Ring in the new year

I'm in Coyhaique, Chile.  I got here earlier this afternoon, after a series of flights from Buenos Aires.  The day has been an interesting one, what with getting slapped with overweight baggage fees (and then kicking myself because I definitely could've packed differently); staying awake all night in the BA airport waiting for my flight (but being able to fall asleep on the plane for once, twice); sailing through immigration in Santiago (but having my oranges taken away from me by customs); having a nice egg sandwich, carrot muffin, and chai latte in the most comfortable chair ever (but from Starbucks); boarding my second plane of the day to find someone sitting in my seat (but getting to sit by the window instead); feeling elated by the view as we flew over mountains next to the sea; finally getting to the hostel (but opening my duffel bag to find out that a shampoo bottle had exploded and the plastic bag it was in didn't keep it from getting all over); trying to withdraw money from an ATM and getting denied three times (but it finally worked, and then I found a casa de cambio as well); buying what I thought would be a quick microwavable dinner (which turned out to take over an hour in the oven); finally being one step closer to CP (but realizing how expensive food here and being grateful that I'll have zero expenses for the next four months) being amazed by the amount of light in the sky at 9:30 pm; trying hard to distract myself so I can make it to midnight...

This has been a day of more ups and downs than I've had in a while, but every time I felt discouraged I just had to remind myself where I was going.  It wasn't hard to do when I had a window seat on the plane and the bus from the airport.  We're not really even in the heart of Patagonia yet, and it's beautiful already.  I feel a big weight slowly coming off my shoulders, letting me relax after the apparent tension gifted by city life.  There's so much  s  p  a  c  e  out here that it feels easier to breathe.  I think tonight will be one of the best sleeps I've ever had.

I'm set to take a bus down to CP on Monday morning, but until then I'm killing time in this little dinky town.  I walked around a bit today on my quest for money and food, and I like that it's small, and there's grass by the sidewalks, and the tallest manmade structure around is at most two stories high.  Tomorrow will be a day of doing nothing, especially since it's New Years' Day and everything in town will be closed.

Thus far I've been taking advantage of the down time to load some more pictures of my recent adventures: here are some shots of Buenos Aires and Mendoza.  I'm aiming to get more up tomorrow, and get you all caught up with the rest of Argentina before my Chilean journey really begins.

Since it is the last day of 2011, the atmosphere calls for reflection on the past 364.9 days; ultimately, they've brought me a lot of change.  I wrote my thesis; I wrote and performed my own song for my last Ellement concert; I graduated from college; I got a new job at a rafting company; my internship with CP landed in my lap in the most welcome way; I traveled to two new countries and did countless new things.  This new year is starting off much the same way.  I still can't believe what I get to dedicate myself to for the next four months, and I can only hope that the positive vibes I'm getting from this part of the year will carry on through the rest of it.  This is the year where I really enter the adult world; no more going back to school for this or that.  I can literally do anything (and my mind takes advantage of that fact and comes up with crazy different schemes every other day).  And as much as I love the Mayans, they'd better be wrong about the whole end-of-the-world thing.

I'll end my rambling with 54 minutes until 2012 and my best wishes for all of us, that this year will be the best it can be.  Happy New Year!  Feliz año!  Love, your mountain girl come home.