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.