First few days

Cordoba to Uspallata, Mendoza, Argentina (1-18-2012 to 1-21-2012)

Packing up was a mess. Hours of strategic planning and packing to fill up each of our backpacks in the most space efficient manner possible, while taking weight into account, ensuring that the back held most of the weight, while the bottom and top part of the backpack held lighter objects... I think the length of the travels that we are embarking on began to sink in...Her family cried, wished her good luck, told me to take care of her, and as we departed I said goodbye to Cordoba, the second largest city of Argentina, which I have grown an affection for after passing up to 5 months learning about the place, starting from a coarse scale view of the surface including the amazing food, such as asados (giant bbq´s filled with a variety of meats, including blood sausage!) and the soccer and the sligthly more chaotic drivers and buses that you expect to see in most countries outside of the u.s...to the smaller, fine scale details of the city such as the names of each soccer club, the way in which their university functions, in which you study for 6 years and then finish with more or less an undergraduate as well as a masters and are set for your doctorate if you want it, the politics of the city and country, which is quite confusing between the 20 or so different parties that one can vote for, as I am use to a democratic, republican and maybe an independent party, the fact that the education and health is free here, which is something that i can´t get over my head...i could go on, but i must continue with where i am, what i am doing...

departing from cordoba, we headed off to the province of mendoza, which is found in the west of argentina. we took a bus to a hostel found in the middle of the andean mountains, surrounding by rivers and mountains so tall that it hurts your neck to find the top of them, filled with various colors i´m not sure i´ve seen before... the nearest town 7 km away, which we decided to walk to...the area is considered the place to go for outdoor adventures in the andes, so the next day we went rafting and hiking....while rafting i had to save the guide from drowning as well as a grown man from buenos aires that was thrown into the water after hitting a random rock, pretty ridiculous, but very fun...after rafting, we went rock climbing...while walking along the trail to get to the place we were going to climb, nadia asked me, as if predicting the future, if this trail turns into a river when it rains, i responded yes, but what she failed to ask me is if the road that we drove down turns into a river when it rains...when it began to hail on us we were with a group of people, and we formed a kind of shelter by hugging eachother under a tree since there were no caves or rocks to hide under, as they were all mostly vertical....everything turned white, as the hail poured down for 15 minutes without stopping, the balls of ice hurt a bit, but our man shelter functioned pretty well...all trails, roads, everything was flowing with water, and we could actually see the main road turn grow bigger and bigger with water...everyone loved it, people living in the town said they have never seen such a marvelous storm as they taped it with their cameras...our third day in uspallata we hitchhiked with some friendly buenos aires folks to the top of a mountain found at 13, 000 feet. riduculously beautiful (pictures coming), but head feeling the lack of oxygen and increase in pressure... we then went to the national park of the aconcagua, which is the second largest mountain in the world, found at roughly 20, 000 or so feet, and we hiked roughly 10 km this day, as my headache only worsened, luckily with lots of water, a nice nap on the bus ride back, and sharing mate with nadia and some new found friends at the hostel i felt normal again.

only on day 3 i feel like weve been travelling for months...between our both knowing spanish and english, and our quite different backgrounds we´ve found ourselves metting people from all over the world, engaging in silly conversations as well as more interesting, motivational discussions...i´have more to write, but have a lunch date with a professor in santiago about a short project in northern chile...more coming up soon...and figuring out how to get pictures to you still, so stay tuned.

Tavels Begin

I sit with a fan by my side, as I stare out to the trees of Cordoba from a window in Nadias moms house...Ive recently returned from the mountains of Cordoba, learning that these trees, at least the native ones, are found within the arid to semiarid forest of Cordoba...Violet, Nadias best friend, taught me this and much more, as she picked fruits and herbs from various plants and trees and told me to eat or chew them, without hesitation, as she began to explain the name and purpose of each type of plant. Violet is a biologist, but, to my surprise, this doesnt mean that she is going to be a doctor, as you may have realized, despite the 6 years she has studied, and 4 to come, rather, she is interested in learning and researching the health benefits of different plants...To say the least, she is unique in the sense that she is following something that she is truly passionate about...These travels I will be taking could take me anywhere, and a part of me is departing in search for what I truly want to study and or do with myself once these travels come to an end...Yet, at the same time, I am departing to take in and learn about others, absorb the best of those that I meet, and open myself to cultures and situations very different from what I am use to...

As I sit here, there are many thoughts in my head, primarily, what is my family thinking, knowing that this path I am going down is likely very different from what my parents had in mind for me after I graduated...I do feel and understand their thoughts and feelings...Yet, I have made a choice to take 6 months to take a step down a slightly different path, hoping to learn things difficult to obtain in school or an office, with my senses ready for anything.

If you have been invited to this blog that means that I would like to share my experiences and thoughts with you in the most open hearted fashion I can, while also informing you about the different places and adventures that ill be running into...Feel free to take part by commenting to the public or directly to me in response to anything you may see posted. Finally, any body that is reading this likely means a lot to me, so I send you a huge hug and the best wishes I can conjure up.