On Friday morning we had medialunas for breakfast at the casa, and then we rolled out to the airport. On the flight I sat next to a girl from Oregon and we talked quite a bit. She had studied abroad more than she has studied at her own university. Crazy! We landed at a super sketch airport way down south of our destination due to the ashes coming from the Chilean volcano. When we got off there was nothing but the shanty airport building and quintessential Patagonia- wide open nothingness with mountains in the background. After waiting for an hour or so we took a 5 hour bus ride up to Bariloche. That drive was one of the prettiest drives I have ever taken. It gave me a great glimpse of Patagonia and it was everything I thought it would be and more. So much open space, rando rivers here and there, small mountain towns placed sporadically through the valleys and passes, raging rivers running through valley floors covered by forests, and more nothingness. Words don't do it justice, obviously. We pulled into our hotel to find it resting on the banks of a lake that was overshadowed by a range of mountains, i had never had a room with such an amazing view. That night we had dinner at a huge log resort looking thing called Family Weiss. We had typical Patagonian snackage- cheeses, sausages, olives, dried meats -- Patagonian lamb, and Patagonian pasta. After dinner kev and i explored the town a bit, found a awesome square that made us feel like we were in switzerland, and saw many cool leather goods. That night we all crashed kinda early.
Saturday
The breakfasts at our hotels were the best we had had in months. They're not usually too big on breakfasts in Argentina so the buffet feast we had was quite the treat. The day was dominated by a bus tour that took us to some amazing panorama views and beautiful bays. There was the option to do a hike, but kev, taylor and I stayed back and chilled and took sweet pics. Later we had a boat tour that took us to a couple cool islands and forests. Patagonian skinny-dipping did occur (there were no girls mom). Night was filled with dinner at the hotel, sushi tag, and leg wrestling.
Sunday
The next morning we were bused to the base of a mountain close to our next stop. We had lunch in a green grove, surrounded by trees, with a little creek running through it. We proceeded to climb the mountain for the next 2 hours or so. They told us that it would be easy, but it was HARD! There were times when I, one of the most fit of the group, wanted to turn around. I was suuuper impressed by how many people made it to the top. The view from up above was amazing, but i quickly looked towards the huge snow slope a couple hundred feet down on the other side. it was just asking to be slid on. After some unsuccessful tries we eventually got the technique down and found ourselves hurling down the side of a mountain for hundreds of yards at a pretty considerable pace. Its moments like those that make me feel most alive and fully feel God's "life to the fullest". Eventually, we came back down and had "tea time" back in the same grove we had lunch. That night we had pizza and empanadas.
Monday
The next day we went to Spring Creek- some kind of plantation/camp - and there we ziplined, went horseback riding through many rivers, kev and i went fishing with a professional guide, had an asado for lunch, and went white water rafting. The water in that river/creek was more clear than any water i have ever seen. No matter how deep it got, i could see clear down to the bottom. We could see fish chasing our lures from 30 yards out! During the rafting our guides were so fun and chill, they let us have wars with each other and stop at turnoffs and jump from rocks into the river. The water was 39 degrees farenheit! Such a fun day. That night Alycia and I put on the Halloween Murder Mystery while we had dinner at the parilla.
Tuesday
We took a short bus ride to another camp-ish thing where we had another full day of activities. We hiked to a waterfall, saw some cave paintings, took some bomb naps in the field beside the lake, went rappelling, went mountain bike riding, had hot coco and doughnuts beside a bonfire while being serenaded by a professional argentine guitar player. The mountain bike riding was one of the most fun things i have ever done. The non-fun part of biking uphill was taken out as we and our bikes were bused to the top of the mountain. We got out and I started to test out my bike by riding it through the fields of flowers, mazes of bushes, and pastures of horses. So cool. So alive. 95% of the ride was downhill, and steep downhill at that. The bikes we had were worth at least a grand and they proved it. We were hitting 40mph at some points, whipping around curves, going over rivers, navigating ruts in the road, and if it weren't for our guides speed restrictions, we could have definitely gone much faster. It was definitely dangerous and borderline scary. That night we went to a restaurant where we were allowed to order whatever we wanted. Kev and i split some venison and a calzone as big as a large pizza. So bomb.
Wednesday
On our last morning i went our exploring around town, found some gaucho stores, and bought a couple sweet knives. The next 24 hours were spent on a bus heading back to BA. All the flights were cancelled because of the volcanoes' ashes. I sat next to Dan Lander and we had some great conversations. I doubt any other program could have gone through that bus ride.
Our EFT Was one of the greatest weeks of my life. I couldn't even imagine having to spend my EFT going to museums and looking at old buildings like other programs. I got closer with several people and met some awesome people- Diego (our guide-friend for the week) and Silvina (our travel agent and Rafa's good friend). I could say so much more but my fingers are tired of typing.
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