What Has Happened Since Mendoza - Part II + Valentines Day Surprise!

Time for Part II! This was truncated off of the original Part I, so it doesn’t run too smoothly at the beginning. Suck it up.

            Then we begin our hiking trip. After getting some Widji fever from listening to an hour long presentation on hiking from a twenty-something with a beard, my brothers and I rent some sweet camping equipment and off we go. The “W”, is a mountain range in the shape of (can you believe it?) a “W”. The normal trip is to take some fifty pound packs and hike for six days. Naturally, we nudged away this option for the hope of leaving our spines un-telescoped. Instead, we spent three days hiking for three or four hours one way, and then all the way back. During that time, we came up with countless inside jokes, which I won’t tell you because you aren’t cool enough.

            But anyway. The views were spectacular. There were glaciers and lagoons and forests and waterfalls and rivers and cougars and birds and sand and mountains and snow and, well, a lot more. If I ever get more than two pictures on a blog post, I’ll show it to you guys, but currently that doesn’t look like it’s gonna happen.

            Then we got on a boat. A big boat. It reminds me scarily of the Titanic, and we all know how that went down…. However this isn’t one of those posh cruises where you get three course meals four meals a day. This is a boat where four of us have to climb over each other to get onto our bunks that our placed in more-than-close proximity towards each other. For meals we get cafeteria food that makes Breck look like it’s giving you three course meals four times a day. The exterior of the ship is covered in mist, and it is very cold. But what is great about it is I get about ten hours a day to sleep, read, and do history day. (By the way, I’m reading Hunger Games. Great book. Tell your friends) I was unfortunately unaware of the creeping deadline of history day papers, and was caught off guard when I didn’t have notes in like, three subjects and no internet. But don’t worry, it’s turning out okay.

            I noticed that I often sound like a pessimist on my blog, so I’m going to point out a couple cool things. We saw dolphins and seals while on the boat. The cold air Is refreshing. My cabin in Punto Arenas had a huge forest around it so I got some good “Calvin and Hobbes” moments, and if you don’t know what that means we aren’t friends anymore. There. I said it. I’m having a great time.

             After the ship docked, we did some last minute packing and then set off onto dry land. Unfortuantely, it turned out that we had taken SO long to pack our bags that the luggage guys had missed them and they were still on the boat. While we sat in a huge waiting room, the guys sprinted abord the ship, and brought back our five heavy suitcases.

            Then we headed to an airport where we expected to rent a car, get in it, and leave in the next fifteen minutes. Over an hour later we were just…. walking around. The car we were supposed to have was in a car accident, so they had to find us another car tat had to drive to the airport from where we were before we went to the airport. Then we drove for three hours to a hotel that had forgotten that we had a reservation there or something like that. Then we had to spend a night at another hotel boardering nightclubs that reminded me spookily of Arizona. The following morning we headed back to our original hotel, which had forgotten to put sheets on one of our beds and forgot that they promised us Wi-fi. Her excuse is that her boss likes to make things up to get customers. I have several problems with that…

            Anyway, here I am, in the surprisingly nice hotel, that is in fact complete with sheets. The couches are leather, and we have our own kitchenand we have a cow rug. Actually. It is a rug – made out of cow. Like, spots included. Package deal. It is morbidly awesome.

            This is the end of Part II. But wait! There’s more! What is that you ask?

 

Well, in a few days is Valentines Day! Congratulations to everyone who has a valentine! I am not one of those people, but I can still be happy for you. I thought today I would give a short lesson on Valentines Day today.

We don’t know much about the original Saint Valentine, but he is rumored to write the original valentine card while in jail… so that’s an interesting metaphor.

Valentines day is actually based on an older Roman holiday called “Lubricalia”, where boys would run through the streets with bloody strips of goat hide, softly slapping girls as they ran, in hope of making them more… fertile. I don’t know why we don’t do this anymore… I guess some traditions just get lost with time.

The heart symbol is certainly at the core of Valentines Day, meaning several things in several places. In Christianity, it means charity, and in Ancient Greece, it was the sign of the goddess of physical love. In Sweden, it is the shorthand symbol for “toilet”, so I guess they have trouble selling chocolates in heart-shaped boxes there…

We give flowers of Valentines Day. Another good metaphor: Taking something beautiful away from where it grew up, and watch it slowly wither and… eventually die.

When you think of all holidays, Valentines Day is kind of the opposite of Christmas. On Christmas, you go to bed, hoping to exchange presents with the people that you love. On Valentines Day, you exchange gifts, hoping to go to bed with the people that you love.  The same goes for Valentines Day and Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving, we eat a stuffed bird, and on Valentines Day, we… okay, that one doesn’t work as well.

I have a small problem with Valentines Day. It kind of forces you to do something that is hard to do under pressure. It’s kind of like a “have a great idea day” or “win the lottery day”. It means less to love someone on Valentines Day than on any other day of the year. Asking someone to be their valentine is kind of like saying “well it had to be someone…”

Anyway, that is my little spiel. Happy Valentines Day everyone!