¡yerba mate!

I just have to write quickly about the past twenty four hours. We are settled in the best hostel in Patagonia (just typing the words ¨we¨, ïn¨, and ¨Patagonia¨ makes my heart smile) and we made some memories last night...in fact, this has to be quick because more memories are being made right behind me in the living room of this, the best hostel in Patagonia. But, we (Kelly, my friend from grad school, Aaron and I) are all staying in the same hostel and we sat with the owner, his girlfriend and a few other cohorts and drank yerba mate for 3 (if not more) hours before we collectively dined over homemade pizza. Turko, the hostel owner, and our newfound friend, taught us the Argentine tradition of drinking mate. I was even fortunate enough to gain the honor of being the ¨server¨. I was only criticized once when the water was a bit too cold (even the temperature of the water has to be precise for acceptance from the Argentines). I will recount this entire tradition when there isn´t so much interesting chatter behind me. Truly, being in Bariloche has been magical every moment, even despite today´s constant rain. I will tackle the photo chore tomorrow, just so we can share in the magic that is Patagonia!