The precipice...

It's 73 degrees in Boston and I'm about to head onto a glacier in the dead of Patagonian winter. This is a good idea, right?

My bags are packed (thank you, Danielle) and all I've got left to do is quell the unrest I feel in my peritoneum. I've traveled abroad before and overall am not too worried about any one thing. Rather a collection of grain-sized uncertainties is causing irritation: maybe my Spanish won't suddenly come back to me as I am hoping (subjunctive/imperfect? ser/estar? what?!), maybe I haven't prepared well enough logistically and mentally (this is true, actually), maybe everything will change here while I'm away, maybe I'll encounter ladrones, maybe I didn't pack everything I needed, maybe I packed too much. I've been zipping about with a gigantic to-do list in the last week as I've been finishing up the school year and throwing things into my pack and saying good-byes to people moving far away... Sameer suggested I publish my to-do list but I never want to see that document again, so below is a different list.

To give you a sense of what is to come, I will be flying from Boston to Buenos Aires (via Miami) this evening. I'll spend a night in the city and then fly to El Calafate to meet my friends Emily and Sarah who have lived in BA for ten months and are now touring the country before returning stateside. We'll explore the glaciers from El Calafate and then head to the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, which is actually the launching point for Antarctica. I hope you all will be enjoying your summer picnics this June in the northern hemisphere. After exploring "Tierra del Fuego" and southern Patagonia, the three of us will return to BA for a few days. Em and Sarah will then depart, and I'll be left to my own devices to experience as-yet-to-be-determined parts of the country.

Still, with all of the butterflies and the unknown, I am excited. The six weeks I spent in Guatemala were some of the best of my life. I look back on that time recall feeling fully alive and fully present. I don't get that most days here in the work-a-day world of Wellesley. That having been said, I'm off to empty the contents of my refrigerator into my stomach, flit around my bag wondering what else to take or take out, and meet my ride to the airport for a tough good-bye. This time tomorrow, I'll be waking up in the land of tango.

Clothing
1 pair pants
2 short-sleeve shirts
1 long-sleeve T
2 zip-up fleeces
1 pull-over fleece
underwear and socks (not too many)
1 pair shorts
1 pair fleece pants
warm coat
warm hat gloves
Cubs cap
rain gear
long underwear
1 wrap-around skirt (useful as clothing, towel, blanket, wrapping!)
hiking boots
sneakers

Goodies
Snacks/candy/gum
Nalgene with duct tape
water purification tablets
toiletries
extra glasses
sunglasses
ziplock bags
book
knife (I lost my nice one but found one at the One-Spot at Target today!)
tupperware
fork and spoon
camera and computer link
batteries
laundry detergent (haven't found this yet!)
bandana day pack

Important Stuff
money
belt
guidebook
journal
pen
dictionary
flight/hotel info
copies of documents
traveler's cheques
cash (dollars)
cash (pesos)
passport
emergency contact info
wallet