Jibbi, it´s Christmas!!

A very red Christmas in Ushuaia. Yesterday we had a delicious parrilla (barbacue) here in the hostel, the senora used to have a steakhouse here until 8 years ago when she switched over to a hostel but she obviously hasn´t forgotten anything about barbecuing. An absolutely delicious meal; lamb meat with potato salad and a BIG cake for desert. We were probably 15 people there, 7 Israelis and 8 non-Israelis. Funny proportions, considering. Susanna, the daughter here, read us a short passage from the Bible and then she said a prayer, in English so that everyone would understand. Very nice :)

In Icelandic we have this very true proverb which says "sjaldan er ein báran stök"; basically meaning that trouble usually comes in pairs, if not three together! I´m experiencing this now... grrrr. First, my creditcard became very unpopular with all ATM´s. Then my old camera committed suicide. Then, my creditcard went on being unpopular. Now my new camera (which, technically, still belongs to my friends Erna and Mordur) has spent 11 days on the way from NYC to here with fedex (now, does this name mean "federal express", or "fed up and exhausted"??), thereof the last 7 days on someone´s desk in Buenos Aires. I´ve written three angry e-mails and called them, and their associates, four times. No answers, noone knows nothing. ARG! What kind of an asshole company is this??? My boat for the Antarctic leaves in the afternoon of the 28th, and if I haven´t got my camera by then I´ll have to buy still another one, or go to the Antarctic without one. This is ridiculous. Does anyone know what my rights are in this case? Aren´t they obliged to get me the parcel in time (they said three working days) (this costs a LOT of money, as you all know, to send with these companies) and to compensate for any losses if they fail to deliver it in time? I told you earlier that Arnon was going to lend me his camera but I can´t accept that since he needs it himself for the treks he´s going to. This mess is really making me angry, and I hate to waste my energy and time in having to think about this. I´ll never use fedex again, that´s for sure. Hope you´ll join me in the boycott.

Another question for the wise of you, after a short introduction to the topic: Now, you all probably know that Argentina is in a state of chaos right now. The economy here is just one big, and quite sad, joke. People can´t even access their savings in the bank freely. When I last knew, i.e. yesterday, the Central Bank was still closed. Not for Christmas, but because there is nothing there, if I got it right. Yesterday I walked between all the banks in Ushuaia, asking them to help me in taking out cash on my creditcard. They all politely refused to do so, not because there is something wrong with my card but because they are not giving money to people over the counter because of the bad economic situation. They all told me to go to the ATM. I told them the truth, the very bitter truth, that no ATM wanted to see my card, even if it was perfectly fine. Now, what is the difference for the bank to hand out cash over the counter or through an ATM? I know that I know nothing about how banks work, but I sure never even imagined, at least not since I quit believing in Santa Claus, that ATM´s print their own cash. If they do, I´ll have one for next Christmas, please.

Anyway, problems have a tendency to be solved in a manner as magical as the one in which they are created. Don´t worry!

Almost forgot about the trek. I´ve heard quite a lot of people say that they don´t like Ushuaia and that Ushuaia is one ugly, uninteresting place, and I have to say that I couldn´t agree less. Ushuaia is a very likeable little town in an absolutely beautiful setting, and anyone who doesn´t know to appreciate it should take a few minutes off, walk down to the harbour, watch the yachts on the sea and the gulls on the beach, the Dientes on Isla Navarino and the rugged ridges of the Montes Martial. It was behind these ridges that we went trekking, on a short (20-30km) trek that lasted us three days. We set out in the afternoon of the 21., walked until above the tree line (not even southern Tierra del Fuego escaped being overgrown with trees. Terrible ;) and, after finding out that we were on the wrong side of the river, pitched our tent under the most impressive cliffs of heavily folded metamorphic rock. It was a bit chilly, but I was nevertheless quite surprised to find snow on the green ground the next morning. Since there is no trail to follow and the clouds were very low we decided to stay where we were that day. Wow, how claustrophobic is it possible to become in one tiny tent??? All our clothes were wet but nevertheless I took them on and went out for some fresh air, it was nice actually to get into some small Christmas feeling with the snow falling all around me. Found out that I don´t remember the words to one Christmas carol!

The next day it was much better, so on we went. The scenery is really nice, especially as we crossed a low, open pass way above the tree line, there was not even moss growing there. Mmmm, makes me feel good. On the other side of the pass we found some forest to make our wau through, in places completely without any trail, and a lot of impressive beaver dams. Finally we came out onto a gravel road by some isolated farms/houses, and the first car we saw (a family in a pick-up, with all the 5 kids inside) gave us a lift to town. Wonderful!!!

Another question, that I´ve been meaning to ask you for a long time: What is fuzzy logic, and how can a washing machine in La Serena, Chile, possibly benefit from it??