Our trip to Argentina's lakes district ended in El Bolsón, which was a 2 hour bus ride from Bariloche. We hadn't planned to stay so long, but we were both so enamored by the small town (populated by 30,000 hippies) that we kept extending our stay. El Bolsón has amazing artisans, craft breweries, an incredibly clear river, lakes and waterfalls, and the town is nestled between the Andes that border Chile and the mountain Piltriquitron (pronounced pill-tree-key-tron). After visiting, we'd both rather live there than Buenos Aires, but unfortunately unemployment is very high.
When our bus arrived in town on Tuesday (Dec. 8), the two owners of the hostel we had booked generously picked us up and gave us a mini-tour of their town. They run a cute hostel called "Pehuenia," out of the house they live in with their two children. The hostel had a very friendly, laid-back vibe, which definitely contributed to our enjoyment of El Bolsón. The day we arrived, the hostel was hosting an asado, a traditional Argentine barbecue. We gorged ourselves with loads of steak, sausages, lamb ribs, blood sausages, bread with chimichurri sauce, and wine for less than $5 USD a person. The hostel owners hold an asado every three days, and we stayed there so long we participated in another one. For that asado, we were able to go to the butcher shops to learn about how to buy the right meat.
On our second day, we shared a remise up part of Piltriquitron mountain with a woman from Israel that we had met at the hostel. We hiked up the rest of the way to Bosque Tallado, which is a collection of more than 30 sculptures that were carved into trees that remained from a forest fire in 1978.
Four times a week, El Bolsón has a Feria artesanal, where all kinds of locally produced arts and goods are sold. Compared to the various ferias we went to in Buenos Aires, this feria had better quality goods and a greater variety of things for sale. Local artists were selling glass jewelry; art; puppets; homemade soaps; woodcarved housewares; hand carved mates; hand carved pipes and hookahs; shawls, scarves, hats and vests woven from sheep's wool; homemade soaps; regional foods; microbrews (with samples!) and homemade jams. El Bolsón is also crazy for organic foods--so almost every kind of food there was fresh and organic. We enjoyed the feria so much, we made it there everyday it was open and managed to buy all of our christmas gifts for our families there!
75% of Argentina's hops are grown in this tiny town, which has resulted in numerous breweries. We visited the El Bolsón Brewery with some beer-loving Americans from San Diego who we had met at our hostel. This brewery is the largest craft brewery in the area, and we were able to try several unique beers there including a hot pepper beer that literally includes a pepper in the bottle, a honey beer that really tastes like honey (kind of gross), a raspberry beer, and gluten-free beer brewed from corn.
One afternoon, we went rafting on the Rio Azul (blue river) in duckies. Duckies are smaller rafts that only hold 1-3 people--they seem more like inflatable kayaks. Because of their size they are much more agile on the water, and you can "play" around with them on the water. We were on an excursion of 6 people (including 3 instructors) so we got plenty of time to play on the rapids. Jill was pretty nervous at the outset, as she had never been rafting before, but felt fine after the first few minutes. She only fell in once, and was the only one to fall in. The water was so fresh and clear that when we were thirsty we would just lean over the side and drink.
At the end of our week in town, we decided to visit Refugio Cajon del Azul, a large cabin up in the mountains where you can eat fresh lamb and vegetables from an organic garden, drink homemade beer, and relax. We were a little sketched out when our taxi that was supposed to take us to the base of the Warton hiking area broke down about 2 kilometers from the base, but it worked out well since we ended up getting half our money back. From there, we hiked 4 hours to the refugio. We ran into some gauchos taking the route on horseback and some other hikers, but most of the time we were completely alone with nature. There were some parts that were a little scary, like the rickety footbridge that really looked like something out of Indiana Jones, strung across the rushing river with wooden slats falling off of it. There was also a part where we had to climb up ladders over rocks because it was so steep. When we arrived we found a completely self-sufficient farmhouse with sheep, horses, and organic garden. The refugio used only a small amount of electricity in the evening from sunset until midnight. We ate and drank well, played scrabble in Spanish, spent the night on the cabin floors and hiked back the next day, stopping to take a swim in the river.
We were sad to leave for BA at the end of the week since we loved El Bolsón so much, but our one solace was that we decided to upgrade our bus ride class for the 24 hour ride home--and it made quite a difference. The seats were wide and plush, we got pillows and blankets (the blankets we're big enough to cover us head to toe), the food was plentiful and the free booze was wonderful. Two out of three of the movies shown were decent, but the first of one was a voiced over Disney original movie called the "Princess Protection Program" where they also decided to play all of the extra specials features on the DVD, including interviews with all cast members, a music video, and a segment on what it's like to be a real modern princess. The whole time we were really wondering what kind of audience they were going for because there wasn't anyone on the bus who fit the demographic of 12 and under. We were surprised after having wine with dinner that we were also offered the option of champagne or whiskey as a nightcap. When the waiter came around to ask what we wanted we both said whiskey and he laughed a little and said "wow" as he poured our glasses. We slept very well.
17 December 2009
10 December 2009
Bariloche
The section of Ruta 40 (Route 40) between San Martin de los Andes and Bariloche is a famous route known as "la ruta de los siete lagos" or the route of the seven lakes. Some who are strong enough to handle the steep climbs of the mountains bike the route over a few days. The sharp curves have no guardrails, some of the road is unpaved and rocky, and bicyclists must cruise down this road alongside cars, trucks, buses and grazing farm animals. We decided to do it the easy way and took a bus, which took 4 hours! We made sure that we had seats on the right side of the bus as it yeilded better views of the lakes and the mountains. The views were spectacular--the lakes were a beautiful aqua blue and the streams were so clear you could see right to the bottom. The dirt portion of the road was very bumpy and somewhat scary as there were times when we were so close to the edge of the road that we couldn´t see it from our windows--it felt like we might tumble off the road. Halfway through the ride we passed the the small town of Villa la Angostura, a quaint little town between two lakes, and we were a little sorry we didn´t plan a stop there for a few days. As we pulled up to Bariloche the mountains were jagged and snowcapped, which provided a dramatic backdrop for the city.
We stayed at hostel 1004, which was on the top floor of the tallest building in the city--the view was the reason we chose to stay there. We ate breakfast on the balcony everyday, and one evening we timed dinner so that we ate just in time for sunset. The view of the lake, Nahuel Huapi, with the mountains behind it was incredible. The service and rooms at the hostel however, felt more like a college dorm than other hostels we´ve been to. It was very crowded, there were lines for the bathroom, the computer and the kitchen--a great place to meet new people, because when you´re all crammed in you really have no choice, but not necessarily a comfortable stay.
Bariloche was definitely bigger than San Martin and had a lot more to do in and outside of the city. In the center of town there´s a main street filled with shops--lots of hokie, touristy t-shirts and souveniers, overpriced outdoor shops, and lots and lots of chocolate! We sampled quite a lot while were there. We also spent some time juggling in the park and playing fetch with a rock and a horde of stray dogs that were very sweet and happy to be paid any attention.
Outside town we hiked Mount Campanario, rated in National Geographic as one of the top 5 views in the world. We went with two Australian women (with much longer legs, and seemingly larger lungs) who we had met at the hostel. There were no switchbacks on the hike, just a path leading straight up the mountain. But at the top there was a great 360 degree view of the area, and it felt like we were on top of the world.
Our favorite part of the trip so far was our third day in Bariloche, when we biked the Circuito Chico. It´s a very hilly 30k (yes, everything is in kilometers here) loop around the lakes. We didn´t love the uphills and usually just walked our bikes up the more daunting ones. The dirt roads we rode on for about 5k were frustrating as well, but this was definitely the best way for us to really appreciate the beauty of the area. The best parts were cruising down giant hills after steep climbs on a road skirted with wildflowers and surrounded by lakes and mountains. We made a few pit stops along the way--a short hike through the woods to a hidden lake, where we took a refreshing (aka freezing cold) dip in, and an old swiss village, Colonia Suiza. The only access to Colonia Suiza is by dirt roads, which didn´t appear to be maintained at all, which made for a very bumpy ride. On our way to the village we had the good fortune of watching a Gaucho and his sheepdogs herd sheep and lambs across the road two feet in front of us. We stopped in Colonia Suiza for a quick lunch at a naturally constructed building that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings (Jill was obviously enthused while Sara appreciated the natural construction). Our wild boar panini was super salty but delicious and exciting (a nice change from the monotonous food of Buenos Aires)!
Overall, we appreciated the outdoorsy parts of Bariloche, and the constant spectacular view, but we didn´t love its commercialism. We´re excited to be moving on to El Bolson, which is full of hippies and supposedly much more laid back.
We stayed at hostel 1004, which was on the top floor of the tallest building in the city--the view was the reason we chose to stay there. We ate breakfast on the balcony everyday, and one evening we timed dinner so that we ate just in time for sunset. The view of the lake, Nahuel Huapi, with the mountains behind it was incredible. The service and rooms at the hostel however, felt more like a college dorm than other hostels we´ve been to. It was very crowded, there were lines for the bathroom, the computer and the kitchen--a great place to meet new people, because when you´re all crammed in you really have no choice, but not necessarily a comfortable stay.
Bariloche was definitely bigger than San Martin and had a lot more to do in and outside of the city. In the center of town there´s a main street filled with shops--lots of hokie, touristy t-shirts and souveniers, overpriced outdoor shops, and lots and lots of chocolate! We sampled quite a lot while were there. We also spent some time juggling in the park and playing fetch with a rock and a horde of stray dogs that were very sweet and happy to be paid any attention.
Outside town we hiked Mount Campanario, rated in National Geographic as one of the top 5 views in the world. We went with two Australian women (with much longer legs, and seemingly larger lungs) who we had met at the hostel. There were no switchbacks on the hike, just a path leading straight up the mountain. But at the top there was a great 360 degree view of the area, and it felt like we were on top of the world.
Our favorite part of the trip so far was our third day in Bariloche, when we biked the Circuito Chico. It´s a very hilly 30k (yes, everything is in kilometers here) loop around the lakes. We didn´t love the uphills and usually just walked our bikes up the more daunting ones. The dirt roads we rode on for about 5k were frustrating as well, but this was definitely the best way for us to really appreciate the beauty of the area. The best parts were cruising down giant hills after steep climbs on a road skirted with wildflowers and surrounded by lakes and mountains. We made a few pit stops along the way--a short hike through the woods to a hidden lake, where we took a refreshing (aka freezing cold) dip in, and an old swiss village, Colonia Suiza. The only access to Colonia Suiza is by dirt roads, which didn´t appear to be maintained at all, which made for a very bumpy ride. On our way to the village we had the good fortune of watching a Gaucho and his sheepdogs herd sheep and lambs across the road two feet in front of us. We stopped in Colonia Suiza for a quick lunch at a naturally constructed building that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings (Jill was obviously enthused while Sara appreciated the natural construction). Our wild boar panini was super salty but delicious and exciting (a nice change from the monotonous food of Buenos Aires)!
Overall, we appreciated the outdoorsy parts of Bariloche, and the constant spectacular view, but we didn´t love its commercialism. We´re excited to be moving on to El Bolson, which is full of hippies and supposedly much more laid back.
05 December 2009
San Martin de los Andes
We hopped on our double-decker semicama bus out of Buenos Aires on Tuesday evening. A semicama is Argentina´s coach class version of overnight buses--there´s plenty of legroom, the seats recline 140 degrees, and they feed you one hot meal and a couple of cold ones. They don´t, however, let you choose your beverage (Sprite was our only option) or give you pillows or blankets (luckily we had a blanket). The bus ride was 22 hours long-- and we spent the time watching the beautiful scenery change from dry grassy plains with tumbleweeds, to red dirt and rock with buttes and plateaus, to fertile farm land with streams and hills to rugged snow capped mountains with streams and lakes. Taking the bus turned out to be a really good way to see how varied the landscape is in Argentina and it reminded us a bit of what driving across the US might look like. We spent the darker hours of the ride watching cheesy music videos and bad US movies with Spanish subtitles. We finally arrived in San Martin de los Andes on Wednesday around 6pm and headed to one of the few hostels in town.
San Martin is a mountain town of about 26,000 people. The town booms with tourists during winter and summer, but we came at the end of spring. The town and hostel weren´t very busy, which meant we had a few nice relaxing days there. But it also meant certain buses that take you into the national park weren´t running and some activities weren´t available (we couldn´t rent a canoe or kayak to take out on the lake).
So we spent only two days in town. We spent part of our first day walking around downtown window shopping--most of the stores were closed since they close at about 1pm for lunch and siesta and reopen around 5. Afterwards, we hung out on the beach of the lake. The water was perfectly clear and beautiful, but way too cold to swim in. We also juggled a bit and ended up trying to teach a little kid how to juggle with our broken Spanish (Jill did a great job with this).
The following day, we went on a hike to the Mirador, which was a nice vantage point that allowed you to look out over the town and lake. The hike was relaxing and pretty. When we got to the top we could see how far the lakes and the mountains stretched-- all the way to Chile! To get there, we had to pay to enter the land of a Mapuche tribe. We walked around their village for a little bit. The parts we saw included a school, a restaurant, several houses, and lots of free range farm animals.
We spent 3 nights at the Babel hostel, where we met some nice folks from Mexico, Spain, and Denmark. It was really interesting to talk with them about culture and language differences, as well as politics. Now we´re in Bariloche, which is a much larger town, so we´re hoping more activities will be available to us!´
We´ve had some difficulties uploading photos, so we´ll get more posted as soon as we can!
San Martin is a mountain town of about 26,000 people. The town booms with tourists during winter and summer, but we came at the end of spring. The town and hostel weren´t very busy, which meant we had a few nice relaxing days there. But it also meant certain buses that take you into the national park weren´t running and some activities weren´t available (we couldn´t rent a canoe or kayak to take out on the lake).
So we spent only two days in town. We spent part of our first day walking around downtown window shopping--most of the stores were closed since they close at about 1pm for lunch and siesta and reopen around 5. Afterwards, we hung out on the beach of the lake. The water was perfectly clear and beautiful, but way too cold to swim in. We also juggled a bit and ended up trying to teach a little kid how to juggle with our broken Spanish (Jill did a great job with this).
The following day, we went on a hike to the Mirador, which was a nice vantage point that allowed you to look out over the town and lake. The hike was relaxing and pretty. When we got to the top we could see how far the lakes and the mountains stretched-- all the way to Chile! To get there, we had to pay to enter the land of a Mapuche tribe. We walked around their village for a little bit. The parts we saw included a school, a restaurant, several houses, and lots of free range farm animals.
We spent 3 nights at the Babel hostel, where we met some nice folks from Mexico, Spain, and Denmark. It was really interesting to talk with them about culture and language differences, as well as politics. Now we´re in Bariloche, which is a much larger town, so we´re hoping more activities will be available to us!´
We´ve had some difficulties uploading photos, so we´ll get more posted as soon as we can!
01 December 2009
Getting Out of the City
A couple of weeks ago we found a great apartment in the Palermo barrio in Buenos Aires. It´s a great area, really close to the rose garden and this big beautiful park with a pond and paddleboats and swans and so much green. We´re very excited to be near a place like this - we even saw people riding bikes and rollerblading without fear of the crazy drivers in this city, it was inspiring. We´ll be moving there in the beginning of January. Until then, we´re heading out of Buenos Aires for 2.5 weeks! We´ll be visiting three towns in the lakes region (southwest of Buenos Aires), including San Martín de los Andes, Bariloche, and El Bolsón. We expect to spend time hiking, biking, eating and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the lakes and the Andes. When we return to the city, we´ll spend two weeks with Sara´s family - showing them around town, taking some day trips, and making the holidays feel a little more like home!
That´s our quick update for now, we promise to write again soon with pictures and maybe a vlog from Jill about our vacation.
Ver mapa más grande
That´s our quick update for now, we promise to write again soon with pictures and maybe a vlog from Jill about our vacation.
Ver mapa más grande
20 November 2009
Vlog #1 Food in BA
This is my first attempt at a vlog entry. I talk about our experiences with food in BA during our first three weeks here. Expect a vlog entry from Jill within the next few weeks!
10 November 2009
La Marcha del Orgullo LGBT en Buenos Aires
After our Circus Conventure (get it? convention + adventure...heh) we were exhausted to say the least, but wanted to gear up for pride. We got back to out apartment by noon and took a 2 hour siesta to prepare since people in Argentina party until the sun comes up. We got to the feria in Plaza de Mayo at 5, and it was really crowded. There were so many people- young, old, local, foreign, and from all parts of the sexuality and gender spectrums and their respective niches. It seemed much bigger this year than it was even just two years ago when I was here. There were all sorts of tables and stands where people were giving out information about centers, libraries, clubs as well as selling clothing and paraphernalia. We got ourselves some t-shirts commemorating the march. There was live music and rainbow flags flying high right in front of the Presidential Palace, La Casa Rosada (the pink house).
At every table there were petitions for gay marriage in Argentina, as the issue is currenlty in the supreme court and up for debate in Congress. The passing of law would make Argentina the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2002 Argentina became the first Latin American city to legalize civil unions between same sex couples, but we learned from some people we met at the march that these unions are only labels that come without tangible benefits (employee benefits, adoption rights, etc) and that they are only recognized within the city since it is an 'autonomous" city. You can read more about the issue here. It hit pretty close to home with all that's been happening in the states this year with gay marriage, but particularly with this week's prop 8-esque disappointment in Maine and the countdown to see what happens in New York. We'll keep you posted on Argentina...
After the feria the March began, but it felt more like a long rallying parade. There were open floats with as many people as could fit loaded up on them. There was cheering, singing, dancing, and drumming in the streets. We met up with a few people we had emailed with before, mostly Brazilians, some Argentines and one other Estadounidense from Framingham, MA - small world! We marched along with the floats in the parade drinking Quilmes beer and dancing in the street. The march went from the Casa Rosada to the Obelisk and ended at a political rally in front of Congreso (the capitol building of Argentina). We had such a fun time being at the feria and the march, and getting to hang out with our newfound friends. As hard as we tried, however, we just could not make it to the afterparty, as it wasn't even going to get started until 3am. Right around 1:30am, as we were each taking turns nodding off while trying to engage in Spanish and Portuguese (!) conversations at the apartment of one of these friends, we made the executive decision to go home and get some sleep. So, we vowed to go out with our friends another night, when we've had more rest and can actually enjoy the festivities.
Being here at this kind of event with Sara made the real distinction for me from where I was when I was here two years ago and where I am now. It's leading me on a path that's a bit more self actualizing than before, probably because I know more about who I am and what I believe in. I also feel like I have much more control over this experience and much more of an idea of what I want to get out of it. Last time I felt as though I was thrown into a sea of newness while still being very anchored to my life at home and it didn't leave me with as much room to swim around and explore. Now that I'm here, a little bit older and wiser, without the time constraints of a semester and a hyper-structured college life waiting for me back home, I feel so much more free to explore and confident that I can make this experience what I want it to be. It also certainly helps to have Sara here, someone who I love who is just as excited as me to be here and has just as much of an adventurous and curious spirit as I do.
At every table there were petitions for gay marriage in Argentina, as the issue is currenlty in the supreme court and up for debate in Congress. The passing of law would make Argentina the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. In 2002 Argentina became the first Latin American city to legalize civil unions between same sex couples, but we learned from some people we met at the march that these unions are only labels that come without tangible benefits (employee benefits, adoption rights, etc) and that they are only recognized within the city since it is an 'autonomous" city. You can read more about the issue here. It hit pretty close to home with all that's been happening in the states this year with gay marriage, but particularly with this week's prop 8-esque disappointment in Maine and the countdown to see what happens in New York. We'll keep you posted on Argentina...
After the feria the March began, but it felt more like a long rallying parade. There were open floats with as many people as could fit loaded up on them. There was cheering, singing, dancing, and drumming in the streets. We met up with a few people we had emailed with before, mostly Brazilians, some Argentines and one other Estadounidense from Framingham, MA - small world! We marched along with the floats in the parade drinking Quilmes beer and dancing in the street. The march went from the Casa Rosada to the Obelisk and ended at a political rally in front of Congreso (the capitol building of Argentina). We had such a fun time being at the feria and the march, and getting to hang out with our newfound friends. As hard as we tried, however, we just could not make it to the afterparty, as it wasn't even going to get started until 3am. Right around 1:30am, as we were each taking turns nodding off while trying to engage in Spanish and Portuguese (!) conversations at the apartment of one of these friends, we made the executive decision to go home and get some sleep. So, we vowed to go out with our friends another night, when we've had more rest and can actually enjoy the festivities.
Being here at this kind of event with Sara made the real distinction for me from where I was when I was here two years ago and where I am now. It's leading me on a path that's a bit more self actualizing than before, probably because I know more about who I am and what I believe in. I also feel like I have much more control over this experience and much more of an idea of what I want to get out of it. Last time I felt as though I was thrown into a sea of newness while still being very anchored to my life at home and it didn't leave me with as much room to swim around and explore. Now that I'm here, a little bit older and wiser, without the time constraints of a semester and a hyper-structured college life waiting for me back home, I feel so much more free to explore and confident that I can make this experience what I want it to be. It also certainly helps to have Sara here, someone who I love who is just as excited as me to be here and has just as much of an adventurous and curious spirit as I do.
13ª Convención Argentina de Circo, Payasos y Espectáculos Callejeros
Last Wednesday, Jill and I headed to Argentina's 13th annual Circus, Clown, and Street Performer Convention. Before we left Capital Federal (the city of Buenos Aires), we rented camping equipment, and took the most terrifying cab ride of our lives--the lane lines here mean pretty much nothing. Then we waited on on Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest boulevard in the world, and caught a shuttle to Monte Grande (a suburb located within the greater Buenos Aires area). Monte Grande looked exactly like the way American movies stereotypically depict South America. I had thought Capital Federal felt pretty run down in some places, but Monte Grande was much more dismal. There was trash everywhere, it was dusty, there was no grass to be seen, the cars were all old and dented, and every now and then a local would ride by in horse drawn cart. In the middle of all of that, were the campgrounds where the festival took place. Things inside the gated campgrounds felt pristine and stood in stark contrast to the rest of Monte Grande.
We arrived just in time to set up our tent before sunset. Most of the convention was really fun. The circus shows were really good and I was pretty amazed at the quality of the performances for the little amount of money we paid to get in. The shows were emceed by clowns, but they weren't really like the typical clown you see in the U.S. They were more like hippie-clowns, and they all had both circus and music skills. One of the shows included an improv competition between three teams. Everyone in the audience received a ball they could throw at anytime when they disapproved of anything that happened during the show. Experiencing the audience was almost as interesting as watching the performers. People drank and smoked inside the circus tent, clapped in time and sang with the music, and booed if a performer was out of line.
Being at the convention really made me feel lonely for the first time here. It was really frustrating to feel like I couldn't really communicate with anyone at the convention. Thankfully, I learned fairly quickly how to ask in Spanish if other jugglers wanted to pass clubs. When I attended any workshops, I missed quite a bit of what went on since I didn't understand what anyone was saying, but because juggling is so physical, it was pretty easy to just try to do what other people were doing. One of the instructors knew I didn't understand Spanish, but he came up to me later to try to show me some things individually, which was incredibly nice and made me feel more welcome. I think Jill got a little bored at the convention, but it was very sweet of her to attend with me. She ended up learning how to juggle 3 clubs very quickly and got 26 catches on her second day of trying! She also participated in a workshop where a everyone danced with one juggling club.
We tried to go to sleep early on our last night at the convention so we could get up early to go to back to the city for pride, but a group of people camping near us began singing loudly and making lots of noise. Right now, Jill is really the only one who can communicate with Argentines. After getting up enough courage, she went out to ask them if they would please be a little quieter. Rather than doing that, Jill accidentally asked them to make more noise! They laughed a little bit but were kind and moved their festivities outside of the camping area so we could get some rest. I'm not sure how the Argentines do it--the official convention activities didn't end until 4 or 5 in the morning that day and people would be up by 9am! Anyway, we left the convention early on Saturday (it ran until Sunday afternoon) so we could make it to pride.
We arrived just in time to set up our tent before sunset. Most of the convention was really fun. The circus shows were really good and I was pretty amazed at the quality of the performances for the little amount of money we paid to get in. The shows were emceed by clowns, but they weren't really like the typical clown you see in the U.S. They were more like hippie-clowns, and they all had both circus and music skills. One of the shows included an improv competition between three teams. Everyone in the audience received a ball they could throw at anytime when they disapproved of anything that happened during the show. Experiencing the audience was almost as interesting as watching the performers. People drank and smoked inside the circus tent, clapped in time and sang with the music, and booed if a performer was out of line.
Being at the convention really made me feel lonely for the first time here. It was really frustrating to feel like I couldn't really communicate with anyone at the convention. Thankfully, I learned fairly quickly how to ask in Spanish if other jugglers wanted to pass clubs. When I attended any workshops, I missed quite a bit of what went on since I didn't understand what anyone was saying, but because juggling is so physical, it was pretty easy to just try to do what other people were doing. One of the instructors knew I didn't understand Spanish, but he came up to me later to try to show me some things individually, which was incredibly nice and made me feel more welcome. I think Jill got a little bored at the convention, but it was very sweet of her to attend with me. She ended up learning how to juggle 3 clubs very quickly and got 26 catches on her second day of trying! She also participated in a workshop where a everyone danced with one juggling club.
We tried to go to sleep early on our last night at the convention so we could get up early to go to back to the city for pride, but a group of people camping near us began singing loudly and making lots of noise. Right now, Jill is really the only one who can communicate with Argentines. After getting up enough courage, she went out to ask them if they would please be a little quieter. Rather than doing that, Jill accidentally asked them to make more noise! They laughed a little bit but were kind and moved their festivities outside of the camping area so we could get some rest. I'm not sure how the Argentines do it--the official convention activities didn't end until 4 or 5 in the morning that day and people would be up by 9am! Anyway, we left the convention early on Saturday (it ran until Sunday afternoon) so we could make it to pride.
04 November 2009
In Buenos Aires... Finally!
Hola amigos y familia!
We arrived in Buenos Aires last Friday after two and a half very long days of travel. Our journey began on Wednesday morning, when we nearly missed the train we were taking from Boston to NYC. We literally jumped on the train as it was pulling out of South Station, which left us without enough time for proper goodbyes to Jill's family :( When we arrived in NYC, it was raining, and we had no hands free for umbrellas because they were tied to our bags. Jill's friend Bliss works near Penn Station, so we headed over to her office to say hello and store our 4 big suitcases and 2 backpacks. We decided to walk the 10 blocks or so in the rain--bad idea--we got soaked. We hung around Bryant Park and Times Square while we waited out the workday so we could get our last real US meal with Bliss and Jill's other friend, Steph. It was so nice to spend time with them and have some familiarity in our last rushed moments, and Bliss was super helpful in letting us store our luggage for the day and helping us get to the airport. Thanks so much Bliss for helping us out and Steph for squeezing us into your day!
We were pretty tired by the time we got to JFK, but our flight took off at 2 AM as expected so everything was okay so far. When our five hour flight landed in Mexico City, we figured out that Mexicana (our airline) had canceled our second flight without notifying us. Our flight to Buenos Aires was supposed to leave at 8 AM with only a 3 hour layover, but they had put us on a later flight leaving at 10 PM making it a 17 hour layover! We tried to figure out how we were going to spend 17 hours in the airport but soon found ourselves falling asleep in chairs at restaurants. Luckily Jill's mom had packed us some amazing food, which really helped tie us over, and Sara's mom used some hotel points she had built up to get us a hotel room, which allowed us to get some solid sleep and made the time go by MUCH faster! At 10 PM, we finally boarded our plane, backed out of the gate and the flight attendants went over the safety precautions. Shortly thereafter, we pulled back into the gate. A mechanical problem meant we had to deplane and spend another hour and a half in the airport until it was fixed. After we took off about two and a half hours late, things were smooth sailing until we landed in Buenos Aires...
About a month ago, we set up an agreement to rent an apartment for a month upon our arrival here. We had been in touch with the landlord through email but were unable to get in touch with him when we landed, so we headed over to the apartment. When we got there, we were lucky that the other tennant happened to be there. He let us into the apartment, but we couldn't get into our room because he didn't have a key for it and the previous tennant hadn't finished moving out. The apartment was supposed to have a phone that could be used to make local calls, but we found out it only recieved calls. So for about an hour, we went back and forth between a phone/internet cafe and the apartment to try to find a phone number that actually worked for the landlord. None of the numbers he gave us worked. We went to an art gallery near the apartment because the landlord's girlfriend supposedly worked there, but she wasn't there either. When we went back to the apartment to figure out our next move, the previous tennant showed up. Both he and the current tennant told us about how awful the landlord was. The wireless internet had been out for 8 weeks, the phone couldn't be used to make local calls, they had once forgotten to pay the electricity bill so the power got turned off, a balcony had flooded during a heavy rain and the landlord wanted to take any repairs out of the tennants' deposits, and the room had not been cleaned since the previous tennant hadn't finished moving out. We felt overwhelmed and stressed out to the max, so we fled to a hostel to get some rest and figure out our next move.
We decided not to live at the apartment with the sketchy landlord, but since it was Friday, we weren't going to be able to find real housing until the next week. We lived in the hostel for three days, and on Monday night we moved into the apartment we're staying in now. It's in San Telmo, a funky artsy neighborhood - it's a small cute studio with a seemingly great owner. We'll be here for a month while we find our more permanent housing and hopefully employment. So after a pretty hellish and hectic first coupld of days, we're finally finding our feet here in Buenos Aires.
A few glimmering moments from the last few days that kept us anchored here:
-Taking a walk on our first night in BA to get some food, we stumbled upon some local people juggling in the park - Sara joined in and passed with them while Jill cheered and tried to translate juggling terms on the side.
-Jill meeting up with Walter outside his apartment in San Telmo with a big hug and un beso where she used to hang out all the time with Betsy when she studied abroad, and then also running into Graciela, the director of the program she came with last time, hours before she had to fly back to the US.
-New potential friends, a Brazilian woman and a Colombian man living in BA (both gay), who originally emailed us about housing, and now have invited us to go to pride with them next week.
-1.5 liter bottle of local beer costs about $1 US and Superpanchos (Sara's new favorite snack) cost even less than that.
-The owner of this apartment works for Konex bomba, a really cool drumming show that happens every Monday night in BA and has given us free invites.
-Bidets in every bathroom, no matter how tiny. And they are better than you think they would be, actually kinda nice.
Es todo! For now, we're off to a circus/juggling festival for a few days. Welcome to our blog!
We arrived in Buenos Aires last Friday after two and a half very long days of travel. Our journey began on Wednesday morning, when we nearly missed the train we were taking from Boston to NYC. We literally jumped on the train as it was pulling out of South Station, which left us without enough time for proper goodbyes to Jill's family :( When we arrived in NYC, it was raining, and we had no hands free for umbrellas because they were tied to our bags. Jill's friend Bliss works near Penn Station, so we headed over to her office to say hello and store our 4 big suitcases and 2 backpacks. We decided to walk the 10 blocks or so in the rain--bad idea--we got soaked. We hung around Bryant Park and Times Square while we waited out the workday so we could get our last real US meal with Bliss and Jill's other friend, Steph. It was so nice to spend time with them and have some familiarity in our last rushed moments, and Bliss was super helpful in letting us store our luggage for the day and helping us get to the airport. Thanks so much Bliss for helping us out and Steph for squeezing us into your day!
We were pretty tired by the time we got to JFK, but our flight took off at 2 AM as expected so everything was okay so far. When our five hour flight landed in Mexico City, we figured out that Mexicana (our airline) had canceled our second flight without notifying us. Our flight to Buenos Aires was supposed to leave at 8 AM with only a 3 hour layover, but they had put us on a later flight leaving at 10 PM making it a 17 hour layover! We tried to figure out how we were going to spend 17 hours in the airport but soon found ourselves falling asleep in chairs at restaurants. Luckily Jill's mom had packed us some amazing food, which really helped tie us over, and Sara's mom used some hotel points she had built up to get us a hotel room, which allowed us to get some solid sleep and made the time go by MUCH faster! At 10 PM, we finally boarded our plane, backed out of the gate and the flight attendants went over the safety precautions. Shortly thereafter, we pulled back into the gate. A mechanical problem meant we had to deplane and spend another hour and a half in the airport until it was fixed. After we took off about two and a half hours late, things were smooth sailing until we landed in Buenos Aires...
About a month ago, we set up an agreement to rent an apartment for a month upon our arrival here. We had been in touch with the landlord through email but were unable to get in touch with him when we landed, so we headed over to the apartment. When we got there, we were lucky that the other tennant happened to be there. He let us into the apartment, but we couldn't get into our room because he didn't have a key for it and the previous tennant hadn't finished moving out. The apartment was supposed to have a phone that could be used to make local calls, but we found out it only recieved calls. So for about an hour, we went back and forth between a phone/internet cafe and the apartment to try to find a phone number that actually worked for the landlord. None of the numbers he gave us worked. We went to an art gallery near the apartment because the landlord's girlfriend supposedly worked there, but she wasn't there either. When we went back to the apartment to figure out our next move, the previous tennant showed up. Both he and the current tennant told us about how awful the landlord was. The wireless internet had been out for 8 weeks, the phone couldn't be used to make local calls, they had once forgotten to pay the electricity bill so the power got turned off, a balcony had flooded during a heavy rain and the landlord wanted to take any repairs out of the tennants' deposits, and the room had not been cleaned since the previous tennant hadn't finished moving out. We felt overwhelmed and stressed out to the max, so we fled to a hostel to get some rest and figure out our next move.
We decided not to live at the apartment with the sketchy landlord, but since it was Friday, we weren't going to be able to find real housing until the next week. We lived in the hostel for three days, and on Monday night we moved into the apartment we're staying in now. It's in San Telmo, a funky artsy neighborhood - it's a small cute studio with a seemingly great owner. We'll be here for a month while we find our more permanent housing and hopefully employment. So after a pretty hellish and hectic first coupld of days, we're finally finding our feet here in Buenos Aires.
A few glimmering moments from the last few days that kept us anchored here:
-Taking a walk on our first night in BA to get some food, we stumbled upon some local people juggling in the park - Sara joined in and passed with them while Jill cheered and tried to translate juggling terms on the side.
-Jill meeting up with Walter outside his apartment in San Telmo with a big hug and un beso where she used to hang out all the time with Betsy when she studied abroad, and then also running into Graciela, the director of the program she came with last time, hours before she had to fly back to the US.
-New potential friends, a Brazilian woman and a Colombian man living in BA (both gay), who originally emailed us about housing, and now have invited us to go to pride with them next week.
-1.5 liter bottle of local beer costs about $1 US and Superpanchos (Sara's new favorite snack) cost even less than that.
-The owner of this apartment works for Konex bomba, a really cool drumming show that happens every Monday night in BA and has given us free invites.
-Bidets in every bathroom, no matter how tiny. And they are better than you think they would be, actually kinda nice.
Es todo! For now, we're off to a circus/juggling festival for a few days. Welcome to our blog!
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