Los pensamientos enmarañados de una insomne

It is currently 5:38 am in Mendoza and I am awake. If it were a Saturday or Sunday morning, this would be entirely acceptable because it would likely mean I had/were having an adventurous evening that turned into morning. However, as it is Thursday and I have 4 classes tomorrow, being up at 5:40 (two minutes gone by already) is really undesirable.

I find myself in a rather bizarre mood (as is expected from a newly born insomniac) this morning, but hope that this will go away when the sun comes up and I can pretend that I feel refreshed and excited for what will come. This is not the first time I have had intense trouble sleeping, though it is the longest time I have been up in one night without wanting to be. I don't know what it is about being here, if it has anything to do with being here, but since arriving I have had at least two really horrible nights of sleep a week. Usually after 4 hours of reading books, pretending to sleep, looking through old photos on my computer, rereading old essays and being amazed at how much stuff I have forgotten, manically hunting down a sole buzzing mosquito... I am able to fall back asleep for a few hours. At this point, my alarm is set for one hour and fifteen minutes from now. Is it worth it to try a little more?

I completely neglected to write anything about my trip to El Bolsón and for that I apologize. I spent five days (two of which don't count as they were spent sitting on a bus) exploring mountains, trees, people, water, food, and thin ozone. All of which are things I love, especially thin ozone. According to very reliable sources (Wikipedia, obviously), "Since stratospheric ozone is produced by solar UV radiation, one might expect to find the highest ozone levels over the tropics and the lowest over polar regions." In terms that I can understand at 5:50 am, the ozone layer is thinner in Patagonia and regions really far south (as well as way up yonder in northland). I don't know if this delicate thinness has anything to do with the beauty and ethereal nature of El Bolsón, but I think that's what I will attribute it to. The sunlight was distinct, as far as I am concerned. Everything always seemed to glow a little when the light hit it, and I have proof of this with many many many photos I took while exploring.

To give a much less "I'm writing this way too early and on way too little sleep" explanation of my trip... I traveled with three other girls on my program who share my desire to sleep outside, hike a bunch, meet random people, and eat dulce de leche with everything. We hiked Piltriquitron, a beast of a mountain in the Andes that has a view of Chile and a billion other beautiful mountains, lakes, trees, nature nature nature, etc. After hiking we ate homemade pizza and beer in the refugio, the somewhat equivalent to a shelter or hut on the AT, but way cheaper and more prevalent on the trail. After spending the next day hanging out in the little town of El Bolsón and exploring the enormous artisan market, we hiked along Río Azúl (the Blue River). Let me tell you, this river is blue. Yes, the sky is a very lovely color, as is the Atlantic Ocean. But Río Azúl is really, really, really, really, wicked blue. The woods that surrounded the river reminded me a lot of Appalachian woods, except the obvious difference in the lack of a maple, oak, and pine leaf floor. And in addition to all this, we befriended Hernan the artisan, Juan the upkeeper, and Ruben the taxista and our surrogate father while traveling. One night we cooked a real US dinner of Grilled Cheese (but gourmet with avocado, good cheese, grilled mushrooms, and caramelized onions) and drank like real Argentines (fernet con Coca-Cola y vino) and talked until there was almost no point in going to sleep... kind of like right now.

Classes have really begun and life is started to acquire some kind of rhythm. Some days are still better than others, but I have still yet to feel completely lost here. I still can't tell if my Spanish has improved, but I do feel much more at ease in the city and with what I'm doing here. Time is flying by inappropriately too fast and I am finding myself engaging in life in unexpected and exhilarating ways. I still don't have any friends that are from Mendoza, but I have friends from other places. Así es la vida.


Hiking up Piltriquitron.


Dinner with our new friends.