In the Windy City...and we don't mean Chicago!

Well, today is Day 3 in the seemingly katabatic winds. Okay, technically maybe that is not what they are, but the wind has packed a real punch for the last 72 hours. (If you want to learn more about Katabatic winds, visit Antarctic or check out --- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katabatic_wind).

What does one do in all this wind? A Sling Box in Seattle or a double-blind proxy server (Deborah's technical term), work fairly well for catching up on Jack Bauer's adventures in "24". Okay, "fairly well" might be an overstatement, but it beats watching Spanish tv or the stock market reports on CNN. Now that we are caught up on "24", we'll move onto "House". We have also spent a lot of time surfing. Perhaps you have noticed our emails. We have even started making plans for once we are home from South America. Hard to believe, but we need to put the wind at our back and make good use of the time. Yesterday, we braved it outdoors to get some exercise. Arn went for a run. Deborah went for a walk. What took 30 minutes to walk on the way out to 40 minutes on the way back. Does that give a sense for the wind? Deborah almost put the pesos in her pocket towards a cab ride to get out of the misery. We both returned to the apartment with massive headaches from the wind. So, today, Arn went out for another run. Deborah studied the wind to assess if things might improve in the afternoon.

So, you might ask, "okay, how bad is the wind?" Arn heard reports yesterday that guts were up to 70km per hour (just over 40mph). The better way to describe that is discuss the lake. The lake is HUGE -- read: lots of fetch. This means the wind has a lot of time to pick up over the water. To predict the wind in Bariloche, we look down the lake. The size of the white caps at the other end will determine what things look like here in about 45-60 minutes. During Day 1 of the winds, the lake was covered in white caps about 2 ft high. On Day 2, the period between the waves increased and things started to look more like ocean swells. This was best evidenced at the beach with the big crashing waves. On Day 2, we observed windsurfers on the lake. It took guts and skills to ride the wind and those guys were FLYING!

The wind and internet time have lead to some interesting developments. If you have LOTS of internet time, then you really can research your dinner choices. Two nights ago, we tried a place called "NAAN". It is a very small restaurant run out of someone's home. The living room and dining room have been converted into the dining area of the restaurant. The house has beautiful views over the lake and town. The gardens are stunning with a gigantic monkey puzzle tree. (for details on the tree, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Araucaria_araucana). During dinner, we struck up a conversation with another couple. They are from Brazil and took pictures of everything they ate. It was pretty funny. As we shared travel stories, we learned that they are currently on the same Backroads trip we took a couple of weeks ago. They are traveling with the same exact two trip leaders. So, we came up with a way for them to surprise one of the leaders, Brian. We told them about a girl he was trying to impress (someone he met while on our trip). They knew about the girl, but Brain had avoided mentioning her name: Macarena. Their plan was to tell Brian they met Macarena at NAAN and had quite the conversation. As proof, they have her picture: a photo of us! Too bad we couldn't have seen the look on Brian's face.

Another product of our time in the wind has been many walks to and from town. Our street is not that long, but it is home to at least 9 different cats. From day to day, we see different cats. They all seem to hang out in the same block. We have given names to those we see more regularly. Of course, our favorite has been named "Noche". She is a very small black cat with bright gold eyes. Noche means night in Spanish. There is a brown/gray tabby that we have named, "Novia". Novia means girlfriend in Spanish. There is a black cat with a white markings. We have named her, "Chiste". Chiste means joke and she has earned the name. She is very funny and she will appear anytime Arn whistles if she is anywhere in the area. Then, there is an all gray kitty that we have named, "Smokey". Smokey in Spanish just doesn't work, so this kitty has the only English name. Smokey is a bit more skittish and doesn't come when we call, but I don't think it is language problem.

Okay, you can see the effects of high wind. Tomorrow, we plan to pick up a rental care and head to El Bolson. The "A" is to check out the market in town and go for a run/hike (Arn/Deborah). Given the dark clouds at the far end of the lake, we may have to find a "B" plan.