Jo jo jo

Day 15: In Spanish, the letter J is pronounced like an H in English.

I'm stuch in Punta Arenas for another day because no buses are leaving today. Bummer. On the upside, my mom called me and I got to talk to her, my dad, and my youngest sister and brother. It was great to talk to them. The people staying at the hostel are okay, but they're all from Israel so I frequently find myself the only person not speaking Hebrew. I've found out some cool "insider" things from their years in the Israeli army (service is mandatory -- 3 years for guys and 2 for girls), like tying your watch to your wrist with a string so if the band breaks, the watch won't fall in the field. A lot of them still do this even though their years in the field are over. It's made me wonder how different the U.S. would be if military service were mandatory. They are all celebrating their newfound freedom with a trip to South America and I get to show off my mad Spanish skills by helping them communicate with the staff here.

Early tomorrow morning, I'm getting on a bus to Ushuaia, Argentina's southern most city. I think I mentioned that before in the blog, but I can't remember. I'm excited to cross the border. It will hopefully be a more exciting chapter in this epic trip of mine, Argentina is cheaper than Chile, and there's one Israeli guy who I'm hoping to cross paths with when we're both in Buenos Aires early in the new year. Ja ja ja

I hope you are all happy and healthy today. I want to remind you what I've been reminding myself:

Don't wish your time away.

It will be over too soon as it is.