Hello! As I predicted... I'm starting to get lazy on the blogging homefront. I used to be so good about it! I guess it's also because I've been blogging for a while now, with my whole summer adventures in Appalachia and all, and I'm getting a little tired of it. BUT, the good thing is that I'm not in the slightest tired of my current location.
The past week or so has been great. I'm trying to squeeze in everything that I can, because from this point on I have only about 2 1/2 more weeks! I've got a calendar written down in the journal that I carry with me everywhere, which has a list of all of my "to-do's" before I leave the country. This past weekend I went to an estancia out in the countryside, after visiting an extremely religious city about an hour outside the city. It's called Lujan, and I went with the whole ISA program to see the amazing church right in the center of town. It was covered in gargoyles and intricate stone-carved details around each arch, window and peak. Inside the church, the ceilings were easily 3 stories high, and I saw some of the most amazing stained glass I've ever seen! That is such a beautiful form of art- how on Earth do they shade the glass into different colors?! Anyways, after the church we went to the estancia, where we spent the whole day eating, eating, and watching authentic Argentine customs. We rode horses, danced their traditional dances, and watched performances of both! There were gauchos who did competitions on their horses, where they had to ride as fast as they could and try to stick their pole inside of a TINY ring that was hanging from a tall archway. There were 4 gauchos competing in total, and the youngest one (he looked no more than 16) was the only one to do it successfully. It was so fun watching them, especially relaxing after having had eaten more meat at the asada than I have in a long time. They gave us empanadas, chicken, slow-roasted red meat... it was amazing. I don't think I could ever be a vegetarian.
As far as the future goes, I have things planned for most days, and so far it's gone pretty well! For instance, on Monday I went to the famous horse-racing track in the city, and also went to my first casino. Well, actually I guess I've been to a casino before, but I've never participated in any of the games.... so I lost money on slots for my first time! The funny thing is, I think going to a casino and horse track are some of the only times that I'll ever lose money with a smile on my face. Luckily I only brought $25 pesos with me, which equals less than 10 bucks US, so you really can't be mad about losing. It's all a part of the experience. I tried to choose my horses based on their names and obviously, the colors of their outfits.... and I really thought I had it when I chose the horse with the name "Incurable Optimism". Unfortunately for me, I never gave up on that horse, although he came in last place in each race I bet on him. I guess I should have learned my first time...
Let's see, what else. I saw a terrible Spanish movie last week, I've explored some epic bars around Buenos Aires, and have gone to some new parks. I'm addicted to this book, Shantaram, and I'm currently over 700 pages into it so honestly that's been taking up a lot of time.. haha! I feel a little guilty reading an English book so much while down here, but the story and writing style are just way too good to put down. I have to finish it before I leave too because it's Julia's copy! There are 930 pages in total, so I'm well on my way there. This weekend I'll be going on a "party bus" for an Argentine's birthday, going to a few museums, I'll be visiting Boca (one of the most tango-infused neighborhoods in Buenos Aires), and going to see an opera at Teatro Colon! It's one of the most famous theaters in the world and I've already taken a tour of it.. even though I'll be standing on the highest floor possible for the 2-hour show, I'm not worried at all.
All during this, I've been preparing in multiple ways for this upcoming summer as a Center Director for ASP.... I can't believe it's actually happening!! It's exactly a month from 3 days ago that I'll be in Appalachia again. For whatever reason, whenever ASP season comes up I feel like everything is coming full circle, like that's where I'm supposed to be. It's what I'm good at- my "vocacion", as people say down here- and I can't wait to get back. By no means am I wishing away this experience right now, just looking forward for what else is to come. 2012 is crazy. So much to be thankful for!
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Woof Woof
So this past week was my second spring break, and I managed to do lots of things around the province! While a lot of other people lollygagged around Chile, Bolivia and northern Argentina, I stayed behind with a few friends and took it easy. On Sunday, Coleman and I went to Tigre, about 45 minutes outside of the city, and walked around markets on the coast of the river. It was a beautiful day and the area was flooded with tourists and Argentines alike, all in search for the perfect deal. Coleman left with an epic pair of classic Argentine pants, whereas I found a few little souvenirs and called it a day. We went back to the city and met up with some friends later that night, and even one girl that we had met in Patagonia! It turned out to be a great night across town, and I crawled into bed right before the sunrise.
On Monday, Coleman and I went to the WOOFing site about an hour outside of the city. WOOF stands for the World Wide Organization of Organic Farming, so the premise is that you go and farm at a location for a certain number of hours a day, and in return they provide food and housing for free. It's a pretty sweet deal! We got there in the later afternoon, and were immediately greeted with warm smiles, tea and organic cookies. Everyone was Spanish-speaking, obviously, and while most spoke some English, Coleman and I stuck to practicing Spanish for the majority of our time there. We were in the company of three other woofers at the time- 2 had been there for a month and the third was on her second month. That afternoon was relaxing, we had dinner and made our way to bed by 10:00.
I won't go into detail about every single day, but I can give some tid bits here and there. First, we were staying with a Twelve Tribes community, who live their daily lives in direct (or as close as they can) correlation to the Bible. This included addressing each other by formal names (esposo/a- husband/wife, hijo/a- son/daughter, etc), limiting their reading materials to only the Bible and Twelve Tribes-written works, and dressing in an extremely conservative fashion (includes head coverings for women). Anyways, we stayed for three nights four days total, although I initially planned on staying for almost the entire week. Each day we rose at 6am, went to a Bible lesson, ate breakfast, and worked on the farm doing different things like working with compost, harvesting, planting seeds and picking weeds. With each meal there was definitely a different type of satisfaction, knowing that I had personally contributed to the cultivation of the materials. It was fun too working with some of the residents of the TT- this one guy Juan turned out to be a great guy, and Coleman and I told jokes with him and his little buddy Zahar for the majority of one afternoon. Jokes in Spanish are either really funny, or really not.. hit or miss. I love it.
We also got about 70 bug bites- that includes about 20 on my face. Not kidding, 20 on my face. The funny thing is that I didn't even realize how bad it was until I left, because they didn't have a SINGLE mirror around their property! I appreciate the sentiment and that it's meant to disregard the materialistic and self-conscious part of your brain... but when a girl's got a situation on her face, she's gonna want to see it. Otherwise, I really didn't have any qualms with the system, I think it's a perfectly fine way to live your life if you feel called enough to do so. I really was just frustrated with the extremely strict application of gender roles. For instance, a tornado struck on Wednesday night. Yup, a tornado. Before it struck, we were standing outside doing the nightly evening gatherings, and I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. It didn't look discolored, but there was more lightning than I had ever seen before in my life- the entire night sky was smothered in forks and beams of light. It was eerie but exciting at the same time. The rain trickled, and within seconds it was sheets harder than I've felt in years- and that was quickly followed by the power outage and lack of water. Funny enough this was right as we were getting ready for dinner, which made a 40-person arrangement a tad complicated... but it all worked out in the end. At the end of this half an hour storm, we walked around the property to see that at least 9 trees were down, two of which had done damage to the other two houses on their land. It was really extreme! Naturally because of my knowledge of construction and overall eagerness to help I asked them if I could help doing construction or tree removal the next day... and I was received with a smile, almost a giggle, and was told to sweep the entire property with the two other female woofers that day. That was something that really didn't settle with me well. I can understand that hundreds of years ago men were the "bread-winners" and did most of the outdoor work, but we have evolved here people, and I am capable! Anyways, between the lack of water (which quickly became really unhygienic when we had to clean plates with dirty rain water...), lack of electricity and overwhelming number of bug bites, Coleman and I realized simultaneously that it was time for us to leave. And with that, after a morning and afternoon of sweeping and women's work, we were on the bus back to the city with the Twelve Tribes nowhere in sight. I definitely don't regret going, in fact, I'm so happy to have met those people. They had some of the warmest hearts and eyes that I've seen in a while, and I will never forget how welcome they made me feel. Some things just aren't meant for everyone.
The night we got back Coleman and I just kicked it at home and I was asleep by 8pm... best thing ever! I woke up the next day feeling rejuvenated, and Cole and Schayan and I went way downtown and walked around various markets and a park for the afternoon. It felt great being back in the city and just wandering around with no time constraints. That was another low key day (Friday) , followed by more wandering on Saturday around the city solo. I walked for about 3 hours in different parts of Belgrano and Palermo (neighborhoods I'm living in and around), and stopped at various parks to read and write. I came home and gabbed with Julia (the roomie) for a while about our breaks, and after dinner we met up with Coleman again to see the Hunger Games! It was so good! I'm definitely an easy crowd, and after having read the books I have to admit that they did a pretty good job of adhering to the actual plot.
Tonight, a friend's parents are here and taking a bunch of us out for dinner and drinks. I can't wait to meet up with the gang again and swap stories from their weeks! It's going to be rough waking up for school tomorrow..... yikes. Reality check!
On Monday, Coleman and I went to the WOOFing site about an hour outside of the city. WOOF stands for the World Wide Organization of Organic Farming, so the premise is that you go and farm at a location for a certain number of hours a day, and in return they provide food and housing for free. It's a pretty sweet deal! We got there in the later afternoon, and were immediately greeted with warm smiles, tea and organic cookies. Everyone was Spanish-speaking, obviously, and while most spoke some English, Coleman and I stuck to practicing Spanish for the majority of our time there. We were in the company of three other woofers at the time- 2 had been there for a month and the third was on her second month. That afternoon was relaxing, we had dinner and made our way to bed by 10:00.
I won't go into detail about every single day, but I can give some tid bits here and there. First, we were staying with a Twelve Tribes community, who live their daily lives in direct (or as close as they can) correlation to the Bible. This included addressing each other by formal names (esposo/a- husband/wife, hijo/a- son/daughter, etc), limiting their reading materials to only the Bible and Twelve Tribes-written works, and dressing in an extremely conservative fashion (includes head coverings for women). Anyways, we stayed for three nights four days total, although I initially planned on staying for almost the entire week. Each day we rose at 6am, went to a Bible lesson, ate breakfast, and worked on the farm doing different things like working with compost, harvesting, planting seeds and picking weeds. With each meal there was definitely a different type of satisfaction, knowing that I had personally contributed to the cultivation of the materials. It was fun too working with some of the residents of the TT- this one guy Juan turned out to be a great guy, and Coleman and I told jokes with him and his little buddy Zahar for the majority of one afternoon. Jokes in Spanish are either really funny, or really not.. hit or miss. I love it.
We also got about 70 bug bites- that includes about 20 on my face. Not kidding, 20 on my face. The funny thing is that I didn't even realize how bad it was until I left, because they didn't have a SINGLE mirror around their property! I appreciate the sentiment and that it's meant to disregard the materialistic and self-conscious part of your brain... but when a girl's got a situation on her face, she's gonna want to see it. Otherwise, I really didn't have any qualms with the system, I think it's a perfectly fine way to live your life if you feel called enough to do so. I really was just frustrated with the extremely strict application of gender roles. For instance, a tornado struck on Wednesday night. Yup, a tornado. Before it struck, we were standing outside doing the nightly evening gatherings, and I couldn't take my eyes off the sky. It didn't look discolored, but there was more lightning than I had ever seen before in my life- the entire night sky was smothered in forks and beams of light. It was eerie but exciting at the same time. The rain trickled, and within seconds it was sheets harder than I've felt in years- and that was quickly followed by the power outage and lack of water. Funny enough this was right as we were getting ready for dinner, which made a 40-person arrangement a tad complicated... but it all worked out in the end. At the end of this half an hour storm, we walked around the property to see that at least 9 trees were down, two of which had done damage to the other two houses on their land. It was really extreme! Naturally because of my knowledge of construction and overall eagerness to help I asked them if I could help doing construction or tree removal the next day... and I was received with a smile, almost a giggle, and was told to sweep the entire property with the two other female woofers that day. That was something that really didn't settle with me well. I can understand that hundreds of years ago men were the "bread-winners" and did most of the outdoor work, but we have evolved here people, and I am capable! Anyways, between the lack of water (which quickly became really unhygienic when we had to clean plates with dirty rain water...), lack of electricity and overwhelming number of bug bites, Coleman and I realized simultaneously that it was time for us to leave. And with that, after a morning and afternoon of sweeping and women's work, we were on the bus back to the city with the Twelve Tribes nowhere in sight. I definitely don't regret going, in fact, I'm so happy to have met those people. They had some of the warmest hearts and eyes that I've seen in a while, and I will never forget how welcome they made me feel. Some things just aren't meant for everyone.
The night we got back Coleman and I just kicked it at home and I was asleep by 8pm... best thing ever! I woke up the next day feeling rejuvenated, and Cole and Schayan and I went way downtown and walked around various markets and a park for the afternoon. It felt great being back in the city and just wandering around with no time constraints. That was another low key day (Friday) , followed by more wandering on Saturday around the city solo. I walked for about 3 hours in different parts of Belgrano and Palermo (neighborhoods I'm living in and around), and stopped at various parks to read and write. I came home and gabbed with Julia (the roomie) for a while about our breaks, and after dinner we met up with Coleman again to see the Hunger Games! It was so good! I'm definitely an easy crowd, and after having read the books I have to admit that they did a pretty good job of adhering to the actual plot.
Tonight, a friend's parents are here and taking a bunch of us out for dinner and drinks. I can't wait to meet up with the gang again and swap stories from their weeks! It's going to be rough waking up for school tomorrow..... yikes. Reality check!
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| Me, alongside the two other woofers Eva and Meg. |
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| The women making cakes for the Shabbat celebration. |
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| Eduardo standing next to one of the many up-rooted trees. |
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| The damage done to the men's sleeping quarters. |
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| Juan, our buddy. |
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| One of the adorable kids! |
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| Coleman, showing his apparent discomfort. |
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Spring break 2... wuddup!
It's official, as I'm sitting here on this Saturday, I'm officially spending time in my second spring break. It's hilarious how many pauses there are in school... I guess this one isn't really an OFFICIAL spring break, but it's working out because we're allotted 4 absences from March-May, and there is only class Tuesday & Wednesday this week. Naturally, everyone took 2 absences on those days and is now galavanting around the country! Tomorrow (Ojala, if this dang place emails me back....) I'll be going to a WOOFing location about an hour outside the city for the majority of the week! I'm really excited, WOOFing has been on my bucket list for a while now, and this seems like the best place to check said item off the list. In case you don't know, WOOFing stands for World-Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms. Essentially I'll be going to a farm (that hosts around 70 people at a time, it's HUGE!), working the land or doing construction (woohoo!) for around 5 hours a day, and for this they'll give me 3 meals a day and a free place to stay. It's living on a college budget, and I couldn't be happier. People there speak a little English, so I'm also really looking forward to pushing myself and being surrounded by Spanish for most of the week. I can hold a conversation, but I just need to work on my fluidity, and not getting as nervous when I"m involved in said conversation! I guess it's probably natural. Also, this place is very Christian, and I'm looking forward to seeing the religious side of the country. When I went on a Tres Dias retreat last spring, I was at a table with a native Spanish-speaking woman and when she prayed in Spanish, it took my breath away. There was something about hearing her pleas in another language that made it really real for me, and that's when I could barely piece together what she was actually saying. Now that I've got a firm grasp, I'm excited to absorb more.
Overall, this week has been a lot hanging out! I've gone for a few runs, read a lot further in my book, visited some parks after school, done some homework (for ASP summer staff and school, haha)... it's been really nice just living in BA. I feel so comfortable here- I love the feeling of familiarity, the confidence in knowing which way I'm going, when it was only a few months ago that this city was such a stranger. Moreover, I have grown to absolutely adore my neighborhood- I went for a really long walk the other day to explore parts of it I hadn't seen yet, and the homes are incredible. Where I'm located it's more apartment buildings, but if you branch off to the side of Belgrano, there are apartments and small houses that look like they were built over 100 years ago. It's the classic architecture, the balconies, the warm colors.. everything that just makes it all flow so beautifully together. I've been finding myself lately taking off my headphones and just listening to the sounds of the city, trying to carve the hollers and honks into my brain forever. There's a part of me that wants to buy a tape recorder so I can just walk around with it and record what really strikes me, and depending on how expensive it is, I plan on doing just that.
Last night I went out with my friend Coleman, he met some Australians in a skate park a few days ago and so we went over to his Argentine girlfriend's apartment in Recoletta to pregame. They all spoke English, but we spoke Spanish off and on for practice. It was funny actually, I was talking about what I'm learning in school right now (Subjunctive and Conditional tenses... kill me) and gave them some examples, and they were pretty impressed because they didn't even know how to describe those tenses! Haha, it's the small victories that keep me going. After drinking some coke with Fernetts (it's actually an Italian liquor, but it's a staple in Argentina.. probably moreso than it is in Italy) we went to another barrio, San Telmo, to see the girlfriend's brother perform in his band! There was no cover charge and it was a really nice nightclub, I was and still am impressed. They went on right after we got there so it was perfect timing.. they have some serious talent. They had 3 different guys on guitars, one on the drums, and the lead singer looked like a rustic, stylish version of Mick Jagger. The music was like classic Spanish rock, with a little Indie thrown in here and there- they were really kickin' it, and so was the crowd. When they finished the brother came and greeted our group, club music was turned on high and all of the sudden we were dancing in a boliche. Around 3:30 Coleman and I headed out, wandered around the streets of San Telmo realizing we were pretty disoriented, which actually led to us sitting on the ledge of a building for a while just enjoying the buena onda and some conversation. I love doing things like that- just spontaneously finding a spot and staying there- it let's you people watch, and check out something real. Eventually we made it to the bus stop and by chance met up with the rest of the group, took the 45 minute bus ride home and crawled into bed around 5:30. I had a greeaaat time, I hope I see those guys again sometime!
Alright, well I'm going to go exploring or do something with my day, chau chau!
Overall, this week has been a lot hanging out! I've gone for a few runs, read a lot further in my book, visited some parks after school, done some homework (for ASP summer staff and school, haha)... it's been really nice just living in BA. I feel so comfortable here- I love the feeling of familiarity, the confidence in knowing which way I'm going, when it was only a few months ago that this city was such a stranger. Moreover, I have grown to absolutely adore my neighborhood- I went for a really long walk the other day to explore parts of it I hadn't seen yet, and the homes are incredible. Where I'm located it's more apartment buildings, but if you branch off to the side of Belgrano, there are apartments and small houses that look like they were built over 100 years ago. It's the classic architecture, the balconies, the warm colors.. everything that just makes it all flow so beautifully together. I've been finding myself lately taking off my headphones and just listening to the sounds of the city, trying to carve the hollers and honks into my brain forever. There's a part of me that wants to buy a tape recorder so I can just walk around with it and record what really strikes me, and depending on how expensive it is, I plan on doing just that.
Last night I went out with my friend Coleman, he met some Australians in a skate park a few days ago and so we went over to his Argentine girlfriend's apartment in Recoletta to pregame. They all spoke English, but we spoke Spanish off and on for practice. It was funny actually, I was talking about what I'm learning in school right now (Subjunctive and Conditional tenses... kill me) and gave them some examples, and they were pretty impressed because they didn't even know how to describe those tenses! Haha, it's the small victories that keep me going. After drinking some coke with Fernetts (it's actually an Italian liquor, but it's a staple in Argentina.. probably moreso than it is in Italy) we went to another barrio, San Telmo, to see the girlfriend's brother perform in his band! There was no cover charge and it was a really nice nightclub, I was and still am impressed. They went on right after we got there so it was perfect timing.. they have some serious talent. They had 3 different guys on guitars, one on the drums, and the lead singer looked like a rustic, stylish version of Mick Jagger. The music was like classic Spanish rock, with a little Indie thrown in here and there- they were really kickin' it, and so was the crowd. When they finished the brother came and greeted our group, club music was turned on high and all of the sudden we were dancing in a boliche. Around 3:30 Coleman and I headed out, wandered around the streets of San Telmo realizing we were pretty disoriented, which actually led to us sitting on the ledge of a building for a while just enjoying the buena onda and some conversation. I love doing things like that- just spontaneously finding a spot and staying there- it let's you people watch, and check out something real. Eventually we made it to the bus stop and by chance met up with the rest of the group, took the 45 minute bus ride home and crawled into bed around 5:30. I had a greeaaat time, I hope I see those guys again sometime!
Alright, well I'm going to go exploring or do something with my day, chau chau!
Friday, March 23, 2012
Randoms
So now that school only lasts for 3 hours a day, that's given us a lot more time to do.. well, anything! I've gotten in the habit of waking up around 9, meeting up with Becca at a nearby park and going for a run, chased by some yoga. I hate the feeling of waking up late and moseying to class without having gotten anything productive done, so I think we've found a pretty good balance. For the most part, we've been exploring new parks after school, going to museums and just crossing random things off of our bucket list, although there's still so much more to do!
Speaking of parks, this week we went to the Palermo Park, where there's a beautiful rose garden and some man-made lakes. All around the park there are paved paths for bike riders and more importantly, roller bladers. Roller blading is taken really, really seriously here! They're everywhere! There's a bit part of me that's pretty jealous.. because I can't remember the last time I went for a stroll on my blades. You can rent them, and so that's definitely on the bucket list for the next park trip (I didn't have socks, and wasn't willing to risk growing moss between my toes). We did see one man in particular who was doing some serious self-expression while on his blades... he was doing some sort of interpretive dancing, and holding little clicking things in his hands (reminds me of a gypsy or something). He was totally skating to his own beat, stopping every once and a while to just... enjoy the moment? Haha, just watching him brought a smile to my face.
Yesterday was a GREAT day! After some yoga and running in the morning, I went to class and then walked to a nearby indoor rock climbing gym. I suppose after Patagonia I feel pretty inspired :) We paid 20 pesos to use the boulder wall- let me tell you, it's so much harder than I thought it was going to be. There were beds and mattresses on the floors that caught us when we fell, and believe me, we used them. My fingers and arms are definitely sore today! It was really cool to do that though, hopefully I'll be back soon- I really want to go back when I can belay and actually climb up the rock wall, instead of just doing the bouldering. After the gym I came home and had some dinner with the fam, and then went out with 4 other girls for a night on the town! We went to an Argentine's apartment (he was friends with one of the girls) and pregamed there for a bit, though it took us a long time to find his appt in the first place considering he lived waaay across town. It was fine though, we got to know each other (only one guy knew English so it was really fun speaking Spanish all night!) and then headed out to a salsa club! Let me tell you, the people in this club might as well have been professionals. It makes me so jealous that this dancing is an integral part of their culture, I wish we embraced more sensual and interactive dances! After getting myself a drink I was watching on the outskirts of the dance floor for a little bit with the girls, and in the corner of the floor I saw a pack of guys who blatantly didn't fit in. They weren't salsaing at all, which was a dead giveaway, and they just looked foreign... so I went up to them and asked them where they were from. I must have a good eye, because all 4 guys were from Spain and 2 were from Sweden! We all laughed and ended up spending the night making fools of ourselves and practicing our Spanish. I'm happy- I feel comfortable having conversation, and that's exactly where I wanted to be. I mean, I still clearly have a US accent and that's something I'll only be able to get rid of with time, but I'm glad that I can carry on a convo for an entire night! Looks like this intensive program is working out after all! Anyhoo, they met all my girlfriends and by the end of the night we had gotten ourselves invited to their apartment for an asado (it's a big dinner party, with tons and tons of meat) next week... Count me in!
Today Becca's parents got here so after school we met up with them and went to an Arabic place to get some lunch! It was cool meeting them and seeing why she is the way she is- they're just as nuts as her, so it all makes sense. They actually remind me of my parents a bit.. it must be so cool sharing this with family! Jealous! (cough cough mom and dad you should probably look into buying flights here... only a month and a half left!!) Her parents are staying in B.A. for the next few nights, so about 10 of us are going to their hotel tonight to pregame and then go out on the town together! Can't wait!
Chau amigos :)
Speaking of parks, this week we went to the Palermo Park, where there's a beautiful rose garden and some man-made lakes. All around the park there are paved paths for bike riders and more importantly, roller bladers. Roller blading is taken really, really seriously here! They're everywhere! There's a bit part of me that's pretty jealous.. because I can't remember the last time I went for a stroll on my blades. You can rent them, and so that's definitely on the bucket list for the next park trip (I didn't have socks, and wasn't willing to risk growing moss between my toes). We did see one man in particular who was doing some serious self-expression while on his blades... he was doing some sort of interpretive dancing, and holding little clicking things in his hands (reminds me of a gypsy or something). He was totally skating to his own beat, stopping every once and a while to just... enjoy the moment? Haha, just watching him brought a smile to my face.
Yesterday was a GREAT day! After some yoga and running in the morning, I went to class and then walked to a nearby indoor rock climbing gym. I suppose after Patagonia I feel pretty inspired :) We paid 20 pesos to use the boulder wall- let me tell you, it's so much harder than I thought it was going to be. There were beds and mattresses on the floors that caught us when we fell, and believe me, we used them. My fingers and arms are definitely sore today! It was really cool to do that though, hopefully I'll be back soon- I really want to go back when I can belay and actually climb up the rock wall, instead of just doing the bouldering. After the gym I came home and had some dinner with the fam, and then went out with 4 other girls for a night on the town! We went to an Argentine's apartment (he was friends with one of the girls) and pregamed there for a bit, though it took us a long time to find his appt in the first place considering he lived waaay across town. It was fine though, we got to know each other (only one guy knew English so it was really fun speaking Spanish all night!) and then headed out to a salsa club! Let me tell you, the people in this club might as well have been professionals. It makes me so jealous that this dancing is an integral part of their culture, I wish we embraced more sensual and interactive dances! After getting myself a drink I was watching on the outskirts of the dance floor for a little bit with the girls, and in the corner of the floor I saw a pack of guys who blatantly didn't fit in. They weren't salsaing at all, which was a dead giveaway, and they just looked foreign... so I went up to them and asked them where they were from. I must have a good eye, because all 4 guys were from Spain and 2 were from Sweden! We all laughed and ended up spending the night making fools of ourselves and practicing our Spanish. I'm happy- I feel comfortable having conversation, and that's exactly where I wanted to be. I mean, I still clearly have a US accent and that's something I'll only be able to get rid of with time, but I'm glad that I can carry on a convo for an entire night! Looks like this intensive program is working out after all! Anyhoo, they met all my girlfriends and by the end of the night we had gotten ourselves invited to their apartment for an asado (it's a big dinner party, with tons and tons of meat) next week... Count me in!
Today Becca's parents got here so after school we met up with them and went to an Arabic place to get some lunch! It was cool meeting them and seeing why she is the way she is- they're just as nuts as her, so it all makes sense. They actually remind me of my parents a bit.. it must be so cool sharing this with family! Jealous! (cough cough mom and dad you should probably look into buying flights here... only a month and a half left!!) Her parents are staying in B.A. for the next few nights, so about 10 of us are going to their hotel tonight to pregame and then go out on the town together! Can't wait!
Chau amigos :)
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Patagonia PICS!
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| Hiking with the girls to Mt. Torre |
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| Being pushed by the wind in front of Lago Torro, Glacier Grande and Mt. Torre with Elisa! |
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| The group reunited at Poincenot campsite at Fitz Roy! |
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| "Team Glaciers and Shit" |
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| Admiring the sunrise over Mt. Torre |
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| No amount of yelling could have started an avalanche, I later learned.. |
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| My birthday celebration at the peak of Cerro Madson!! |
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| Looking down at what we had overcome.. the views were incredible! |
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| I'm serious, we saw a moon-rainbow! |
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| Pink Fitz Roy during sunrise on my birthday! |
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| Glacier Blanco! This is the one that the girls and I licked! |
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| Looking at the sun as it's rising from Fitz Roy's perspective |
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| Getting my mind blown at Perito Moreno! |
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| To the right of Perito Moreno looking at Laguna Argentina- it's essentially a glorified Appalachia. |
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| HECK YEAH WE'RE IN FRONT OF A GLACIER!!! |
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| Welcome to El Chalten! There's my roomie Julia! |
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| All of us enjoying a home-brewed birthday beer before the trek began. |
Patagonia
I've been avoiding this post for waaay too long now, because I'm not quite sure how to describe the best trip of my life. I guess I've gotta start somewhere.
Sunday: So, I got to El Calafate in Patagonia AOK, and had an afternoon to kill by myself while everyone else was at the glacier. I walked around the town for a while, which reminded me a lot of downtown Bethel actually, just livelier. There are a ton of shops to a.) rent/buy hiking equipment, b.) get chocolate (I swear, I've had some of the best chocolate here in my entire life. They really know what they're doing.) and c.) buy lots of eclectic knick knacks. It was nice to wander around for a bit, and after I got bored and walked over to Laguna Nimez and enjoyed the view for a few hours. There were flamingos! It was really funny seeing their butts bobbing in and out of the water in the background of touristy pictures. After taking a nap lakeside, I met up with the others at an AWESOME hostel downtown, Che Legarto, and then Becca and I went to our couch surfer's house! It was two men, Christian and Pablo, who were 30 years old and best friends. While they hosted us, they also had 4 girls from Europe- needless to say the guys were very excited to have us all. Becca and I got some dinner and when we came back with the hopes of sleeping, we were faced with a gaggle of tipsy and giggling visitors. It was fine though, especially because Becca and I got our own beds!
Monday: Becca and I take the 8am bus to El Chalten, which is where the main attraction is.... FITZ ROOOYYYYY! The thing about Chalten is that it's a TINY tiny tiny town because it's located right in the middle of the national park, which is extremely rare. It's really in a perfect location because it's within a really reasonable hiking distance from all of the major mountains and epic treks, and it's got all of your traveling needs there. Becca and I walked around a bit, dropped our stuff at the hostel and then took a hike up a nearby mountain for a few hours which provided us with our first 360 degree view of the area, which absolutely took our breath away. On one side of the overlook there was Laguna Viedma, surrounded by vast chocolate and caramel marble-colored mountains. As the scenery changed to the other side, however, mountains were coated in forestation and snow, and became more rugged- especially catching view of Fitz Roy. We hiked back down after doing some yoga, and met up with Elisa and Kelly who were also staying at our hostel. We met some great people at the hostel that night that we ended up running into for the majority of the next week, which was a lot of fun! This list included some ridiculously goodlooking Swedish men... hubba hubba ;) Haha, lucky us.
Tuesday: Woke up early for our first day hike with the girls- we hiked out to Laguna Torro & Mt. Torre. The hike there was pretty hard in the beginning because it was alllll uphill, but it was really good foreshadowing for what was to come in the coming days. We made really good time- we cut the estimated time of the hike down a full hour! Weaving through the mountains took us to an incredible view of a rainbow over a waterfall... couldn't have been more perfect. We walked through fields, forests of dead birch trees (There must have been a small fire or something in the past years, although it did make the trees look strangely beautiful), and alongside the riverbed on our way to the grand finale.... Glacier Grande, sitting in front of Laguna Torro, resting in front of Mt. Torre! Glacier water is similar to that of the Caribbean- a seafoam, creamy turquoise color, but the shade differs from lake to lake- this one was a greyish green with big chunks of the glacier floating in it. It was hilarious actually, as we were summiting the trail to reach the lake, the wind was so strong that it was pushing us backwards and when we leaned forwards with all of our strength it still kept us standing up straight! We ate some lunch behind a wall of rocks, did some yoga, and after more admiration of our surroundings we made the trek back to El Chalten. It was a great day with the girls! After showering and getting some errands done for the big trek to start the next day, we met up with the full group that night at the local Cervezaria and got some of their freshly brewed beers. Albert surprised me with a birthday brownie and everyone serenaded me- just the first sign of the sincere thoughtfulness of the group.
Wednesday: Becca and I did some last minute renting (a legit backpacking pack, a tent, sleeping bags and mats) and headed up the Fitz Roy trail around 10:30am. Hiking with her is absolutely hilarious. We communicated mostly through song, movie quotes and other random manifestations. Within 45 minutes of the hike we stripped down to just sports bras and our leggings-- we were waaay too prepared for cold weather, and it was almost 60 degrees! There were some oldies on the trail who definitely thought we were out of our minds... and they were right. After only 2 hours we made it to the campsite Poincenot,where we set up our tent and had lunch by the Fitz river. It was funny actually, after hanging out for about 20 minutes, everyone we knew came out of the woods within minutes of eachother (including the strapping Swedish men) and we had a hilarious reunion. After some jokes by the campsite we went for another hike- out to Lago Sucia! This trek was much more complicated, as we were scaling boulders and things, but it was so much fun! In about an hour we made it to the lake, and it was amaaaazing. I can't remember the glacier that was above it, but regardless it was breathtaking. The lake itself was like a little peninsula, because on all sides it was surrounded by mountains and boulders. Then, somebody genius came up with the idea to skinny dip.... so skinny dip we did. I don't think I'll ever forget the feeling of my heart stopping the instant my body hit the water, but I don't regret the decision for a second. Who else do I know has gone skinny dipping in glacier water anyways?! After watching the sun set behind the mountains we climbed back to camp, ate some dinner, did some yoga and looked at the moon--- the moon was AMAZING that night because there was a rainbow around it! Believe me or not, it was there, and I'm taking it as a great omen for my birthday the next morning.
Thursday: Woke up at 5:15 am, ate some suuper quick breakfast, and the group of us hiked an hour up the nearest mountain to watch the sun rise. I especially loved this hike because a.) it got our blood pumping considering the entire thing was switchbacks and completely uphill, and b.) I got to wear my new head lamp and look allll sorts of legit. We made it to the top with some time to spare before the sun peaked, and as it did, I couldn't believe it. To my left was the orange sun beaming just above the horizon of mountains in the distance, which in turn dipped the top of Fitz Roy an incredible color pink. It was amazing watching Fitz turn a light pink, to a deep pink, to an orange and yellow.. god, even typing this gives me the chills! It was a morning I'll never forget. We laid around enjoying the view and each other for a few hours, and then continued the afternoon by climbing up Cerro Madson. It's to the side a little bit of Fitz Roy but at the same time perpendicular? If that makes sense? Anyways, we made it about 3/4 of the way up because we were literally scaling boulders, climbing vertically pretty intensely, which is something I've never done before. I loved doing it with the group of 7 other people I was with, especially the guys because they've had experience and were taking the dangers of the climb seriously. Anyways, we ate lunch up there (also met some Belgiums while they were climbing that we hung out with a lot during the rest of the trip), hung out, and made it back to camp late again that night only to enjoy another EPIC moon! That's something that I'll forever cherish- the weather we had this week. We were literally hiking in sports bras and looking at crystal clear skies for days and days, which is extremely rare in Patagonia in general! There are a lot of travelers that go to Fitz Roy and NEVER see the peak... and I saw it for days on end!!
Friday: It was nice to sleep in this day, I think we got up around 8;30 to make some breakfast and get ready for the day. Becca, Anna and I ended up taking a girls day- we hiked for about an hour to another nearby glacier- Glacier Blanco. IT WAS SO FUN on this trail- we were jumping over huuuge rocks and boulders, on all fours, just running as fast as we could to get to the lake! The trail opened up like a mouth to the glacier's lake right underneath it- this glacier was sortof draped across the back of Cerro Madson. Around the lake were more rocks, and at the same time the three of us looked at each other and internally made the decision to get as close to the glacier as we could. And that we did- we made our way around the edge of the lake, making our own trail, and LICKED the glacier! We felt so accomplished having done that, considering the guys had been there a few days before and they said they couldn't figure out how to get close enough. Booyah. After dipping our heads in the glacier water we hiked back to the site and met up with some of the girls, packed up our camping gear and started hiking again (it's around 6pm)... only to realize that we had a 3 hour hike in front of us to get to the next campsite where the rest of our gang was waiting for us! We walked by Lago Madre and Hija, and explored some incredible terrain that ranged from what I'd imagine to be a combination of Kenya and Madagascar. I know, that makes absolutely no sense, but you'll just have to trust me. Regardless we made it to the site around 9pm and everyone was excited to see we weren't dead! We shoveled down our last camping meal (which ended up being something along the lines of lasagna, it was incredible), and walked 15 minutes to our last stop- Laguna Torro again! Becca and I had already been there during the week but we were thrilled to be there again to camp. 8 of us just sat there, under the full moon and stars, enjoying the surroundings and complete silence for at least 10 minutes. It felt incredible to be surrounded by a combination of some of the best people you've ever met, and the best scenery you've ever laid eyes on. After some more admiration we went back to camp, squeezed 5 people into the 2-person tent for an extreme snuggle session, only woke up early the next morning to watch the sun rise again.
Saturday: The sunrise, once again, was one for the books. Not a cloud in the sky. The shade of pink this time dipped Mt. Torre and his surrounding mountain friends in light pink and orange. While the sun rose, we climbed to a taller overlook and admired the Glacier Grande that's spread across the face of Torre. Twas another incredible morning filled with sun, a waterfall on the way back to camp, and trail mix. Ah, so much trail mix. We headed back to El Chalten with one thing and one thing only on our minds... WAFFLES AND BEER. There's a waffleria in Chalten that's EPIC, and we were alllll simultaneously craving a nice pint with some waffles drenched in ice cream and everything bad for you. So, we returned to Chalten, got exactly that, and then took the bus back to El Calafate and stayed at a hostel with a ton of other students.We called it a night really early... exhaustion and sore muscles had finally hit us hard.
Sunday: Woke up at a decent time, and walked around town in hopes of deciding what to do with our day. It turned out that the group of 6 of us who had been together since the beginning (Me, Becca, Bryan, Miguel, Albert and Adam) just got some liters, played pool in the hostel, napped, and enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation. We deserved it, no less! A bunch of other students came and met up with us, and we went out for a great dinner, leaving us absolutely stuffed. That didn't stop a bunch of college kids from getting nice and giggly drunk later on in the night- quite the 21st birthday celebration If I do say so!
Monday: While a lot of the group left to return to Buenos Aires, I stayed behind with some other girls and we decided to spend the day going to Perito Moreno. We caught the 1:00 bus and were at the park by mid afternoon, and we got to spend 5 whole hours staring at the glacier. It's freaking CRAZY! The thing about Moreno is that it's breaking a lot in the front that's visible to the public, but in the back it's actually growing at around 2 meters a day. It's GROWING AND BREAKING AT THE SAME TIME! It was wild to see enormous chunks break off and hit the water, not only because of how big they were but also because of the sound it made. The whole time we could hear the glacier creaking and moaning, but when there were chunks that broke, it really shocked us how loud it was.. it was pretty deceiving actually. Regardless we hung out for a few hours (with a carton of red wine no less) and made it back to the hostel for a delicious dinner made by my chef of a roommate, Julia. She is absolutely incredible in the kitchen, I tell ya. She's currently making us homemade hummus for God's sakes! Anyways, we turned in early that night and headed to the airport on Tuesday morning.
If you're still reading, I commend you. I would have stopped ages ago. I'm so glad this post is overwith, wholey smokes!
Sunday: So, I got to El Calafate in Patagonia AOK, and had an afternoon to kill by myself while everyone else was at the glacier. I walked around the town for a while, which reminded me a lot of downtown Bethel actually, just livelier. There are a ton of shops to a.) rent/buy hiking equipment, b.) get chocolate (I swear, I've had some of the best chocolate here in my entire life. They really know what they're doing.) and c.) buy lots of eclectic knick knacks. It was nice to wander around for a bit, and after I got bored and walked over to Laguna Nimez and enjoyed the view for a few hours. There were flamingos! It was really funny seeing their butts bobbing in and out of the water in the background of touristy pictures. After taking a nap lakeside, I met up with the others at an AWESOME hostel downtown, Che Legarto, and then Becca and I went to our couch surfer's house! It was two men, Christian and Pablo, who were 30 years old and best friends. While they hosted us, they also had 4 girls from Europe- needless to say the guys were very excited to have us all. Becca and I got some dinner and when we came back with the hopes of sleeping, we were faced with a gaggle of tipsy and giggling visitors. It was fine though, especially because Becca and I got our own beds!
Monday: Becca and I take the 8am bus to El Chalten, which is where the main attraction is.... FITZ ROOOYYYYY! The thing about Chalten is that it's a TINY tiny tiny town because it's located right in the middle of the national park, which is extremely rare. It's really in a perfect location because it's within a really reasonable hiking distance from all of the major mountains and epic treks, and it's got all of your traveling needs there. Becca and I walked around a bit, dropped our stuff at the hostel and then took a hike up a nearby mountain for a few hours which provided us with our first 360 degree view of the area, which absolutely took our breath away. On one side of the overlook there was Laguna Viedma, surrounded by vast chocolate and caramel marble-colored mountains. As the scenery changed to the other side, however, mountains were coated in forestation and snow, and became more rugged- especially catching view of Fitz Roy. We hiked back down after doing some yoga, and met up with Elisa and Kelly who were also staying at our hostel. We met some great people at the hostel that night that we ended up running into for the majority of the next week, which was a lot of fun! This list included some ridiculously goodlooking Swedish men... hubba hubba ;) Haha, lucky us.
Tuesday: Woke up early for our first day hike with the girls- we hiked out to Laguna Torro & Mt. Torre. The hike there was pretty hard in the beginning because it was alllll uphill, but it was really good foreshadowing for what was to come in the coming days. We made really good time- we cut the estimated time of the hike down a full hour! Weaving through the mountains took us to an incredible view of a rainbow over a waterfall... couldn't have been more perfect. We walked through fields, forests of dead birch trees (There must have been a small fire or something in the past years, although it did make the trees look strangely beautiful), and alongside the riverbed on our way to the grand finale.... Glacier Grande, sitting in front of Laguna Torro, resting in front of Mt. Torre! Glacier water is similar to that of the Caribbean- a seafoam, creamy turquoise color, but the shade differs from lake to lake- this one was a greyish green with big chunks of the glacier floating in it. It was hilarious actually, as we were summiting the trail to reach the lake, the wind was so strong that it was pushing us backwards and when we leaned forwards with all of our strength it still kept us standing up straight! We ate some lunch behind a wall of rocks, did some yoga, and after more admiration of our surroundings we made the trek back to El Chalten. It was a great day with the girls! After showering and getting some errands done for the big trek to start the next day, we met up with the full group that night at the local Cervezaria and got some of their freshly brewed beers. Albert surprised me with a birthday brownie and everyone serenaded me- just the first sign of the sincere thoughtfulness of the group.
Wednesday: Becca and I did some last minute renting (a legit backpacking pack, a tent, sleeping bags and mats) and headed up the Fitz Roy trail around 10:30am. Hiking with her is absolutely hilarious. We communicated mostly through song, movie quotes and other random manifestations. Within 45 minutes of the hike we stripped down to just sports bras and our leggings-- we were waaay too prepared for cold weather, and it was almost 60 degrees! There were some oldies on the trail who definitely thought we were out of our minds... and they were right. After only 2 hours we made it to the campsite Poincenot,where we set up our tent and had lunch by the Fitz river. It was funny actually, after hanging out for about 20 minutes, everyone we knew came out of the woods within minutes of eachother (including the strapping Swedish men) and we had a hilarious reunion. After some jokes by the campsite we went for another hike- out to Lago Sucia! This trek was much more complicated, as we were scaling boulders and things, but it was so much fun! In about an hour we made it to the lake, and it was amaaaazing. I can't remember the glacier that was above it, but regardless it was breathtaking. The lake itself was like a little peninsula, because on all sides it was surrounded by mountains and boulders. Then, somebody genius came up with the idea to skinny dip.... so skinny dip we did. I don't think I'll ever forget the feeling of my heart stopping the instant my body hit the water, but I don't regret the decision for a second. Who else do I know has gone skinny dipping in glacier water anyways?! After watching the sun set behind the mountains we climbed back to camp, ate some dinner, did some yoga and looked at the moon--- the moon was AMAZING that night because there was a rainbow around it! Believe me or not, it was there, and I'm taking it as a great omen for my birthday the next morning.
Thursday: Woke up at 5:15 am, ate some suuper quick breakfast, and the group of us hiked an hour up the nearest mountain to watch the sun rise. I especially loved this hike because a.) it got our blood pumping considering the entire thing was switchbacks and completely uphill, and b.) I got to wear my new head lamp and look allll sorts of legit. We made it to the top with some time to spare before the sun peaked, and as it did, I couldn't believe it. To my left was the orange sun beaming just above the horizon of mountains in the distance, which in turn dipped the top of Fitz Roy an incredible color pink. It was amazing watching Fitz turn a light pink, to a deep pink, to an orange and yellow.. god, even typing this gives me the chills! It was a morning I'll never forget. We laid around enjoying the view and each other for a few hours, and then continued the afternoon by climbing up Cerro Madson. It's to the side a little bit of Fitz Roy but at the same time perpendicular? If that makes sense? Anyways, we made it about 3/4 of the way up because we were literally scaling boulders, climbing vertically pretty intensely, which is something I've never done before. I loved doing it with the group of 7 other people I was with, especially the guys because they've had experience and were taking the dangers of the climb seriously. Anyways, we ate lunch up there (also met some Belgiums while they were climbing that we hung out with a lot during the rest of the trip), hung out, and made it back to camp late again that night only to enjoy another EPIC moon! That's something that I'll forever cherish- the weather we had this week. We were literally hiking in sports bras and looking at crystal clear skies for days and days, which is extremely rare in Patagonia in general! There are a lot of travelers that go to Fitz Roy and NEVER see the peak... and I saw it for days on end!!
Friday: It was nice to sleep in this day, I think we got up around 8;30 to make some breakfast and get ready for the day. Becca, Anna and I ended up taking a girls day- we hiked for about an hour to another nearby glacier- Glacier Blanco. IT WAS SO FUN on this trail- we were jumping over huuuge rocks and boulders, on all fours, just running as fast as we could to get to the lake! The trail opened up like a mouth to the glacier's lake right underneath it- this glacier was sortof draped across the back of Cerro Madson. Around the lake were more rocks, and at the same time the three of us looked at each other and internally made the decision to get as close to the glacier as we could. And that we did- we made our way around the edge of the lake, making our own trail, and LICKED the glacier! We felt so accomplished having done that, considering the guys had been there a few days before and they said they couldn't figure out how to get close enough. Booyah. After dipping our heads in the glacier water we hiked back to the site and met up with some of the girls, packed up our camping gear and started hiking again (it's around 6pm)... only to realize that we had a 3 hour hike in front of us to get to the next campsite where the rest of our gang was waiting for us! We walked by Lago Madre and Hija, and explored some incredible terrain that ranged from what I'd imagine to be a combination of Kenya and Madagascar. I know, that makes absolutely no sense, but you'll just have to trust me. Regardless we made it to the site around 9pm and everyone was excited to see we weren't dead! We shoveled down our last camping meal (which ended up being something along the lines of lasagna, it was incredible), and walked 15 minutes to our last stop- Laguna Torro again! Becca and I had already been there during the week but we were thrilled to be there again to camp. 8 of us just sat there, under the full moon and stars, enjoying the surroundings and complete silence for at least 10 minutes. It felt incredible to be surrounded by a combination of some of the best people you've ever met, and the best scenery you've ever laid eyes on. After some more admiration we went back to camp, squeezed 5 people into the 2-person tent for an extreme snuggle session, only woke up early the next morning to watch the sun rise again.
Saturday: The sunrise, once again, was one for the books. Not a cloud in the sky. The shade of pink this time dipped Mt. Torre and his surrounding mountain friends in light pink and orange. While the sun rose, we climbed to a taller overlook and admired the Glacier Grande that's spread across the face of Torre. Twas another incredible morning filled with sun, a waterfall on the way back to camp, and trail mix. Ah, so much trail mix. We headed back to El Chalten with one thing and one thing only on our minds... WAFFLES AND BEER. There's a waffleria in Chalten that's EPIC, and we were alllll simultaneously craving a nice pint with some waffles drenched in ice cream and everything bad for you. So, we returned to Chalten, got exactly that, and then took the bus back to El Calafate and stayed at a hostel with a ton of other students.We called it a night really early... exhaustion and sore muscles had finally hit us hard.
Sunday: Woke up at a decent time, and walked around town in hopes of deciding what to do with our day. It turned out that the group of 6 of us who had been together since the beginning (Me, Becca, Bryan, Miguel, Albert and Adam) just got some liters, played pool in the hostel, napped, and enjoyed a day of rest and relaxation. We deserved it, no less! A bunch of other students came and met up with us, and we went out for a great dinner, leaving us absolutely stuffed. That didn't stop a bunch of college kids from getting nice and giggly drunk later on in the night- quite the 21st birthday celebration If I do say so!
Monday: While a lot of the group left to return to Buenos Aires, I stayed behind with some other girls and we decided to spend the day going to Perito Moreno. We caught the 1:00 bus and were at the park by mid afternoon, and we got to spend 5 whole hours staring at the glacier. It's freaking CRAZY! The thing about Moreno is that it's breaking a lot in the front that's visible to the public, but in the back it's actually growing at around 2 meters a day. It's GROWING AND BREAKING AT THE SAME TIME! It was wild to see enormous chunks break off and hit the water, not only because of how big they were but also because of the sound it made. The whole time we could hear the glacier creaking and moaning, but when there were chunks that broke, it really shocked us how loud it was.. it was pretty deceiving actually. Regardless we hung out for a few hours (with a carton of red wine no less) and made it back to the hostel for a delicious dinner made by my chef of a roommate, Julia. She is absolutely incredible in the kitchen, I tell ya. She's currently making us homemade hummus for God's sakes! Anyways, we turned in early that night and headed to the airport on Tuesday morning.
If you're still reading, I commend you. I would have stopped ages ago. I'm so glad this post is overwith, wholey smokes!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Patagonia.. here I come!
So I don't have too much to say here, because my mind is elsewhere. I'm currently knee-deep in preparations for Patagonia; today I bought enough trail mix to last me the week, some long-john style underwear hiking pants, and have acquired more socks and random articles of clothing from friends and my roomie. I'm pretty sure I have all my t's crossed and my i's dotted, but I hate that feeling that I could be forgetting something. I've been checking websites that explain "Camping Must-Have's", and I think I'm doing pretty well as far as that goes.... but I'm really just shocked at how light my backpack feels! In theory it should be a lot heavier... but I suppose when I rent my tent and sleeping back that will weigh it down a substantial amount. Yikes.
The glaciers have been BREAKING in El Calafate!!! No, I don't use the exclamation points to emphasize that this is a good thing, because obviously it's a sign of global warming. However, because this is a really historical event that has never happened before, it's crazy to think that I'm going to be getting to see this... TOMORROW! Here I am, sitting at my desk in my room in Buenos Aires, and by tomorrow mid-afternoon I'll be in the presence of some of the most incredible glaciers in the world. I'll be honest, before coming to Argentina I had NO idea that glaciers were going to be in my future. Had I know, I probably would have packed a lot differently.....
So, here goes nothing. I finished my second round of intensive Spanish yesterday- overall in the class I got an 8 out of 10, which I'm happy with! I did the same in my last class, so I'm just glad to be keeping it consistent. I'm now in advanced Spanish, but the catch is that we're only going to have class for 3 hours a day. That. Is. Incredible. So far it's been 5, and while it's doable... I do get squeemish and fidgety. The downside is that the class is smack dab in the middle of the day; 1-4pm! I'm not sure if there's ever going to be incentive to go to bed at a decent time... although I really do want to get in the habit of waking up, going for a run and getting my homework done before school; waking up at noon every day would turn me into a lazy slug, and I have to seize this beautiful city before I lose my chance.
Anyhoo, off I go! I'm going to continue packing, eat dinner with the family and maybe watch a movie before I go to bed and get up by 4am. I love getting up that early to travel. Even though I never get a good night's sleep the night before due to nerves and excitement, it never really matters because of the adrenaline and the overall excitement. Watch out Patagonia, I'm comin' for ya!
The glaciers have been BREAKING in El Calafate!!! No, I don't use the exclamation points to emphasize that this is a good thing, because obviously it's a sign of global warming. However, because this is a really historical event that has never happened before, it's crazy to think that I'm going to be getting to see this... TOMORROW! Here I am, sitting at my desk in my room in Buenos Aires, and by tomorrow mid-afternoon I'll be in the presence of some of the most incredible glaciers in the world. I'll be honest, before coming to Argentina I had NO idea that glaciers were going to be in my future. Had I know, I probably would have packed a lot differently.....
So, here goes nothing. I finished my second round of intensive Spanish yesterday- overall in the class I got an 8 out of 10, which I'm happy with! I did the same in my last class, so I'm just glad to be keeping it consistent. I'm now in advanced Spanish, but the catch is that we're only going to have class for 3 hours a day. That. Is. Incredible. So far it's been 5, and while it's doable... I do get squeemish and fidgety. The downside is that the class is smack dab in the middle of the day; 1-4pm! I'm not sure if there's ever going to be incentive to go to bed at a decent time... although I really do want to get in the habit of waking up, going for a run and getting my homework done before school; waking up at noon every day would turn me into a lazy slug, and I have to seize this beautiful city before I lose my chance.
Anyhoo, off I go! I'm going to continue packing, eat dinner with the family and maybe watch a movie before I go to bed and get up by 4am. I love getting up that early to travel. Even though I never get a good night's sleep the night before due to nerves and excitement, it never really matters because of the adrenaline and the overall excitement. Watch out Patagonia, I'm comin' for ya!
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
More Iguazu pics!
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| Hanging in the pool at the mate plantation... what a day |
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| The view along a trail on our way to a waterfall |
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| A REAL LIVE TERRANCHULA |
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| Argentine raccoons, they aren't afraid of people AT ALL! |
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| A random road |
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| Overlooking Paraguay |
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| Losing my marbles with Elizabeth in front of one of the falls |
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| A random beautiful school |
This one's gonna take a while.
So I hope you're sitting in a comfortable, cushiony chair with a cup of joe next to your screen, because what I'm about to cannonball into is going to take me quite a while to explain. Once again, I just had a mind-blowing weekend, and I'm not even quite sure where to begin. It's funny, updating this blog is kind of like watering plants- I intend to nourish it and give it attention, but somehow it ends up neglected...
So here we go. Last week was a pretty relaxing week, I had classes every day.. went to a Japanese botanical garden with some girl friends, explored some new restaurants, and went to the eco-reserves at the tail end of the subway line. That was actually a perfect day- I skipped school with a few other kids on Friday (we're allowed to skip school twice per trimester) and explored the reserves. It was a pretty long walk to even get there from the subway station, so when we finally got to the park we saw that there were bike rentals- which was PERFECT! We rode around the reserves for a little over an hour, it was so refreshing to be on a bike and outside the city for the afternoon. On our way back from the park we stopped at a vendor and chowed down on some choripan (sausage) sandwiches... unfortunately later that night I was tasting it a second time around on the toilet :( Lesson learned, no more street vendor sandwiches.
We got up at 3:45am (I didn't sleep though since I got sick only a few hours before that) and met at the ISA office by 4:30, took the bus to the airport, only to realize that the entire airport system was down and they couldn't check anybody in! There were hundreds of people laying on the floor of the lobby waiting for their flights... and a few hours into the wait, the employees finally realized that they could do the process (though obviously time-consuming) manually. DURKA DURRRR! Haha, after that we hopped on our plane and were in Iguazu within 2 hours. It was amazing, the pilot flew over the falls for us as sort of an apology for our delay. From that high up it obviously looked incredible, but there was also a part of me that thought it looked a little small! Little did I know...
We got off the plane and headed right for our hotel, threw our bags in our rooms and took a 15 block walk to an overlook in a nearby neighborhood. It was a cool taste of what we had to come- while we were obviously standing on Argentine soil, to our left we could see Paraguay and to our right was Brazil! A forking river separated the three countries, so we were standing right at the Argentine peninsula. I loved that we got to walk there too, it gave us a chance to get off the main roads and really stroll through some authentic neighborhoods. The soil in that area of Argentina is a really dark maroonish red, and because of its rich color and overall saturation, it will stain anything it touches. We were warned to wear flip flops- otherwise that color stays on sneakers for ages. Anyways, seeing the dirt roads, stucco houses and Moroccan rooftops scattered about the rural town was a pretty great way to start the weekend. After catching a glimpse of the view, we were free for the evening- so to celebrate Albert's 21st birthday, we all went out for some delicious Japanese food at a nearby restaurant. We ended the night with ice cream, the hotel's hot tub and lots of snuggling!
The wake-up call at 6:30am the next morning was a pretty rude awakening after only getting a few hours of sleep (remember, I didn't sleep at ALL the night before), but the silver lining was that the hotel provided an American breakfast. That, my friends, is rare- eggs are only for making tartas around here, not for scrambling in the mornings. After indulging way too much in free food, we hopped on the coach bus and were at the Iguazu National Park by 8am. We had a tour guide for pretty much the whole weekend, which really allowed us to see the best parts of the park. She also gave it in English & Spanish- our guide knew 4 languages! We spent hours and hours walking around the paths of the park, and honestly, I'm not sure how to describe it to you guys. As we walked further into the jungle, the air got fresher, the animals got more tropical, and I could hear the water forcefully flowing in the distance. When I caught that first glimpse of the falls, I really thought I was dreaming. I had to repeatedly pinch myself throughout the day- seeing the mass amounts of water cascading down these cliffs, never-ending, constantly surging forward... it was a really powerful experience. Spiritual, actually. Even though I didn't want to miss a second of it, multiple times I caught myself closing my eyes just to absorb the experience and to really feel it enveloping me. Just as we thought it couldn't get any better, we all forked up $130 pesos and got on a BOAT, and RODE AROUND AND UNDER THE FALLS!!!!! Yes, that does sound just as incredible as it was. I don't think any other boat ride in my life will ever compare to that one. When the ride seemed like it was over, our pack of students chanted "OTRA! OTRA!" aka, "ENCORE! ENCORE!" .. needless to say, the driver drove us back over to the falls and got us soaked all over again! After grabbing some ridiculously overpriced lunch in the park, we went to El Diablo- the largest fall of all (there are over 200 in total)- and the name should really be changed to Dios. Man, the constant climax of the falls is absolutely incredible, words really aren't doing this justice.
We all left the park exhausted, and drove 4 hours to our hotel for the night. We were scattered in a bunch of different cabins, and after the hotel served us dinner some of us hung out together in a deliriously tired state. Becca whipped out her ukulele, and we ended up improvising a song about head rubs... which in turn moved us all to giving each other head rubs, hahaha, that sounds ridiculous typing it out but I hope that is an accurate depiction of how tired and silly we were by the end of the night.
Another wake up call at 7am was a little painful, but once again we had a great breakfast to start out the day. This time, we took an hour bus ride to the Ruins of San Ignacio. The ruins were of a large communal area, a church, and there were stones outlining the property of the tribe altogether. It was pretty beautiful, and I've never seen anything like it before- I loved closing my eyes and trying to imagine the land filled with natives. There was a huge chunk of the land in the middle of the ruins that was devoted to community activities, like markets, medical care and overall gatherings- outside I got a better idea of the San Ignacio people by looking through the markets and seeing their trinkets.
We left the ruins, hopped on the bus and took another short ride to a mate (pronounced mah-tay, it's a highly caffeinated herbal tea here that is an enormous part of the culture) and tea plantation. It was a paradise in the middle of nowhere- this place looked like a bed and breakfast; there was an outdoor eating area, an in-ground pool, hammocks, a tennis court, a volleyball net, and most importantly.. an enormous fire pit where they roasted a plethora of meats all afternoon. Right as we got there we dropped off our stuff and went on a tour of the plantation, and learned about how mate is picked, preserved and then distributed. I'm serious when I say that the fields were drenched in the richest color green I've ever seen. In between rows of plants there were cacti and palm trees scattered about- it made for some of the most beautiful scenery. Not to mention there were perfectly fluffed clouds in the baby blue sky... perfect. We walked around the fields and to the indoor/outdoor factory, where we saw the conveyor belts and ovens where they compacted and packaged all of the herbs. It not only smelled amazing, but it was a really rustic and authentic structure that was screaming to be photographed. Seeing something so essential to the culture and how it is manufactured made me appreciate it even more. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, and let us explore every nook and cranny of the place.
After yet another tour, we returned to the residencia and spent about 4-5 hours just hanging out in the Argentine sun. We played volleyball, swung in hammocks, played pool games, and most importantly... ATE. God, did we eat. Empanadas, choripan (not me), and then they whipped out the good stuff- roasted meat that had been on skewers alllllllll day. It was served plain, it didn't even need any salt, pepper, nothing. We inhaled it alongside different rices, vegetable platters, and chased that meal with fresh fruit. God, it was absolutely amazing, and by far my favorite meal yet.. for obvious reasons.
Okay, wow, I just wrote more than I've ever written ever in a blog post. I won't lie, I'm really glad this is over with. BUT, now that I'm done writing, now you can look at pictures!! WOOOOOooOOoOooO here ya go!
So here we go. Last week was a pretty relaxing week, I had classes every day.. went to a Japanese botanical garden with some girl friends, explored some new restaurants, and went to the eco-reserves at the tail end of the subway line. That was actually a perfect day- I skipped school with a few other kids on Friday (we're allowed to skip school twice per trimester) and explored the reserves. It was a pretty long walk to even get there from the subway station, so when we finally got to the park we saw that there were bike rentals- which was PERFECT! We rode around the reserves for a little over an hour, it was so refreshing to be on a bike and outside the city for the afternoon. On our way back from the park we stopped at a vendor and chowed down on some choripan (sausage) sandwiches... unfortunately later that night I was tasting it a second time around on the toilet :( Lesson learned, no more street vendor sandwiches.
We got up at 3:45am (I didn't sleep though since I got sick only a few hours before that) and met at the ISA office by 4:30, took the bus to the airport, only to realize that the entire airport system was down and they couldn't check anybody in! There were hundreds of people laying on the floor of the lobby waiting for their flights... and a few hours into the wait, the employees finally realized that they could do the process (though obviously time-consuming) manually. DURKA DURRRR! Haha, after that we hopped on our plane and were in Iguazu within 2 hours. It was amazing, the pilot flew over the falls for us as sort of an apology for our delay. From that high up it obviously looked incredible, but there was also a part of me that thought it looked a little small! Little did I know...
We got off the plane and headed right for our hotel, threw our bags in our rooms and took a 15 block walk to an overlook in a nearby neighborhood. It was a cool taste of what we had to come- while we were obviously standing on Argentine soil, to our left we could see Paraguay and to our right was Brazil! A forking river separated the three countries, so we were standing right at the Argentine peninsula. I loved that we got to walk there too, it gave us a chance to get off the main roads and really stroll through some authentic neighborhoods. The soil in that area of Argentina is a really dark maroonish red, and because of its rich color and overall saturation, it will stain anything it touches. We were warned to wear flip flops- otherwise that color stays on sneakers for ages. Anyways, seeing the dirt roads, stucco houses and Moroccan rooftops scattered about the rural town was a pretty great way to start the weekend. After catching a glimpse of the view, we were free for the evening- so to celebrate Albert's 21st birthday, we all went out for some delicious Japanese food at a nearby restaurant. We ended the night with ice cream, the hotel's hot tub and lots of snuggling!
The wake-up call at 6:30am the next morning was a pretty rude awakening after only getting a few hours of sleep (remember, I didn't sleep at ALL the night before), but the silver lining was that the hotel provided an American breakfast. That, my friends, is rare- eggs are only for making tartas around here, not for scrambling in the mornings. After indulging way too much in free food, we hopped on the coach bus and were at the Iguazu National Park by 8am. We had a tour guide for pretty much the whole weekend, which really allowed us to see the best parts of the park. She also gave it in English & Spanish- our guide knew 4 languages! We spent hours and hours walking around the paths of the park, and honestly, I'm not sure how to describe it to you guys. As we walked further into the jungle, the air got fresher, the animals got more tropical, and I could hear the water forcefully flowing in the distance. When I caught that first glimpse of the falls, I really thought I was dreaming. I had to repeatedly pinch myself throughout the day- seeing the mass amounts of water cascading down these cliffs, never-ending, constantly surging forward... it was a really powerful experience. Spiritual, actually. Even though I didn't want to miss a second of it, multiple times I caught myself closing my eyes just to absorb the experience and to really feel it enveloping me. Just as we thought it couldn't get any better, we all forked up $130 pesos and got on a BOAT, and RODE AROUND AND UNDER THE FALLS!!!!! Yes, that does sound just as incredible as it was. I don't think any other boat ride in my life will ever compare to that one. When the ride seemed like it was over, our pack of students chanted "OTRA! OTRA!" aka, "ENCORE! ENCORE!" .. needless to say, the driver drove us back over to the falls and got us soaked all over again! After grabbing some ridiculously overpriced lunch in the park, we went to El Diablo- the largest fall of all (there are over 200 in total)- and the name should really be changed to Dios. Man, the constant climax of the falls is absolutely incredible, words really aren't doing this justice.
We all left the park exhausted, and drove 4 hours to our hotel for the night. We were scattered in a bunch of different cabins, and after the hotel served us dinner some of us hung out together in a deliriously tired state. Becca whipped out her ukulele, and we ended up improvising a song about head rubs... which in turn moved us all to giving each other head rubs, hahaha, that sounds ridiculous typing it out but I hope that is an accurate depiction of how tired and silly we were by the end of the night.
Another wake up call at 7am was a little painful, but once again we had a great breakfast to start out the day. This time, we took an hour bus ride to the Ruins of San Ignacio. The ruins were of a large communal area, a church, and there were stones outlining the property of the tribe altogether. It was pretty beautiful, and I've never seen anything like it before- I loved closing my eyes and trying to imagine the land filled with natives. There was a huge chunk of the land in the middle of the ruins that was devoted to community activities, like markets, medical care and overall gatherings- outside I got a better idea of the San Ignacio people by looking through the markets and seeing their trinkets.
We left the ruins, hopped on the bus and took another short ride to a mate (pronounced mah-tay, it's a highly caffeinated herbal tea here that is an enormous part of the culture) and tea plantation. It was a paradise in the middle of nowhere- this place looked like a bed and breakfast; there was an outdoor eating area, an in-ground pool, hammocks, a tennis court, a volleyball net, and most importantly.. an enormous fire pit where they roasted a plethora of meats all afternoon. Right as we got there we dropped off our stuff and went on a tour of the plantation, and learned about how mate is picked, preserved and then distributed. I'm serious when I say that the fields were drenched in the richest color green I've ever seen. In between rows of plants there were cacti and palm trees scattered about- it made for some of the most beautiful scenery. Not to mention there were perfectly fluffed clouds in the baby blue sky... perfect. We walked around the fields and to the indoor/outdoor factory, where we saw the conveyor belts and ovens where they compacted and packaged all of the herbs. It not only smelled amazing, but it was a really rustic and authentic structure that was screaming to be photographed. Seeing something so essential to the culture and how it is manufactured made me appreciate it even more. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable, and let us explore every nook and cranny of the place.
After yet another tour, we returned to the residencia and spent about 4-5 hours just hanging out in the Argentine sun. We played volleyball, swung in hammocks, played pool games, and most importantly... ATE. God, did we eat. Empanadas, choripan (not me), and then they whipped out the good stuff- roasted meat that had been on skewers alllllllll day. It was served plain, it didn't even need any salt, pepper, nothing. We inhaled it alongside different rices, vegetable platters, and chased that meal with fresh fruit. God, it was absolutely amazing, and by far my favorite meal yet.. for obvious reasons.
Okay, wow, I just wrote more than I've ever written ever in a blog post. I won't lie, I'm really glad this is over with. BUT, now that I'm done writing, now you can look at pictures!! WOOOOOooOOoOooO here ya go!
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| Brazil on the right, Paraguay on the left! |
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| Argentine pride |
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| Some of the falls! |
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| More falls! |
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| Glowing! |
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| In front of El Diablo |
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| They never enddddd |
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| Giggling with Julia and Bryan :) |
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| Las Ruinas! |
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| Approaching the ruins |
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| In front of a mate warehouse |
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| A Japanese dish for Albert's birthday.. yummm |
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Carnaval!
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| A random street in San Telmo.. my new favorite neighborhood |
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| Tango at the San Telmo market |
On Sunday, Becca and I went over to San Telmo, about a 40 minute bus ride from my neighborhood, where they are known for the markets. First we explored an indoor market that had an extremely antiquey feel- lots of secondhand stands and knick knacks from the early 1900's. I loved taking my time and absorbing the atmosphere, not feeling like I had to be in a hurry to get anywhere. All of the vendors were so nice, and many of them complimented our fluency in Spanish, which felt great! It's a great feeling to be able to communicate with people and actually be able to get your point across. I bought a few little things, souveniers, xmas gifts, stuff along those lines.. my friends and family are going to be happy campers when I come home :) After we conquered the indoor market, we met up with Kelly, Hilary and Coleman- three other people in my program. We continued to stroll through the outdoor market in the streets of San Telmo, where we stumbled upon a street band and a few tango performances. I love how important tango is to the culture here- it's such a sensual and romantic dance, it's always hard for me to stop watching. Speaking of, I have another tango and salsa lesson this Thursday, wahoo!
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| Bumpin' at the parade |
Yesterday I went to a theater-turned-bookstore with my roommate, Miguel and Becca. It was so beautiful- I loved that they saved the building and are using it for a practical reason! The only downside is that it had a Barnes and Noble vibe to it.. and it could have been kept in a more understated, authentic Argentine bookstore. Regardless, the building was gorgeous, and sitting in there for a few hours writing in my journal was definitely worth the trip across town. The stage was transformed into a small cafe- though I think a great addition would be to keep a small part of the stage for local performers to play in the background. I just can't get enough of the architectural details around here- the intricacy of the carvings in most buildings are breathtaking, I really wish that people still took architecture this seriously and were willing to put in the time and effort to turn a building into a work of art. After the book store we wandered around some random streets, and found our way back to the subway after devouring cheeseburgers and french fries. That's a dependable meal that never fails.
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| Bustin' moves in the parade |
Last night, to celebrate the tail end of Carnaval, we went to a mask party at a place called The Roof- where it was literally on the roof of another restaurant. They had lots of specials, and it was a perfect party atmosphere! Luckily there were arbors and canvases that shielded us from the on-and-off rain, but luckily by the time we left the rain stopped. Around 3am we found ourselves at a boliche, where we danced for a few hours and had a great time! I wandered home just shy of the sunrise, which was nice because I didn't feel too wiped out today. I got some chinese food for lunch with the girls, and did more planning for spring break in Patagonia!!!! Ahhhh it's getting closer, and as I'm doing more research, I'm getting beyond excited. My birthday's going to be right in the middle of the trip- and to celebrate, I'll be camping with 6 of my best friends here nearby Fitz Roy and Laguna De Los Tres. (LOOK AT THIS: http://www.bikertony.org/PicsArgentina/PicsArgentinaFitzRoy/11last%20pic%20of%20Fitz%20Roy.jpg) Woohoooo!!!
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| Theatre turned bookstore.. it was beautiful! |
This weekend our program is going to Iguazu Falls.. (http://www.buenosaires54.com/images/iguazu_foto_grande.jpg) can't wait!!!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Learning, exploring, living
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| An enormous tapestry at the museum, stunning details! |
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| Hilary and I in front of the flower :) |
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| Cool bridge! |
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| More local graffiti |
This weekend is Carnaval- I'll be attending as many parades, mask parties and other festivities as I can! Expect pics and more updates in a few days!
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