thinking forward to Argentina

Well, it's just under 5 months until I embark on my 2.5 month adventure to Argentina. It will be the first time that I will have left this lovely continent (after 2 failed escape attempts). But because Europe is such a diverse place it can give one the sensation that he has, in fact, crossed many continents. I have traveled to the eastern and western extremes (Cyprus and Porto Santo respectively) which must be getting on to match the distance from NY to LA. Because of this diversity, I think that one could live quite contently without even leaving Europe. It's a great place, there's no doubting that.

With Argentina... I still can't say that I know quite what to expect. But I didn't choose to take time out of my life for 3 months to know exactly what to expect. Even after numerous conversations with my girlfriend, where I have tried to extract every single piece of information from the poor girl, I still can't quite get the flavour of it - part European, part Latin American (whatever that means?), part something unique? Who knows. I think that much of the answer to that depends upon the area in question. The country is vast beyond my imagination and because of that there are huge differences between the regions and their associated climate, landscape, people and even their customs. As an English person who comes from comparitively tiny country, this is one of the strangest and most fascinating aspects for me. I have seen a fair amount of diversity traveling across different countries in Europe, but to see it all in one country will be amazing. I find it hard to conceive the idea of a country which comprises desert, huge mountains, an area of almost English-like grassland and an antarctic region of glaciers and barren land (and many more regions between). Of course, I hope to travel to as many places as possible, in both the north and south, but this will take a lot of time, much of which will be spent traveling.

I'm raring to go. And at the same time I'm terrified. I suppose that I'm terrified because I am going to have to speak Spanish with my girlfriend's family who do not speak English and who will have nothing else on which to base their first impressions of me apart from how I come across speaking in a language which does not come entirely naturally to me. Add nerves to the equation and I'll be well on the way to speaking complete double-jibberish. And I have under 5 months left to perfect my Spanish. Oh well. I like to think of it as a character building exercise. Wish me luck then!

¡Saludos a todos!