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.

Day 2----Tierra Del Fuego

Three Brits from London, three Argentines from Buenos Aires, 1 North American from Chicago/St. Joseph together for a day with two Argentine guides from Ushuaia at the end of the earth equals raucous laughter. After 8 hours of hiking and canoeing another more important language transcended any verbal communication----the language of connection.

I generally tell others to trust their gut or more properly referred to as intuition. And I try ever so hard to listen to that inner voice. For the most part I do but there are diversions or detours along the path due to hopes, wishes and dangerous desires.....you know or "viste" as the Argentines would say. But back to the point, yesterday when I arrived in Ushuaia I was on a quest to get my bearings and to check out what the end of the earth had to offer. Since this was a whim and poorly planned I had only a very cursory understanding of what to see. Wandering in town I stopped at a tour agency to check out possibilities. As the conversation progressed at the agency I began to envision big buses and lots of people acting like cattle. My sense was that this was not going to work for me. I tend to hyperventilate in the herd. But I wasn't sure what else might be available on such short notice. I continued wandering and found a small agency with one man at a desk surrounded by beautiful pictures of incredible terrain. We talked. I promised to return and after an hour of reviewing my options over lunch I kept my promise.


I signed up for a full day in Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego, four hours trekking, lunch, followed by a canoe trip from Lago Roca to the river that leads to the end of the earth. Listening to my inner voice on this one proved right. The group was great, so many stories of people connecting from different lands. The hike was challenging. Lunch was good. And the canoe trip was both incredible as well as hysterical. The insturctions alone were worth the price of the trip.

As I write this I am sitting in Ramos Generales el Almacen sipping wine while listening to a guitarist and flautist. This was another find while roaming the streets after the tour. It is 10:30PM and still light. Just as I get used to this it will be time to head northe to Buenos Aires.

Good morning....Ushuaia!

Last night at 11, though cloudy, it was just then dusk. I forgot that at the ends of the earth the days are either very long or very short, moreso than in my neck of the woods, depending on the season. In Antartica this time of year the sun sets sometime around 11 and rises around 5. So I made sure the drapes were secured. If the sun was shining this morning I wanted to decide when I would see the light of day. Today it is a full day hike in Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego and in canoe on Lago Roca. Tomorrow it will be the Canal Beagle, los penguinos y los lobos. My time is short at this end of the earth so I am focused on the highlights of the terrain and the history.

Travel Tales Enroute to Tierra Del Fuego....

Check In at Aerolineas Argentina....."May I carry this bag on board? I have some liquids." "Do you have a lot of liquids?" "No" "What are they?" "Oh shampoo, other hair products, medicine, that's all." "No problem." I am traveling light so I hoist my carry on over my shoulder along with my computer bag and wonder what will happen when I go through security.

The line is long but seems to be moving fairly quickly. I see that there are two agents, one male and one female, whom I think are prepared to check anyone who sets off the scanner. I put my bag with the liquids and my bag with the laptop on the conveyor belt. I do not remove my computer from the bag. I do not take off my shoes. I do not remove my belt or any of the metal jewelry. I do not strip to the bare minimum like I would stateside. I walk through the screening machine, set off the alarm, and the agent with the gun on his hip smiles while telling me to pass. Go figure!

Several months ago I flew from Zagreb and changed planes in Frankfort. Usually once cleared through security from the departing city there is no further security check while in transit. Not so in Frankfort where there were two. One which had a single conveyor belt for a herd of people and two agents "wanding" everyone since there was no body scanner. The contrast was striking.


The Plane to Ushuaia.....Once on board I notice that the other travelers are mostly European. Yes, there are a few Argentines but I hear the language of the Brits, Germans, and French much more than Spanish. While in line for the bathroom I smile at the woman behind me. She smiles and asks in French if there is paper in the bathroom. I continue smiling but establish that if we are going to converse it will have to be in English or Spanish. She then says "is paper?" in English and "wash hands?" I continue to smile as I respond "yes" to both questions. The truth be known I am thinking "You've got to be kidding. You think the Argentines don't use toilet paper or wash their hands? This is an airplane!"

Both instances made me chuckle.....

Creating Community....

I am amazed how quickly one becomes a regular in the community. They don't ask to see my membership card when I show up at the gym. I see many of the same faces as last year and we acknowledge each other though we may not speak. And when leaving this morning I see my friend who moved here a year ago from Chicago. They know how I like my capuccino at Nucha. When I walked into Piola, my favorite pizza place, late last night they acted as if I had never been gone and knew the routine. In fact the person with me asked if I went there often. I wave at the owner of the internet cafe, though I don't go there anymore, as if we are friends. The maid inquires about my son and whether or not he will be visiting this year. Is he still with his novia (girlfriend), she asks. We chat as if it was just the other day we caught up on each other's lives. This is the phenomena I noticed these past several months in Chicago as well. Though I like the annonymity of the big city it is so evident how quickly that fades as we follow our routine and begin to form relationship with those on the same path.

Mixing it up... Belgrano, Montserrat, y Las Canitas

So the city has become a familiar haunt. The comfort is a good thing but my pesonality seems to prefer mixing it up. After 10 days on this familiar stomping grounds it was time to stretch. Learning about the syrahs of Argentina was a good place to start on Friday night in Belgrano. A relatively new barrrio for my frequent visits so the sites were different and certainly a class on the technicalities of wine in spanish was a challenge. I learned a bit more about the similarities of the terrain and climate with the Rhone area of France plus I tasted a few new wines to add to my list. Plus hanging out in Las Canitas after class the energy was palpable with the new possible restaurants alluring. The best parts of the weekend were the immersion in the culture.... La Opera Pampa at the Rural explained through dance, song and beautiful choreographic presentation the history in the countryside of Argentina. The war amonst the peoples of the land as well as the invasion of the Spanish was significant. The acrobatics on horseback as well as the dance was impressive. It took me back to my experiences in Salta with the gauchos. I love the music and the dance. The reality is that I love to be in it more than watch it so finding a local place to salsa was the highlight. This was the real stuff....not salsa but son.... taught by un cubano living in Argentina. Though I have taken lessons and certainly danced the dance this was intoxicating. So I am hooked, planning my schedule around dance classes and into exploring the other parts of this city undiscovered.

"No hay moneda," he says.

"No tenes moneda" (You don't have change), I say. This is the second kiosk where I have tried to buy a small piece of chocolate solely for the purpose of receiving change for the "colectivo" (bus). "Donde puedo encontrar moneda?" (Where can I find change?) "No se." (I don't know.) "Pero necesito moneda en colectivo, no?" (But I need change on the bus, don't I?) "Si, necesitas moneda." (Yes, you need change.) "Entonces, que debo hacer?" (Then what do I do?) "Tenes que ir al banco." (You have to go to the bank.) Mind you, it is 7:00PM Friday and I am on my way to a class on the syrahs of Argentina at the wine school in Belgrano. I have an hour to get there but even if I had more time, though the Argentine schedule is different, there are no banks open at this hour on Friday. "Pero el banco no esta abierto ahora" (But the bank is not open now,) I say. "Si, es una locura. Pero no hay moneda," he says. (Yes, it is madness. But there is no change.) So I don't buy the chocolate and proceed north in the hopes of finding change. I am not desperate because I can always hail a taxi but I prefer to go in colectivo. A few blocks past the last kiosk I spy a small mercado and eye the cash register drawer before perusing the chocolate. Hay moneda. I leave the mercado with change and a power bar. It is just a short walk to the first stop for the colectivo.

I hope to update you at a later date on the wine class. Briefly, for over 2 1/2 hours I sampled 8 syrahs accompanied by a dish of rice and veggies with a side of bread. I listened to the expert along with 10 other students, all Argentine. These scenarios are humbling. In this instance both my fluency in the language and knowledge of wine were tested!