Ski Trip to Andes Mountains

We arrived at the airport an hour before departure…none of this crazy American security stuff. Since I had paid the discounted flight price online, by pretending to be Argentine and making up a D.N.I. number using a variation of my American social security number (by now I had learned to scam just like the Argentine’s do!), I hoped that Natalia’s mom would check in the family group of 5 at the flight counter and they would not ask me to pay the $200 flight difference for Americans. I got lucky! And boarded with liquids! And kept my shoes and belt on through security….was this what it was like traveling before I was 16 years old? (oh, and instead of peanuts, we got dulce de leche alfajor cookies! I love Argentina!)

We landed in Mendoza 1.5 hours later and checked into our hostel, which was already having a party! I had my first “choripan”, sausage in a baguette. Natalia and I didn’t get a room because we knew we would be staying out dancing until 2am when our night bus arrived to take us to Las Lenas in the Andes Mountains.

In the morning on the climb up the mountain, the bus got stuck in snow…did I mention it had been snowing all night and continued to snow all day! LOVE IT! People on the bus said chains were being put on the tires. Our bus was filled with young people because of the long, holiday weekend, so I took the liberty in starting the bus party with my ipod Zumba music.

The mountain views were breathtaking and everything was covered in lovely snow. We lucked out and stayed in 5-person apartment right there at the ski place, where Natalia’s mom made us sandwiches for lunch, heavenly homemade hot chocolate and Italian dinner! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOg_rqaXrCA

I’m so glad Natalia had been to Las Lenas earlier in the winter and took skiing lessons from Andres…all that knowledge was passed on to me! I’ve attempted skiing once before when I was 15….well, actually I went on the high school trip to North Carolina, put on my ski gear and went flying on flat snow into a wall knocking down 4 people. I have refused to ski ever since. I’m so glad I learned in the Andes Mountains and attempted my first slope in South America!

Skiing is by far the most dangerous thing I have ever done…more dangerous than repelling upside down in Mexico, parasailing in Austria and canyoning in Switzerland. I was praying the whole time I would not fall and break my ankle….Tango Festival y Mundial (World Tango Festival) begins in Argentina August 13 and I want to have both my legs for dancing!!!

I took to skiing a lot better than I thought I would…my first lesson was while actually going down the beginner´s slope...i´m not a lady of curse words but my mouth was a string of screaming profanities...in spanish...at the fluent level...the whole 5 minutes down the flat-like beginner slope!!!! (I´m not even sure where I learned all those phrases.) Super proud, though, I did not fall! Second time around, I was getting the hang of twisting, switching directions and concept of “pizza and spaghetti” positions to stop. After day one of skiing, and lack of sleep from a week of partying, I passed out for 3 hours at the apartment and woke up to the pleasant surprise of Fernet and coke with an invite from the neighbors to pre-game and eat some bon bon chocolates. I’m beginning to wonder if I have developed an addiction to Argentine cultural partying…

My energy level surged out of nowhere. We chilled with the neighbors until 1am and then went out into the cold and snow…walked two blocks to the only dance club in the mountains called “UFO”. There was a line of people paying cover (men and women), but I learned well from Natalia the “Argentine- charm”. I walked passed the line of people, strutted up to the entrance and starred the guard down, who immediately opened the door and let me in without paying cover.

This was an insane night! First off, there was a random guy dressed as a cow! Argentine’s have quite a sense of humor and this spectacle made my night! Everyone danced, hugged, sang and kissed the cow! Even days later I break out into random laughter at the office remembering the chant “DALE VACA!” and egging on the cow to do ridiculous, embarrassing things. Around 3 am they started passing around flashing neon-light sabers and alien florescent head bands. I unfortunately ran into some more guys who thought they could steal a kiss from me…but I also met some great guys that protected us group of girls by dancing around us in a circle (felt like a Dane Cook comedy moment).

We got 3 hours of sleep that morning before skiing a second day. I could not believe how sore my shin bones were from the tightness of the boots the day before! It was actually quite painful, in addition to being akward, walking around like a semi-penguin with my ski gear on. My first fall of the day was graceful and during a picture moment! I was in line to ride up the mountain and asked some girls my age to take a picture…I was in “pizza” stop position but that didn’t stop the skis from sliding backwards down hill! I thanked God I’m a dancer because with my hands full of gloves, ear covers and ski poles I just let myself slowly slide into a straddle and my face planted into the snow….I was laughing hysterically for 5 minutes before getting up! I think my skiing skills were worse the second day….my second fall was trying a new route that apparently had little 8X8 iced over ponds lined with rocks in random places. As I was speeding downhill, my zig zag direction change techniques failed and the only thing I could think of was to sit down and slide on top of the pond, which is exactly what I did!

At the end of the day we took the bus back into Mendoza, arriving around midnight and checking into our hostel. I convinced Natalia to cancel our reservations because obviously we would be going out dancing ALL night until 6am plane back to Buenos Aires. So we opted for a single room for everyone to shower before dinner…this last minute room had a 2x2 bathroom. The shower was about 6 inches away from the toilet and it was great for multitasking- brush your teeth at the sink while rinsing off body soap under the shower, and when I was done the entire bathroom was clean!...and a little wet! Lol.

By the time we all showered and got ready for dinner it was 2am…luckily we found a Mexican place that served us fajitas for the table and giant margaritas at 2:30am! (Still in disbelief that an entire culture eats dinner so late!) Maybe that’s why they don’t work very much during the day and take coffee & mate breaks every hour at the office? We returned to our hostel at 4am and all 5 of us tried to catch a wink of sleep for an hour in the queen size bed….glad we got a photo of that one!

We watched the sun rise on our 6 am flight back to Buenos Aires and planned for that evening’s fiesta. We met up at my apartment in Belgrano and went into town to eat near Corrientes avenue, where we had our funniest restaurant experience yet. We asked for Sangria with white wine and he brought red wine. Then asked for chicken milanesa and he brought breaded meat. When we asked for dulce de leche crepes, he showed up with empanada looking things. It was a quilombo (mess) and we left no tip. We tried scoping out the party scene but our bodies called it quits early in the night when we were walking down Corrientes and couldn’t even form a sentence. We were in bed by 3:30am!

Monday was yet another holiday and we went down to centro, early in the afternoon before the tourist lines, to eat at the famous Café Tortoni, #1 café in Buenos Aires and top 10 in the world. We had the traditional churros y chocolate caliente and got to explore the entire interior. We made it in time for one of the opening World Tango Festival events and it was phenomenal…the live music and dancing!

Afterwards, we walked around centro getting our token tourist picture that we were lacking and then we headed to Buenos Aires Province for official goodbyes. We went to Carolina’s house to get Natalia’s luggage and I bonded with yet another Argentine family over mate and dulce de leche. I really enjoy the close family relationships of Latin culture...i´m actually a little jeaous of them.

There were tears of course as Natalia went off in taxi to the airport and me by bus back into the city…there went half of my Latin Heart, another best friend discovered in a foreign country and the last semi-American friend I have here in the big city. I guess the summer Fiesta is officially over and time to get back to work...new consulting projects, annual review of marketing plans and a group of Germans are coming.

Party hard and…work never!

The party continued ALL week long!

Monday night our little group went to an amazing restaurant in Recoleta called Juana M. Upscale, artistic atmosphere located underground. Wonderful place to spend the cultural 3 -hour dinner from 10pm-1am. It’s also home to the BEST STEAK I have ever had in my life, and the half portion was the size of my hand! It’s officially called “bife de lomo” here in Argentina and it’s a tender, juicy cooked-to-perfection filet mignon. Dinner came with an unlimited salad bar (more healthy and tasty options than in the USA) and I split a bottle of wine and dulce de leche crepe dessert with my partner in crime, Natalia, all for US $13!!! I MUST go back before I leave Argentina!

Tuesday night Natalia hosted Girls’ Night at her modern and perfectly located apartment in Alto Palermo, with a topnotch view of the shopping center and main street. Natalia surprised us with the rum of Argentina called “Fernet” and, with the guys not around, we pigged out on pizza and empanadas starting our own “boliche” (dance club) by dancing to spanish reggaeton music! On a side note, I ran into Megan, high school classmate from 6 years ago, at the apt party….wow, it’s a really small world! (Thanks for bringing Pisco liquor from Chile and sharing travel tips- I move to Santiago in 5 weeks!)

After a few complaints about how awesome our party was going…we decided to venture over to club Kika in Palermo to find us some men to dance with….I didn’t know w-h-a-t I was getting myself into! I now know not to dance like I’m in hot Miami beach….a guy might mistake that for an open invitation to try and take my clothes off and ask for a 3-letter word! On the cultural flip side, I had no idea it was acceptable and normal in Argentina for Alejandro, Roberto and Leandro to just dive in for a Kiss at the club! “Excuse me! I am a lady!”, I told them…to which they responded in a begging, puppy voice a translation of “but, pleaaaase! Just a little, tiny kiss! For me?”

I think we called it quits at 4am…I had to get up at 7am for work and somehow get laundry done and pack for the next weekend trip. I took a 3 hour nap and headed to work…although now that I think about it…I don’t think I actually worked that week. I spent Monday sharing picture and stories of Iguazu Falls Trip with the office staff, Tuesday figuring out how to scam a last minute Argentina resident plane ticket to Mendoza for US $250 instead of American citizen price of US $450, and Wednesday I was frantically searching every source possible for Fuerza Bruta tickets for the night show.

Million thanks to Andres who got us girls tickets! It was the coolest show I have ever been a part of! There was turbo wind, water sprinklers, fire, tons of flying debris, dancing in packs with the actors….a running treadmill platform came out of nowhere pushing the audience (who were on foot, no chairs in this show) around the room and the actors began running in place (hanging by a rope) and bursting through walls that shattered all over us!…an animalistic couple was running sideways on this metallic moving wall….and there was a clear ceiling slip-n-slide that kept falling down to our reach with women swimming around and looking down on us! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc1EN-lo8Vs

The whole show turned into a club at the end….DJ, insane lights, hurricane winds, water sprinklers too! Amazing time!

I had my last dinner with the Stetson Law Group at Liber in Recoleta and then a small group of us decided to go out…the girls had dressed to impress- satin mini-dresses and heels! We went to a bar called Alamo, more of a foreign student hangout. There was a cover charge around US $7, but it included a liter of beer! We met a lot of people from around the world and Natalia shocked us all when she pulled her girl charm… selling cups of beer from our 4-liter pitcher to guys who could not get the bartenders’ attention!!! We might have actually made money that night…we definitely had a free taxi ride home!

Alamo shut us down in the AM and it was sunlight when we returned home. Thus, I didn’t make it to work and instead packed for the weekend ski trip. I met up with the Law Group one last time in Puerto Madera neighborhood on the river near the awesome “Puente de la Mujer” for a delectable buffet lunch at SPETTUS. Natalia and I had our last hugs, Argentine- cheek kisses, and goodbyes with the law group, then we rushed off to fly to Mendoza!

Iguazu Falls

I had my first foreign doctor experience in the beginning of August. This nasty cold had developed into an infection and I decided to finally give in and get some real medication to kick this cold to the curb…I wasn’t exactly resting in bed trying to get better anyways, rather I was out in the streets exploring the town in 35 degree weather to experience culture every chance I got!

I have accomplished so much that I already need to throw away 3 pairs of USA shoes I brought with me! I have blisters in strange places on my feet…and even my blisters have blisters! (Hard to imagine, I did not know it was possible.)

By this time I was beginning to get homesick…not sure why though. Buenos Aires has the most amazing food, I have a great relationship with the office staff and friends, I am adjusted to my apartment, and there is culture galore everywhere…. I don’t even have a place back in Florida “to miss” since I have lived in three different houses my last 6 months in USA avoiding a new lease, HA! I couldn’t put my finger on the origins of these unwanted, strange feelings, but I knew I was looking forward to meeting up with some Americans from Stetson’s Law Study Abroad Program.

The first week of August, I travelled 17 hours by bus to get to Iguazu Falls. It was a fantastic road trip being that (1) there was unlimited beer, wine, champagne and whiskey shots, (2) I travelled with a study abroad friend from MBA Europe 2009 program (Andrew) and (3) I met my soon to be best friend and Latin sister (Natalia). I should also mention the first class reclining seat-beds, dulce de leche snacks, hot dinner, movies and views of land, water and colorful sunsets. ALL this was less than half the price of a plane ticket…and I never had to worry about booking extra nights in a hostel. I would choose this bus travel over ANY international flight!

We arrived at Iguazu Falls in the morning, very well rested, and we checked into our hostel, which was within walking distance. Thanks to Natalia’s mom and sister, who were also traveling with us, Andrew and I enjoyed many Argentine perks. We put on our sunglasses and said Argentine slang, like “che boludo”, while Natalia’s mom bought the entire “family” discounted Argentina citizen tickets….which are 1/3 the cost of tourist price…and we were never asked for verification of Argentina citizenship!

We made our way straight to La Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat) and stayed there for over an hour in AWE of the massive amount of crashing water…we probably took 100 pictures each! To put into perspective how incredible Iguazu Falls are…think BIGGER and more POWERFUL than Niagra Falls! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZQLr_HitQE

We bumped into the rest of the Stetson Law group and hiked the entire park! We walked ramps that gave impressive views from above and below the waterfalls. We also climbed stairs and wound around slick paths to see the smaller, yet still big and important, waterfalls called Dos Hermanos, Adam and Eve, and Bosetti. Our side entertainment for the trip was refining Andrew’s (from now on known as Andres) Argentina Spanish. If you’re not careful you can really dig yourself into a hole. For example, talking about how you spread your wings like the Iguazu butterflies in this study abroad experience…actually translates into being flamboyant and gay in Castellano. Commenting on the sun coming out making you hot… and end up accidently saying you’re horny.

Our second day at the falls we decided to ignore the cold weather and go straight for the dive into the falls….via boat! We got completely drenched in icy waters, but it was the best experience to be IN Iguazu Falls, hearing the roaring and raging waters!!! There were clear skies the second day and a double rainbow over Iguazu! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aqmebMk6tE

There were also some interesting animals, called coaties, following us around the park and attacking our white grocery bags, regardless of its contents (wet clothes or food). It really freaked Natalia and I out when they started running in a pack of 8 towards us! We then hiked the 3 km Mocuco Trail….when we passed the 3 km marker we began seeing tourist who had aborted the mission because of the deceiving distance. Natalia’s mom and sister turned back and “Los Tres Amigos” (myself, Andrew, Natalia) doubled our hiking efforts to get to this hidden waterfall before park closing.

The site was charming and we bumped into a blonde model getting ready for a bikini photo shoot in 50 degree weather! Andres, nicknamed Tarzan from climbing vines in the forest earlier, began mounting the huge boulders for photo opts and swimming in the freezing waters to get underneath the waterfalls. We started calling him a “modelo” and had a photo shoot of shirtless Mr. Muscles.

The map wasn’t exactly accurate in finding Macuco trail or the hiking distance to the waterfalls, so we decided to ask for directions back to the park entrance to meet up with Natalia’s family. We followed the train…literally, we walked behind it on the tracks until the park police caught us and kept yelling at us until we back tracked out of the tree lined route. We weren’t happy because we were so close to the train station! Or so we thought. The guy offered to drive us three and so we made our grand entrance back to the park via park police car and greeted Natalia’s mom, LOL!

We then rushed to “La Triple Frontera” to see the sunset on the border of 3 countries- Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. Beautiful orange and red sunset while we relaxed in the park drinking mate. The entire law group met up for dinner that night for the well-known fish dishes of the frontera. It was my first fish experience in Argentina and I am always weary of ordering fish in another country…(In Mexico the shrimp came with its full body shell, antennas and eyes! In China the fish came fried over top of the skin and eyes!) This was the best foreign experience of seafood….just a few bones and no skin.

We had been debating over dinner if it was possible to enter Brazil without a Visa, or rather sneak in using Natalia’s family as cover. There were 5 in our group that stayed an extra day and only 4 could go in a taxi. Being a rushed week of last minute planning and packing, my passport was accidently left in the safe back at the office in Buenos Aires (per office rules of foreign staff). Betting I would end up in jail if I was caught crossing borders without a passport, I encouraged the rest to sneak Andrew in for the Brazilian view of the waterfalls. Andrew hid in the taxi while the rest of family checked in at the Brazilian border and all was a success sneaking an American into Brazil. Although I was not able to enter, I did get Andrew’s video of the falls from the Brazil side! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAkJkhAA83s

On the journey home, the bus overheated and we stopped in a small town to switch. There, we got our token picture of giant Argentine Jesuscristo.

Boys, Bums and Broadway

It’s the end of July and I have been living in Argentina for over a month. I am definitely lacking in my knowledge of the city…the parks, streets, plazas, markets, amazing architecture…there is so much to see and experience! My first weekend staying in Buenos Aires I decided to go to Plaza Italia in Palermo and start walking the adventure….

I wandered further into the parts known as Palerma Viejo (SOHO and Hollywood). I went to the popular, and well known by the locals, Plaza Serrano (officially it is Plaza Cortazar) and walked around the craft booths. I did some loops to check out plaza Campaña del Desierta (more crafty fair stuff on weekends) and Plaza Guermes. Apparently, this is the spot to be if you’re American and you want an overpriced beer at noon without being judged for your early drinking habits. I started heading down towards Alto Palermo (big shopping mall) to find my favorite empanada place …never thought I would walk 3 miles to get the perfect empanada! I’m turning loco like the Argentineans!

I then decided to speed down to Plaza de Mayo to catch “Manzana de las Luces” tour of the underground tunnels. “Manzana” was the old Spanish word for city block and “Luces” referred to enlightenment and intellectualism. Avenida de Mayo and the surrounding streets are thus an area for the educated. Jesuits founded the very first church of the city here and built tunnels underground to transport supplies to the weekly market…or so they say…really there are two other theories: (1) a way to smuggle illegal items from other European countries and (2) an escape route from the Presidential Palace in case of political turmoil. The president in 2001 actually fled the Pink House underground to get to his helicopter that whisked him away!

I walked down Calle Peru and Calle Florida, another street market with pedestrian access only, and I noticed how empty the city felt on a weekend during the winter vacation. Maybe they are all recovering from Friday night´s partying until wee hours of the morning? It’s amazing how big every single building is and that each one has such intricate details. Definitely European feeling and I love it! Without so many people around I was able to be a tourist and actually look at the monstrous towers without being pushed around …I did feel a little strange seeing bums on every door step and carteros digging threw the street trash. The sun began to set and that’s when I made it to Corrientes…the Broadway of Buenos Aires! Best seen at night, I walked up and down the streets searching for some sort of show... “La Bella y La Bestia” for Sunday night for US $35!

Exhausted after 5 hours of walking the town with this pesky cold- that had gotten worse after walking to work in the rain on Friday….stupid subte that was shut down after half my work commute!- I decided to relax and eat out in the city tonight. I also wanted to consult my Buenos Aires guide book for the next “do it yourself guided walking tour” by Frommer’s….you can laugh, this is how I got my nickname travelling in Europe.

I then experienced the flirting style of Argentine men….which is more like smothering you with words sweeter than dulce de leche. I stayed at the café restaurant for 2 hours…he showered compliments of my eyes, hair and face…saying I’m perfect because I speak Spanish and I am intelligent …the most beautiful girl he has ever seen in the world (I think he broke a world record for number of times this line was said in one night). Tinker Bell must have sprinkled some kind of magic pixie dust on him because it literally seemed like he came out of a Disney prince charming movie! And at the end of the night he professed his love for me and asked me to be his girlfriend… I left the café high on laughter and in shock that Argentine men get women this way!

I wasn’t ready to go home so I hiked over to Plaza Lavalle…amazing view of the intimidating Tribunales (Supreme Court) at night! I got creeped out by the low class people hanging around the sidewalks and saying who knows what when I walked by…so I quickly took my pictures and took the subte home.

Sunday, still stuffed up from the cold, I went straight to Avenida de Mayo and followed my guide book´s walk along this street designed to mimic Paris’ Champs Elysees, which went from la Casa Rosada to Palacio del Congreso. The architectural views along the way were phenomenal! Hilarious that an Italian architect designed Hotel Chile with Middle East style! Palacio Barolo was inspired by Dante´s Inferno….a lobby of hell with fiery floors and golden dragons… heaven on the 22 floor with a rotating lighthouse overlooking the city! My favorite laugh of the day was from a copy of Rodin´s “Thinker” (from Paris) sitting in the middle of Plaza Lorea. There was a breath-taking fountain complete with naked dancing baby statues and a tribute to the union of the two previous battling political sides. Behind the fountain was the daunting El Congreso. To make its presence known to the world it has a dome like Capital Hill in Washington DC and the horses´ statue like Brandenburg Gate from Berlin, Germany. For giggles there was even a Café Molina (Moulin rouge Paris Café) to the right.
THIS PLAZA IS MY FAVORITE PLACE IN BUENOS AIRES!!!

Sick day....refusing to stay in bed

I worked 12 days straight...getting up to the alarm every freaking cold morning...

I was glad to finally get away to Pilar, just outside of Buenos Aires, for a relaxing weekend. Think sleeping in until 10, running around a plush green neighborhood 2x a day, making home made fettuccini noodles, drinking wine at every meal and cozying up to a fire. It was nice...until the whole family woke up one day sick! Must have been all the passing around of the traditional mate.

My boss told me to take a day off work and rest, which was just as well because I woke up with a fever. But, being in another country I always have to “aprovecha el dia”, seize the day! I got a detailed city map and starting walking miles and miles and miles in the cold to see everything I could of beautiful Buenos Aires!

I started in my own neighborhood of Belgrano.... I must have walked every street...4 hours of walking is a long time when you’re sick. I walked down the main avenue for over an hour and was surprised to still see both sides of the street lined with café/ restaurants/ clothing/ shoe/ perfume stores. Does it ever end? A huge dome hiding behind some buildings caught my attention…turns out it is La Redonda church facing Plaza de General Manuel Belgrano. I think I must have been sweating out the fever because I was burning up in my tank top, where the rest of the city was bundled up in coats and scarves. I decided to take a 10 minute rest inside the church and admire all the art work and the inner dome view that looks like the Pantheon in Italy. Everything was marble on the interior and lined with tons of gold…an impressive church that had great atmosphere as they were playing the pipe organ too. I also walked around the park watching some street vendors mold silverware into jewelry and engraving it….the old Flintstones way.

It was then I decided on my mission for the day….to find a hidden panaderia to buy a picnic lunch and a park to enjoy people watching. Along my search, I got turned around in skyrise brick apartment buildings whose first floors were designer shops, spotted a restaurant that looks like the top of the Chrysler building, dead ended at a house where Albert Einstern lived while in Argentina and the various buildings spread around town of the Universidad de Belgrano. I did find a cute sandwich shop by the Cuban embassy. I ordered an Argentinean classic- ham, cheese and pineapple. It was a 3-layer, tea -style sandwhich the size of my hand and they even had the crust cut off. I also picked out some dulce de leche and “frutilla” mini cookies for dessert. I then walked an hour to Las Barrancas park- literally hills placed in the middle of the bustling city- and cozied up under a huge tree for my picnic lunch. The kids are on winter break and so they were all out running and screaming on the warmest day of the month….high of 58 degrees!

Of course I got turned around in all my zigzagging through the streets and following anything that caught my eye….I ended up running into China Town in Argentina! They have an official street entrance that reminded me of Beijing, painted gold and red and complete with the tiny dragons on the rooftop corners! (I decided to skip the rabbit pizza). I did, of course, check out the panaderia and was surprised to find brownies!....People keep asking me why Argentineans are not fat with all the cultural eating….I think there is something in the water because I eat twice as much here in Argentina and I weigh the same!

On sick day #2, Bianca insisted that I take another day off from work to rest…and that the perfect way to recover from a cold was to go the gardens and zoo in Palermo. So I did!

I took the subte down to Plaza Italia…it was bustling with people and honking car horns just like any other plaza in the city…and it had a huge statue in the center too. I did an initial walk around the plaza to get to know the streets… ultimately confusing myself as to where I was…and search for a sandwicheria. I decided to first check out the Jardin Botanico, which is free entrance this month, and I found many others eating their picnic lunch here too! My two favorite parts of this garden: (1) the Indicador Meterolocico statue that is a tribute to many scientists’ inventions and (2) statue of two naked women waving around a cloak called “El Despertar de la Naturaleza” (Awakening of Nature).

Argentina prides itself in its varied arquitecture from other countries….although not much here is original. Everything resembles a classic piece from another country. Something caught my eye across from Plaza Italia that reminded me of Paris’ Arc du Triumph…although on a smaller scale like the piece in front of the Louvre. Well, this was actually the Jardin Zoologico (Zoo) entrance….it was warming up and I decided it would be awesome to check out the zoo for US $5. It was a great vocabulary learning experience! I feel bad for those poor animals having to live in tiny, dirty conditions like that and be hit on the head all day by nasty food chunks thrown by screaming children. This park was worse than Disney in high season….parents were shouting the entire time, kids were whining because they were tired of walking, there was no traffic flow pattern and there were probably too many people there….i realized it was winter vacation for the kids! But I had a wonderful time…and good laugh at an oso homiguero- the most unfortunate animal I have ever seen in my life! Its nose looks like a tree branch protruding 8 inches away from its body with an equaling awkward tail draped in ragged spotted tassles.

I also made my way down to Plaza Holanda and the Rosedal Garden….which would have been a breathtaking view of thousands of roses if it wasn’t the middle of winter here in Buenos Aires! The park trails were still gorgeous and I was jealous of the friends canoeing and paddle boating in the lakes and others jogging the perimeter. I definitely want to come back here when I am better and do the same. Of course I got turned around following the huge dome sprouting out from behind the tress….it was actually the Planetario Municipal. I decided not to go in as the main attraction was watching a non-professional theatrical play using a backdrop of stars. Hmmm….I’ll Pass. Across the street was a Museo de Artes Plasticos….which sounded pretty cool! But the name is deceiving; there is nothing plastic about the art. I did like the main feature though– a provocative piece of the senoritas of the bicentennial who were dressed in shocking hooker clothes. Out front was yet another park, Parque de 3 de Febrero, where hundreds of people gathered to play soccer, rollerblading, 4 person bike riding, or you can train for the circus….i can’t believe there were people tight rope walking on belts tied between trees….the 15 foot fall looks aweful!

Then, all of a sudden the day turned cold and windy and a haze started moving in. I decided to start walking back to the subte station, which was about 30 minutes away. Trying to find a main street to cross I found Plaza Alemania….German Plaza! It was donated to Argentina in the 60s to commemorate 100 years together. I’m full German so I had to stay and admire the plaza for 5 minutes. That’s when I noticed a sign for the Jardin Japonese. A large garden donated by Japan in the 60s, where every single plant and flower comes from that country. I did the walk about admiring the bright pink, red and orange flowers and walking the bridges over the lakes. It was finally dark and time to get moving…my luck, in came the rains, which explain the cold. I didn’t bring a coat because being sick I was hot all day. I decided it was best to just get wet now instead of later and I walked 30 minutes to the subte (of course taking note of more beautiful Palermo shopping centers and apartments) and made it home just in time for tea and crackers with the family.