10:58 2-3-09
Avion al Calafate (Plane to Calafate)
I’m currently in the air heading to El Calafate for Spring Break as part of an included excursion with our program! In order to save money, ISA is using LADE, the Argentine military airline, so we actually have to make several ‘hop stops’ before we arrive at our destination. None of us really know what to expect from our trip to the south, but we know we will be spending a day at the Glacier National Park and seeing the Perito Moreno, one of the few stable glaciers (advancing and receding in equilibrium) in Argentina. Hopefully we’ll witness some of the famous ice calving (falling). Everyone is excited to leave the heat of BA for the cooler weather down at the southern tip of the country, and I’ve brought every warm clothing item I packed, so hopefully my Florida-acclimated self will survive…write more when we land!
14:15 (Ushuaia time, minus an hour from BA)
Aeropuerto (Airport) in Ushuaia
After our plane stopped in a random city, whose terrain Jessi described as Idaho (lots of flat land and bush), our plane took off again and we were en route to Ushuaia, the world’s most southern city. The landscape this time couldn’t have been more different – large snowy mountains and majestic blue lakes. We stepped off the plane this time to be greeted with 8 degree C temperature (40 something degrees) and lots of wind. All the people from Michigan and such were excited but I was COLD. And now we are in the airport waiting for the flight to our final destination. It’s gorgeous here and although I’m excited to go to El Calafate, I wish we could spend more time at the ‘end of the earth.’ I’m sad I can’t officially claim that I’ve been here since I haven’t ventured out the confines of the airport tarmac, but some of us are considering coming back on a 26 hour round-trip bus ride. We will see what I end up doing the next few days.
21:47
Pizzeria in El Calafate
My first impression of El Calafate was that it was a compromise between our last two plane stops – mountains, but with lots of bush and rocks. It reminded me a bit of the U.S. southwest. When we got out of the airport, we were in the middle of nowhere with no buildings or people in sight. After settling into the front of the top floor on our Double Decker bus, I took in the amazing panoramic views of the countryside and the city as we first approached it. Many of my compañeros (friends/companions) have likened this city to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with the whole expensive, classy tourist feel, and I’d have to agree.
Our hostel is ridiculously cute, like a giant ski cabin. After dropping our stuff off, a group of us walked down the main street, just two blocks away from our “lodge.” We spent some time looking at all the artsy shops and sat in the outside portion (brr!) of the café Librobar to grab a little bit of overpriced food (like all things here). We resumed our perusal of the different stops and I tried Calafate jam, which is made from a unique berry down here, best compared to a blueberry. The legend is that once you’ve tried the Calafate berry, you will return to Patagonia. Let’s hope this is true, because I know this is a place I will want to visit again. Well, looking forward to tomorrow when we head to the Glacier National Park!
Coli
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Life (and Death) in Argentina
23:10 el 1 de marzo 2009
Mi cama (my bed)
(continued from previous post)
Sunday afternoon, six of us headed to Recoleta to visit the arts-n-crafts feria (my third time there), and thanks to generous loans from my friends, I did make a few purchases, including a really pretty decorative mate and a green skirt.
Unfortunately, it started rain, so we headed to a café for pizza. Once the weather let up, Liz and I headed to the famous cementario, which was amazing. Imagine a small city of the dead, with large mausoleums instead of houses and coffins of aristocrats rather than living inhabitants. Thanks to the recent rain, the lack of other breathing bodies and damp atmosphere gave the walled city an incredibly haunted feel. Many of the tombs have fallen into disrepair as families are unable to afford upkeep so it was rather spooky to walk by these intricate mausoleums complete with pleading angels, broken glass, cobwebs, and be able to see the coffins up close. I kept expecting them to open and have a skeleton hand pop out and grab me. At one point, we found an old wooden ladder and we precariously climbed it to the top of a mausoleum to get a bird’s eye view of all the spires and cupolas. El Cementario de la Recoleta is a very exclusive country club for the dead elite, with only the oldest and richest families owning a mausoleum. One plot of land can go for more than 70,000 USD, making it the most expensive real estate per square footage in the world. Among others of the rich and famous of Argentina’s past, we saw Evita Perón’s tomb, who was the famous wife of President Júan Perón during the 1940s and 1950s (the musical and movie Evita was modeled after her life).
It’s amazing that I’ve been here just over a month now. I’ve really adapted well to living here, and I’ve gotten really comfortable with the city. There are a few things that I miss from the US though…
Nicole’s Miss List
1. Gum: Topline is pretty much the only brand, which isn’t that chewable or tasty. If I’m lucky to come across Beldent Splash, I splurge. Oh, how I miss my signature Trident gum scent.
2. Toilets: As you can tell from the post of my first day, there are hardly any public toilets. And toilet paper is even more scarce, many times requiring you to tip the bathroom attendant for its use.
3. Water: Oh, how I miss free water. The lack of water fountains and tap water at restaurants is a detriment to my soul. At least the pipe water is potable here, but I hate the extra expenses of buying drinks.
4. Peanut Butter: Well, actually I don’t really miss it, but a lot of my friends do. They have the alternative Peanut Paste, which is not the same, my friends. Some have resorted to begging and bribing people coming from the states to stash anywhere up to five jars of Jiffy in their suitcases. 5. Internet: Yes, my personal lack of internet connection has required trekking to the ISA office and cafes, which is not the biggest convenience in the world.
6. Telephones: I will be very grateful when I go back to the US and have a phone plan so that I don’t have to constantly pass by kioscos and pick up telephone cards. We burn through a 20 peso card with 5 minutes worth of calls here! TIP OF THE DAY: Stick to texting.
7. You! Of course I miss all my friends and family. When are you coming to visit me? :)
Other than these conveniences, I really don’t miss too much. I love going to the grocery store and picking up fresh French bread or the frutaderías to grab a few ripe pears and plums. I enjoy sitting for hours chatting at cute little cafes, kissing everyone hello and goodbye, and taking siestas in parks. I’m grateful for all the Spanish I’m learning and the friends I’m making. I can’t believe all the unique things I get to do and see here on a daily basis. It’s really fantastic!
Coli
¡Quiero, Quiero Carnaval!
22:02 el 1 de marzo 2009
Mi cama (My bed)
Well here I lay exhausted after another crazy weekend, but I’m going to try and hammer out some memories before I crash. So, we spontaneously decided to buy micro (long-distance bus) tickets on Thursday to take a 3.5 hour ride to Gualeguaychu, (think you can pronounce it? To me it sounds like wally-wa-chu) on Saturday morning. The tickets only cost AR$75 ida y vuelta (round trip) and we got semi-cama seats, which comfortably extend back and have a long foot rest so that you’re in a deep reclining position. We finally got onto the right bus – the tickets vaguely listed a 15 platform range to wait for our bus, and with ten of us trying to figure out where to go, another bus listed for Gualeguaychu at 9:15 that arrived before our 9:00 bus...well, it was a bit hectic. The bus system here and in Uruguay seems mildly chaotic to us foreigners.
My first impression when we arrived to Gualeguaychu was that it appeared to be a dusty little town, not the site of a huge national party. But, we finally encountered all the party people when we walked to the stadium to buy our tickets for later that night. We joined the long box office line and stood in the blistering sun for at least two and a half hours before we got to the front.
Tickets finally in hand, we were en route to beach, but got distracted by a playground for a while. I had the brilliant idea to go down a steep, burning hot metal slide face first, which of course ended badly/hilariously, depending on who you are asking. It was actually caught on camera and is commonly referred to as “Nicole’s epic slide fail.” Once the laughter died down from this incident (A/N: just kidding myself, people still crack up over it), we headed to a supermarket to grab picnic supplies and ended up eating in the park. We were all so comfy there that we napped and rested there for a while in the glorious shade. Eventually, we caught the bus to the beach area (on the river). Half of the group went to the beach that was reminiscent of MTV spring break at Cancun (I don’t think you could even see the sand because of all the packed bodies) while I went with the other group to a calm part of the river to stick our feet in the water and watch the sunset.
We had a bit of a crazy time trying to get back to the Carnival stadium because none of the taxis were stopping for us, but we all arrived for the start of the Carnival parade at 22:30. It was packed and people were definitely evoking the chaotic Carnival stereotypes, donning tiaras and spraying silly string and foam at innocent passerby. A bunch of us bought glittery headbands to commemorate the occasion and headed up to our seats. We were quite close to the center of the long runaway that glittery and feathered men and women would soon flaunt and dance down, and our spot at the top of the stands gave us our own dancing section. It was a non-stop party until 3:30 in the morning (except for those in our group who ended up falling asleep on the cement bleachers for a while), with only two intermissions. The three periods, if you will, were based around a different theme, and each consisted of a five minute song sung (live) on a continuous loop. (A/N: to this day we still burst out into random Carnival songs because they are so ingrained in the recesses of our minds…the first song was “¡Quiero, Quiero Carnival! , which means I want/ I love Carnival). At one point we tried to join the ranks of people that would make it over the barrier to snap a photo with a scantily-clad show girl (usually followed by a police escort), but were unsuccessful in getting past security. However, we did go down and dance on the main runway during one of the intermissions, which was pure craziness.
The costumes were incredible (well, what parts of the body that they covered) and the floats were simply unbelievable – intricate forty feet tall structures with dozens of dancers bouncing up and down on them). The first set was a collection of colorfully themed floats, such as a red and black Asian float, and another with an enormous Buddha on it. I was surprised by the theme of the floats after the first intermission, first depicting a jungle full of natives, then the arrival of the conquistadors (including men dressed up with women “Indians” tied to them with rope), a float with larger-than-life slaves burdened with harvests, others depicting the role of the church, and the grand finale with the grim reaper overlooking the natives. I don’t think you would see anything like that in the United States, although it was interesting that they would display it Argentina, where they brutally killed off almost all indigenous peoples, more so than any other country (hence the lack of mestizos, or descendents of unions between European and indigenous peoples).
The third wave of floats consisted of mostly fun Carnival floats, but even these had blatant political messages. Performers paraded by with signs of infamous slogans from past political eras, and one float boasted elaborate signs of quotes from political leaders, such as (paraphrasing and translating) “2001 will be a great year for Argentina.” This was the year of the peso crisis, where the economy plunged into chaos and employment rates soared up to 20 percent. There were also several references to the dirty war in the 1970s and 1980s. Thinking on it, it’s pretty cool I could understand so many of the cultural references in the parade.
After carnival ended (around 3:30), the crowd gathered in mob fashion (reminding me a bit of the Gators Football National Championship) in the arena and moved the party to the outside. We stopped by a spontaneous drum circle and danced in a semi-mosh pit (I even threw some African dance moves in there, Joanna!). Our energy levels came down quickly as we sat at a cafe and we sluggishly made in back to the bus station for our 6:00 bus. After sleeping during the three hour trek back to Buenos Aires, I went home to get a much needed shower (I was filthy from my dirt roll falling down the slide) and food before heading out again to see more of Buenos Aires…. (to be continued!)
Coli
Mi cama (My bed)
Well here I lay exhausted after another crazy weekend, but I’m going to try and hammer out some memories before I crash. So, we spontaneously decided to buy micro (long-distance bus) tickets on Thursday to take a 3.5 hour ride to Gualeguaychu, (think you can pronounce it? To me it sounds like wally-wa-chu) on Saturday morning. The tickets only cost AR$75 ida y vuelta (round trip) and we got semi-cama seats, which comfortably extend back and have a long foot rest so that you’re in a deep reclining position. We finally got onto the right bus – the tickets vaguely listed a 15 platform range to wait for our bus, and with ten of us trying to figure out where to go, another bus listed for Gualeguaychu at 9:15 that arrived before our 9:00 bus...well, it was a bit hectic. The bus system here and in Uruguay seems mildly chaotic to us foreigners.
My first impression when we arrived to Gualeguaychu was that it appeared to be a dusty little town, not the site of a huge national party. But, we finally encountered all the party people when we walked to the stadium to buy our tickets for later that night. We joined the long box office line and stood in the blistering sun for at least two and a half hours before we got to the front.
Tickets finally in hand, we were en route to beach, but got distracted by a playground for a while. I had the brilliant idea to go down a steep, burning hot metal slide face first, which of course ended badly/hilariously, depending on who you are asking. It was actually caught on camera and is commonly referred to as “Nicole’s epic slide fail.” Once the laughter died down from this incident (A/N: just kidding myself, people still crack up over it), we headed to a supermarket to grab picnic supplies and ended up eating in the park. We were all so comfy there that we napped and rested there for a while in the glorious shade. Eventually, we caught the bus to the beach area (on the river). Half of the group went to the beach that was reminiscent of MTV spring break at Cancun (I don’t think you could even see the sand because of all the packed bodies) while I went with the other group to a calm part of the river to stick our feet in the water and watch the sunset.
We had a bit of a crazy time trying to get back to the Carnival stadium because none of the taxis were stopping for us, but we all arrived for the start of the Carnival parade at 22:30. It was packed and people were definitely evoking the chaotic Carnival stereotypes, donning tiaras and spraying silly string and foam at innocent passerby. A bunch of us bought glittery headbands to commemorate the occasion and headed up to our seats. We were quite close to the center of the long runaway that glittery and feathered men and women would soon flaunt and dance down, and our spot at the top of the stands gave us our own dancing section. It was a non-stop party until 3:30 in the morning (except for those in our group who ended up falling asleep on the cement bleachers for a while), with only two intermissions. The three periods, if you will, were based around a different theme, and each consisted of a five minute song sung (live) on a continuous loop. (A/N: to this day we still burst out into random Carnival songs because they are so ingrained in the recesses of our minds…the first song was “¡Quiero, Quiero Carnival! , which means I want/ I love Carnival). At one point we tried to join the ranks of people that would make it over the barrier to snap a photo with a scantily-clad show girl (usually followed by a police escort), but were unsuccessful in getting past security. However, we did go down and dance on the main runway during one of the intermissions, which was pure craziness.
The costumes were incredible (well, what parts of the body that they covered) and the floats were simply unbelievable – intricate forty feet tall structures with dozens of dancers bouncing up and down on them). The first set was a collection of colorfully themed floats, such as a red and black Asian float, and another with an enormous Buddha on it. I was surprised by the theme of the floats after the first intermission, first depicting a jungle full of natives, then the arrival of the conquistadors (including men dressed up with women “Indians” tied to them with rope), a float with larger-than-life slaves burdened with harvests, others depicting the role of the church, and the grand finale with the grim reaper overlooking the natives. I don’t think you would see anything like that in the United States, although it was interesting that they would display it Argentina, where they brutally killed off almost all indigenous peoples, more so than any other country (hence the lack of mestizos, or descendents of unions between European and indigenous peoples).
The third wave of floats consisted of mostly fun Carnival floats, but even these had blatant political messages. Performers paraded by with signs of infamous slogans from past political eras, and one float boasted elaborate signs of quotes from political leaders, such as (paraphrasing and translating) “2001 will be a great year for Argentina.” This was the year of the peso crisis, where the economy plunged into chaos and employment rates soared up to 20 percent. There were also several references to the dirty war in the 1970s and 1980s. Thinking on it, it’s pretty cool I could understand so many of the cultural references in the parade.
After carnival ended (around 3:30), the crowd gathered in mob fashion (reminding me a bit of the Gators Football National Championship) in the arena and moved the party to the outside. We stopped by a spontaneous drum circle and danced in a semi-mosh pit (I even threw some African dance moves in there, Joanna!). Our energy levels came down quickly as we sat at a cafe and we sluggishly made in back to the bus station for our 6:00 bus. After sleeping during the three hour trek back to Buenos Aires, I went home to get a much needed shower (I was filthy from my dirt roll falling down the slide) and food before heading out again to see more of Buenos Aires…. (to be continued!)
Coli
Forget Exams Tonight, I Just Wanna Dance!
27-2-09 3:06
Mi cama (My bed)
The rest of my week after Uruguay consisted of preparing for my final exam for my Spanish class, which was on Thursday. I was a bit worried because 66% of my final grade depended on the written and oral exam and the grading is a lot tougher here (also, they use a scale from 1-10 instead of letters), but everything turned out fine in the end.
To celebrate the end of our class, we went to tango and salsa class again at La Viruta! I realized that I have yet to actually write about the history of tango. Though accounts have slightly varied, tango originated in the poor barrio of La Boca during the mid 19th century. I was told it actually originated as a dance between two men as they waited in line for the brothels. Of course, it later spread, and I suppose the prostitutes started dancing with their customers as well (hence the characterization of tango dancers), but tango didn’t hit mainstream until it was introduced to Europe and became popular there. I love listening to live tango music here, distinguished by the orquesta típica made up of two violins, piano, doublebass, and two accordian-like bandoneones (thank you wikipedia). The dance itself is rather complicated compared to most, with about 7 steps in the basic steps and lots of footwork, but its lots of fun once you learn and you have the right partner.
Today (Friday) was the last day of classes, and since we were just reviewing our exams, we got out early and headed to Palermo Soho for lunch, shopping, and a nap in park (one of my favorite activities, if you couldn’t tell). Unfortunately, my wallet was pick-pocketed from my purse while we were on the crowded Subte back to Belgrano, so I was a bit upset after that. Luckily, my friends were good at cheering me up that night as we went back to Palermo Soho for dinner at Pablo Picante, a restaurant that has no prices. That’s right, there are no prices – they are so confident in the amazingness of their food, that they let you pay what you think it deserves. Though I didn’t get anything due to my sudden lack of funds, everyone filled me up trying their food, which was delicious. It was a unique experience to say the least. We capped our night at an ice cream parlor to satiate everyone’s addiction, and now we are headed back for a few hours of sleep before we leave for the Argentine version of Carnival - hopefully we will be more successful this time!
Coli
Mi cama (My bed)
The rest of my week after Uruguay consisted of preparing for my final exam for my Spanish class, which was on Thursday. I was a bit worried because 66% of my final grade depended on the written and oral exam and the grading is a lot tougher here (also, they use a scale from 1-10 instead of letters), but everything turned out fine in the end.
To celebrate the end of our class, we went to tango and salsa class again at La Viruta! I realized that I have yet to actually write about the history of tango. Though accounts have slightly varied, tango originated in the poor barrio of La Boca during the mid 19th century. I was told it actually originated as a dance between two men as they waited in line for the brothels. Of course, it later spread, and I suppose the prostitutes started dancing with their customers as well (hence the characterization of tango dancers), but tango didn’t hit mainstream until it was introduced to Europe and became popular there. I love listening to live tango music here, distinguished by the orquesta típica made up of two violins, piano, doublebass, and two accordian-like bandoneones (thank you wikipedia). The dance itself is rather complicated compared to most, with about 7 steps in the basic steps and lots of footwork, but its lots of fun once you learn and you have the right partner.
Today (Friday) was the last day of classes, and since we were just reviewing our exams, we got out early and headed to Palermo Soho for lunch, shopping, and a nap in park (one of my favorite activities, if you couldn’t tell). Unfortunately, my wallet was pick-pocketed from my purse while we were on the crowded Subte back to Belgrano, so I was a bit upset after that. Luckily, my friends were good at cheering me up that night as we went back to Palermo Soho for dinner at Pablo Picante, a restaurant that has no prices. That’s right, there are no prices – they are so confident in the amazingness of their food, that they let you pay what you think it deserves. Though I didn’t get anything due to my sudden lack of funds, everyone filled me up trying their food, which was delicious. It was a unique experience to say the least. We capped our night at an ice cream parlor to satiate everyone’s addiction, and now we are headed back for a few hours of sleep before we leave for the Argentine version of Carnival - hopefully we will be more successful this time!
Coli
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Life's a Picnic/ Life's a Beach
Wednesday 25-2-09 15:06
Mi cama (My bed)
(A/N: Sadly, I wrote a journal entry in Spanish in my notebook about our last day in Uruguay, but I seem to have lost my notebook. The following is the best I can remember that I wrote)
Well, thanks to all the rain the whole weekend, most of the Carnival celebrations were apparently cancelled. At any rate, we rerouted our Monday plans but still had a great day – after all, I was in Uruguay with a group of amazing people.
In the early afternoon, Amanda and I had a picnic lunch consisting of grocery store finds and a large chivito-like sandwich (see previous post) with “everything on it” – I was surprised that my experiment with all the random condiments such as salsa and peppers and other unidentifiable items piled on my sandwich was quite delectable. We sat out on the Plaza Independencia with an amazing view of the statue of José Artigas (Uruguay’s national independence hero) whose remains reside below (we visited the spacious underground tomb the previous day). I was also mildly obsessed with the architecture and romantic lure of the Palacio Salvo, the tallest building in South American when built in the 1920’s. The weather was finally bright and sunny and I spent a bit lying in the grass and enjoying the scenery. We then met up with some others from our group and hopped on the bus that took us on a 40 minute ride to the beach. Along the way, I was glued to the window, taking in all the sights of the beautiful city and its architecture.
After getting dropped off, we all had to use the restroom, which resulted in one of the funnier moments of the trip. We came across a lone pay toilet stall in the middle of the park by the beach, but, being the cheap selves that we are, with the American value of free bathrooms firmly ingrained in our minds, we all tried to use the port-a-potty back-to-back to avoid each paying something like $7 Uruguayan pesos (or 25 cents). Unfortunately, we somehow broke it, or the toilet was smart enough to know that we were trying to jip it, so it refused to close the door. In the end, we all decided to take turns standing to block the opening while one person used the toilet. The image of us doing this in the middle of a crowded park was highly comical, to say the least. I have to say though, it was the cleanest port-a-potty with which I had come into contact; it even disinfected itself after every (proper) use. We were also really excited by the method used to wash hands – after sticking your hand into this little bubble thing behind the toilet and it would shoot out soap and water simultaneously, then the water flow would eventually stop and a fan would start and dry your hands! Very innovative.
After our baño adventure, we finally made it to the beach, which was nice. Nothing like beaches back in Florida, but the sand was fine and relatively clean and the water wasn’t as brown as in Buenos Aires. After sticking our legs in the water for a little bit, we struck up an impromptu game of fútbol americano (what we refer to as football in the states, since soccer is called fútbol here) with two guys from Montevideo. It was lots of fun and great to meet some locals.
Once we had our fill of the beach, a few of us decided to search for the nearby feria (fair), which we discovered was closed to the feria (holiday). Instead, we popped into a grocery store to store up on picnic items and walked back down to an extremely grassy spot in the park overlooking the water. It was so perfect and one of the best picnics I’ve ever had, complete with a loveable stray day who we named Monolo and the pouch of drinkable yogurt that we passed around in communal mate fashion (read blog about mate).
As the sun began to set, we made our way back to the heart of Montevideo so that the others in our group had the chance to pack for their 1 am departure. A group of us enjoyed a small dinner at an outdoor café in the old part of town before heading off. Though Amanda and I had planned on going to a foam party before catching our bus to Colonia at 6 am, we decided in the end to head to the station early ourselves since we already had our bags were at the bus stop.
Our 5 hour stay in the bus station was far from ideal – we were freezing, exhausted, but could not find a comfortable place to sleep. After they kicked us out of one section of highly rigid plastic chairs that prevented anything but sitting, Amanda and I found a small landing at the bottom of a staircase, and curled up on the slightly dirty floor. It was a really pathetic sight actually, but we were past the point of caring. When security came and kicked us out, we found a table to sit at and plopped our weary and shivering bodies down onto the chairs. At some point we used every peso we had left (again with the empty wallet!) to split a little media luna. The bus ride and ferry were a cold blur, and we finally got back to BA around 11:30. I have never been as thankful for the heat of Buenos Aires as I was at that moment.
I headed straight to the University of Belgrano to catch the end of class on Tuesday, and then conked out as soon as my head hit the pillow at home. Though I slept straight from 3 until midnight, I decided when I woke up that there was nothing to do but to fall back asleep, which I did until 7 in the morning or so. The 16 hours of sleep I got were more than the past 4 days combined, so it was more than welcome.
Other random memories of Uruguay:
In Montevideo, the garbage trucks were actually horse-drawn carts; it was a very interesting sight to see. I’m not sure if they were actually hired by the city, or just did their own personal “dumpster diving.”
Uruguay is a very traditional country in comparison to Argentina. Everything was closed on Sunday and there was hardly a soul outside. It was the oddest feeling to walk through such a huge yet seemly deserted city – it made us feel as though it was our own private playground.
Diversity: the citizens of Argentina actually have 97% European ancestry (more than any European country!), so it was different to see people of more diverse backgrounds in Uruguay (disclaimer: meant in a non-racist way, of course).
Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and went out of their way to give us detailed explanations when we asked for help. Even in Montevideo, on the main road with multiple lanes, cars would stop for us regardless of the light signals. They were quite laid back as well…well, except when it came to bringing backpacks into grocery stores.
In summary: I love Uruguay!
Coli
Mi cama (My bed)
(A/N: Sadly, I wrote a journal entry in Spanish in my notebook about our last day in Uruguay, but I seem to have lost my notebook. The following is the best I can remember that I wrote)
Well, thanks to all the rain the whole weekend, most of the Carnival celebrations were apparently cancelled. At any rate, we rerouted our Monday plans but still had a great day – after all, I was in Uruguay with a group of amazing people.
In the early afternoon, Amanda and I had a picnic lunch consisting of grocery store finds and a large chivito-like sandwich (see previous post) with “everything on it” – I was surprised that my experiment with all the random condiments such as salsa and peppers and other unidentifiable items piled on my sandwich was quite delectable. We sat out on the Plaza Independencia with an amazing view of the statue of José Artigas (Uruguay’s national independence hero) whose remains reside below (we visited the spacious underground tomb the previous day). I was also mildly obsessed with the architecture and romantic lure of the Palacio Salvo, the tallest building in South American when built in the 1920’s. The weather was finally bright and sunny and I spent a bit lying in the grass and enjoying the scenery. We then met up with some others from our group and hopped on the bus that took us on a 40 minute ride to the beach. Along the way, I was glued to the window, taking in all the sights of the beautiful city and its architecture.
After getting dropped off, we all had to use the restroom, which resulted in one of the funnier moments of the trip. We came across a lone pay toilet stall in the middle of the park by the beach, but, being the cheap selves that we are, with the American value of free bathrooms firmly ingrained in our minds, we all tried to use the port-a-potty back-to-back to avoid each paying something like $7 Uruguayan pesos (or 25 cents). Unfortunately, we somehow broke it, or the toilet was smart enough to know that we were trying to jip it, so it refused to close the door. In the end, we all decided to take turns standing to block the opening while one person used the toilet. The image of us doing this in the middle of a crowded park was highly comical, to say the least. I have to say though, it was the cleanest port-a-potty with which I had come into contact; it even disinfected itself after every (proper) use. We were also really excited by the method used to wash hands – after sticking your hand into this little bubble thing behind the toilet and it would shoot out soap and water simultaneously, then the water flow would eventually stop and a fan would start and dry your hands! Very innovative.
After our baño adventure, we finally made it to the beach, which was nice. Nothing like beaches back in Florida, but the sand was fine and relatively clean and the water wasn’t as brown as in Buenos Aires. After sticking our legs in the water for a little bit, we struck up an impromptu game of fútbol americano (what we refer to as football in the states, since soccer is called fútbol here) with two guys from Montevideo. It was lots of fun and great to meet some locals.
Once we had our fill of the beach, a few of us decided to search for the nearby feria (fair), which we discovered was closed to the feria (holiday). Instead, we popped into a grocery store to store up on picnic items and walked back down to an extremely grassy spot in the park overlooking the water. It was so perfect and one of the best picnics I’ve ever had, complete with a loveable stray day who we named Monolo and the pouch of drinkable yogurt that we passed around in communal mate fashion (read blog about mate).
As the sun began to set, we made our way back to the heart of Montevideo so that the others in our group had the chance to pack for their 1 am departure. A group of us enjoyed a small dinner at an outdoor café in the old part of town before heading off. Though Amanda and I had planned on going to a foam party before catching our bus to Colonia at 6 am, we decided in the end to head to the station early ourselves since we already had our bags were at the bus stop.
Our 5 hour stay in the bus station was far from ideal – we were freezing, exhausted, but could not find a comfortable place to sleep. After they kicked us out of one section of highly rigid plastic chairs that prevented anything but sitting, Amanda and I found a small landing at the bottom of a staircase, and curled up on the slightly dirty floor. It was a really pathetic sight actually, but we were past the point of caring. When security came and kicked us out, we found a table to sit at and plopped our weary and shivering bodies down onto the chairs. At some point we used every peso we had left (again with the empty wallet!) to split a little media luna. The bus ride and ferry were a cold blur, and we finally got back to BA around 11:30. I have never been as thankful for the heat of Buenos Aires as I was at that moment.
I headed straight to the University of Belgrano to catch the end of class on Tuesday, and then conked out as soon as my head hit the pillow at home. Though I slept straight from 3 until midnight, I decided when I woke up that there was nothing to do but to fall back asleep, which I did until 7 in the morning or so. The 16 hours of sleep I got were more than the past 4 days combined, so it was more than welcome.
Other random memories of Uruguay:
In Montevideo, the garbage trucks were actually horse-drawn carts; it was a very interesting sight to see. I’m not sure if they were actually hired by the city, or just did their own personal “dumpster diving.”
Uruguay is a very traditional country in comparison to Argentina. Everything was closed on Sunday and there was hardly a soul outside. It was the oddest feeling to walk through such a huge yet seemly deserted city – it made us feel as though it was our own private playground.
Diversity: the citizens of Argentina actually have 97% European ancestry (more than any European country!), so it was different to see people of more diverse backgrounds in Uruguay (disclaimer: meant in a non-racist way, of course).
Everyone was so friendly and helpful, and went out of their way to give us detailed explanations when we asked for help. Even in Montevideo, on the main road with multiple lanes, cars would stop for us regardless of the light signals. They were quite laid back as well…well, except when it came to bringing backpacks into grocery stores.
In summary: I love Uruguay!
Coli
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Watching Videos in Montevideo...
Monday, February 23, 2009 9:52 AM
Che Lagarto Hostel, Montevideo, Uruguay
Well, it continued to rain all day and the museums are closed on Sundays, so I was a little bummed we couldn’t go out and explore a bit of what makes Montevideo unique. After spending a relaxed morning chatting with the people in our hostel, Amanda and I finally decided to head out in the rain to find somewhere for lunch. When we passed a grocery store, we decided on a whim to just buy a few things there for a cheap lunch, and, if you can believe it, the rest of our group was in the exact same store! So we grabbed some bread, a tomato, yogurt, and fruit before heading back to the other hostel to eat our lunch. We all spent a cozy rainy afternoon drawing and watching movies. Our first attempt to be cultural and watch a Spanish movie resulted in awkward bonding experience over what I will label a ‘sexually-graphic musical.’ (Some of our favorite songs were ‘¿Qué vas a hacer?,’ and ‘Las chicas son guerreras’). Needless to say, we quickly changed the movie to a highly scratched, bootlegged version of the movie ‘Crash’ with subtitles.
We then had the brilliant idea to have an asado in the rain so we all sloshed several blocks to the supermercado. It was rather humorous to see a large group of Americans trying to figure out what kind of meat to get and how much to use for 14 people. Luckily, a guy from Brazil that we had met gave us his infinite wisdom and we headed back to the hostel with our groceries in tow. We spent several hours cooking a feast of meat, veggies, mashed potatoes, bread, etc and finally sat down like it was Thanksgiving dinner. It was a wonderful meal with our big, crazy ISA family.
After dinner, we headed back to Amanda’s and my hostel since it had a lot more room and a pool table. We spent several hours playing cards and just hanging out. After a very frustrated girl came out of her room in her underwear and screamed for a couple minutes about noise (ironic after all the noise and partying going down till the wee hours the night before), we decided it was time to head out to the boliche.
We went to a different boliche this time, but it was also free and we had a blast. There were lots of powerful fans this time too, so it wasn’t so hot. The music was mostly fun upbeat carnival/salsa songs and everyone had a great time dancing the night away. Five of us stayed until the club closed at 6 am (woo!) just to say we did it (although the closing time was rather early anyway). We then had the brilliant idea to stay up for the sunrise over the water, which was really pretty. Rather chilly, but pretty. Then when we realized it was 7:30, so we ventured back to our warm cozy beds for a solid 3 hours of sleep.
And now we are off for another day and night (of not sleeping!).
Looking forward to celebrating Carnival!
Coli
Che Lagarto Hostel, Montevideo, Uruguay
Well, it continued to rain all day and the museums are closed on Sundays, so I was a little bummed we couldn’t go out and explore a bit of what makes Montevideo unique. After spending a relaxed morning chatting with the people in our hostel, Amanda and I finally decided to head out in the rain to find somewhere for lunch. When we passed a grocery store, we decided on a whim to just buy a few things there for a cheap lunch, and, if you can believe it, the rest of our group was in the exact same store! So we grabbed some bread, a tomato, yogurt, and fruit before heading back to the other hostel to eat our lunch. We all spent a cozy rainy afternoon drawing and watching movies. Our first attempt to be cultural and watch a Spanish movie resulted in awkward bonding experience over what I will label a ‘sexually-graphic musical.’ (Some of our favorite songs were ‘¿Qué vas a hacer?,’ and ‘Las chicas son guerreras’). Needless to say, we quickly changed the movie to a highly scratched, bootlegged version of the movie ‘Crash’ with subtitles.
We then had the brilliant idea to have an asado in the rain so we all sloshed several blocks to the supermercado. It was rather humorous to see a large group of Americans trying to figure out what kind of meat to get and how much to use for 14 people. Luckily, a guy from Brazil that we had met gave us his infinite wisdom and we headed back to the hostel with our groceries in tow. We spent several hours cooking a feast of meat, veggies, mashed potatoes, bread, etc and finally sat down like it was Thanksgiving dinner. It was a wonderful meal with our big, crazy ISA family.
After dinner, we headed back to Amanda’s and my hostel since it had a lot more room and a pool table. We spent several hours playing cards and just hanging out. After a very frustrated girl came out of her room in her underwear and screamed for a couple minutes about noise (ironic after all the noise and partying going down till the wee hours the night before), we decided it was time to head out to the boliche.
We went to a different boliche this time, but it was also free and we had a blast. There were lots of powerful fans this time too, so it wasn’t so hot. The music was mostly fun upbeat carnival/salsa songs and everyone had a great time dancing the night away. Five of us stayed until the club closed at 6 am (woo!) just to say we did it (although the closing time was rather early anyway). We then had the brilliant idea to stay up for the sunrise over the water, which was really pretty. Rather chilly, but pretty. Then when we realized it was 7:30, so we ventured back to our warm cozy beds for a solid 3 hours of sleep.
And now we are off for another day and night (of not sleeping!).
Looking forward to celebrating Carnival!
Coli
Hey-O Montevideo!
13:20 22/2 /09
Che Largarto Hostel, Montevideo, Uruguay
Well, I meant to sleep on the bus to Montevideo but was unsuccessful - partly because I talked with my friend Ashley as we sat in the front seat - with an unobstructed view through the huge dashboard - and partly because we were too frightened to sleep as we observed the bus driver’s maneuvering habits from said view. A couple times we gasped out loud as we came within inches of cars on the highway, basically running them off the road; the cars would literally pull off to the side to avoid an untimely death. I mean, I wanted to get to the capital of Uruguay as soon as possible, but it wasn’t necessary to play bumper cars in order to make the schedule.
Although Amanda and I had a hostel booked this time, we had no idea where to go once again. After asking around, we found a bus stop near the station and it was as easy as jumping on the first bus that happened to pass by (with the assistance of several Uruguayans; they are so helpful here). We are staying directly on the main Plaza Independencia at the Che Lagarto Hostel for $9 USD a night. Although we accidently booked a different hostel than the rest of the group, it ended up being a great mistake. Our hostel is huge, with a gorgeous historic structure yet a very colorful and modern decor. Clean bathrooms too! Amanda and I shared a room with a guy from Israel and one from BA - apparently you have to leave the country to make friends with porteños. When we first arrived, the party was in full swing with a large group dancing and having a jam session in the common room. I really like the hostel atmosphere, everyone is really friendly and welcoming.
We eventually headed out to meet up with the rest of our group, but when we couldn’t find them, we ended up walking through the old town of Montevideo (conveniently right off Plaza Independencia) looking for a dinner spot. We were miffed to find out a lot of places were already closed at 2 am on a Saturday night, so we continued to wander, eventually coming across a pizza place that we deemed satisfactory. Amazingly enough, I heard my name being called while walking in and looked up to discover our entire group sitting at a big table. Amanda and I split a pizza de atún (tuna) without cheese, and while everyone said it looked gross, we enjoyed our filling meal for $1 USD each.
Our group then migrated back to the old town since the first cross street contained a lot of boliches and pubs. We were drawn to a boliche with reggaton (Woo hoo! Something besides electronic music!) and to top off perfection, there was no cover charge – I seriously love Uruguay! Although I didn’t think I listened to that much reggaton, I was surprised to discover that I knew just about every song. They then started playing carnival music and it was great fun dancing to the upbeat rhythms of the drums.
We left around 4:30 because we were going crazy with heat and headed a couple blocks down to the water, where we sat on the edge of the holding wall and looked out at the spectacular view of the dark sky contrasting with the choppy waves that crashed against the rocks below us. As we sat enjoying the cold temperature, we played a couple games of Castellano telephone (where you whisper a sentence down a line of people to see how much the sentence changes by the end) and we are either really creative, or really bad at listening in Castellano.
We headed back to our hostels around five to get a few winks of sleep, but sadly haven’t been able to go out yet today since it’s been raining. Amanda and I passed the time hanging out with some porteños and practicing our Castellano, but hopefully we will head out soon.
Chau! Coli
Che Largarto Hostel, Montevideo, Uruguay
Well, I meant to sleep on the bus to Montevideo but was unsuccessful - partly because I talked with my friend Ashley as we sat in the front seat - with an unobstructed view through the huge dashboard - and partly because we were too frightened to sleep as we observed the bus driver’s maneuvering habits from said view. A couple times we gasped out loud as we came within inches of cars on the highway, basically running them off the road; the cars would literally pull off to the side to avoid an untimely death. I mean, I wanted to get to the capital of Uruguay as soon as possible, but it wasn’t necessary to play bumper cars in order to make the schedule.
Although Amanda and I had a hostel booked this time, we had no idea where to go once again. After asking around, we found a bus stop near the station and it was as easy as jumping on the first bus that happened to pass by (with the assistance of several Uruguayans; they are so helpful here). We are staying directly on the main Plaza Independencia at the Che Lagarto Hostel for $9 USD a night. Although we accidently booked a different hostel than the rest of the group, it ended up being a great mistake. Our hostel is huge, with a gorgeous historic structure yet a very colorful and modern decor. Clean bathrooms too! Amanda and I shared a room with a guy from Israel and one from BA - apparently you have to leave the country to make friends with porteños. When we first arrived, the party was in full swing with a large group dancing and having a jam session in the common room. I really like the hostel atmosphere, everyone is really friendly and welcoming.
We eventually headed out to meet up with the rest of our group, but when we couldn’t find them, we ended up walking through the old town of Montevideo (conveniently right off Plaza Independencia) looking for a dinner spot. We were miffed to find out a lot of places were already closed at 2 am on a Saturday night, so we continued to wander, eventually coming across a pizza place that we deemed satisfactory. Amazingly enough, I heard my name being called while walking in and looked up to discover our entire group sitting at a big table. Amanda and I split a pizza de atún (tuna) without cheese, and while everyone said it looked gross, we enjoyed our filling meal for $1 USD each.
Our group then migrated back to the old town since the first cross street contained a lot of boliches and pubs. We were drawn to a boliche with reggaton (Woo hoo! Something besides electronic music!) and to top off perfection, there was no cover charge – I seriously love Uruguay! Although I didn’t think I listened to that much reggaton, I was surprised to discover that I knew just about every song. They then started playing carnival music and it was great fun dancing to the upbeat rhythms of the drums.
We left around 4:30 because we were going crazy with heat and headed a couple blocks down to the water, where we sat on the edge of the holding wall and looked out at the spectacular view of the dark sky contrasting with the choppy waves that crashed against the rocks below us. As we sat enjoying the cold temperature, we played a couple games of Castellano telephone (where you whisper a sentence down a line of people to see how much the sentence changes by the end) and we are either really creative, or really bad at listening in Castellano.
We headed back to our hostels around five to get a few winks of sleep, but sadly haven’t been able to go out yet today since it’s been raining. Amanda and I passed the time hanging out with some porteños and practicing our Castellano, but hopefully we will head out soon.
Chau! Coli
I´d Like to Own Ya, Colonia
21-2-09 19:24
Hostel en Colonia
After checking out this morning, Amanda and I left our bags at the hostel (so grateful they let you do that down here) and headed out to grab breakfast in the old part of town. We settled into a cute and colorful café with brick walls and lots of old windows looking out onto the plaza as we each feasted on four thick sandwiches smothered in cheese and other goodness (usually sandwiches here are tiny, thin, and crustless). During our gigantic meal, we were serenaded by the voice of Frank Sinatra, so, really, it couldn’t get any better than that. Well, besides the fact that they overcharged us with the exchange rate when we paid in Argentine pesos (they accept them everywhere in Colonia because the town is so dependent on porteño tourists – FYI, the Uruguayan peso is about 22.5 pesos to $1 USD).
Amanda and I then headed to a little beach to lie out and relax since we hadn’t slept much the night before. Although it was really cloudy out, we somehow got pretty burned (the sun down here is so crazy, at this rate I’m going to have to buy a darker shade of makeup foundation to balance spending so many hours outside every day)
After we rested up a bit, we decided to head back to the bus station to buy tickets to Montevideo to make sure they didn’t run out. On our way, we paused at the old wall that surrounded the original part of Colonia and were taking pictures of the original canons and the ocean when Amanda said, “Look at that group of people, they are so obviously American, that one guy is even wearing a neon ‘Party with [insert fraternity name here].” So, of course, I turn around and realize that I in fact knew the group evidently made up of Americans because they were all my friends on the ISA excursion to Colonia. After a quick reunion, the twelve of us that were going to continue on the Montevideo later that night headed to the bus station to discover they had exactly twelve tickets left (again, everything about Colonia was perfect).
We then headed back to the old town and Amanda and I toured to collection of small museums they had there. My favorites were a reproduction of a Portuguese home from the 18c and the old map collections they had in the Portuguese Museum. I still am amazed at how these ancient explorers could have such accurate maps as early as the 1500´s...they didn´t even have Google Maps to help them out. The superlative for most random museum goes to the Municipal Museum. After walking through a taxidermy room with tons of birds that looked ready to peck at my face and creepy looking bugs, we headed to a fossil room with large skeletons and shells of dinosaurs (Many dinosaur bones have been discovered recently in the River Plata area – that is, Argentina and Uruguay – recently), followed by old period-furniture from the 18c, followed by religious reliquaries…you get the idea. I also went up the old lighthouse and had a windy view of the city.
After grabbing my first chicken burger at a small stand with my last seven pesos (my poor empty wallet), we stopped by the hostel here to pick up our bags and now we are off to the bus station. Although I absolutely adored Colonia, I’m excited to head to Montevideo!
¡Hasta llego a la capital! (Until I arrive at the capital!)
Coli
Hostel en Colonia
After checking out this morning, Amanda and I left our bags at the hostel (so grateful they let you do that down here) and headed out to grab breakfast in the old part of town. We settled into a cute and colorful café with brick walls and lots of old windows looking out onto the plaza as we each feasted on four thick sandwiches smothered in cheese and other goodness (usually sandwiches here are tiny, thin, and crustless). During our gigantic meal, we were serenaded by the voice of Frank Sinatra, so, really, it couldn’t get any better than that. Well, besides the fact that they overcharged us with the exchange rate when we paid in Argentine pesos (they accept them everywhere in Colonia because the town is so dependent on porteño tourists – FYI, the Uruguayan peso is about 22.5 pesos to $1 USD).
Amanda and I then headed to a little beach to lie out and relax since we hadn’t slept much the night before. Although it was really cloudy out, we somehow got pretty burned (the sun down here is so crazy, at this rate I’m going to have to buy a darker shade of makeup foundation to balance spending so many hours outside every day)
After we rested up a bit, we decided to head back to the bus station to buy tickets to Montevideo to make sure they didn’t run out. On our way, we paused at the old wall that surrounded the original part of Colonia and were taking pictures of the original canons and the ocean when Amanda said, “Look at that group of people, they are so obviously American, that one guy is even wearing a neon ‘Party with [insert fraternity name here].” So, of course, I turn around and realize that I in fact knew the group evidently made up of Americans because they were all my friends on the ISA excursion to Colonia. After a quick reunion, the twelve of us that were going to continue on the Montevideo later that night headed to the bus station to discover they had exactly twelve tickets left (again, everything about Colonia was perfect).
We then headed back to the old town and Amanda and I toured to collection of small museums they had there. My favorites were a reproduction of a Portuguese home from the 18c and the old map collections they had in the Portuguese Museum. I still am amazed at how these ancient explorers could have such accurate maps as early as the 1500´s...they didn´t even have Google Maps to help them out. The superlative for most random museum goes to the Municipal Museum. After walking through a taxidermy room with tons of birds that looked ready to peck at my face and creepy looking bugs, we headed to a fossil room with large skeletons and shells of dinosaurs (Many dinosaur bones have been discovered recently in the River Plata area – that is, Argentina and Uruguay – recently), followed by old period-furniture from the 18c, followed by religious reliquaries…you get the idea. I also went up the old lighthouse and had a windy view of the city.
After grabbing my first chicken burger at a small stand with my last seven pesos (my poor empty wallet), we stopped by the hostel here to pick up our bags and now we are off to the bus station. Although I absolutely adored Colonia, I’m excited to head to Montevideo!
¡Hasta llego a la capital! (Until I arrive at the capital!)
Coli
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Hot Days, Colonia Nights
21-2-09 10:02
Hostel El Español en Colonia, Uruguay
Last night was probably one of the best nights of my life. Every moment about it was just perfect and Colonia is an absolutely gorgeous, quaint little town. It was also a great excuse to leave the heat of Buenos Aires, which reached over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Farhenheit) yesterday. I didn´t realize the temperature would be so much cooler in Uruguay, so we will see how my resfusal to bring any warm clothes plays out (AN: bad idea, it got so chilly!). When Amanda and I first got off the boat, we were excited to start a crazy adventure figuring out where to stay. However, the first thing we saw was a sign for the Hostelling International (HI) affiliate in Colonia (the chain has hostels all over the world, easy on the budget yet high on quality) declaring that the hostel was 600 meters (yes, they use metric here) away. So, we just followed the breadcrumb signs to the hostel, thinking that it was way too easy. Well, it turned out there was no vacancy, so we did manage to have a mini-adventure finding another hostel, El Español, a few blocks away. It gives off the feel of a very authentic Argentine home, and, for $8 a night, we shared a sparse but clean room to ourselves.
We then took to walking around Colonia and exclaiming how cute or amazing everything was. The town was so quiet, with very few people out, and we just felt extremely happy and excited walking through the cobblestone streets flanked by sycamore trees and old-fashioned street lamps. We also prattled on about the vintage cars from the 1930s and 1940s that we saw everywhere. Uruguay experienced an economic boom during this period and imported a lot of American and European cars, but when the economy declined during the subsequent decades, they couldn’t afford to import new cars and had to make do with repairing the Model T’s they already had. As a result, antique car dealers are going crazy at present and buying up these vintage cars. I hope they all don’t disappear, because they add great character to the town.
We managed to catch the sunset on the pier, all the while just appreciating the moment and feeling completely at peace with the world. It just felt great to be living. Once the sun had gone down, we headed to an outdoor café for a delicious dinner and had an ‘It’s a small world moment’ when we ran into a woman that Amanda had met in her hostel in BA at the restaurant…after seeing her at the HI hostel as well.
As we sat at our umbrella-covered table looking out over the main cobble-stoned road, we continued to marvel at the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. There wasn’t a single traffic light, but all cars stopped for pedestrians, a world of a difference from BA. Once we had eaten out fill of our huge chivitos (Uruguayan sandwich of thin flank steak) with egg, cheese, bacon, etc, we hit the streets. As we approached one restaurant, our ears were treated to the sounds of a murga, so we popped in for a bit to enjoy this unique aspect of the Uruguayan carnival. Murgas are music theatre groups that perform original songs during Carnival, generally consisting of a small percussion band containing a bombo (bass drum), redoblante (snare drum), and platillos (cymbals), as well as about fifteen singers (usually male) who wear really fun, colorful costumes and face paint. It’s a great, energetic atmosphere.
Amanda and I then continued to wander, and we weaved our way through the center of the old town as we made our way to the water’s edge. After enjoying the sight of the moon and the dark waves crashing against the breaking wall, we let our ears lead us again to a live band playing outside a cafe and we joined the locals sitting on the nearby grass. When the band finished playing, we followed the crowd as it migrated to the cafe next door and discovered...KARAOKE! Of course, we couldn’t turn down spontaneously singing in front of a group that certainly did not include any Americans. So what other song would we sing but ‘Living La Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin? This was in part due to the fact that we were, in fact, living la vida loca and also that there were very few songs that both Amanda and I knew well enough to sing. Although I joked with the crowd about us singing such a cliché song, they were very encouraging and cheered us on the whole time. It was very memorable and gave us quite the adrenaline rush.
After we made our grand exit off the stage, we resumed our habit of walking and headed to the club to which our hostel had given us free tickets. However, it was only one am when we arrived, so the club wasn’t even open. Colonia had a habit of “ask and ye shall receive.” When in need of both something to drink and something to do, we looked across the street and found both a kiosco and a park with a playground and carnival rides. We whittled away the time playing on monkey bars and sitting with some locals as we watched the end of King Kong on a little TV on the kiosco counter.
Finally, the club tr3s cu4rto opened and we headed to the outside lounge in to get a good spot to watch the murga that was performing there that night. They began their performance around 3 am, parading in with costumes that were even more elaborate than the first group we saw. The music was a blast to listen to, like a very upbeat music theater, and it was overall an incredible and unique experience. The premise of the performance was of a man who was down on his luck, but aided by “Suerte” (“Luck,” a man complete with a cape and S on the chest), he was able to turn it around for him and his son. Although all the songs are original, sometimes the murga would take popular songs and make their own lyrics to fit the song, many which were very catchy. They even played the Barney song at one point!
When the murga finished, we headed back to the club area and were ecstatic to discover a club that played reggaton and other non-techno music, and was populated not only by people our age, but also by guys that did not act like those in BA (ie, aggressive and touchy-feely, see previous post)! So although we were very tired, we swayed our hips to the music for a bit before retiring to our hostel around 5. And now after a few hours sleep, we are off for another beautiful day in Colonia! Can’t wait to see what’s in store!
Coli
Hostel El Español en Colonia, Uruguay
Last night was probably one of the best nights of my life. Every moment about it was just perfect and Colonia is an absolutely gorgeous, quaint little town. It was also a great excuse to leave the heat of Buenos Aires, which reached over 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Farhenheit) yesterday. I didn´t realize the temperature would be so much cooler in Uruguay, so we will see how my resfusal to bring any warm clothes plays out (AN: bad idea, it got so chilly!). When Amanda and I first got off the boat, we were excited to start a crazy adventure figuring out where to stay. However, the first thing we saw was a sign for the Hostelling International (HI) affiliate in Colonia (the chain has hostels all over the world, easy on the budget yet high on quality) declaring that the hostel was 600 meters (yes, they use metric here) away. So, we just followed the breadcrumb signs to the hostel, thinking that it was way too easy. Well, it turned out there was no vacancy, so we did manage to have a mini-adventure finding another hostel, El Español, a few blocks away. It gives off the feel of a very authentic Argentine home, and, for $8 a night, we shared a sparse but clean room to ourselves.
We then took to walking around Colonia and exclaiming how cute or amazing everything was. The town was so quiet, with very few people out, and we just felt extremely happy and excited walking through the cobblestone streets flanked by sycamore trees and old-fashioned street lamps. We also prattled on about the vintage cars from the 1930s and 1940s that we saw everywhere. Uruguay experienced an economic boom during this period and imported a lot of American and European cars, but when the economy declined during the subsequent decades, they couldn’t afford to import new cars and had to make do with repairing the Model T’s they already had. As a result, antique car dealers are going crazy at present and buying up these vintage cars. I hope they all don’t disappear, because they add great character to the town.
We managed to catch the sunset on the pier, all the while just appreciating the moment and feeling completely at peace with the world. It just felt great to be living. Once the sun had gone down, we headed to an outdoor café for a delicious dinner and had an ‘It’s a small world moment’ when we ran into a woman that Amanda had met in her hostel in BA at the restaurant…after seeing her at the HI hostel as well.
As we sat at our umbrella-covered table looking out over the main cobble-stoned road, we continued to marvel at the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. There wasn’t a single traffic light, but all cars stopped for pedestrians, a world of a difference from BA. Once we had eaten out fill of our huge chivitos (Uruguayan sandwich of thin flank steak) with egg, cheese, bacon, etc, we hit the streets. As we approached one restaurant, our ears were treated to the sounds of a murga, so we popped in for a bit to enjoy this unique aspect of the Uruguayan carnival. Murgas are music theatre groups that perform original songs during Carnival, generally consisting of a small percussion band containing a bombo (bass drum), redoblante (snare drum), and platillos (cymbals), as well as about fifteen singers (usually male) who wear really fun, colorful costumes and face paint. It’s a great, energetic atmosphere.
Amanda and I then continued to wander, and we weaved our way through the center of the old town as we made our way to the water’s edge. After enjoying the sight of the moon and the dark waves crashing against the breaking wall, we let our ears lead us again to a live band playing outside a cafe and we joined the locals sitting on the nearby grass. When the band finished playing, we followed the crowd as it migrated to the cafe next door and discovered...KARAOKE! Of course, we couldn’t turn down spontaneously singing in front of a group that certainly did not include any Americans. So what other song would we sing but ‘Living La Vida Loca’ by Ricky Martin? This was in part due to the fact that we were, in fact, living la vida loca and also that there were very few songs that both Amanda and I knew well enough to sing. Although I joked with the crowd about us singing such a cliché song, they were very encouraging and cheered us on the whole time. It was very memorable and gave us quite the adrenaline rush.
After we made our grand exit off the stage, we resumed our habit of walking and headed to the club to which our hostel had given us free tickets. However, it was only one am when we arrived, so the club wasn’t even open. Colonia had a habit of “ask and ye shall receive.” When in need of both something to drink and something to do, we looked across the street and found both a kiosco and a park with a playground and carnival rides. We whittled away the time playing on monkey bars and sitting with some locals as we watched the end of King Kong on a little TV on the kiosco counter.
Finally, the club tr3s cu4rto opened and we headed to the outside lounge in to get a good spot to watch the murga that was performing there that night. They began their performance around 3 am, parading in with costumes that were even more elaborate than the first group we saw. The music was a blast to listen to, like a very upbeat music theater, and it was overall an incredible and unique experience. The premise of the performance was of a man who was down on his luck, but aided by “Suerte” (“Luck,” a man complete with a cape and S on the chest), he was able to turn it around for him and his son. Although all the songs are original, sometimes the murga would take popular songs and make their own lyrics to fit the song, many which were very catchy. They even played the Barney song at one point!
When the murga finished, we headed back to the club area and were ecstatic to discover a club that played reggaton and other non-techno music, and was populated not only by people our age, but also by guys that did not act like those in BA (ie, aggressive and touchy-feely, see previous post)! So although we were very tired, we swayed our hips to the music for a bit before retiring to our hostel around 5. And now after a few hours sleep, we are off for another beautiful day in Colonia! Can’t wait to see what’s in store!
Coli
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Luna de Miel
20-2-09 18:15
Buquebus!
Right now I’m with Amanda on the Buquebus boat to Uruguay to begin what we refer to as our Luna de Miel (honeymoon). It’s so crazy that we are heading to another country! I’m loving this huge boat, it’s almost like being on a plane, except it’s very spacious, has a snack bar, and the seats are super comfortable (although the bathrooms are about the same as an airplane's). After making it through customs in 3 minutes, we got on the boat about thirty seconds before it departed and now we’re off to our destination!
In about an hour we will be landing in Colonia del Sacramento, the oldest city in Uruguay. We have no idea where we are staying or what we are doing but it will be a spontaneous adventure. We are considering renting a cabana on the beach that we read about somewhere, but currently the only info we have on it is the address: “near the beach, Uruguay.” Thank you, helpful internet sites and tour books.
And I can’t wait to head to Montevideo to participate in the huge Carnival they have on Monday (the biggest day of the celebration, what perfect timing!) Well, I’m going to snooze since I doubt I’ll sleep much this weekend! (AN: this was a correct assumption)
Besos!
Coli
Buquebus!
Right now I’m with Amanda on the Buquebus boat to Uruguay to begin what we refer to as our Luna de Miel (honeymoon). It’s so crazy that we are heading to another country! I’m loving this huge boat, it’s almost like being on a plane, except it’s very spacious, has a snack bar, and the seats are super comfortable (although the bathrooms are about the same as an airplane's). After making it through customs in 3 minutes, we got on the boat about thirty seconds before it departed and now we’re off to our destination!
In about an hour we will be landing in Colonia del Sacramento, the oldest city in Uruguay. We have no idea where we are staying or what we are doing but it will be a spontaneous adventure. We are considering renting a cabana on the beach that we read about somewhere, but currently the only info we have on it is the address: “near the beach, Uruguay.” Thank you, helpful internet sites and tour books.
And I can’t wait to head to Montevideo to participate in the huge Carnival they have on Monday (the biggest day of the celebration, what perfect timing!) Well, I’m going to snooze since I doubt I’ll sleep much this weekend! (AN: this was a correct assumption)
Besos!
Coli
Cafés y Bailes
19-02-09 23:46
At a Café
(AN: Due to lack of internet, I’m a bit behind on publishing my posts. Don’t worry, I’ve still been jotting everything down, so please just have a little patience as I try to get everything up on the internet. I promise I’ve been writing way too much and you’ll get to read it all soon!)
Before I start recounting my week, a little side note: I forgot to mention that I went to the Botanical Gardens and the huge Parque de Tres de Febrero (also known as the Bosque de Palermo, or ‘Forest of Palermo’) Friday afternoon after class with my friends Kara and Jessi, and Jessi’s “host cousin.” It was really pretty and seemed to be a hotspot for cats because they were everywhere.
Sunday
I met up with my friend Amanda in the Recoleta barrio during the afternoon, which we spent walking around the feria admiring all the paintings and homemade crafts. We then grabbed lunch in a cute little café nearby, followed by settling into a ritzy movie theatre to see “¿Quién ser un millonario?” or “Slumdog Millionaire” Although I had already seen it in the United States, I was more than happy to see it again because it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. Plus, it was really interesting to listen to the parts that were in Indian with Spanish subtitles.
Monday
While some people might go bar hopping, my friends and I prefer to go on café crawls in order to find internet. On this day, we visited three different cafes (great excuse to get ice cream or empanadas) and finally found our late-night hang out spot at Persicco, the café on Aveneda Juramento that we have frequented in the past. Free internet + late hours + fantastic ice cream = our kind of place.
Tuesday
ISA arranged for an Intercambio, or exchange, for us to meet local porteños at a mate bar in Palermo. It was my first time trying mate, an extremely popular drink in this region. I would compare it to tea, except that it’s bitterer and contains a lot more caffeine to give these sleep-deprived porteños energy. Drinking mate is a social ceremony: after filing the mate (the hollowed-out gourd from which you drink, confusingly sharing the same name with the drink itself) with the mate herbs (and sugar or flavorings, if you so desire), near-boiling water is poured from a thermos and passed to the person next to you. Each person is supposed to drink from the gourd until the water is gone, and then refill it for the next person. Since I’m not a big drinker of coffee or tea, I was not a fan of the bitter mate so I just chowed down on tostadas (toasted breads) with dulce de leche and butter while conversing at a table with several porteños and estadounidenses (people from the US – after all, we aren’t the only Americans). We exchanged contact info, so I hope we have the chance to hang out with them again to spend to time with more locals.
Thursday
We all got out of class early because of a bomb threat to the school. Apparently this is a very rare occurrence, because my teacher said she had never experienced that during the 3 years she had worked there. Luckily, nothing happened, although we had to leave all our books and stuff behind since we were at lunch when we were told to evacuate. The highlight of the day was heading to the tango class again, this time as part of an ISA excursion, so the whole gang was there. After learning some new steps, we stayed for the salsa class as well, which was a blast, especially the warm-up song where we all sort of line-danced salsa moves.
Well, that was my week, and I'm looking forward to my weekend!
Coli
At a Café
(AN: Due to lack of internet, I’m a bit behind on publishing my posts. Don’t worry, I’ve still been jotting everything down, so please just have a little patience as I try to get everything up on the internet. I promise I’ve been writing way too much and you’ll get to read it all soon!)
Before I start recounting my week, a little side note: I forgot to mention that I went to the Botanical Gardens and the huge Parque de Tres de Febrero (also known as the Bosque de Palermo, or ‘Forest of Palermo’) Friday afternoon after class with my friends Kara and Jessi, and Jessi’s “host cousin.” It was really pretty and seemed to be a hotspot for cats because they were everywhere.
Sunday
I met up with my friend Amanda in the Recoleta barrio during the afternoon, which we spent walking around the feria admiring all the paintings and homemade crafts. We then grabbed lunch in a cute little café nearby, followed by settling into a ritzy movie theatre to see “¿Quién ser un millonario?” or “Slumdog Millionaire” Although I had already seen it in the United States, I was more than happy to see it again because it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. Plus, it was really interesting to listen to the parts that were in Indian with Spanish subtitles.
Monday
While some people might go bar hopping, my friends and I prefer to go on café crawls in order to find internet. On this day, we visited three different cafes (great excuse to get ice cream or empanadas) and finally found our late-night hang out spot at Persicco, the café on Aveneda Juramento that we have frequented in the past. Free internet + late hours + fantastic ice cream = our kind of place.
Tuesday
ISA arranged for an Intercambio, or exchange, for us to meet local porteños at a mate bar in Palermo. It was my first time trying mate, an extremely popular drink in this region. I would compare it to tea, except that it’s bitterer and contains a lot more caffeine to give these sleep-deprived porteños energy. Drinking mate is a social ceremony: after filing the mate (the hollowed-out gourd from which you drink, confusingly sharing the same name with the drink itself) with the mate herbs (and sugar or flavorings, if you so desire), near-boiling water is poured from a thermos and passed to the person next to you. Each person is supposed to drink from the gourd until the water is gone, and then refill it for the next person. Since I’m not a big drinker of coffee or tea, I was not a fan of the bitter mate so I just chowed down on tostadas (toasted breads) with dulce de leche and butter while conversing at a table with several porteños and estadounidenses (people from the US – after all, we aren’t the only Americans). We exchanged contact info, so I hope we have the chance to hang out with them again to spend to time with more locals.
Thursday
We all got out of class early because of a bomb threat to the school. Apparently this is a very rare occurrence, because my teacher said she had never experienced that during the 3 years she had worked there. Luckily, nothing happened, although we had to leave all our books and stuff behind since we were at lunch when we were told to evacuate. The highlight of the day was heading to the tango class again, this time as part of an ISA excursion, so the whole gang was there. After learning some new steps, we stayed for the salsa class as well, which was a blast, especially the warm-up song where we all sort of line-danced salsa moves.
Well, that was my week, and I'm looking forward to my weekend!
Coli
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