Bienvenida a Santiago, Chile!

I arrived like a thief in the night…on a Sunday in the middle of a ghost town. The airport was deserted and the streets were quiet. Everyone must have been napping and preparing for that night’s fiesta. It was the weeklong independence celebration for Chile…200 years to be exact.

My boss picked me up and drove me to my apartment in Nunoa neighborhood. Its #3 place in Santiago to bar hop and party…so that’s exactly what we did. I had “churrasco” for dinner which is a thin sliced steak on a hamburger bun with avocado, tomato and mayonnaise. Not sure how I ended up also drinking 3 pisco sours because I heard 2 was the limit for foreigners not used to drinking it. But with 3 pisco sours I enjoyed the lively music and people dancing around the plaza.

My apartment is amazing, more than I could ever dream of in South America. I have my own room and bathroom and balcony with a fantastic view of the snow capped Andes Mountains (see pics above). Lots of hot water for showers, tv with cable, wi-fi, clothes washer. The apartment has a mini gym, event room, pool table room, pool and garden plaza. I share the place with a 29 year old pharmacist named Daniela. She is awesome and a lot like me…..works a lot, always busy and almost never home. Past roommates would get resentful that I was never home for tv hour and family dinner so this set up should work out great.

Santiago is an extremely safe city in comparison to Buenos Aires and New York. Here laws and rules are respected, and so is the police, which happen to be on every 2 blocks. There is always a guy at the front desk of my apartment too interrogating people he does not know…even if you are leaving the building. I have been interrogated by 5 of the workers so far…..my name, contact number, room number, where I work, how long I will be staying, etc. Protective and very nice people. They even offered to help find me a used bike.

My first actual day in Santiago was a holiday…declared by the female president to extend the festivities. So I marched into town to start exploring the city. Problem was I had no map…there’s actually a shortage of maps in all hotel/hostels/apartments I asked. We all know I get lost WITH a map so I made sure to note the streets names I was walking on and some landmarks so I wouldn’t get lost.

Santiago reminds me a lot of the United States. Most old buildings have been crumbled from past earthquakes and Chile decided to use blue prints from the US to build the city of Santiago. Narrow streets, sidewalks, family houses with yards, there is a business district with shiny sky scrapers (see pic above of view from my office), most people drive American cars and there is a subway. I think there is more action going on in Orlando, Florida than here. The only difference is Santiago is very clean. If I dropped a hotdog on the street, I’d still pick it up and eat it. Also, unlike Buenos Aires, cars will not run you over on the street. I have had numerous cars stop at green lights to let me walk across the street. But maybe that’s because I am “gringa”- a white girl.

The downtown part of Santiago is the only place where there are still some historic buildings, large parks with statues and monuments and a few impressive cathedrals. Unfortunately I have no pics to share….I did not know what I was going to be walking through so I left money, camera and ipod at home. I’ll look for a weekend tour so I can get the history of the city soon. I did run into a huge city fair with folklore music, dancing and people gathering for a special light show at the La Moneda (maybe that’s the government building?)

It took me another 3.5 hours to figure out where home was. Apparently Santiago is not designed in a grid like Buenos Aires, and the Mapuche Indian sounding street names didn’t help me either- “Irarrazaval”, “Zuazagoitia”, “Huentelauquen”. I cant even pronounce the street I live on so I just started asking people which direction my neighborhood was located. Chileans are notorious for not knowing directions but still being polite and sending you off on any path…so I made sure to ask someone else every 2 blocks. It was a great way to break down any kind of nervous feelings I had speaking in Spanish to complete strangers. I definitely speak in Argentine with “shhh” sounds and “vos” form. Chileans speak like a gushing waterfall without emotions in monotone. I don’t like it. But at least I can understand 9 out of 10 words said.

I finally found some young tourists, two Americans and a Britain, who had a detailed Santiago mapbook! They are teaching English for a year because they couldn’t find a job in the USA. I walked with them for 30 minutes and am now looking forward to beer and Monday night football with them next week. Yay, I now have 3 friends for when my brain explodes from working all day in the Spanish language.

Hours later I arrived back at home and in search of something to eat. Everything was closed for Independence Day except for American restaurants. In a 2 block radius from my apartment there was KFC, Burger King, Dominos, Subway, McDonalds and Pizza Hut. That is way too much American influence for me and I had no idea how much the Chileans love the USA and dislike Europe and Argentina. One day I am going to have to try a burger topped with avocado and a side of mini empanadas. It’s interesting to see how businesses adapt to other cultures to become international.

My second judgmental observation- most people are Indian tan, chubby cheeks, dark eyes, short black hair, chunky in general and don’t really care as much as Argentine’s do about appearance. Yes everyone dresses business professional for work, but the hair/jewelry/makeup isn’t a part of that. I don’t fit in at all like I did in Buenos Aires. My clothes are not professional enough (I only brought 3 suites), I am white after 3 months in Argentine winter, I have long American brown hair and bright green eyes. Guys creepily stare at me for long periods of time….even if they are sitting next to me on the metro. And no one wears sunglasses. I do because at 8am walking to work its 70 degrees already with blaring sun. I feel like a rockstar because everyone watches me cross the street….and its an hour walk to work so that’s a lot of attention!

Daniela organized a spectacular welcoming house party for me (see pic). I met all of her friends, who are between 26-30, I am the baby in the group. They are all intelligent with great careers in psychology, engineering, law, etc and have invited me to their birthday weekend bashes in various cities outside of Santiago. We ate seafood for dinner, which is cheap here. Oysters for $3. They of course had pisco sours but they also shared with me another traditional drink called “piscola”- ½ coca cola and ½ pisco rum. We partied Chile style from 11pm to 6am! Adapting to Chile lifestyle I slept until 2pm, put in laundry, went grocery shopping and then to Catholic Mass. I didn’t understand a word, but neither did my roommate! Now if I can only figure out what I am supposed to be doing at work…

Don't Cry For Me Argentina

My last week in Buenos Aires was full of sad goodbyes and tears.

I met with Maria one last time in an old, classic coffee shop in Recoleta called Josephina’s, where she handed over the precious glass jar of homemade dulce de leche! It was spotted going through customs but I played dumb pretending not to understand “vidrio” was “glass” and “miel” was a prohibited animal product. The officer got so frustrated at me when I said “dictionary” in English and started searching through my backpack, that he just waved me and my two suitcases through. It was, after all, Chile Independence Day and no one was happy to be working. I am so glad they did not question the two boxes of Havanna alfajores that my Argentine family gave to me my last night at home.

The German girls we met in our hostel in Colonia, Uruguay made their way to Buenos Aires Wednesday and we all went out in San Telmo for a nice Italian and wine dinner. This part of town is really sketchy at night and a creepster walking by leaned in 2 inches away from my face to attempt to lick me and say that he liked my earrings. I love my handcrafted, 5 peso earrings too….from my street shopping adventures on Calle Florida and Calle Peru.

I cant believe my last week in Buenos Aires I found out how cheap the beauty salons on every corner of the city are….I know Argentine women are obsessive about their bodies, but one should also know its quite affordable. So I splurged for a 45 minute back massage and complete pedicure of my worn out feet all for under $25. Then I relaxed at the local movie theater to see the opening of “Eat Love Pray”. A book that many think fit me perfectly….I also have a 3 phase plan in my complete escape from everything that I had in the USA (3 months each in Argentina, Chile, Peru). The movie was boring and you don’t catch all background connections unless you have read the book….dont waste your time seeing it.

In celebrating a co-workers birthday, we all went to Brunner’s Brewery in Recoleta right across from Evita’s cementery. Eating pizza, sampling beer, listening to rock music….one of the few places that has an American vibe. I did not like it. I am Portena now (says my family here; a complete transformation)…..I think, talk, live and act like an Argentine.

My last day at work I got a notice from the post office that the package of gifts my parents sent had finally arrived! I think there is a huge opportunity for some consulting businesses here to help with logistics and service. I had to wait in 3 different lines with all these various stickers and tickets and listen for a 7 digit number on the fuzzy intercom. After waiting 2 hours for my package, I pranced out of the office….I am not even sure if I was supposed to stop in another line and pay taxes like everyone else? (well, there I was being Argentine again and cutting corners). Did you know marshmallows are unheard of in Buenos Aires? That’s exactly what my mom sent me so I could share the American custom of roasted marshmallows with the office staff, friend and family. We toasted them on the gas stove and it was delicious!

My last day I went to El Tigre. After 3 months of living in Buenos Aires, I had seen almost everything….except Parque de la Costa, which is a roller coaster theme park that costs just $9. I have been growing into this adventurous person the past two years and roller coasters were still something on the “to conquer” list. So I went straight to the biggest one of the park with a huge dip first thing, then spiral twist followed by two back to back loops…dangling legs and caged into a box I felt somewhat safe and came out smiling the whole rest of the day!

I had been avoiding packing all week long…something psychological that if I don’t pack then maybe I wont actually be leaving this place I call “home”. But after a farewell homemade manicotti dinner, rich red wine toast, and dulce de leche dessert with my loving family….I finally had to come to terms with the 2 empty boxes still under my bed. From 1am to 3am I angrily threw my belongings into the two suitcases and cried almost an entire roll of toilet paper (I ran out of tissues, lol). I couldn’t control the sobbing and it was as if someone punched through my chest and was wringing all the love and happiness out of my heart. This must be someone kind of traveler’s depression setting in.

I can’t even describe the painful morning of goodbyes before going to the airport….it brings tears to my eyes now writing about it days later in my Chile apartment. The past 3 months have truly been the best times of my life so far (even greater than living in Mexico, backpacking through Europe or touring Beijing/Honk Kong). Argentina has a way of sweeping you off your feet as you fall in love with the incredible food, tasty wines, juicy meats, carpe diem lifestyle, corner cafes, awe inspiring architecture, lively culture, northern desserts, eastern beaches, southern Patagonia, and western mountains. Argentina has got it all!

When I was 20 years old studying and living in Mexico for a year, I told my family that half my heart was left in Mexico with the tacos and salsa dancing. I think I found the other half of my heart….in Buenos Aires.

Uruguay- Weekend from Hell

Todo fue un quilombo! That is Argentine slang for everything was a mess!

Looking back now, I can laugh at how everything progressed…each little thing turning sour in a foreign country. But, thankfully, we avoided the Big 3 (rape, robbery, lost passports). So on with the story and I hope you get a good laugh at my series of unfortunate events…

It all started with a bad omen. I left the office with Julia (this weekend being her first foreign travel…EVER) in pouring rain and hurricane winds, not even an umbrella could battle for me. The two of us with two detailed maps could not find the boarding ramp for ColoniaExpress boat and we ran into a massive intersection of crossing and merging highways that was impossible to pass on foot if we wanted to stay alive. So we took a taxi….it was just 3 blocks south through what looked like trash district of “the hood”.

The ColoniaExpress building is smaller than a house and thus the entrance line was weaved all around the parking lot…outside in pouring rain! When we got to the front of the line they said the tickets we got the day before from the main office were actually NOT tickets (disregarding the perforated portions, stamped and official looking documents we had)…we had to go wait in another line to “check in”. So we were the last ones to finally board the boat. Upon entering the Uruguay border, immigrations thought I looked like a suspecting smuggler and thoroughly searched through all my belongings…unrolling my carefully folded pants and going through my panties! Good thing I wasn’t embarrassed!

When we exited immigrations….no surprise, the rains followed us. Of course the small town of Colonia was built on sloping streets going in every direction to help the drainage of downpours, resulting in mini rivers on every street. There was no way to avoid walking in 4 -inch deep gushing waters so we just sucked it up and walked quickly to the hostel, which I guess it’s custom in Uruguay to ignore reservations. There were no beds for us.

We found a hostel a few streets over but they requested we pay in advance, and only in Uruguay pesos. Welllll, the change house at immigrations was closed and the “street of banks” had only 3 banks with locked doors to the ATMs. Fed up, tired and hungry we went next door to a restaurant that luckily accepted Argentine pesos (I am so glad that at the last minute I grabbed about US $100 worth of Argentine pesos in case something went wrong). After trying to decipher a 12 page menu with no pictures, we just went for the Uruguay tourist special of “chuvito”, which is their slang for a supreme steak sandwich. And for our nerves we topped it off with beer on tap.

We met two other German girls in our hostel…so now our group comprised of 3 Germans and an American Wilhelm…I fit right in with the group just because of my last name, ha. We did make it to “Plaza de Toros”, thanks to Andres and Natalia for the recommendation. It was the best part of Colonia…and it was actually 15km outside of the city. I didn’t think they were serious when they said they snuck in, but there is a wire fence around the entire 10,000 person capacity bull-fighting ring and cars stopped at each corner watching the site. So feeling rebellious and really UNimpressed by the supposedly great city of Colonia that took all of 15 minutes to walk and see, I found some ripped wire and crawled my way through. The rotting and rusting structure and architecture was awesome! We snuck around for a while, then got caught and so we left. We also entered the very, first church of Uruguay. It was a white box. No decorations and no richly decorated altar. We didn’t even bother climbing the lighthouse….we decided that you have to be over 40 years old to actually fall in love with Colonia and give it rave reviews.

So we moved onto another city…Montevideo! The capital of Uruguay! The number one place to stay there is Ciudad Vieja and the number one thing to do is eat a lomo (steak) sandwich at Mercado de Puerto. Well, there were some young ladies that scared the crap out of the German girls by saying how dangerous THAT part of town was and to not set foot near the Mercado. So we didn’t eat there and they changed their hostel to one near Centro downtown. Our first impression of the hostel “why is there a homeless guy napping in the dorm?”

Figuring we were going to be out late partying in the grand city, I went ahead and fixed my bunk bed with sheets and warm blankets. Why is it that Latin Americans can’t afford a heater? Never realized that was an American luxury. My bed must have looked really inviting because when I returned later after dinner, someone had been in it and left alllll their stuff in between the sheets!

We asked the hostel receptionist to map out a plan for us since there were NO walking tours, NO bike tours and NO bus tours…she actually said “why did you come to Montevideo on the weekend? Saturday and Sunday everything is closed!”. To which I automatically and sassily responded, “because it is the CAPITAL of Uruguay and CAPITAL CITIES do not sleep!!!!!” Well, this probably explains why Uruguay is so run down and poor….no one ever works! And maybe why they are thin too, because we couldn’t find an open restaurant to EAT!

The hostel lady said Montevideo is famous for its “Rambla street”, which it is not the main street, contrary to the picture that Spain has painted. It is rather a 5 mile stretch along the coastline. There wasn’t really anything to see past the black cloudy sky, misty rains and ferocious winds. I was disappointed I didn’t get to see the magical Uruguayan sunset. I did however find a monument to Confucius (which I read his works before my 2010 February China Trip), a fake David statue (I’ve seen the real one in Florence inside Academia Gallery), a memorial of the Holocaust (Jews fled to Uruguay?), the Obelisk (it must have been the proposal model for the one in Buenos Aires) and lots of colorful street graffiti. My favorite part of Montevideo was probably Plaza Constitucion near my hostel…I am a sucker for huge, elaborate, European looking fountains with naked dancing baby statues in the middle of plazas…I had a little too much fun taking goofy pictures to lighten the mood of the depressed group.

We circled the city with a map and saw everything there was to see, of course not entering into any museums, government buildings or old theaters. Everything was CLOSED! By 11pm we decided to scope out a bar….we all needed an alcoholic drink! We went to “Fun Fun Bar”, a well- known young, dive drinkers place…what we found were old people and a tango show! We tried the traditional Uruguayan “uvita” drink, which is much like a thick, super sweet and strong sangria. Later, it was no where to be found to purchase as a gift for my family back at home. It must be just a show for the tourist because the natives don’t drink it….you cant find it at any liquor store or supermarket or duty free shop. We left Fun Fun in search of a real bar….which, shockingly we could not find one! Maybe 11:30pm was still a little too early to start bar hopping? At least in Buenos Aires you can get a drink at 11pm even though the party may not start until 1am. We consulted Lonely Planet and found the huge, popular bar street….of 6 bars (2 were irish pubs). After asking for uvita, medio y medio (another traditional drink- ½ white wine and ½ champagne) and 3 different brands of beer to find out they didn’t have ANY of that in stock…we just requested something alcoholic before we threw an angry punch at the next unsuspecting Uruguay person who walked by. We were fed up with Colonia and now fed up Montevideo….so we decided to get up early the next morning and check out Punta del Este.

Over the course of that night we encountered: muddy and cold showers, bed bugs, rude Brazilians who stayed up talking until 6am, 11 people staying in our 8 bed dorm, car alarms blaring, loud buzzer noise each time someone returned to hostel from partying, and a loud party at the front desk with the receptionist, which was on the other side of our bedroom door.

I was in shock that the Brazilians got up at 7am….I think we all got 30 minutes of rest, not sleep, that night. I was upset at the hostel and the city and so I decided to inconvenience everyone else that I could…..I scored one of the 2 bathrooms on our floor and stayed there fixing my hair and doing my makeup in front of the mirror. No one could go to the bathroom or take a shower. Ha! Then we were supposed to deposit our sheets at the front desk and fold our warm quilts….nope, I just left the mess on my bed. And to help out the hostel, they ask that you wash your dishes after breakfast. I could not extend a nice favor to this awful hostel…I just left them, dirty!

I got an hour of sleep on the bus ride to Punta del Este and when we arrived, it was Uruguay heaven. The sun was shining! There were sky- high beach resorts and yachts everywhere…rich civilization was finally found. This is not a city of Uruguayans, but a city of foreigners vacationing and dropping loads of money into the gorgeous, clean town. Our bus dropped us off right in front of the famous Chilean 1982 monument called “La Mano”…the emerging hand from the sand…and BEACH!!!!!! There was BEACH!!!!! I felt like I was back at home! I skipped around for a while soaking in the sunrays and beauty of the coast until the Germans said the kid-fun was over and we should move onto the next site.

That ended our only 5 minutes of luck. I asked the tourism booth what bus to take to the awesome, Bohemian style “Casapueblo” filled with Carlos Paz’ artwork (he was Pablo Picasso’s student!). She frowned at me and said there are no buses that take you there. But I could wait 4 hours until the 2pm bus to Montevideo and they will kindly drop me off on the side of the mountain 3 miles away. That didn’t sound nice at all, but I was determined to not let Uruguay ruin this city experience as well.

I found the only taxi in sight and bargained with him for the long drive to Casapueblo. This was a spiffy taxi compared to those in Buenos Aires. This guy was dressed in slacks with a button down shirt and drove an American Ford car with leather interior- this reflects how uppity the city was. And the heat worked! On the ride up the mountain I told him our Montevideo and Colonia experience, I was secretly working my girl charm. He said he would wait for us while we explored the marvelous Casapueblo and he then took us to various picture sites like the lookout cliff for a complete city and coast view! He then drove us alllll the way back to the harbor where we decided we must have fish for lunch in Punta del Este! I couldn’t believe that prices were over $15, we were not in the USA! So we consulted Lonely Planet again and found a fantastic hole-in-the-wall colorful, family-owned restaurant. The boisterous owner greeted us in German and served us beer right away…was “bad travel experience” written all over our faces still?

We made it back to Colonia and got stopped in immigrations. My passport stamp looks like I came in on June 2, which means that I have overstayed my 90 day limit and I am in big trouble! Does a bribe work like in Mexico? Julia had lost her tiny exit ticket and they asked for 700 pesos fine. After questioning me why I was going to Buenos Aires and consulting other patrol offices on the “stamp date” they let me pass. We raced up the escalators and got in line right away to board the boat; we were ½ hour early. When we got to the door the guy said our boat was not here! He told us to walk back to the waiting room and take a right….problem was that room was the country entrance room through immigrations from the boat that just landed…so what did I do? I jumped the rope to find someone else to ask help and 6 officers started running after me! Everyone was yelling at each other and I was trying to talk over ALL of them in Spanish about where the hell is my boat! I want to leave this awful country! After being escorted around to various locations from boarding to docking to entrance and exit immigrations, we ended up at the ticket counter of some other company. My immigration papers were already on the “missing” boat to Buenos Aires so I could not just change my ticket and switch to another company’s later boat. After 15 minutes of phone calls to immigrations and 3 boat companies, they said I had to stay another night and immigrations will need to meet with me the next morning to sort everything out. They apologized, said everything was their fault because they do not have an organization system, then laughed at me because I was now illegally in Uruguay and they reminded me to not do anything stupid over the night. Thanks Uruguay!

Well, here I was again. In Colonia, already changed my pesos back to Argentine money, no banks open, no hostel, in pouring rain…..sounds like repeat of Friday night. We returned to the same hostel and explained what happened….hoping she would have sympathy on us and forget to charge us up front in Uruguay pesos, as is usual hostel policy. We returned to the same restaurant and used what little money we had to buy a snack and then begged the waiter to secretly change the rest so we could pay for our hostel. Julia’s phone wouldn’t send international text messages, she didn’t have enough credit to call our boss saying we were stuck in another country, and then her phone died. And this time, we had a drugee in the hostel who kept following us around to computer room, bathroom, the showers and then he pretended to walk to the “wrong” dorm room. And, I ran out of toothpaste. It’s the worst feeling in the world to be covered in Uruguay yuckiness and rain and humidity and then not be able to brush your teeth! That was the icing on the cake and I curled up in my hostel bed clicking my heels and wishing I were home in Buenos Aires. Then I realized, wait, I am American. Shouldn’t I be wishing to be home in the USA? Nope, definitely not. Buenos Aires is where my heart lives.

We returned to the boat terminal the next day and I had to explain in Spanish to 8 company people why it was their lack of organization that sprung all the events of last night…I then requested that the company staff escort me to immigrations and be there for the meeting. (What foreign country would believe a single, female 24 year old anyways?) I did not want to be stuck any longer or have to pay some kind of fine. Immigrations was not happy to help me….but I got the boat! I thought I was home free! I was wrong…

Our boat was being tossed around like a hot potato in all directions. At first it was fun…felt like a rollercoaster ride. But then it never stopped and I kept being thrown from my seat….the staff came by with barf bags and told us to move to the back of the boat. The boat was uncontrollably zig zagging across the river and water was gushing up over the boat! I told the staff he accidently gave me 2 barf bags …to which he responded “oops, here is 1 to protect your passport, 1 for your camera, 1 for your cellphone”…..”wait, wait, are we going to sink?” I responded. Most of the passengers stayed in the back with life vests on and vomiting the entire 1.5 hours. I found out when we arrived at the office that all boats were cancelled for the day because of bad weather. Last year a boat sank and people died and there is still a law suit over it. Apparently everyone else knew about the weather conditions and they changed their ticket free of charge….explains why there were only 40 passengers.

I did not know that crossing borders in South America was this risky….lesson learned and "experience" added to my book.

Puerto Madryn- whales, sea lions and llamas oh my!

So, my first day back from Cordoba I spent the afternoon at the US embassy and the Palermo police station. My American friends from Cordoba trip followed me to Buenos Aires. I was super excited to play tour guide and show them “my town”….but almost first thing in the morning they were pickpocketed on busy pedestrian streets around Calle Florida. Of course, both their passports were what was taken. We went straight to the US Embassy only to find out they were closed for siesta time….Buenos Aires doesn’t take a siesta! So to cut through the tension I told them about my favorite filet mignon place “Juana M” in Recoleta. We had an extravagant lunch eating and drinking away their worries. We met up with old elementary school US friend, Nick, who is now living back in Buenos Aires. He was our knight in shining armor….took us to file a complaint at the police station, back to the embassy, then some site seeing around Congreso.

The US embassy was quite a funny experience. First they wouldn’t let Nick in because he was Argentine. So I went in with my friends. Vince, friend in Peace Corps, was quite impressed the place didn't look like a bomb shelter! Before we went through the metal detectors and scanners, we had to remove camera, phone, ipod, water, and makeup from our purses. What else is left in a girl’s purse? But they refused to let me just leave the whole thing there in a box. Nice to know that if you lose your passport, it costs $140 to get a temporary one to return to the USA and its valid for 3 months. Then when you get home you just apply for a new passport for another $140.

We met Nick’s sister, Maria, who is my age and loves brands and shopping. She took us girls to Alto Palermo big fashion mall and explained the reputation and styles of each store. I kind of want a Prune purse now, except that I’d rather have $1,000 for travel over buying “things” that don’t last. We had a marvelous time that night meeting the entire family of 4 grown children, 2 with fiancés (one owns a dulce de leche factory!!!!), and gossiping around the meat and cheese appetizers followed by the Argentine favorite of fried empanadas and coca cola.

That weekend I went off on my own again to Puerto Madryn, which is in Patagonia. Since I was travelling 18 hours by myself I splurged for 1^st class bus accommodations….lots of wine, champagne, sandwich snacks, hot dinner, Pirates movie, bingo, etc and the chair folded down into a complete bed. I booked a hostel overlooking the ocean and it was magnificent eating my sunrise breakfast and watching whales from the balcony.

My first adventure trip was to Punta Ninfas where we climbed down this cliff without any equipment to get to the pebble stone beach where the elephant nose huge sea lions have a colony. On average they are 3 times my size! There were a few slides and falls going down the rocks, but no serious injuries. My two new buddies for the trip: Mark from New Zealand living in London and Irma the surgeon from Sweden who camped alone in Madagascar for 3 weeks! We returned at sunset and asked the mountain guide to drop us off at the Indio Monument of this guy overlooking the city. We walked along the picture perfect beach for 3 miles returning to the hostel and along the way stopped at the first Welsh settlers’ caves from 1860s. We ended the night at the Nautica Cantina with the biggest peeled shrimp I have ever seen in my life, fresh salmon in roquefort sauce and wine from “fin del mundo”. It was nice to meet employed people who could afford more than a cheap empanada dinner. My extravagant meal with wine and dessert was still under $15.

I also have to mention this is the best hostel experience I have ever had. Family run and they provide every detail of where to find a bank, slide you into that afternoon rock climbing, where to grab a sandwich on the go, bathrooms always pristine and available, and a warm room. It was Mark, myself and two old ladies in a room and we all went to bed at 1am, slept peacefully the entire night and got up at 6am for breakfast. Splendid!

I met Irma at the diving place a few blocks down from the hostel….it was quite magical walking along the colorful sunrise. We squeezed into these thick wet suits, which I jokingly said made us look like the fat sea lions, especially after eating all kinds of Argentine dulce de leche and other irresistible goodies…maybe I can diet in Chile? We took our private boat out from the beach during sunrise, making frequent stops to watch the whales close to the boat, and then 30 minutes later we arrived at sea lion colony…. Hundreds of them!

All the women and children were frolicking in the water and the males were up on the rock beach marking their territory for mating season. Right away when I jumped in, the sea lions started swarming towards me. I cant believe the agility they have in water…they look so awkward on land! The sea lions stay near the surface so our snorkel gear was perfect for peaking into the shallow waters and watching them dance around. They seemed to be taking turns nudging my leg, nibbling on a flipper and I even got to hold a few babies (which were still practically my size!). This experience tops anything else I have ever done in any other part of the world! This is one of three places where you can swim with sea lions in their natural habitat. The other two places, California and Africa, have shark-infested waters.

Here you can watch when we first jumped in and I’m giggles on the right with about 10 just swimming around me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9a25Qu4rn4

Here I am holding and petting my baby sea lion and passing it off to Irma, who then bites her mask. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_AR7N6eXAs

I was glowing the entire rest of the day after this grand rendezvous. I was high on adrenaline and ready to see more. So I signed up for a tour down through Trelew (where we went to some paleontology museum of dinosaur excavations) and then to Gaiman, a very German town know for the preservation of its architecture of houses, schools, tunnels, etc. It is also where we had the most extravagant “high tea” ever in Casa Gales, where Lady Diana came to have tea. It was accompanied by 4 platters of various cakes and desserts and you can bet that I tried all of them! I washed it down with 3 types of sweet teas and bread with fruity jams. I said I could diet in Chile, right?

I was also the naïve one of the group that got a good laugh out of shaved, running sheep when our car would stop to take a picture of them. I have this silly vision from cartoons of childhood that sheep exists just to stay still eating grass and look fluffy. HA! I was also amazed at cows that were not black and white….in Argentina they are big and brown! Animals were everywhere as far as the eyes could see in all the surrounding fields.

My last day in Puerto Madryn I did a full day excursion to Valdez Peninsula. On our way there we stopped at Doradillo Beach- the place where the whales come up pretty close to the shore because the ocean drops deep really fast. At any given time you can see about 10 whales surfacing the water to breathe, spin circles and clap their hands, flop their tail or even Jump! I have never sat still for so long in one place completely speechless and in awe of nature and animals.

On our tour through the peninsula we saw mainly the big animals- llamas, armadillos of all sizes and ostriches. We took a boat out to the whale’s playground called Puerto Pryamides. Massive whales swam circles around the boat and underneath causing large waves that rocked the boat like Space Mountain at Disney! Everywhere you looked there were whales jumping, flipping their tails in the air, mother and baby swimming by and peaking their noses out of the water.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bCuRNXesGg

We passed by Punta Tomba to see some more sea lions, elephant seals, and few penguins (sadly not penguin season yet). I made it back just in time to catch the night bus back home. Next to me, a Buenos Aires police officer. I felt safe, especially after hearing only horror stories of friends on Peru buses. We watched the 2009 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film “The Secret In Their Eyes”. I don't recommend watching it.

Cordoba- first trip ALONE with NO plan!

Realizing I had only 3 full weekends left and I had already conquered the city of Buenos Aires, I needed to travel to other regions of the massive country. First stop, Cordoba- the second greatest and largest city of Argentina. In fact, it is twice as old as Buenos Aires. It was a spontaneous decision Friday afternoon at the office….it was too late to plan something grand in Puerto Madryn or Uraguay, so Cordoba it was. No plan, no ticket, no hostel…my first trip ever ALONE while being in a foreign country. This is so out of my character….

I took the night bus to Cordoba, arriving at 7am in the morning. I had called a hostel the evening before at work to see if a bed was open- Tango Hostel in the neighborhood Nuevo Cordoba for $12/night. I walked the 9 blocks to the hostel getting to know some of the main avenue. Surprisingly, there weren’t very many people at the hostel….great that I had a room of 4 beds and bathroom to myself, but not so good as in maybe something is wrong with the service of the hostel. I wasn’t sure what to do that day….join a tour of some sort exploring the city or venture out into one of the well-known vacation villages.

This weekend was really going to test me. I am used to traveling with at least one other person that I know and with a PLAN! I was also exhausted from the week of cultural outings after work and late 11pm dinners, so I wasn’t really up to being outgoing and acting happy to make friends. But I put on my smiley face and approached the first person I saw, Nickey, a girl in the common hall bathroom. My natural instinct was to say hey in castellano and lean in for the cultural kiss on the cheek. Well, Nickey is from Ohio and doesn’t speak Spanish, so I way shocked her! But we became friends and went on a full day excursion to La Cumbrecita together. I met her brother, Vince, who just completed 2 years of Peace Corp service in Peru. Also, an Australian guy, girl from Barcelona, girl from Roma and a couple from Germany.

We all rode in a minivan through the Sierra Mountains of Cordoba. The scenery was mesmerizing- fields of running horses, grazing cows and low desert mountains. The tour guide spoke Spanish so I practiced my translator skills in telling the legends in English to my new friends. Cordoba, Argentina was indeed named after Cordoba, Spain!

We stopped in Ciudad de las Americas, more like a small town, for some coffee with a view that overlooked a magnificent valley. Then we continued on to La Cumbrecita, where we hiked through the Sierra Mountains! We wound through the curvaceous paths, up and downhill stopping at peaceful ponds, churches and river streams. Definitely the adventure I was looking for! We also wondered through the local town that was settled by Germans and thus had that Austrian and Swiss architectural influence. I also got to explore Villa General Belgrano….the most beautiful German town outside of Cordoba. There we found Suss alfajor factory and we stopped at Brunnen Brewery to test the beer:)

At night, I met the family that owned the hostel and their 4 full-grown children who are in their 20s. Along with 2 crazy Americans (who are studying in BA for the semester) we played card games drinking fernet and coke (the traditional Argentina alcohol drink). Quite hilarious naming categories, telling a story, listing "never have i ever" or making up a rule for this card game in Castellano! We went out that night at 1am to a bar for a drink and then to a boliche (dance club) that was wild! I am so glad I met these native Cordobese to show me the hot spots of the town (the friends I made from the tour were bored with Cordoba and already had left for Buenos Aires that evening).

I made it to my bunk bed in the shared hostel room by 4:30am in the morning. I got about 3 hours of sleep before getting up for Sunday’s excursion to Villa Carlos Paz, the most visited and touristy village outside of Cordoba. One of the sons was up early to make sure I was awake and he had coffee and breakfast waiting for me….was this a hostel or a personal bed & breakfast? There was hardly anyone on this Sunday tour…everyone must be sleeping in after the traditional Saturday night party.

We drove again in a small van through the Sierras, but this time to the West where we saw the first dam built in the city, some lakes, some hydroelectric water thing before finally arriving to this prime vacation spot. The highlight of my trip was visiting the Alfajor factory and getting free alfajores! The Cordoba traditional alfajor is covered not with chocolate, but with a sugary water coating. I then rode the chair lift up to the top of the mountain and took a train ride for a 360 view of the Villa Carlos Paz! Very thrilling and exciting! I had a complete tour of the old town center and the new ritzy part that is still in development.

When I returned to the hostel I grabbed a map and ventured out on my own to see ALL of Cordoba…sad that no one else was around in the hostel to explore with me. I had to use my good judgement skills in selecting people to take fotos of me in front of monuments, plazas and old churches. I finally figured out how to use the self timer to take fotos of myself….frame the scene, press the button and then I run to get in the pic!

I found out as I was walking the town that every street and plaza has the same names as ones in Buenos Aires. The main plaza here with a pedestrian walkway is Plaza San Martin. It had an amazing cathedral (which I attended Catholic mass later that evening), a Jesuit block of brick buildings, the oldest university in Argentina (which is nicknamed La Docta because its one of the originals in the world to offer a doctorate program) and the world’s narrowest building. I also checked out Sarmiento park, the outdoor concert at plaza El Buen Pastor, the massive Justic Palace, Museum of Fine Arts and an awesome outdoor hotdog place…I couldn’t resist because the bright colored sign was just calling my name for a street vendor “pancho” food experience.

That night the hostel family invited me to eat dinner with them. It was an interesting combination….homemade flat biscuit-like things where we topped it with butter and salt, then put an egg concoction on top. It was free dinner and so I enjoyed the rolling laughter from jokes along with the meal. I left at 11pm on the night bus….i had changed my ticket to a day earlier since I “did” all of Cordoba in one weekend. I was anxious to get back to tour Nickey and Vince, my new friends, around Buenos Aires- the grand city that has stolen my heart!

I begged the bus people in my “pretend” broken Spanish to change the ticket because I “didn’t understand the dates and this was my first trip ALONE from Buenos Aires”. No, I did not shed any tears. The guy did have pity on me and changed the ticket, but there were no more seats left so I had to upgrade to suite (which he gave me 15% discount and then charged the $2.50 remaining difference). I loved the travel home. Seat went all the way back and unfolded like a complete bed. Hot dinner too! And front row to enjoy some of the scenery in the morning when the sun came up. Travel in luxury! Maybe travelling alone isn’t as scary as I thought.

World Tango Festival Week

The last two weeks of August flew by.

After saying goodbye to my American friends and skiing the magnificent, white Andes Mountains, I realized my last month here in Buenos Aires would not be enough time to experience ALL the city has to offer…..but being a go-getter and overachiever, I am going to try!!!!

I found out the last opera in Teatro Colon during my stay was the first day back at work after the holiday weekend….Teatro Colon is one of the top 5 Opera houses in the world. It was renovated for the Bicentenniel and now daily tours are not given. The only way to see the inside of this grand theatre is to BUY a ticket for a show. I can’t believe my luck! I scored a standing ticket on the 4^th floor balcony (I think there are 9 floors or more). Opera Manon was in French with Spanish subtitles. Great cultural experience….don’t think I will ever go to an opera again. Check- did that.

Muchas Gracias to “Tango Festival y Mundial” for my very first Tango lesson. I went to the beginner’s class one evening after work and Instructor Juan noticed how fast I picked up the basic 8 step. He pulled me aside for a private lesson, and with my dance background I learned some awesome, seductive Tango footwork in less than an hour. A TV station was there, too, filming the event and they asked me to dance in the background with Juan while they interviewed some people. Then some photographers took staged pictures of our Tango stance….I absolutely felt like a Tango professional with all this attention!

During the week, I explored the neighborhood of Puerto Madero, which has recently been reconstructed by the government to transform the area into a nicer, more upscale neighborhood- top notch, expensive restaurants, wide sidewalks following the river and “Puente de la Mujer” (Women’s Bridge), which represents the position of tango partners, how culturally appropriate. I also gave the new German group a tour of the antique town, San Telmo. Literally, it is filled with antique shops and impressive, old convents, as well as some great torta/panaderia/confiteria stores.

On Friday we had a welcoming lunch for the Germans, and in my 7 hour work day, 5 hours was spent eating!!!! It was “La Parrilla” style and we made choripan (sausage) and lomo (steak) sandwiches with various chimichurri sauces. I wonder what my boss in the USA thinks about these 5 -hour Friday lunches with staff bonding, paid and on the clock?

I was invited back by Juan for another Tango lesson and photoshoot. This time I wore black heels, a flowy tango skirt, red lipstick and I braided my hair. (I’m sure this was on my secret to-do-list….become a Tango Diva!) I arrived early to watch some tango couples just dancing milonga (tango club style) and it’s actually quite boring. The movements are slow and small, and you have to keep your body stiff as a board. I much rather the flashy, sexy style of salsa, merengue and bachata….sharp turns, shimmie the shoulders and shake the hips! Not to mention, lively music! But I enjoyed the three hours…..learning more advanced footwork and photographers taking close-ups of my feet and face. I wish I had some non-professional pics of my own, but I didn’t bring any personal items since there was nowhere to keep a purse and you can’t dance with one.

Super excited I got a ticket to see some of the Tango Semi-Finals!!!!! I stayed for 3 hours before a half day at work. It was stage-style so the couples were allowed to kick it up 1,000 notches and do flips. This is the kind of the Tango that is impressive and is well-known around the world for being the Argentine “thing”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnTNK51HMg0

(Side Note: Tango actually began near La Boca area in the whorehouses. While the men waited for the limited number of mistresses, this style of dancing began as entertainment. The music was a mix of cultures as the musicians were from all over Europe. It was first frowned upon as low class style of dancing, but when it gained popularity in Europe it became more socially acceptable in Buenos Aires.)

A new German intern also arrived this week, Julia. The city welcomed her with a subte strike, but at least it was announced in the newspaper that morning. After work we walked to the new movie theatre in Puerto Madero and saw “Mi Villano Favorita” (My Favorite Villan) in Spanish for $4.50 and I took her to Juana M for some world- class $9 filet mignon! I could eat at this place every week! We also checked out ALL the parks of Recoleta (which is the scenary that gave Buenos Aires the name “Paris of the South” with its wide avenues, plazas, statues and parks). There were a lot of exercising groups with their mats & weights, running obstacle courses and doing tae-bo. I probably need to do the same because we discovered dulce de leche ice cream with brownie chunks at Freddo....and the service lady asked me if I wanted dulce de leche salsa on top. Death by dulce de leche!

This week I also checked off the remaining parts of the city that I had yet to explore….Palermo Chico (some parks), Retiro (business and financial district with impressive sky rise buildings) and Facultad de Medicina (subte stop on way home with massive well-known university buildings).

By the end of August I felt peaceful. I know the city without a map and I can give a tour, with detailed history background, to any tourist or friend visiting. I have also accomplished every cultural activity on my list. Now I can just coast through the rest of my stay enjoying cafes, restaurants, theatres and evening walks for the 7^th time through the same plaza….like a Buenos Aires resident, not a tourist.