the soap squatter incident

just got back from a trek up cerro catedral (a ski resort just outside bariloche) to a refugio (a cabin that you can stay up in the mountains), called refugio frey, with beautiful views of mountain lakes and jagged peaks. heading out to mt. tronador tomorrow to do a 6 hour trek to another refugio, and will spend 2 nights up there.

had an interesting incident at the squatter at refugio frey. first squatter i've encountered on this trip. was using the squatter, one of two in the men's room, and before dropping off the kids, i put my soap dish on a pipe that carries the water for flushing. the guy in the next stall, flushed his squatter, and the pipes shook from his flushing action. my soap dish fell, with the soap in it, into the pool with the kids. needless to say, i did not try to save it by going in after it. this is not 'trainspotting', this is squatter reality. anyway, after writing this, i'm heading to the supermercado for groceries for tomorrow's trek and also to pick up a soap dish.

i'm in patagonia

after almost 3.5 weeks in buenos aires, i've finally left. i was that addicted to the place.
i'm in puerto madryn in patagonia, and heading on a double-bus overnighter to bariloche in the lake district of the andes tonite.
puerto madryn is known for it's proximity to whale watching on peninsula valdes. unfortunately whales are here only from may to december. if you understand the way calendars work, you'll realize that i'm shit out of luck if i want to see these guys. however there's plenty of other wildlife to see. for example, we saw two sea elephants (they're similar to sea lions but bigger) having sex on a rock plateau on the sure. the males weigh around 4000 kilos, while the females weigh around 800-1000 kilos. the males are also on top. now, i'm not sure what kilos translates into the english measuring system, but if you can imagine, it's the equivalent of andre the giant doinking calista flockhart. i almost feel sorry for the female. also, the males usually have a harem of 5 or more chicas. if buddhism is true, it might not be a bad idea to pray to be a sea elephant in your next life...the weird part of the whole sea elephant sex deal besides not getting a room, is that one of the females' pups was right there during the whole thing. at that age, i think i'd be scarred for life seeing my folks doing that. oh well, i guess it's all part of procreation.

de todos modos, eso es todo por ahora.
chau for now....

one week later, i'm still here

still in buenos aires.
today is my last day of spanish class.
i think i take off on monday, probably for puerto madryn along the coast. i think it's a 20 hour overnight bus ride. i really like it here in buenos aires. there's something infectious about it. it doesn't feel like your stereotypical south american city. the buildings and streets look like they belong in paris. some streets are cobblestone that remind me of rome. the people dress like they were in milan. the people look like they are italian or spanish. they party like in madrid till 7 in the morning.....even on weekdays. it's one of the most vibrant cities i've ever been to. there's an energy in the air, and the people are all warm and kind, not to mention beautiful. maybe i might have to come back here on this trip.
anyway, nothing new and exciting to write about. been to colonia, uruguay for a day, took a day trip up to tigre, which is a bunch of islands and canals 30 km north of the city. saw evita's mausoleum. have eaten a lot of sweets. been asked a million times by porteños here, "¿por que? ¿vos no come carne? ¿cual es comer?"
de todos modos, i'm off to run a bunch of errands before my last class. don't know how to end this, so i'll just say hasta luego.

in buenos aires still. me mucho gusto

finally got my camera, sketchbook, and bought a new bag.
so i'm back in business.
i've been in buenos aires for about 2 weeks now, and i think i'll stay for another week and a half. there's something electric about this place,
maybe it's the people out here who love to go out, have fun, and are always in the streets
maybe it's all the cafes and restaurants that spill in the street
maybe it's the attitude of being worldly and being the most important people in the earth
maybe it's the way the buildings in the street look more like paris than a south american city
maybe it's all the beautiful people here, especially las mujeres bonitas
maybe it's the genuine warmth of the people here, easy to give hugs and besos
maybe it's the way they talk spanish here, where it's more like italian with lots of hand gestures and the way they emphasize syllables and slur words
maybe it's the way this feels more like europe
maybe it's because the people here look more italian or spanish than latin american
maybe it's the broken pavements
maybe it's the dog shit in the street
maybe it's the vida nocturnal, staying up at discoteques till 7 in the morning
maybe it's eating dinner at 10 pm on the weekends and being early
maybe it's the fact that no cars have a catalytic converter, so the pollucion is nasty
maybe it's the smell of barbecued carne wafting in the air in san telmo even though i'm a vegetarian
maybe it's the sensual dance of the tango that oozes out of the milongas, the streets and all the porteño's blood
maybe it's the energy and electricity you feel just walking around and when going out at night
maybe it's just a comination of everything. either way, i think i'll stay a little while more. now off to a tango lesson, then a party, and finally a discoteque late tonite. unfortunately, i've gotta get up early for a day trip out to uruguay.....i might not sleep tonite, but at least i'll try to sleep on the boat to uruguay which takes 3 hours.............nos vemos

my nephew on christmas

pics of my nephew on christmas back east.
sorta looks like me.....and you're right, he's a real good looking kid

¿yo soy facil?

been in buenos aires for a week now, and i really like the vibe and electricity of the city (minus the fucks who stole my bag - i still miss my sketchbook alot). the other thing is the women in buenos aires are beautiful....or maybe just, downright hot......
so i started my spanish immersion course this week.
the profesoras jump right into it, not speaking a word of english. i guess that's why they call it spanish immersion course. now, if you read the previous paragraph, you'll notice i alluded to the beauty of women here. this is no exception in school either, the profesoras are hot, the secretaria is hot....todos chicas bonitas.
anyway, in class today, we were learning adjectives and their opposites. one set that we learned was 'facil', meaning easy, and 'dificil', meaning difficult. the class and the profesora were discussing items that were difficult and easy. the teacher mentioned spanish, mentioned tango dancing, etc. on her 4th or 5th example, she looks at me and asks '¿yo soy facil?', which translates directly to, 'am i easy?'.
i turned beet red, nearly had a heart attack, stumbled with my words, before finally replying...'yo no se, pero mas o menos?'. 4 hours later, i am now back to earth, and i hope to find out later this week whether she is 'facil o dificil'.

Haiku to the Thieves

you shithead robbers
my sketchbook meant everything
die you fucking fuck