Desenchufate!

January 15, 2010 at 12:06 am

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.