The people you meet over Mac and Coffee

So I was sitting at Tully's sharing a table with two other chaps and we laughed at the fact that all 3 of us had Macs. We started chatting and turns out I was speaking with the director of an organization called Orphan Relief and Rescue. Their goal is to build and staff orphanages for homeless kids in war torn Liberia. They were in town from Texas, meeting with, amongst others, the Gates Foundation. Listening to them talk about what they do and their selfless passion for it humbled me and made me wish there were more Americans (especially Texans!) like them. Check out what they do here ... orphanreliefandrescue.org. Very cool!

Last Night in Argentina

I returned to Buenos Aires just in time to be able to grab a late night dinner with an old friend from Cranium days, Katie Arango. Katie lives in the swank Palermo area of Buenos Aires and we dined at Miranda's Restaurant where I grabbed a last great Argentinean steak (Katie the vegetarian ate some green stuff). After dinner Katie introduced me to Mate, the Argentinean tea, drunk from those bowls that I was so confused by at the beginning of my trip. Over the Mate we discussed Argentinean men/dating, politics, and the general state of the world till 3 am. I've known Katie for about 4 years but this was the first time we had a lengthy conversation like this. Funny how old friends can become new friends thousands of miles from home.

El Chalten and Cerro Fitz Roy

Saturday I made a 3.5 hour bumpy bus journey to the remote town of El Chalten. This is the definitive one horse town. A single dirt road contains a few hostels, restaurants, and stores. People come here basically for one reason -- to hike or climb the amazing Fitz Roy mountain range, particularly the imposing Mt. Fitz Roy. The hiking is pretty spectacular as you pass torquoise, glacial runoff rivers, stunning mountain backdrops, and dense forests. Don't worry about running out of water as the river or stream water is purer than any bottled water in the States. Day one got me to Laguna Torre, a glacial lake that is the coolest blue you've seen. But winds gusting at 60 mph forced you to duck for cover behind a boulder to down some refueling snacks. On Sunday I made my way up the Fitz Roy trail towards the base of the incredibly vertical Mount Fitz Roy. It played peekaboo through the clouds much of the day but when the peak was visible it was stunning. Supposedly a climbers paradise, many "Jason Moffatts" wait weeks for the weather to clear just to try and crest Fitz Roy.

Perito Moreno Glacier

So this makes twice in a two weeks I have been completely awestruck by nature. Last week it was Iguazu Falls. This week the stunning Perito Moreno glacier. Having never seen a glacier close up, I had to sit there and just stare it at for as long as I could. Every few minutes, what sounds like a cannon going off, signifies a chunk of the glacier carving itself off the 5km x 14km super structure. It supposedly moves 2-5 meters a day and every couple of years has a massive break-off. And yet it's the only glacier in the world that is growing in size. Like Iguazu, words do not do it justice. Since I did not book ahead, I was unable to trek on the actual glacier, but supposedly the 5 hour trek expedition complete with crampons is well worth the 400 peso price.

The People That You Meet

Traveling alone can be a bit lonely but the flip side is that you can meet some truly interesting people. At the Marcopolo Inn, in El Calafate, I had the pleasure of meeting Heenam from Korea. Not just your standard traveler, Heenam is beginning a 3 year sojourn around the world by BICYCLE! You can check out Heenam's journey at his soon to be up website, http://www.aswind365.com/. Also had the pleasure of post glacier viewing beers with Erin and Shana from NYC at the coolest little cafe in the centro area of the town. Erin/Shan, what was the name of that place? We liked it so much we wanted to buy a t-shirt but the barman said there was only one in existence and it was on his back at the time. Despite pleading from the gals, he would not part with it. By the way, if you ever find yourself in Patagonia's El Calafate, I highly recommend staying at the Marcopolo Inn. Brand new hostel, super clean, ensuite bathrooms, and a great, friendly staff -- especially Dario who remembers everyone's name. Best place I've stayed at in Argentina.

Amazing Hike

On Tuesday I headed out for a day of hiking in the Andes just north of Mendosa. After a 2 hour bus ride we got to the San Antonio lodge at 7800 feet elevation. There I began our climb with our guide Nicolas, and 3 swiss gals and a British gal. After a month of minimal aerobic activity, this hike kicked my ass. We climbed about 3500 feet to an elevation of about 11000 feet at the peak of Cerro Arenalas where we enjoyed amazing views. Plus we had the honor of an added guide for the last bit of the climb, this husky that probably belonged to one of the local refugee villages.

Wine Tasting and HUGE Steak

After my day of travel aggravation I did make it to a very nice Mendosa hostel where I immediately befriended and English couple and 4 Americans playing a crazy card drinking game that got us sloshed in 2 hours. On Monday one of the American gals, Susan, and I headed off to ¨Bikes and Wines¨for a day of wine tasting. Not exactly, Napa, you bike through muddy construction to hit some quaint wineries that don´t exactly act happy to see you. But we did taste some great wines and had a most picturesque lunch. Monday night headed out to dinner with the Brits and Americans (and Sasha from Aus) for a steak dinner. You can´t tell from this pic but the steaks in this country are HUGE. This cow did not die in vain.

Travel challenges

So I've come to find out that Argentina is not an easy country to plan on the fly. I had booked a early am Sunday flight from Buenos Aires to El Calafate to see the glaciers of Patagonia. Unfortunately getting a 6 am flight after staying out till 4 am was a bit ambitious and I missed my flight. No worries, there must be another flight right? Yes, but they were all full for the next two days. Undaunted, I headed to the bus terminal to see if I could get an overnight bus southward. But 2 days of bus journeying did not sound appealing to me. Okay, so put the glaciers on the back burner and head to Mendosa Wine country maybe? Well, possible but the next available bus for that 10 hour journey was 6 hours away. Having already spent 5 hours in the same bus terminal waiting for my Iguazu bus a few days prior, it was not an experience I wanted to repeat. Well lets get online to see if flights to Mendoza are possible? Hey wow, a flight to Mendoza leaving in a few hours from the International airport, cool! But can´t book online so close to the flight time, damn. No worries I´ll just grab a shuttle to the airport and buy the ticket there. A 45 minute shuttle ride later, I´m at the international airport being informed that the flight leaves from the domestic airport, 30 minutes away. Damn. OK, still can make it if I jump on the shuttle I just got off and go back to the domestic airport where I had missed my flight 4 hours earlier. Arrive at the domestic airport and wait in a huge check in line, to be told that I was misinformed by my ticket seller. The flight is leaving from the International airport after all IN 10 MINUTES! Arggghhh. Get in the long ass sales line and another 3 minutes later I'm rewarded with an updated ticket from the airport I´m at to Mendosa leaving 2 hours later. So instead of a 6 am flight to Patagonia I'm now on a 4:30 pm flight to wine country. Boy that wine better be good!

Argentine side of Iguazu

Imagine a day where you simply start running out of superlative adjectives. That was the day spent on the Argentine side of the falls. Traveling by boat into the thundering spritz of a massive falls. Standing on a bridge over the very cusp of falls so loud that you cannot hear yourself think. Hiking past amazing butterflies, a deceased armadillo, and strange ¨cuati¨ rodents. Lunching on a isla St. Martin, while falls cascade in almost ever direction around you. Have I said, ¨WOW,¨yet?

Iguazu Falls -- WOW!

Do not adjust your monitor. These pictures are real. No photoshop, and often no zoom. What can I say. Words and pictures do not do them justice. Imagine the Grand Canyon rimmed with 250 waterfalls and surrounded by tropical jungle and you kind of get the idea. You must come see it for yourself. This set is from the Brazilian side.

The Night Bus & Hostel ¨Club Med¨

Tuesday I decided to get out of ¨Dodge¨and make my way to Iguazu Falls. Everyone raves about the overnight luxury buses complete with food, alcohol and movies included, so I decided to give one a try. Unfortunately due to bad planning on my part and tardiness of the Singer bus line, I spent over 5 hours at the bus terminal preceding my 15 hour journey. And I chose the oldest bus company in Argentina. Good for nostalgic photos. Bad for bus quality, service, etc. Not quite the ¨first class¨ adventure others had raved of. The good news was my seat reclined flat and I was able to sleep much of the way. Got to Iguazu Wed at noon and the temps were about 20 degrees hotter than BA.

So since I´m traveling alone and trying to keep a lid on costs, I´ve been staying at hostels. Good for budget and meeting peeps, bad for privacy and room quality. But I must say the Hostel Inn in Puerto Iguazu is worth every bit of the $12 per night I spent there if only for the amazing pool. Life is hard.

Empanadas, tango and the pooch

First few days in Buenos Aires consisted of lots of walking and a little bit of frustration. It´s a vast city and a little challenging to navigate when you are first here. Stayed the first few nights in Palermo, a very cool little neighborhood in the north part of the city with great bars, restaurants and shops. Sunday evening I found the greatest fast food ever -- Empanandas at Cumen Cumen in Palermo. YUM and only 60 cents a piece! Monday I strolled Avenida Florida where these tango dancers were performing. At the top of Avenida Florida is leafy San Martin plaza where many ¨Portenos and Portenas¨(people from BA) take their siestas. Also was amused by this dog in the park that watched all the other dogs play but seemed to be saying, ¨dude, it´s hot and I ain´t moving fast!¨Monday evening I dined on Argentinian steak for $10.

Day One in Argentina

Arrived in Buenos Aires at the crack of dawn Sunday morning. Yeah, no rain in sight, although quite cool compared to Honduras. Couldn´t check into hotel till 3 so despite being super tired after the red-eye, I forced myself to a day of sightseeing the Palermo and San Telmo areas of BA. So far so good, have navigated the subways, and experienced the easy cafe lifestyle and outdoor markets of a Buenos Aires Sunday. It´s definitely a shoppers paradise as you pass many random boutiques and street vendors selling everything from antiques to leather wrapped stone grinding bowls for which my limited espanol has not been able to discern a purpose. Actually I´m mostly just too embarrassed to ask in case it´s obvious and I´m just lame. I also see how BA is described as the Paris of South America. The architecture, streets, even the skin tones remind you of Europe more than South or Latin America.

Now in my little hostel in the Palermo area getting ready for dinner out which really can´t be had here till about 9 pm. This area is known to be a gastronomic heaven with just about every food type represented. Decisions, decisions ...

Go Ducks!!!

Okay gotta give my Oregon football team a little post of their own. I was thrilled to catch the 1st half of the Duck-ASU game while awaiting my connection to Buenos Aires in Miami Saturday evening. Man, Dennis Dixon, is a cool operator. They ended up winning and look poised to take a run at the national championship. QUACK!

Last few days in Honduras

Wow the two weeks went by fast! My last couple of days included a last night out with some fellow students, "graduation" from the Spanish school, and of course LOTS more rain. It has rained more in 2 weeks than I thought was possible in any one place. We can almost boat to school each am. Our graduation was cute and very nice, although I only received a "beginner Spanish" certificate compared to the intermediate one most others got:( On Friday T and I invited the kids from the school over to our great hostel for a little shindig. Yes even in a foreign country I have a desire to throw parties. It´s a sickness. We chatted and drank till 2 am when it was finally time for me to bid goodnight to them and La Ceiba, at least for now.

Finally a sunset

Our days in Honduras have not exactly been sundrenched. But today was a breezy but warm and sunny afternoon and we took advantage by heading down to the beach by La Quinta Real hotel for some, ummm, studying. Yeah.

Our school chums

We`ve gotten to know our school chums over the past two weeks and we plan on culminating our "dos semanas," with a big night out on Thursday. Here you see Paulus from Holland, Diana from Colorado, and upstairs, Karen and Lisanne from Holland. Also on the left of Paulus is the school`s director, Rafael. Kelly was almost in these pictures but was inexplicably absent.

Rafting

Think I forgot to mention our rafting expedition last week. The toughest part may have been getting to the raft dropoff in what seemed like a circa WW2 RV. But then we got to experience a thrilling class 2-4 raft trip down the Rio Congrejal. Our guide Johnny was hilarious getting us to scream responses to "Who`s the best?" ... "WE ARE!" as the river tried to devour us.

Utila pics

Okay, okay, not all was bad on the island of Utila. We did get some peaceful sunshine, and ate meals and drank beer while the Caribbean sloshed all around us. Also pictured here are my crazy co-participants at the full moon party.

Waterfront Property

Once in a lifetime opportunity. Grab it before others have the chance. Needs some TLC but overall sound foundation and quality. Wake to the sounds of the ocean. Sleep to the gentle breezes of island air. Close to shops and transport. Priced to move.

Never say never

So after experiencing a boat ride from hell, a room robbery, and torrential rain, Sunday night had to be an improvement right? Nope. Would you believe a night of homelessness was in order as well? Since we had to share a roomkey, I left the key in the office when I left for dinner in case my roommate returned before me. Unfortunately the office did not inform me that they would be closing thirty minutes after I left with no ability to access said key till they reopeoned at 6 am. So when we returned from dinner we found a locked office and a new night guard(to watch for robbers) who had no ability to help us get our key. Luckily a gal with extra beds in her dorm took pity on us and we spent the night in our clothes on a bed that was still unchanged from the prior guest. Lets just say I will be doing a little negative web publicity about the Mango Inn on Utila.

Oh, some good news! I finally got to go diving. Monday morning the seas calmed just enough to allow dive boats to go out. I dived with an instructor to about 20 feet and was able to see some amazing coral, some big ass blue fish, and a medium sized ray of some sort. Pretty cool. After the dive the ferry was running so I got the hell away from Utila.

Utila uggh

Well, the trip to island of Utila this weekend has been less than ideal. Usually one takes a smooth 45 minute ferry ride to this sun drenched scuba haven. But due to rough seas our ferry trip became a horror movie like 2 hour hell ride. The boat was constantly tossed in 8 to 10 foot waves and passengers' stomach contents were constantly tossed into plastic bags. It was not a pretty sight nor a pretty smell. Add to that, kids screaming and bags being drenched by waves, and you can imagine our desire to kiss the ground when we finally reached the island.

Last night inbetween intermittent torrents of rain we checked out a very cool treehouse bar decorated with thousands of pieces of recycled glass. Very cool. We then went to the Full Moon Party at the Coco Loco. But sadly the music of choice for island DJs is electronica and after listening to the same repetitive beat for over hours we called it a night.

This morning we woke to find out that ours and several other rooms had been robbed, likely while we slept. Luckily all we lost was my phone but a 4th roommate whose stuff was closer to the door lost quite a bit of stuff. And finally, to add insult to injury no scuba was to be had this morning as the seas were too rough again. T and Sara, our friend from Hood River, returned to the mainland by plane. I'm sticking it out one more day because, well, things have to improve tomorrow, right.

Missing Kelly possibly found

No APBs required. Missing Kelly may have been spotted and seems to be real. Someone answering to her name and with similar appearance was seen using the Internet at our hotel and ate dinner with us on Friday night. While it's possible it was an imposter or decoy, she insisted that she was indeed the real Kelly from Utah. Sources say that she may even show up at school on Monday.

Super Baleada, Missing Kelly, and mucho lluvia

Days 3 and 4 in La Ceiba have included more head-pounding spanish studies (today I learned the phrase ``cada loco con su tema`` -- to each their own), getting much closer to our fellow students, and the discovery of Tanya`s and my favorite discovery de comida, ironically right next to our hotel. At the Super Baleada one can eat a tasty, giant chicken quesadilla on a fresh flour tortilla for about $1.25. It was pure gastronomic delight and we returned for dinner the following evening. If they were open before 4 pm we would probably eat three meals a day there. We`ve also spent time getting to know Sara from Hood Canal, WA and Lisanne and Karen from the Netherlands(pictured with Tanya). The only student we have not gotten to know is the infamous but mysterious Kelly, a gal from Utah who is supposed to be enrolled in the school and volunteering at the jungle school but people have only caught a glimpse of. She is an enigma like the Yetti or Sasquatch.

The last two days have also included thunderous torrential rain, so loud that it often wakes you up. But the flip side is that temperatures are much more comfortable and you don´t feel like taking a shower every ten minutes.

La Ceiba is nice but relatively boring since we cannot venture far with school each day. But this weekend promises more excitement as we travel la isla Utila, home of sun, scuba, sand, much cervezas and the supposedly must-be-seen treetop recycled glass bar. Mui interesante!

First few days in Honduras

Arrived on Sunday around noon in San Pedro Sula where Tanya was waiting for me. We then connected on a scary, seemingly 30 year old prop plane to La Ceiba, pretty much holding our breath for most of the way. Arrived in La Ceiba where it was HOT, around 90 degrees with equal humidity. Our school´s director, Rafael picked us up and we made our way to our hotel. After a scrumptious shrimp dinner at Mango Tango, we both passed out.

On Monday morning we woke at 6:45 AM !?!? to get to school for our 7:30 start. I was quite anxious as I met my instructor Melisa, and after testing my sad Spanish, she quickly opened the text book to the very beginning. No advanced placement for this estudiante. But I must say, after 2 days of lessons, I feel like I´m improving rapidly. We´ve met some cool peeps in the school including 2 Dutch gals and some Canadians, all of whom seem far better in Spanish than me:( Last night at dinner we met the infamous ¨Rickys," pictured here. Gringo Ricky is a 49-year-old Canadian retiree who has purchased a home here and plans on making Honduras his and his wife´s home. Military Ricky, is a lawyer who´s primary business is helping the Gringos who want to get situated in Honduras. Buying a car, house, need to get out of jail, etc., Military Ricky is your man. This afternoon, maybe happy hour at La Quinta Real, La Ceiba´s nicest hotel, followed my mucho homework which I think is "tarea de casa." Man, my brain has not worked this hard in awhile.

Travel Bug Strikes Again

Yes, believe it or not, I´m hopping jet planes again. On the morning of October 16th, I left a somewhat gloomy Seattle to begin a 6 week sojourn. This trip will take me to NYC, Honduras, Argentina, California and back to Seattle. In Honduras I´m signed up for an immersive Spanish program so I hope to end this holiday somewhat decently able to ´hablar espanól.´

First stop: The Big Apple. I spent 5 days in NYC which was experiencing quite the Indian summer. Temps were in the 70s and the humidity felt like it was July instead of mid October. Global Warming?? Who knows, but I was happy to be walking the city in shorts. Lacking a car and staying with my friends in Edgewater NJ, I walked across a major NY bridge for the first time. Kinda fun passing cars stuck in traffic on the George Washington Bridge. On the NY side the A Subway gets you to midtown pretty fast. My stay included a visit to the NY Historical Society´s 9-11 exhibit(very humbling), walks in Central Park(New yorkers with dogs are fun to watch) and some great Tapas food at Bar Carere and Sala both south of Union Square area. Also watched the Rugby World Final with some crazed but ultimately sad English folk(SA 15, Eng 6). One of the great things about NY is that no matter what matters to you, you can find friends to share the love. I walked into The Mercury Bar on 3rd & 34th on Saturday and was immediately transformed to the state of Alabama. I was surrounded by Crimson Tide faithful cheering their school´s romping of Tennessee. Waitresses wore Tide cheerleading outfits and, though not a ´Bama disciple, I was welcomed as long as I was not wearing orange. Even got a free Alabama Slamma shot to celebrate the win. My next visit I hope to find the equivalent Duckspot but damn, those Bama peeps were fun! Now, on to Honduras!

Monterey Triathlon completed!

This weekend, after months of training, I successfully completed my first triathlon. It wasn't pretty and it wasn't fast but I, along with my entire Team in Training group, completed the 1.5K swim, 40K bike, and 10K run. My time was 3 hours, 45 minutes, which placed me around #800 of the 1400 person race. No, I won't be trying out for the Beijing olympic team, but given it was my first tri and I got two leg cramps on the swim, I'm not too disappointed. And lots of room for improvement, right! Yep. I was met at the finish line by my parents who drove about 300 miles to be there. And most important of all, our team raised over $125,000 for cancer research! Thanks to everyone's support for the past few months. Peace!