Arrival in Bariloche, Argentina

I’ve arrived. It’s the start of another adventure, another exploration, another experience to take me away from everything familiar and comfortable. Just to shake things up a bit, make me thing, challenge me.

I can’t say it wasn’t hard to leave a loving gathering of family the day after my mom’s 60^th birthday party. It was. I was lucky enough to be surrounded by family that I rarely have the opportunity to see, especially my 86 year old grandmother, who at the same age as me now (26) gave birth to my amazing mother. We celebrated how wonderful she was in style and everyone had very nice things to say. So I left this lovely gathering and headed off on an airplane the next morning. This time further south, further away. Argentina.

Argentina is nothing similar to my previous experiences in Latin and South America. It feels like Europe, looks like Europe and functions like it to some extent. At least, that’s what people tell me. I still haven’t had the opportunity to visit Europe as of yet! But in my imagination, Argentina is a South American version of a European country.

After three different flights, I arrived in San Carlos de Bariloche. From above, it looks desolate – no forest, no lakes, no rivers, just slightly sloping and bare, brown lands. At least that is what it looked like from above. From below, I’ve decided it’s the Southern hemisphere’s Idaho. Dry, mountainous, dusty, clear skies, crisp, fresh air. The town is ringed with white-capped mountains and nestled next to the banks of a large lake. Warm during the summer days and cool at night like a desert.

Thinking back to when I arrived in Margarita two and a half years ago, the difference between the two places is striking. Polar opposites: tropical vs. temperate; beach vs. mountains; hot and humid vs. crisp and dry. I took a walk around the neighborhood where I am staying and saw dogs, as I did in Boca del Rio, but the dogs were big, fat, hairy and friendly, not thin, scrawny, diseased and scared. There were houses all over the neighborhood, but there were big, well-designed, attractive and landscaped; not small, dilapidated cement brick boxes placed on a treeless street. There are people out in the street, but instead of staring at me like an alien, they glance at me briefly say a friendly hello and go about their business.

The landscape around Bariloche is fascinating, but even though the mountains are crisp, clear and spectacular, I find it is difficult to get a feel for the essence of the place due the huge amount of introduced species surrounding the town. There are monoculture stands of pine trees introduced from North America and spiny, scratchy shrubs scattered throughout the areas that most likely aren’t native. And the lake is surrounded by 4-foot high bushes covered with yellow flowers, which are beautiful but are from Scotland. Slowly, I’ll have to start hashing out which plants are from which part of the world and which ones are from here!

More soon….