Saturday, December 12, 2009
Week in Cordoba day 1 Nov. 16 lunes
At 645am Uli rng my buzzer so we could go to the bus station. turned out he brought a fairly good-sized backpack for his clothes. originally, he was going to bring just a regular backpack , but i told him we were ging for a week...not a day. but, it was a good thing we bought the other one because we will need a smaller one on the motorbike. we had medialunas and cafe in Retiro at the omnibus station and fresh-squeezed orange juice...not too shabby. here was the fun part...trying to find which bus was ours - any one between platforms 15 and 40. the bulletin board was not up to date and 830 was fast approaching. we were looking for Chevallier because that was who we bought our tickets from, but we were wrong! the empresa (company) was Urquiza and finally we asked someone who said "you better run because it's leaving"...and so we ran...thank god we found it. guess what...we spent 13 hours on that bus! definitely the longest bus ride i've ever been on. there wasn't much to see but flat land and cows and the different towns we had to pass through. we stopped so many times to pick people up and drop them off. i slept a little bit. we were going to drink on the bus, but someone left his wine bottle opener in his bag which was underneath the bus! by the end i was ready to die...we had to sit in the seats under the top floor about 15 min before we got off the bus since we were the last ones, and the bathroom was down there. i was really starting to feel sick because after 13 hours on a bus with who knows many people were using it...eck! there really are mountains here...i almost couldn't believe it just because the land was so flat for so long! they were so beautiful...looked very dry- all sort of a brownish colour. saw the sun set on the bus...we arrived in the dark to Villa Giardino and walked to Hospidaje Anita where Uli had stayed before. we ran into some people that he knew on the street and they invited us over. first we settled into our room, finally...we are staying in a kind of hostel that is a converted house but we are the only guests...it is beautiful...lots of plants and wooden furniture...very home-like. there are about 10 rooms or so. she is so nice and hospitable. her name is Susanna. as time goes by, i understand a bit more. she gives us breakfast between 9 and 11am and cleans and changes everything. she is so nice...she always calls me "mi amor". she's like a mommy away from home. we opened a bottle of wine and started drinking and talking about personal things until Roxanna and her boyfriend came by and asked us what was taking so long. so away we went. there house was cute. bare, but cute. the mother, Betty, had a little dog named Cleto who wouldn't leave me alone. we ate pizza, talked and looked at photos from when Uli was there before. and around 1230, i told Uli we had to go, so we did. He snored a shit ton...so both of us didn't get much sleep because i had to keep telling him to be quiet.
Return from Iguazu Sun. Nov. 15
i had a rude awakening. at 5am (and onward), some locals on the road by the river decided they were going to blast music from their cars. that was pretty disruptive. so at 7am i couldn't take it anymore and got up for breakfast buffet. i ran into Jose, Fabiana and Jorge who all said "what are you doing up so early?" and i said "ay, la musica de los jovenes en la calle afuera de mi ventana...no pide dormir!" F and Jleft to go on their tour of the Brazilian side of the falls. i couldn't do that because just like those damn Americans, i need a visa too. i wandered around and took more pictures of the hotel. then i had to wait an hour and a half for my ride to the airport. i had lost my watch at the fals so i had a difficulttime trying to keep an eye on the time. also, the sky was looking very dark - like thundercloud dark - it even started raining and i thought "i bet my flight will be delayed". so my ride showed up and we cahhted in the van and by this point it was pouring rain and thundering and lightning...i knew my flight would be delayed. got to the airport and sure enough, it was delayed by half an hour (which meant an hour). i wndered around and went into a couple of shops and looked for presents for people. it was a bit pricey for Argentina. but i found some bookmarks and almost a really good present for Steffy. looking outside it was thunderstorming. there was only one security gate and it took 40 min. to get everyone through. apparently, it took so long not only because of the one security gate, but also because they had to input you passport again...i chatted with an older couple from Canada (Toronto, wee!) in line behind me about this. they had been in the amazon and were going to Bs. As. first for a night, then South and then back. they were nice but complaining a lot about the inefficiency of this airport. finally i got on the plane. it was still Aerolineas Argentinas, pero Austral, a different mini-company in an MD Serie 80 jet. unlike the Boeing, its wings were closer to the back and had 3 seats on one side, 2 on the other and no first class. the ascent wasn't too bumpy. they fed us another ham and cheese sandwich and a mini alfahor. it only took us 1.5 hours this time. being ale to see Bs. As. from the air was incredible. in Toronto, you see the downtown as having the tallest buildings...but for Bs. As. it's almost impossible! there are tall buildings everywhere! it's impressive! i couldn't believe it! when i was leaving the airport, i couldnt' believe how long the line was for people needing taxis. i walked a little over the way and just hailed one off the road...muy facil! i spent the rest of the evening trying to pack and had dinner with Uli so we could talk about the plan for the morning...the day was going to come really early.
Nov 14 - Day at Iguazu Argentinian Side
NB: taken from info.in my hotel room: " the Iguazu port is located in the northern area of the Misiones province; it is the gateway to visit Iguazu national park, site of the worldwide famous Iguazu falls with its 275 falls. The city, located at 15km from the Iguazu falls provides all the complementary services to this wonderful n atural tourist destination. the city, founded on Sept. 10, 1901 as "Aguirre Port", has celebrated its first 100 years of existence. it is located in the northeastern extreme of the Misiones Province. the small city has 30,000 inhabitants and several attraction points for enthralling tourists. one of them is the Three Frontier Landmark where you can observe the Iguazu river floating into the Parana river at the geographic limit of the 3 countires: Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The guaranies settled in the Argentine territory between the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. the Misiones province and neighbouring areas of Paraguay and Brazil presently shelter the mbya, descendants from the guaranies who refused to participate in the Jesuit Misiones. besides the mbya, groups of pai tareytera and chiripas live in the Misiones province."
My day began very early - oh by the way, the planes locally don't have tv screens - the flight attendants have to do their seatbelt/mask demonstration totally alone with someone on the intercom. So, anyway...really early - breakfast buffet with pastries, eggs, different freshly squeezed fruit juices (me encanta), cheese and meat and of course, coffee. Jose was there again and took care of me of course. At 8am, i was picked up by a mini-van on behalf of Travel Raisen with another couple from Bs. As. We had to go into the Ciudad de Iguazu to a hostel to pick up another couple. They didn't talk much the whole day. the guide's name was David and his English was pretty limited...I thought "oh hell, wy wouldn't they give me an English tourguide, im screwed. thankfully, the first couple who got in the van with me spoke some English and said they would translate for me. their names were Jorge and Fabiana and they live outside Bs. As. in la provincia. They are here celebrating their 22nd anniversary and have 3 sons - Fabiana is a lawyer and Jorge works in insurance. Jorge told me that David was explaining that there are 3 parks the one we are going to is Iguazu National Park with 67,000 ha; there is another one south, and one in Brazil that is 100-something ha. The park is considered subtropical rainforest and is not completely natural - only about 70 years old. we got to the park and walked through to find a mini-train. the park was beautiful so far: everything so green and lush, the ground so red and fertile, we saw various beginnings of trails and stores for merchandise. it almost looked like it could have been an amusemnt park. while we were walking, we walked through a forest and ate some random yellow fruit off the ground. i forget what David called them. they were sweet and bitter at the same time and really juicy. we also saw a palm tree which is specifically for "palmito that people use an ingredient in cooking. apparently, it takes a really long time to grow party of it - 15 years or so - and they use the shoots to cook with. so, if all the shoots are used, there is no new part of the tree growing. they essentially kill it. we also saw a Coati, which is a mammal that looks like a raccoon and has a really long tail. we had strict instructions not to feed them because they will eat anything. i snagged a picture of the cute creature (mostly to show papa that at least he didnt have to chase these things out of the garbage in Toronto, just regular raccoons) and then we got to the train station. it was called "Estacion Central" - central station - how original! we waited en un cola larga (large line) and at that point you could feel the humidity as the sweat uncontrollably dripped down my face. i talked with Fabiana and Jorge and then we just stuck together for the rest of the day. Mariposas were everywhere (butterflies!). They were many beautiful colours...blue, red, yellow, orange and would try to feed off the salt minerals on us. on our tran ride the mariposas were everywhere...flying all aroun, trying to hitch rides on people. it was very pleasant. we arrived at Estacion Garganta so we could go to Garganta del Diablo - a very powerful, circular area of the falls a bit like Niagra Falls. We had to walk about 1km over metal pathwys over the Iguazu river. it had just rained so the water was a bit higher than usual. However, it is very possible that these pathways can be flooded if the river rises too quickly. the walk was cool - well, cool as in interesting, and the sun was definitely beating down on us. and ofcourse, mariposas everywhere as we walked! i didn't see any crocodiles (apparently there are some) and all of a sudden you could see (and hear) the tops of some very big waterfalls (cataratas). it was unbelievable - i took tons of photos....half of it belongs to Brazil but most is Argentina. The mist was so thick and beautiful and the sound of them....there were these birds that kept flying in and out of the mist - apparently they make nests in caves by the water. you couldn't see the water down below because of the mist. Union and Mitre are the names of the two major sides of these falls up here. The Diablo part is just after the water drops down below and you cant see the bottom because of all the mist. I was in complete awe...so much so that I didn't realize there was a bee sitting on my arm (bee=avejas) and i watched it sting me. i freaked out, grabbed it and threw it, and ripped the stinger out of my arm as best i could! Fabiana and Jorge came over and squeezed it to make sure the stinger was out and asked me if i was alergic...i didn't think so. i was pissed off, but okay. we looked at these falls a bt more, then had to walk back across the catwalks to catch the train again. this time, we went to Estacion Cataratas (i think) or Central, where we were going to do a forrest trail in a bit open truck and then our boat ride into the falls. We got to this big open outback truck where we were pretty much had people from everywhere in the world present (except Russia and Africa) - well major countries, that is. we were driving down the main road and then all of a sudden we veered off down Sendero Yacaratia. the drive was going to take us through Iguazu forest for about 8km. there wasn't much to see. a lizard was scurrying away from the truck at one point and near a puddle, a bunch of mariposas flew all around the truck like something out of a movie! the forest is pretty tangled and thick in some places...and the trees are more tall than thick because all of them are competing for the same sunlight. Our guide for the open truck ride was nice...her name was Paula (pronounced Paola). She said that 30% of Argentina's plant species are are in the park and 50% of the animals. There are big cats present in the park too but I didn't see any. She told us about the palmitas. Anyway, it wasn't very long, but it was definitely enjoyable. I, of course, tok some pictures of trees. We disembarked and were going on to the boat trip. We had to walkdown some long, uneven stairs to get down there and were warned it would suck climbing back up. The mariposas were still everywhere. We waited to get onto a raft and then onto the boats that were attached to it. They gave you thick, waterproof bags to put your stuff in. The boat could fit quite a few people and one of the guys who worked there was filming us so people could buy the experience on DVD for 100p. The wait itself was insane. They gave us lifejackets of course and we went on a pretty fast boat ride up the Rio Iguazu inferior. It was nice feeling the wind in my hair and Brazil was on one side, with Argentina on the other. Took more pictures! All of a sudden, you could see some waterfalls ahead...it was like these big monsters looming in front of us. We stopped for pictures a bit of distance away...we were going to go almost right under the Salto Tres Mosqueteros (3 muskateers). It was suspenseful as we watched other boats ahead of us go into them and float with the river...and we were about to do the same - we waved and cheered to other boats and then, in we went. We were soaked and it was hard to see the water coming down into our eyes. But, I tried my best and saw the water coming down ontop of me...breathtaking! We turned around and went round to pause at a bunch of more waterfalls...Bossetti, Eva, Adan, San Martin, Mbigua and another that I can't make out the name. I took so many pictures...even a couple of videos because the pictures didn't show the full effect of the unbelievable beauty and power of these. all of a sudden, in we went again - even more breathtaking looking up at the water falling down on me...i thought of so manny people that should have been there with me. after, we wanted to go in again, but went to another raft dock closer to these falls. we docked, soaking wet and gathered our belongings. David, our tourguide was waiting for us. we proceeded to climb an insane amount of stairs in the forested cliffs and had little balconies here and there that gave us different views of different falls as we wound our way around them, beside them and up to the top of them again. I got a bunch of pictures- David was nice enough to take a few of me and I took some for Jorge and Fabiana as well. we got so close to the fals even on foot on a balcony on one of the catwalks. when we finally made it to the top again, there were 2 men selling handmade tiles and magnets painted with pictures of Iguazu and tucans (i didn't see any tucans...maybe in Brazil). i bought a few of them as souvenirs. beautiful! perfect gifts...im now on a gift-hunting mission. we walked over more catwalks - the humidity made it difficult because our clothes weren't drying and made us all uncomfortable. around 2, we were starving and myself, Fabiana and Jorge had a pizza at one of the fast food places - it was quite good actually. then, at 3, we met david at the gate and piled back into the van. we were exhausted. we went our separate ways for the afternoon and were going to meet for dinner at 9. i spent the rest of the late afternoon resting, watching a movie and writing outside on one of the lunge beds...i forget what they are called in castellano. met my new friends at 9 after Jose had already come out and brought me a Dakiri - i love being able to put things on a tab (even the mini-fridge) because the exchange makes it all super cheap! It was good to not have to have dinner alone again. they had the buffet and i ordered steak with potatoes in a cream sauce. it was wicked! F and J are so nice. they told me if i wasn't going home for Christmas, i could come spend it with them...i think i will take them up on the offer. it was muy amable de ellos. we chatted for a little while after dinner on the front deck. then, i said adios.
My day began very early - oh by the way, the planes locally don't have tv screens - the flight attendants have to do their seatbelt/mask demonstration totally alone with someone on the intercom. So, anyway...really early - breakfast buffet with pastries, eggs, different freshly squeezed fruit juices (me encanta), cheese and meat and of course, coffee. Jose was there again and took care of me of course. At 8am, i was picked up by a mini-van on behalf of Travel Raisen with another couple from Bs. As. We had to go into the Ciudad de Iguazu to a hostel to pick up another couple. They didn't talk much the whole day. the guide's name was David and his English was pretty limited...I thought "oh hell, wy wouldn't they give me an English tourguide, im screwed. thankfully, the first couple who got in the van with me spoke some English and said they would translate for me. their names were Jorge and Fabiana and they live outside Bs. As. in la provincia. They are here celebrating their 22nd anniversary and have 3 sons - Fabiana is a lawyer and Jorge works in insurance. Jorge told me that David was explaining that there are 3 parks the one we are going to is Iguazu National Park with 67,000 ha; there is another one south, and one in Brazil that is 100-something ha. The park is considered subtropical rainforest and is not completely natural - only about 70 years old. we got to the park and walked through to find a mini-train. the park was beautiful so far: everything so green and lush, the ground so red and fertile, we saw various beginnings of trails and stores for merchandise. it almost looked like it could have been an amusemnt park. while we were walking, we walked through a forest and ate some random yellow fruit off the ground. i forget what David called them. they were sweet and bitter at the same time and really juicy. we also saw a palm tree which is specifically for "palmito that people use an ingredient in cooking. apparently, it takes a really long time to grow party of it - 15 years or so - and they use the shoots to cook with. so, if all the shoots are used, there is no new part of the tree growing. they essentially kill it. we also saw a Coati, which is a mammal that looks like a raccoon and has a really long tail. we had strict instructions not to feed them because they will eat anything. i snagged a picture of the cute creature (mostly to show papa that at least he didnt have to chase these things out of the garbage in Toronto, just regular raccoons) and then we got to the train station. it was called "Estacion Central" - central station - how original! we waited en un cola larga (large line) and at that point you could feel the humidity as the sweat uncontrollably dripped down my face. i talked with Fabiana and Jorge and then we just stuck together for the rest of the day. Mariposas were everywhere (butterflies!). They were many beautiful colours...blue, red, yellow, orange and would try to feed off the salt minerals on us. on our tran ride the mariposas were everywhere...flying all aroun, trying to hitch rides on people. it was very pleasant. we arrived at Estacion Garganta so we could go to Garganta del Diablo - a very powerful, circular area of the falls a bit like Niagra Falls. We had to walk about 1km over metal pathwys over the Iguazu river. it had just rained so the water was a bit higher than usual. However, it is very possible that these pathways can be flooded if the river rises too quickly. the walk was cool - well, cool as in interesting, and the sun was definitely beating down on us. and ofcourse, mariposas everywhere as we walked! i didn't see any crocodiles (apparently there are some) and all of a sudden you could see (and hear) the tops of some very big waterfalls (cataratas). it was unbelievable - i took tons of photos....half of it belongs to Brazil but most is Argentina. The mist was so thick and beautiful and the sound of them....there were these birds that kept flying in and out of the mist - apparently they make nests in caves by the water. you couldn't see the water down below because of the mist. Union and Mitre are the names of the two major sides of these falls up here. The Diablo part is just after the water drops down below and you cant see the bottom because of all the mist. I was in complete awe...so much so that I didn't realize there was a bee sitting on my arm (bee=avejas) and i watched it sting me. i freaked out, grabbed it and threw it, and ripped the stinger out of my arm as best i could! Fabiana and Jorge came over and squeezed it to make sure the stinger was out and asked me if i was alergic...i didn't think so. i was pissed off, but okay. we looked at these falls a bt more, then had to walk back across the catwalks to catch the train again. this time, we went to Estacion Cataratas (i think) or Central, where we were going to do a forrest trail in a bit open truck and then our boat ride into the falls. We got to this big open outback truck where we were pretty much had people from everywhere in the world present (except Russia and Africa) - well major countries, that is. we were driving down the main road and then all of a sudden we veered off down Sendero Yacaratia. the drive was going to take us through Iguazu forest for about 8km. there wasn't much to see. a lizard was scurrying away from the truck at one point and near a puddle, a bunch of mariposas flew all around the truck like something out of a movie! the forest is pretty tangled and thick in some places...and the trees are more tall than thick because all of them are competing for the same sunlight. Our guide for the open truck ride was nice...her name was Paula (pronounced Paola). She said that 30% of Argentina's plant species are are in the park and 50% of the animals. There are big cats present in the park too but I didn't see any. She told us about the palmitas. Anyway, it wasn't very long, but it was definitely enjoyable. I, of course, tok some pictures of trees. We disembarked and were going on to the boat trip. We had to walkdown some long, uneven stairs to get down there and were warned it would suck climbing back up. The mariposas were still everywhere. We waited to get onto a raft and then onto the boats that were attached to it. They gave you thick, waterproof bags to put your stuff in. The boat could fit quite a few people and one of the guys who worked there was filming us so people could buy the experience on DVD for 100p. The wait itself was insane. They gave us lifejackets of course and we went on a pretty fast boat ride up the Rio Iguazu inferior. It was nice feeling the wind in my hair and Brazil was on one side, with Argentina on the other. Took more pictures! All of a sudden, you could see some waterfalls ahead...it was like these big monsters looming in front of us. We stopped for pictures a bit of distance away...we were going to go almost right under the Salto Tres Mosqueteros (3 muskateers). It was suspenseful as we watched other boats ahead of us go into them and float with the river...and we were about to do the same - we waved and cheered to other boats and then, in we went. We were soaked and it was hard to see the water coming down into our eyes. But, I tried my best and saw the water coming down ontop of me...breathtaking! We turned around and went round to pause at a bunch of more waterfalls...Bossetti, Eva, Adan, San Martin, Mbigua and another that I can't make out the name. I took so many pictures...even a couple of videos because the pictures didn't show the full effect of the unbelievable beauty and power of these. all of a sudden, in we went again - even more breathtaking looking up at the water falling down on me...i thought of so manny people that should have been there with me. after, we wanted to go in again, but went to another raft dock closer to these falls. we docked, soaking wet and gathered our belongings. David, our tourguide was waiting for us. we proceeded to climb an insane amount of stairs in the forested cliffs and had little balconies here and there that gave us different views of different falls as we wound our way around them, beside them and up to the top of them again. I got a bunch of pictures- David was nice enough to take a few of me and I took some for Jorge and Fabiana as well. we got so close to the fals even on foot on a balcony on one of the catwalks. when we finally made it to the top again, there were 2 men selling handmade tiles and magnets painted with pictures of Iguazu and tucans (i didn't see any tucans...maybe in Brazil). i bought a few of them as souvenirs. beautiful! perfect gifts...im now on a gift-hunting mission. we walked over more catwalks - the humidity made it difficult because our clothes weren't drying and made us all uncomfortable. around 2, we were starving and myself, Fabiana and Jorge had a pizza at one of the fast food places - it was quite good actually. then, at 3, we met david at the gate and piled back into the van. we were exhausted. we went our separate ways for the afternoon and were going to meet for dinner at 9. i spent the rest of the late afternoon resting, watching a movie and writing outside on one of the lunge beds...i forget what they are called in castellano. met my new friends at 9 after Jose had already come out and brought me a Dakiri - i love being able to put things on a tab (even the mini-fridge) because the exchange makes it all super cheap! It was good to not have to have dinner alone again. they had the buffet and i ordered steak with potatoes in a cream sauce. it was wicked! F and J are so nice. they told me if i wasn't going home for Christmas, i could come spend it with them...i think i will take them up on the offer. it was muy amable de ellos. we chatted for a little while after dinner on the front deck. then, i said adios.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Iguazu Waterfalls Nov 13 (Friday...ahhh)
NB: Friday the 13th is not relevant here...so maybe my bad luck on Friday 13th will not follow me...my teacher Martin told me that for Argentina, their bad luck day is Tuesday the 15th...ha, strange, eh? I almost forgot it's Friday the 13th.
Okay, so here I am at Jorge Newberry Airport. It's the local one for national flights. It's okay...haven't seen any planes yet, but t's right by the Rio Plata - the closest i've been to he river so far. I figured i should start a new book for this because i'm almost 2 weeks behind writing and figured that would take up the rest of the pages in the other book. I realized i'm going to have to make a scrapbook too! i dont' hear many Eng. speakers but it's definitely easiernow that my spanish is a bit better. Feels good being at an airport though...i always feel right at home. i can only imagine how crazy it will be if i go to Japan...you cant "fake" the language down there! I saw a roach (cucaracha) while i was in the bathroom here...I wondered if saying something would be a good idea...but then i figured no one would do anything about it. i'm sitting here in the Patio de Comidas (food court) because i'm thinking so much and i had to write it down. i was able to have a conversation with mmy taxi driver on the way here...i still cant understand many of the words but i can definitely talk about things and ask questions. And for 2 months they always tell me my Castellano is quite good...I guess it was meant to be.
Observations: There are some big thunderheads in the sky :( i hear french behind me and now i hear english. we had to get on one of those buses and were driven out to our plane. i knew it...it's a Boeing 737 for Aerolineas Argentinas. being at the airport everytime keeps the flying dream alive...the baggage handlers seem to have to load the baggage by hand. That would be pretty strenuous. not to mention, not all of the airport is air-conditioned - even the plane isn't air-conditioned much. so far i seem to be the only person on this flight (except for this older lady who totally cut in front of me in line) who is travelling alone - but what liberation! my first national flight in another country. i cant believe it...thank you Papa!
well, that was the bumpiest ascent i have ever been on. it started raining when we took off, but the thing is whenever it rains here, there is usually thunder and lightning! i kept thinking "there's no way the pilots will fly into a thunderhead - it would structurally rip the aircraft apart." when we first took off the pilot flew low over the river towards Uruguay. the clouds were very dark. i knew he was trying to find a better spot to start climbing that wouldn't destroy us. when it was too bad, he levelled out. it was pretty scary. back home, we climb, on a good day in about 15 min. it took this one 35 min. to reach 35,000 ft. it felt like a rollercoaster. i almost grabbed the guy beside me. Poor Mom...if she were here she couldn't have handled it. when we came out of the clouds and saw sunlight, the thunderheads were huge...i could see it. for the first time ever flying i thughtthere was a possibility i was going to die. i shouldn't have eaten the gross lomito sandwich inthe airport because they fed us on the plane a ham and cheese sandwich and a dulce de leche pastry which was sooooo rich! God, i seriously am going to be walking AND running every day when i get back. maybe there is a gym i can use at the hotel. so the hotel is "almost" a 4-star hotel...complete with pool and 'fitness facility' (which could mean anything) - even a sauna (ugh where are these mosquito bites coming from - everytime i touch a part of my body i find a new one! and those stupid things are carrying Dengue :( ) the hotel is called the Esturion. I just realized i forgot my book...well that will be interesting when im eating dinner alone. maybe some day i'll get to be in a romantic place at a fancy hotel with that fabulous boyfriend i so desire. until then...it's me...and hopefully not forever. looks like we're flying over country - although i have no idea what country owns this country.
Well i just found out that Belgrano (where Christina lives) is under water - people have to cross the streets holding ropes and the traffic is chaos! well, that explains the extent as to how violent those clouds were. the news shows no traffic lights and many cars are bahsed in and structures have fallen down on cars and in the streets. i cant believe it! so here i am having a whole bottle of 38p. trapiche chardonnay and a 90p buffet dinnerher in my hotel. you cant order a glass of wine here...oh NB: i was standing on the balcony and saw fireflies! i was in awe...i'm pretty sure i haven't seen them before...or else I dont remember. they are absolutely baffling...i mean i dont know how they do their light...but wow. well, i'm officially eating everything here...it is sooooo humid it makes wearing clothes difficult. Iguazu is located in the province of Misiones, which is one of the most northern provinces of Argentina. i am so lucky...i can't believe i get to do this...after this trip in a couple of months all i have to do is go to the south (see some glaciers...Argentina has all the diff. environments). I have to get up at 630am for the tours. my server is nice - his name is Jose. nothing but families and older couples here. the buffet is alright but i dont think i'll eat it tomorrow.
Okay, so here I am at Jorge Newberry Airport. It's the local one for national flights. It's okay...haven't seen any planes yet, but t's right by the Rio Plata - the closest i've been to he river so far. I figured i should start a new book for this because i'm almost 2 weeks behind writing and figured that would take up the rest of the pages in the other book. I realized i'm going to have to make a scrapbook too! i dont' hear many Eng. speakers but it's definitely easiernow that my spanish is a bit better. Feels good being at an airport though...i always feel right at home. i can only imagine how crazy it will be if i go to Japan...you cant "fake" the language down there! I saw a roach (cucaracha) while i was in the bathroom here...I wondered if saying something would be a good idea...but then i figured no one would do anything about it. i'm sitting here in the Patio de Comidas (food court) because i'm thinking so much and i had to write it down. i was able to have a conversation with mmy taxi driver on the way here...i still cant understand many of the words but i can definitely talk about things and ask questions. And for 2 months they always tell me my Castellano is quite good...I guess it was meant to be.
Observations: There are some big thunderheads in the sky :( i hear french behind me and now i hear english. we had to get on one of those buses and were driven out to our plane. i knew it...it's a Boeing 737 for Aerolineas Argentinas. being at the airport everytime keeps the flying dream alive...the baggage handlers seem to have to load the baggage by hand. That would be pretty strenuous. not to mention, not all of the airport is air-conditioned - even the plane isn't air-conditioned much. so far i seem to be the only person on this flight (except for this older lady who totally cut in front of me in line) who is travelling alone - but what liberation! my first national flight in another country. i cant believe it...thank you Papa!
well, that was the bumpiest ascent i have ever been on. it started raining when we took off, but the thing is whenever it rains here, there is usually thunder and lightning! i kept thinking "there's no way the pilots will fly into a thunderhead - it would structurally rip the aircraft apart." when we first took off the pilot flew low over the river towards Uruguay. the clouds were very dark. i knew he was trying to find a better spot to start climbing that wouldn't destroy us. when it was too bad, he levelled out. it was pretty scary. back home, we climb, on a good day in about 15 min. it took this one 35 min. to reach 35,000 ft. it felt like a rollercoaster. i almost grabbed the guy beside me. Poor Mom...if she were here she couldn't have handled it. when we came out of the clouds and saw sunlight, the thunderheads were huge...i could see it. for the first time ever flying i thughtthere was a possibility i was going to die. i shouldn't have eaten the gross lomito sandwich inthe airport because they fed us on the plane a ham and cheese sandwich and a dulce de leche pastry which was sooooo rich! God, i seriously am going to be walking AND running every day when i get back. maybe there is a gym i can use at the hotel. so the hotel is "almost" a 4-star hotel...complete with pool and 'fitness facility' (which could mean anything) - even a sauna (ugh where are these mosquito bites coming from - everytime i touch a part of my body i find a new one! and those stupid things are carrying Dengue :( ) the hotel is called the Esturion. I just realized i forgot my book...well that will be interesting when im eating dinner alone. maybe some day i'll get to be in a romantic place at a fancy hotel with that fabulous boyfriend i so desire. until then...it's me...and hopefully not forever. looks like we're flying over country - although i have no idea what country owns this country.
Well i just found out that Belgrano (where Christina lives) is under water - people have to cross the streets holding ropes and the traffic is chaos! well, that explains the extent as to how violent those clouds were. the news shows no traffic lights and many cars are bahsed in and structures have fallen down on cars and in the streets. i cant believe it! so here i am having a whole bottle of 38p. trapiche chardonnay and a 90p buffet dinnerher in my hotel. you cant order a glass of wine here...oh NB: i was standing on the balcony and saw fireflies! i was in awe...i'm pretty sure i haven't seen them before...or else I dont remember. they are absolutely baffling...i mean i dont know how they do their light...but wow. well, i'm officially eating everything here...it is sooooo humid it makes wearing clothes difficult. Iguazu is located in the province of Misiones, which is one of the most northern provinces of Argentina. i am so lucky...i can't believe i get to do this...after this trip in a couple of months all i have to do is go to the south (see some glaciers...Argentina has all the diff. environments). I have to get up at 630am for the tours. my server is nice - his name is Jose. nothing but families and older couples here. the buffet is alright but i dont think i'll eat it tomorrow.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Fine Print....
okay so it seems i feel like im never going to be up to date....in the next few days im going to post the entries from the days of my trips last week because they were super exciting and very interesting...then maybe eventually i'll fill in the big gap
:)
:)
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Sun Oct 4th - Empanadas, Reggae, the perfect boots, Club Araoz
Friday was a crazy day! I had Spanish class and was feeling good from the night before. However, today was special because the language studio was hosting an empanada-marking night at Elvira's place (she's the owner). I had to swing by the vegetable market to get green onions (cebolla verdeo) and white onions (cebolla). I love the concept of a small fresh vegetable market! The green onions were huge! Absolutely enormous and beautiful! I had to go to a supermercado after that to get raisins (pasas de uva) and I swear that Asian girl is either permanently pissed off at the world or just doesnt like me because im a foreigner- well technically so is she. So I walked in and she had a kleenex shoved up one of her nostrils. Then i asked her where the raisins were and she just passively waved down an aisle. I was wandering around for about 10min. until she lookd at me and pointed to the bottom shelf i was looking at! arg! anyway, I went to Elvira's to learn how to make the empanada filling because it has to cool - preferably naturally. We were going to make 2 kinds, carne and queso con cebolla. I wrote down the ingredients - def. a lot of onion - and Elvi and I made the filling. Sean showed up and brought the meat and almost didn't come because he thought it was later. Elvi and I also had tea together! So then I left until later. I wrote up some of the blog and did some situps then when I was ready, went back to Elvi's. There were probably around 11 of us there and it was a good time. I met new people - one girl invited me to go with her and her friends to Creamfields (all-nighter) where apparently Armin Van Buuren and Tiesto are playing :). I thought Paul Oakenfold was going to be there....he's the last of the 3 i need to see. So we got to fill the empanadas, seal them and then fold it in such a way to make it look pretty, seal it well, and distinguish meat ones from the veggie ones. I have to say there was a good crowd. I think this Belgium guy was pretty into me. I was originally into this other guy when I first showed up, but then he started talking to this tall skinny girl, I thought "ah forget it". Christina (one of the girls from the previous night) came by and we went to a reggae club in Abasto - the other 2 didn't come with us. From the moment we stepped out of the taxi, to the moment we left in another taxi, the men did not leave us alone! This 38-year old Colombian guy wanted us to go meet his friends but then this girl wanted to paint my face. After that, we ditched the old guy by pretending to go to the bathroom. We were at the bar when this other guy started chatting me up (gotta love how there are always more men than women) and I learned that he was acting as a wing man for his friends. So we danced a bit and then went upstairs. Anyway, we left a bit later and as soon as we walked out, 3 guys outside offered usa ride home and wanted to have a drink with us. We were like "nah" but chatted with them a bit an then got a cab. Apparently Chris texted me a few min. later (because i was dropped off first) saying the cabbie wanted a kiss..ew! haha! what a great story...
Saturday was my day of finding the perfect boots! I met Courtney and we walked around Palermo Soho - the line in Starbucks was crazy! And apparently, on my cup instead of writing Jojo, they wrote Gogo - great, eh?- I should just tell everyone to start calling me Gogo...I've never seen an SB with so many people waiting. We were walking to the subte and randomly wandered into a shoe store just to see what they had! And of course, when you have such big feet, the selection is much smaller! And- we're talking last pairs, here. But luckily we found them...beautiful, black, pointy-toed, tiny-hell, fake-leather boots! And no tax - 200 pesos - about 60 bucks or so. I was thrilled! I had to meet Daniel in San Telmo at 530 and it was 521...eep! But whenever you're in a hurry, that's when transportation takes forever! Well i was about 15 min late but he was waiting. We caught the end of the market - one of the vendors made me a present out of wire that said "jojo" - at least it wasn't gogo...We wandered around looking for somewhere to eat - finally found one - and the menu was huge! Took us another 15min to figure out what to order! Forget the name...Don Ernesto I think. After, I went home to get ready for another club experience. I met Uli (Belgium guy) around 11:45 and we had a drink...everyone else was supposed to come at 12! Mariano and Alexis came around 12:30...the girls showed up at 1:20am!!! I wasn't happy. Their friend and his friend came too and then there was this random guy standing with us and we were like "who are you?" and he said "well, you were speaking English so i came over" hahaha! His name was Donovan and i asked him "where are you friends?' and he said "in south africa". - so we almost had the whole world in our group of 11: US, Canada, UK, South America, Belgium and Africa! We went to Club Araoz, the one that was too expensive last weekend. We got in - and I mean it was okay, but the music sucked - they even played YMCA and Barbie Girl at one point - ugh! And we lost Mr. South Africa but we kept losing everyone else too - so that was hard! Not to mention having to shove through all the people just to get to the other side...We left around 4am - the music was so bad and my feet were dying. Next Sat. we are going to a club not in Palermo. We had late-night food nearby then called it a night.
I got up pretty late on Sunday Oct 4th, did my homework and went with Uli to Campobravo in Las Canitas for dinner. It was a bit pricey and their version of Caesar Salad so wasn't Caesar! We had a bottle of wine and asado and some good conversation. He's a nice guy. The middle of the night brought a huge storm! I've never heard thunder like that - well, maybe in Hong Kong but I was seriously freaked out and in need to company. I have to stop eating so late. It's just so bad for you. Tomorrow Im determined to go running - but it's already starting to get humid...that's not good! I'm already dreading how humid it will be here :(. I want more cold! Green Day is playing in the cafe where I'm writing...I miss Andy...they're his fav. band.
Saturday was my day of finding the perfect boots! I met Courtney and we walked around Palermo Soho - the line in Starbucks was crazy! And apparently, on my cup instead of writing Jojo, they wrote Gogo - great, eh?- I should just tell everyone to start calling me Gogo...I've never seen an SB with so many people waiting. We were walking to the subte and randomly wandered into a shoe store just to see what they had! And of course, when you have such big feet, the selection is much smaller! And- we're talking last pairs, here. But luckily we found them...beautiful, black, pointy-toed, tiny-hell, fake-leather boots! And no tax - 200 pesos - about 60 bucks or so. I was thrilled! I had to meet Daniel in San Telmo at 530 and it was 521...eep! But whenever you're in a hurry, that's when transportation takes forever! Well i was about 15 min late but he was waiting. We caught the end of the market - one of the vendors made me a present out of wire that said "jojo" - at least it wasn't gogo...We wandered around looking for somewhere to eat - finally found one - and the menu was huge! Took us another 15min to figure out what to order! Forget the name...Don Ernesto I think. After, I went home to get ready for another club experience. I met Uli (Belgium guy) around 11:45 and we had a drink...everyone else was supposed to come at 12! Mariano and Alexis came around 12:30...the girls showed up at 1:20am!!! I wasn't happy. Their friend and his friend came too and then there was this random guy standing with us and we were like "who are you?" and he said "well, you were speaking English so i came over" hahaha! His name was Donovan and i asked him "where are you friends?' and he said "in south africa". - so we almost had the whole world in our group of 11: US, Canada, UK, South America, Belgium and Africa! We went to Club Araoz, the one that was too expensive last weekend. We got in - and I mean it was okay, but the music sucked - they even played YMCA and Barbie Girl at one point - ugh! And we lost Mr. South Africa but we kept losing everyone else too - so that was hard! Not to mention having to shove through all the people just to get to the other side...We left around 4am - the music was so bad and my feet were dying. Next Sat. we are going to a club not in Palermo. We had late-night food nearby then called it a night.
I got up pretty late on Sunday Oct 4th, did my homework and went with Uli to Campobravo in Las Canitas for dinner. It was a bit pricey and their version of Caesar Salad so wasn't Caesar! We had a bottle of wine and asado and some good conversation. He's a nice guy. The middle of the night brought a huge storm! I've never heard thunder like that - well, maybe in Hong Kong but I was seriously freaked out and in need to company. I have to stop eating so late. It's just so bad for you. Tomorrow Im determined to go running - but it's already starting to get humid...that's not good! I'm already dreading how humid it will be here :(. I want more cold! Green Day is playing in the cafe where I'm writing...I miss Andy...they're his fav. band.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Sept 30 La Bomba de Tiempo and some New girls
Sunday was another day of rain. I got up late and walked in the rain to Starbucks - and I have to say that not only do they write your name on the cup, but they make their lattes like the cafe con leche in the cafes. It was so good. I worked on my lesson plan for Tues. I'm supposed to teach an hour to a business english student for Cpacitaction en Ingles - a new pilot program for English immersion. But they are so vague and so friggin' disorganized. I had to email the girl just to figure out how old the person was, what level they are and who they work for. They are extremely vague. And they give me no material - or help, obviously. Monday I had Spanish class - they were nice enough to extend and shorten some of my classes to accomodate this probation teaching. After class, I asked Sean and Aida if they wanted to go to the book store "El Ateneo" at Callao and Santa Fe. So we took the subte down there. The bookstore is an old converted theater. Absolutely beautiful and huge! I found a couple of books to hopefully help me teach English - and help me teach English in Spanish if I had to. We found a buffet place on a side street - I forget the name - but like 20 something pesos all-you-can-eat including tons of seafood and a parilla! We were like "something has to be wrong with this place". But it was all that food at a ridiculously low cost! After the huge meal, Sean and Aida took the subte and I walked back - took me just over an hour. It was pleasant. I decided to work on my lesson plan again and then Anna came by - one of the girls from "girls night". Sean and Aida met us and we went to La Bomba de Tiempo. It was at Pueyrredon on the B line - a subte line i haven't taken yet - felt different. We got to the Konex Centre on Sarmiento - it was sort of a half outdoor venue. But a lot of people - there were a number of men on a stage playing tribal drums - with one man at the front - impromptu - conducting different drums. It was like a big tribal party. It was unbelievable. Everyone was dancing. Outside of the dancing areas you could get litre beers for 15 pesos (5 bucks). So Anna and I went and got some beer - some guy started chatting her up in Spanish - man, i hope that 5 months from now I'll be able to talk like that too. I do fine with writing, reading and listening but speaking is still pretty tough. I thought of Andy...he would have loved this. We werent there for very long, but we are set on going next week. We made a mad dash for the subte - and I slipped and fell on my face - of course!- in the subte but thank goodness Aida said "you'll never see these people again anyway" but we were on the wrong platform anyway. When I got home I mentally prepared for teaching Tues.
However, Tues rolls around and 2 hours before I got to teach, they cancelled on me. Arg! So frustrating considering they are so vague (as I already said), unorganized and unprofessional. Oh well...After Spanish class, I met Daniel from the BA expat website. He's 30 and taught in Chile last year. He's also here to teach English but would rather do something else - he said he started teaching a couple of kids in Belgrano though, but he got robbed not far from their house - poor guy! We had lunch on Santa Fe somewhere, then walked through the Jardin Botanico and on to the park in Palermo. We saw 40 baby geese (I thought they were ducks before but they arent). We noticed a small path in the grass and saw this trail of ants carrying bits of grass - a long trek - and several paths - leading to holes in the ground. It was fascinating! There were also these birds that were black with either a yellow or orange spot on their heads! It was a beautiful d, a good walk, great conversation, and hopefully a new friend. That night I talked to Ian a bit...yay...and had to create a 1.5 hour lesson plan for Thurs for a job interview and needed his advice.
Wednesday was a good day too. Had 2 hours of class with Martin...he's so funny! Oh I had a job interview in the morning with Executive English - they pay only 18 pesos an hour..so not too bad but at least not vague like that other place. After class I met Haley for lunch - she's from the Expat website as well. We met at Tea Connection in Palermo - pricey, but so many teas! And healthy, good food on the lunch menu - they also make these homemade drinks - like flavoured water. She's from California and has been here about 3 weeks. She has a roomate though...I want to get a cat :( ...Anyway, I had this great salmon sandwich...there is such a lack of seafood out here..and I haven't eaten much chicken...quite a bit of ham though! When I got back to the apt, I decided to go for a run for the first time in a couple of months...it was painful but totally worth it! I printed off my lesson plan for Thurs. interview and spent the rest of the evenin mentally preparing and watching movies.
Happy Oct finally! This has been the longest month ever...my body is killing me from running, but it's about time I really focused on me...I had spanish class in the morning and then had the "big" interview! I was prepared! I re-did the newspaper lesson plan. I could definitely tell the lady was impressed by my creativity and the fact that i was very prepared. I went running again in the park in Palermo and it was hard, but good. That night I met this girl Courtney off the BAexpats website. It was funny because we didn't know what each other looked like and she was with 2 friends...well all 4 of us are women of colour! I haven't met anyone yet with dark skin! It was so funny! So we all walked down to a restaurant on Santa Fe. Two are from the States (NY and St. Louis) and the other is from the UK. We had steak - I had this amazing lomo with mustard sauce - very fattening im sure, but so damn good! We had great convo and good wine and then Courtney and I had another glass of wine in Plaza Serrano. It was around 2am by the time we called it a night.
However, Tues rolls around and 2 hours before I got to teach, they cancelled on me. Arg! So frustrating considering they are so vague (as I already said), unorganized and unprofessional. Oh well...After Spanish class, I met Daniel from the BA expat website. He's 30 and taught in Chile last year. He's also here to teach English but would rather do something else - he said he started teaching a couple of kids in Belgrano though, but he got robbed not far from their house - poor guy! We had lunch on Santa Fe somewhere, then walked through the Jardin Botanico and on to the park in Palermo. We saw 40 baby geese (I thought they were ducks before but they arent). We noticed a small path in the grass and saw this trail of ants carrying bits of grass - a long trek - and several paths - leading to holes in the ground. It was fascinating! There were also these birds that were black with either a yellow or orange spot on their heads! It was a beautiful d, a good walk, great conversation, and hopefully a new friend. That night I talked to Ian a bit...yay...and had to create a 1.5 hour lesson plan for Thurs for a job interview and needed his advice.
Wednesday was a good day too. Had 2 hours of class with Martin...he's so funny! Oh I had a job interview in the morning with Executive English - they pay only 18 pesos an hour..so not too bad but at least not vague like that other place. After class I met Haley for lunch - she's from the Expat website as well. We met at Tea Connection in Palermo - pricey, but so many teas! And healthy, good food on the lunch menu - they also make these homemade drinks - like flavoured water. She's from California and has been here about 3 weeks. She has a roomate though...I want to get a cat :( ...Anyway, I had this great salmon sandwich...there is such a lack of seafood out here..and I haven't eaten much chicken...quite a bit of ham though! When I got back to the apt, I decided to go for a run for the first time in a couple of months...it was painful but totally worth it! I printed off my lesson plan for Thurs. interview and spent the rest of the evenin mentally preparing and watching movies.
Happy Oct finally! This has been the longest month ever...my body is killing me from running, but it's about time I really focused on me...I had spanish class in the morning and then had the "big" interview! I was prepared! I re-did the newspaper lesson plan. I could definitely tell the lady was impressed by my creativity and the fact that i was very prepared. I went running again in the park in Palermo and it was hard, but good. That night I met this girl Courtney off the BAexpats website. It was funny because we didn't know what each other looked like and she was with 2 friends...well all 4 of us are women of colour! I haven't met anyone yet with dark skin! It was so funny! So we all walked down to a restaurant on Santa Fe. Two are from the States (NY and St. Louis) and the other is from the UK. We had steak - I had this amazing lomo with mustard sauce - very fattening im sure, but so damn good! We had great convo and good wine and then Courtney and I had another glass of wine in Plaza Serrano. It was around 2am by the time we called it a night.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)