A Journey Begins: Land of the Fire

Hello all you digital friends!

I am here, down at the ¨End of the World,¨ in the ´´land of the fire,´´ in a little dirty hostel that smells of feet and eggs!!! It has been an emotional journey, as seems to be consistent with my life, filled with ups and down, moments of bliss and moments of despair, tears from cooking and tears from nostalgia. I just got back from hiking in the Tierra del Fugeo national park for few days, and let me tell you, I got a few things to say: First, being in Patagonia feels like you´re not in Patagonia, which is to say, you don´t really believe what you´re seeing: you sort of dismiss it as HD TV and keep walking. Second, it really is beautiful, but it’s no “walk in the woods.”

Our first hike led us through a small mountain pass that took two days to do. Carrying full packs we ended up camping at an isolated lake surrounded by jaggedly silent mountains. At first I was thrilled at the beauty that surrounded us, but I soon began to feel heavy. Heavy with the weight of responsibility that I wasn´t just walking through a candy sweet photograph in an L.L. Bean magazine, but that I was walking through a harsh geological memory, a abrasive history that is more of a process through time than any object in and of itself; a history that is ambivalent\uninterested in little Americans ants dancing through its valleys. In other words, I became anxious (hahaha!); nature is for real!! But I know the spirits are with us and I am cherishing every moment. I take a breath of this Argentinean mountain air for you…….

-Simon

I know I’m a poetic rambler ……