Barilo-Che

After Court and family left, I had a few days in Bariloche on my own. I stayed in an incredible hostel and met some amazing people. This day we hiked up to Cerro Lopez. It was a perfect day and a gorgous hike (but we stayed a bit too long at the top, almost missed the bus and therefore had to sprint down the mountain... resulting in muscles so sore that I could barely walk the next day- reminiscent of Imogene for those of you who know what it is!)



Here I am with Nicole, who I hiked with to Cerro Lopez. She is from Switzerland but has lived in Montreal for many years. She is in the middle of her round the world trip and has a whole slew of adventures on the way. We had fun playing with her GPS and testing it´s accuracy.

This is the view from the hostel balcony!!!








The hostel was celebrating 10 years in existence. The older man in the middle here is the owner. He got a great deal on the place not knowing what he would do with it but his vision was to create a gathering place. At the time it was only the second hostel in Bariloche, now there are 40!!!! This place has definitely adopted his warm, charismatic passion for connecting with people and appreciating the surrounding natural beauty.





Here are the friends I made on our 20 hour bus trip from Buenos Aires. Ofer, Eitan, and Evi are from Isreal and are at the beginning of their 6 months of travel. They taught me a great card game- Yaniv- and a few words in Hebrew. As horrible as a 20 hour bus ride sounds, they are actually quite comfortable and come complete with blankets, pillows, movies, food, wine, champagne, and some great views:)






I was lucky enough to have a personal tour guide in Bariloche. Nacho (short for Ignacio) is from Rosario and is now living in Bariloche. It was nice to have the insider´s tips and to visit some places that only the locals know. This day we hit the slopes and gave a go at mountain boarding- where snowboarding meets longboarding. It took me a few runs to get used to it, but it is definitely a good summer alternative to one of my favorite sports!

A Courtly Affair

More visits from home!!!! I love being able to share my experiences here with friends and family from home (through more than just pictures and e-mails:) Courtney and her family were here for a few weeks and we were able to meet up a few times.

Here we are on the rooftop of her hotel in Buenos Aires. We again realized how we both bring out the goofiness in each other:) Fun for us, potentially annoying for those with us:)




We then met up again down south in Bariloche. Here we are in our sexy wet suits getting ready to go canyoning. This involves hiking down a river, jumping over small waterfalls into small pools, going down natural rock waterslides, and rappelling down some larger waterfalls. I think it is about as close as you can get to being one with the river!














Here with Court´s family enjoying some steak (I had fish, had already eaten my fill of beef:)













I LOVE THE MOUNTAINS!!!!!! (especially when they are graced with such huge, goreous lakes!)

Visits from Home...

Here are a few of the many many pictures that we took when my parents, my aunt Shirley, and Ralph came to visit. The rest were taken with their cameras, so I will get them and post them in a while :)

Here I am with mom, dad, and one of my host families in Carlos Casares. It was so great to show them where I lived for 2 months and to introduce them to the majority of the families that so graciously took me in!!!




We were fortunate enough to be invited to one of my host families´ house for an Argentine barbeque. Dad and Shirley had their turns at tending the meat. Mom (who doesn´t eat much meat) quietly sat in disbelief at how much carne was being set in front of us... it is too bad I don´t have a picture of her overwhelmed face. "Lesley, I just can´t do it- I can´t eat any more!!!!" :)







Ralph and I spent a few days in Buenos Aires before my family came (they were delayed a couple days because of the obscene amount of snow in Denver). We did our share of sight seeing, eating, dancing, and ringing in the new year in this fantastic city. More pictures to come!!!
















Here is a view of Buenos Aires from Puerto Madero on New Years Eve. A perfect place to ring in the new year, we were dancing in front of the water, wearing colored hats and shaking large plastic carrots and shiny blue corn... (pictures to come, but perhaps that is better for you to just imagine :)