Last friday, I had a travel nightmare. I was flying on Northwest from a smaller regional airport to Detroit then to Boston. Well, the incoming plane we were supposed to be on never left Detroit, so we were told to go race downstairs to get in a cab to drive us to Detroit an hour away. We were also told that there were only 15 seats available to about 50 or more people who were originally booked on the flight. So I rushed ahead because I wanted to make my plane but clearly this whole practice was not fair to everyone. The people on international flights were given priority.

In the end, I missed my connecting flight and got put on the next one out which was just two hours later. So I did what any traveler does in such a situation, goes to Chilis Too (Why is it “Too”) in the airport and have a salad and a margarita…

After my margarita, I strolled around and finally got on my plane, landed in Boston, got a cab to the hotel, slept, got a cab from the hotel to the conference ($22.00 later seriously), took the T back to the hotel, took the T to the train station, got on a train back to Penn Station, and then a cab to Brooklyn.

Now I wonder why I would be anxious to fly again this Friday back to the Midwest to look at potential homes to move into once I start school in August. Yeah I have a lot to do !@*#&$^*%$#**$$.

Maybe I’ll have another margarita…hmmm.

Delayed flights when I have a short connection already.  Why didn’t I pay closer attention to the connection time?  I don’t know.  Maybe because I’m not flying directly home but to Boston for a neat conference, People and Land in the Atlantic World, 1500-1825. Also why don’t airlines have direct flights straight into Harvard’s campus? You think they would have figured that out by now.

Gone to Paradise for six days to celebrate my fabulous mother’s 50th birthday!

Back after the 14th!

Love, Ms. Rose

Yesterday, I tuned into NPR and listened to Talk of the Nation. Journalist Meghan Daum discusses her aptly named article, Raunch is rebranded as ‘confidence.’ Her commentary on the program and article are brilliant.  She certainly hits many features of women and spring break life right on. What I like most about Daum’s journalistic style is that she calls certain statistics and reports “news of the ‘no duh’ variety.” I only begin to chuckle to myself when I think of all the news I read on a regular basis that induces a “duh” cringe in me. The kind of “duh–don’t we all know this already?!?!” reaction that makes me want to run away from the media crazed USA and move to a quiet British Columbia hamlet and be done with it all.

Daum’s no duh news:

The American Medical Assn. released figures about sex and alcohol use during rowdy spring break vacations. The poll, which surveyed female college students and graduates aged 17 to 35, found that 74% believed women used drinking “as an excuse for outrageous behavior”; 83% “had friends who drank the majority of nights while on spring break”; and 12% “felt forced or pressured into sex” during spring break.

Apart from Daum’s almost mischievous, hilarious terms, there is a troubling side to this column.  Daum correctly states that young women are equating their spring break antics with confidence. The wackier, riskier and raunchier they get, the more confident they can claim to be.  Ultimately what this article reveals is that young women are not only partying during spring break but that spring break represents an enlarged version of what is going on today with today’s youth (ie teenagers and young twentysomes.)

Yet another reason I am glad I went to high school in the 1990s.

and the final edition…

Day Thirteen, Llao Llao onto Buenos Aires:

Before getting on a place (which is the LAST thing I wanted to do) back to Buenos Aires, I took some pictures of the views from our beautiful hotel.  Once we returned to Buenos Aires, I realized how nice it was to be back in a big city.

Day Fourteen, Buenos Aires:

This was our one full non jetlagged day in Buenos Aires. I split off from the group and went to the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (MALBA).

Outside sculptures at Malba.

I really enjoyed myself at the museum and found a lot of artists work I liked but I had never heard of. The museum store left a lot to be desired in my opinion. Oh well.

High rises in BA.

I spent the day wandering around town and snapping pictures. I ate at a small cafe where I had my most successful conversation in Spanish to date. Have to get on that!

Dogs chillin on a summer day.

At night, we went to a tango show which was fun but also very touristy.

The next day I took no photos because we spent most of the day flying to Iguazu.

Day Sixteen, Iguazu Falls:

We woke up in beautiful yet very balmy and humid Iguazu Falls. One of the first things we saw upon entering the national park were several monkeys.

The Falls are in Argentina and Brazil. Due to expensive visas, we could only stay on the Argentine side.  The views of the Falls were breathtaking and pretty much took the cake for the most dramatic landscape of the trip. (Perito Moreno still has my vote.)

And now just pictures of the Falls:

Dos Hermanas Falls (my favorite one)

The film The Mission was shot here. I watched it in high school to learn about South American missionary work.  I plan on watching it again very soon.

FYI: Iguazu is not a part of Patagonia. It is in the Northern part of Argentina whereas Patagonia is the Southern part of Chile and Argentina.

Day Seventeen & Eighteen were spent flying so no pictures from those days.

My trip was FABULOUS.  THE END!

Las Torres Chile, Day Seven:

We spent the whole day exploring the whole Torres Paine National Park. We saw some incredible wildlife including this fox. Unfortunately, some other visitors to the park decided to feed the animals which is obviously a bad idea for multiple reasons.

Las Torres Chile, Day Eight:

This day, we went on a five mile walk and saw several guanacos, including these babies feeding.

Puerto Natales, Day Nine:

We took a six hour drive to the nearest airport in Punto Arenas.  We stopped in Puerto Natales where the Straights of Magellan are.  While I was in Patagonia, I read Over the Edge of the World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe which was the perfect book to read while driving around the “end of the world.”  Several of the towns in Southern Patagonia touted themselves as the last stop before “the end” aka Antarctica.

Chile back to Argentina, Day Ten: 

Day Ten involved recrossing the Chilean Argentinian border. This compromised of fives buses and three boats.  We crossed several lakes and the Andes mountains. After twelve hours of travel we finally arrived in Bariloche.

Barliloche/ Llao Llao, Day Eleven:

Exhausted by my long day of travel, I spent the next day lounging by the fabulous pool at the hotel.

The day consisted of doing just that.

Bariloche/Llao Llao, Day Twelve: 

I wondered around the touristy village of Bariloche which reminded me of Mackinac Island  due to its onslaught of chocolate in every store and a variety of shops geared toward overpriced knick knacks. I finished of the day by having this very fancy beer at the hotel. I never had a beer served in something that is meant for champagne. Fancy!

More to come in part three!

My reasons for not posting lately are simple, I was on an awesome trip in Argentina and Chile!!

On January 1, I boarded a plane bound for Miami then Buenos Aires. After walking through the mess that was Miami’s airport, I got onto my plane headed to Argentina. But my bags did not make that plane. But it was ok because I thought ahead and packed extra clothes in my carryon!

Buenos Aires, First Day:

Famous sculpture!

Evita Peron statue. Our guide said Evita was a hated and loved figure. Its either or. Kinda sounds like George Bush…hmmm.

Evita Peron tomb. First time I ever visited a grave as a tourist (I think.)

Trelew/ Puerto Madryn, Second & Third Day:

We stopped and saw Magellan penguins. There were thousands of penguins in a little colony. It was very neat to walk amongst these little guys. One got kinda close to me so I had to move away quickly as to not disorient them. Many of the younger ones can get lost from their “pack” so to speak.
Trelew/ El Calafate, Fourth Day:

At my insistence, we went to a very cool paleontological museum that I read about in the book In Patagonia. Later we went to the oldest Welsh house in the area. In the 1800s, several Welsh immigrants migrated to Argentina to establish their own community to be free of British rule. We then hopped a flight to El Calafate to see the famed Perito Moreno glacier.

Perito Moreno, Fifth Day:

Perito Moreno is one of the only “living” glaciers.

To put it simply, this was one of the most amazing sites I have ever seen in my life.

Every few minutes, a few bits of ice would crack off and make a huge crashing sound.

Las Torres National Park, Chile, Day six:

We drive six hours and went across the Chilean border which consisted of a thorough luggage search, many pieces of paper stamped, and passports checked. Once we got across the border, we drove an hour to a beautiful national park.

More in the next post!

to be at the airport.

END!

PS An older couple are fighting about whether they should go to China or Alaska for their “next big trip.” And the wife just called her husband a bastard! Only in NYC.

It’s 1 AM, and I leave tomorrow for eighteen days without the husband. I am going on a trip with seven women, ages ranging in 49 years.

All day today I ran errands but I forgot to get plastic bags! The most important thing.

I wish I had more time to blog about the SC democratic primary, the FL primaries, Giuliani dropping out, Edwards dropping out, and all the endorsements for Obama.  All I have to say is I will be eagerly anticipating the news I can get about Super Tuesday from my husband via email while I’m away.

May update briefly tomorrow…maybe. But if not, see you on the other side!

- Ms. Rose

To tide you over in the meantime, here is a picture of Andy who was probably thinking “why are all these silly human things near my sleeping spot!”

Old Mission Santa Barbara