May 29

Small Victories in the War on Interwebs

Argentina, Shameless Self-Promotion, Site Traffic, Travel

DEVON GRANDY (Bariloche, Argentina)

Forsooth, BOTO! Hast thou creator returnéd from such icy Patagonian corners to whence he departed? What ho!

Just for the record, everything in the preceding lines was fabricated and probably has very little to do with either Old or Shakespearean English. If you were fooled, now is the time to be impressed. If you are a graduate student finishing a degree in “Ornate Linguistics of the Medieval Period,” please do not send Break Out The Oreos letters of correction. Devon will share them with Nicole and they will collectively laugh at your major.

Congratulations, BOTO readership! You’ve done so well in recent weeks that you’ve been rewarded with the first colored text of our humble blog’s young history! Not only have you set new records for daily and weekly hits here at Break Out The Oreos, you’ve also accomplished what once seemed impossible: you’ve increased site traffic so much that a Google search for “break out the oreos” now leads websurfers directly here, even without the quotation marks! You’ve even managed to make Googling Devon’s name a quick hop to the blog, which sure as hell beats the YouTube videos, high school sailing rankings, and decade-old Amazon.com book reviews that used to show up. BOTO could, of course, observe the logical correspondence in timing between BOTO’s sudden rise in popularity and the appearance of Nicole’s blogging on the site, as well as the blatant and shameless self-advertisement by said writers on Facebook. On the other hand, did we mention that Devon’s in Argentina?

Devon defeats poor wifi and battery life on his laptop to bring you updates from Patagonia, after the jump:

WARNING:The snarkiness stops here, as Devon childishly delights in natural and cultural wonders. BOTO won’t go into the details of Devon’s lengthy and arduous voyage to the Argentine city/town of San Carlos de Bariloche (ten hours by plane from Hawaii, four-hour layover in Los Angeles, nine hours by plane to Atlanta, three-hour layover, twelve hours by plane to Buenos Aires, six-hour layover, nineteen hours by bus across the Argentine pampas to Bariloche), but will instead describe the location: it’s gorgeous here. Nestled on the shores of Lago Nahuel Huapi, Bariloche offers spectacular and near-constant views of the Andes that are reminiscent of those of the Remarkables from Queenstown–except for the fact that these mountains extend in practically every direction you turn. The result is photos like these, taken at several locations in and around Bariloche:

The people in Bariloche are exceedingly pleasant, and speak just enough English for a certain Columbia undergraduate to ease himself through a semester’s absence from Spanish classes and back to general fluency. Chocolate manufactured in the Swiss tradition is everywhere in town, and gratuitous abundance has in no way affected the quality of these treats. Also commonplace are dogs of every kind, both tame and feral, all of which appear to be well-behaved and generally clean; St. Bernards are evidently iconic and characteristic of the town. Bariloche’s odd balance of rustic simplicity, city-like bustle, and majestic environs make it an endearing and memorable vacation spot, particularly for those of us who are at home in big cities; the unique and charming nature of the place is a tasteful break from urban life when enjoyed a few weeks at a time. As one American expatriate encountered by BOTO stated while gesturing toward the Andes, “I’ll take those over the (building) any day.” That’s all from Bariloche.

This half of BOTO will continue on to Buenos Aires in a day, and the other half shall continue supplying you, the loyal and suddenly much larger readership, with Break Out The Oreos’ normally snarky commentary. ¡Ciao!

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