Meeting Perito Moreno

What a week-end! Some friends from my Mendoza trip as well as a few others accompanied me to Patagonia, Argentina to see the glaciers. We stayed in the town of Calafate, which is in the extreme South of the country. We had our first exciting experience before even getting off the plane. The flight attendant made an announcement over the loud speaker, but I missed the message since I was listening to Disney soundtracks with my friend Sarah. However, I realized something was up when the plane stopped in the middle of the runway and we began to disembark. I was quickly informed that someone called in a bomb threat, so they had to unload all of the luggage. After 15 minutes of standing in the wind and utilizing my warm coat for the first time in Argentina, we all jumped in an ambulance that took us to the airport. We paid for a hostel but they ran out of room, so we received an upgrade to a hotel. Luckily, we were still able to pay the hostel price ($10 a night!).

The next morning, we woke up bright and early to take a bus and a boat to Perito Moreno, a famous glacier in Calafate. It is 110 km deep but only 15 years old. The glaciers in Antarctica are much older than this one. I learned that glaciers are on land, and ice bergs are in water. Perito Moreno was formed from compacted snow, wind and gravity, rather than water that froze. It moves 1-2 meters every day. While we were looking at it and even after we were on it, we heard loud crashes and saw massive pieces of ice falling off the edges! The guides kept us away from these regions, so we weren't in danger. The combination of the glacier, the Andes mountains, the water, and the trees created a view that was absolutely breathtaking. Sometimes I just had to stand there and ask myself if I was dreaming. A repeated question throughout the day between my friends and I was: "Is this real life?" We were strapped in intense shoe covers (grampons) with spikes on the bottoms that enabled us to walk on the glacier without slipping. Walking up and down the pointy ice hills was unnerving but doable. Our guides were very nice and helpful and taught us the correct way to walk on the glacier. We had to keep our feet "bien separados" (well separated) so that our spikes wouldn't catch on each other. Walking up and down the hills got tiring after a while, but the wind cooled me off. We were able to lean over the edge of a big ice chasm while holding tight on our camera straps. We also were able to drink the fresh glacier water at one of the group stops! Two of my friends were ready with straws. It was the most fresh, delicious water I have ever tasted, a close second being water from Lake Superior in Washburn, Wisconsin. We hiked on the hilly surface of Perito Moreno for an hour and a half and then the guides surprised us at the end with a table and refreshments hidden in the glacier. Whiskey and alfajores! It was my first glass of whiskey; I didn't like it very much, but I was on a glacier, so can't complain.

The weather was perfect and sunny all week-end. It was a bit brisk since we were on the Southern tip of Argentina, but still nothing compared to Chicago or Madison winter. Calafate is a quaint, small town; the streets in the central part are lined with cafés, small, colorful houses, and shops with clothes made out of sheep wool. We had a few very good dinners at family style restaurants. I could tell how small the town was because our lunch waiters, glacier guides, and friends we met at the bar all walked into our dinner restaurant at some point during the night. If I lived in Calafate, I feel like I would know everyone within a week. We tried to go to an estancia (farm) the next day to see sheep shearing and a gaucho show, but the season for estancia viewings had just ended. We ended up walking around the marshy paths of the lagoon, which I enjoyed more than a touristy activity anyway. We got to see flamingos and beautiful blooming trees as well as Lago Argentina (the Argentina Lake). I am so glad that we came during Autumn; all of the trees were flaming red and bright yellow.

I went for a run around the town in the morning and breathed in the fresh Patagonian air. I named the first part of my run "colorful houses and whistles." We were getting even more catcalls than in Buenos Aires, which might be due to the fact that there are less young women to whistle at, so each one is a rare occurrence. I saw more dogs in Calafate than I did in Colonia, and that's saying something. I agree with my parents when they said that the dogs in this country all seem so docile. They like making friends just as much as I do. Two of them hung out with us for a few hours and served as our tour guides. I noticed that there seems to be a "Plaza General San Martín" in every city in Argentina. My friend Maja and I had a really good conversation about the flaws of the education system. I want to be a teacher so I can impact young people's lives in a positive way, but I am also scared that I will be another helpless pawn in the system and will not be able to change the rigid structure by myself. I somehow managed to get locked in bathrooms twice while on this trip.. Once in the hotel, and the front desk worker had to unlock the door with a key. Another time in the glacier refuge. The guide's screwdriver didn't help, so I had to climb over the door and two guides had to catch me. I might just never lock doors anymore. While in my hotel room around 1 in the morning Saturday night, we turned on the TV and were overwhelmed with news stories about Osama Bin Laden's death. I understand that people are happy to have the man responsible for their family members and friends' deaths unable to harm anyone else, but I also feel that I could never celebrate someone's non-existence. I also do not like the idea that we are now in grave danger from angry terrorists. I think this quote by Martin Luther King Jr. really sums up my opinion on the matter: "Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."

I had a lovely time in Patagonia and am also on the verge of spending my life savings. Traveling is one of the things in life (along with US universities) of which I really wish I could change the price. It is such an invaluable activity; I feel that everyone should have the opportunity to explore the world around them without having to pay an arm and a leg for it. I wish I could carry the mountains and glaciers with me in my pocket and take refuge in them whenever I am feeling stressed or lonely. Thank goodness for pictures to help jog my memory whenever I forget about the wonders of the universe.