Where is the bank?!

The standing travel joke seems to be that as long as you know how to say, "Where´s the bathroom?" in the language of the country you happen to find yourself at that inevitable moment of inconvenience, then you can survive anything there. Well, my friends, I´m here to tell you that "Where´s the bank?" might be just as critical, if not more so. I had to take a quick trip across the border to Santiago, Chile this weekend in order to have my passport stamped and thus earn another three months of legal travel upon retuning to Argentina. (Ah...the sweet inconveniences of foreign politics!) After a gorgeous eight hour bus ride over the Andes though, it´s no surprise that upon my arrival to Santiago that two things were true. First, a bathroom was a non-negotiable. Second, I had no Chilean pesos. Let me tell you folks this only makes for an evil, and painful, combination when every public bathroom charges for usage!!! Yep, I´m dancing in my pants without a hope of breaking into the steel fortress of s bathroom door without Chilean pesos. Thankfully, I have a strong bladder and iron determination- I held it, until miraculously I located an ATM next to a bathroom. Talk about an oasis in the desert!! I will say, however, that all the bathrooms are very clean and sufficiently stocked with toilet paper. Maybe paying isn´t such a bad thing after all.... Other than that little adventure in Santiago, there isn´t much to say. I only slept there for the evening and returned to Mendoza, Argentina the following day with my new passport stamp! Now isn´t exactly the safest time to be hanging around Chile long periods of time for anything much else than legal requirements.

On another note, I realize I´ve been terribly remiss these past three weeks in not posting. Forgive me! Three months of traveling finally took it´s toll and left me without much of a desire to do anything communicative. Mostly because traveling alone has a way of leaving you vulnerable to your own mind. Time with yourself is abundant, wildly abundant. This isn´t necessary a bad thing, but know that all those self-realizations, moments of catharsis, and stark reality we may do well to suppress in our day to day lives, or ignore all together, catch up with you when your out on the road alone. They not only catch up with you, they demand to be heard, and demand your consideration. And that´s where I´ve been these past three weeks folks, under refinement. Hashing it out with myself- who I´ve been, who I want to be, and the work required to get there. But I´m back...still dealing with myself, but in action!

Happy Spring to you all! The cool weather of fall is waiting in the wings here, which excites me, though I´ll miss all New England´s 101 pumpkin edibles and apple cider doughnuts.