Day 139: December 31, 2007 Río Gallegos

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  Rio Gallegos, Argentina
Monday, December 31, 2007

Day 139: December 31, 2007 Río Gallegos

Thanks to the closed shutter, we slept in until after 9:00. All three of us awoke, feeling refreshed. After breakfast, we took our laundry over to the laundramat and dropped it off. Next we dropped the car off at the rental agency. The gas lines were still going around the block so we returned it with only half a tank. They only charged us 40 pesos for the gas-a sweet deal, especially since one of them would have to spend hours in a gas line to fill up before the price rises tomorrow!

We walked over to a travel agency and Megan made hotel reservations for her travels to Ushuaia and Buenos Aires. After that we went to a hardware store where I bought a hack saw and a thin screwdriver for the carburetor adjustment on the drill . We then looked for a duffel bag for Megan's samples.

Back at the hotel, Will and I pared the weight of the rasped samples with the hack saw to reduce Megan's load while she sorted out which of her stratigraphic samples she would take back. We also let the cores dry out thoroughly before packing everything up. The whole process took about an hour and a half.

To our amazement, we discovered we had not finished the previous evening's bottle of wine so we added a bit of New Year's cheer to our midday sandwiches for lunch. We watched some dumb American TV while Will repacked all of his gear for tomorrow's travels. He and I then went out and picked up the laundry and bought some wine and cheese for the evening hours. We all took naps at some point or other. Megan and Will called home and I talked with Liz to wish her Happy New Year's, Happy Birthday, and Bon Voyage for her trip to Boston.

We really didn't get hungry until about 10:30. As soon as we stepped out on the street, something was very odd. There was no traffic and the city was quiet. We walked down deserted streets looking for an open restaurant but everything was closed. I harped on the classic lack of business sense. Finally, we found someone with business sense-the Chinese buffet. They charged us 60 pesos/person-ouch-but they were the only game in town. At least 100 other people were eating there. It was hot in there! Dollar signs kept flashing in the owner's eyes.

The food was okay but not the quality one should get for 60 pesos. Just before midnight, the waiters came around and poured everyone a glass of champagne. As the clock struck twelve, everyone stood up and toasted each other and those at neighboring tables. Outside, it sounded like a war zone as fireworks erupted throughout the city.

When we finished our champagne, we paid our tab and stepped outside into the refreshingly cool air. The air smelled of gunpowder as we walked through the constantly blowing trash back to our hotel. We arranged to have a taxi come by at 8:15 in the morning to take Will out to the bus terminal. After that, we just went to sleep. It was an odd New Year's in an odd corner of the world.