Should the ticket remain as scheduled, I leave for Sydney this Friday night. Two more days for a continent that has been so much more than I expected. I appreciate all of you that have contributed emails over the last two months. One in particular literally changed my spirits for the entire day and reinspired me for a week. I suppose I{ll leave the author unnamed :)

And yet, for the last week, I have had twice as many emails in Spanish than in English. Its just amazing to think how quickly things have changed for me.

I write now because I have a few minutes left in the Internet cafe and feel that much has progressed undocumented. My hands twitch, which has become the only way I can usually judge my hunger now, and realize that I have skipped a meal or two... Perhaps I am the hinojo loco (crazy... vegetable FLOBW) that people keep calling me.

Mendoza was just fantastic. I feel that the place simply exudes the sense of home I talked about last time. I could imagine living there, more so than almost any place I have been to yet. I looked up at the stars at 5AM the morning of departure to see that my little constellation hero, Orion, had been spun around on his head, with his belt pointing upwards. This was such a shocker. I suppose it makes physical sense, but I had never thought out just what the southern sky would treat me to. As I watched and appreciated, two Mendozans I was staying with tied me up to the pole that held the laundry and insisted I stay a few more days. What choice had I but to stare upwards, content in my un-liberty, bound to a pole in the backyard, taking in the majesty of the southern night sky.

But here I am, in any case, digging through old 1920s newspapers, for which I will tell you more about soon. Nahuelito is just the beginning...

Vamos vamos, a almuerce....