I´m here in El Calafate again. Had planned to write a longer entry about my adventures tonight, but I´m operating on a bottle of wine... so instead I´ll write about some of the people I´ve met so far.
Tonight I had the first decent sit-down dinner since I got here, and ordered a bottle of wine. Didn´t finish it by myself.... so as I was waiting for the check, I offered the remainder of the wine to a young couple who were waiting for a table. They sat down at my table, and I ended up chatting them all through their dinner. Their names were Coulie (sp?) and Martina... 29 and 21 years old, working here, as a glacier trekking guide and hotel clerk. Of course, they ordered wine too, and shared it... and so here I am doing my best on the keyboard.
I also stayed up late a couple nights ago in El Chalten when a 20-something German sat down with me as I was making dinner of empanadas on the front porch of a little bakery. He lives and works here in Argentina, and was extremely chatty. The one beer I had by myself turned into several beers, a late night... and a killer hangover the next morning. Watch out for those Argentinian beers... stronger than you might think.
And then yesterday, on the bus from El Chalten back to El Calafate, I randomly sat down next to a retired gentleman from St. Louis. He works for a publishing company, and he was personally involved in producing a local history book about my hometown of Centralia, Illinois. Small world, indeed. He´s been traveling and hiking in many countries, so it was great to connect with him.
So... given that I´m traveling solo and kinda shy (particularly considering my rudimentary Spanish), I´ve been happy that I´ve been able to connect with other travelers and even locals... and grateful for their ability to converse in English. The nice thing is that it´s all happened without much effort on my part.
Tomorrow is a much-welcome off-day, so I´ll write more about mountain hikes and spectacular glaciers... hoping to upload some photos, too.
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