Que Vida!

What a whirlwind life has been lately! We made it back to Cordoba in time to pull ourselves together a little bit (but actually mostly just hung out with the Brazilians as it was their last few days in the city as well), before our friends Mick and Chris from NDSU flew in to spend a week with us, over their spring break. And from the second those two set foot in the country, I don't think we sat down for more than 5 minutes, and we DEFINITELY never slept more than 5 hours at a time. Lucky for us the guys were eager to join in on the Argentina lifestyle, as well as the backpacker one. So we spent the week cooking up chorris, drinking

mate, tasting the wines, and exploring the country. We overnight bused 3 times that week, and visited 6 different cities... can you say crazy?! The first day in Cordoba we walked the centro, ate in the park, showed the guys our house, and stayed in an awesome foreigner hostel- complete with beer pong. Can't say I'd played that down here yet! The next afternoon was spent in tranquila Santa Rosa, soaking up the sun by the big lake and grilling chorizos. Then we shopped and ate empanadas in Bahia Blanca, before taking a van to our mountain destination, Sierra de la Ventana. And wow, was it worth the trek. We did a mountain hike,

explored the friendly little town, and spent the rest of the time catching up, playing cards, and cooking up feasts for each other in the cozy, lime green cabana we rented out. From there we bused over to Mar del Plata (just in time to watch the sun come up over the ocean, I might add), for a day on the beach. It was a bit windy but sunny nonetheless, and we topped off the night by jumping in the ocean in all our clothes when it turned midnight.... I had made it to my birthday!!!!! We traveled one last time that next day, to Buenos Aires, where we ended up finding a random (but awesome) Israeli hostel to stay in, before heading out to eat and dance to celebrate my birthday. I don't think turning 23 gets much more epic than that.

A quick word on turning 23...

Gotta say I was a bit sad to see 22 go, just because it really has been my absolute favorite year yet. I graduated college, ran my first half marathon, and traveled Ecuador and Argentina. I swam in both the Pacific and the Atlantic, survived a jungle trek, and hiked in the Andes. Sure I also got stung by jellyfish, robbed in a bus station, and have been lost more times than I care to count, but it's all been part of the greatest adventure. Lucky for me I feel younger than ever; more than ready to tackle this 23^rd year. And believe me when I tell you I have not the slightest idea what it holds for me. And that is the best part! Bring it on.....

To get back on track, the guys sadly had to fly home to return to “normal life” on Saturday, and Renae and I have been hanging out in Buenos Aires ever since. The city is absolutely GORGEOUS so instead of getting caught up on sleep, we have been trying to do everything in the few days we have here. We shopped in the San Telmo market, saw La Boca, La Casa Rosada, and the port, and even walked through the streets during a political rally. Luckily for us, we bought bus tickets today, to travel all the way to Lima from here starting Thursday morning (70 HOUR BUS RIDE!), so I guess we will have lots of time to catch up on sleep soon. In case you are wondering, this specific bus ride puts us on the other side of the Argentina border at exactly day 90, out of the 90 we are allowed to spend in the country. So as usual we are cutting it pretty close, but assuming the bus doesn’t break down or something, it’s all good!

With all this craziness going on, it’s hard to explain my mindset. I miss Cordoba so, So, SO much- the roomies, the newfound Brazilian friends, and especially the KIDS- but at the same time am so very excited to get to Peru and start the last part of the journey. As my heart opens up more and more it gets harder and harder to say goodbye and leave people behind, but at the same time gets easier to connect with new ones, so I have to be thankful for the change. Also, I can’t even explain how wonderful it was to see friends from home, and how much we miss them already, yet at the same time how right it felt to send them on their way while staying down here to continue on ourselves. All I can say is the days are flying by, I cannot believe our time in our beloved Argentina is already up (I WILL be back!), and I’m left praying that the days ahead are as amazing as the days behind, because there is nothing else I could possibly hope for!

Hoping 3 days on a bus doesn’t make us crazier than we already are,

Jenna Flynn