Just warning you all this is a long one...
This past (long) weekend was our first trip outside of Chile--Buenos Aires, Argentina! It amazed me that less than two hours away from Santiago (shorter than my normal trip from Boston to St. Louis) was a city so completely different. This is not to say that I liked one city more than the other, only just that it was like being in two different worlds.
1. the accent-- Argentineans and Chileans speak completely differently. All the Chilean modismos don't work in Chile. I found myself holding back my 'si pohs' more than once. Argentineans also pronounce "y" and "ll" differently, more like the "su" in casual. There were many times when I asked someone where a certain street was and when I said the word "calle" without the different pronounciation, I got a lot of funny looks.
2. About a week before I left, I was walking back from a coffee shop, and two young girls handed me a brightly colored flyer. When I looked at it, it was a flyer with the message "abortion is homicide"
At la plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, I was approached by a woman who was representing a campaign about AIDS awareness and prevention. This contrast in issues has really stuck with me.
Now onto my trip...
It started out late, as our flight was delayed about 2 1/2 hours. We got to our hostel around 1:45, and instead of going to bed, we got dressed and went out to a club. The club was absolutely packed, I'd say almost a little too crowded, so we left around 4:30am to go wait in line for tickets to the Argentina/Peru soccer game. It was a really important game because Argentina had to win in order to possibly classify for the world cup. We waited for about 3 hours, and by that time I was pretty exhausted, but had a ticket! We got back to our hostel around 9am, and after only having slept for about 6 hours of about 30, we decided it to take a nap and wake up around 2 so we could still have half the day. Instead, I woke up at 1pm to a pain on my side, and a top bunk on top of me. That ladder someone had removed from the bunkbed the night before, turned out to be pretty crucial--it was what held the bed up. Aside from a nasty bruise, there was no harm done, but I wasn't going back to sleep.
That afternoon we went in search of food. We went to La Boca, which is a barrio with a lot of brightly colored houses, which we actually never saw. We were searching for restaurants that didn't seem to exist, so after a pizza lunch, we ended up leaving because the area isn't so safe at night. Argentina is known for its book shops, so we stopped by a huge one that is in a converted theatre, and decided on a some delicious icecream for dessert. success.
Saturday morning we headed to Recoleta cemetery. The cemetery is interesting because no one is buried in the ground, everyone is buried in what almost look like little houses. The cemetery looked like a small creepy town, and it was so easy to get lost in the rows and rows of buildings which house coffins. A lot of famous people are buried there (the only way to have a spot in the cemetery is to have a family connection), including Eva Peron, which is the above photo. We also stopped by the museum of Bellas Artes, which had a lot of really cool modern art. After lunch we rushed back to the hostal in order to get ready for the soccer game.
The soccer game was definitely an experience I will remember for a very long time. It was so cool to see an entire country rooting for one team, something we don't have in the states, and something which I think we would benefit from. The stadium was packed, and everyone was chanting. In the second half, the score was 1-0 Argentina, and it began to rain. It drizzled at first, then stopped, and then all of sudden the skies opened up and it started pouring. There was no scoreboard so we didn't know how much time was left, but as it continued to rain, and we watched people start to leave the stadium, we decided we should be probably go too so we could find a taxi and not have too much trouble leaving the stadium. No such luck. It continued to pour, and thunder and lightening. There was not a taxi in sight. Our cell phones didn't work in Argentina. There was nothing to do but wander looking for a taxi. It was probably one of the most pathetic sights ever. It looked as though we had jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes on, we were absolutely soaked. We were in a residential neighborhood, so there weren't very many places to go. We finally found a restaurant and practically had to beg them to let 4 soaking wet girls in the restaurant. We sat down and decided it was about time for bottle of wine. There are pictures that document this part of the evening, but they were just too embarrassing to put up here--i'm sorry. We finally called a cab from the restaurant and found out that the final score was 2-1 Argentina, and the final 3 minutes were extremely exciting. Too bad we missed it.
Sunday we were to a huge artisan fair that happens in the Barrio San Telmo every Sunday. They had everything from jewelry, to maté containers (a type of tea drink that practically all Argentineans drink) to antiques and incredible freshly squeezed orange juice. We spent the late morning/early afternoon wandering around, and it felt like we were in Europe. (I haven't been to many places in Europe, but it looked more like Europe than Latin America) That night for dinner, we had to go out for some meat, because that is of course one of the things Argentina is famous for. Our hostel recommended a good restaurant that wasn't too touristy. The meat and vegetables were delicious, and the dessert, a waffle with dulce de leche (almost like a stronger caramel sauce, and another symbol of Argentina) was to die for. Another successful food day in Argentina.
On Monday, two of my friends went home, and another one had work on an essay, so I did a little bit of exploring on my own. I walked over to the main plaza, the casa rosada (the pink house- their version of the white house), the obelisk, the the main theatre which actually ended up being closed. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, so it was really nice exploring. That afternoon I met up with my high school friend's college friend who was studying in Buenos Aires (thank you Rachel Bauer!) She was at a park with her friends, and I didn't realize how big this park would be. I wandered for a while looking for non-couples or groups without babies. I found a group who I thought might be them, so I walked an awkward circle around them--it was them, and it was okay I was so awkward. We stayed at the park for a couple of hours playing frisbee, guitar, and it tried my first maté! Everyone said it was extremely bitter, but I didn't find it that bad. Once again I realized that the world of exchange students is a very small one. I met a couple of people who were friends with people I went to high school with, or go to college with, which was exciting.
That night we went to a drum show, which was extremely cool. This group plays every Monday, and are extremely extrememly talented. The venue was also really cool. We went with a group from our hostel, so we got to meet some new people. We met some very interesting characters, but a on a whole some really cool people. Although there were some people from the US, we also met people from Australia and Brazil, all who have their own stories of why they were in Buenos Aires, which was really cool. This was my first experience staying in a real youth hostel, so the experience was exciting.
Hope this wasn't too boring...
Hey!
ReplyDeleteI'd like to see you again sometime.