Nieve nieve nieve!

It's pretty cool to wake up every morning and think "WOW I can't believe I freaking live here, it is so ridiculously beautiful." And yeah, that's what I think every day. I can't even begin to capture Barioche's beauty with a mere photograph. To grasp the vastness of the lakes and mountains here, you have to come see it for yourself! Snowboarding during the day and returning home to a colorful Patagonian sunset and a glass of Malbec is something I could get used to!!

So about my life here... I am living with my friend Shannon from UCLA, who returned to Bariloche for her second winter season here (you may remember I stayed with her when I got to Argentina last September). We are house sitting for our friends who happen to have an awesome, huge, SICK house with a 180 degree view of the lakes and mountains, complete with a floor-to-ceiling window and deck to enjoy it. It also happens to be for sale along with the 2 other casitas on the property, check out this link for photos and info! The view from the living room:


I am doing some volunteer work with POW (Protect Our Winters), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing global warming with an emphasis in winter sports. Started by a pro snowboarder, POW focuses on making ski resorts more sustainable and educating people in mountain towns. They have decided to expand to Bariloche, and yours truly is now the satellite office here! Besides passing out stickers and working at events, we are in the works of starting a widespread recycling program here. Very few people are conscious of sustainability- there are few reusable goods and there is trash everywhere from littering (I don't even remember the last time I saw somebody deliberately throw a plastic bottle on the ground in California!). We have tons of ideas and it is great to have support and financial backing to be able to put them into action!

We have been lucky with the snow so far, and it is predicted to be an El Nino season WOO!! They have recently opened the entire mountain, so my only plan for the next couple months is to snowboard as much as possible!!!

Last week we took a trip to Pucon, Chile (mostly to stamp my passport again). Pucon has the most active volcano in South America, Volcan Villarica. What would you do with an active volcano? OBVIOUSLY build a ski resort on it!


Riding through the natural lava-carved half pipes while smoke is billowing from the top of the peak was crazy...


It got even more loco when there were 3 earthquakes the next morning! Needless to say, we got the hell out of there!


But first of course we ate all the fish we could get our hands on and had a field day in the grocery store buying teriyaki sauce, peanut butter, and every other foreign food that Bariloche does not have (side note: Argentina has strict import laws, meaning it is difficult/expensive to get non-Argentine food and products. Plus, we are in the middle of Patagonia so we get even less variety.)

Then we returned to Argentina through the region of the Seven Lakes, which was a beautiful drive.


We stopped for a few nights in San Martin de los Andes to stay with friends and snowboard at the resort there, Chapelco. It was a fun and exciting trip, but I am happy to be back in my new home! Argentine snowboard premiere parties and reggae clubs until 8am keep things exciting, but it is the tranquility and walks around the corner to see a different breathtaking vista that makes me love it here so much!

Famous Hotel Llao Llao, a 10 min walk away:


Until next time...............