Join the conversation.
#12HotdogsVRegeneratingBanana
Two days back to back on Peggy from Bariloche rewarded my fellow Amigos and I with stunning views of Mt Fitz Roy on arrival to El Chalten.
https://instagram.com/p/BBh-kWyDXoj/
This part of Pategonia is a haven for walkers and climbers in the summer months due to it’s numerous restaurants serving delicious food to cure the hunger earned by a 19km hike to the base of the “smokey mountain” that the town is named after.
https://instagram.com/p/BBOD_zljXqK/
After increasing the percentage of regenerating banana holders, dazzling 5 teenagers with my Bueno Español and creating prof for their teachers and parents that they had practiced their English with an Aussie, we continued our journey south to arrive in the town of El Calafate, where we based ourselves for a day trip to the tourist magnet called the Perito Moreno glacier.
Rather than risk the inevitably overpriced food on offer whilst waiting with video cameras at the ready to capture masses of ice crumbling from the ominous structure only to finding it crashing into the water after the cameras were put away, I met Vinny and Tom in the hotel reception. Whilst waiting in reception I saw Alison explaining to a random Canadian about her inability to leave Argentina due to being robbed of her valuables, including her passport, after being distracted by a crew of shirtless thieves in Buenos Aires. Her replacement passport was on the verge of overuse, meaning that she could not continue on with us to Chile and the magnificence of Torres del Paine national park, a point that was understandably very raw for Alison.
We said our “Hasta prontos” to Alison and set off to economically sort ourselves out for lunch the next day.
As we meandered down the main street we crossed paths with the Canadain lad, now with a friend. We introduced ourselves to Alex, from Calgary and also starting a year of travel, who introduced me to his friend John. We chatted away to our new friends about the lazy day they were having after being at the glacier the day before, quitting jobs to travel and Alex’s love of hiring a motorbike to explore new places.
After twenty minutes we had walked past a supermarket and were on the way out of town. Vincenzo’s stomach was rumbling audibly, so the Canadians told us about these excellent empanadas that we should try. As none of us are the type to turn down food, we followed them to a supermarket, only to find that their “empanada guy” had left for the day. Distraught and not knowing how we were supposed to last the 4 remaining hours until 9:30pm for the group, we said our goodbyes to the Canadians and began economically sorting ourselves out for lunch the next day.
By the time we were having goodbye drinks with Chris, Anna and Alison, I was ready to eat Chris’ ever present bandana for some much needed sustanance. Therefore, I caved. But this didn’t stop me from attending the group meal to “meet the intruders” that were joining us from this point to the end of our journey.
After realizing that I was chatting with Kim and Ritchie more than the newbies, I excused myself to get some much needed shut eye. On the way back into the hotel I saw Alex and John who kindly invited me to sit with them and enjoy a glass of vino. These guys seemed really genuine, friendly and interesting, so I passed on the vino but not on the conversation.
After some traveller chit chat, I saw the the opportunity to score some more points for the day and therefore asked them, “would you rather…(you know the rest)” Alex was a hotdog man, as he felt that it would not be restricting for him and variety in the food he eats is not important. However, in contrast, he felt that then banana option was too restricting for him. John on the other hand, was quite enterprising. He suggested sleeping with his right hand through a hole in a wall, which would have a factory on the other side to harvest and store the inside of the banana in order to either make banana based products to sell for a profit or feed the world with as, “you’ve given me infinity in my right hand!”
These Canadians loved this question as it can “really start a conversation” especially whilst travelling. John will be in France and Spain studying and Alex travelling Australia and South-East Asia. I am sure there will be many opportunities to get people’s thoughts for both of them as a result, therefore we swapped social media info and I am looking forward to being tagged in pics and posts with #12HotdogsVRegeneratingBanana thoughout the year.
As we returned from the glacier the next day, I met Dan and Kirsty from Ipwich who had been travelling for 6 months through South America, Australia and SE Asia before they returned to the UK. After two days at home to replenish supplies, they booked tickets back to South America in order to see more of Argentina, the country tfrom their travels that they most wanted to go back to. They were amazed at the depth of conversation created by this question and Kirsty, a primary school teacher, spoke of her intention to use this question as a get to know you activity with her 8 year old students. I also thought it might be useful for me to use for an opinion piece with the students I will be teaching later in the year, depending on the level of English I will be teaching.
It seems that this question can be taken in many ways, so do yourself a favour and “join the conversation” just as the Canadians and Ipswichians are doing.
