So, I know its been like over a week since I’ve blogged. I promise I have a legit reason for this…my computer is shot and won’t connect to the internet and I don’t really know how to fix it. So, I’ve decided to document my adventures in Word and put them up when I have internet access…it really sucks. Today I almost started crying because I haven’t been able to use the internet for like a week. Its hard because I haven’t really talked to my mom or anyone…I started crying because I feel like I can’t get in touch with her, and it really sucks. I’m going to ask some people if they know how to fix the problem. Today Aidi had it working at Starbucks, but I don’t know how to make it work. I can use the ISA office’s computers but they close at 6…so for now this is what I have to do.
As you all know, last Monday was Fourth of July. A very special day for all of us Americans. Surprisingly, Argentinians don’t really care that much about our holiday, and I still had to go to school and yadda yadda yadda. That afternoon, however, I started celebrating in style by stopping at my favorite ice cream store Volta. On Mondays, its 2 for 1 kilo day and Aidi and I decided to buy a kilo each of ice cream. Its actually cheaper to buy the kilo than to buy a smaller size…you can’t pass that up. So, I started eating mine right then on there walking down the street and on the colectivo, etc. People gave me funny stares, but I figured I’m an American and I was just celebrating the holiday…who cares. I had American Cookie (sticking with the theme) and Chocolate Suizo. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish it all…but I will say I ate a good portion of it. Probably not something to be proud of, but I am.
After that, I came home and napped for a bit because we had big plans for the night. All of us were going to head to El Alamo for drinks and celebrating. Some girl spread a rumor that the embassy had fireworks and things like this, but in reality they were just “opening their doors” to Argentinians to obtain visas to the States. What a crock…nothing for us Americans who happen to be in Argentina for the holiday. But that’s okay because we still had fun. J
Jorge went so far as to play the national anthem for us. He is so precious. He originally played it while I was napping, and when I woke up he said, “Te falta. Yo toque el cancion de los Estados Unidos. Te falta.” Basically, this means you fail I played the national anthem and you missed it…but that’s okay. Because he played it again! He has some old dvd from 1996 of the three tenors (I don’t know who these people are) in concert and they start with the Star Spangled Banner. I’d say that was pretty American of him to do for us. What a sweetie.
There were a ton of people at El Alamo…we learned how to take the 152 bus to this bar. Saves us money for the taxi…like a true porteño!!! Interestingly enough, there were lots of porteños at the bar…it was a really happening place. I made lots of new friends and was able to practice my Spanish. I’ve said it once, I will say it again…Spanish is easier when you’ve had a few drinks. I made two Brazilian friends…one who speaks English, Marcela, and one who speaks Spanish, Gui. We talked and shared drinks and exchanged names and numbers. I enjoyed getting to know them…and everyone got to practice their castellano and English!!! We plan to keep in touch via Facebook and someday maybe I will visit Brazil! They also plan on visiting the United States, but they are thinking of going to New York. I told them that was a very good choice. We left the bar at 4 when they closed the place down…I finally went to bed at about 5 a.m.
Tuesday I was very tired…as I had to wake up at 9 a.m. for class. Wahhh. However, I survived and then I met Aidi and some girls from her old class for Starbucks at 4:30. Then, we went to buy more minutes for my phone and went to the Club Manhattan so Aidi could have a snack before dinner. I like our waiter friends Rocky and Ariel…they are very good to us. After this, I came home and had dinner and crashed.
Wednesday I had much to prepare for as Thursday was a very big day for me. I studied for my test a little bit and packed for Iguazu Falls. Also, I received a package with a book from my mom and two packages with gifts for my host family from my grandma. Since they sent them in padded envelopes, I didn’t have to trek to the fricken correo central to retrieve my packages. How nice. We also had our orientation for the trip to Iguazu…I’ve been waiting for this for over a month!!! Many of you may not know that Iguazu made the new list of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Niagra Falls looks like a bathroom sink faucet in comparison…no joke. It became clear to me that this was going to be a very jam packed trip…yikesabee!!! But I was very excited. J I took money out of the bank, packed, bought snacks and plenty of water…and let me tell you…Iguazu does not disappoint. Iguzau is Guarini for big…by the way. Just a clue at the size of these falls.
For our goodbye dessert, Mercedes had the maid make us flan. How sweet…literally.
Thursday could not go by fast enough…I took my test, which went very well. I got my results back and I got a 92 percent which rounds up to a 9.5 out of 10. Not too shabby…I would just like to say SUCK IT DR. KLAUS…thanks for not signing my study abroad form because you didn’t believe I could handle the course load, because I think I kicked this course load’s ass. Sorry, I had to get this out of the way. Then we had more school…and finally 6 p.m. rolled around…time to head to the falls!
Our mode of transportation to Misiones (the province where Iguazu is located) was this strange and fascinating vehicle called the bed bus. We’re not talking a Greyhound bus here…we’re talking a full on two story bed bus. It’s very lush inside and it seats 42 passengers quite comfortably. We’re talking plush seats, leg room, reclining seats, pillows and blankets, televisions, and meals. I sat next to Emi, which made my day because I had not seen her in two weeks because her class starts two and a half hours later then mine and it is on a different floor. I missed her very very much. We had salad, crackers, a roll, cheese, crude ham, beef and pasta, and flan as our dinner for the night. Honestly, this stuff was pretty delicious. I was very pleased. Before dinner we watched “The Killers” and after dinner we watched “50 First Dates.” It was a pretty good selection…I forgot how much I loved “50 First Dates” and I could stare at Ashton Kutcher all day. After that, I curled up in my little bed on the little bus and slept. It wasn’t as peaceful as I hoped, but it was better then the overnight flight here. It’s strange traveling in Argentina, though…we didn’t drive on like highways or anything…its just like two lane roads straight through. You go through cities, forests…you really cover all of Argentina. No wonder the ride takes 12 hours…more or less. At about 6:00 a.m. the little bus attendant turned the lights on and woke us all up for breakfast…crackers and two medialunas. We arrived in Posadas at 7 a.m. where we were allotted fifteen minutes to use the restroom to freshen up. What a joke. First of all, you have to buy toilet paper at this rest stop. Second of all, it was filthy, Third of all, it was 7 am in the morning…too early to be doing anything. But we managed.
Then, we hopped a normal Greyhound bus and met our tour guide for the weekend and our driver. Margarita and Mr. Ant. Don’t really know why that’s his name…it just is. Margarita has the same birthday as me…ironically. We had to sit on this bus for an hour because some kids had to ride a different bed bus because our whole group would not fit on one, and the other one was running behind. Finally, they showed up and we started our weekend adventures.
First on the agenda were the Jesuit ruins. This is a huge complex that was built by the Jesuits and the Guarini people lived there and learned how to hunt, cook, weave, etc. They also went to church. Unfortunately, at some point the king of Spain decided he didn’t want the Jesuits influencing the Guarini people anymore so he expelled them from South America and ordered the complexes destroyed. Now, all that remains are the ruins…which are still very very impressive. The dirt in the Misiones province of Argentina is red…the ruins are also tinted red. A good movie for everyone to watch about this is “The Mission” with Robert DeNiro…I will have to watch it when I get home. We had a tour guide walk us around and point out the important things…I took lots of pictures, which I will be sure to share when I get the chance. J
After this it was off the estancia, which is basically a plantation/farm/country house. This is a very common part of life in Argentina…in fact there are tourist trips to estancias from Buenos Aires. You can sign up to visit a farm for a day where there is asado, animals, and relaxing outside of the city. This estancia was very nice. They grow mate and black tea here and also they served us excellent asado. Guillermo told us that we would be eating a lot on this trip…he wasn’t kidding. First, we ate until we thought we would explode. To drink, we had fresh squeezed lemonade…it was like heaven. Choripan, empanadas, ensaladas, y asados out to wazoo. This is some of the best beef I have ever eaten in my whole life. So juicy, tender, and flavorful…I’ve read its because the cows feed on lush, green, Argentinian grass rather than chemicals, steroids, and all the other crap Americans feed their cows. It was so delicious…I can’t even describe it. We also tried “sweet bread.” That is the American term for it, I’m unsure of what the Spanish word is, but it’s the cow’s gland, which is roasted and served up. Here it is considered a delicacy. It was good…kind of crispy on the outside, but very tender on the inside. After this, I was totally stuffed. So, naturally, they made us walk it off with a trip through the plantation to see the mate factory.
This mate factory was very cool…kinda creepy because it would never be legal for 40+ kids to be walking through a factory that has the technology of the 50s, but I thought it was all very very interesting. There were trucks hauling mate in huge burlap bags. Then the workers had to separate the leaves and put them on the conveyer belt to dry. Then the leaves had to sit for a few days drying some more. Then its packaged and sent out…I’m not really sure if this is the totally accurate process, but its what I gathered. The mate was piled high in this factory…I mean everywhere you look…even in the attic of the farm where we got to go “play” in the mate for a few minutes. I took lots of pictures here, too, so they will be cool to show everyone. This only furthered my love for mate…its smelled so good!!!
We walked back to the main part of the estancia where dessert and mate was waiting for us. First, we tried mate cocido, which is like mate in a tea bag. Pretty delish…especially when you add sugar. Then, we had mandarin pound cake…so wonderful. I ate three pieces…but so did Sam and Emi. It was so light and sweet and perfect. After that, we passed around a legit mate cup like true Argentinians. It was a very nice way to relax for the afternoon.
At four, we packed things up and headed to Puerto Iguazu, which is still 4 hours away from the estancia. Obviously, I slept on the bus ride…my little eyes couldn’t stay open.
When we arrived at the hotel, I was so happy. We stayed in Hotel Saint George…it’s a very swanky joint. Complete with pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, all you can eat buffet, big, warm beds with fluffy pillows. It’s a wonderful place. It’s also warmer in Puerto Iguazu, so that was a nice change of pace. We ate dinner at 9:00 and then I took a shower and hit the sack…Friday was exhausting, and I was pretty sure Saturday would be, too. Wake up call was at 7:30 a.m.!!!
Let me tell you, 7:30 a.m. came too soon, but it was worth it to see the falls. We rode the bus about 20 minutes to the national park. We walked a ways and rode the train and eventually we reached the biggest fall…The Devil’s Throat. The Guarini people used to think that the devil was at the bottom of the falls with his mouth open sucking in all the water. Honestly, words can’t describe the beauty of Iguazu…I’m not even going to try. I will post pictures when I get home, but it is seriously the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The rainforest, beautiful falls, and hundreds of rainbows. I can’t wait to show you all…I literally had a smile on my face the whole day. We also walked along the upper and lower circuit, which are equally awesome.
At the end of the day, was the special treat…the boat ride under the falls!!! I kept calling it Maid of the Mist because that’s its name in Niagra…not really sure what the official name for Iguazu is, but it was fricken AWESOME!!! We took a speed boat to the bottom of the falls where we drove under them and got soaking wet…it was especially ballsy because just last May three people were killed in an accident on one of these boat rides…thankfully we lived to tell the tale!!! It’s really fun because if you get all pumped and yell and scream “Otra” or “Dale” the driver will go really fast and do tricks and get you very very wet from the falls!!! I loved it. J
After the falls, we visited Tres Fronteras…it overlooks Brazil and Paraguay…apparently Osama Bin Laden’s summer home is in Paraguay. Pretty close. It’s very beautiful…the river separates the three countries. I have pictures of this also. Basically, all of this you have to see for yourself. Sorry…
We had all you can eat buffet again for dinner. We also found this really great bakery, which sells wonderful treats at low low prices!!! I wish I could have taken this place home with meeeeee. Wahh. Plus, we went shopping at the little vendors around town…they have some pretty cool stuff. Also, very cheap. Honestly, all of Misiones reminded me of Nicaragua. Lots of poverty and very small town-ish. People playing music in the streets and dirty little children running around without shoes. Everyone has their doors open and they were far more friendly than the porteños. I enjoyed it, but I love Buenos Aires more.
Sunday morning we boarded a convey (no joke) and headed into the jungle to visit the Guarini village. The Guarini are the natives to Argentina…think Native Americans. They have pretty much the same sad story as Native Americans in the U.S. Forced off their land and now they live in poverty, holding on to their traditional customs. They speak mostly Guarini, but they also learn Spanish in school. A German ambassador founded and funded the school for this particular village. The village was straight up like Nicaragua…small tin houses, chickens running around in the yard, children with no shoes…the similarities were very scary. Our guide showed us some of their hunting traps and how they build their homes. At the end of the tour, a group of Guarini children sang for us. It was very sweet. We were able to take pictures and talk with them, but only if we left a donation. The whole thing is very commercialized and touristy. I was kind of disappointed with the fact that travel agencies exploit their poverty and culture as a way to make money. I understand that now the Guarini depend on donations from tourists, but to me its just very sad and unnatural. These kids sing everyday so that tourists will give them money…that has become their way of life. I kind of lost its sweetness factor when they brought out the donation bowl to take pictures…I just feel like their lives are exploited. But, it was still an experience. We also were able to shop at the market where they had handmade crafts. I bought a few gifts…but I won’t say what, so as not to ruin the surprise.
This was the end of our very long and exhausting and exciting trip. We headed to the airport where we waited to see if the ash would affect our flight. Originally, we were told that our flight was delayed because Buenos Aires airport was shut down…but then five minutes later they announced that our flight would be the last flight to head into Buenos Aires. We flew LAN, which is very nice. We got yummy Havannah snacks and drinks. I slept like a baby, however, they had entertainment on the tv the whole flight…they clearly aren’t skimping on things like U.S. airlines are these days.
After I came home, I met Aidi and I went and grabbed something to eat. I was hungry, and had only eaten the breakfast buffet. We went to Café Martinez and caught up about our weekend. The mayoral election was this weekend in Buenos Aires, so a lot was happening. Also, I was very exhausted from all the traveling.
Mercedes and Jorge cooked us cauliflower as a special treat and baked chicken. They bought brownies for dessert, but I cannot eat them because I am allergic to walnuts. I slept like a baby on Sunday night…Monday came far too soon!!!
Yesterday (Monday) was a pretty simple day. I went to school…we had a day where we talked all day about all kinds of issues. In Spanish, of course. It was good practice. Aidi and I walked around all afternoon looking at boots and clothes…its fun to see all the fashion. Everyone here wears these military boots, but in like color. I like the red ones, but no one had my size. Sad face. I will keep my eyes peeled, though.
Dinner was milanesa with carrots and cauliflower. The classic banana with dulce de leche for dessert. Aidi and I planned to go to the Alamo for our usual Monday night routine, but when we arrived we were told that the cover was 50 pesos…that’s 12. 50!!! Normally its only 30 pesos…it was spiked because of the Costa Rica v. Argentina game for Copa America. We decided to ef that and walked around the city at night…not in a creepy, dangerous way. In a beautiful big city kind of way. It was nice and I went to bed around 12:30.
Today was Tuesday. My wonderful mother was able to call Apple for me while emailing me at the ISA office in order to fix my internet connection. The internet is kind of shotty at my house still, but I had my network preferences configured wrong, so I was unable to hook up to any network. Thankfully, its all fixed now. So, I can get back to blogging as usual!!!
Aidi and I went to this awesome café called Tea Connection. It’s actually a tea house with all natural, green food and drinks. I had the chai tea with cheesecake. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but its common for Argentines to eat merienda between 3 and 7 p.m…Aidi and I are pretty accustomed to this. Dinner is so late…so it makes sense that they have a little snack. The tea comes out in kettles and its not in bags. The herbs and tea leaves are put in a filter in the kettle of hot water. They give you an hour glass to time how long you need to let it steep. Once the glass is finished you can drink the tea…it’s very cool. I really love this place…too bad I discovered it with only 12 days left here. L
I have compiled my list of last things to do before I leave…I am starting to feel very sad. I miss my mom and my dog, but I really love it here. I’ve made really great friends, learned so much, and I’ve fallen in love with Buenos Aires. It’s an amazing city…I plan to return. Maybe someday I can get a job and live here.
We had raviolis for dinner tonight. Argentina beat Costa Rica yesterday for those of you who are interested in Copa America. Also, the street vendors were busted on Calle Florida, so now there aren’t any there anymore…apparently, it was a pretty violent thing. The vendors started rioting and screaming and protesting…but now they have all found new posts. I’m depressed because the vendors were like the best part of Calle Florida…I hope they come back.
Tomorrow I’m going back to Museo Evita with ISA. It’s a really awesome museum and I’m excited to see it again!!! J
I want to say Happy Birthday to my Grandma Bapcha. I know it’s a day late, but I hope you had a really fabulous birthday and I miss you very much. I’m sorry I couldn’t wish you well yesterday…internet problems and all, but I love you.
And everyone should thank my mother for calling Apple and helping me to get my computer working.
12 more days until this great adventure is over…I’m not sure how to feel about it.
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