Archive for January, 2010

No me sale. No puedo dejar de pensar en ello

No me puede salir.  Estoy todavia en la imagen

Como viviendo con un pie en un mundo y otro aqui, dividiendome

Por que .. no se

Me ha convertido no se como ni una explicacion seria suficiente

No tiene sentido

Ya que esta dentro de mi alma

No esta fuera de mi cuerpo

No lo puedo quitar

… y hombre te digo q no quiero quitar

- de sentir

- de vivir

- de cantar

He cambiado, lo puedo sentir.  No me puede despedir no quiere separarse con la pie.

Estoy contando pensado en pesos

Quiero saludar con un beso, un abrazo, un hola

Prefiero estar en the calle (ca-shay)

Donde suponeria que estuviera un monton de gente pero no hay

Estoy sola.  Estoy sola?  Bajo las nubes la lluvia el cafe moreno como la gente sin sueno

Porque no lo descubri antes, se q despues de ocho anios y la vida pasando en los dos pies siempre

El Tiempo es precioso

Y que gracioso que no me di cuenta bajo mis pensamientos mi rutina aburrida y me pasaba la vida

JODER

Me siento otra persona.  Me siento despertada.  Tengo ganas de convertir en otra persona despertada de verdad.

No se en total que significara pero en los ultimos dias me he sentido otra.

Como si estuviera durmiendo la pie y ahora me siento el hormigueo, no dolor, despertador.

GENIAL!

Lo definitivo es renunciar la habitual la normal y continuar subiendo el cerro de hormigas, triunfante.

Ahora metas alcanzadas, dejando de la ‘ruida’, de lo caotico, enfocando en lo que me empuje lo que me envuelve lo que me ayuda, y lo q me da la motiva de seguir

ADELANTE

Don’t cry (for me Argentina) because it’s over. Smile because it happened.

Last night in BA.  I’ve spent it working, recovering from last night’s goodbye party, organizing, and eating Chinese takeout.

I’ve gotten teary eyed a couple of times.  I’m sad to leave.  I’m realizing that a place can really touch you but also the people around you make a difference.

There’s still a lot to share, but I decided to do a summary of parts with some memories.

RRRRRRRR’s:

I learned how to roll my R’s.  FINALLY!!!  After 7+ years studying Spanish, living in Spain, Central America, and now South America, finally – and in an unexpected moment on the rooftop terrace eating dinner, out popped a new sound that I’ve been trying to make for yeeeaaaars!  My host brother teased me years ago that I had a speech impediment and that people like me belong in therapy – if he only knew.  I did it! Still I need practice and that I’ve been doing, but I finally did it!

The Christmas Package

My mom sent me a Christmas package.  Thinking it would never have arrived not only due to the time of year but because the package contained food – Gram’s apricot bread and Aunt Renie’s cookies – finally on Jan 11 I got the notice.  Since nothing in Argentina runs smoothly, I decided to arrive when the office opened.  A long line of people and a 3 hour wait later, plus a second waiting room – one was to check in, the other was to wait for the package – finally it arrived.  Smart, mom, for vacuum sealing them.  My roommates and cousin Barry, and me, were all extremely happy! Worth the wait.

Dentista

After 5 years of no insurance and not having gone to the dentist, I decided I would go here.  An educated workforce, but still distrustful of unknown practices, I went in for a cleaning.  I had to be rescheduled for a week later due to the machine breaking (as if I wasn’t nervous enough), but the dentist greeted me with a beso on the cheek, genial.  1 teeth cleaning, 3 cavities, bill total approx. $70 usd.  Score!  I’ll miss some of the costs of living here, including the $5 leg waxing and the dentist.

People, Greets, Dogs

People greet each other here on the street or at work with a kiss on the cheek.  It’s the normal greeting, which seems strange at work, but also very nice.  The people here are really friendly.  In the city, nobody says hello or smiles on the street.  However, if you stop to ask a question or talk to someone, they love to chat with you.  Dinners and lunches last hours as people sit and chat.  When walking in the store, you always look at the owner and say hello / good day / how are you.

Today I saw a lazy fat cat just chilling on the step outside of a restaurant.  It’s amazing to me how the dogs and cats just do their own thing.  Dogs, like the humans, don’t pay any attention to anyone, as nobody else on the street – like in the states – bends down to pet them.  Animals seem well taken care of here and happy.

Upside Down in South America

Did you know that the toilet flushes the opposite way here?  Or how about that instead of the Big and Little Dipper, I see Orion.  Supposedly the Southern Cross too?  Haven’t yet seen that one.  It’s amazing to realize how much the world changes and how we are truly a round earth, not flat!  We eat, walk, sleep the same but we see and experience different parts of the planet.

More useless ramblings to be added…

Unplug yourself!  That´s advice I absolutely did take last weekend. Tickets to Uruguay quadrupled in price as the hectic holiday season is still at its peak. I was hoping to go before leaving, but instead took an offer for my roommate´s parent´s cabin in the town of Las Toninas, just north of Mar del Plata, a famous beach town for people in Argentina

After several hours in the rented car (two hours after getting lost 200k out of the way) and five people crammed with bags, food, and a guitar, we arrived at nighttime in tiny Las Toninas.  Small but alive the streets were bustling well into the late hours of the night, typical for Argentina.

Got to see the Atlantic ocean!  It was so nice to dip our toes after the long drive.  We settled in, got a full chicken and some papas fritas (fries) to share for dinner then off for a night long nap until waking up to bird´s chirping this morning and the sun shining brightly to a gorgeous day on the beach.

Having no running water or sheets suddenly seemed much less important as I headed to the beach.  6 hours later I sat there, typing this, looking like a lobster – burnt to a crisp and exhausted – but happy to be alive.

Dinner that night was an asado on the house grill that is outside yet inside the wall of the terrace.  Sunday would have been another full day of beach, possibly some fishing, and more surfing the waves, but it turned out to be I had to hide from the deceivingly strong sun.

That night after dinner we all cheered on Caleb, our roomie from BA, as he busked (illegally we found out as we had to shut down after 40 min) on the streets as he gathered a large crowed and earned 26 pesos.

The next day was back to city life.  As sad as I was to leave the beach, I sort of felt like I was home when we got into downtown and had a strange sense of familiar comfort, surprising but good.  I got a chance to learn how to drive like a real Portena, I realized if there isn’t a lane, you make one.  People will always cross the street, just try not to hit them.  I would call the driving experience ‘defensive yet creative’.  At least it wasn’t like Sarajevo, no driving on sidewalks.

Now back to being enchufado… plugged.

New Year’s eve fireworks in San Telmo in Buenos Aires.

Another 20 hour bus ride with alfajores, medialunes, bad movies … though much better, and plush seats, back in Bs As it was for warm weather and the anio neuvo.

Like Christmas, everything shuts down early, families and friends celebrate, fireworks are set off in all neighborhoods at midnight (or before in anticipation), and bars/restaurants open back up at 2 am.

Staying low key in San Telmo, had an asado (bbq) with roomies and friends before heading to the Plaza Durrego the main square in San Telmo for fireworks and champagne.  The locals all bought and shared beers and Fernet and CocaCola drinks as bands played in the streets, people laughing and dancing.  I too joined in the firework celebration, lighting off my only firework that almost hit the policia…. good thing I didn’t have to call home to get bailed out of prison.

It was fun to learn new traditions and celebrate the new year in Buenos Aires.

Lil’ old wooden boat sailing down the river in nearby and quaint town of Tigre.

On New Year’s eve day, for $1.36 pesos plus the $1.10 subway fee (a total of around US $0.50), I got to take a nice venture with some friends to a town an hour outside of the city, called Tigre.

Feeling like I stepped into another country completely, we came to a quaint town on the river called Tigre.  Forgetting it was a holiday until we took the little wooden boat for 17 pesos all the way down to the closed museum, we then ended up just cruising along on the dirty river.  The boat had several dropoffs only the way, including people’s houses, vacation rentals, museum (or not), restaurants, canoe or kayak rentals, or where we eventually got dropped off, Parque Lyfe – a campgrounds with volleyball, sand beach, sports courts, etc.

There I invented a game called ‘Log’ where the object was to see who could balance longest on the log, in the river.

After a few laughs and some swimming with locals – watching out for viburas (snakes) of course – we then headed back to Tigre, then eventually back to Buenos Aires, via the train then connecting subway, as we watched the endless salesmen come up and down the aisles pitching their latest and greatest books, windsocks, camera cases, and what have you.

A quick stop through Chinatown in Belgrano district before realizing everything was closing and it was time to buy food and champagne or go without and to head home to prepare for the New Year celebration.

Villa Traful, view looking south, Patagonia

A break from the exhaust and hustle and bustle of the city, I took the weekend and headed to the long-awaited Patagonia.

One of best parts may likely have been the Omnibus, or the double decker, extremely comfortable reclining seats.  20 hours flew by … except for the lack of videos – the driver had a Luis Miguel´s Best special and we got to listen to a local famous singer.  We weren´t the only ones wishing it would stop, and we did convince the bus attendee, with a few laughs, to turn down the volume at the very least.

They served alfajores (dulce de leche snack with chocolate, like the Little Debbies of Argentina) and medialunas (croissants), some cafe, and some milanesa with papas.  Not bad for the bus.  The way back they shared vino and whiskey – a much smoother ride.

Bariloche, later I discovered to be ´the most important tourist city of Argentina´was just that – touristy – but also beautiful.  Nestled in the Andes mountains near the border of Chile, this skiing town on a huge lake was a great site after the long bus ride.

I was ill prepared for the city, as the mountains with their still-snowy peaks weren´t as inviting as I thought.  The warmest gear I had was a pair of jeans.  I had to buy a sweatshirt to fight the cold winds.

Everyone said to get out of Bariloche so I followed their advice, rented the last car (talked the rental company to let us drive a dirty one and with a discount) and headed to the circuito chico and circuito grande – the small and big loops.

Both gorgeous, as you can see from the photos here that I just added, the first loop was more touristy.  Stopped only for some great photos and a short hike up the side of the smallest of three mountain peaks (again, no gear with me limited my trip and it was expensive to rent, let alone finding an open store over the holiday).

Next was the big loop.  The rental car agency was off on their estimation by about 60 km (you rent a per km price) and never mentioned that 1/2 of the way was a gravel road.  But nonetheless, an adventure.

Patagonia – and in Nahuel Huapi National Park, where the big loop was – it reminded me of a mixture of the gorgeous Pacific Northwest with snow capped forested mountains and fresh mountain water streams, mixed with a little bit of the BWCA (Boundary Waters / great lakes) with fresh water lakes and trout fishing, a little of the Irish sea due to the deep blue green and blue colors in the water, a little bit of Neuschwanstein Germany with the castles (in this case a hotel) seated high in the mountains overlooking little lakes and islands, and Utah just east of the Andes with deep dry valleys and large unique rock formations.

In short, pretty amazing.

I saw a sign that said ‘don’t be like cats, wrap your feces’.  Ok….  will do.  Now, it was getting dark and I checked out a campsite but you had to pay to use the toilets and showers, but hey there was a place just down the road that was open camping and free, but no showers.  Really?  Awesome, thanks, I’ll take that.

Though once again unprepared for the cold, and now some rain, it was like pulling up to a private beach in the middle of the mountains… not just any mountains – Patagonia!

It was the most amazing place to stop, have a sandwich, play on the beach until the sun set (later in the West, 9:45 vs. 8 in Bs As), then putting every warm piece of clothing I could find to cuddle in and off to bed.  Only had to turn the car and heat on twice throughout the night before waking to the most gorgeous view ever.  I had turned the car around so I could see the view, I would have had to pinch myself to believe it otherwise.

The next day was off to finish the big loop.  One of the most unexpected and beautiful views came from out of nowhere, just after deciding I was incredibly sick of gravel roads and was ready to return the car.  Right up there with the Cliffs of Moher was Villa Traful.   A near 360 degree view of mountains, lakes, and wind like I’ve rarely felt (throw a rock and it boomerangs back), a steep dropoff that warns you not to trust your luck, beautiful blue waters, white capped waves, some snow still glistening on the mountains.  I wanted to breathe every inch of the view.

In the actual town, well, a dirt road and a couple of buildings, and some cattle and horses meandering aimlessly, happy and plump, was Villa Traful.  I stopped at the town’s only gas station, and only one for a while I’m sure, I had to drive around a cow feeding her calf.  It was incredible.  No wonder why the beef in Argentina is considered the best in the world, the cows are just happy and chill.

Long story short, after the great car camping, private beach, and tourist loops, it was back on the bus and back to Bs As for New Year’s.  If I’d had more gear and more money to spend I would have continued south to the End of the Earth, Ushuaia, but with holiday season, it was very expensive – and cold, and far far away.  Someday I’ll need to come back and spend at least a month in Patagonia.

Amo Patagonia!