Two trip in 11 days!

I’m back! To Rosario that is. I have been off traveling for practically the last two weeks. Here is the run-down of my trips. I left for Bariloche on Thursday, May 6th, arrived on May 7th. Left Bariloche on May 10th, and got back to Rosario on Tuesday, May 11th. When I got back to Rosario I had class in the afternoon, I went to class on Wednesday and then left for Iguazu Thursday afternoon. I arrived in Iguazu on Friday, May 14th. I left Iguazu on Sunday May 16th, and arrived back in Rosario on the 17th. So between May 6th and May 17th I spent over 82 hours on a bus! Needless to say I was a little tired after this.

So Bariloche was the first leg of my travels, and in my opinion the better of the two. This is not meant to take anything away from Iguazu because it was incredible also; I love the mountains so this probably swayed my opinion a little bit. I arrived in Bariloche around 10:30 with little problems. The most exciting occurrence on the bus ride was when we were woken up at 1:30 A.M. by a soldier on the bus. The bus had been stopped at a check point. All the bags in the bottom of the bus were taken out and laid on the ground so the officers could run drug dogs over them. One of the soldiers came on the bus to check things out in there. He looked at us and looked at our bags. After moving them around a bit he got back off the bus. This was all rather surprising to me because I had been asleep and when the bus stopped and the lights came on I was still partially asleep. I remember hearing something and kind of looking up and seeing the outline of someone in all green. I didn’t have my glasses on or my contacts in so I couldn’t see all that well. But when he got closer I could see him and realized what was going on.

So that was interesting. But it all ended up alright. As I said we got into Bariloche around 10:30 and went to the hostel right away. We got there and found the staff there to be very helpful! We weren’t supposed to be able to check in for another 2 or 4 hours or something like that but they went ahead and let us check in and put our stuff in the room. We dropped off our stuff and did a few little errand type things. Devin and I went to the square to visit the tourist office and to find a bank. Oh this brings me to an important point. Let me introduce the characters in the story quick. I traveled with two good friends, Devin Linn and Andrea Benson. They are both from Iowa and are fellow juniors at Simpson College. When Devin and I got back to the hostel we went over some of our options and decided to go down to the main street to get a trip for the next day booked. After getting everything for that figured out we grabbed a bus out to Cerro Campanario. This is a small mountain on the outskirts of town. It was a good 25-30 minute bus ride, but we got there with little problems. The biggest problem was trying to figure out where to get off the bus. Luckily right as the bus made a stop I spotted a sign that said Cerro Campanario.

When we got off the bus it was like we had just been dropped off in the middle of nowhere. There was one little side road that went off toward a building and a house. There was a sign though pointing the way and announcing the chairlift. When we got up to the point where we could take the chairlift we opted to hike. On the way up the mountain we wondered why we had chosen to do this but looking back I’m glad we did. It was well worth it. Not only was it cheaper (hiking was free) it was a good experience and now I can say that I’ve done it. After climbing a little over 3,400 feet to the top of the mountain we had a miraculous view! It was absolutely beautiful. From the top you could turn 360 degrees and see nothing but mountains in the background with lakes in front of them. In the distance you could see Bariloche, and houses strung out along the lake shore. I don’t even know what more to say about the view, it was beautiful, majestic, it was breathtaking. Words can’t really do it justice, nor can pictures because they seem like something created by a computer or painted not something real. It really is breathtaking. I hope that at the very least the pictures I took will give you an idea of how beautiful it was.

After standing on top of the world for a while we decided that we better go back down. We were going to take the chairlift back down, but thought, hell if we made it up making it down will be much easier! Actually it took about the same time. To keep from falling we had to go a bit slower than expected. We caught the bus back to Bariloche and decided on a nap when we got to the hostel. Well our short nap turned into 2 hours! Climbing a mountain is hard work! When we got up we all got ready then went out to dinner. The restaurant was called Rodeo. It was delicious even though it was a bit expensive. After some delicious food we headed back to the hostel to go back to bed.

We got up early on Saturday and headed down to the center of town to check out some of the shops and some of the artisan goods. After a looking around we headed to the bus stop and headed out to Puerto Pañuelo which was where our boat for Isla Victoria left from. This bus ride was a bit longer it took us about 45 minutes to get out there, and the bus was quite full. When we got out there we got our tickets for the boat and for the national park. We had some time to waste after buying our tickets so we walked around the port a bit. We gawked at “Llao Llao” the resort that overlooked the port on the top of a hill. It is massive! We also took pictures of Lake Nahuel Huapi and the mountains in the background. It was a little over overcast, but I think that the pictures still came out good.

After waiting for about 45 minutes to an hour we were allowed to board the boat which left on time more or less. The boat was a extra-large pontoon boat. I can’t even give dimensions to the boat, but it was a good sized vessel. We had to stay seated while in port, and couldn’t go to the outside until we were well on our way. As soon as I could go outside I did! The boat was actually moving fairly fast, It wasn’t a speed boat by any means but it wasn’t going slow either. It took us about 30 minutes to get to Isla Victoria. During this time, I was on the outside the boat standing on the “deck.” I had some great opportunities on the boat to take some very neat pictures. I thought the weather was absolutely beautiful. So I spent most of my time on the deck, opposed to the inside of the boat.

It was a little chilly moving across the water, with a bit of a breeze. I’m used to colder weather though so I didn’t mind. The weather in Bariloche wasn’t bitter cold; it was just fresh. It wasn’t the kind of cold that really cuts through your clothes, it was just a bit chilly, the kind of cold that hits you in the face a bit and makes your cheeks rosy!

After a half hour we made it to Isla Victoria. As we came to the island I could only see trees, and mountains, it was beautiful. As we got off the boat we were told how much time we had to explore the island, and that if we wanted our guide would take us on one of the trails on the island with the rest of the group. We did this for a bit but decided we would have more fun exploring the island on our own, so we headed off on another trail that was a little more difficult to hike. I would say that this was completely worth it! The views that we had from this trail were amazing. We had packed a lunch as well, so we found a spot on the trail with a beautiful view and a bench and had lunch taking in the scenery.

We had enough time on the island to do all of the trails that were open. One of the trails took us down to a beach on the island. There was a little fishing dock that jetted out into the lake, and the beach was very fine sand; all of this with mountains in front of me and trees behind me, it was awe-inspiring. After thoroughly enjoying Isla Victoria it was time to board the boat. From here we went to Bosque de Arrayanes. This is part of Argentina’s first national park, “Nahuel Huapi National Park.” While I’m on the subject I’m sure some of you are wondering what Nahuel Huapi means. Well the name comes from the indigenous people who used to inhabit the area, and it means tiger lake. From this some people think that there is a monster that inhabits the lake. Our tour guide assured us all that this was a complete false hood.

The boat ride to Bosque de Arrayanes took us about 30 minutes. Once again I stayed out on the deck of the boat most of the time. When we got into port we were told we only had 45 minutes to explore here. I was a little disappointed that we had had so much time at the other place but didn’t get that much time here. Afterwards I realized that 45 minutes was plenty of time as there was not all that much to see there. That’s not to say that it wasn’t beautiful. Bosque de Arrayanes means “Forest of Arrayanes.” Arrayanes is a kind of tree that is unique to the region around Bariloche. It doesn’t grow anywhere else in the world! It is a very interesting tree, but it is the only thing to see there, so we didn’t need a lot of time to look around.

When we got back on the boat the sun had already started to go down. As we were making our way back to shore the views became even more spectacular as the sun was eclipsed by mountain peaks. Unfortunately, I got no pictures of this because after the boat rides earlier in the day and Isla Victoria my camera batteries died in the Bosque de Arrayanes. The views were stunning all day I just wish I could have taken some pictures of the sun set on our way back to port. When we got back to port we made our way back to Bariloche as we had to plan our events for the next day.

We all wanted to go to a town some distance from Bariloche called San Martin de Los Andes. It is a small town that we had heard was absolutely beautiful. We ended up finding a service that did tours from Bariloche to San Martin and took you past the “seven lakes” on the way. The excursion picked us up from our hostile a little after 8 A.M. on Sunday morning. And after picking up some more passengers we were on our way. The first stop we made was just out of town so we could look back and take pictures of Bariloche. This was the first of very few stops, which was a little frustrating as there were so many things that I would have liked to stop and take pictures of. I understand why we didn’t though, because if we had stopped every time I wanted to we probably would have stayed the night in San Martin.

We stopped at a small town along the way to San Martin to have a coffee or a hot chocolate. I choose to have the hot chocolate, even though I love coffee. Why? Well because Bariloche is very well known for its chocolates. There is a big Swiss and German influence in the region and so their Chocolates are considered the best in Argentina. And let me tell you, the claim is probably true. I haven’t tried the chocolate in every place in Argentina, but I’m not sure anything could have competed with it. We continued on our way to San Martin stopping occasionally for some pictures, so I had to do my best to get pictures out the window.

When we got to San Martin de Los Andes we headed out in search of food. Like true college students, we found a small super market where we got stuff for ham and cheese sandwiches. However, once again we were able to eat lunch in the midst of an impressive view. After lunch we walked around the Pella of the Rio Negro Province. I say this because in San Martin they are very proud of their flowers. The flower that they are particularly fond of is the Rose. If you pick a rose in city limits, the penalty is 3 days in jail. It goes without saying that we kept our hands far from these flowers, but I did get some pictures of the roses as they were very beautiful.

After spending some time in the beauty of this city we were back in the bus and on our way back to Bariloche. The trip back was less impressive, because the route we took is more arid, and the mountains are smaller. It was still pretty, but after the route in the morning it was kind of a letdown. We got back to Bariloche shortly after sun set so instead of visiting more sites in town we got some food and headed back to the hostile to cook.

The next morning I woke up early to go down the cathedral. I have always enjoyed architecture, and in particular the architecture of churches. The amount of time, effort, and money that is used to build these structures is incredible. This is why I have made it a point to go to so many cathedrals while I’m here. The old style, the grand size, and the location of these cathedrals are amazing. The cathedral in Bariloche was no different. It is located close to Lake Nahuel Huapi and made of all stone, including a stone ceiling.

I got to the cathedral just as the sun was coming up. I wish I had a better camera to better capture the sight. As the sun rose over the mountains rays of light hit the steeple as the reds and yellows of the sunrise illuminated the background. It was breath-taking! When I went inside the cathedral I continued to be amazed, by the stone roof, and all the wooden pews. It really was a unique experience.

After enjoying my time at the cathedral I meet back up with Devin and Andrea who were searching the town for gifts to take their friends and family. I joined in the hunt as I felt (and still feel) way behind on getting gifts for everyone back home. We looked for quite some time, and got some things before we had to go back to the hostile to check out and head to the bus station. We got to the bus station a little early, this was a dumb move as we should have known that in Argentina things are almost never early. Our bus ended up getting to the station about 15-30 minutes after it was supposed to leave and we got out on the road shortly after that.

The trip back home was uneventful as we did not get stopped and searched for drugs on our way back. When we got back into Rosario on Tuesday it was about 11:30. I headed home to drop off my bags, get showered and get some food before class at 2:30. When I got home, my host mom was home as well. She wanted to know all about the trip and see pictures. So I told her all about it and started showing pictures as she made me lunch. I ended up not getting my shower, but I did get lunch, and made it to class on time so I shouldn’t complain. After class, I headed back to the bus station with some friends to get tickets for Iguazu.

After running around the bus station for about an hour we had checked all the stands to find the best prices and times for traveling to Iguazu and bought our tickets. When I got home I was so beat, but I had to do more homework since I was going to be gone again shortly. Wednesday was a normal day in Rosario for me, and then Thursday I got up extra early so I could pack for Iguazu. I also needed to study for my history quiz that I had before I headed out of town. I got to UCEL to find out that our professor was sick and I wouldn’t have to take the test. That was a relief because I definitely wasn’t ready for it. But I got on the bus around 2:30 with several friends, and we were off for the waterfalls!

The bus ride to Iguazu was about 19 hours. I ended up getting into the town of Puerto Iguazu around 10:00 A.M. My group consisted of 5 people; Jesse Kuttler, Robyn Ruggles, Amy Rardin, Kelsey Tulon, and Cassandra Ring. All 5 are from Simpson College and are studying Spanish with me. Later in the trip to Iguazu Andrea joined us too. She took a different bus that arrived a bit later than ours. While we were up there another small group of our friends also were at Iguazu. That group consisted of Eric Phifer, Chris Adams, and Emily VanBeek. Hopefully I didn’t butcher those names too bad. We meet up with that group about every evening we were there to hang-out, have dinner, and chat about the falls.

When we got into the falls at 10 we headed to the hostile to drop off our stuff and had planned on going straight to the falls afterwards. After getting all settled in it was about 11 o’clock. The man at the desk said that it would be better if we didn’t go to the falls at that time because the park closed at 6 PM and we wouldn’t get to see very much before the park closed. So instead of going to the falls we toured the town and checked out all of the touristy shops. Really we just kind of took it easy and relaxed. It was nice to have a day where I wasn’t rushing around trying to do everything I possibly could. Later that night after Andrea had made it in we went out to dinner as a group and had asado. Then we retired to our room at the hostile so we could get up early the next day.

I had every intention of getting a good night’s sleep, so I would be ready to go everywhere and do everything tomorrow at the falls. Well for various reasons that just didn’t happen. I woke up at 4 AM when a motorbike went by our hostile with no muffler. I looked toward the window when I woke up and saw light in the window and thought for sure that we had all overslept. So I jumped out of bed ran to my phone that was charging a little ways from my bed to check the time. To my surprise I still had 3 hours to sleep. So I went back to bed, but never really went back to sleep. Around 6:15 I finally gave up on going back to sleep and just got up and went out to the common area and got on facebook. At 7 AM I went back into the room to get everyone up and moving so we could head to the falls.

When everyone was up and ready we headed back to the bus station; this time to catch a smaller bus that would take us to the falls. We bought our tickets and were told that the bus would be there in about 10 minutes. After waiting 20 minutes I started to wonder where our bus might be. And after 30 minutes we were informed that there had been “un accidente muy muy feo” or a very very ugly accident. This was blocking the road so the bus could not get back to take us to the falls. But the bus did finally show up and we headed off to the falls. On the way we saw the car that had been in the accident, and I was pretty sure the people of that vehicle could not have made it out alive. The car was destroyed.

When we made it to Iguazu we decided that we would tour the lower trail of the falls first and work our way to the other two circuits above the falls. The lower circuit takes you bellow and around the falls. It’s quite an impressive view from bellow seeing the amount of water flowing over the falls. I really enjoyed this circuit because of the panoramic view of the falls that I had. I could see the water flowing over hundreds of different points. It was breathtaking! Also on the lower circuit I was able to stand almost completely underneath the falls. At one point the catwalk comes within 10 feet of the falls. It was so impressive to walk out here, because not only do you get soaked from the mist and spray of the falls but because of the power you feel from the waterfall and the mighty roar it makes from the water crashing against the rocks bellow. Incredible! I also liked the lower circuit because of how it weaved in and out of the subtropical forest. I am still torn as to which of the 3 circuits at Iguazu was my favorite.

The second circuit is called the upper circuit. It takes you above a majority of the falls you just saw from bellow and out over ones that you could only see from the other circuit. It was nice, but I don’t think it can be put into the same league with the other two circuits. The views were still incredible; it was just another way of looking at the same thing. I did really like the way I could see the water coming to the edge and then just disappear into nothing. Then from bellow these pillars of mist would rise above the falls and occasionally blow back onto all of us on the catwalk. It was an impressive experience too.

The final circuit took us to “La Garganta Del Diablo” or “The Throat of the Devil.” It is the largest series of all of the waterfalls and it was INCREDIBLE!!! There really aren’t words to describe it. There is so much water flowing over the edge at this point that the bottom is completely shrouded in mist. La Garganta Del Diablo is shaped like a “U,” and the water flows in from all sides with the bulk of the water flowing over the trough of the “U.” Mist forms at the bottom of the falls, and rises like white smoke, which can be seen from some distance. As we were leaving the park later we could see this rising out of the jungle.

We ended up leaving the park just after 5 about an hour before the park officially closed. We wanted to do another trail but didn’t have enough time to do it all in one day. So we headed back to the hostile to rest a bit before Sunday when we went back to the falls for a second day. Saturday night we just hanged out around the hostile, played some pool, and chatted. It was a good night, and we were all so tired from our day at the falls no one had the ambition to go out. I went to bed a little earlier than normal that night, and slept better but was woken up again in the middle of the night; this time by what sounded like gun-shots. I think/hope that it was just backfires from a motorcycle or some kind of vehicle. At any rate I didn’t sleep the best after that but I still got more sleep than the night before.

I got up and ate breakfast at the hostile as did everyone else then we headed back to the falls. This time we didn’t have to wait more than 10 or 15 minutes for our bus to take us up to the falls. When we got there we headed straight for the jungle hike. This is the only trail that we didn’t get to do the day before, and we had heard it took some time to do so we wanted to get out and do it as soon as possible. I’m very glad we got on the trail early because we ended up spending over 4 hours on this trail. The trail takes you through the heart of a sub-tropical forest. It was very neat. I’m not sure if it really was a rain forest, but if it was I can believe it because the whole time we were there it was at least sprinkling.

I don’t know what I was expecting when I went on this hike, but at first I was kind of unimpressed. Everything was so overgrown, there were plants growing on top of plants. And the more I looked at it the more impressed I was with it. There were all kinds of different species of plants fighting over the ground, the sun, and the water. The one thing that I know I was expecting or hoping to see was a monkey, and I didn’t see that. Which was disappointing but I was lucky because the day before I saw a toucan, and what a beautiful bird the toucan is.

At the end of the hiking trail is a single waterfall. When we finally made it to this fall it was time for some photos. Unlike the falls the day before there was no one else around this fall so we had a little more freedom to do what we wanted. We walked around the fall, we probably were not following the rules to a “T,” but it didn’t say that we couldn’t go over there either. We also climbed some very large rocks close to the waterfall, and the pictures from this came out wonderfully! We ended spending a lot of time at this waterfall and even ate our lunch next to it. We decided to leave after a member of our group, Cassandra Ring, fell into the pool of water bellow the fall getting completely soaked. Luckily she didn’t have anything in her pockets and just had to put up with being soaked for the rest of the hike back to the entrance.

Looking back on it we probably spent more than 4 hours on this trail, but since we had now gone to all the falls and done everything that there was to do at the falls we decided to go back to the hostile. On the way back to the hostile we decided that since our bus also went to the 3 frontiers we would just go out there as well. The 3 frontiers is the point that the three countries of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. The monument built there is neat. There is a triangular monument at the corner of all three countries painted as the country’s flag. Standing there you can see the monument of each country on their respective sides of the river. From here we walked back to the hostile.

When I got back to the hostile I got my stuff packed up as I was leaving that night. The rest of the group was staying the night and still had some time the next day to do whatever they wanted. I had booked my ticket differently so I could get a good night’s sleep at home before I had class, unlike when I went to Bariloche. My bus didn’t leave until 9 so I hung out with everyone at the hostile until about 8:15 when I headed out, picked up some food, and then waited at the bus station. When I left it was really cool, because everyone from the group went with me to walk me up to the bus station. I had my own little entourage. Not really, but I was really appreciative that they went with me; I would have been scared to walk up there by myself at night. So thank you again everyone for going with me!

After waiting a little while my bus was there and I was onboard headed back to Rosario. The bus ride back to Rosario was much longer this time with no one to talk too, but I managed and got back to Rosario around 5 PM Monday afternoon.

This week has been interesting as well but as this is already a book I am going to try and keep it short. Jim is back in Rosario after going on his own travels, and his wife Elyse is now here too. Classes Tuesday were normal and Wednesday was as well. Thursday I had a class as normal but after class I had a test for Spanish. The test started at 5 and I got done with it shortly before 7, it was a long test, but I think it went well. However, the big news of Thursday was that Devin’s parents got into Rosario with two friends from Minnesota.

I meet up with everyone just before 9 o’clock for dinner. We went to “La Casa Del Tango.” It is a very nice restaurant close to the river on the north side of downtown Rosario. As you can probably guess, when you go to the house of tango you don’t just get a great dinner, but a tango show as well. This was very cool.

The dinner went really well. Devin’s parents were very nice, and although they were very tired after the flight and drive to Rosario, it was really good getting to talk to someone from Iowa face to face again. Devin had invited me to help translate things between his host mom and his parents and friends, who do not speak Spanish. I was very surprised though because I didn’t realize that his host mom spoke English. She Is very good, so I wasn’t really needed and Devin did a great job of translating everything anyways. It was a lot of fun though and I really enjoyed the evening.

This week we also got to meet some students from the United States who recently arrived at UCEL for a 3 week intensive course in Spanish. It was really good meeting these students and talking to them as well. On Friday night I went out with a few people and ran into another couple of students from Simpson and a couple of the new students. Then Saturday I went to an event at the flag monument, to celebrate the bicentennial of Argentina. For the event the national orchestra of Argentina performed with two opera singers, it was impressive. Today I got up and helped my host mom clean the house, as we were having people over for lunch to celebrate the bicentennial of Argentina. Jim and Elyse came over for lunch, and I think they had a good time, well I hope they did. I got to help Jose with the “asado,” which was fun and I learned a lot. Now I’m ready to build a “parrilla” (grill) when I get back to Iowa, so I can share “asado” with all!

I hope that all is well back home. Keep reading my blog and let me know what you think! I should be posting more regularly again so check it occasionally to hear the latest on life in Argentina.

Why??? Its Argentina, thats why!

Since I´ve been here there have been some things that just haven´t made sense. This week I had one these experiences. On Friday morning I went with Professor Jim Palmieri to the immigration office to renue my visa. I got there around 8:30 right after the office opened. After waiting 30 minutes or so Jim and I got called to the counter. We presented the officer with our passports as well as a copy of our passports (the page with our picture and the pages with our Argentine visa). After looking at our stuff the immigration officer said that we didn´t have the proper papers. When I asked what it was that we needed he told us that we needed every page of our passport copied. After some clarification we did indeed have to have every page copied, even the blank pages! A little frustrated and confused as to why this was necessary, we left the immigration office and headed to the nearest copy stand. Luckily this was only a block away.



After paying 4 pesos (1USD) I had my entire passport copied and we headed back to the immigration office to finish renuing our visas. Or so we thought. Upon return we were able to jump to the front of the line and talk to the same officer as before. We gave our newly made copies and our passports to the officer then found a seat to wait some more. After a little while we got called back up again and were told that we had to pay the 300 peso (75 USD) fee. We both reach for our wallets, when we are told that we cannot pay there. This is now the second thing that greatly confused me. Why couldn´t we pay there??? I´m not really sure, perhaps to try and combat corruption, maybe for security measures, whatever the reason it was an inconvienece. After looking quite bewildered we were told that we had to go to ¨Banco de la Nacion de Argentina¨ to pay the fee. We got directions to the bank and we´re on our way.



The bank was 5 or 6 blocks from the immigration office. When we arrived at the bank, I think that we were both a little stuned. We walked in and it didn´t seem like a bank at all. There were no tellers, no counters where you could be helped it was just a room with a couple of benchs. Thats when I spotted the sign saying that the bank was down the stairs. When we got down stairs there was one teller, and he did not seem overly thrilled about his job. The bank was very plain and kind of odd. I mean it was in the basement of this building and had only teller, there were not even any other stands if they wanted/needed another teller. We waited for our turn and after a little bit we were being helped. The teller took our papers scanned one of them and asked each of us for our 300 pesos. He then proceeded to stamp the hell out of the papers we had just given him. After unleashing his anger on our papers he ripped part of the papers off and gave us the rest to take back to the immigration office.



As I said he only scanned one of the papers so after leaving the bank we decided to go back and make sure he didnt need to scan the other paper. This was a good idea, however the bank teller didn´t appreciate it. It turns out that he didnt need to scan both of them, but I´m glad that we went back to check. At this point I went down to UCEL because I had a project to turn in, and I needed to explain to my teacher why I wouldnt be in class today. I then went back up to the immigration office with Jim. We got there gave our papers to the officer who took them and told us to take a seat to wait. We found out that the computer system was down so we were starting to wonder if we would ever get our visas. After waiting some, then waiting some more we discovered that we were the last ones in the immigration at 1 o´clock the time that the office closes. Luckily the officer said that he would finish up our visas that day. In the end we got our visas, but it was after alot of time and alot of trouble.



I think the most frustrating thing of the whole ordeal was the waiting. I knew that renewing the visa would probably take a while, I had no idea that it would take as long as it did. I was also concerend that as it was friday I wouldn´t get my passport back and it would sit at the immigration office all weekend. Because from the start of the process to the end of it, the immigration officer had our passports. I felt very insecure leaving my passport in the office, so I was very happy to get it back at the end with my new visa.



All around this has been a busy week for me. I had alot going on in school. I had a test in history of Argentina, a review to do in Economics, and as always homework for Spanish. I stayed busy with english class in the evenings as well. I dont know if I´ve talked about this yet so let me explain. As my Spanish has improved my English has gotten worse. Therefore they are making some of us take an english class to work on grammer. Ha ha ha...ok so thats not true. I go to an English course on Tuesday and Thursday night to assist an UCEL course. In the class I talk to the students in English so they can hear a native speaker, something they rarely get. It is alot of fun going to this class because I can see the difficulty they are having with the language and I can relate to it. I have the same difficulty just in reverse. Its also fun because I´ve gotten to see all the silly things about our language that don´t really make sense. I thought that Spanish was full of irregulars and very random. I had no idea how many words we shorten down, have but don´t use, or just verbs that have very wierd congugations. It has been very insightful.

A note to those who follow my blog. Next week is going to be even more irregular for my blog post than normal, as I am going to Bariloche. I actually might not even get another post up for 2 weeks. But don´t give up hope on me! I will make sure to get something new up on the blog as soon as possible! Bye for now, Chau!

-Nick