Onto my next destination after living it up in the True Patagonia…

I have recorded some more digital entries with my recorder but decided not to include them in this entry. I spent my last night in Bariloche taking a very special girl out to dinner, and we have been in contact the last few days through Facebook. She is unlike most girls I know back in the states. Obviously, that is going to be true because she is Argentinean; she seems to very much enjoy simple things and appreciates when simple things are done for her. I sometimes think we get so caught up in the everyday routine of American life that we forget ourselves to enjoy simple things. So it has been a wonderful experience to be around someone who constantly reminds me to enjoy the habitual everyday things just by being herself.

I am sitting in the hostel I originally stayed in Buenos Aires when I first got to Argentina. The van picks me up in about an hour and half to take me to the airport. I am flying to Lima and then very early the next morning to Cusco where I will be doing my volunteer work. I am going to try and arrange some language lessons and a trip to Machu Picchu my first few days in Cusco. I have a few days until I start my volunteer work. I provided some wiggle room to get settled, rested, and somewhat acclimated before I start working on Thursday. I arrive early Tuesday morning and will be picked up from the airport by my host family.

Bariloche was a beautiful mountain town situated right on a clear blue lake in the middle of crisp, clear skies. The weather was a bit chilly but still ideal for outdoor activity. I went climbing one day with a girl who had traveled literally all over the world to excel in her sport. She seemed to be very humble about her abilities to scale the rock face, but it was obvious she knew what she was doing. Safety was her number one concern, which made me feel much more comfortable. She was semi-impressed that I remembered to tie my own knots (for instance the figure eight) from the class that I had taken in Chattanooga, TN. The excursion reminded me of some dear old times I had climbing in Tennessee with an old buddy of mine who actually helped assist me financially in this mission-oriented trip to South America.

The mountain climber’s name was the same as the girl I had taken out the previous night. I thought that was a strange coincidence, or was it not a coincidence at all? Perhaps that is a worthwhile question to ask the Good Lord Above. Anyway, she had a very unique sense of humor. She said that after a day of climbing my arms were going to be so weak that I would need someone to lift the spoon into my mouth because my arms and muscles would be so tight. She was a delight and pleasure to be around.

The next day I went hiking with three new amigos, two from Australia and an older guy from New Zealand. We hiked about twelve miles, scaling a mountain at about a 4,000 feet change in elevation. I thought that was pretty decent for someone who had not done some decent trekking in awhile. At the top of the mountain, there was a small lodge with about two or three other very small cabins for backpackers to stay in. Next to the small assortment of lodgment, there was a frozen lake that you could ice skate on. The lake was surrounded by snow-capped mountain peaks. The scenery was vast and some of the most beautiful my eyes have ever seen. I sat there in awe of God’s creation. I was able to enjoy a warm cup of hot chocolate next to a Benjamin-Franklin oven stove that reminded of some scene out of an old-western movie. I had a pleasurable conversation with an Argentinean couple from Bariloche. The man was a civil engineer, and he had just started dating his significant other whom he was clearly affectionate towards. It was a moment and experience that made me thankful I had made the climb up the mountain. I felt like I was in a dream like the Patagonia brand commercials on television, but perhaps better yet, it was the reality of such a commercial because I was in the Patagonia. I was climbing. I was trekking. And I am experiencing what Kodak moments are made of thanks to a God who loves and cares for me. If you ever want to get away to a beautiful place, then make sure Bariloche is on your list of destinations.