El ritmo...

There is a rythym of being on the road that sets in for me around day 2. I have my bearings and some sense of the lay of the land. Yesterday was a great introduction because it was strenuous, fun, and filled with interesting people. Sipping wine at the end of the day while listening to music helped integrate the experience. Today I knew I wanted to start slow, take notes over morning coffee, study spanish, and contemplate the day ahead.


When booking today's tour on catamaran through the Beagle Channel I purposely chose later in the afternoon to leave the better part of the day free. I knew at some point I would want to see the glaciers. Though I have seen the glaciers of Patagonia in Chile it seemed important to do the same here in Argentina. With the threat of global warming one does not know how long the glaciers will be with us. Plus the chairlift to Glacier Martial is just 7 kilometers from the center of Ushuaia. This is a perfect distance for me to hike. I was also in need of some alone time.


Sometimes it strikes me as odd that I would crave alone time since after all I am traveling alone. But it is not that easy to be alone when traveling, at least not for me. There is something about not having a partner on the road that makes me more approachable. I appreciate this opportunity to meet people but I also know when it is time to retreat into solitude.


About an hour and a half into my uphill hike to the Glacier I began to wonder if it is truly just 7 kilometers from the center of town. The taxi drivers that pass and eye me as a potential fare began to look more interesting. But the walk was so beautiful and there truly were few people on the road. I did stop to take a picture and conversed with a man who had wandered away from his tour group. Very quickly we established that he is from Wisconsin. When he learned of my origins he introduced me to a reporter from one of the Chicago papers also on this tour that seemed fairly international in makeup. We chatted briefly before I continued on my way, reminded as the group returns to the bus why I choose to travel my way.


Another 15 minutes the entrance to the chairlift appeared. Shortly after spotting this in the distance I arrived, bought my ticket and embarqued. After the attendant and I exchanged a few words of greetings he said "suerte" as he sent me off in the chair. What is this "suerte" business... "good luck". I hadn't been thinking about needing luck but as my feet were dangling from the chair I began the interal dialogue..."I wonder if they check these daily. Have they had previous accidents. Am I carrying identification in case they have to contact next of kin." But I told myself to relax, there are many that make this trip daily.


The view of the town from the glacier was much more stupendous than the glacier itself and by the time I got there I was really more interested in finding a hot chocolate. The highlight was this very rich hot chocolate in the refugio. But an even more exciting find was Maximiliano. He was seated at the table adjacent to mine also sipping hot chocolate. He commented that it was "muy rico" and after a few minutes asked me to take his picture with his camera phone. One comment lead to another and soon the waiter asked him to sit at my table so he could have a free table for another customer.


Maximiliano is an Argentine electircal engineer from Rosario (Che Guevara's birthplace), working for the Navy in Ushuaia. He and his wife moved here a year ago and have subsequently decided that it is a nice place to visit but there is not enough happening for a long term stay. He wanted to practice his english and was quite good. He was pleased because he is self taught so he does not always have the opportunity to test his success. When the time came for me to head back to town for the tour he offered to drive. We hiked down the mountain together instead of riding the chair lift sharing our fear of heights along with conversation about life, the economy, dreams, etc. Mid-way down the mountainside Maximiliano says..."You look just like Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus)". I can't tell you how many times I have heard this same statement. There have been instances in the middle of a therapy session when a client has said out of nowhere, "You remind me so much of Elaine on Seinfeld." How the connection is made has always been a puzzle to me but to have the same link made while hiking down the mountainside from Glacier Martial in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina just about put me over the edge. It gave me a vicarious sense of what it must be like to be a celebrity.