MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Hello Everyone!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I am in Neuquen, a province in Argentina, spending my holidays with my good friend, Sarah.

I arrived a couple of days ago and was all prepared to call her to pick me up from the bus terminal. Well, it turned out that I didn't have the correct phone number. And after I spent waaay too much money at the internet cafe, I found the new number in an email she had sent me a while ago. So, off I go to the pay phone. I must have dialed about 20 times and for 18 times, I got a not in service beeping sound. The 2 times that I got a ring tone, it cut out after 2 rings.

Obviously frustrated, I went outside, hoping that she got the hint that I was in town, just by the 2 times the phone rang. (Tired, hungry, dirty and lugging 20 lbs on my back. Waddaya expect? Logic?) Anyways, after being there for about an hour, I tried again. This time it got through and happily, Sarah and her boyfriend Horacio came to pick me up.

I was so happy to see her. We were good friends back in Vancouver and I hadn't seen her for about a year. I gave her a great big hug when she arrive and on the ride back to her place, we talked non-stop. In English, of course. :)

When we arrived to her place, and as she was getting out of the car, she pointed out to me that she was 5 months PREGNANT!!! In my excitement of seeing her, I didn't even notice her belly! It was sooo suprisingly, happily, shocking! What an incredible thing! I am really happy for her and her life and her choice of partner. I don't think I've ever seen her happier.

So far, we've done lots of shopping, talking non-stop - get this - in Spanish! Horacio doesn't really know English. So Sarah speaks in Spanish most of the time. Ironic. To go hang out with an English speaker only to speak more Spanish than I had in the the past 2 months!