Verano aqui

My days in El Bolson have been very tranquilo. A couple of days ago Alicia and I bought an Andes porter cervesa and some mani (peanuts) and sat in the shade in the middle of the artesanal feria. We people watched and listened to a few people playing music, one guy strumming his guitar and singing outloud while another man became one with his jembe, a girl slowly rocked back and forth on her heels with a tambarine in hand. Nearby tourists eyed pretty pieces of handmade jewelry, wood carvings, and trenzas for the hair. An elderly man slowly walked through the crowd and sat by us. He was wearing complete gaucho clothing from head to toe. A baret hat, light blue scarf around the neck, beautiful wool vest, bombacha pants, and gaucho boots. We talked to him for a while and found out that he was looking for a woman. He asked how old we were and we had him guess. He thought I was in my 30´s and Alicia was in her 40´s! We had a good laugh because no one has ever thought I was that age and Alicia is in her 30´s. He was quite interested in taking us home but Alicia told him she has an esposo, husband, which she does. I told him I had a very serious relationship back home. He still insisted we come back to his estancia and ride some horses and maybe a bit more. It was quite entertaining, eventually he headed off in search of other canidates and we wished him much luck in his endeavors.

I have so many stories like this but not enough to time to write them all out. Well, I have plenty of time but using the internet at the locatorios here are expensive.

We´ve been pretty much in El Bolson for our entire vacation. We went on a six day backpacking trip in the mountains close to El Bolson. We backpacked a total of 80 kilometers and stayed at refugios which are cabins in the woods. Some are only seasonal while others are ran by families year around. We named our backpacking trip the Stair Master because the entire trip was mainly up hill. We had a great time. When we got back we ate tons of pizza and beer then headed north of Bariloche in search of hot springs. The tourist office said we had to go to Angostura for more information so we went there. Takes about five hours by bus.Long story short, we couldnt make it to the hot springs for christmas so we camped in an area called siete lagos, seven lakes then headed back to El Bolson. We were ready to just chill out and not move around so much.

I spend my christmas eve with four argentinos. Made friends with to guys riding their bikes all the way from their home Cordoba to Tierra Del Fuego. They stopped in El Bolson for a break. The other two guys were on vacation from a small town near Uruguay. Celebrating christmas is like new year´s here. They counted down the minutes until midnight and got a bunch of cider and dulces out for the event. Once midnight stuck a bunch of fireworks went off in the distance and they got many calls on their cellphones. I eventually went to bed while they went out partying until 6am.

Alicia and I have been camping at Refugio Patagonico, a nice campground next to a stream and free hot showers. We often wake up to screeching birds of all sorts and dogs barking. My allergies have been extremely bad here. I had the worst day yesterday while we hung out at Lago Pueblo. My eyes felt like they had sand in them and got swollen. Swimming in the freezing water helped a lot. Today I feel much better. It´s hot out, clear skies, and all the tourists are arriving. I´m researching for my independent study in February. Would like to go to Tierra Del Fuego to explore the mountains and galciers there. Looks like we will be in Bariloche for año nuevo. Hope everyone had a great christmas and feliz año nuevo!!!!