japanese Garden).  There, I taught my parents the basics of how to serve and drink mate, and felt like such a pro Argentine.  It turns out that the greatest part about having my parents in Argentina was that everything I did impressed them.  My Spanish improved when my parents were around because I had more confidence -- for real, I was using subjunctive all OVER the place.

It's a little bitter the first time

Being that our flight to Patagonia left very early the next morning, I of course decided to go out to a bar with an Argentine friend and a Belgian friend after eating the most delicious and tender steak ever at a parilla with my parents.  I justified this by thinking about how it was an opportunity to speak Spanish for three hours.  The things you can rationalize on study abroad...  This started a precedent of sleep deprivation that came to be an integral aspect of this vacation.


The first stop in our Patagonian tour was El Chaltén, a town of about 800 residents that exists only for tourism.  It sits at the base of Mount Fitz Roy, and the area is known as the "National Capital of Trekking."  And trek we did.  The first day, I cajoled my parents into joining me on a 12-mile round-trip hike to Laguna Torre, a glacier-fed lake that gave a nice view of Cerro Torre.  My parents were dying during and after this hike, and honestly I was more than a little stressed -- Room Draw was scheduled for that afternoon, and if anything is more stressful than Room Draw it's Room Draw in a Foreign Country with Spotty Access to Internet.  But all turned out well - come visit me in Clark I 212 next semester!

Cerro Torre and Fitz Roy

Worth the 12 miles

Day 2, I left my parents to do something a little calmer around town while I hiked 15 miles round-trip to the top of a mountain called Lomo del Pliegue, the highest lookout in the area.  This was one of the most challenging day hikes I've ever done -- the altitude increase was insane, and at the top we had to hike a few hundred feet up a very steep incline covered in snow.  I ended up getting two really annoying leg cramps during the hike, one of which happened about 25 feet from the summit.

This is the same lake as in the above pictures

So it looks like we forgot to include the breathtaking scenery in this photo

The following day I left my friends behind and went with the 'rents to El Calafate to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier.  The size of the glacier was absolutely staggering, and we were lucky enough to get to hike atop the ice.  And when we finished the trek, they gave us whisky and alfajores!

This photo can't even do it justice

A cool ice cave // perfect prof pic opportunity

We had the luck to see gigantic chunks of ice break off the glacier and fall dramatically to the water below.  It was an absolutely otherworldly experience.


From Calafate, my parents and I split up.  I met up with friends again in Torres del Paine National Park in Southern Chile while my parents went to the more tranquil town of Ushuaia, otherwise known as the southernmost city in the world.


Torres del Paine is one of the most famous national parks in South America, and for good reason.  We decided to do the famous 'W' trek - a four-day backpacking trip.  To get to the park, we had to take a two hour bus ride from Puerto Natales, the nearest town, and then take a 30 minute ferry ride across a lake.  That first day was quite a spectacle; a storm was brewing, and an eerie fog shrouded the mountaintops.  An incredibly violent wind blew water off the surface of the teal-colored lake.  The scene made for a very epic introduction to the park.

lolz

Lots of jokes about going to Mordor were made on this trip

The lighthearted moods soon wore off, as the unceasing wind and the cold rain beat us mercilessly on the two hour walk to our campsite.  When we arrived, cold, wet, and hungry, we hurriedly set up our tents and climbed inside.  Then we discovered I was the only one with a mostly dry sleeping bag, so we crammed four people into a two person tent and tried to keep warm.  Needless to say it was a little uncomfortable, but the complaining to each other was cathartic.  Eventually, the rain stopped and we were (mostly) able to dry our bags and clothes, although it was still a very cold night sans pantalones (they were wet) and a slightly damp sleeping bag.

One of the most important aspects of planning for a backpacking trip like this is to pack appropriate food.  We discovered that this is not our strong suit.  We had the bright idea of bringing several kilos of rice and beans, which we thought was a perfect plan -- healthy, tasty, and calorically dense.  However, those beans turned out to be the scourge of our trip.


The first night we cooked up half of the ill-fated beans, and they turned out just as we planned - filling and healthy.  Unfortunately, those beans caused a bit of a problem inside of our tents during the night.  Let's just say it was the worst pipe-breath I've ever experienced.  I spent the night with my nose pressed against the vented part of the tent in search of non-toxic air, and once even had to unzip the entire tent flap to avoid suffocation.  But the worst was yet to come.


On day 2, we hiked into Valle Francés, which gives an amazing view of the mountains that surround it on three sides:

When we returned to camp, we cooked up some pasta for dinner.  Seeing that we still had the other half of the beans, we decided we should cook them that night and eat them the next day for breakfast and lunch. Long story short, our gas canister ran out, and the replacement that we thought we had brought with us was nowhere to be found.  The next morning, Will and Zach insisted on eating a bowl of half-cooked beans, and spent the rest of the day complaining about their horrible stomachaches.  We all agreed to never mention those beans until the trip was over.

The Torres at sunset

The Torres' impressive shadows

Chau


I left Buenos Aires today.  Last night I went to Zach and Imran's house to drink wine, and then Zach and I went out one last time.  We ended up falling asleep on the concrete floor of his terrace, and I woke up just in time to take a taxi back to my house and gather my bags.  After I said goodbye to Zach and headed towards my house, the combination of physical and emotional exhaustion brought me to the point of crying.  In the taxi to my house, I thought about what an absolutely amazing experience I have had here in the last five months and the friends that I will miss SO MUCH, and I started legitimately crying for the first time since I was a little kid.  Even now, writing about it, I feel like crying again.  I cannot believe that I am already gone.  I left just this morning, but Buenos Aires already feels like a dream.  I'm having trouble expressing exactly the emotions I feel right now;  I think I am ready to go back to the United States, but knowing that study abroad is over is an overwhelming thought.  I am so absolutely grateful to have had this opportunity, and I will never forget the friends that I made and all of the goals I achieved.  Thank you so much to everyone who made this such a special five months.


To everyone back at home: After 36 hours of traveling, I'll finally arrive back home to Idaho.  And next, I'm make my way back to Pomona to start another chapter in my life.


Love to y'all,
Ryan