May 1-4, 2009
My friends Cali, Vanessa, and I took an early bus out of Viña Friday morning in hopes to get to La Serena the estimated 4-6 hours later. Since the only seats left to buy were camas (as oppose to semi camas), we were really comfortable...a little too comfortable. Our bus driver got lost and we ended up not getting to La Serena until about 5pm. We walked around and saw some pretty churches and found a cool market where Cali got a trenza! We had a nice dinner and came back to crash at our cute, but cold hostel.
The next morning we checked out a famous artisan market and then headed to Vicuña (about 1 hour). We absolutely fell in love with Vicuña. It was smaller, more beautiful, and less bustling than La Serena. The slower pace of life with less tourists was just what we needed. It had a real "campo" feel. We stayed at the most adorable bed and breakfast run by 2 German ladies.
That afternoon we visited the house where Gabriela Mistral (influential female Chilean poet) was born and then made a deliciously cheap dinner at our hostel before heading off to an observatory to take advantage of what is considered one of the 7th best skies to view stars in the world (another one being up North in San Pedro de Atacama). This was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. We had the opportunity to visit a newly opened observatory about 45 min. away from Vicuña to a place with not a light in sight and an eerie feeling of undiscovered earth. Here, we were introduced to best telescope in all of Chile. The tour consisted of only 10 other people and our tour guides were incredibly knowledgeable and patient with pointing out star formations and teaching us about what we were seeing. What we were able to see was spectacular. I especially loved seeing the moon (and all its craters!) and saturn (and it's ring!). It was pretty wild to see all different constellations (being in the Southern hemisphere and all...). They had a very cool computer program that helped demonstrate what we should be seeing. We saw one star that is in the process of exploding. When it explodes, it will be the first one since 1500!!!
After having the most glorious breakfast, we headed into Valle del Elqui (about 1 hour). This was a beautiful ride, filled with vinyards, mountains, and sunlight. We were let off in the "center of town" and walked around a bit before we took a tour of the pisco vineyard Gabriela Mistral. Chile is famous for its pisco, an alcohol made by the fermentation of grapes. Chile and Peru are constantly fighting over who has the better pisco. The tour was interesting since it was the first non-wine tour I've taken. We got to sample some piscos at the end of the tour and was given a complimentary pisco sour.
After a nice picnic lunch of fresh palta (avacado), cheese and tomato sandwhiches, we took a beautiful stroll to the nearby Andean village where Gabriela Mistral grew up: Montegrande. Here, we visited her house and saw her school. We took the bus back to grab our stuff in Vicuña before making our way to La Serena in order to catch our 1am bus back to Viña. Or so we thought...
As we were waiting in the cold La Serena bus terminal, it suddenly dawned on me that the bus ticket people sold me tickets for 1am on Sunday when I said I wanted a bus ticket for Sunday night/Monday morning "like at 1am"...so after a lot of frustrating conversations, we finally got tickets back to Santiago (since none were going to Viña) at 3am and backtracked 2 hours to Viña.
All in all though it was a fabulous trip and an incredible learning experience. It is way more fun to learn Chilean culture hands-on!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Fantasilandia
April 25
At the last minute, my friends (Cali and Kathleen) and I decided to go to Chile's one and only amusement park: Fantasilandia: http://www.fantasilandia.cl/
It was more like a small county fair...poor Chile. and the animations were something else...like many things in Chile, stuck in the 80's. the pirates of the carribean ride and the haunted house were particularly funny. however, their idea of scary is pretty disturbing: naked people being cooked over a fire, etc.
we had two favorite rides. the first was one that just dropped you from really high up (Extreme Fall) but for some reason it was just cooler and scarier chilling up there in the Andes waiting to be dropped. we liked that one so much that we went on it twice...one right after the other. our second favorite one was the Boomerang that shot you up and upside down and then the same thing backwards.
we had anticipated a longer day at the park so once we had done the park like twice, we decided to check out Santiago a little bit (Plaza de Armas). we left when it started getting dark-what a great, action-packed day!
At the last minute, my friends (Cali and Kathleen) and I decided to go to Chile's one and only amusement park: Fantasilandia: http://www.fantasilandia.cl/
It was more like a small county fair...poor Chile. and the animations were something else...like many things in Chile, stuck in the 80's. the pirates of the carribean ride and the haunted house were particularly funny. however, their idea of scary is pretty disturbing: naked people being cooked over a fire, etc.
we had two favorite rides. the first was one that just dropped you from really high up (Extreme Fall) but for some reason it was just cooler and scarier chilling up there in the Andes waiting to be dropped. we liked that one so much that we went on it twice...one right after the other. our second favorite one was the Boomerang that shot you up and upside down and then the same thing backwards.
we had anticipated a longer day at the park so once we had done the park like twice, we decided to check out Santiago a little bit (Plaza de Armas). we left when it started getting dark-what a great, action-packed day!
Rabuco
April 17
CIEE took us to Rabuco: http://www.hijuelas.cl/culturaTURISMO.html
We went on a tour of their beautiful viña which grew grapes purely for eating, not for wine. In fact, they export most of their grapes to Dole. I don't think I have ever eaten so many grapes in my entire life, but MAN were they delicious. we discovered that the view was even cooler upside down because you could really get a good look at the impressive array of big, purple grapes. We were able to just pick them off the vine...what a treat! We learned the difference between the bigger and smaller grapes and how they introduced new vines when the others got too old (after 20 years).
We then had a fabulous lunch of hand-made pino and queso empanadas straight from the wooden oven. We then watched as two kids danced the Cueca (the traditional dance of the Mapuches) and I was able to put my own Cueca skills to the test! We played some games afterwards and had a tour of the garden. Our once consisted of fresh apple pie, also straight from the oven. Needless to say we were stuffed, but happy gringos.
CIEE took us to Rabuco: http://www.hijuelas.cl/culturaTURISMO.html
We went on a tour of their beautiful viña which grew grapes purely for eating, not for wine. In fact, they export most of their grapes to Dole. I don't think I have ever eaten so many grapes in my entire life, but MAN were they delicious. we discovered that the view was even cooler upside down because you could really get a good look at the impressive array of big, purple grapes. We were able to just pick them off the vine...what a treat! We learned the difference between the bigger and smaller grapes and how they introduced new vines when the others got too old (after 20 years).
We then had a fabulous lunch of hand-made pino and queso empanadas straight from the wooden oven. We then watched as two kids danced the Cueca (the traditional dance of the Mapuches) and I was able to put my own Cueca skills to the test! We played some games afterwards and had a tour of the garden. Our once consisted of fresh apple pie, also straight from the oven. Needless to say we were stuffed, but happy gringos.
adventures with the family
1. a dog show at Quinta Vergara-quite the experience! i could not believe the care some of those dogs were getting, i mean honestly...BLOW DRYING AND CURLING A DOG'S HAIR??! the most impressive dogs were the german shepards which Chileans call vacas (cows)...they were freaking huge.
2. my mom and i took a day trip to Villa Alemania where her sister lives and Andrea grew up. i actually saw the house she was born in! her sister's house was gorgeous. it was in the campo and had such a cozy feeling. she cooked us a wonderful almuerzo: three different ensaladas, pescado, and fresh mote con huesillo for dessert. her husband Lucho served us first a delicious red wine and then a more delicious white wine. the ladies took a lovely walk afterwards. the smell of the eucalyptus trees was particularly memorable.
3. Las Pascuas de la Resurección (Easter)-i went to church with a friend of mine. it was a fun service with lots of live music and young people. i later found out it was evangelico...when i received their book as a welcome gift. when i came back, Cami had made us all Easter baskets and Andrea had hid chocolate for all the "kids." we had a great taco lunch where I explained that Methodist (my religious denomination) was not the same as Mormon...nor Jehova Witness. and that even though we don't have Saints...I still believe in Jesus and celebrate Christmas. I also went to the Via Crucis with Paulette the Friday before Easter which was interesting-really long and quite depressing. We ended up walking around Cerro Alegre y Concepción for a while.
4. One almuerzo with our abuela (grandmother) we had a discussion about cookies. I explained to them that Chilean cookies were a little boring and dry compared to the ones in the US. I decided to make some for them to show the difference. However, it was QUITE the process finding all the ingredients I needed (which was not a lot but Chileans don't keep their kitchens stocked like we do...they just buy for the following day's meals). I had the most trouble finding Baking Soda, which they do not use here to bake with...I found it at a pharmacy...I decided to go with Oatmeal Raisin cookies because I found out they don't have chocolate chips here (a sin). When I finally had everything together and went to measure the first ingredient I couldn't find a single measuring cup or spoon...crap! anyways, with the help of Cami, we made some rocking cookies that they SWORE were undercooked but I reassured them that cookies were supposed to be squishy...not hard.
5. Chileans are not real savvy with food safety. One day i went to grab the milk from the fridge for my cereal, only to find it in the cupboard. gross. I often find meat both raw and cooked just chilling on the counter and so one day I brought up the fact that in my nutrition class I was taught that it is a bad idea to leave meat out. My mother's response was "yes I know, that's why I do it at night...when there is no sun..." double gross. im still working on that. in the meantime, i wake up at night...sneak to the kitchen...and stick the meat back in the fridge.
6. Andrea, Fabiola (our nana), and I went to Reñaca and Concón (two very nice beaches) for the afternoon. we walked along the beach in Reñaca which was lovely and then went to a famous empanada place in Concón (Las Deliciosas). I tried a Camarón (shrimp) y Queso (cheese). It was pretty good. On our way back we saw the most magnificent sunset. what a fun day!
2. my mom and i took a day trip to Villa Alemania where her sister lives and Andrea grew up. i actually saw the house she was born in! her sister's house was gorgeous. it was in the campo and had such a cozy feeling. she cooked us a wonderful almuerzo: three different ensaladas, pescado, and fresh mote con huesillo for dessert. her husband Lucho served us first a delicious red wine and then a more delicious white wine. the ladies took a lovely walk afterwards. the smell of the eucalyptus trees was particularly memorable.
3. Las Pascuas de la Resurección (Easter)-i went to church with a friend of mine. it was a fun service with lots of live music and young people. i later found out it was evangelico...when i received their book as a welcome gift. when i came back, Cami had made us all Easter baskets and Andrea had hid chocolate for all the "kids." we had a great taco lunch where I explained that Methodist (my religious denomination) was not the same as Mormon...nor Jehova Witness. and that even though we don't have Saints...I still believe in Jesus and celebrate Christmas. I also went to the Via Crucis with Paulette the Friday before Easter which was interesting-really long and quite depressing. We ended up walking around Cerro Alegre y Concepción for a while.
4. One almuerzo with our abuela (grandmother) we had a discussion about cookies. I explained to them that Chilean cookies were a little boring and dry compared to the ones in the US. I decided to make some for them to show the difference. However, it was QUITE the process finding all the ingredients I needed (which was not a lot but Chileans don't keep their kitchens stocked like we do...they just buy for the following day's meals). I had the most trouble finding Baking Soda, which they do not use here to bake with...I found it at a pharmacy...I decided to go with Oatmeal Raisin cookies because I found out they don't have chocolate chips here (a sin). When I finally had everything together and went to measure the first ingredient I couldn't find a single measuring cup or spoon...crap! anyways, with the help of Cami, we made some rocking cookies that they SWORE were undercooked but I reassured them that cookies were supposed to be squishy...not hard.
5. Chileans are not real savvy with food safety. One day i went to grab the milk from the fridge for my cereal, only to find it in the cupboard. gross. I often find meat both raw and cooked just chilling on the counter and so one day I brought up the fact that in my nutrition class I was taught that it is a bad idea to leave meat out. My mother's response was "yes I know, that's why I do it at night...when there is no sun..." double gross. im still working on that. in the meantime, i wake up at night...sneak to the kitchen...and stick the meat back in the fridge.
6. Andrea, Fabiola (our nana), and I went to Reñaca and Concón (two very nice beaches) for the afternoon. we walked along the beach in Reñaca which was lovely and then went to a famous empanada place in Concón (Las Deliciosas). I tried a Camarón (shrimp) y Queso (cheese). It was pretty good. On our way back we saw the most magnificent sunset. what a fun day!
The Routine
Only as of April did I finally have a set routine:
Monday:
1. El Hombre y Los Juegos-a class with mostly Chileans where you play games
2. Yoga with middle-aged women, and sometimes a man or two
3. LOST with the family
Tuesday:
1. Danzas Tradicionales de Chile-a gringo class where we learn traditional Chilean dances taught by a wonderful gay man who can move his hips like nobody's business
2. CIEE: Geografía y Cultura de Chile-a super boring CIEE class which should NOT, under any circumstance, be required nor 2.5 hours
3. Teatro Contemporaneo-a theater class in a creepy little room taught by a crazy old man who loves to hear the sound of his own voice....but he says the most ridiculous things so todo bien
4. Salsa class at Ache Havana en Valpo (when I have the energy!)
Wednesday:
1. Teatro en el Aula-an acting class where we play theater games...just like my entire childhood, very fun
2. Cultura Religiosa Fundumentos-an extremely boring religion class that doesn't even give the title of the scripture reading so I am always and hopelessly lost
Thursday:
1. Recreacíon y Deporte: a class in which i am the only gringo that is a mixture of games and theory of the social and cultural aspects of exercising and practicing sports. in some ways this is my hardest class because i have to try and fit in each and every time-an excellent challenge.
2. America Precolumbia en Arte e Imagenes: an art history class on ancient civilizations (except Tufts won't permit it to be counted for an arts distribution credit...)
Friday:
1. Yoga, again with inspiring old people
Saturday...Sunday...discovering Chile and spending time with my Chilean family!
Monday:
1. El Hombre y Los Juegos-a class with mostly Chileans where you play games
2. Yoga with middle-aged women, and sometimes a man or two
3. LOST with the family
Tuesday:
1. Danzas Tradicionales de Chile-a gringo class where we learn traditional Chilean dances taught by a wonderful gay man who can move his hips like nobody's business
2. CIEE: Geografía y Cultura de Chile-a super boring CIEE class which should NOT, under any circumstance, be required nor 2.5 hours
3. Teatro Contemporaneo-a theater class in a creepy little room taught by a crazy old man who loves to hear the sound of his own voice....but he says the most ridiculous things so todo bien
4. Salsa class at Ache Havana en Valpo (when I have the energy!)
Wednesday:
1. Teatro en el Aula-an acting class where we play theater games...just like my entire childhood, very fun
2. Cultura Religiosa Fundumentos-an extremely boring religion class that doesn't even give the title of the scripture reading so I am always and hopelessly lost
Thursday:
1. Recreacíon y Deporte: a class in which i am the only gringo that is a mixture of games and theory of the social and cultural aspects of exercising and practicing sports. in some ways this is my hardest class because i have to try and fit in each and every time-an excellent challenge.
2. America Precolumbia en Arte e Imagenes: an art history class on ancient civilizations (except Tufts won't permit it to be counted for an arts distribution credit...)
Friday:
1. Yoga, again with inspiring old people
Saturday...Sunday...discovering Chile and spending time with my Chilean family!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Argentina Trip!
Andrew and I went on a glorious trip to Argentina March 13-22. Here are some highlights:
March 13: Buenos Aires
1. Tierra Santa-a religious "theme" park. to our disappointment...there were no rides. we just paid a lot to see a reenactment of the last supper. to their credit, it was an impressively large replica of Jerusalem.
2. We stayed in Kapaké, a hostel in Palermo. It was nice, but a little too expensive for what we actually got.
March 14: Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú
1. We stayed in Puerto Canoas, a hostel in Puerto Iguazú. It was lovely except for the nasty bathroom. Who thought putting the shower...with not even a curtain of separation, right next to the toilet?! gross. And there was a scary Jaguar picture that we had to take down and a cockroach that had to be killed.
2. Andrew made the terrible mistake of ordering something that turned out to be a cow's thyroid glands. sick.
3. we went to Guirioga, a rehabilitation facility for animals. it was a fun way to get acquainted with the animals we were about to see. we even got to touch the monkeys!
4. we wanted to check out the park before it closed so we caught a bus over there and paid the entrance fee even though we only had a couple hours. we walked the Circuito Inferior (Lower Trail) which was spectacular. it was actually much nicer being there late in the day because hardly anyone was there.
March 15: Las Cataratas (Iguazú Falls)
1. we were so excited to be the first ones into the park that we woke up at 6am to catch the first bus out at 7am. however, when we went to eat our continental breakfast...all the lights were off. everyone seemed to have forgotten to inform us that it was daylight savings. needless to say, we were quite early and LEGIT like third to enter the park.
2. we powered our way to la Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat) because we wanted to take pictures before the crowds came. it was absolutely breathtaking. the sound of the water crashing down was incredibly powerful. we then took a private boatride where our guide pointed out some monkeys and other flora and fauna. it was lovely. we hiked Circuito Superior (the Upper Trail) which had some fabulous views of the falls before embarking on our jeep ride through the jungle and boat ride through the falls. the first part kind of sucked, except i spotted a nice tucan! the second part of the excursion was AWESOME. we actually got to go into the falls (perhaps longer than actually safe...you feel like your drowning a little). after that we took a boat over to Isla San Martin which gave us a fabulous panoramic view of the falls (what i imagine you'd see from the Brazil side). we then sprinted back to walk the Sendero Macuco trail which closed earlier than the rest of the park. we were told that this trail was ideal to see wildlife but it turned out to be much longer than we had anticipated. we were exhausted at this point and really just wanted to go back. the only redeeming aspect of this trail was a pretty waterfall at the end of it. in short...we had a wonderful day completely owning the park and totally crashed once we got back
March 16: we actually decided to leave Iguazú a day early so that we could make our way to Esteros de Ibera: the second largest wetlands in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iber%C3%A1_Wetlands
1. What a morning! This was a real relationship strengthener. we needed to catch a bus to Posadas in order to catch a 4x4 jeep to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini (which had to be driven by a pre-arranged hired driver). we still needed to confirm a driver, get bus tickets, and money. this all had to be done in 15 min. so while andrew went to get money, i took care of the other two things. however, andrew comes back with 5 min. to spare saying that the ATM wouldn't take his card. so i sprint to try and get money. when i finally come back i ask him whether the bus arrived. he said no bus had come to this spot. my heart dropped because buses can come to whatever spot they want to...however, because we were in south america, the bus never showed so we got a later bus and everything worked out.
2. andrew, smart man as he is, had the brilliant idea to ask gringo-looking couple if they were going to Esteros de Ibera so that we could split the cost of the 4x4. they were! so garth and sophi became our new best friends. and boy was Esteros de Ibera worth every moment of the 3 hour bumpy jeep ride. it was the most relaxing and majestic place i have ever traveled to
2. We stayed at Ypa Sapukai:
http://www.ypasapukai.com.ar/indexengl.htm
it was incredibly beautiful. we were practically the only ones there! and the best part was that it was a package which included all meals, two boat rides into the esteros and a nature walk in the nearby forest.
March 17: Esteros de Ibera
1. Morning lancha ride in the esteros
the boat ride was in a small motor boat with a guide named Amelio. he got us within touching distance of caimen, carpinchos (cayaberas-the largest rodent in the world and now andrew's favorite animal), and tons of amazing birds. we bought a bird and wildlife book to try and help us keep track of all the wonders were were seeing, but there were SO many!!!
2. i was having serious problems with LAN airlines because i switched my flight from flying back to BA from Iguazu since we were now going to Esteros de Ibera. we went to the one working computer in the town only to find out it was lunch break and they closed at 2...oh south america.
3. we went on our second lancha ride before dinner which was lovely. we saw much of the same wildlife but also a gorgeous sunset. what could be better?
March 18: Esteros de Ibera
1. Walk in the forest
we went on this morning walk with a different guide and got to see howler monkeys UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. we saw moms, dads, and babies just dangle from branches right above our heads-it was so cool. there was this one male in particular who got really fired up and had an impressive series of howls (im talking like over an hour). it was very funny to hear and observe.
2. we took the afternoon off and just enjoyed the peace and quiet at our lodge. we met up with our friends again to take a 4x4 to Mercedes where we would be able to catch an overnight bus back to BA.
March 19: Colonia de Sacremento
1. We arrived in BA early in the morning and went straight to the terminal where we caught a ferry to Uruguay. it just so happened to be the day of a big fútbol game between uruguay and argentina (river plate) so the boat was FULL of argentine fans who were really belligerent even at 9 am. we took cover on the lower deck but i was a little afraid the ceiling might collapse when they jumped up and down during their cheers and the whole buquebus shook.
2. Colonia de Sacremento is often compared to Havana, Cuba..stuck in the past. with beautiful cobblestone streets and old cars everywhere, i understood why. we were pretty tired so we just walked around and enjoyed the view from the famous lighthouse. we fell asleep at 8pm by accident and didn't wake up until 9am...
March 20: Buenos Aires
1. We spent most of the day at the stupid LAN airline office figuring out everything they had screwed up. Andrew was a good sport as I was getting angrier and angrier at them and their incompetent office to office communication problems. they finally let us go to lunch as they did the South American thing and waited for things to work themselves out.
2. we went to a lovely park afterwards where we took a relaxing paddle boat ride.
3. we stayed at the Art Factory hostel in San Telmo. it was super cute.
March 21: BA
1. Feria in Recoleta-we spent HOURS just roaming around this crafts fair and barely made a dent in it. it was really fun to see all the interesting things people were selling and i got a beautiful necklace made of the argentine stone.
2. Dinner/Tango show-an extremely great bang for our buck. we were the first ones there so got a tour of the old house, wonderful service, front row seats, and a chance to pose on the stage! a nice way to celebrate a great trip. we had our last Malbec until we come again!
3. we stayed at Juncal Palace Hotel. let's just say the pictures on the internet are a little deceiving.
March 13: Buenos Aires
1. Tierra Santa-a religious "theme" park. to our disappointment...there were no rides. we just paid a lot to see a reenactment of the last supper. to their credit, it was an impressively large replica of Jerusalem.
2. We stayed in Kapaké, a hostel in Palermo. It was nice, but a little too expensive for what we actually got.
March 14: Buenos Aires to Puerto Iguazú
1. We stayed in Puerto Canoas, a hostel in Puerto Iguazú. It was lovely except for the nasty bathroom. Who thought putting the shower...with not even a curtain of separation, right next to the toilet?! gross. And there was a scary Jaguar picture that we had to take down and a cockroach that had to be killed.
2. Andrew made the terrible mistake of ordering something that turned out to be a cow's thyroid glands. sick.
3. we went to Guirioga, a rehabilitation facility for animals. it was a fun way to get acquainted with the animals we were about to see. we even got to touch the monkeys!
4. we wanted to check out the park before it closed so we caught a bus over there and paid the entrance fee even though we only had a couple hours. we walked the Circuito Inferior (Lower Trail) which was spectacular. it was actually much nicer being there late in the day because hardly anyone was there.
March 15: Las Cataratas (Iguazú Falls)
1. we were so excited to be the first ones into the park that we woke up at 6am to catch the first bus out at 7am. however, when we went to eat our continental breakfast...all the lights were off. everyone seemed to have forgotten to inform us that it was daylight savings. needless to say, we were quite early and LEGIT like third to enter the park.
2. we powered our way to la Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat) because we wanted to take pictures before the crowds came. it was absolutely breathtaking. the sound of the water crashing down was incredibly powerful. we then took a private boatride where our guide pointed out some monkeys and other flora and fauna. it was lovely. we hiked Circuito Superior (the Upper Trail) which had some fabulous views of the falls before embarking on our jeep ride through the jungle and boat ride through the falls. the first part kind of sucked, except i spotted a nice tucan! the second part of the excursion was AWESOME. we actually got to go into the falls (perhaps longer than actually safe...you feel like your drowning a little). after that we took a boat over to Isla San Martin which gave us a fabulous panoramic view of the falls (what i imagine you'd see from the Brazil side). we then sprinted back to walk the Sendero Macuco trail which closed earlier than the rest of the park. we were told that this trail was ideal to see wildlife but it turned out to be much longer than we had anticipated. we were exhausted at this point and really just wanted to go back. the only redeeming aspect of this trail was a pretty waterfall at the end of it. in short...we had a wonderful day completely owning the park and totally crashed once we got back
March 16: we actually decided to leave Iguazú a day early so that we could make our way to Esteros de Ibera: the second largest wetlands in the world:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iber%C3%A1_Wetlands
1. What a morning! This was a real relationship strengthener. we needed to catch a bus to Posadas in order to catch a 4x4 jeep to Colonia Carlos Pellegrini (which had to be driven by a pre-arranged hired driver). we still needed to confirm a driver, get bus tickets, and money. this all had to be done in 15 min. so while andrew went to get money, i took care of the other two things. however, andrew comes back with 5 min. to spare saying that the ATM wouldn't take his card. so i sprint to try and get money. when i finally come back i ask him whether the bus arrived. he said no bus had come to this spot. my heart dropped because buses can come to whatever spot they want to...however, because we were in south america, the bus never showed so we got a later bus and everything worked out.
2. andrew, smart man as he is, had the brilliant idea to ask gringo-looking couple if they were going to Esteros de Ibera so that we could split the cost of the 4x4. they were! so garth and sophi became our new best friends. and boy was Esteros de Ibera worth every moment of the 3 hour bumpy jeep ride. it was the most relaxing and majestic place i have ever traveled to
2. We stayed at Ypa Sapukai:
http://www.ypasapukai.com.ar/indexengl.htm
it was incredibly beautiful. we were practically the only ones there! and the best part was that it was a package which included all meals, two boat rides into the esteros and a nature walk in the nearby forest.
March 17: Esteros de Ibera
1. Morning lancha ride in the esteros
the boat ride was in a small motor boat with a guide named Amelio. he got us within touching distance of caimen, carpinchos (cayaberas-the largest rodent in the world and now andrew's favorite animal), and tons of amazing birds. we bought a bird and wildlife book to try and help us keep track of all the wonders were were seeing, but there were SO many!!!
2. i was having serious problems with LAN airlines because i switched my flight from flying back to BA from Iguazu since we were now going to Esteros de Ibera. we went to the one working computer in the town only to find out it was lunch break and they closed at 2...oh south america.
3. we went on our second lancha ride before dinner which was lovely. we saw much of the same wildlife but also a gorgeous sunset. what could be better?
March 18: Esteros de Ibera
1. Walk in the forest
we went on this morning walk with a different guide and got to see howler monkeys UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL. we saw moms, dads, and babies just dangle from branches right above our heads-it was so cool. there was this one male in particular who got really fired up and had an impressive series of howls (im talking like over an hour). it was very funny to hear and observe.
2. we took the afternoon off and just enjoyed the peace and quiet at our lodge. we met up with our friends again to take a 4x4 to Mercedes where we would be able to catch an overnight bus back to BA.
March 19: Colonia de Sacremento
1. We arrived in BA early in the morning and went straight to the terminal where we caught a ferry to Uruguay. it just so happened to be the day of a big fútbol game between uruguay and argentina (river plate) so the boat was FULL of argentine fans who were really belligerent even at 9 am. we took cover on the lower deck but i was a little afraid the ceiling might collapse when they jumped up and down during their cheers and the whole buquebus shook.
2. Colonia de Sacremento is often compared to Havana, Cuba..stuck in the past. with beautiful cobblestone streets and old cars everywhere, i understood why. we were pretty tired so we just walked around and enjoyed the view from the famous lighthouse. we fell asleep at 8pm by accident and didn't wake up until 9am...
March 20: Buenos Aires
1. We spent most of the day at the stupid LAN airline office figuring out everything they had screwed up. Andrew was a good sport as I was getting angrier and angrier at them and their incompetent office to office communication problems. they finally let us go to lunch as they did the South American thing and waited for things to work themselves out.
2. we went to a lovely park afterwards where we took a relaxing paddle boat ride.
3. we stayed at the Art Factory hostel in San Telmo. it was super cute.
March 21: BA
1. Feria in Recoleta-we spent HOURS just roaming around this crafts fair and barely made a dent in it. it was really fun to see all the interesting things people were selling and i got a beautiful necklace made of the argentine stone.
2. Dinner/Tango show-an extremely great bang for our buck. we were the first ones there so got a tour of the old house, wonderful service, front row seats, and a chance to pose on the stage! a nice way to celebrate a great trip. we had our last Malbec until we come again!
3. we stayed at Juncal Palace Hotel. let's just say the pictures on the internet are a little deceiving.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
a home away from home
i live on the 6th floor of an apartment building Viña del Mar in a neighborhood called Agua Santa. it has the most spectacular view in the whole wide world. when it is clear, you can see the ocean and Valparaíso quite easily. my room is spacious and i even have my own bathroom (the first in my whole life!) i absolutely adore my family. i live with a mother, Andrea, (a teacher of students with disabilities), a 23 year old girl ,Paulette, (a student at the design school in Viña), and an 11 year old girl, Camille. we have an older brother who lives with his father in Santiago who is studying law at the University of Santiago (very prestigious). we have a maid/nana (VERY common here) named Faviola. everyone is really nice and accomodating. i am really loving the time i get to spend with them, but it can be EXTREMELY frustrating. i feel like i am not able to express myself a lot of the time and am absolutely exhausted by the end of the day trying to live in a different language. it is different from any class i have ever taken because when i don't know a word...i can't just say: como se dice ____. instead, i try to describe it with hand motions and everything which ends of being even more confusing. i know things will get easier, but right now it is pretty hard. for the most part, i enjoy the challenge. but sometimes i just want to explode.
some things i have learned:
1. raitails are the shit here, as are mullets
2. you are NOBODY if you don't have a fanny pack (called a banano)
3. chilean spanish is not spanish at all. it is its own language. luckily, Paulette and her friends are helping to compile a dictionary of Chilenismos for me so i can start to be able to understand what people are saying.
4. Panaderías smell so freaking good. Paulette can't comprehend the fact that we do not have such a thing.
5. it is rude to call ourselves Americans because Chileans feel that South America is America too. we come from the United States and are norteamericanos.
6. my ass will be nicely sculpted by the end of my 6 months here due to the incredible amount of cerros (hills). although Valpo is worse, Viña has its fair share of cerros.
7. Pablo Neruda had a strange sense of interior design...very poetic i guess you could say. however, his house in Valpo, La Sebastiana, had an incredible view of the city.
8. acensores, giant elevators to help you navigate the tremendous cerros in Valpo, are TONS of fun. they are so steep it is like a mini-roller coaster.
9. don't go through the effort of catching 2 micros (because you missed your stop by 2 stops) to get to the Casa Central in Valpo because chances are, you will get right back in a bus only to be dropped off LITERALLY at the end of your street in Viña. unbelievable.
10. el almuerzo is the most important meal of the day here. it is a little silly because everyone leaves work, school, whatever and travels all the way home just for an hour or so to eat together. it is nice...but sometimes inconvenient.
11. once happens everyday. it is like tea time. i really like it, i wish there was tea time in the US
12. people go out too late here. they start at one place and don't get to the real carretes until like 2am and stay out until 6 or so. it is crazy and my body is having a hard time adjusting.
. Pepes has happy hour until 11pm!
14. Café Journal is super overpriced and has too many extranjeros. Café Juglar is WAY superior. their vino con fruta is the best.
some things i have learned:
1. raitails are the shit here, as are mullets
2. you are NOBODY if you don't have a fanny pack (called a banano)
3. chilean spanish is not spanish at all. it is its own language. luckily, Paulette and her friends are helping to compile a dictionary of Chilenismos for me so i can start to be able to understand what people are saying.
4. Panaderías smell so freaking good. Paulette can't comprehend the fact that we do not have such a thing.
5. it is rude to call ourselves Americans because Chileans feel that South America is America too. we come from the United States and are norteamericanos.
6. my ass will be nicely sculpted by the end of my 6 months here due to the incredible amount of cerros (hills). although Valpo is worse, Viña has its fair share of cerros.
7. Pablo Neruda had a strange sense of interior design...very poetic i guess you could say. however, his house in Valpo, La Sebastiana, had an incredible view of the city.
8. acensores, giant elevators to help you navigate the tremendous cerros in Valpo, are TONS of fun. they are so steep it is like a mini-roller coaster.
9. don't go through the effort of catching 2 micros (because you missed your stop by 2 stops) to get to the Casa Central in Valpo because chances are, you will get right back in a bus only to be dropped off LITERALLY at the end of your street in Viña. unbelievable.
10. el almuerzo is the most important meal of the day here. it is a little silly because everyone leaves work, school, whatever and travels all the way home just for an hour or so to eat together. it is nice...but sometimes inconvenient.
11. once happens everyday. it is like tea time. i really like it, i wish there was tea time in the US
12. people go out too late here. they start at one place and don't get to the real carretes until like 2am and stay out until 6 or so. it is crazy and my body is having a hard time adjusting.
. Pepes has happy hour until 11pm!
14. Café Journal is super overpriced and has too many extranjeros. Café Juglar is WAY superior. their vino con fruta is the best.
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