An update from abroad!

A week and a half at spanish school reminded us how hard it is to learn a second language! Although we may have struggled to conjugate verbs we easily made friends with the other students. Ryan, Jenny, Ryan, Jennifer (apparently in the U.S. everyone has the same name…) Karen, Bob, Robert, Felipe, Andres and Guilherme became a fabulous group to spend time with on our ‘recess’, lunch breaks and after school.

While in Montevideo we visited historical sights, walked along the famous Rambla, ate enough gelato to sink a boat and viewed two amazing movies at the cinema. Sherlock Holmes blew our minds with its intricate details and suspensful plot line. Invictus was in a league of its own, our hearts were touched as we watched Nelson Mandela inspire his country and we left the theatre dreaming of better days –playing rugby professionally in South Africa.

On three different occasions we were lucky enough to have local guides show us their city. Alicia, Leo and Leo jr welcomed us into their home and were eager to share stories about Montevideo and memories of when Sarah’s family lived next door. It was exciting to see the former Gray household and visit the Hospital Italia where Sarah was born.

At the end of our two weeks we skipped a few days of classes and travelled up the coast to Paradise. Cabo Polonio is a small village owned by the Government, the approximately 60 permanent residents lease their small abodes. No further development is allowed to preserve the rustic feel of the village. Our hostel had only solar power electricity and a rain water and grey water system. The beach began at our bedroom door and continued on for miles becoming sand dunes in the distance. Our two days in heaven were spent exploring the rocky shores and sand beaches, searching for shells and watching sea lions. We explored the 129 year old light house and summited several sand dunes. On our first night we watched as the sun set on the west beach as the full moon rose over the east beach. Accompanying us on this amazing adventure were three Brasilian boys whom we had become friends with at the school. We had a fantastic time hanging out with Andres, Guilherme and the handsome Felipe, and look forward to visiting them in San Paulo.

On our way back to Buenos Aires we visited the old fashioned town of Colonia del Sacremento on the coast of Uruguay then traveled by boat across the river to the port in BA. Elena, a girl we had met back in Puerto Iguazu happily agreed to spend a day with us and we had a fabulous time. Walking around parts of the city we had previously missed, we visited Recoleta (a famous graveyard) and the surrounding neighbourhoods. For lunch we ate empenada’s at a secret little café that her friend Patricia recommended and were caught in the rain on our walk in the park. Back at her apartment we enjoyed visiting with her family, preparing a homecooked meal and sharing the evening with new friends.

Twenty Four hour clocks still seem to prove difficult for us and we missed our bus by an hour or so. Fortunatly, they agreed to let us pay the full price for a new seat and we settled down into SUPER CAMA. Probably the most comfortable way to travel. Our seats reclined into full beds and although the dinner menu reminded us of that song about spam…it wasn’t spam at all, it was ham. Ham and cheese sandwiches, a bun with a side of ham and cheese, a quiche filled with ham and cheese and some rice with chunks of ham.

Our bus dropped us off the next morning in Mendoza. This is one of the largest cities in Argentina. Many people go to Mendoza to taste the wines for it is surrounded in vineyards. Others go there on their way to trek up Mount Aconcagua: the tallest mountain outside of the Himalayas. For us, it was a 2 night stop over on our way to Santiago. On our full day we decided to splurge and take a guided tour to some beautiful sights in the Andes. It was spectacular driving out of the flat dry lands to the jagged peaks of the Andes for they are beautiful. Our first stop on the tour was at the dam that provides water for Mendoza, it was a huge blue expanse quite like most lakes in Canada. Our next stop was at Punta Del Inca, a natural bridge across the river where hotsprings bubble. There is so much sulphurus sediment in the water of the springs that over time has built up to become an incredible sight. Yellows, greens and golds made up the cascading rock formations. It’s really hard to describe it. We were probably the most excited people on the bus when we found out we got to do a hour long hike next. Our hike took us to veiw points where we could see the back slope of Aconcagua. The fresh mountain air and beautiful views were delicious to gulp in and us reminded us of home! A few more stops along the way and we eventually returned to our hostel tired and happy after the days adventure.