Here are some photos that include our last hurrah in Mendoza, along with the volcano and national park hikes. Enjoy!
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
I am thankful for...
...the people that love me.
I just retunred from two full days hiking in the Chilean forest alone. Pretty much my only contact was with an Israeli and a local Chilean, but only for a short time each. For the remainder, I was all alone with only my thoughts. I even slept in an empty house last night. It was quite the opposite of a typical Thanksgiving day. I wasn´t hungover either.
This morning I hiked to the top of Cerro San Cristobal in Parque Nacional Huerquehue just outside of Pucon, Chile. The sights are extrodinary, but what felt best about the two days was thinking about those who are special to me. I was able to find comfort by myself with my family and friends in my thoughts. Oddly enough, the time away has made me feel more close to so many. It´s easy to take these relationships for granted when they are convenient and easy. Now that they are neither convenient nor easy, these relationships feel especially important. All alone on a day we usually surround ourselves with loved ones wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be. And that is why I´m thankful. (end gushy part)
And for an update: Rach returned to Chicago last Tuesday for a wedding. Since, I traveled south to San Martin de los Andes and attempted to climb Volcan Lanin. The first day was great, but the weather prevented a summit attempt on day two. With two Dutch folks I met in San Martin, we traveled to Pucon, Chile. There we made it to the top of Volcan Villarica and slid down on our butts. That was awesome. Also, if you get the chance to try hydrospeed, I highly recommend it. Then, the two days in the national park. I head to Bariloche (Ar) tomorrow to meet Rach and our friend Louise for a month in Patagonia. When I get to a better computer, I can upload the amazing pictures of volcanoes, forests, mountains, sunsets, and Thomas. Stay tuned.
I just retunred from two full days hiking in the Chilean forest alone. Pretty much my only contact was with an Israeli and a local Chilean, but only for a short time each. For the remainder, I was all alone with only my thoughts. I even slept in an empty house last night. It was quite the opposite of a typical Thanksgiving day. I wasn´t hungover either.
This morning I hiked to the top of Cerro San Cristobal in Parque Nacional Huerquehue just outside of Pucon, Chile. The sights are extrodinary, but what felt best about the two days was thinking about those who are special to me. I was able to find comfort by myself with my family and friends in my thoughts. Oddly enough, the time away has made me feel more close to so many. It´s easy to take these relationships for granted when they are convenient and easy. Now that they are neither convenient nor easy, these relationships feel especially important. All alone on a day we usually surround ourselves with loved ones wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be. And that is why I´m thankful. (end gushy part)
And for an update: Rach returned to Chicago last Tuesday for a wedding. Since, I traveled south to San Martin de los Andes and attempted to climb Volcan Lanin. The first day was great, but the weather prevented a summit attempt on day two. With two Dutch folks I met in San Martin, we traveled to Pucon, Chile. There we made it to the top of Volcan Villarica and slid down on our butts. That was awesome. Also, if you get the chance to try hydrospeed, I highly recommend it. Then, the two days in the national park. I head to Bariloche (Ar) tomorrow to meet Rach and our friend Louise for a month in Patagonia. When I get to a better computer, I can upload the amazing pictures of volcanoes, forests, mountains, sunsets, and Thomas. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Yes We Did!
Tonight we had an asado (Argentine bbq and party) at our new home with three roommates... one British, one from New Zealand, and a long time American ex-pat. But tonight, over meat, drinks, and some hope, we were all (along with Irish, Latvian, Norweigian, Argentinian, etc.) citizens of the world. Tonight we watched history. We wished to be a bigger presence in it but had to settle for an absentee ballot in a long-decided district (did DC get over 95%?).
Nonethleless, the experience of watching my city (Chicago of course) shine on BBC worldwide amidst a global audience with the knowledge that I had family and friends present for that historic moment was enough to bring me and our compatriots to tears. It seems it´s not just Americans that want change, not just Americans that are inspired by the words ¨president elect Barack Obama¨, but the world. And tonight, above celebrating in our nation´s Capitol or our new President´s first city, we got to celebrate, cry, enjoy, eat, watch, and wait, with the world. And the world cried with us, celebrated every swing state with us, and will hope with us that the words ¨President Obama¨really will hold within them the hope, the change, the healing of a nation, the betterment of a globe, the new world in living color that we´ve been calling merely ¨Change¨ for so long.
We have thoughts of home. We have renewed thoughts that it´s a place we´ll feel comfortable calling home once again. We miss you. We love you. We´re proud of you.
Yes-we-DID!
Yes-we-WILL!
It´s time to answer the world´s call, the nation´s needs, and the individual´s rights. It´s time to hold President Obama to the standard which he himself has demanded. It´s time to make good on those historic words from our nation´s first president from Illinois, the man who enabled this newest president´s path with a simple statement: ¨a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people.¨ Above all, it´s time we showed the world our non-military strength, our humility, our determination, ¨that unlikely story that is America.¨
Yes-we-can
Yes-we-did
Yes-we-WILL
The job starts now...
Nonethleless, the experience of watching my city (Chicago of course) shine on BBC worldwide amidst a global audience with the knowledge that I had family and friends present for that historic moment was enough to bring me and our compatriots to tears. It seems it´s not just Americans that want change, not just Americans that are inspired by the words ¨president elect Barack Obama¨, but the world. And tonight, above celebrating in our nation´s Capitol or our new President´s first city, we got to celebrate, cry, enjoy, eat, watch, and wait, with the world. And the world cried with us, celebrated every swing state with us, and will hope with us that the words ¨President Obama¨really will hold within them the hope, the change, the healing of a nation, the betterment of a globe, the new world in living color that we´ve been calling merely ¨Change¨ for so long.
We have thoughts of home. We have renewed thoughts that it´s a place we´ll feel comfortable calling home once again. We miss you. We love you. We´re proud of you.
Yes-we-DID!
Yes-we-WILL!
It´s time to answer the world´s call, the nation´s needs, and the individual´s rights. It´s time to hold President Obama to the standard which he himself has demanded. It´s time to make good on those historic words from our nation´s first president from Illinois, the man who enabled this newest president´s path with a simple statement: ¨a nation of the people, by the people, and for the people.¨ Above all, it´s time we showed the world our non-military strength, our humility, our determination, ¨that unlikely story that is America.¨
Yes-we-can
Yes-we-did
Yes-we-WILL
The job starts now...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
What IS Pretirement?
Such a clever word . . . When Rachel first described our forthcoming trip this way it appealed to me immediately even though I wasn’t really sure what it would come to mean. I don’t even think Rachel knew. To break the word down is quite easy: The prefix, “pre” obviously means “before” and the root “tire” … ummm well that’s a bit more difficult. For us, it would obviously mean that we would not be working, but how would our lives really change? Today I had a bit of an epiphany and I will share with you what “pretirement” means to me.
Our first month of pretirement was mostly spent in the west camping, hiking, and exploring parts new to us. Our first two weeks of Spanish classes in Mendoza included a biking trip to wine vineyards and a trek up a 3600 m 'hill' but a list of these activities isn't really what pretirement is about.
How ironic that I learned what it is to pretire today. The morning’s situation was stressful: we had to move out of our shared apartment at 10am without a place for our things until we moved into our new apartment at 3pm. Our plan was to hang out in the Plaza de Indepencia and just pass the time. Little did we know there would be a music festival complete with children singing, playing local instruments, and dancing in costume on stilts to entertain us for quite some time. Eventually the gorgeous garden/plaza of the restaurant we passed en route to the plaza finally called our names so we decided to treat ourselves given the difficulty of our situation.
I think I will let the pictures of the restaurant do most of the talking, but let me say that in a perfect outdoor setting, complete with palm trees and fountain, we had the best meal of our trip. It was this meal and our predicament that shed the light on “pretirement” for me. We dined for about two hours, conversing only in Spanish with our server, over three delightful tapas all paired with a bottle of delicious red, where were only to outdone by our perfect steak. Rachel had the wherewithal to sit back from her wine and declare, “This is pretirement.”
That declaration was a reminder that it’s important to realize my position at the moment. I was reminded that I am pretired: that I can take life slowly, satisfy my curiosities, learn new cultures, and just enjoy every minute of this new life. And I’m lucky enough to pretire with someone I love.
Our first month of pretirement was mostly spent in the west camping, hiking, and exploring parts new to us. Our first two weeks of Spanish classes in Mendoza included a biking trip to wine vineyards and a trek up a 3600 m 'hill' but a list of these activities isn't really what pretirement is about.
How ironic that I learned what it is to pretire today. The morning’s situation was stressful: we had to move out of our shared apartment at 10am without a place for our things until we moved into our new apartment at 3pm. Our plan was to hang out in the Plaza de Indepencia and just pass the time. Little did we know there would be a music festival complete with children singing, playing local instruments, and dancing in costume on stilts to entertain us for quite some time. Eventually the gorgeous garden/plaza of the restaurant we passed en route to the plaza finally called our names so we decided to treat ourselves given the difficulty of our situation.
I think I will let the pictures of the restaurant do most of the talking, but let me say that in a perfect outdoor setting, complete with palm trees and fountain, we had the best meal of our trip. It was this meal and our predicament that shed the light on “pretirement” for me. We dined for about two hours, conversing only in Spanish with our server, over three delightful tapas all paired with a bottle of delicious red, where were only to outdone by our perfect steak. Rachel had the wherewithal to sit back from her wine and declare, “This is pretirement.”
That declaration was a reminder that it’s important to realize my position at the moment. I was reminded that I am pretired: that I can take life slowly, satisfy my curiosities, learn new cultures, and just enjoy every minute of this new life. And I’m lucky enough to pretire with someone I love.
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