As I’ve mentioned before, I knew solitude was going to be a big part of this trip. And i knew the i would meet would be as well, but I didn’t realize how much.

The people have been everything. All the things I’ve seen and done don’t compare to the associations I’ve had with people from all over the world.

Im naturally a loner (and i say that without its negative connotation). But spending so much time alone in a foreign place has made me be uncharacteristically super friendly and to seek after the company of others. It’s like someone, on the brink of starvation, starts to open up his mind to eating, say, gopher intestines or live larvae.

But the people I’m meeting are nothing like gopher guts. Well, maybe some. Most are quite pleasant, some a little boring, and special few who are hilarious.

I have, however, met very few Americans in my travels, which I find weird. But it’s okay. I’m sick of you guys at home; that’s why I came here.

Below are just a few of my experiences with the people I’ve met on the first half of my trip.

- I explained what the term “chick flick” meant to two 26-year-old German guys who also knew all the words to the Dirty Dancing soundtrack.

-I went to a casino with 3 Israelis who just finished the army and knew who knew all the stats on the Utah Jazz. They love D Williams.

- I celebrated Anzac Day with a girl from New Zealand. Sounds like a drug, but it’s a memorial day for ww2.

- I ate indigenous Calafate berries with an Argentinian who let me call him Tupac after he started dancing hip hop after I told him I was from the U.S. He then went on to call me 50 Cent. I couldn’t let him know thar I’m really not that into rap.

- I went hiking in Bariloche with a girl from Hungary who is currently studying in Buenos Aires. She told me all the Dos and Don’ts for the city, such as you can walk down this street but not the one next to it because that is where they kidnap blonde Americans in dirty clothes, klunky hiking boots, and with too-expensive cameras. To ensure my safety, Judit will be accompanying me to my first South American soccer game this Sunday. We’re in the general section. It’s going to be awesome.

As i’ve mentioned earlier, this last week I have been traveling with a French man named Clement. We’ve since parted ways, but He just might be my favorite. He said something once (which I can’t remember now) that was a little too personal and I said, “Oh, TMI!” I then explained this a popular acronymn in the U.S. (it may not be popular with some, but I still use it.) that meant Too Much Information (if you didn’t know). Anyway, later, when he wanted to tell me something, he said “do you want a TMI?” It made me laughed really hard.

Just yesterday I went sledding with some Argentine brothers from Cordoba. The younger speaks really good English, all from watching many movies and listening a lot of music.

The older doesn’t speak English much at all. Nevertheless, he would still quote movie lines all the time. When we went sledding earlier, he shouted, “Un Wallace por la mujer!” which means “One Wallace for the girl!” He then had to explained that he meant William Wallace, and that she had scored points on fierceness for her sled ride down the mountain. (In a sidenote, they both have the most beautiful brown eyes I’ve ever seen. It’s a warm brown, almost like the bark from a Redwood tree.)

I’m off to Buenos Aires today. I actually plan to meet up with a lot of the people I’ve crossed paths with in my first two weeks, so I’m not sure how much I have to be, well, super friendly. I’m kind of hoping I have to be.