Back in Puerto Madryn

So I spent a half hour yesterday typing up a nice little summary of the Andes trip. It was fun to read, not too long, humerous, thought provoking; in short it might just have been the next great American novel. But alas I saved it to my laptop, not my jumpdrive, so my masterpiece is a long walk away and I will be gone for the mext two weeks. Here are some pictures instead (I know that is all you guys really want to see anyways). Enjoy!

We took a boat to the Arrayan forest. Everyone we have mentioned this to got very excited. Argentines are very proud about the Arrayan trees as they only grow on this island. It was pretty neat.

Our boat to Isla Victoria and the Arrayan forest outside of Bariloche.

Ummm, I was in the Argentinean Andes...

At the Chilean border outside of El Bolson. We camped one night in the Lago Puelo National Park outside of El Bolson and took a boat and a short walk to the border. We met some really neat and nice people on this trip including 5 young men who spent last winter working in Stevens Pass (in Washington) and the speedboat operator and tour guide, Fernando, who didn´t speak much English but knew all about the plants, geology, and wildlife of the area. He was intent on making sure we understood everything he told us about it. At one point he explained to me that in school he didn´t like learning English, he would rather learn about wildlife and plants.¨ "Yo tambien" I told him. Boy howdy do I ever understand that.



El Bolson: town of hippies and randomness.

A carving in El Bosque Tallado (the carved forest). It is a small area in the hills around El Bolson where there was a fire ten years ago. After that some woodcarvers came in over the years and carved on the dead trees. There are now about 40 carvings. Really neat.

Yet another town, and another long search for a campsite. Trekking through Esquel.





A prize winning ram at the Merino Ram auction in Esquel.


An older man in the park in Esquel. The old men here dress more traditionally, and are very nice.

I leave Monday for Gan Gan. Basically the "nada de nada" of Patagonia. It is a booming metropolis with less than 100 residents, and one police officer who apparently knows the CENPAT group well due to a sheep incident last year. I don´t know all the details on that one. We will be conducting ecological and behavioral studies on the lizards there. I will take lots of pictures and write you all in 2 weeks. Until then, take care and I love you all!

An Andes Adventure

It is 9pm in El Bolson, the hippie capitol of Argentina, and the internet cafe is packed. Spanish rock is drifting in from the live band in the plaza down the street. Sarah and I have just come from there where we munched on beef sandwiches and waffles as we watched the commotion at the police station across the street. The police station looks like all of the other plaster houses in this small town expcept for its light blue paint and small "policia" sign above the door. A large crowd of hippies, trekkers, and local teens on bikes crowded in the yard, spilling out on the street. They clapped in unison and chanted in Spanish. All Sarah and I could make out was "no manana" (not tomorrow). Every once in a while a man with dreadlocks would squeeze out the crammed door and announce something to the cheer of the crowd. Neither of us had a clue what was going on, so we strolled around the park instead. About an hour later a huge cheer came from the police station and the crowd marched around the plaze joyously and then dispersed. It is times like these when I am anxious to improve my Spanish. (A note for my Mom: I was a safe distance from the crowd, and at no risk. Love you).

Monday we took the night bus from Puerto Madryn to Bariloche (vacation capitol of Argentina located in the Andes). The highlight of the trip was seeing Orion, upsidedown, doing a cartwheel in the sky as we crossed the dark pampas. Bariloche is known for its unbeatable vistas, and unbeatable chocolate. It did not dissapoint. Mariana had given us the inside scoop of where to go for the best of the best chocolate. It is the first time in my life that I have not wanted to put down milk chocolate, and I can´t even discribe the dark chocolate. Wow. We took a bus to Isla Victoria and a nearby National Park on a penninsula (I can´t remember the name at the moment). The Island has a thick forest of unique trees on it and was lovely. The penninsula boasts cave paintings and pudu deer. I was incredibly excited to see the pudu deer, because I learned about them in my mammalogy class last semester. They are about the size of a medium dog and have fangs. Deer have never been this cool. Unfortunetly, all we saw was pudu doo.

My tent has now been pitched in the Andes, which makes me happy. Campgrounds here are big mown fields and you pitch your tent anywhere. It is a very cheap lodging option. The only problem is that they are all located a fair distance from the towns; and the busses feel more like Disneyland rollarcoasters than public transportation as they zip around the windy roads with only standing room inside.

Goodnight to all! Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading everyones comments. I love you all so much!

Some pictures

These pictures go along with the previous post.
Boy and guanaco at the festival.

Guacho (Argentinean cowboy) and his sheepdog at the festival.

Kids outside my widow
The kids here LOVE soccer. This is the only non-blurry shot I got of the game. They are really fast. This was the littlest boy in the group but he was goalie most of the time.

Only English sign in the Trelew airport. This airport was about the size of my Provo apartment.

Trying to light the oven on our first night.

Snail at low tide.

Storm in the bay.

First from Argentina

Warning: this is a long one

Sarah and I have made the long journey to Puerto Madryn. We met up in Atlanta, flew to Buenos Aires, took a bus through the city to another airport, flew to Trelew, and took a bus to Puerto Madryn. Seattle to Puerto Madryn: 27 hours. Mariana (my boss/mentor here) took us to our apartment. It makes my BYU apartment look spacious and ritzy, but it is nice. Our local roommates, Natalia and Florencia, are on a field trip until the 21st; so we are learning how to operate things ourselves. The shower is easiest; just make sure to squeegee the floor well. There are two toilets, we have yet to master the most familiar looking one and have yet to try the other (looks like what I imagine a bidda to look like?). We have haven’t used the clothes washer, but have looked at it skeptically; there is no dryer, just some wires on the little porch. No dish washer, but very few dishes so it doesn’t matter. (We noticed that Florencia and Natalia only had three little plates, and there are four of us, so we bought two more little ones to use).
The small stove/oven was the funniest to learn to use. It is gas. Mariana took us shopping the first day and we bought an interesting looking ready made pizza for a quick dinner that night. There is a brown handle above it on the wall that we turn to get the gas flowing. The knobs on the stove direct gas to the burners and oven, and a door opens below the oven to light it. I had tried unsuccessfully for some time to get the oven lit so Sarah came in to help. She operated the knobs while I lay on the floor and worked the lighter (which was almost empty to start with). After burning up all of our matches, we tried the lighter one last time. Ignition! Sarah quickly pulled out on the knob, twisted to the left, then the right, and there it was: a working stove. One somewhat tasty, burnt pizza later and we were more than ready for bed.
Friday Mariana took us around town and helped us with some trip logistics. Saturday Sarah and I ventured out on our own to explore the town. The main part of town is a good 45 min walk away, but we walk along the beach front so it is enjoyable. We ran a few errands, looked at the wares of street vendors, and decided to have a quick bite before heading home. We were too far into the small café when we realized that we didn’t know all the vocab needed for a restaurant, or the proper procedure. We blundered through, but without grace.
Between 1pm and about 5pm all the shops close for lunch and siesta time. This is also when the beach becomes packed. Sarah and I took off our shoes and strolled along the beach to go home for siestas of our own. That evening we went to “Fiesta Nacional del Cordero.” Almost every town in Argentina has one big annual festival of some sort. In Madryn it is the National Sheep Festival. Guachos (Patagonian cowboys that raise sheep) come into town with their horses and sheep and there is a 4 day festival with artisans, guacho food, local musicians, Argentine rodeos, sheepdog demonstrations, etc. On Saturday, when we went, they were doing sheepdog demonstrations and some horse displays. We ate pastries, sampled really strong cheese and sausage, listened to music, and watched the guachos in the sheepdog competitions. Lots of fun!
On Sunday we walked 3.5 miles to church. It is the biggest ward here, but in the U.S. it might not even be a branch. Everyone was very welcoming, and as is Argentine custom, greeted us with a kiss on the cheek. I am beginning to get used to it. It was comforting to be singing familiar hymns and learning about Jose Smith. We now have Spanish Book of Mormons and Spanish lesson manuals so it is easier to follow along.

¡Adios!

My Hair Adventure

In junior high I whacked my hair off which resulted in the ugliest frizz ball the world has ever seen. The traumatic experience (and my love of braids) has kept my hair past my shoulders the rest of my life. That is, until now. My future situation in Argentina made me think of "no fuss" options for my hair and what better time to have a bad hair-do? Any major mistake would grow out in four months right? So I entered the hair parlor with apprehension, low expectations, a feeling of recklessness, and worry.

Diep, a very nice lady from Vietnam, sat me down and asked me what I wanted. I explained to her my concern as she carelessly played with my long hair. "Lets do it!" she proclaimed and whisked me off to the sink. Back in front of the mirror I put on a brave smile as long wavy chunks of hair came falling to the floor.

Twenty minutes later I walked out leaving most of my hair behind, but taking with me the easiest hair-do ever, and I love it! It is light, curlier than ever, and doesn't require a blow-dryer. In all honesty there are times when I miss my long hair, but this was the perfect pre-adventure to kick off "the" adventure.

Funny side note: Guys sometimes say the funniest things. Alex says it is bushy, Dad says it is big, and Joe thinks is looks as if I was attacked by a lawnmower. The ladies of the family are a bit more complementary.


Tomorrow is the last day before I leave! And there is still so much to do!

Happy New Year!

Happy 2008 everyone! Being home has been great. Wood fireplaces, animals, open space, tall trees, Mom's cooking, and most of all: family. All things that I miss while in Provo.

Joe is in high gear getting the last things ready for his mission. He leaves on January 16th and will be serving in the Russia Vladivostok mission. The family joke lately has been that he is going where Mom wished he would go when he was younger; that is eastern Siberia. It still feels a bit weird that my younger brother is growing up and going on a mission. He is going to do great and I will miss him.

Saturday we drove over to Leavenworth to cross-country ski and play in the snow. We had lofty hopes of finding some ice to climb, but that didn't pan out. Washington has mastered the wet winter, but not the cold, ice forming sort of winter. After the sun went down we drove back into Leavenworth to walk around and find some dinner. Leavenworth is a little mountain town that looks as if it was transplanted from the Swiss Alps. All of the buildings are in the Swiss village style, and the commons even has a Maypole. It is lovely with the snow and Christmas lights all around.

The snow was a MUCH deeper and fluffier than we had predicted (as Liz and I found out when we wandered off without snowshoes). Shortly after this photo was taken I sunk well up to my neck.

Alex found a giant icicle, yum. Sarah came even though her hubby, Darren, could not. Nice to know that we haven't been totally replaced. :)

Last, but not least, my wonderful parents. Sorry about the lack of action shots, we were too busy having fun.

Between family, and getting last minute things in order for Patagonia, I have neglected my blog lately. But for those of you who read this, I will be better at posting in the future. Here's hoping that you all have a great beginning to 2008.