Aconcagua

Buen Dia Amigos! Good day friends!

We have had a lot of fun since we left Buenos Aires! Nathan and I took a bus to the city of Mendoza, which is about 14 hours west of Buenos Aires. There we got to see an old friend of ours named Agustina and her husband, Seba. We had a lot of fun seeing the lovely parks in the city and visiting vineyards, which are farms that grow grapes.

The most exciting part of our stay, though, was our trek into the Cordillera de los Andes, or the Andes mountain range. The Andes mountains are the longest chain of mountains in the world. They stretch all the way from the top of the South American continent to the bottom. The highest peak in the range is called Cerro Aconcagua. Cerro means "mountain" in Spanish and Aconcagua means either "always snow" or "pillar of stone" in Native America languages. Aconcagua stands at 6960 meters, which is almost 23,000 feet! It is the highest peak in all of the Americas, both North and South America combined, and in fact is the highest mountain in the entire western hemisphere!

Agustina and Seba both work in the park where Aconcagua lies. Seba is a park ranger and his job is to greet visitors to the park and tell them about park rules and collect permits. He also makes sure the park stays clean and safe for its visitors. Here he is greeting us at the entrance to the park:

Can you guess what he said? He said, "Hello! My name is Seba. Welcome to Aconcagua Park!"

Agustina researches the plants, animals and cultural heritage of the park and helps to develop management plans for the conservation of its resources. Here she is standing at the base of Aconcagua:



She said, "Hello! I am Agustina and this is Aconcagua, the highest mountain in all of the Americas. I work in this park." You know what´s really cool? Agustina has been to Circleville! Six years ago she worked at The Mountain Institute up at Spruce and that´s where Nathan and I met her. She has very good memories of Circleville and Spruce Knob.

Here is one more picture of us making our trek to view the south face of Aconcagua. We hiked up to around 13,000 feet and had to walk very slowly because at that altitude it is a little harder to breathe.

Hola Estudiantes! Hello Students!

Nathan and I have arrived in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina. Our journey here was very long. First, we got on a plane in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and flew to Toronto, Canada. Then from Toronto we flew all the way to Buenos Aires and it took 11 hours. We left Canada in a snow storm, and when we arrived in Argentina it was almost 90 degrees and sunny! That´s because here we are in the southern hemisphere and the seasons are opposite ours. If South America is in the southern hemisphere, can you guess which hemisphere North America is in?

When we got to the airport, we had to check the flight status board to see from which gate our plane left. Once inside the plane we had very little room but there were TV screens for everyone and lots of movie choices. These helped make the trip go a little faster!













Since arriving in Buenos Aires we have seen and done lots of cool things. Because this city is the capital of Argentina the president´s house is here. Maybe you can do some research and find out who the president of Argentina is. If you do, you can have your teacher post your findings on this blog. In the United States we call the president´s house The White House and here in Argentina it´s called the Casa Rosada, or Pink House. That´s because it is pink!










Nathan and I also visited the oldest cathedral in Argentina, called Iglesia San Ignacion. There are many Catholic cathedrals in the city because the dominant religion here is Catholicism.













Another very fun thing to do is watch people dance the Tango! You can often find live performances on the streets of this very beautiful and traditional dance. People in Argentina love to watch tango shows! The dancers just ask for a donation if you enjoyed their performance!



And now for a little Spanish lesson! Can you guess what the words, Supermercado, Antiguos and Modernos mean in the following pictures? I´ll give you a hint: they sound very much like their English equivalents.

That´s right! A supermercado is a supermarket where you can buy food and other goods. In the second picture, antiguos means old, or antique, and modernos means new, or modern. These are words I saw on the front of a libreria, or bookstore.

Tomorrow we will take a bus for 14 hours to the city of Mendoza where our friend Agustina lives. You´ll get to meet her in the next blog entry.

Hasta Luego Amigos! Until later friends!