Im on a roll here, folks! VIVA!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2056673&l=1f532&id=5901703
¡Feliz Año Nuevo a Todos!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Photos - Part 1
Ive done it! Ive posted photos from the first part of my trip - the two weeks with dad. There are many more to come and now that Ive found a computer that actually reads my cds, I will be coming back here and catching up. Enjoy!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054348&l=864eb&id=5901703
Im still in the campo and planning to spend New Year´s here before heading South to meet up with German and Víctor (our REI guides). Life just gets more and more interesting by the day. For a small taste, I learned how to make ricotta cheese from milk that we took straight from the cow and stood in complete amazement as Vanina´s father carried two young pigs that had recently been slaughtered into the back yard and hung them from a peg to let the blood drain. While I dont eat beef or pork, I eat chicken fairly often but never see the animal in it´s recently slaughtered state and there was something just captivating about the whole scene. Especially since the pigs were raised by her aunt and her young neices who were there with me didnt think twice about the fact that two small dead pigs were hanging from a peg on the patio. And, really, why would they? This is nothing new to them. In fact, the strangest thing to come into their lives is actually me with my weird name (they told me "que raro nombre") and funny accent. And in a way, I found it almost beautiful (I realize this may very well come across as demented...). But there is something quite grand about knowing exactly where your food came from and how it was prepared. VIVA!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054348&l=864eb&id=5901703
Im still in the campo and planning to spend New Year´s here before heading South to meet up with German and Víctor (our REI guides). Life just gets more and more interesting by the day. For a small taste, I learned how to make ricotta cheese from milk that we took straight from the cow and stood in complete amazement as Vanina´s father carried two young pigs that had recently been slaughtered into the back yard and hung them from a peg to let the blood drain. While I dont eat beef or pork, I eat chicken fairly often but never see the animal in it´s recently slaughtered state and there was something just captivating about the whole scene. Especially since the pigs were raised by her aunt and her young neices who were there with me didnt think twice about the fact that two small dead pigs were hanging from a peg on the patio. And, really, why would they? This is nothing new to them. In fact, the strangest thing to come into their lives is actually me with my weird name (they told me "que raro nombre") and funny accent. And in a way, I found it almost beautiful (I realize this may very well come across as demented...). But there is something quite grand about knowing exactly where your food came from and how it was prepared. VIVA!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Tomando Maté!
So while I don´t eat red meat, I can pull off looking like one of the locals with my cup of maté!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Livin´ la vida gauchita - lazy days and late late nights in the campo!
Felices Fiestas del Campo! I have so much to report!
Im here in Pasman (pop 200) and am having a blast! I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the holidays here in the campo with Vanina´s family who have been so wonderful in showing me around their farm, town, the nearby city of Suarez (where I have come to use the computer), and the bigger city of Bahía Blanca 200 kms south. And the best part of it all is that in the last week, I have not spent time with a single person who speaks English. This has been a goal of mine from the beginning and it is such fun (and quite challenging, no doubt) to truly have to put my language skills to work without having anyone to turn to for help when Im struggling to express something. When I set out on this journey, my goal was to do everything possible to truly experience life as it is lived in the places I choose to travel. Thus far, I have gotten to meet quite a few Argentinians and Chileans and, by spending time in smaller towns, had the opportunity to get to know people from each place a little better. But NOTHING compares to my time here. I feel like I either know everyone or everyone knows OF me and comes by to meet me. Seriously, I cannot think of another time in my life where I have felt so special - people WANT to meet me. They hear about me from a friend of a friend and so by the time I meet most people they already know all about me - it´s a really really weird feeling. Yet, at the same time, Ive never felt so out of the loop. I want so badly to wake up tomorrow on Christmas morning and discover that Papa Noel has brought me the ability to understand everything everyone is saying to me. I find myself exhausted at the end of the day just from concentrating so hard on listening to people´s converstaions trying to understand as much as I possibly can without asking over and over again for the people to repeat themselves. At the same time, it is incredibly rewarding when I do have coherent conversations with people. I now know how my sister must have felt when she went to live in the campo in El Salvador!
Whoever thought life in the campo was boring has never spent time in the Argentinian campo - there is NEVER a dull moment. The whole town knows each other and we spend much of our day "paseando" which is to say that I go outside to get my laundry off the line and some neighbor sees me and comes by to talk and an hour later when I eventually go back inside with my laundry someone else has shown up to drop off a package at which point we then leave the house to buy groceries at the store down the street and run into another friend or family member and spend un rato talking about this and that. And when we aren´t paseando for the pueblo, we are out in the campo feeding the pigs, picking fresh veggies from the garden, and milking the cows. I LOVE it!
But being in the campo is only part of the experience. My first day here, I saw a tornado del tierra, hooted and hollered with a group of some 20 family and friends for a family member I had yet to even meet as she exited her last exam of college and then watched as her friends threw eggs, flour, the fermenting crap inside of pig intestines (this is NO joke - YUCK!), and dirt on her, cut off her clothes, then put her in the back of a car and drove through town honking their horns as they paraded her around the main plaza - if only they had such exciting ways of celebrating our final exams in the states! I then went to the after party and by the time we left at 2 am (and still had a 2 hour drive to get back), I was barely functioning! Yet, I quickly discovered this was only the beginning of the Argentinina customs I would come to experience. I have already mentioned in my blog the Argentinian custom of eating late, going out later, and partying until the break of dawn, but other than my time in Buenos Aires with dad, I have yet to really experience this custom in all its grandeur. Well, folks, welcome to the campo where the day begins at dawn and ends not too long before the sunrise the next day. In the days since I got here, I have been asked time and time again, "What is different about the States? Do we have this or that? Do we do this or that?" And the one thing that continues to blow my mind, is their custom of staying up SO DARN LATE....EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Dad, Susan, Annelle, Jarratt, you would LOVE it here! For example, I have not eaten dinner before 11 pm once since I got here - and it´s often 11:30 or 12 before we sit down to eat. We went to a family member´s 60th birthday a few days ago, and didn´t even arrive at the dinner party until 10 pm - and we were EARLY! Later - MUCH later - at 2:30 am, a magician arrived to perform some magic tricks. I looked around in complete shock as everyone at the party from babies just a few months old to people in their 70s, sat around laughing and enjoying the performance like it was really no big deal that it was 2:30 in the morning. Before I got here, I could understand (sort of) this idea that the clubs dont even open until 2 or 3 am, but it never occured to me that this late night culture isnt unique to people in their teens, 20s, and 30s, this is LIFE here. Eating late and staying up later is the norm. So much so that they find US weird. Every time I tell them that we typically eat around 7:30 or 8, their jaws drop and they ask me "How do you eat so early?" and "What in the world do you do with yourself after youve eaten?" Well, I guess the least I can say is that I find their ability to eat late just as strange as they find my ability to eat early! But Im slowly adapting to this life and while everyone 2 and 3 times my age can definitely outlast me when it comes to having energy at 4 am, I no longer find myself needing dinner at 8 pm (no small miracle for those who know me), and thanks to the daily siesta, I may just be able to keep up with the Wisner family at tonight´s Christmas party!
So thanks again to Vanina and her family for welcoming me into their home and allowing me to experience a wonderful Christmas with such a loving family since I can´t be with my own back in Mississippi. Merry Christmas and much love to everyone! VIVA!
Im here in Pasman (pop 200) and am having a blast! I feel so fortunate to have the opportunity to spend the holidays here in the campo with Vanina´s family who have been so wonderful in showing me around their farm, town, the nearby city of Suarez (where I have come to use the computer), and the bigger city of Bahía Blanca 200 kms south. And the best part of it all is that in the last week, I have not spent time with a single person who speaks English. This has been a goal of mine from the beginning and it is such fun (and quite challenging, no doubt) to truly have to put my language skills to work without having anyone to turn to for help when Im struggling to express something. When I set out on this journey, my goal was to do everything possible to truly experience life as it is lived in the places I choose to travel. Thus far, I have gotten to meet quite a few Argentinians and Chileans and, by spending time in smaller towns, had the opportunity to get to know people from each place a little better. But NOTHING compares to my time here. I feel like I either know everyone or everyone knows OF me and comes by to meet me. Seriously, I cannot think of another time in my life where I have felt so special - people WANT to meet me. They hear about me from a friend of a friend and so by the time I meet most people they already know all about me - it´s a really really weird feeling. Yet, at the same time, Ive never felt so out of the loop. I want so badly to wake up tomorrow on Christmas morning and discover that Papa Noel has brought me the ability to understand everything everyone is saying to me. I find myself exhausted at the end of the day just from concentrating so hard on listening to people´s converstaions trying to understand as much as I possibly can without asking over and over again for the people to repeat themselves. At the same time, it is incredibly rewarding when I do have coherent conversations with people. I now know how my sister must have felt when she went to live in the campo in El Salvador!
Whoever thought life in the campo was boring has never spent time in the Argentinian campo - there is NEVER a dull moment. The whole town knows each other and we spend much of our day "paseando" which is to say that I go outside to get my laundry off the line and some neighbor sees me and comes by to talk and an hour later when I eventually go back inside with my laundry someone else has shown up to drop off a package at which point we then leave the house to buy groceries at the store down the street and run into another friend or family member and spend un rato talking about this and that. And when we aren´t paseando for the pueblo, we are out in the campo feeding the pigs, picking fresh veggies from the garden, and milking the cows. I LOVE it!
But being in the campo is only part of the experience. My first day here, I saw a tornado del tierra, hooted and hollered with a group of some 20 family and friends for a family member I had yet to even meet as she exited her last exam of college and then watched as her friends threw eggs, flour, the fermenting crap inside of pig intestines (this is NO joke - YUCK!), and dirt on her, cut off her clothes, then put her in the back of a car and drove through town honking their horns as they paraded her around the main plaza - if only they had such exciting ways of celebrating our final exams in the states! I then went to the after party and by the time we left at 2 am (and still had a 2 hour drive to get back), I was barely functioning! Yet, I quickly discovered this was only the beginning of the Argentinina customs I would come to experience. I have already mentioned in my blog the Argentinian custom of eating late, going out later, and partying until the break of dawn, but other than my time in Buenos Aires with dad, I have yet to really experience this custom in all its grandeur. Well, folks, welcome to the campo where the day begins at dawn and ends not too long before the sunrise the next day. In the days since I got here, I have been asked time and time again, "What is different about the States? Do we have this or that? Do we do this or that?" And the one thing that continues to blow my mind, is their custom of staying up SO DARN LATE....EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Dad, Susan, Annelle, Jarratt, you would LOVE it here! For example, I have not eaten dinner before 11 pm once since I got here - and it´s often 11:30 or 12 before we sit down to eat. We went to a family member´s 60th birthday a few days ago, and didn´t even arrive at the dinner party until 10 pm - and we were EARLY! Later - MUCH later - at 2:30 am, a magician arrived to perform some magic tricks. I looked around in complete shock as everyone at the party from babies just a few months old to people in their 70s, sat around laughing and enjoying the performance like it was really no big deal that it was 2:30 in the morning. Before I got here, I could understand (sort of) this idea that the clubs dont even open until 2 or 3 am, but it never occured to me that this late night culture isnt unique to people in their teens, 20s, and 30s, this is LIFE here. Eating late and staying up later is the norm. So much so that they find US weird. Every time I tell them that we typically eat around 7:30 or 8, their jaws drop and they ask me "How do you eat so early?" and "What in the world do you do with yourself after youve eaten?" Well, I guess the least I can say is that I find their ability to eat late just as strange as they find my ability to eat early! But Im slowly adapting to this life and while everyone 2 and 3 times my age can definitely outlast me when it comes to having energy at 4 am, I no longer find myself needing dinner at 8 pm (no small miracle for those who know me), and thanks to the daily siesta, I may just be able to keep up with the Wisner family at tonight´s Christmas party!
So thanks again to Vanina and her family for welcoming me into their home and allowing me to experience a wonderful Christmas with such a loving family since I can´t be with my own back in Mississippi. Merry Christmas and much love to everyone! VIVA!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
And the wait for fotitos goes on...
Ok, so I had every intention of getting photos posted today. In fact, it was just about the only thing on my "to do" list, but as things in Latin America go, it just ain´t happening. GRRRRR! I burned all my photos to a disk and after walking from one end of the city to the other - I kid you not (and this city is NOT small) - I have not been able to find any place that has both computers with a CD drive AND a CD drive that actually works - GRRR! Soooooooooooo I then decided, "Fine, Ill trek back to the hostel, grab my camera and USB cable and just download the photos from the memory drive." And after picking up everything and trekking back to the nearest internet place, lo and behold, I was so super cool that I took out the memory card with all of my photos and put it in my luggage for safe keeping - GRRRR! Now I am hot (it has gotten rather warm and muggy here recently), tired (I had to move hostels last night due to lack of espacio, and let´s just say the experience was only slightly better than my awful experience at the prison camp in Mendoza), and so frustrated that I have decided to call the whole plan off for the time being. I leave Buenos Aires in just about 5 hours to go visit Vanina´s family in a small town where I do not think I will have internet for awhile. So please bear with me as "Operation Get Photos Online" is still underway.
I have definitely enjoyed being in Buenos Aires. The highlight, perhaps, being asked on several different occasions by both other travelers AND Argentinians for directions as to how to properly use the subway and where is best to go in BsAs. Like I know?! But I happily responded with what I decided was good advice... A close second would be getting so lost yesterday morning during my run that I ended up on the "on ramp" to the interstate. Lucky me, my keen sense of intuition told me, "Uh, this does NOT look like the right direction." Oh, and let´s not forget the ice cream. Scrumptious! Heavenly! Divine! Ive taken to replacing at least one meal each day with the stuff. Good thing the whole country is obsessed with the creamy goodness; otherwise, I might have to take side trips every few days to big cities to get my fix. However, all these delightful things aside, I think city life is quickly wearing on me, and I am itching to get back on the road to explore places less populated with people and more populated with montañas and cooler temps! I look forward to meeting Vanina´s family and seeing where my travels take me from there.
And, geez, by the time I get photos posted you are going to have to set aside an evening just to look at them. I would suggest picking a date on or around New Year´s! Love to all! VIVA!
I have definitely enjoyed being in Buenos Aires. The highlight, perhaps, being asked on several different occasions by both other travelers AND Argentinians for directions as to how to properly use the subway and where is best to go in BsAs. Like I know?! But I happily responded with what I decided was good advice... A close second would be getting so lost yesterday morning during my run that I ended up on the "on ramp" to the interstate. Lucky me, my keen sense of intuition told me, "Uh, this does NOT look like the right direction." Oh, and let´s not forget the ice cream. Scrumptious! Heavenly! Divine! Ive taken to replacing at least one meal each day with the stuff. Good thing the whole country is obsessed with the creamy goodness; otherwise, I might have to take side trips every few days to big cities to get my fix. However, all these delightful things aside, I think city life is quickly wearing on me, and I am itching to get back on the road to explore places less populated with people and more populated with montañas and cooler temps! I look forward to meeting Vanina´s family and seeing where my travels take me from there.
And, geez, by the time I get photos posted you are going to have to set aside an evening just to look at them. I would suggest picking a date on or around New Year´s! Love to all! VIVA!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Fotitos - finalmente!
Buenos desde the Argentinian delta! I am hanging out with my Quebecoise friend Noemi at a resort-like hostel on the banks of the Rio Plata de las Palmas. We are on an island in the delta where the only way to arrive is by an hour long boat taxi that stops at all the houses along the way picking up and dropping off people, goods, trash, etc. It´s like a tropical combination of the houses that lie along Lake Ponchatrain and the canals in Venice complete with palm trees, sandy beaches, and gorgeous flowers in full bloom. The river is wide, dark, and muddy reminding me so very much of the Mississippi River.
And a note about pictures. Im sorry none have been put up yet. I never seem to have the time when I am at a computer to download and post, but I PROMISE to post photos soon. I will be back in BsAs mañana and it´s the first thing on my to do list - so look forward to lots and lots of super fun fotitos to enjoy! In the meantime, Ive found some photos from facebook of our time with REI and then in Ritoque celebrating Thanksgiving with our Chilean and German friends. I hope you enjoy! VIVA!
Jenny and Nina celebrating at the top of Volcan Villarica. Im not in the photo, but I, too, got to wear the super snazzy windsuit!
Looking up at Volcan Villarica from below. I still cant believe I climbed this - INCREDIBLE!
Victor, our incredible guide, prepares lunch - one of hte many lakeside feasts we were treated to in the middle of nowhere!
At teh base of Mt. Tronador in Parque NAcional Nahuel Huapi.
The blonde-oh-sans and I on our first day of biking outside of Bariloche - notice the ultra sexy biking clothes!
This is the blonde-oh-sans and me at a yummy vegetarian restaurant in Valparaiso
Thanksgiving Chilean style!
And a note about pictures. Im sorry none have been put up yet. I never seem to have the time when I am at a computer to download and post, but I PROMISE to post photos soon. I will be back in BsAs mañana and it´s the first thing on my to do list - so look forward to lots and lots of super fun fotitos to enjoy! In the meantime, Ive found some photos from facebook of our time with REI and then in Ritoque celebrating Thanksgiving with our Chilean and German friends. I hope you enjoy! VIVA!
Jenny and Nina celebrating at the top of Volcan Villarica. Im not in the photo, but I, too, got to wear the super snazzy windsuit!
Looking up at Volcan Villarica from below. I still cant believe I climbed this - INCREDIBLE!
Victor, our incredible guide, prepares lunch - one of hte many lakeside feasts we were treated to in the middle of nowhere!
At teh base of Mt. Tronador in Parque NAcional Nahuel Huapi.
The blonde-oh-sans and I on our first day of biking outside of Bariloche - notice the ultra sexy biking clothes!
This is the blonde-oh-sans and me at a yummy vegetarian restaurant in Valparaiso
Thanksgiving Chilean style!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Seeing ghosts, finding my way in the big ciudad, and making new friends
Buenos! Im still here in the Big City. Considering that I have spent the last three weeks doing everything I could - including several out-of-the-way bus rides to middle of noweher places - I am rather surprised to find myself quite content in this city of 11 million people. But yesterday as I crammed myself into the stuffy subway at rush hour, sat outside at a cafe on a busy street corner drinking tea, and successfully got on and paid for my first BsAs bus ride (this was no small feat as coins are worth more than gold in this city where everyone seems to be short on change and the buses ONLY accept exact change - grrr), I was feeling quite big city savvy. I even had a brief moment of missing my life in Chitown, and then I remembered that it´s freezing there and quickly got over it.
I have been fortunate to meet some great people in the last few days. First off, Jenny and I have met two great Canadians who have cruised around the city with us. Satia had to go back on Thurs night, but Noemi will be around for a bit, so we explored the ins and outs of San Telmo and La Boca - two very flavorful barrios - together. I also got to meet up with Vïctor, one of the guides from our group trip, who lives and works out of BsAs. And, finally, Camille, a friend from Smith who used to live here, has put me in touch with some of her friends here. So Thursday night I got to go out and chat it up in español with Milan who has spent a good bit of time traveling around Argentina, as well as other coutries in SA como mochilero (backpacker). He´s offered not only to give me some good tips for things to do here en la ciudad, but also tips for good places to visit, hikes, and even maps for the rest of my journey - woohoo! A few of her other friends had also contacted me with information regarding free tango shows and museum exhibits to check out.
And upon returning from my night out on the town, I thought I was hearing voices when a voice drifting from the room next door sounded JUST LIKE Jenny. This was very strange as just 3 hours earlier, we had said our goodbyes and she was whisked off to the aeropuerto in a cab. For the last week, we had been planning our trip - where to be when and what to do there - based on the fact that she had to be on a plane back to los estados on Thursday, Dec 11. So I stood still for a minute, took a deep breath, looked around to make sure I was awake and in my own body, and slooooowly walked around the corner - JENNY! "Am I seeing a ghost," I thought to myself? All I could do was drop my jaw and say (and I didn´t mean this rudely at all) was, "What the HELL are you doing here?" Well, it turns out her flight wasn´t until Friday night, so after getting over the shock and such, we rejoiced over the realization that she would have a second " last day" in BsAs!
I am staying at a hostel near this gigantic city park where I get to go for lovely runs each morning. Actually, the park where I run is lovely, but I usually end up getting terribly lost and coming back over an hour later mildly ravenous and extremely stinky - woohoo! The hostel is also conveniently located near a laundromat where my clothes are currently being properly washed and dried for the first time in three weeks - all for the killer precio of 3 dollars:). So Im quite the happy camper. All I need now is some avocado, tomato, bread, and maybe a tango show to top it all off! VIVA!
I have been fortunate to meet some great people in the last few days. First off, Jenny and I have met two great Canadians who have cruised around the city with us. Satia had to go back on Thurs night, but Noemi will be around for a bit, so we explored the ins and outs of San Telmo and La Boca - two very flavorful barrios - together. I also got to meet up with Vïctor, one of the guides from our group trip, who lives and works out of BsAs. And, finally, Camille, a friend from Smith who used to live here, has put me in touch with some of her friends here. So Thursday night I got to go out and chat it up in español with Milan who has spent a good bit of time traveling around Argentina, as well as other coutries in SA como mochilero (backpacker). He´s offered not only to give me some good tips for things to do here en la ciudad, but also tips for good places to visit, hikes, and even maps for the rest of my journey - woohoo! A few of her other friends had also contacted me with information regarding free tango shows and museum exhibits to check out.
And upon returning from my night out on the town, I thought I was hearing voices when a voice drifting from the room next door sounded JUST LIKE Jenny. This was very strange as just 3 hours earlier, we had said our goodbyes and she was whisked off to the aeropuerto in a cab. For the last week, we had been planning our trip - where to be when and what to do there - based on the fact that she had to be on a plane back to los estados on Thursday, Dec 11. So I stood still for a minute, took a deep breath, looked around to make sure I was awake and in my own body, and slooooowly walked around the corner - JENNY! "Am I seeing a ghost," I thought to myself? All I could do was drop my jaw and say (and I didn´t mean this rudely at all) was, "What the HELL are you doing here?" Well, it turns out her flight wasn´t until Friday night, so after getting over the shock and such, we rejoiced over the realization that she would have a second " last day" in BsAs!
I am staying at a hostel near this gigantic city park where I get to go for lovely runs each morning. Actually, the park where I run is lovely, but I usually end up getting terribly lost and coming back over an hour later mildly ravenous and extremely stinky - woohoo! The hostel is also conveniently located near a laundromat where my clothes are currently being properly washed and dried for the first time in three weeks - all for the killer precio of 3 dollars:). So Im quite the happy camper. All I need now is some avocado, tomato, bread, and maybe a tango show to top it all off! VIVA!
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