Welcome Home

Transitioning home
  I've been back in the States for two weeks now.  And it still feels a little weird. Thoughts that run through my head:

• No longer having to think about how to say something in Spanish before I say it. Yes, sometimes when I had extra time before having a conversation I would 'practice' what I was going to say in my head.
• It's easy to fall back into things, like knowing how most things work, where & how to order in a restaurant
• Walk that far? Nuh- uh. I've already lost my comfort with walking long distances. I had to walk to the business center in my apartment complex and I thought, do I really have to walk all that way.  Evidently that 5 minute walk is a killer. 
• My nephews are as energetic as ever...and they seem to play better now (until one of them hits the other, that is)
• Being back in Chapel Hill feels weird. I've even forgotten how to get some places that I'm was very familiar with and had to us the GPS on my phone. SMH.
• Learned that a car should be run/driven for 15 minutes 2-3 times a week to keep the battery charged and everything working as it should be. Yeah, didn't plan on that at all. Epic fail on my part (and yes I am writing this from the waiting room at a service shop as they install a new battery in my car).
• Sitting on the couch having a late night chat with my roomies felt like old times. I really enjoyed catching up with them and I hope to squeeze in many more late night chats before graduation
• We graduate in almost 9 weeks. That's craziness.
• It's good to be home. 
• I feel like I left part of my heart- love for the culture and the people- in South America. Maybe if I'm lucky someday I can go back and get it.

Bus Travels in South America

Our bus from El Calafate to Bariloche

We have logged over 90 hours on buses in the last 6 weeks here in South America. Before I left the US, you couldn't have paid me to be on a bus for that long but this is actually rather normal in many countries here due in part to airline costs, limited airline routes, weather and the terrain. Surprisingly, I have found the majority of the buses to be quite comfortable. On our two trips that lasted over 20 hours we were even served food and drinks and had large, comfy seats that reclined almost all the way back (known as camas). The buses were relatively inexpensive in most cases ranging from $40 - $170 depending on the route and whether or not we opted for camas or semi-camas (full recline vs. partial recline). We used these long rides to catch up on movies downloaded on iTunes, read books and sleep (sometimes with the aid of benedryl or wine). On most of the rides, there wasn't much to see outside and at times I would wake up after nodding off only to look out the window and see miles and miles of flat land with mountains in the horizon and your occasional wild horse or sheep. We often spent time on unpaved roads for several hours but most of us were able to sleep through that.

Below are some examples of our bus trips:
- Cartagena, Colombia to Medellin, Colombia -13 hours
- Santiago, Chile to Pucon, Chile - 20 hours roundtrip
- Santiago, Chile to Vina del Mar, Chile  - 6 hours roundtrip 

- Punta Arenas, Chile to Ushuaia, Argentina - 12 hours
- El Calafate, Argentina to Bariloche, Argentina - 29 hours
- Bariloche, Argentina to Buenos Aires, Argentina - 21 hours

- Colonia, Uruguay to  Montevideo, Uruguay - 5 hours roundtrip 

24 hour "layover" in Uruguay

After a little over 2 weeks in Argentina, we are on route to our 5th country in South America. Interestingly enough, our original travel plans did not include Uruguay but as I've learned over the past 5 months, you have to be flexible and resourceful while traveling. When searching for our flight from Argentina to Peru (our originally planned final destination) we discovered that flights from Argentina to Peru were considerably more expensive than flights from Montevideo, Uruguay to Peru. To avoid this extra cost, we left Argentina this morning and took a 1 hour ferry to Colonia, Uruguay and a 3 hour bus ride from Colonia to Montevideo. Our flight out of Montevideo will leave tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm so we have about 24 hours in the country but plan to make the best of it!

Bariloche, Argentina

Tonight is our last night in Bariloche. Right now, we're all sitting on our beds (2 twins and a queen, yes they have different bed arrangements here), focusing our attention on our iPads or phones. Bariloche was a nice change from our last two towns because we actually stayed here for a while and had a chance to slow our pace a little bit and truly get a feel for the town. We spent a lazy Sunday afternoon walking through the city and visited an Ice Bar that night. Monday was our first outdoor adventure as we went white water rafting. It was Tiffany and Megan's first time rafting and they handled it like pros. No one fell in and no one got hurt, staying true to our 'no dying' rule. Tuesday we split up- Tiffany and Lula went on Canopy (zip lining) and Megan and I went kayaking. We all enjoyed these activities and Megan and I got some really cool pics. The lake we kayaked on was large and surrounded by mountains. It was a perfect day for our first time kayaking.

Ushuaia - A Day at the End of the World

After a small debacle in Punta Arenas which delayed our arrival into Argentina by 24 hours (see previous post), we set out for our first stop in Argentinian Patagonia. What better place to start than at the end of the world? Although our bus trip was about 13 hours, it seemed a lot shorter because we had to hop off and on several times. At our first stop, we took a ferry (bus and all) for about 15 minutes across a small body of water. 45 minutes later we stopped at Chilean customs to stamp our passports and finally after another 30 minutes we stopped again at the border of Argentina. Lesson learned during this process: although the bus rides are super long, going through customs is SO much easier when crossing borders between Chile and Argentina on a bus. We simply handed over our passports to get stamped, presented proof of payment for our entry fee and were on our way.
Ushuaia is arguably the world's southernmost city. I say arguably because this has been disputed by Chile which claims that a smaller town in Chile, Puerto Williams, is the southernmost city. Our day in Ushuaia included a tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park. We drove through the park and visited several beautiful lakes, camping grounds, hiking trails and even the southernmost post office. The park also has an "End of the World" train which carries tourists part of the way through the park. Our review of the online feedback about the train was that is is super touristy so we opted out.
After our tour, we packed up and went straight to the airport for a flight to our next city, El Calafate (aka home of one of the most amazing glaciers in the world, Perito Moreno). The takeoff from Ushuaia and landing into El Calafate were absolutely amazing! I was surprised to see such beautiful cities in what seems to me like the middle of nowhere. 

The Beauty of Calafate

The Perito Moreno Glacier in Calafate

The glacier up close

This place was so beautiful I thought pictures would be much better than words, so here you go.

Inset: me and Tiffany; Lula and Megan

Chile Won't Let Us Leave

   After our last day in Santiago, Chile we flew south to Punta Arenas and then planned to take a bus to Ushuaia,  Argentina, which is known as the end of the world (el fin del mundo). Unfortunately though, we got stuck in Punta Arenas for an extra day after the bus company lost our tickets and sold our spots. I had paid via Paypal for the tickets two weeks ahead of time but the bus company said that PayPal never sent them confirmation of the payment, so they never issued us tickets. All the other buses were sold out. We were beyond shocked at this development, as now our plans for Ushuaia, Argentina were all screwed up. We would miss a really cool tour we had booked there, off-roading in a 4X4 Jeep through lakes and the open land, followed by an asado (barbecue). We were all really excited for it but we had to cancel.