This year I will be spending seven weeks in South America, studying Spanish in a election of culturally significant locations:
2 Weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina
2 Weeks in Bariloche, Argentina
2 Weeks in Mendoza, Argentina
1 ish week somewhere in Chile before flying out of Santiago
- Buenos Aires I know literally nothing about. I will be staying with a lady somewhere in the city, just secured the AirBnB booking so more on this later.
- Barilche I know is in Patagonia, is located on lake Nahel Huapi which is a great lake for kiteboarding (except I'll be there at the beginning of their winter so I probably won't get out to kite), and I'll be staying with a nice guy and his dog
- Mendoza is wine country. If you've taken advantage of those cheap but tasty Malbecs, they likely came from Mendoza. Interesting fact: a bottle of Malbec lost me my job as Resident Assistant this past fall (courtesy of Champlain College Residential Life). In Mendoza I'll be doing a homestay because I couldn't find any reasonably (dirt cheap) places to stay within walking distance of the school. Mendoza is also in Patagonia, although in the very northern reaches
- My 1 ish week is time I've set aside for random travels. At this point I'm thinking I'd like to visit the surf town of Pichimelu on the Chilean coast to do some kiting. I'll be hauling my kite all around Argentina, so I'm hoping I can get in a day or two of riding in order to justify this burdensome baggage. If I'm having the time of my life, this week is extendable.
Disclaimer: I blog freely. I spend all year writing hundreds of pages of collegiate B.S. and these summer blogs have no academic calibration, no responsible oversight, and no impact on my GPA. I occasionally blog while inebriated, exhausted, or just plain bored. I some times blog things I regret, but this is a glimpse into the developing mind of a college student; ignorance is inevitable, hasty assumptions are frequent, and communism is ever-present. Although I often try to make a point in what I'm writing, it is important to realize that a story I post may argue for global political or economic changes, but that my rationale for arguing so is based upon a single event. Just as you wouldn't believe an experiment that was conducted only once, you shouldn't believe me.
I spent this last year starting a coffee shop with some friends and now that it is established and successful, I've given away all of my equity and am moving on. Something in business school must not be sticking... Anyways, this business-starting was very stressful and I'm just looking to relax, speak spanish, and drink espresso in cafés while catching up on books gone unread. I will be leaving May 3rd.
