Start by crossing between Latin American borders and only having $50 of disposable income, except in another foreign currency. It really makes you appreciate the Euro, because when you have Chilean pesos and need to calculate into Argentine pesos, but only know the exchange rates in dollars, the moments of paying for things (which are many) last a lot longer. It also makes you wistfully think about the day in the near future when you will have a salary and wont care about how much a sandwich costs. And those daydreams are another good way to make the day last longer. Especially when you try them out in a foreign language. Fun!
Then spend 5 days of vacation studying. While the alpiners at the hostel lunch table talk about climbing Aconcagua, try to concentrate on pharmaceutical flashcards. I was lucky to meet a considerate fellow who found out what I was doing and decided to join in by bringing out his mountain rescue drugs and quizing me. At the time it was a welcome distraction, but it really did help when I took the test.
Emily took another sort of test when she ate a steak for the first time ever. The Argentine's watched her steak greedily as she chewed the first bite for a whole 10 minutes. Then one of them popped up from the table and decided to help her cut properly: "uno para ti, y dos para mi." That's not quite the look of appreciation on her face.
After a long week of studying and meat chewing we went back across the Andes, by bus of course, and found out the meaning of a long trip home. The driver played the same regaton c.d. 113 times. Yes, I counted. No, not really. That's probably an underestimation. We arrived 3 hours late to Santiago, and wound up spending a painful couple hours sleeping on airport benches. But not until after taking our friends, the backpacks, out to dinner. La Ultima Cena.
