Here's to World Enough and Time...

I'm really trying to ignore the fact that my semester in Argentina is almost halfway over but it's staring me in the face.

To borrow some imagery from "The Time Traveler's Wife," it feels like I've been at the top of a roller coaster. The first two months here I was kind of chugging up hill, getting used to things and just having a relaxing time. Now I'm at the final two months, and every day goes by faster and faster and my mind is screaming, "hurry up and experience everything, because the ride is almost over and you don't know if you'll ever be back again."

Happy happy thoughts.

Anyway, my midterms start this week and after that I'm off on Spring break! I'm going to Chile to explore and unleash my nerdy side (thought: do I have a nerdy side, or am I just all nerd?). I really want to try and visit all of Pablo Neruda's houses. There are three: one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso, and one in Isla Negra. I think I can do it.


If you didn't know, this is Pablo Neruda. He was the winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature, a Chilean diplomat, nominated to the seat of the Chilean presidency...and one of the greatest poets of the 20th century. Neruda HANDS DOWN bitchslap Shakespeare is my favorite poet, and I've been spending a lot of time this semester learning to read his poems in their original Spanish.

Know this man. Love this man.

If you love me, you'll begin to read Neruda's poetry. I recommend starting with his first book, "Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair." It's really been freaking me out down here how few people from my program know who Neruda is. It's also really depressing. I want his memory to live on.

And on a light note...after Chile it's back to Argentina to visit Bariloche, the chocolate capital of Argentina. Located in the north of Patagonia, it is also a city apparently populated by avid gnome collectors. Good times shall be had.