Buenos Aires, Argentina

Location: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Rundown: Spent the Chilean Dieciocho break in Buenos Aires, Argentina soaking up the fine wine, great steaks, tango, and smooth culture.

It's cold in Chile this time of year! The mountains were deep set in snow as we jetted over them for a week or so in Buenos Aires and other parts of Argentina.

Spent our first few days walking around the beautiful, European city.

Tons of great parks, long boulevards, and interesting architecture made for excellent wandering.

Although some parts of the city has an old-world feel, others are very modern. The combination makes for an interesting vibe.

Perused the huge Sunday markets, walking up and down the cobblestone streets and into the San Telmo antiques market.

We ate like kings (or pigs?). The food was amazing!

Lots of cute sidewalk cafes to stop and... have a cafe. Did I mention the food?

Also hit up the live music scene most nights. Lots of great musicians with influence from all parts of Latin America. This Brazilian jazz group accompanied a swanky dinner and a nice bottle of wine. All in all a terrific night.

Spent a few evenings with some friends from Nido, which was a treat. We run so much at work it's nice to share some time and a bottle of wine and catch some good live music.

Buenos Aires has a fabulous above-ground cemetery, with huge marble tombs, ornate statues, and narrow walkways. Made for an interesting afternoon of wandering while the shadows stretched out...

Helpful people to show you around... if you don't mind your hand being held. Literally. This old gentleman led us around Cementerio de la Recoleta as the bells were tolling to send the living back to their homes. He seemed part specter himself.

The whose-who of Buenos Aires are immortalized here, including the famous Eva Peron, or 'Evita', a political leader during the 40's and 50's.

Perused the different barrios of Buenos Aires, including the gregarious La Boca, with it's obnoxiously colored buildings and intense touristy feel. You can get off the main drag and find some pleasantly seedy streets though.

After a walk around the area it isn't hard to imagine how tango became so popular here. The whole place is odd and sassy. Aren't we all.

LUJAN ZOO

Spent a day finding and exploring the zoo in a town called Lujan. It's a petting zoo, plain and simple. So there were little enclosures full of cute animals like goats that you could play with.

Other petting zoo animals included tigers.

...and lions.

All of the animals are born and raised in the zoo, and are touched by people from the time they are small. Also, all there are friendly dogs in all of the enclosures to keep the cats used to inter-species socialization. It has worked so far...

Some of the creatures were too dangerous to handle, like this nandu.

I always feel bad for having animals in zoos, and I came to this one hesitantly. For the most part the animals seem well cared for (at least well fed!). It's an incredible experience to be able to put your hands on them though.

Chilean Winter Shenanigans

Rundown: General shenanigans in wintry Chile.

Location: Santiago, Chile

Ice climbing excursion with a few friends into Yerba Loca to climb some frozen water falls.

Fresh snow had just fallen in the mountains. It was deep when we started and got nothing but deeper as we progressed. Even with snowshoes and mountaineering boots we were sinking deep.

Made it almost up to a possible climb with Sergio, a new neighbor and buddy from school when it started getting dark.

Took too long to get to the climb due to deep snow. Too bad we didn't realize it until a hundred feet up a steep, snowy valley side approaching the climb. Turned back. You can't win 'em all.

Played some music with some talented musicians of the Nido faculty at a partay. I'm impressed with how many musically talented teachers there are here!

Had a visit from an old buddy, one Hal Foster, a Charlevoix native! I think we met when we were the same age as the kids I'm teaching now! Yikes!

Checked out a local market with Hal one day. The local produce isn't in full swing, being winter down here, but there are still farmers' markets around.

Never too far from music, although the Cueca music is arguably not.

Also, being close to the ocean, there's never any shortage of fresh sea food!

In our Santiago meanderings we came across a Andean dance parade surging through the streets of the city center.

Lots of colors, Andean music, and singing. The costumes were out of this world, although most of the chicas had bright red skin from the cold!

Pretty neat and impromptu. I told Foster that I planned the whole thing.

It always is nice to have guests. Their excitement gives me the reminder of why I'm living abroad, re-opens my eyes to the amazing experiences here that I sometimes forget about. Come on down!

The old cathedrals in the city aren't spectacular, but worth some time to wander around.

Also brought Hal up skiing. Not a terrific visibility day. The helo had trouble getting to our drop zone... didn't even make it off the ground.

In all actuality, this was our helo, but it works just fine!

Made lots of good food with Hal and spent some time catching up.

Also spent a little time in the pubs. This is one of our favorites, Satira, with a cozy little ambiance and good food ta-boot!

On Saturdays I go up with seven other teachers, bringing 96 middle and high school students up to Valle Nevado, the local ski resort for the Nido Ski Club. We bring 'em up intact,

We also get some quality time with the powder. Off piste... so sweet.

Also doing some hiking when the snow clears up here and there.

Working hard, but also enjoying the fruits of the Andes.

That's about it for now! Looking forward to Buenos Aires and Iguazu falls!