erica, Reporting for Blog Duty

Well, we're down to less than TWO WEEKS left of our trip. Apologies on my long absence / silence .... i've been consistently and constantly swept up in moment after moment and not very attracted to the idea of sitting down at my computer. Argentina has gotten better and better, especially once getting out of the city and into other parts. We've been on the "Go Big Tour!" with Todd, Patrick, and Mark until this past monday, which although conflicting with our usual lifestyle preferences (sleeping in, not being terribly ambitious with our days or nights, fair amount of quiet time, ...) was an incredible experience. It powered us through multiple parts of Uruguay and Argentina that were heavenly, and gave each of us the opportunity to get to know each other (and ourselves) even more.

It is an accomplishment to travel ... the logistics, decision-making, language, lodging, recreation options, etc. It is also an accomplishment to travel in a group of 5; some of us not really knowing another hardly at all, some of us with surprisingly long history. I mention this because the personal dynamics are as much a part of the experience as the sites, food, and activities. For me, traveling is one of the best ways i know, to reflect upon myself and my story: my perspective, my personality, my lifestyle, my relationships, my diet, my priorities, and my culture. We have been humbled, inspired, and challenged on so many levels ... and i imagine the processing will continue well into our return home.

And now, we are accompanied by Regan, Zach, Amanda, and Aaron. To them, we are the 'locals' here in Buenos Aires ... which is hilarious to us as we feel barely more comfortable than when we arrived 2 1/2 months ago. By 'locals', i mean trying to get Regan's pronunciation of 'Bwaynous Aiyrez' on point, taking them to some of our favorite [outside the ubiquitous parilla / steak category] restaurants, and being able to somewhat communicate (or at least look super casual as we fake it) with the real residents of the city. Meanwhile, we are all constantly amazed by how good looking and stylish these people are ... to the point where all you can do is commence the uber-philosphical discussions about 'hotness, beauty, genetics, and cultural stylishness and behavior' to save what's left of your own dwindling self-esteem. Partly kidding, partly serious.

Two things i'm excited to report: We are getting more comfortable with the language and we've finally made some friends here ... like 3 of them! But still, we went to dinner with our friend, Sol, who speaks very very little english and had a great time. It's those times when you realize how little of the language we actually know! But despite all that, a friendship has actually formed ... with kindness, perspective, playfulness ... and a mutual appreciation of
knowing one another. It's so great to ask her questions about this culture and get a real perspective on it. She appears to be somewhat refreshed by us as people ... compared to those that she is typically surrounded by. The women here tend to be competitive and shallow (ha! a downside to their hotness), and most couples are lacking independent personalities. Plus, she really enjoys working on her english so everybody wins!

Language-wise, being in Mendoza was the highlight. People there speak soooo much more slowly and communicate more intentionally in general. I had this one full day of near-bilinguality that i will never forget! In the morning, i had this really deep, beautiful kitchen table discussion with the hostel-owner's father; a warm, thoughtful, retired attorney, father, and husband in his 70's, from and still living in Mendoza. We spoke about how the world has changed, and how Argentina has changed, and life now from each of our perspectives ... which, if you consider the differences between us, was fairly incredible. Then later that night, chatted with a 2 locals of a more Indio-flavor. I was a little drunk on wine, so i can't recall what we talked about but it was fun! Finished the night off back at that same hostel, talking for a couple hours with Flabia, the twenty-something live-in employee of the house. She was so funny, and we shared so many things in common being that we both work in hospitality. We laughed endlessly ... and it was all in castellano! That was by far, one of the best days of this whole trip.

From here, we head back to Bariloche (northern Patagonia) to get some gorgeous outdoor summertime [before heading back to the Winter of the Decade back home]. We will also get to meet up with Jacob and Philippa (our incredibly lovely Oregonian friends from the first month of our time here) somewhere in the Seven Lakes area during the last week of our time here. We hit the used english book store in San Telmo and stocked up on reading material for our endlessly long days on the lake. And before we know it, we'll be flying home! I have no idea what happens then, but it will be good to get back and see everyone. We have been doing some serious brainstorming and research & development. I'm also very very grateful to say that i've been starting to feel decompressed from the last five years, which was one of my biggest goals for this trip. I'm not sure that was possible for me without leaving everything behind for a while.

It's been a kick to hear how some of you have been absorbing the blog entries. There are those (Cambria, Uncle Mark) who enjoy it read aloud to them. Others who are buried under 3 feet of snow while having to endure our tales of Patagonian lakes in high summer [sorry]. Basically everyone is encouraging Chris to become a writer and photographer of some kind, preferably a travel writer or food critic. As for me, everyone is expecting that i won't be returning anytime soon, obviously swept away by the mystery of being someplace foreign. Thank you for following along. It's nice to know we are as much a part of your lives as you are of ours.