is this some kind of joke?

If the weather station told me it was snowing today, I would think it was a feeble attempt at April Fooling. But I saw it with my own eyes, out of the window of my own house. Snow. In Seattle. In the "Springtime".Oh, Argentina, I've never missed you more...

Welcome to Seattle, Baby!

The weather did nothing to welcome me, but my housemates sure did! As of 6 o'clock this morning, there is a tiny new neighbor baby upstairs. I've only been home a day and the wonder of Aconcagua has already been topped...

Aconcagua, highest peak in the Americas

tastes like America

Oh, Texas, how I missed your guacamole...
I'm back in the heartland, the Lone Star State, the place where giant astronauts eat french fries atop buildings. I'm happy to be under the big Texas sky, and even happier to be eating Tex-Mex. Ahhh, there really is no place like home. It's a perfect Spring day in Houston. Even the rockets are in bloom.

Summer's over, here comes Spring

Well, I've started the countdown to my return to the Northern Hemisphere... I am really gonna miss the sun. And the sunny people.
Here are some pics from my last few days.

Tigre - a sleepy little delta town with more crew boats than cars


a Park - blue skies, warm sun and gentle breezes



Wilde - my home away from home, complete with rooftop rainbows and an adorable little sister

Rio in the morning, Manu Chao at night

Being a tourist is hard work. I had only two days in Rio, so I spent one day on a tour of the hot spots. But, unlike many American tourists, I didn´t have much money to spend, so I got the cheap tour. NOT the helicopter-to-the-top tour. All the same sites, but much more hiking and sweating involved. First stop, Sugar Loaf mountain. There are a series of cable cars to the top. We hiked as far as we could, and then took the last car through the clouds to the top. We had this mystical ride up, then the wind swept the clouds away and we had an amazing view. Although, not as good as the view from the feet of giant Jesus.


So it was a long day of touring, then I went straight to the airport to go back to Buenos Aires, where Manu Chao put on an AMAZING show. He and the band were high energy and they performed non-stop for more than 3 hours. I know he was in Brazil before BsAs... he must have brought back some guaraná to keep him going. :)¨próxima estación, Esperanza¨

I was told there would be monkeys.

AND THERE ARE FREAKIN` MONKEYS!!!
Whole pocketfuls, just hanging out in monkey trees.

in the morning, Ipanema beach.
in the afternoon, MONKEYS.
Rio is almost too good to be true.

topo do mundo

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, at the Top of the World, where we spent all day eating, laughing and enjoying the view. This is the life of Kings!

Bruno, we miss you!

Brasil, you slippery pais

62 hoops, many on fire, several directly preceding kiddie pools full of alligators and/or pirhanas, and all of them needing to be jumped through, in the correct order, please, so that I can go to Brazil and be reunited with the Kings! Totally worth it.

Rio Mendoza

My last day in Mendoza, and they sent me off in style. One more sunny day by the river, with meat, Fernet, and the pinkulele... it doesn´t get better than this.

These Hills are Made of Rainbows

like the sunshine dried the rain so fast
the rainbows dried stuck to the hillside

All pinks and greens and yellows and grey blues. Desert mountains are amazing. These photos can´t show you how beautiful this place really is, covered in tiny plants bursting with life from the smallest trickle of water, from melting snow on the mountain tops.

I went to the mountains, and found a magical place where Jesus brought together Argentina and Texas. It is my own personal heaven.
Wait, that´s not Texas. That´s Chile. Oh. Yeah, the flag confused me for a sec. No, no, it´s fine. Chile is good, too. (Thanks a lot, Jesus)

So, if you count stepping into Chile for a foto, I´ve been to 3 countries this year. But I didn´t play pinkulele there, so I don´t think it counts.

TangoLogia

Pinkulele World Tour, second stop!
I was invited by some Mendoza musicians to play at an artist haven here. It was a long night of wonderful music. The night was warm, so everyone sat outside, under the trees and stars and full moon, drinking vino, cerveza, and Fernet. First, there was the ever present and so dang beautiful tango, this time played by 3 old men who were masters of their craft. Then it was Pinkulele time. I sang a few songs solo, then played a few with Daniela and Patricia, twin sisters who make up the local band Artemis. Then, the fun really started. For me, the best part about getting a bunch of musicians together in a relaxed atmosphere is that they just want to make music! We jammed, uku-tango style, for hours, ending with an amazing improvisation and sing-a-long to ´The Lion Sleeps Tonight´.
Apparently, this is my jamming-on-the-ukulele face. Almost as entertaining as the pinkulele itself...

Aguas termales

It was like a cross between a water park and a day spa...
There were water slides for the niños, and for the adults, hot water served up in various ways: a steam room made out of a cave with a natural hot waterfall running into it, a shallow pool lined with rocks carved to be comfortable to lie on and with cracks to allow hot water to bubble up, pools and soaking tubs ranging from warm to BOILING.
It was my second day of Spanish class and we took a field trip to this magic land with hot pools, a cold river, and beautiful desert mountains towering above. I love school!

Casa Tranquila

It´s nice to be back ¨home¨ in Mendoza. Ahhh, I haven´t been practicing doing nothing enough. (Kings, where are you?) It´s easy to relax in this city, it´s so tranquila. Although, I´m not completely relaxing. This week I´m taking classes in Castellaño, which will be some work. My friends in San Luis really got my brain warmed up, now I´m ready for some serious brain-ercises. Ready? And congugate, two, three, four... en el pasado, two, three, four...

Some of you have been asking about my apartment. Well, YES, you can _absolutely_ come visit! And here are some pictures:

Downstairs: kitchen, dining room, t.v., plants.



Upstairs: bedroom, bathroom, big windows.


Roof: terraza, yoga, mountains, sunshine.

MURGA!!!

It didn´t take long to turn the the best party I´ve been to into the 2nd best party I´ve been to... The show was amazing. There was tango and milonga and cumbia and samba and juggling AND pinkulele AND MURGA! And, of course, DANCING to MURGA! I´ll post a video when I get to a better computer. If you can´t wait until then to experience murga, look on youtube. If you like drums and dancable beats, you´ll love it!
These kids play a mean murga:

Pinkulele World Tour

Me encanta esta vida!
I met another group of travelers and, a couple nights ago, ended up in San Luis at the best party I´ve been to in quite some time... there were jugglers and all kinds of musicians and we jammed for hours, with the pinkulele, several guitars, an upright bass, some instruments I didn´t recognize, lots of drums, and everyone singing. I joined in on some local tunes and taught them some pinkulele favorites. It was great! AND, I´m going to joing them in a concert performance this Thursday night!
The 2009 Pinkulele World Tour starts in Argentina!

Obama del Sur

Even in South America, the TV had nothing but Obama coverage from Sunday - Tuesday. Me and my new house plants were glued to the news. And pinkulele sang songs of joy.

My new plants are, from left to right: peppermint, spicy pepper, cedrón, and basil. They help this house feel like a home. And they´re all delicious.

At home in Mendoza

Well, this city has taken my heart and made it all bubbly like a soda. I love it here, and now that the Kings have gone home (I´ll miss you guys!), I´m going to relax for a while. So, I got an apartment! In Mendoza City! YEAH!!!

Every day is Kings Day

I saw my first live South American futbol match last night. AND ate my first real Brazilian barbecue. Not bad for one traveling day...

Here is the crowd. A bit thin, because it´s only the preseason, but still CRAZY.


And here are the Kings, Bruno and Antonio, doing what Kings do best: cooking meat, drinking vino, and cheering for Independiente!


Everyone at the hostel benefitted from the Kings´ churrasco skills!

Balthazar, Elvis, and Balthazar

Team 3 Kings is having so much fun! This is us in Colonia, in a cochito we rented to zoom around the tiny city.

Happy Kings Day!

Felicidades Reyes!
Yesterday was the Dia de los Reyes, the last day of Christmas, the day the 3 Kings arrived to greet the new baby Jesus. It´s when many Uruguayans exchange gifts (instead of on Christmas), and it´s a day when everything is closed and the whole country goes to the beach. Well, when in Uruguay...

I spent the whole day at various beaches along the Uruguayan coast. It took awhile (like 5 Uruguayan minutes), but eventually, my Brazilian friends and I made it to the green beach. It inspired much silliness and a ukulele song.

And an ocean sunset...
After taking all day to get here, we weren´t in a hurry to leave. We found a restaurant with a great view, and got a little silly. I´m sure we were the only ones they´d had in a long time who didn´t wear pants for dinner... And another great pinkulele song is born! You can eat dinner, wearing no pants. Watch the sunset, wearing no pants. Go to the GREEN BEACH, wearing no pants. Have a Happy Kings Day, wearing no pants!