People, Places, and Things: The Andes

Matt and I took a hike through the Andes to see the Aconcagua:: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconcagua ::the highest mountain in all of the Americas. It was exhausting!  But, so great.  We even got to see a caravan with cargo donkeys.  That's not something you see every day in Cincinnati, Ohio. We also drank natural spring water from a glacier stream and saw lots of pueblos on the way there--including one building that is now abandoned, covered in sulfur, and in the side of the mountain.  

Interesting Things: Turkey Day in a Country where it does not Exist

Elicia and I hosted Thanksgiving Dinner at her apartment. There was no cranberry sauce, no American Football, and no fall leaves.  But we did have awesome decor, Chileans, a Brit, and Jeremias--the lone Argentine. We had so much food, there was barely room on the table to eat.  I ended up throwing out the candied yams because they were ugly and tasted worse than they looked, I had my first experience with brining and carving a turkey, and got to have lots of fun with people from all over the world.  My favorite part: when we honored the tradition to share what we were each thankful for.  I'm so glad we got to all share the day together.  

The Centerpiece 

Mario was ready to eat everything... even though he wasn't sure what it all was--being unaccustomed to American food.

Cute Couple--Elicia and Jeremias 

The guys playing video games.  We women stayed at the table and talked a lot. 

 Gloria (Chilean), Maih (Chilean), Kayla (American), Donna (British)

People, Places, and Things: Uruguay

I went to Nueva Palmira, Uruguay a few weeks ago with my friend Monica (mother-in-law to my friend Elicia, mother to Elicia's husband, who is also my friend, Jeremias).  We had a great time.  The little town was so friendly, the skies were clear, the sun was bright, and there was a beach.  What more could you ask for?  You could only ask for a few more days to spend there.  Or, maybe, one day my dream house (which sits next to the shore line).  Here are some pictures of our day trip to Nueva Palmira... one of my new favoritest places ever. 

 Weird garden statues.  

Public grills on the beach

Monica in the act of taking several pictures of her favorite old building in Nueva Palmira

My Dream House.  It was right in front of the shore.  

There was a little kid carnival next to the shore

Hotel Uruguay. Dodgy-looking little place.  Monica said she stayed there once, and confirmed that it doesn't just look dodgy, it is.  This advertisement painted on the side of the building says, "Central Heat, Room with Private Bathroom, and Color TV!"  

 This triangle/key symbol is everywhere throughout the pueblo of Nuevo Palmira.  Not sure what it means, but I liked it. 

Nueva Palmira seems to be a very quiet town--the whole place shut down for a siesta for a few hours in the afternoon.  Once everyone started waking up, we saw them driving their mopeds around on the traffic-light-free streets.  I saw more mopeds that day than I had my whole life.  We even saw a few people sharing mate while driving (link to wikepedia to explain what mate is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_(beverage) ) 

 We took the opportunity to visit the natural history museum of Nueva Palmira.  Quite an interesting little place.  I think this guy here was once what we call a Neanderthal. 

 Pre-historic whale bones (I think the ribs, and not sure what else)

Self-explanatory  

 Pretty

Monica, getting ready to enjoy the afternoon on the shore. She was excited to put on flip flops and walk in the sand.

The National Flower of Argentina and Uruguay. 

The boat we took to and from Uruguay--they're called, "Lanchas."

We came across this ship on the way back.  We had to wait for it and another very large ship to just barely miss hitting each other before we could cross the river and head back to Argentina.  It was a tense moment aboard the lancha.