TIME

Ushuaia from the Martial Glacier

Since the first morning I opened my eyes in our tent, a strange feeling of calmness and satisfaction has been feeling my soul. Trying to pin point what made me so happy, and whether I was already FEELING the adventure, I realized that it was TIME that was making me feel so light and cheerful. It is a rear luxury to have time, to be without a schedule, or a plan, or a remorse for not having the precious time planned out. For those who know me well, I am Ms. Planner who always has things to do and who cannot sit still. I can’t remember the last time I felt no obligation to advance with the never ending things I had to do, or wanted to do! I really feel happy now, sitting in this old ski shack at the foot of this mountain crowned by a glacier. It was an incredibly peaceful and fulfilling day yesterday, most of which we spent hiking the mentioned mountain trying to reach my first glacier. The thought of it was exciting,  but in reality it reminded me of a huge pile of slightly dirty snow which accumulates on the side of the roads by February in Russia. As they say, it is not the goal that matters, but the journey!

Jolla's debut

This fits our hiking expedition yesterday perfectly. We walked through the strange fairy tale looking woods, crossed some flower covered fields, crossed a number of mountain creeks and finally arrived to the brown desert-like top of the mountain, which cradles the Martial Glacier. It took us about twice as long as the lodge staff told us, arriving to the top only about an hour before sunset. We did not know how we were getting back and whether we were going to camp right up there, but it did not matter! I felt that for once I was able to just give in and let destiny take its course. I raised my arm and the first car going to town offered to take us right to our camping site. Those girls from Cordoba (apparently half of Cordoba lives here) were so nice to us that I felt like inviting them in to hang out with us. …..and yeah…. I only have Azul to invite them into and a bag of green peas to treat them to…. So a big MUCHAS GRACIAS had to do it instead. Later on, the peas were turned into a delicious soup, with the help of Jolla (our cooking pot), Perla (our frying pan), and of course, Emi who tirelessly kept adding twigs to the fire to keep the fire a certain temperature. Even though it took us about 3 hours to make our dinner it was all worth it, spicing our day with a sent of camp fire in everything we owe.