Life in a Big Rig

Natalie and I are back in the Lakes District of Patagonia, after making our way back north via semi-truck and bus. After leaving Puerto Natales and receiving what turned out to be terrible advice, we spent the better part of a day, semi-stranded and hiking down a dusty, windy, gravel road, 21k from the nearest town in either direction, just outside the Argentinian border. Finally, a vehicle passed, taking us the final few kilometers to a small town. There, our fortunes turned (as they always seem to), and we were picked up by a long-haul trucker headed north. After about an hour with Carlos el Camionero (trucker), we decided to deviate from our original intended course and continue with him for 1.5 days. It turned out to be a fantastic descison, riding in style in his big rig, drinking maté by day and wine by night, accompanying a simple, shared dinner in the back of the empty semi-trailer, which would also become our home for the night. It was hard at first, but my comprehension of Castillano (Argentinian Spanish) improved immensely during the 21 hours of driving that lay ahead. He loved telling jokes (many at Natalie´s expense), but understanding Castillano, let alone GETTING a joke was very difficult. After much time with the dictionary, I even tried breaking out a few of mine, but telling a joke in another language turned out to be quite a challange--although Carlos was entertained none the less at my attempts.

Upon arriving at the city where we would stay and Carlos would continue north, back to his family, he insisted on driving us directly to the bus terminal. While this has been generally the standard here, as people are absolutely, astounding accomodating, driving his semi-trailer INTO the downtown of a big city and parallel parking it was way above and beyond. Carlos, we´ll try to remember and send you a jar of Mantequilla de Maní Americana (American peanut butter)!

We spent the last two days in El Bolsón, the Hippie mecca of Patagonia. They had an extremely unique and interesting crafts fair yesterday, which we spent the day purusing while resting--finally! Today, as I said, back in Bariloche, spending waaaaaaay too much time on the computer, applying for "real world" jobs upon our return. Tomorrow, we leave Argentina for the last time to explore the temperate rainforested island of Chiloé in Chile, beginning the last leg of the 10 or so days left in this wonderful continent of South America.

Adios,
Sam

PS. Natalie and posted and labeled the iceberg picture.