Chao, Argentina!

Wow, I can't believe my time in Buenos Aires is over! I know I've said this a million times before, but it really has gone so quickly. Leaving was bitter-sweet-- I was sad to leave my new friends and the city that I have grown to love but I am definitely ready for the next step of my trip. My flight to Ayacucho (Peru) leaves tomorrow morning and I need to leave my hostel in Lima by 2 am!...looks like it will be another night of very little sleep!

I've spent the day today just wandering around Lima, seeing the sights and trying to get a feel for the city. Now I finally feel like I'm in South America! The people have all been really nice and super helpful, but I can tell its more dangerous here than in Buenos Aires. I was warned of the dangers before coming here and have playing it really safe. Its definitely been strange being in a foreign city alone and I'm ready to meet up with the people from Cross Cultural Solutions tomorrow! I think I'm going to treat myself to a vegetarian dinner tonight so hopefully it won't be super awkward eating alone.

I spent my last week in Argentina in southern Patagonia, in a town called Puerto Madryn. It wasn't much of a town, but the wildlife was spectacular. It honestly was like a real live episode on the discovery channel--we saw so many whales, elephant seals, and sea lions! I don't know if I'll ever have another experience like that in my life--it was just incredible. I'm glad i put my fears aside and went whale-watching because we saw about 15 Southern Right whales, just in one day!

Orcas come down to Puerto Madryn as well, but we missed them by a few months. I would have loved to see one in the wild. One of the days we were there, we ventured even farther south to a bizzare Welsh town in the middle of Patagonia. It was one of the most random places I have ever visited, but the tea was fabulous and the city was host to the world's largest recycled peice of artwork! There was absolutely no one in the town and it was quite a contrast from the chaos of Buenos Aires....

Well, i need to start packing for Ayacucho...Airline regulations are restricting me to 22 pounds so it might get interesting. 22 pounds for 2 weeks?! Yikes.

Uruguay

So, another weeeknd of travel, bus rides, good wine, and an obscene amount of food. This time, however, I travelled outside of Argentina and visited a South American country I never thought I would: Uruguay. The port of Buenos Aires is actually deceptively close to the Uruguayan border and many portenos actually go there often for weekend trips to escape the chaos of the city. It was certainly refreshing to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets and cramped public transportation system and explore a whole new country!



We left early Saturday morning for Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay. Compared to Buenos Aires, it was a small, boring town, but I guess it is a pretty large and significant city in its own right. We stayed at a great hostel and met a bunch of people from all over the world...I actually met a girl from Ultrecht, Holland--the small city where Erin and I were just a few weeks ago! And then at breakfast the next morning, I met a girl who went to highschool in Colorado with my roommate Jenna...small world, indeed. It really was a quintessential hostel experience; the 12 of us who had traveled together shared one room, played fun games in the common area, and ate a great asado (argentine barbeque) dinner on the rooftop terrace...all for about $10! The dollar was especially strong in Uruguay, 22:1 to be precise! Cab rides all over the city were about $1 and food was a steal. I'm going to be so disappointed once I get back to the states and everything is so expensive!

The next day we left for Colonia, a quaint touristy town in southern Uruguay. It was an adorable little city right on the water and our time there was, in my opinion, much more satisfactory than our time in Montevideo. The weather was beautiful and we even got to see a few rays of sunshine (you really don't realize how wonderful the sun is until it rains for four days straight...). It turns out that Colonia is a UNESCO world heritage site, one of three that I will be seeing in the very near future! Pretty cool. We spent the rest of our time in Colonia walking around with a guide that COPA had hired for us (they really do treat us so well!) and then had an incredible lunch which, needless to say, was way too much food.

I've spent much of this week running around trying to see the things in Buenos Aires that I want to see before I leave. As of today, I only have TWO more days in this fabulous city! My classes end tomorrow and then I'm spending 4 days in Patagonia...Its crazy how fast the time has flown down here and I'm going to be sad to leave but I'm getting so excited for the next part of my adventure! I just found out that I will be teaching English at a secondary school in Ayacucho, Peru which should be really rewarding. After six weeks of having people try to teach me their language, I think it will be great to be able to return the favor! This truly has been a once in a lifetime experience and its only half way through....I can't wait to see what the next month holds!