Bariloche, Skiing 101

Hey hey! So I have recently arrived back at home from a wonderful trip to beautiful Bariloche.

Who would have thought that I could ever say this, but yes, Niki Tyner has officially skied in the Andes Mountains. And how majestic it was! However much falling may or may not have occurred on my way down, I have made it back to Buenos Aires in one piece with artisan chocolates to boot! A group of friends left on last Tuesday from the Retiro Bus Station here in the city (very close to my house) and we boarded a bus for a 20 hour ride across the flat Argentine countryside to the towering mountains. However horrible that may sound, it was sooo much fun. The food provided was better than airline food (well in my opinion) and we even had authentic Argentine Malbec red wine to boot. When we finally arrived into town, we were greeted with a down pour of rain and sideways-sleet. Cozy, I know! ;) But we taxi-ed it to the hostel, Patanuk Hostel, which was picturescly located on perhaps one of the most gorgeous lakes I have ever seen.

We proceeded to carpe diem, the twelve of us CIEE students skiing/snowboarding the first day at Catedral and dancing the night away that evening. No, I didn't make it to bed before 5 a.m. any night that we were there. The sun shone, the wind blew, and the snow fell :) But the weekend continued on, with good food, good friends, and good card games (check out pics on facebook sometime soon). We left Sunday afternoon and I have just finished lunch here at home. It is balmy here in BA - you can smell spring and the impending promise of summertime weather. Yes, if there was any question, spring smells like spring no matter where you are. It is a wonderful smell.

So, you may be wondering, when do you start classes Niki? Yes. That is happening. As we have entered our fourth week here in Argentina, classes have also commenced, well more or less. Tomorrow is the first official week so today I will be unpacking and preparing :) Very excited. Oh man. Here we go! Wish me luck, hope to talk to you all soon, and I'll keep you posted on the details of my life. Ciao bellas.