1/7/2011 - Cafayate, Argentina: Argentina Dreaming

It really felt like a legitimate road trip the other day in Argentina. I was headed on a scenic highway to wine country in Cafayate. It was a splendid drive where there were actual outlooks over scenic views and plenty of natural phenomena to gaze at along the way. I´d drive twenty miles then stop at a giant rock formation or huge millions year old crevices. It was great! It was just like Moab in Utah, except it had a giant natural rock shaped just like a toad. It was awesome, if only all the roads were that spectacular.

Toad rock. duh.

Finally! Wine country.

 Sadly that´s not always the case, as the following three days were long flat and boring. And as always filled with many roadside repairs. I´ve learned to just budget extra time for when shit breaks down on the bike. It´s too bad though because I was becoming a time liability for my buddy Ray. Eventually I told him to move on because I was broken down and it was going to take me at least an hour to fix my problem. So we said our goodbyes and he left me with some great inspirational words. I was pretty frustrated at the time because I didn´t have the proper tools to fix my bike on my own, so I had to see a mechanic. But what he said was: "the end of the world is waiting for you." I love it. I mean I´ve come this far, so no matter what happens I´m still going to make it. I instantly got in a better mood, and once my bike was fixed I took off smiling for a new destination.

Pretending to look cool with the self timer option on the camera. ha.

And now for something completely different. (Great segue, I know.) But really, learning a new language has been challenging yet fun and rewarding. Of course as an American, I only speak English, but it really did start when I was forced to take a second language for two years in high school. Luckily I realised that I lived near Mexico, so Spanish was probably a better choice than German. Like everyone else I slacked off and only did it for the grade. Luckily for me some vocabulary and most of the grammar stuck. Skip ahead ten years and I´m living in Spanish speaking countries for six months already. It´s always a new experience learning something new, but language is totally different. At first I surprise myself by actually thinking in Spanish. That´s a good start. It´s much better to start in Spanish rather than translate your thought from English. Then I started to learn the intricacies, and about how to say things we have no way of saying in English. It´s nice, but it´s like that in a lot of other languages too. In Danish they have no word for ´please´. So naturally you can assume all Danes are rude. :)

One of the last steps in learning for me was actually dreaming in Spanish. Now that´s crazy, but consciously lets me know I´m getting there. I can´t say something like: "I´m going to donkey punch you right in the baby maker, then slay a baby deer for breakfast", but really, how often am I going to have to get that thought across. Maybe once or twice max. I´m content with my current level of comprehension, but until I can understand everything in a random ass episode of Los Simpson; I´m not fluent. I´ll get there though.

Right now I´m practicing and camping my way ever southward. Soon I´ll be in Patagonia, fishing and hiking the days away. I´m nearing my hard fought goal of Ushuaia. It feels nice to be on the home stretch, but really there is so much to do and see before I head back to the real world. Unill next time..