Onward to Argentina

January 12

We arrived in villa la angostura, Argentina, today.  The trip took about 6.5 hrs, with 1.5 of that spent crossing the border.  First Chile had to allow us to leave, making sure our rental car was properly sorted.  Then Argentina had to allow us in, with all sorts of documents and stamps at each step (both customs and immigration on each side of the border.)

The drive into the Andes was stunning.  The wilderness was incredibly remote, craggy peaks and giant trees with very few signs of human life.  Almost as soon as we crossed the border and descended on the other side, the landscape changed.  The trees disappeared, the grass turned brown, the vegetation shrank.  Classic rain shadow desert, but the phenomenon never ceases to amaze me.  Such a clear place to put an international border, at the top of a mountain range at the boundary between two ecologies.  (I’m pretty sure I’m not using “ecologies” incorrect.  Apologies to my ecologist readers.)

We drove through the desert for about 2 hrs on the Argentina side before heading back into the Andes, on winding mountain roads to this village.  If I understand the exchange rate correctly (a true if, since we have so little internet access) it is much cheaper than in Chile.  I bought a huge bag of fruit here for $8, which would have cost twice that in Chile.  Beer seems markedly cheaper (maybe 30% less?). Perhaps that’s how I calculate money, based on beer and fruit.  We figured out this morning that gas in Chile is about $4.50 a gallon; not yet sure on this side.

We nearly left Chile one day too early.  We were almost all packed up; we saw our Air B&B host drive by (their house was directly next to ours) and said goodbye, and she asked why we were leaving early.  After checking our itinerary, we realized our mistake.  We spent the extra day in Pucon napping and fighting with our kids, approximately in that order.  I love my husband and his need for constant activity.  Back home it’s okay, because it can never last more than a few days before he has to go back to works Here, it is wearing me out a bit, because he just wants to DO so much and sometimes I just want to sit and stare at the trees.  A day to veg was lovely.

For the first time today I’m feeling a bit homesick.  We have now been here for 2 weeks.  We arrived at our 4th location.  I just want to settle in a bit.  Stop moving around.  I’d like to focus on school for the kids a bit more.  We are doing 1-2 hrs a day, and I just don’t know if that’s enough.  We’ve been trying to incorporate lessons into more of what we do, but MJ, in particular, is resistant, unless we call it formal school.   Her lack of desire to learn things is troubling to me.  I dare say she has always had this.  Though she is deeply interested in geography and history.  For example, I had a very long conversation with her attempting to explain Russia’s relationship with the US.    It’s like a more mature form of gossip, which is certainly part of her interest; wanting to understand the adult world.  

I miss my sewing machine.  I miss reliable internet.  I miss being able to talk easily with strangers.  We have encountered almost NO one who is a native English speaker; the only two were at our first stop.  We have encountered maybe 5 people, in our whole trip, who hear us speaking English and engage us in conversation.  Everywhere we are surrounded by Spanish.  Most of the time I love it, and I love being in this new and foreign place.  But sometimes I long for the comfort of our own language.