pequeños éxitos

or, "small successes" to less-spanishly inclined. first success: have. not. eaten. an. alfajor. in. 4.days. this may not seems like a big deal, but when alfajores literally call your name from the kiosks that are every 3 feet in this city, it is something to be proud of. i tried looking on the back of an alfajor wrapper to see just how much sugar was in one, but guess what? there is no "sugar" (or "sodium") measurements on these wrappers, or on any food wrappers in general. this is probably because the tourists here would have a heart attack if they knew how much salt and sugar they ingested each day in argentina. my friend recently got me hooked on oreo alfajores.... (fyi: "alfajor" is pronounced like "alpha whore". the "j" sound does not exist here). 

yes, there are three oreos in one cookie. and yes, these cost less than 1 US dollar.

so i would say that not having an alfajor in 4 days is a pretty great thing to be proud of. second success: having the motivation to follow the ski workouts...what?! i even surprised myself on this one. it's so easy to be lazy here, the weekends aren't very conducive to fighting this way of life either. it's easy just to stay in bed til noon and not get out of the house til 3 or 4 in the afternoon. however, i have (somehow) motivated myself not only to run everyday, but to follow the current ski workouts! today, after my workout, i met my friend in the park and we drew ladders on the ground with pink chalk ($0 gH3tt0!) and did ladders. then we did 40s in between the lampposts and then we did drills with "cones" (which we also drew on the road with chalk). we both felt super awesome after doing it and it didn't help that she brought me to her gym, which is really nice and clean, unlike many of the gimnasios here. so i'm planning on joining and running to the gym everyday. small successes! third success: i had 3 people ask me today about the buses. um, excuse me but do i look like i know what i'm doing?! apparently. except on the bus i'm normally freaking out because i don't want anyone to steal my bag or wallet. but i guess i don't look too freaked out. fourth success: patagonia in t-minus 6 days! my two friends and i are leaving next wednesday night and coming back monday morning....just in time for spanish class at 1pm!

first, we're stopping in puerto madryn, on the eastern coast of argentina to see the penguins and whales.

the coastal city of puerto madryn. after a few days here, we'll be traveling to.....

...to el calafate and the glaciers....and..

.....perito moreno and the glacier national park located in patagonia. 

original photos to come shortly. if you have some patagonia apparel (which i know all of you do), take it out and look at the logo. the logo is the silhouette of cerro monte fitz roy, a mountain in the southern part of patagonia, near the argentine-chilean border. it is possible that we might go here too.

take this....

and wear this...

needless to say, i'm excited. good thing i brought some patagonia clothes to wear when i go to patagonia. that way i can feel really integrated with the indigenous culture in southern argentina. fourth success: just did my own laundry. however, this success is canceled out by the fact that all of my lacy underwear and bras and high socks will be hanging over the space heater in the dining room so that my entire family can see all of my nice lingerie. and by lingerie i mean clothes. so when we're eating meals for the next day or so, my 8 and 11 year old brothers can see all of my underwear drying and be entertained.

okay. that is it for now. peace out homies, or in spanish...la paz con los homies. i love google translate.