Happy Holidays

In the words of the group Band Aid, “ Do they know it’s Christmas time at all?” Back home friends and family are most likely bombarded with Christmas propaganda in their daily routine. Holiday tunes have taken over the radio waves, and a fresh blanket of snow has been dumped on New England to ensure a white Christmas. T minus a week until Navidad here in Argentina and it would be a Christmas miracle to spot a decorated tree.

In the Southern Hemisphere we are embracing summer. The days settle in at a comfortable 80 degree mark on the thermometer and our bronzed faces enjoy the daylight hours until about 10 pm. Mysteriously Christmas is nowhere to be found. It seems as though this may be the year that Christmas was forgotten. Fortunately there have been enough distractions that it would not be entirely tragic is Santa skipped over us this year. Chris, Bree and I have settled in quite nicely to our Patagonian lifestyle. We have found adventure and new friends just about everywhere we trek.

One of the simplest joys I find in traveling is spending time in the hostel kitchen making new friends. Thus far we have an eclectic list of international amigos. We have befriended an Israeli couple enjoying their around the world honeymoon trip. One evening the scene in the kitchen involved an Irishman, Englishman, and an American sharing the same cooking space (sort of sounds like the beginning of a bad joke.) Fortunately despite the centuries of history between these countries we managed to share the kitchen in peace, and a few beers! The other day over breakfast we met three young men who have been on their adventure since July 2007. These three ambitious guys have pedaled their bikes from Alaska and plan to ride to the very bottom of Argentina. Breakfast has never been more inspiring and kitchens have never been more interesting.

Interestingly enough inspirations have been found outside of the hostel kitchen walls. My traveling buddies (Chris and Bree) and myself hopped on a two hour bus ride the other day following a trail of snow capped mountains to an unbelievable hiking trail . Only 5 hours of hiking led us to a mountain peak tucked in between two giant glaciers. Every so often a roar that sounded like thunder clamored through the eerily silent vast space, but really it was massive chunks of ice tumbling down the mountain. The overpowering noises matched with 360 degrees of Andes panoramic view created a very humbling scene. We spent the night on a small shack on the top of the mountain with a few park rangers who practically had to chase us down the mountain the next morning because we lacked a few pesos. Just another adventure in the land of Patagonia.

I currently sit in the hostel kitchen. Things have come full circle and the staff is actually decorating for the big holiday this week. Our numbers in traveling companions have dwindled as we are down to two. With heavy hearts Chris and I said farewell to Bree today as she heads back to the States for Christmas. Soon Chris and I will venture farther south for bigger glaciers and stronger winds. To everyone back home, warm wishes and happy holidays.