Bienvenidos a Argentina!

After months of planning, days of packing, and 40 hours traveling by plane and bus... I am FINALLY in Argentina! I decided to immediately head south to Bariloche to take advantage of the southern hemisphere's snow since I am about to enter into my 2nd summer in a row. I met up with my friend Shannon who has been living here for the snow season, and she got me acquainted with the cute Swiss-German town. We have been snowboarding as much as possible at the closest resort Cerro Catedral which has been awesome (minus the horrible rental equipment), including an intense hike up a snow covered mountain on my first day. I really wasn't sure I'd be able to make it up the rocky peak with my snowboard in tow, but once I did it was definitely worth the incredible view of lakes surrounded by snow caps, not to mention the ride down the secluded side of the mountain!

and our hike up La Laguna:

I am learning that Argentines think that they have the best of everything in the world. For one, their accent is completely different than any Spanish I've ever heard (ll and y are pronounced with a "sh" sound so that the sentence [she arrived yesterday] = [ayer ella llego] = [aSHer ey-SHa SHe-go].) They also have a totally different slang "lunfardo" section of their language (che means hey/dude, boludo means douchebag but in the most endearing sense of the word). According to Argentines, they also have the 'best' chocolate, ice cream, reggae music... and country in general. One thing I can agree with, though, is that they have amazing MEAT! Asados are family-style barbeques that everyone has once or twice a week. Think CARNE, and a lot of it (plus wine and beer of course). FYI this was eaten by 6 people:
Today I went on a horseback ride through an area of Bariloche that is owned by the Jones family who were known for hiding the Billy the Kid bank-robbing bunch while they were on the run. The family has not sold any of their land so there is a massive reserve free of hotels, bungalows, and tourist shops that flood most of the city center. It was a full day of horseback riding with incredible views, and then we stopped to make a fire, cook empanadas, drink wine, and share mate (a bitter tea-like drink that I am starting to acquire a taste for... more on mate later). Here's some photo highlights:










Bueno, that's it for now. Please bear with me, as I am brand-spankin new to the blogging world... And keep me posted with your lives as well! I leave on 20 hour bus back to Buenos Aires tomorrow to figure out the next 51-ish weeks of my life so wish me luck :)

BESOS!