My final dinner here in Buenos Aires--yes it is going to be a ham sandwich! With a steak!

So this pervasive melancholy feeling that has been surrounding me for the last week or so and made my behavior not such a favorable sight to behold (you know who you are and again I apologize) has apparently followed me to Buenos Aires. I arrived here from Bariloche on Saturday, and for the life of me can´t seem to find anything that can make me happy. Which is really unfortunate as I came back here a bit early in order to do and get a few certain things that I simply have not been able to find since I got here!

I am actually afraid to call my friends here and subject them to my current behavior, and am not sure how to get out of the funk. I guess with the impending departure I am feeling all the mixed feelings other travellers have told me about.

While I am excited to go home and see friends and family and get started on whatever may be next for me--and the prospects are great--I am also feeling sad of course about ending my travels, leaving new friends I have made, and maybe a little bit unsure of how to make the adjustment back to ¨normal¨ life. This is my life now, and even Buenos Aires, which I love dearly, is failing to snap me out of this current mood I am in.

Perhaps these feelings stem from a very poor mistake I made back a few days ago. I admit it friends: I took another Andesmar bus. I know Shannon is going to kill me when she hears this saddening news, and in my defense, I thought I was purchasing a ticket for Tur Bus, but they stuck me on the Andesmar crossing the border from Chile into Argentina. The ride itself was not bad, but can you believe these people had the nerve to not even serve a ham sandwich as a snack??!!

Anyway, back to now. The city is different, as I guess are all places when you leave and return. Walking around the city the other day, I couldn´t quite put my finger on what was so different. I finally realized that the street signs, which used to be sponsered by the Personal cell phone company with a blue banner on top, have been replaced by the Claro cell phone company´s red banners. A little thing, yes, but enough to put me out of my element and not sure what is going on. Favorite restaurants have closed, and new ones have opened in locations of previous clothing stores. Even the local dogs are out of sorts. Normally they act like they are on their way to a party, the office, or the home of a friend, but today there were some running around barking and growling at people...very strange.

But also, as always, the city has not failed to make me laugh. Cruising toward the centro to find my faovrite pants in a smaller size (this is a purchase not to be apparently) I came upon Plaza de Mayo and what was evidently some kind of waiter contest. There they were, cruising the loop so to speak, decked out in their waiter uniforms, carrying a tray containing a pepsi, a bottle of water, and of course a full glass of the ever-present-in-Argentina Tang, which these people have convinced themselves is actual orange juice. Just going around in circles apparently all afternoon. There did not appear to be any signage of any kind, other than the usual headlines about the Malvinas war veterans shoddy treatment by the government, which would explain the behavior of these waiters. Assumingly they were not there just because they had nothing better to do on a Saturday afternoon......

Other things I have filled my time up with recently are things like getting down to Michael Jackson and the Village People at the hostel party the other night, travelling through the Lake District near Bariloche in a car I rented with a new friend, watching said friend get down to Barry White in the middle of the street in Bariloche, being terrified by some animal from the llama family as it ran straight toward me in the car, and once again seeing some amazing views.


So I am off to the airport in a couple of hours to head to Miami where I get to relax for a couple of days with a new friend on a boat watching the sun set and putting away some margaritas....can´t think of a better way to end this trip! It has been a great year and I am looking forward to doing some reflecting on the year´s experiences and lessons learned. Soon I will post some more pictures from my last night here in Buenos Aires at the Cuban salsa club and also hoping some fun pics of us chicas hanging out in Miami. In the meantime, here are a couple from recent days.

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Mas%20Argentina/?albumview=slideshow

Who does this shit?

Hiking on glaciers in Argentina. Kicking the tops of coffee plants while paraglding in Colombia. Jumping off bridges in Ecuador. Sandboarding in Peru. Climbing out of mud during a landslide while mountainbiking in the rain in Bolivia. Horse trekking in the rainforest of Chile. Riding in the back of an ambulance in Uruguay. Who does these things, you may ask?

Before we answer that question, lets think of some other things I do....occasionally I get massaged and polished by strange men. And I pay them. Occasionally I don´t pay attention and get covered in presents leftover on the streets by the local hounds. Often I walk many kilometers in a day, during rain, snow, and unbearable heat. More than a few times I got completely covered in mud when caught off guard. I have smelled things on the streets of South America whose origins are something that I don´t care to think of. I have seen more this year than many people do in a lifetime.

Who am I? That´s right friends, I am a pair (yes its a plural and let´s not get particular about the language now people!) of Timberland hiking boots, style number...well apparently that has worn off and anyway is no longer important in my identity. I was born in some factory somewhere, and sold by a snobby salesman at the Tip Top shoe store on W 72nd street in New York City sometime in 2004 or 2005. Sold on sale I might add! The shame of it! But we won´t go into my personal issues just now (sniff).

Prior to this year, I did a bit of walking around New York City, but mostly just hung out in the closet waiting for my big break. Well, it came when blondie decided to take this trip and that she was too cheap to buy a new pair when she had a perfectly decent pair sitting right under her nose. About time, I think!

I have had a great year doing some amazing things in South America, even though recently I sustained a personal physical trama when working my way out of the aforementioned mud in Bolivia. I have cracked a bit and am taking on water. I am praying blondie is not sitting here as we talk thinking I should be replaced! Just think--fired, and after all we have been through together! Maybe some kind soul from Timberland is out there reading this right now, hearing my pleas for help and will offer to have me fixed for free. If anyone is in the know of any of those folks, please put in a good word for me. Down below, you will find a link (well, what passes for one anyway) of some photos of me on my exploits in Chile. But for now, I will leave you with a word from our sponser....

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w190/sweidmann/Chile/?start=0

Quick note I see about the photos..apparently not only does the hyperlink on Blogger not work, also the photos that I rotated don´t bother to rotate in the slideshow either, so will put up the link to the photos and you can view them however you like.

Hello again armchair travellers! I see the boots have taken on a plea for help into thier own hands. Hmph, and after all I have done for them this year, there is just no trust! Anyway, enough about our issues for now. Hugo if you are reading this, there might be some sort of advertising gimmick in there for you I am sure!

Here I am back in Argentina after crossing the final frontier (haha) yesterday from Chile back into Argentina. I am hanging out here in Bariloche where I have big intentions of doing some kayaking. Intentions that might be foiled by the wind and there has even been talk of rain! Whatever! Guess I will have to find some other way to fill my time here.

Went on an absolutely amazing 2 day horsetrek into the mountains of Chile and the temperate rainforest. There is no road, so the only access is by foot or horseback and it was incredible--another highpoint in my year of travel. The Navimag up from Puerto Natales was also a lot of fun and scenery was beautiful. I will be here for several more days and then back to Buenos Aires for a couple days of packing on the pounds with wine and steak before heading up to Miami just a week from tomorrow! Can you believe it? I´ll have a couple of cool days hanging out on the Miami docks courtesy of my new friend Annie before getting back to the real world.

In preparation for my impending return, I am sending out an invitiation to all the New Yorkers to inform you that you can contribute to the Unemployment Fund! That´s right, you too can purchase food of your own choosing, bring it to my house on the upper east side, and I will cook it for you and entertain you with tales from as yet unpublished chapters! Fascinating titles available to choose from include such things as:

Rodents in My Room in Bolivia

Selected by the Chilean Man as This Month´s Navimag Shag--Tips on How You Can Keep
It From Happening to You!

This Month´s Spanish Lesson--Is Masturbate a Reflexive Verb?--Myths and Realities

Yet Another Awe-Inspiring Patagonian Vista.....Yawn

Attacked by Small Rock Wielding Children!

Not in the New York area? Don´t be left out! Coming soon my Paypal account will be set up to receive deposits and you can select the food, wine, dinner guests, and stories to be told in your honor! My close friend Shannon the filmmaker will film it all and edit it with a personal introduction just for you and send it in the mail or via an online link if you wish! Don´t delay and order now!

In all seriousness folks, it has been an amazing year and I am very blessed and can´t wait to see all of you people again soon! Keep tuning in as more is coming in the next couple of weeks!

muchos abrazos y besos,
Susan