24 September 2009
Today was my last at La Juanita. I almost wish it were more bittersweet, because I haven’t really formed bonds with many of the people here, other than the volunteers. Because of this, not many people knew it was my last day, and Ilana was sick as well. Poor shanti…
Allie bought some dog food for the little puppy that was left at La Juanita yesterday…it was entertaining watching her try to buy dog food by the kilo from the open 40-lb bags, just open on the sidewalk. I’m surprised the stray dogs don’t get into them, but then again, I’m sure they’re fed table scraps and don’t want the real dog food.
The kids in the jardin were a mess, as usual. Our short time in the jardin was spent blocking the doors so the kids couldn’t escape or get into trouble inside while everyone else was outside. Mauri and Lucas with the mullet were up to no good again, and I actually had to pick up Mauri and bring him outside. Yet another testament that kids need some kind of discipline.
Not all of the kids showed up for class either, including the two I’ve been helping a lot recently, Rocio and Abigail, doing multiplication in Spanish. It was hard enough to remember how to do long division and multiplication, and having to teach it in a different language was quite a feat. But with no kids to help, I had plenty of time to finish my own homework before my Spanish lesson at 6:30. Carlos came and chatted with us for a bit, actually helping Allie teach English phonetics and me with my homework. (Carlos is a guy that comes frequently to speak with us in English and has been studying English for many years, diligently. He has an internship with Boomtown in Bossier City, starting in December. Explaining the Cajun accent has been an on-going source of entertainment.)
Martin, a former student of ours, came to the cooperativa drunk today, so that was a source of excitement for a hot minute. He wasn’t violent or anything, but disrupting class and generally being a creepster. We had to call for some help in getting him out of the room and out of the center, since it’s really not appropriate with the kids there and all. His intoxication got me thinking about the street drug here, paco, which Ariana just informed me about. It made me want to do a little more research, and it’s essentially cocaine paste and byproducts, mixed with whatever else they can find. I don’t know if he was using at all, who knows.
After La Juanita, I had a pretty strenuous Spanish lesson with Gisela, listening to audios about lumfardo, the slang here in BsAs. Afterwards, I was exhausted and cranky, and couldn’t decide whether I wanted pizza or wine (or both). Wine won out, and I vetoed the pizza because of my growing food baby from eating so well in this town. So I headed to the supermercado next door…and it was closed, only 20 minutes after I’d passed it open on my way home. So I kept walking, perhaps I’d stop at Lo Bebe parilla and have a salad, or make my way to my café for a glass of wine. I decided to stop in Lo Bebe, and it was definitely interesting, to say the least. I ended up getting a sandwich, marcipan, and a side salad, since it would come out the same cost-wise as if I’d gotten a large salad. I’ve had churipan before, which is delicious, but I’d never had marcipan and wanted to try something different. And it’s definitely blood sausage. Yeah. And also came with fries, surprisingly. I knew exactly what it was when I cut into it, and it took a lot of effort to get a large enough portion down to remain polite to the chef. Or grill master… I’ve never had it before, and it was very rich, and had the consistency of the not-so-mushed variety refried black beans. I think the knowing what I was eating was the pin in the coffin for me. I ended up taking home the rest of it, because I was so afraid of offending someone! So I need to trash that eventually, or feed it to a stray dog or something. I think in the future, I’ll stick to delicious churipan, which is essentially a sausage sandwich with delicious sauce that totally makes it. But major diet time when I leave BsAs. My body cannot handle this any longer! I am really starting to love it here, but I can’t wait to leave this gastronomical roller coaster ride of a city!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
2nd to last day...
Today, yet again, I planned to visit the Recoleta Cemetery before work, and of course, sleep won. I slept in for THREE hours and ended up having to rush to meet the girls to take the cumvi (van) to La Matanza. I usually leave myself an hour to walk from my apartment to Plaza Miserere in Once, but I got there in 45 minutes today by cutting out the window shopping on Avenida Paso. Despite my being late, I was super excited for another trip to the Parilla La Familia before work! This parilla (traditional grill or asado-type restaurant) is as authentic as you can get. The 3 chefs cook every kind of meat imaginable on a large, outdoor grill that is made from an old metal door. It’s one of those neighborhood venues that is always filled with old men and blue-collar workers on lunch break, and there’s never a female patron in sight. I got some great pictures of the girls, some randos who wanted their picture taken, and of the 3 chefs in front of their grill. I looked liked a huge goober, but I didn’t want to forget the parilla and the delicious churipan!
We continued on to La Juanita for a pretty normal and uneventful day. I grabbed a last alfajor (cookies with dulce de leche in between) from the panderia…my stomach thanks me for stopping with the dulce de leche! I’ll have to bring my alfajor-making skills to the states now, I guess.
After work, I had to make a special errand to a part of town that I hadn’t really included as something I HAD to see, and I’m so glad I did. My errand took me to an area called Puerto Madero, which used to be the main port for the city until port operations moved to La Boca. I had no clue how cute this area is! I was expecting an old port area, not brand-spanking new skyscrapers and cute little shops and restaurants. To get there, I also had to walk from Plaza de Mayo, where the cumvi dropped us off, through San Telmo. I also hadn’t really planned to walk through San Telmo much, but it has so much character! It’s a nice place to just stroll and people watch. I was so grateful that this errand took me through these neighborhoods, because I wouldn’t have known them otherwise. BsAs really is an amazing city, it’s just so BIG! Too much to see and too little time. My favorite is still Palermo, my home in the city!
We continued on to La Juanita for a pretty normal and uneventful day. I grabbed a last alfajor (cookies with dulce de leche in between) from the panderia…my stomach thanks me for stopping with the dulce de leche! I’ll have to bring my alfajor-making skills to the states now, I guess.
After work, I had to make a special errand to a part of town that I hadn’t really included as something I HAD to see, and I’m so glad I did. My errand took me to an area called Puerto Madero, which used to be the main port for the city until port operations moved to La Boca. I had no clue how cute this area is! I was expecting an old port area, not brand-spanking new skyscrapers and cute little shops and restaurants. To get there, I also had to walk from Plaza de Mayo, where the cumvi dropped us off, through San Telmo. I also hadn’t really planned to walk through San Telmo much, but it has so much character! It’s a nice place to just stroll and people watch. I was so grateful that this errand took me through these neighborhoods, because I wouldn’t have known them otherwise. BsAs really is an amazing city, it’s just so BIG! Too much to see and too little time. My favorite is still Palermo, my home in the city!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Feliz Primavera!
22 September 2009
The weeks in Buenos Aires haven’t been too exciting, with work and all, but this week is definitely an exception. Monday was a big holiday for Argentina, the first day of spring! Feliz Primavera everyone! There was a big fiesta for the kids in the jardin, with music, costumes, cookies, and even SODA! Lots of Fanta orange (which is huge down here). Of course, I forgot my camera, but Allie and Ilana got some great pictures, which I will later steal. It was so much fun in the jardin that we were actually disappointed when our students showed up for English classes. We wanted to play in the jardin and do the Hokey Pokey and drink Fanta!
For after work, the girls and I had planned to go to La Bomba del Tiempo, which is THE thing to do on a Monday, at least in certain circles. It’s this semi-outdoor concert that is essentially a drum circle on steroids and just has an amazing vibe. I had not been and was so excited about going, but because of the holiday, we couldn’t get in! The week before, the girls got in without a hitch, but we arrived around the same time this week, and the line was over 2 blocks long. At one point they stopped selling tickets. We thought we could finagle our way in, being 3 girls (and one natural blonde, a powerful weapon in these parts), but alas, we were unsuccessful. We started to look for another bar and ended up near Abasto shopping center, so we stopped in for some McDonald’s, to put something in our stomachs… the first American fast-food I’ve had in South America, I assure you. But it always tastes the same, in every country, which is comforting. We ended up at this bar which was the after-La Bomba party spot in the prior week, and the bar had live reggae music later in the night, which was awesome. However, prior to the band starting, they played Bob Marley’s greatest hits on loop…and as much as we love Bob Marley, we were happy for the musica in vivo to start.
I find it amazing how much better my Spanish becomes with a little bit of alcohol. It’s an extremely common occurrence for many people, in both Spanish and English, but it still blows my mind. I love meeting new people and having to socialize in Spanish, but it has its pros and cons. The pros: it helps my Spanish immensely. For example, in Chile, I had conversations where I spoke solely in Spanish, and the native Spanish speakers spoke solely in English…a sight to see for others around us. The cons: the blond curls have attracted a large and varied group of men down here in South America – to the point that Melissa joked about my many “boyfriends.” The combination of Latino, Spanish, and Italian here in Argentina makes for a pretty aggressive environment, so staying polite while fending off advances is in no way an effortless activity, like it is in the states (MUCH, MUCH less frequently, of course). It will definitely be a shot to my self esteem to come back to the states, but not necessarily an unwanted one. After many discussions with the girls, I believe that something in between would be perfect…something between the aggressive advances here and the shy, generally inhibited guys in the states. At least the guys here aren’t hard to read…it’s like a children’s book here in Argentina. But that’s neither here nor there.
Regardless, we drank, danced, and enjoyed ourselves until closing time, on a Monday. Needless to say, all three of us were pleased with the rain this morning, since rain = a free day off from work. (The infrastructure where we work is such that it is difficult for the people to get there in the rain. The main road is paved; we can get there via van and bus, but may have to wade through ankle-deep water for half a block. But aside from the main road, it’s all dirt roads, which become large, muddy puddles preventing travel to and from the cooperativa.)
I should have done some sight-seeing this afternoon, but with a ton of Spanish homework to do before my lesson from 6-8, a nap and homework trumped. I feel like I need to see all I can in my last week, but I just don’t always have the energy! There’s something about the rain that sucks it all up. I think tomorrow I will go to see Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried, weather permitting. That is, if I get up early enough. Vamos a ver (we will see) …
Buenas noches, mis queridos!
The weeks in Buenos Aires haven’t been too exciting, with work and all, but this week is definitely an exception. Monday was a big holiday for Argentina, the first day of spring! Feliz Primavera everyone! There was a big fiesta for the kids in the jardin, with music, costumes, cookies, and even SODA! Lots of Fanta orange (which is huge down here). Of course, I forgot my camera, but Allie and Ilana got some great pictures, which I will later steal. It was so much fun in the jardin that we were actually disappointed when our students showed up for English classes. We wanted to play in the jardin and do the Hokey Pokey and drink Fanta!
For after work, the girls and I had planned to go to La Bomba del Tiempo, which is THE thing to do on a Monday, at least in certain circles. It’s this semi-outdoor concert that is essentially a drum circle on steroids and just has an amazing vibe. I had not been and was so excited about going, but because of the holiday, we couldn’t get in! The week before, the girls got in without a hitch, but we arrived around the same time this week, and the line was over 2 blocks long. At one point they stopped selling tickets. We thought we could finagle our way in, being 3 girls (and one natural blonde, a powerful weapon in these parts), but alas, we were unsuccessful. We started to look for another bar and ended up near Abasto shopping center, so we stopped in for some McDonald’s, to put something in our stomachs… the first American fast-food I’ve had in South America, I assure you. But it always tastes the same, in every country, which is comforting. We ended up at this bar which was the after-La Bomba party spot in the prior week, and the bar had live reggae music later in the night, which was awesome. However, prior to the band starting, they played Bob Marley’s greatest hits on loop…and as much as we love Bob Marley, we were happy for the musica in vivo to start.
I find it amazing how much better my Spanish becomes with a little bit of alcohol. It’s an extremely common occurrence for many people, in both Spanish and English, but it still blows my mind. I love meeting new people and having to socialize in Spanish, but it has its pros and cons. The pros: it helps my Spanish immensely. For example, in Chile, I had conversations where I spoke solely in Spanish, and the native Spanish speakers spoke solely in English…a sight to see for others around us. The cons: the blond curls have attracted a large and varied group of men down here in South America – to the point that Melissa joked about my many “boyfriends.” The combination of Latino, Spanish, and Italian here in Argentina makes for a pretty aggressive environment, so staying polite while fending off advances is in no way an effortless activity, like it is in the states (MUCH, MUCH less frequently, of course). It will definitely be a shot to my self esteem to come back to the states, but not necessarily an unwanted one. After many discussions with the girls, I believe that something in between would be perfect…something between the aggressive advances here and the shy, generally inhibited guys in the states. At least the guys here aren’t hard to read…it’s like a children’s book here in Argentina. But that’s neither here nor there.
Regardless, we drank, danced, and enjoyed ourselves until closing time, on a Monday. Needless to say, all three of us were pleased with the rain this morning, since rain = a free day off from work. (The infrastructure where we work is such that it is difficult for the people to get there in the rain. The main road is paved; we can get there via van and bus, but may have to wade through ankle-deep water for half a block. But aside from the main road, it’s all dirt roads, which become large, muddy puddles preventing travel to and from the cooperativa.)
I should have done some sight-seeing this afternoon, but with a ton of Spanish homework to do before my lesson from 6-8, a nap and homework trumped. I feel like I need to see all I can in my last week, but I just don’t always have the energy! There’s something about the rain that sucks it all up. I think tomorrow I will go to see Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried, weather permitting. That is, if I get up early enough. Vamos a ver (we will see) …
Buenas noches, mis queridos!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Parque Nacional Iguazu
19 September 2009
We visited the falls today!! Allie, Ilana, and I had such a fabulous time! The weather was great, a little cool in the morning, but very warm in the sun for most of the day. Since I didn’t have a good, sturdy poncho with me (how I forgot one, who knows), I just brought along a thin, long-sleeved shirt and a cheapo plastic poncho from the train station, which I didn’t even end up using.
The national park, which is so much more built up than we thought (ala Disney World) was a little underwhelming, but the falls were absolutely amazing. We started out at the main attraction, Gardanta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, which is the largest of all the falls and lies along the Brazilian border. The pics are mostly in the order in which we viewed the falls, but you can’t mistake this one. It’s huge and among the first pictures we took. From there we headed for the Lower Circuit Trail, where you can view the falls from below. The trail is also the jumping-off point for the Adventuras Nauticas, boats that take you along the Lower Iguazu River and INTO San Martin Fall, the second largest, and just in front of Gardanta del Diablo. There’re some fabulous pics of me looking like a goober in my swimsuit, but the girls were wishing they’d worn theirs by the time we got off the boat. We were SOAKED! Even with their North Faces, the girls were soaked from the waist down. This smart cookie had a change of underthings and plastic bags for my clothing, so by lunch, I was ready to change back into dry clothes, rather than hiking in wet clothing all afternoon.
Lunch consisted of some rather underwhelming empanadas and being hounded by Coatis, which are similar to raccoons and were all over the park, begging for food. Some very rude Argentine men kept telling us not to feed them, when in all reality, we were trying to shoo them away.
After lunch, Allie wanted to check out this trail that was less-traveled than the others, which turned out to be the only trail that was actually a TRAIL, and not a raised steel path above/below the falls. We hiked about 5-6 kilometers down to this waterfall, and there was a lookout over the waterfall and underneath, where there was a natural pool. The hike was great, the view was great, and our tennis shoes were covered in mud…exactly the kind of experience we had expected from the park. Ilana has some great pictures of us braving the mud puddles blocking the path. Afterwards, we checked out the Upper or Superior Trail, where we saw the smaller waterfalls from above. It was really an awesome experience; it’s no wonder that Iguazu Falls is considered one of the new world wonders. The “Argentine Grand Canyon” was really more than we could ask for, and many of the people we’ve met have considered this and Macchu Picchu as the highlights of their trips.
Tomorrow we head back to BA for my last week! I will be sad to leave the city, but I am SO excited about Tierra del Fuego…that is until I get down there and freeze my butt off! I think I’ve checked out all the parillas in BA that my body can handle, so I just have one more restaurant in BA that I’m dying to try – Bio, a gourmet organic restaurant that has received rave reviews. Perhaps I’ll stop by to get the hummus down the street from me, and of course visit my beloved café, Di Vino, a few more times, perhaps for breakfast this weekend, or if the internet decides to cut out for the entire evening (as it very well may do). BA has been all about food for me, so my poor, food-exhausted body will be the happiest about leaving, I think. A trip to our parilla in La Matanza for lunch one day for a last Churripan is definitely in the cards.
Tentative plan for post-BA travels
Tierra del Fuego via Ushuaia (Argentina)
Parques Paine del Torre, Las Glaciares (Chile, Argentina)
Boat tour through the Chilean Lakes District (hopefully)
Santiago de Chile for Christian’s Bday
San Pedro de Atacama (Chile)
Potosi (Bolivia)
La Paz (Bolivia)
Lake Titicaca (Bolivia & Peru)
Cusco & Machu Picchu (Peru)
Ica (Peru)
Lima - Buenos Aires - Dallas - Austin!
We’ll see if this can actually be done in a month….yikes!
These gorditas (little fat ones) are about to take our exhausted bodies back to dinner at our new fave restaurant, Pizza Color, here in Puerto Iguazu to recharge after the long day of hiking. Chau!
We visited the falls today!! Allie, Ilana, and I had such a fabulous time! The weather was great, a little cool in the morning, but very warm in the sun for most of the day. Since I didn’t have a good, sturdy poncho with me (how I forgot one, who knows), I just brought along a thin, long-sleeved shirt and a cheapo plastic poncho from the train station, which I didn’t even end up using.
The national park, which is so much more built up than we thought (ala Disney World) was a little underwhelming, but the falls were absolutely amazing. We started out at the main attraction, Gardanta del Diablo, or Devil’s Throat, which is the largest of all the falls and lies along the Brazilian border. The pics are mostly in the order in which we viewed the falls, but you can’t mistake this one. It’s huge and among the first pictures we took. From there we headed for the Lower Circuit Trail, where you can view the falls from below. The trail is also the jumping-off point for the Adventuras Nauticas, boats that take you along the Lower Iguazu River and INTO San Martin Fall, the second largest, and just in front of Gardanta del Diablo. There’re some fabulous pics of me looking like a goober in my swimsuit, but the girls were wishing they’d worn theirs by the time we got off the boat. We were SOAKED! Even with their North Faces, the girls were soaked from the waist down. This smart cookie had a change of underthings and plastic bags for my clothing, so by lunch, I was ready to change back into dry clothes, rather than hiking in wet clothing all afternoon.
Lunch consisted of some rather underwhelming empanadas and being hounded by Coatis, which are similar to raccoons and were all over the park, begging for food. Some very rude Argentine men kept telling us not to feed them, when in all reality, we were trying to shoo them away.
After lunch, Allie wanted to check out this trail that was less-traveled than the others, which turned out to be the only trail that was actually a TRAIL, and not a raised steel path above/below the falls. We hiked about 5-6 kilometers down to this waterfall, and there was a lookout over the waterfall and underneath, where there was a natural pool. The hike was great, the view was great, and our tennis shoes were covered in mud…exactly the kind of experience we had expected from the park. Ilana has some great pictures of us braving the mud puddles blocking the path. Afterwards, we checked out the Upper or Superior Trail, where we saw the smaller waterfalls from above. It was really an awesome experience; it’s no wonder that Iguazu Falls is considered one of the new world wonders. The “Argentine Grand Canyon” was really more than we could ask for, and many of the people we’ve met have considered this and Macchu Picchu as the highlights of their trips.
Tomorrow we head back to BA for my last week! I will be sad to leave the city, but I am SO excited about Tierra del Fuego…that is until I get down there and freeze my butt off! I think I’ve checked out all the parillas in BA that my body can handle, so I just have one more restaurant in BA that I’m dying to try – Bio, a gourmet organic restaurant that has received rave reviews. Perhaps I’ll stop by to get the hummus down the street from me, and of course visit my beloved café, Di Vino, a few more times, perhaps for breakfast this weekend, or if the internet decides to cut out for the entire evening (as it very well may do). BA has been all about food for me, so my poor, food-exhausted body will be the happiest about leaving, I think. A trip to our parilla in La Matanza for lunch one day for a last Churripan is definitely in the cards.
Tentative plan for post-BA travels
Tierra del Fuego via Ushuaia (Argentina)
Parques Paine del Torre, Las Glaciares (Chile, Argentina)
Boat tour through the Chilean Lakes District (hopefully)
Santiago de Chile for Christian’s Bday
San Pedro de Atacama (Chile)
Potosi (Bolivia)
La Paz (Bolivia)
Lake Titicaca (Bolivia & Peru)
Cusco & Machu Picchu (Peru)
Ica (Peru)
Lima - Buenos Aires - Dallas - Austin!
We’ll see if this can actually be done in a month….yikes!
These gorditas (little fat ones) are about to take our exhausted bodies back to dinner at our new fave restaurant, Pizza Color, here in Puerto Iguazu to recharge after the long day of hiking. Chau!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Iguazu
18 September 2009
We arrived to Puerto Iguazu yesterday evening. We had incredible turbulence on the plane from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, to the point where Ilana was feeling a little under the weather when we got here. I’ve experiences more turbulence on airplane here in South America than I have anywhere else, and for some reason it does not really phase me at all. I am very thankful for the fact that I’ve flown all my life and am comfortable enough to stomach it.
It looks like a totally different country here. We went from a very urban environment, where el campo was still pretty urban with the massive McDonald’s and kioscos on every corner. I guess La Matanza isn’t really el campo, but it is in comparison to BA. But Puerto Iguazu is a town of maybe 30,000, in the middle of the rainforest. We left a chilly, windy BA full of urbanites for this hot and humid little paradise, and I couldn’t be any happier about it. We walked out of the airport and were greeted by several different species of butterflies, just chillin’ among the people, and a little Argentine girl who couldn’t stop saying “Mama, mama, las mariposas, las mariposas!” (the butterflies).
The hostel is pretty good too, although the pressure in the shower sucks. But the shower is very roomy and very refreshing in light of my tiny shower at my homestay. I can actually shave my legs without bumping my head on the sink and soap dish! Otherwise, I have great wifi, an ensuite bathroom I’m sharing with my friends and 2 others, and a tropical backdrop that made this morning’s rain incredibly bearable.
Last night, the desk attendant at the hostel recommended we go to this place called Hitos Las Fronteras, a lookout point where you can view both Paraguay and Brasil, which lie just across the Rio Iguazu. Although we arrived just AFTER sunset, the view was absolutely breathtaking. See the pictures. It really is awesome, and totally whet my appetite to see the falls even more. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant called Pizza Color, where we were serenaded by the smooth sounds of our “cruise ship” entertainers, singing and playing elevator music favorites while we dined outside on the patio. We also met a very preggers pup at the end of our dinner, which we fed food from the empty tables around us. We’re eaters, and we shared salads and a pizza, so of course we had nothing to offer from our table to her and her babies inside. We had a fabulous time with our new mama pup, who we named Che. The waitstaff was pretty upset with us though. Oops.
Today, I woke up (probably many times) to the sound of heavy, heavy rain on the tin roof of our hostel in Iguazu. I’m pretty sure there were some kind of fruit trees above us, as every once in a while, we’d hear loud thuds on the roof along with the rain. It’s awesome to sit in the rainforest and just watch the rain, but when all the activities in town involve the outdoors, it’s a bit of a buzzkill when it rains all day long (today’s forecast). I can’t wait to make it to the park and Iguazu Falls tomorrow!
While watching the rain, I’ve tried to journal/blog some, but at some point I NEEDED food (since we slept in and missed breakfast), so we set out down the road for this cute little restaurant down the way. It turns out that our friend Che lives at the hostel, and she followed us all the way to the restaurant, at which point she was shooed away. We were very upset by this…we gotta feed Che and her babies! We had these massive milanesa (fried veal) sandwiches and were stuffed.
We followed up lunch with a tour of this place called Aripuca, which is this weird place out in the woods, and almost every structure there is made from the trunks of these massive trees. I believe that the trees were sick, and that’s why they were hollowed out and used for building, but I’m not completely sure. The verbal explanation was in Spanish, and all other notation in the tree museum was about God and his plan for these trees and how we all need to live in harmony or something. We climbed up into the rafters of this tree building, which we were not supposed to do, but everyone else was doing it and we were dying to get up there. But see the pictures, they’re pretty cool. We also got some yerba mate flavored ice cream, which was pretty interesting. (Yerba Mate is this type of tea that is incredibly common in Argentina).
Afterwards, we wandered down the highway looking for this monkey and toucan reserve. We found it, but apparently there are no monkeys, and were a bit more than we wanted to spend a day before going to the park, so we ended up at another hostel down the road. This hostel was also affiliated with ours, and had a swimming pool, so we used their activities desk to try and figure out something else to do before settling down around their pool and drinking Quilmes, the main beer here (and it’s really not great at all). We did a whole lot of people watching, and ended up taking pictures of a caterpillar. It was pretty, I liked it, and the girls made fun of me. Very naturey.
Who knows what the night will hold...all I know is that I'm dirty, in the middle of the rainforest, can see 3 countries from this point, and am perfectly content.
We arrived to Puerto Iguazu yesterday evening. We had incredible turbulence on the plane from Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazu, to the point where Ilana was feeling a little under the weather when we got here. I’ve experiences more turbulence on airplane here in South America than I have anywhere else, and for some reason it does not really phase me at all. I am very thankful for the fact that I’ve flown all my life and am comfortable enough to stomach it.
It looks like a totally different country here. We went from a very urban environment, where el campo was still pretty urban with the massive McDonald’s and kioscos on every corner. I guess La Matanza isn’t really el campo, but it is in comparison to BA. But Puerto Iguazu is a town of maybe 30,000, in the middle of the rainforest. We left a chilly, windy BA full of urbanites for this hot and humid little paradise, and I couldn’t be any happier about it. We walked out of the airport and were greeted by several different species of butterflies, just chillin’ among the people, and a little Argentine girl who couldn’t stop saying “Mama, mama, las mariposas, las mariposas!” (the butterflies).
The hostel is pretty good too, although the pressure in the shower sucks. But the shower is very roomy and very refreshing in light of my tiny shower at my homestay. I can actually shave my legs without bumping my head on the sink and soap dish! Otherwise, I have great wifi, an ensuite bathroom I’m sharing with my friends and 2 others, and a tropical backdrop that made this morning’s rain incredibly bearable.
Last night, the desk attendant at the hostel recommended we go to this place called Hitos Las Fronteras, a lookout point where you can view both Paraguay and Brasil, which lie just across the Rio Iguazu. Although we arrived just AFTER sunset, the view was absolutely breathtaking. See the pictures. It really is awesome, and totally whet my appetite to see the falls even more. Afterwards, we went to this restaurant called Pizza Color, where we were serenaded by the smooth sounds of our “cruise ship” entertainers, singing and playing elevator music favorites while we dined outside on the patio. We also met a very preggers pup at the end of our dinner, which we fed food from the empty tables around us. We’re eaters, and we shared salads and a pizza, so of course we had nothing to offer from our table to her and her babies inside. We had a fabulous time with our new mama pup, who we named Che. The waitstaff was pretty upset with us though. Oops.
Today, I woke up (probably many times) to the sound of heavy, heavy rain on the tin roof of our hostel in Iguazu. I’m pretty sure there were some kind of fruit trees above us, as every once in a while, we’d hear loud thuds on the roof along with the rain. It’s awesome to sit in the rainforest and just watch the rain, but when all the activities in town involve the outdoors, it’s a bit of a buzzkill when it rains all day long (today’s forecast). I can’t wait to make it to the park and Iguazu Falls tomorrow!
While watching the rain, I’ve tried to journal/blog some, but at some point I NEEDED food (since we slept in and missed breakfast), so we set out down the road for this cute little restaurant down the way. It turns out that our friend Che lives at the hostel, and she followed us all the way to the restaurant, at which point she was shooed away. We were very upset by this…we gotta feed Che and her babies! We had these massive milanesa (fried veal) sandwiches and were stuffed.
We followed up lunch with a tour of this place called Aripuca, which is this weird place out in the woods, and almost every structure there is made from the trunks of these massive trees. I believe that the trees were sick, and that’s why they were hollowed out and used for building, but I’m not completely sure. The verbal explanation was in Spanish, and all other notation in the tree museum was about God and his plan for these trees and how we all need to live in harmony or something. We climbed up into the rafters of this tree building, which we were not supposed to do, but everyone else was doing it and we were dying to get up there. But see the pictures, they’re pretty cool. We also got some yerba mate flavored ice cream, which was pretty interesting. (Yerba Mate is this type of tea that is incredibly common in Argentina).
Afterwards, we wandered down the highway looking for this monkey and toucan reserve. We found it, but apparently there are no monkeys, and were a bit more than we wanted to spend a day before going to the park, so we ended up at another hostel down the road. This hostel was also affiliated with ours, and had a swimming pool, so we used their activities desk to try and figure out something else to do before settling down around their pool and drinking Quilmes, the main beer here (and it’s really not great at all). We did a whole lot of people watching, and ended up taking pictures of a caterpillar. It was pretty, I liked it, and the girls made fun of me. Very naturey.
Who knows what the night will hold...all I know is that I'm dirty, in the middle of the rainforest, can see 3 countries from this point, and am perfectly content.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Mendoza!
Finally, the Mendoza recap! The weekend in Mendoza was definitely una mierda (a mess). The ride there was pretty interesting, in our FlechaBus. We brought some boxed wine (to avoid having to bring an opener), and ended up forgetting cups and having to pour the wine into our empty water bottles from a tiny hole made by nail cutters, since the pour spout was too big. We met a South African girl named Jenna, who was just ecstatic that we were speaking English and came to share the wine and chat until she was booted back to her seat. We had some interesting bus food and a mostly sleepless night, despite the semi-cama seats. Melissa and I also booked different hostels while trying to accommodate all my friends from Santiago…big mistake, trying to work with boys to plan something. I ended up staying at one with my friends, and Melissa couldn’t cancel her reservation, so she stayed at the other. So that was an issue upon our arrival. By the time we got everything settled, we were ready for a good girls’ afternoon/night, before the boys from Santiago were to arrive later. We wanted to shop, but apparently Mendocinos take a siesta, at least in terms of stores staying open. We wandered around town, looking for good shopping, and everything was closed. From there, we took a nap and got ready for our evening.
For pre-dinner cocktails, we headed to Casa 3, which is also supposed to have delicious food. But for dinner, we were heading to Azafran, the pricey joint in town that’s in every guide book and has been reviewed by the NY Times. First of all, Azafran was Argentina expensive, not US expensive. Secondly, the entire wait-staff was extraordinarily attractive, to the point that we were giggling like school girls. It was bad. We wanted to order a bottle of wine, but there was no list; instead, we were told that they don’t believe in a wine list and lead to the wine cellar to choose a bottle of our liking. Luckily the prices were clearly listed in the cellar! The restaurant really looks like an old wine and cheese shop. The food was also amazing. We ordered seared tuna and noquis to share, of course with crème brulee to top it off. But the best part of the meal was Melissa’s crush on the waiter. I was trying to get her to take a chance, give him her number or ask what he was doing later. Fortunately, he asked us out for drinks before she got the chance!! From dinner, we went with Abel to another bar for my first taste of Fernet and Coke, the local cocktail. It tastes like scotch and coke to me…not my favorite, but I got it down. We then met up with his friend Kevin and moved to a disco, or boliche, that was filled with locals, no foreigners at all. We had so much fun; in fact, I didn’t look at my watch until 5:30, and I needed to be back at the hostel around 5 to greet my friends. I felt a little bit like Cinderella, having to leave so quickly, but it all worked out in the end. The bus from Santiago was late, and my friends did not get to the hostel until after 6:30. We all settled in for a VERY short night of sleep before heading to the wineries the next morning.
The wine tour was equally a mess. After booking the tour and exploring the city a bit, we set off for the wineries around 2:30. I didn’t realize that the boys had never done a wine tour before…they thought it was like a pub crawl, and were a little bit upset when the first winery started us out with an actual tour of the facilities. It got messy at the 2nd winery (and 3rd stop) when the boys bought bottles instead of taking the tour – between 5 people, we killed 2-3 bottles before the tasting began. From that point on, it was a mess. We were not supposed to drink in the bus, and sure enough, they made it happen – even opening a bottle with a mechanical pencil. By the end of the night, we were all trying to go out, but some of us were dragging from no sleep and day drinking. Sunday was sad, saying goodbye to the bys again, but I was anxious to catch up with Melissa as well. She was sick on Saturday and missed the whole wine tour! As we waited for our bus, we ran into our waiter from Friday, Abel, at the station. We sat and chatted for a while, and at some point he bought us these weird little rat-looking key chains from one of the kids selling crap in the bus station. I had not yet found an ornament (or suitable keychain to become one) in town, and this random keychain is a perfect representation of what a crazy weekend we had in Mendoza. I can’t wait to tie a ribbon around it and put it on my tree this Christmas, to remember la mierda que fue Mendoza!
Oh and Cata bus, which we took back to BsAs, is the bomb. I highly recommend it for your South American travels!
For pre-dinner cocktails, we headed to Casa 3, which is also supposed to have delicious food. But for dinner, we were heading to Azafran, the pricey joint in town that’s in every guide book and has been reviewed by the NY Times. First of all, Azafran was Argentina expensive, not US expensive. Secondly, the entire wait-staff was extraordinarily attractive, to the point that we were giggling like school girls. It was bad. We wanted to order a bottle of wine, but there was no list; instead, we were told that they don’t believe in a wine list and lead to the wine cellar to choose a bottle of our liking. Luckily the prices were clearly listed in the cellar! The restaurant really looks like an old wine and cheese shop. The food was also amazing. We ordered seared tuna and noquis to share, of course with crème brulee to top it off. But the best part of the meal was Melissa’s crush on the waiter. I was trying to get her to take a chance, give him her number or ask what he was doing later. Fortunately, he asked us out for drinks before she got the chance!! From dinner, we went with Abel to another bar for my first taste of Fernet and Coke, the local cocktail. It tastes like scotch and coke to me…not my favorite, but I got it down. We then met up with his friend Kevin and moved to a disco, or boliche, that was filled with locals, no foreigners at all. We had so much fun; in fact, I didn’t look at my watch until 5:30, and I needed to be back at the hostel around 5 to greet my friends. I felt a little bit like Cinderella, having to leave so quickly, but it all worked out in the end. The bus from Santiago was late, and my friends did not get to the hostel until after 6:30. We all settled in for a VERY short night of sleep before heading to the wineries the next morning.
The wine tour was equally a mess. After booking the tour and exploring the city a bit, we set off for the wineries around 2:30. I didn’t realize that the boys had never done a wine tour before…they thought it was like a pub crawl, and were a little bit upset when the first winery started us out with an actual tour of the facilities. It got messy at the 2nd winery (and 3rd stop) when the boys bought bottles instead of taking the tour – between 5 people, we killed 2-3 bottles before the tasting began. From that point on, it was a mess. We were not supposed to drink in the bus, and sure enough, they made it happen – even opening a bottle with a mechanical pencil. By the end of the night, we were all trying to go out, but some of us were dragging from no sleep and day drinking. Sunday was sad, saying goodbye to the bys again, but I was anxious to catch up with Melissa as well. She was sick on Saturday and missed the whole wine tour! As we waited for our bus, we ran into our waiter from Friday, Abel, at the station. We sat and chatted for a while, and at some point he bought us these weird little rat-looking key chains from one of the kids selling crap in the bus station. I had not yet found an ornament (or suitable keychain to become one) in town, and this random keychain is a perfect representation of what a crazy weekend we had in Mendoza. I can’t wait to tie a ribbon around it and put it on my tree this Christmas, to remember la mierda que fue Mendoza!
Oh and Cata bus, which we took back to BsAs, is the bomb. I highly recommend it for your South American travels!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
I am so bad at this!
Ack! I'm sorry, I haven't had much time to blog! The last week in Santiago was a whirlwind of activities, including traditional asado (BBQ) at the school, followed by a Monday night fiesta at la casa loca, salsa lessons Wednesday, a show and dinner of traditional Chilean food and dance (including baile interactivo) Thursday, going away party Friday, and a lower-key night at the disco Saturday with my fave Germans and Swiss. Needless to say I was pooped and have slept as much as possible over the course of this week. I will try to fill it all in this weekend, I promise!
I also had my first day at La Juanita today. I should have taken pictures, but I'll try to do so next week. Meanwhile, pics from Santiago are posted, so enjoy! Love y'all!
I also had my first day at La Juanita today. I should have taken pictures, but I'll try to do so next week. Meanwhile, pics from Santiago are posted, so enjoy! Love y'all!
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