Dancing in Buenos Aires

Thinking about Argentina

Having come to Chile to write for six months, I was faced with the common 90-day limit on being in the country that everyone else faces without permission to stay longer. My original plan was to take the bus east, over the Andes and past the magnificent Aconcagua, to Mendoza to renew my tourist visa. This was a cheap, quick, and easy way to accomplish this feat, but as I met friends here in Chile, and as we talked about the must-see cultural places in South America, and as we did this I realized that I wasn't going to visit the northern part of the continent, I soon came to the conclusion that I really wanted to go to Buenos Aires instead.

South American Women (so far)

1. Uruguay
2. Argentina
3. Chile

I have only been to three countries, and I've heard many things about the women in Columbia and Brasil, too, so maybe this list will change, but for now this is how it stands in my eyes (which may not be important to anyone except me). I will be in Brasil soon, so I'll get a chance to do update this in a few months (First published in March 2011).

Bariloche, Argentina: A World of Wonder

Home will always be home, and the view atop Cadillac Mountain on a crystal clear day, when the air is so crisp that one can stand on the granite slabs, overlook Frenchman's Bay and the "porcupines" that protect Bar Harbor, and hear, word for word, the radio conversations between lobsterman about a half-mile away, will always be my most heartfelt favorite in the world. But Bariloche, Argentina, with its cavalry of white peaks standing guard over the massive and forever fresh and blue Lago Nahuel Huapi, is the most beautiful place I've ever seen on earth.

Chile - Day Seven: Puerto Varas

So I got up and rushed around to run errands before hopping on a bus from Pucon to Puerto Varas. I needed to photocopy the Bariloche, Argentina info out of the hostel’s guidebook (because I didn't have the Argentinean book - only Chile), eat breakfast, buy lunch, shop the bus companies for prices, and get a picture of the still unseen volcano Villarica.