El fin del mundo - it'a a long way from Poland

March 10
Ushuaia, Argentina
They call this area "El Fin del Mundo," and it really looks the part. We are only about 600 miles from Antarctica and this is the southernmost city on earth, but more about that later.
When I last wrote we were at the glacier and since then we have visited others as well. They are enormous structures, sometimes over a mile wide and several hundred feet high. They constantly crack and groan. There is a constant noise which emanates from them and they give off what sounds like gunfire on a continual basis. You'd think that someone was in the middle of it with a rifle. the colors are a deep blue which seems to be translucent. Huge chunks break off of them with enormous roars and huge wakes are created in the water below. One of the small launches on which we went from the mother ship was almost swamped by a wave from a huge chunk which we estimated to be about the size of a school auditorium;.
But to get here to Ushuaia proved a logistical and logical problem which provided us with a hilarious incident involving one of the flowers of Brazil named Sandra.
We had taken a jeep for a four hour trip on Tuesday to catch a ferry which left only on Wednesday to catch a flight which left only on Thursday. Any break in the connection meant a week's delay or a very long 18 hour bus ride. All went well or at least as well as one can reasonably hope for in this part of the world. We caravaned in the jeeps, and one of them broke down. No surprise! We had to wait until it was fixed since on one is left behind down here. It could be disastrous. We still made the ferry all right, but problems arose making the flight. First of all, we wound up in a small town near the border of Chile and Argentina. Since it is not a major crossing point, there was no regular bus schedule to the border or to the next larger town on the Argentine side where we could catch another bus to a still larger town and the airport. Sometimes the bus came by to see if there were passengers and sometimes it didn't. An Argentine couple who had been staying at the same house as us in Coyhaique made arrangements to get a taxi to take them across the border. They came back to pick us up, but by that time our numbers had swollen. In our jeep there had been two Canadians in their 20's and a 75 year old lawyer traveling in the same direction as us;. The five of us decided to see if we could get some transportation to see some prehistoric caves in the area. We had also met Sandra from Brazil and her male Chilean traveling companion. Anyway, the taxi came for us, but there was not room for all of us. It was decided that the two Canadians and I would walk to the border and the rest would ride, since it was only two miles to the border crossing. Six miles and 2 1/2 miles later, we crossed the border and arrived at the Argentine town to try to get to the airport town. By this time Carol and Sandra were fast friends and were really enjoying each other's company. The new problem was that the plane left the next morning at 11:00 a.m. and we had to be at the airport at 10:00, but the bus didn't leave in time to get us there. Sandra decided to take matters into her own hands. She began to flag down pick-ups driven by men which did not have anybody else in them and try to convince the men to take us to the airport the same evening. That woman, she is 28, can move her body in some very subtle, but extremely effective ways. She finally convinced an old Argentine of about 105 to take us there. But two hours later he had not shown up. She found out his name, where he lived, and went to his house. Before she left his house, she had a commitment that he would show up at the hotel at 8:00 a.m. the next morning, would take us to the airport, wait there for the plane, and if we couldn't get on the flight, would take us to the bus station and wait there until we were assured of getting on the long distance bus. All this for $4 per person, the same price as the local bus which wasn't going to get us there in time anyway.
The next morning at 7:55 there he is, hat in hand, literally. He insisted that Sandra sit next to him with Carol sitting by the window. The five males rode in the back and off we went in search of the airport. I thought that Carol would die laughing later when she related the story of the ride in the pick-up cab. Apparently he old man did not sleep well that previous night. He kept wondering what it would be like driving the next morning with Sandra sitting next to him all the way. We was convinced that she was some kind of a witch since she had found out his name and where she lived. Carol took a picture of the two of the them together, and he was a sight. He stood very erect, put his arm around Sandra, and with his other hand put his hat to his heart. He made Carol promise to send him the picture. He later reminded her of her promise and just before he left us for the final time, reminded her of it again. In the end, there was only room enough on the plane for two people. The first person to write back and correctly guess who got the plane ride and who got the 18 hour bus ride wins a free picture of Sandra.
That was the end of Sandra, or so we thought at the time. The bus ride was long and tiring, but we finally made our destination, and we arrived at Calafate with the two Canadians, Wayne, Bruce, and the Colorado lawyer, Paul. The five of us were to spend the next week together and we all had a lot of fun laughing about Sandra and "Her way with men." Carol assured Wayne and Bruce that Brazil is filled with women like this.
In Calafate, we stayed in the home of a 75 year old woman and her 80 year old husband. Both are very spry and lively. He is an artist who works with wood and does beautiful word. We filmed much of it with him talking about his past. She runs the house and takes in guests, does their laundry, and works in the garden. Paul had a hole in his pant which she mended. We teased him about what his wife would say in Colorado.
We wanted to visit a famous glacier near Calafate, but the tour buses were filled. So we found a taxi which would take us there. The only problem was that it could hold no more than the five people and with the driver we were six. No problem, he gave us his car keys and off we went for the day. It was great to have the flexibility of setting our own time schedule and stopping when we wanted.
We also met an Argentine family with three kids. During one day when there was a lot of rain and we were all stuck together in a shelter, we filmed the three kids for Carol's classes (remember we're working) and they were great fun. The 14 year old boy enjoys computers and he and I are going to spend some time working on some Macintosh's in Buenos Aires when we get there next week. The parents are great and want us to come over for a barbecue when we arrive.
After the week together Wayne, Bruce, Paul Carol and I each went our own ways. Paul went to Antarctica. We could have gone, too, but decided against it. Wayne and Bruce? Well, when last seen they were making their way towards Brazil.
Carol and I went to the Torres del Paine National Park where we filmed rheas, flamingos, foxes, and gorgeous guanacos. To get to the guanacos in the park we had to walk about three miles where we got a ride in the back of a pick-up for another 20 miles and then film. By this point it was about five in the afternoon and we had a very long walk back since there didn't seem to be any return traffic. We began and had some beautiful scenery to help us forget how tired we were. We had walked about eight miles when another pick-up came along and took us all the way back to the hotel. It had been raining for 14 days straight in the park, but for the time we were there, the weather was great and it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. It is Yellowstone, Yosemite, and the Yukon all put together.
At our next stop, in Puerto Natales, Chile we stayed in a private house owned by a lady who runs a zapateria, a shoe shop. Throughout South America people live in rooms attached to their place of work. To get to our room we went through the zapateria. She takes in travelers, as many people do down here, and runs the shop. She learned to make shoes when she was 15 and has been doing it for 50 years. She sends boots to Texas and shoes to Israel, all hand made on equipment which looks like hand-me-downs from the industrial revolution. We filmed the shoemaking process and the workers doing their specialties. We interviewed her and her son and then asked if she would like to see the video. Of course she did, and I went to our room to get the proper connections to the TV. When I returned to the room all the workers were sitting there like it was a theater with their hands folded in their lap and sitting very erect in anticipation of seeing something they had never envisioned, themselves on television. I just said "Showtime" and enjoyed watching them more than I did the video. It looked like a scene from one of my classes, except that they all behaved.
Our next stop was 150 miles south to Punta Arenas, the southernmost city in Chile. It is very cold and damp, much like the Oregon coast. Here we went to a penguinera, a penguins hatching area. We really enjoyed ourselves. We were absolutely the only people there, and it was wonderful to have the whole place to ourselves. The penguins live in shallow burrows about a foot below ground. They are shy and all run, at least as well as a penguin can run, when you approach them. We got some great pictures of them in their bunkers as well as coming in and going out to sea. At one point there was one which couldn't find a home in which to hide when we approached. He went from one burrow to another but there was no room at the inn. He finally found one, but was huddled close to the front, so I told carol to pet him. She now has two very distinct cuts on her right index finger, living proof to the fact that: 1. Penguins do have some sort of teeth, and 2. They do not like to be petted. Anyone interested in: 1. Hearing Carol scream, 2. Hearing Jim laugh, and 3. Seeing Carol glower at Jim can watch our penguin movie.
We have finally left Patagonia for the last time. We kept criss-crossing it for weeks. There are several truths which can be told about the area. The wind always blows, hard; there are no trees for thousands of miles; all cars have broken windshields since all road are gravel at best, and all cars have non-functional mufflers and therefore, sound like growling, angry beasts as they bounce down the road.
We got a standby flight for half price to Ushuaia and had a beautiful flight down until it got very, very rough. The passengers all became very quiet. A jet crashed across the channel last week killing 20 people and everybody was very nervous. As we attempted to land, the pilot suddenly pulled up and we were forced to fly to another airport awaiting the end of the turbulence. It turned out there was a violent hail storm and after an hours wait, we finally landed without incident to loud applause on the part of the passengers. Actually, Carol and I really enjoyed the whole thing. I never once believed we were in real danger, and even if the plane crashes, you're only dead. It not like it's anything permanent.
While walking to the tourist bureau to try to find a new place to stay (we didn't like our room) we saw this pretty woman waving and jumping up and down. As we got closer, we recognized her as, of course, Sandra. She and Carol picked up, seemingly without a break where they had left off weeks earlier. Sandra had shed her Chilean Friend (he had no spirit) and had taken up with a Swiss for a while and was now with a fellow Brazilian. She told us of a place she knew of, and it was fantastic. It is a fully self-contained apartment. It has a kitchen, our own bathroom, and a heated bedroom. All for the same price we were paying for a closet the other place called a bedroom. Last night, I fixed fried chicken and gravy, mashed potatoes, squash and a salad. Carol made an apple pie and we can't tell you how wonderful it is to have the capability to totally set our own schedule. The apartment is practically new and very, very wonderful.
The apartments are owned by an expatriate Pole, now 80 years old and his Chilean wife. What a fascinating man he is. He was captured by the Germans during WWII and sent to a concentration camp in Germany. He survived that, only to be "Liberated" by the Russians and sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia. He was there for two years before he escaped. Since he could speak Russian, he engaged the guard in conversation and then, with a homemade knife, killed him. Nine Poles escaped and everybody split up. He has no idea what happened to the others, but he began a 10 year odyssey by walking for weeks until he reached Iran, and from there made his way to Africa and what is now Uganda. He stayed there until he could afford the passage to England, and finally decided that he wanted to get as far away from Europe as was possible. Looking at a map, he decided that Ushuaia in Tierra del Fuego was that point and has been here for 35 years. With the democratic movement in Poland he is going to make one last pilgrimage to his homeland and take two of his sons with him to see Poland. He has not been there for 50 years There is no bitterness in him towards anything or anybody. He does not feel guilty about what he was forced to do nor does he have animosity about how others have treated him. Carol and I just sat there and listened to him for hours. Of course, we filmed him. His wife is so sweet, just a good person in every sense of the term. With people like these that we keep on meeting, it is easy for you to see why this trip is becoming so very important to us and will be part of us forever.
Tomorrow we goon a boat ride to see some more penguins, sea lions, and possibly whales. As I hope you can all see, everything is going swimmingly for us, and we are meeting tons of people and filming most of them. Right now, I am sitting in a computer lab (5 machines) at the local high school. I started this letter yesterday, but teachers came by since school starts next week and we began comparing notes, like all teachers everywhere. In the end we filmed an interview with them on education in Argentina.
It this is the end of the world, then it's not all that bad. It is cold, but has a natural beauty which is awe inspiring. It seems so different from the humid tropics which await us later in the trip. I know this will not be our last visit to the "End of the World."