Almost home!

I cannot believe it has been 10 days since last post!  Whew!  We have completed 35 hours of Spanish school, meaning 2 solid weeks of study and practice plus lots of homework and practice time.  I got to the point of dreaming in Spanish!  It was very sad to leave friends and instructors in Bariloche, but I could not resist a bit more travel before heading home, so investigated Perito Moreno Glacier, but found 2 options..fly expensively or take the slow bus for 2 or 3 days of discomfort as it was recommended I not drive alone with the kids for safety reasons.  So, we opted to go see the jungle and the amazing Iguazu Falls.  They were amazing and spectacular and awesome all together!  People recommended staying 2 days to do everything there, but we were able to do the whole park in one day with the guidance of our hostel hostess.  She knew what to recommend and it was a gorgeous day and it was not so sweltering (mid 80s) that we could not breathe and we took a down day to acclimate...so it was absolutely fabulous, and the kids were real troopers.  In fact they have been real troopers throughout all of my jaunts.  Occasionally they want to bail on an activity, but with a nudge and reminder of the awesomeness of this adventure, they complied.  Did I mention it was hot for us?  The hostel had a generous pool and a ping pong table...we arrived from the night bus around 1 pm and Erin and I hit the pool head on.  The others napped.  Then after dinner in the evening, we hit the pool again!  Tuesday past found us at the park for the day which was wonderful.amazing.terrific.awesome.plus an experience of the jungle which was awesome.amazing.wonderful too.  Then Wed we packed up and took a long walk in the heat to the point where 3 countries meet...did I mention the heat and the  sun?  Actually, Brazil and Argentina took away Paraguayś access to the ocean about 60 years ago by overpowering Paraguay...recommend reading about it later.  After so much time in the sun, we took one more pool dip and relaxed at the hostel before heading to the overnight bus...but just as we were ready to walk to the station, a rainstorm hit which had been passing us by all afternoon, so we were drenched and luggage swamped heading the 1/2 block to the station.  The streets were and instant river and the driveways  creeks adding to the street rivers...it was amazing.  Once we were on the bus and it departed, the rain stopped...we laughed!  Anyway, here we are in BsAs and finally looking at flying home tonight...just checked out of the hostel.  So out to walk around for a few more hours before heading home.  We will miss Argentina...it has been a sweet and adventurous time here...truly a buen viaje! Adios!

Chile and Church

Today is the 20th and we have completed a week of school here and learned a great card game that I hope you will play with us. We discovered a grilled pizza place which is a great treat after empanadas and loads of meat...but it doesn't beat the chocolate here. The kids would still love to have chocolate 3 times a day. The pizzeria is also in this amazing building made of the special myrtle trees here and it is built like one of the dwarves homes only large. They love dwendes which are like gnomes-so like woodland creatures. So far this weekend we did a day over in Chile going to a hot spring and I tried to go to the volcano, but the roads to it are closed. It was a long driving day plus while waiting in line at the border, my rental car died. Yes it was totally embarrassing! But as soon as a guy ahead of me noticed I was not moving forward, he came up and asked if I needed help. Instantly there were 9-10 men around the car trying to push and jump start it going forward then they tried going backward then a huge SUV pulled up and they jump started it. This on a 2-lane road using both lanes and stopping traffic. It all took less than 10 minutes, but I was most blown away by the number of men who jumped in to help. The original fellow was Chilean and spoke some English. I later was able to help him get through the border process quicker to reciprocate. Sorry no photos as the hostel now has a new computer but no USB port. Chile was like a jungle compared to arg. Chile's side is like Seattle's side of the mountains--more lush and they had many waterfalls like the Cascades. The Arg. Side does not have much undergrowth and where there are woods it can be quite dense. Yesterday we went to El Bolson to church but left later than I had planned so missed half the service. It is a tiny society. They had a SS teacher so the kids joined the class. Very sweet people and made us feel very welcome. They ended the service with a silent prayer time while one more hymn played on the cd. It really touched me again how universal this CS message is and the church too. It has been decades since I had visited a church outside the US and I am so glad we did. I will see if we can go in Buenos Aires next Sunday. After church we went toacafe for asado then to the street fair. El bolson is known for its local artisans and Bohemians. Found a few things tos buy and many things we liked. Came back to a parade and outdoor concert in Bariloche.

Day 2 of Spanish Classes and panting to keep up!!!

We have completed 2 days of classes.  Yes, I am struggling to keep up, but Ian is muy bien con su espanol-castellano.  He is cracking jokes and fully exaggerating his answers while I answer in pigeon-castellano.  Our lesson is totally in spanish, and she is quite rapid unless I ask her to repeat when she does repeat, then speeds up again. But, the week is not up yet--good thing this week´s Bible lesson is on Mind. Ajer, yesterday, we had tons of homework, so could not blog.  Today we have tons of homework, but wanted to blog anyway.  John is wanting more photos though we do try to skype-email daily. 
http://www.academiabariloche.com/indexEN.htm

Here is a photo from the giratoria (revolving cafeteria).
http://www.telefericobariloche.com.ar/ingles/index.htm
One thing we tried yesterday is a local laundry.  They did all our laundry 3-4 loads worth for $10 wash dry and fold, so we did another load today just to be completely fresh.  Our hostel is very clean and they even re-wash the dishes people use to be sure it is very clean.  Another thing they do in Argentina is to put their garbage out in baskets near the street.  These can be intricate or  simple or look like barrels on their side in the air.
Today it was 82 with a light breeze and no clouds until tarde, afternoon.  I bought framboises, raspberries, because they were amazing looking.  When John was here the berries all looked like they were dusted with powder, so what normally is a huge business has been hard hit by the volcanic ash still blowing and drifting to Bariloche.  It has not rained except at night in the last week and a half, so everything is blue skies, sunny, and clean-clear.  I am trying to upload photos of our room, but having difficulty.  Will try tomorrow.  Between the computer being tempermental and the keyboards not being English, you should see the difficulty we go through. Back to my homework...hasta manana!

Established in Bariloche

Last Saturday John flew home (2/4), and this week we have gotten established here and familiar with close things and gained independence from our friends Oscar and Jovita. So, on 2/5 after sleeping in, we all went to Colonia Suisa and were entertained by a comedic performer, same humor as in the US, and shopped some. We tried to have the meat that is cooked in the ground, but they ran out due to a bigger crowd than expected. Then went to a beach area to practice skipping stones. Apparently they don´t have a verb for skipping, but use the verb hopping like a frog. Then on Monday I returned our rental car after doing some grocery shopping. The kids had gotten up and were doing math when I got back. We have a lovely panederia across the street and get fresh bread every day for sandwiches, Rachel´s breakfast, and general munching. They also make treats that we have been sampling daily this week, especially Ian who has the biggest sweet tooth of the family or is just in pure comsumption mode. Either way, he has found and sampled sweets, and some savories, within a 3 block radius. So, the kids have done math almost every day, practiced spanish verbally and with vocab. Plus they are keeping personal journals.
We bid our friends a farewell for a few days, then worked on finding a spanish school. Turns out all schools begin on Lunes, Mondays, so we will begin tomorrow-2/13. When we went investigating, we found a school mainly comprised of these 2 women friends who speak constantly and very clearly, during the initial meeting discussions, so I was able to understand quite clearly and they were so engaging that we have gone with them. The classes will be 4 hours from 9-1 then we will have assignments in the local community and a couple evenings we will go on outings. So, they invited us to go on their outing this past Friday. It was a hike to a waterfall and then up to a viewpoint up vertical mountain, think Mt. Si only probably shorter. At the base was a lake, so we sat at the lake and had mate and quince bar cookies and talked in mixed spanish and english. One of the teachers speaks almost no english, which is excellent for us, but she is very clear and understandable in her spanish. After all the talk, we were drained and headed to bed before midnight that Friday. Saturday we gotup early and took a city bus to a port then took an boat trip to Isle Victoria where we had 4 hours, then to the Bosque de Arrayanes, a special myrtle tree woods. Then the kids had been begging to get good chocolate, so after cena, dinner, we walked into town via chocolate stores=8. We each chose one type to compare, so we could find our favorite chocolateria. I was chocolated out, I know you think it is impossible, but this is really really rich stuff with a mint cream that is strong and almost medicinal. Plus, I would not even let the kids eat a whole chocolate, but just bite corners so we would truly sample them all and not over do it. So it was a science filled day, nature and chocolate.

So finally before signing out, I wanted to attach a photo of our hostel-home.

Today we took a gondola ride up to a viewpoint Cerra Otto and ate at a revolving restaurant like the Space Needle but this restaurant had regular food, not like Space Needle, so most everyone who came up ate lunch there.  Smaller interior than the Space Needle too.

Ian's post

I have blogged much due to my sisters taking up most of the time. So here is some information that should actually help you.

     1/23/12

Fly into Buenos Aires.

     1/26/12
Bus ride to Puerto Madryn.
     1/27/12
Bus ride to San Carlos de Bariloche.
    To be determined
P.S. Leavenworth is exactly like Bariloche.

Oh Lucky You! Another Post From Rachel the Awesome!

Sooooooooo.... I think i left off in Bariloche... i hope i did.... my dad went back to Seattle on Saturday. Uh... OH YEAH! i bought a chocolate digital camera, it was yummy! I have pictures... when i get home which is in... gosh I really need to check the date. We went to Colonia Suiza, which is a like a little art village... we went twice. Personally, I thought it was awesome. Ian, not so much. We are thinking about going to see that really big glacier.  I attempted to bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies, but that didn't work so well. the ingredients here are different from the ones in the United States. So, then i tried brownies. these were actually edible, and were kind of good, but still not what i was aiming for. Yesterday, we went around town in search for a Spanish teaching school. Would you believe they actually exist in Argentina? I was surprised, but apparently they have to teach people from Brazil and Chile (and Americans, apparently). Ah, my updates are becoming more and more boring. Sorry about that. We're staying in Bariloche until its time to go home, so probably no more exciting stories about bus rides.

Puerto Madryn and square burger

 Here is our dog that followed us around half of Puerto Madryn.  Here we are enjoying the square burgers at the beach.