Zombies

Day 20: It's after midnight, so it's technically Day 21. The wild thing is -- it's still light out! Down here, we're only a few thousand km from Antarctica and it's summer. As such, there is only about four hours of dark per 24. Last night, I went out to a club and came home around 4 am and the sun was starting to come up! It's turned all the travelers into zombies. Our bodies are confused with all the light and want to stay up until it's dark and get up after it's been light for a few hours. On the upside, I'll get to experience a New Year's Eve celebration in "day" light!!

Yesterday was an interesting day. I was supposed to go trekking with a Croatian girl I met in the hostel the day before, but she had better plans. She's part of an international hosting network, so she'd been in contact with a local Ushuaian guy. He and his girlfriend drove us to the national park of Tierra del Fuego, saving us the bus fare and giving us a lot more freedom. The park was beautiful, especially once we walked for five minutes and found ourselves totally alone. It seems that most tourists get out of their cars, take photos, then drive to the next place. They don't know what they're missing!! We had amazing views across the Beagle Channel and had a little picnic in a clearing by the shore.

The company was the most interesting part, though. The Argentine guy is 46 and has two kids, aged 20 and 17. He is a pediatrician, makes a lot of money, and has a very outgoing personality. His girlfriend is 26. She is studying to be a teacher, has long, bleached-blond hair, and wears jeans so tight they defy the laws of being able to get clothes on and off. They've been dating for two months. And she lives with him. He professes love. She told me in the car ride that Argentinians are great lovers. Awkward. They are really lovey, dovey, but they made several references to sharing people -- her sharing a cute guy on the trail with me, him being willing to share her with other women, etc. They were joking ... I think. Double awkward.

My new Croatian friend and I separated from them on the walk back only because we were walking a lot faster. She's 30 and told me she likes younger men -- at most her age. She said guys in their 30s are at a different life stage, and that they don't like . I responded that I don't think age has so much to do with it, considering that I'm 26 and don't like to go out and party all the time anymore. I gave a 25-year-old guy who wants to drink and party every night as an examples of a really bad match for me. She sighed and said, "That would be great." I laughed and laughed. Then we agreed that it's good that everyone is looking for something different.

She and I, along with a German guy I befriended (wow, another interesting story!!), decided to go for a walk in the evening because the sun was out. Unfortunately, by the time we got 20 minutes from the hostel, the wind kicked up, the clouds rushed over us, and it started to rain. I was under-dressed, to say the least, and ran home freezing. I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing a book I'd started about two days ago. That's one good thing about being a zombie: more reading time.