day 1/2: travel and group meet

The last day and a half is pretty much a blur of lines, plane rides, taxis, naps, reading and thinking....well not much thinking until I had a five hour nap today. We flew out of national airport at abut three pm and had two more connections in Miami and Santiago and finally reaching our destination at Mendoza, Argentina. It all went smoothly for how much room there is for disaster. None of our luggage was lost and we made all of our connections.  I've already met several people who gave me some places and contacts around south America. When we arrived in Mendoza, we squeezed all of those giant bags into a little fiat and made our way to downtown and checked into our hotel.  At that point I was an angry zombie....and after checking into our room, I slept for about six hours.  Our guide Ozwaldo came up to our room and I was so delighted at how friendly he is.  He is an Ecuador native and already Told me I have a place to stay when I travel to Ecuador.

We went through the most important gear and he was  pleased with our organization and experience with high altitude mountaineering.  I can already tell he will be a great person to practice Spanish with, talk about places to go and just learn some culture.  We didn't meet "Johnson", our other climbing partner until about 8 when we went out for dinner.  He is also a well travelled and very animated person...I can tell we are going to have a great group.  This is going to be his third attempt at Aconcagua.  One time the weather was not permitting and the last time he tore his ACL...so as You can imagine he is motivated and excited to get up there.  We also had dinner with a Norwegian woman named Anna, who had just summitted Aconcagua with the last group and our current guide.  So it was really nice to Sit down at dinner with a normal person who had just successfully and safely summitted what we are about to attempt.  She was an awesome middle aged lady and has been climping for years.  They got lucky and summitted almost four days early because the weather was so great.  She didn't Even get sick, but only said that summit day was living hell....which I have been anticipating because of past summits.  Other than that all she had to say was how beautiful it was....and how she wishes she could come up with us again!!!

Dinner was amazing.  The Argentinians are known for their meat...and man did I take advantage of a kilo of steak and a fresh salad bar...such amazing fresh greens.  One sad event happened over dinner. kids walk from table to table trying to sell little cards. When one of them put some down by my dad, they swiped his iPhone that had a credit card case, and he had an Amex and a MasterCard in there.  So this little eight year old is walkin around with two credit adds and a brand new iPhone 4s.  Shitty shitty shitty, but I think lesson learned.  We cancelled the cards and my dads a little bummed but didn't let it ruin the trip.  That was a nice wake up call for me to really watch everybody and keep everything safe.

Tomorrow we are getting final supplies, food, CHOCOLATE, and other last minute items and driving to the base camp where we will finalize our packing, hire mules, and have one last good dinner.  We start the climb Wednesday morning, and fingers crossed, we are supposed to have good weather.  We also have a sat phone which is amazing so I can call my mom and sisters from each of the camps when we have downtime and if we have enough energy at the SUMMIT ( if we reach it).  I am so excited and just hearing oswaldo, Johnson, and Anna talk about how much fun I am going to have on my trip is eating me so excited for not only the climb but realizing that the comb is only he kickoff to a much longer and undetermined itinerary for an undetermined amount of time. I want to see everything! Do everything! Meet everyone! Eat everything! Drink everything (non-alcoholic :)) and just really accept uncertainty and not knowing where this trip will take me.  A line Che wrote from the motor cycle diaries that I loved goes like this:

"The person who wrote these notes passed away the moment his feet touched argentine soil. The person who reorganizes and polishes them, me, is no longer, at least I am not the person I once was. All this wandering around 'our America with a capital A' has changed me more than I thought"

...this is what I hope to achieve from this journey.

Another line I must quote for the purpose of this journey and what I've been reading is from a book my mom got me called, "comfortable with uncertainty", and goes like this:

"A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next.  We can try to control the uncontrollable by looking for security and predictability, always hoping to be comfortable and safe.  But the truh is that we can never avoid uncertainty.  This not-knowing is part of the adventure. It's also what makes us afraid...do I prefer to grow up and relate to life directly, or do I choose to live and die in fear?" -chodron

The truth is I am scared and fearful as hell, but that is what is driving me, because I want to experience it and understand it.  I know that I will learn so much about myself and life in general.  I know that I will go through some very tough and dire times, but it is about how I move past it and get over these obstacles that will prove to show growth and self discovery.  I have never felt so many emotions in my life, Both positive and negative, but that is what makes me so excited for this time in my life. Because this is the time to get out and lose yourself and rediscover a new self.

This will be my last post until after the climb.  I hope you all enjoyed this update and I look forward to getting back in touch with everyone.  And I feel the energy and vibes pushing me forward and that is much appreciated.  I've never felt so supported by my loved ones and closest friends in my life and it is what is driving me.  So for that I am so grateful.  Thanks and I will see ou on he other side.

-jpm