Yo, Robot.

Since arriving in South America, I have seen more Will Smith movies than I had in my entire life. I don't know what this says about me.

Regardless, it is hard to escape American culture, whether it is Friends or Sex and the City with subtitles, or an American idea turned into something like Latin American Idol or the numerous reality shows. The top three bands I've heard? Beatles, Bob Marley and Queen. Yes, technically not American bands, but you get the point. English is the de facto international language, and American pop culture is becoming the world's culture. Now if we could just do something about the sliding value of US dollar, that'd be great.

Food, transportation and sleeping arrangements are the three constant challenges of our journey. Kristin blogged about the food situation already. I'd just like to echo her sentiment that it is very difficult to pay for food you don't really like. It's worse when you have to pay too much for it. It's particularly hard to plan a 8-day camping trip when your choices are thus limited. I mean, I haven't had peanut butter since Guatemala. I don't know what to do for lunch!

We are really lucky, particularly in Northern California, that we have such a wide selection of good foods. Not that everybody takes advantage of that, but I know I couldn't live without it.

On that note, we're heading into the "wilderness" of Torres del Paine. This is a park that I've dreamed of visiting. Like the rest of Patagonia, it is absolutely notorious for unpredictable, rapidly changing weather and ferocious winds. We'll see how our little TarpTent does! And 8 days of processed food should be exciting.

Note: we will be out of communication for the next 8-10 days. If the world ends during that time, we'll have to wait until we get back to check Google News to find out. Until then, here are a few pictures from our last hike in Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina. Ciao!

Wind and snow are all part of the daily fun.

Even though it looks like Spring, we're certain to get all four seasons in one day. True Patagonia weather.

Glaciar lakes, tumbling waterfalls and towering peaks - it's worth the effort!