I'm back!

Well, I'm back stateside to spend the holidays with my family! I had the time of my life in South America and am looking forward to the next journey!

A few notes about Argentina...

Argentina has been really fun and it's been great having Susan here to explain the ins and outs of whats going on here to me...

1. The Moneda shortage.
It's not uncommon to have trouble getting change in Latin American countries, but the extreme of the situation in Argentina is more than I've seen anywhere else. Moneda is Spanish for coin and here, the metal is worth more than the value of the coin. Because of that, people take them, melt them, and sell their metal and the result is that hardly anyone has monedas and the people who do have them hold on to them like hoarders. You have to pay for things in a strategic way so to maximize your modeda return and some places even have signs saying "We don't have monedas. Please pay in exact change." Unfortunately, busses ONLY accept monedas, so having them really is a must.

2. Mate
This note also applies to Uruguay. People here don't eat dinner until around 10pm, so that's a pretty long day. How do they keep themselves fueled? Mate. It's a super strong green tea that you sip out of a gourd from a filtered straw and people suck it back like nothing else I have ever seen. All over, people are walking around with a gourd in hand and the straw in there mouth. The situation in Uruguay was even more hilarious as it seemed like the favorite pass time of EVERYONE was to park your car near the water and sip on mate. All ages, all places, all slurping up that mate.

3. Toilets
There is no standard for how to flush toilets here. Some are a button on the top or side of the toilet, not to strange. Some are a button or lever on the wall behind the toilet. And my personal favorite is the chain or string that hangs from the ceiling above the toilet.

In and Out of Uruguay in 24 Hours

After finally an affordable last minute ferry to Colonia, Uruguay, Susan and I crossed Rio de Plata and got one more stamp on our passports. It felt very much like taking a trip to Put-In-Bay or Mackinac Island. You go into a nice little port town, hop on a ferry, take a scenic trip, and then you land in quaint little Colonia where everyone is on vacation and therefore, in an excellent mood.

We took the slowest (and therefore cheapest) option, so we had both a boat ride through the Rio de Plata delta, which was gorgeous... well the first twenty minutes were at least, we slept for the majority of the journey. We landed in Las Palmiras and then took a shuttle to Colonia. The shuttle ride made us wonder if we had taken a ferry back to the midwest... it was through corn fields, hay fields, and there were pine trees and non-tropical trees. It was beautiful. We finally got into Colonia early afternoon.

We had a pretty lazy day eating, walking, laying around on the beach, and swimming in the river, which was more like a bay. From the beach, we had a late waterfront dinner and strolled through the historic area and the docks. I really liked the feel of the town, mostly because like I said, the vibe was similar to the Great Lakes Islands, which I love.

The next morning, we made a valiant attempt to get up to see the lunar eclipse, but failed miserably. The owner of our hostal told me that if I got up and could have a bike back before breakfast, he wouldn't charge me for the rental, so that's what I did. While Susan ran, I went on a bike ride along the coast. After breakfast we took a speed tour of the historic district before Susan had to be at the dock for her 11:15 ferry... I had another hour of which I spent napping on the beach.

Buenos Aires

We've been back in Susan's turf these past few days in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This city really is awesome. There's something to do all the time and we've been running around trying like mad women so I can get a taste of all of Susan's favorite things in the city.

Pretty much immediately after getting in and battling the subway systems will all our luggage, we met up with some of Susan's friends from her study abroad program for lunch and then went to her favorite park, El Bosque with her friend Melissa. There, we paddle boated for a bit and then walked around through the gorgeous rose garden in the park. After that, we went to dinner with her host mom. I am loving Argentine steak and wine and the fact that it's way less than twenty dollars to have both of them in front of me.

Saturday was quite busy and mostly filled with tango. We went to La Boca, the colorful neighborhood full of tango shows. We had lunch outside and watched a tango show and then walked around for a bit down the colorful streets. It feels a lot like Disney World, but it really was fun. La Boca isn't in the best part of town, so we had to be careful, but they've done a pretty clever thing to get the area back on it's feet. It was kind of a slum, but then they painted the houses bright colors, put in some funky sculptures, and the filled the streets with tango and it's now a tourist magnet in Buenos Aires. After that, we met up with Susan's friend Caitlin and her boyfriend who is visiting her to do some shopping at one of the ferias. They love their ferias here in BA and I do too.

We visited the cemetery in La Recoleta, which is where the richest of the rich rest in peace. They have to pay rent for their mausoleums and some cost more than an apartment in Buenos Aires. We went to see the Eva Peron's grave, which was beautiful. The whole cemetery though was filled with eerie sculptures and laid out like a city. I was also chilling to see that some of the tombs had been broken into and ransacked. Many housed more than one person and had coffins resting right on top of each other, which was obviously due to destruction.

Straight from the feria, we continued our tango day and went to a tango class. It was so much fun! The hall that it was at was everything that a tango hall should be. It looked super shady from the outside as well as in the hallways getting into the dance area, but then it opened up into a dark, kind of musky, enormous room with a hodge podge of art hanging on the walls and from the ceiling with a spot light dangling down over the dance floor center. It's also a bar and restaurant, so tables were crowded around the dance floor. Learning how to tango was really fun as was watching the people who actually know what they're doing do it. I'm going to remember that dance hall as one of my favorite places in South America.

We spent today in more ferias and organizing our trip to Uruguay tomorrow. I've really enjoyed Buenos Aires. The street life is great, the food is delicious, the architecture is beautiful, and I've fallen hard for the tango. I'm thinking about signing up for a class when I get back to Bloomington.

Mendoz- aaah

After one the worst night bus experience of our lives, Susan and I arrived in Mendoza, Argentina from Valparaiso, Chile. Home of Malbec, Mendoza is the wine capital of South America and one the wine hot spots of the world. That being said, we did some pretty intense relaxing during our two days there.

After getting in, we were absolutely beat. It was only a seven hour journey from Valpo to Mendoza, but we had to get up and go through customs, so our sleep was sporadic. Fortunately the bus station had some comfy benches for us to get some shut eye before we could check into our hostal. When we found our hostal, we again, slept for a few more hours before starting our day.

We spent the first day strolling around the various plazas in town, the modern art museum, and Parque San Martin, which is an enormous and beautiful park just outside the city's center. We also went the side walk museum of the development of the streets of Mendoza... we were glad that it was in route of where we were eating dinner and that we didn't venture out of way to see that "museum". That night, we went to dinner at Las Tinajas, Mark and Jenny's favorite restaurant. Thanks for the suggestion... so much food, so little money! We called it an early night. Had to be well rested for our bike and wine tour the next day.

On Thursday, we rented bikes and rode around wine tasting at the various vineyards. It was really beautiful. We went to a liquor, chocolate, and jam factory (is this a normal combination?) After that, we were about done after three wineries and various glasses. Riding through the vineyards was super relaxing and the scenery really was beautiful. It was weird for me to see the Andes and know that they are now to my west instead of to the east, like they were in Peru and Chile. Directly after we turned our bikes in, we boarded a bus for the 15 hour haul to Buenos Aires. I'll write about Buenos Aires in a post yet to come...

Valparaiso, Vina del Mar, and Darwin's Favorite Day

Susan and I spent a few days in Valparaiso, a Chilean port city. We think we definitely went at the wrong time, as there was a garbage workers were on strike, so the streets were really dirty. Our first day in, it was super windy, which made the trash problem even more disgusting. Also, because it's been really hot, dry and windy, there were a far amount of fires... luckily they didn't make it to our hill. There's more to say about Valpo, than just those unfortunate things though.

The city really is charming. It's similar to San Fransisco in the sense that it's very VERY hilly and is situated on a bay. The houses lining the hills are brightly covered and act as a canvas for beautiful murals. There are lots of cute cafes, restaurants, and boutiques that are really fun, but also dangerous on the wallet. David and Paul, some of Susan's friends from Buenos Aires' friends noted how the people in Valpo are horrible dressers, but I for one, admired there obnoxiously colored jackets and pants, funny designed high tops, and messy hair. They fit quite well with the street art. What was weird though, is that there weren't too many people out and about and the stores seemed to be closed more than they were open... we were continually puzzled as to where they were. It's true that there isn't an enormous amount to do in Valpo, but the streets were fun to stroll up and down (literally) and the views of the port are beautiful.

One unique thing to Valpo is that they use what are like giant elevators to get up and down the hills. They are old and beautiful and on our first day Susan and I wandered into one like moths to light. Before we knew it, the door was shut and we were goin' down, but we had no clue where. It took us to the center of the city and the port area, which again, was pretty (well as pretty as a down town area in the middle of a garbage strike can be) and dead. We walked around for a bit and then made our way back up the hill and to our hostal, stopping at some view points and areas where Frommers suggested we take a look.

Terremotos (earthquake) is the Chilean drink. It's pretty much like a wine float: wine, fruity flavor, a ball of vanilla icecream on top. It's delicious. We were really boggled though as to how difficult they are to find. On our first night, we went out with some of Susan's friends from Buenos Aires who happened to be in the same hostal as us, and the bar we went to did not have them. The next night, we went to bar after bar asking for them and finally found some. It got us to thinking about typical American things that you can't find in restaurants. Here's what we got so far: PB&J and raw veggies with dip. We're sure there's more, so feel free to let us know.

On Monday, we went to Vina del Mar, just a few metro stops away from Valpo. It was really beautiful and they were not in a garbage strike. It was so nice to laze around on the beach for a day, but the ocean was way to cold to get into... we're expecting warmer waters in Uruguay.

Tuesday, we recreated Darwin's favorite day and hiked to the highest summit in Parque de la Campana with David and Paul. Yes, Darwin as in Charles Darwin, said he never enjoyed a day more than they one he spent atop this summit. We made it to the top after four hours of super steep climbing and clinging to anything we could to stay on the mountain at some parts before arriving at Darwin's favorite place. You could see the Andes to one side and the Pacific Ocean to other. Lots of people had graffitied their names on rocks, so now we all know who was there, and that kind of took the magic away from the place and our pictures look more like we're we're in a hood than on top of a mountain. The four hours down were even worse than the hike up and we were so happy to reach the bottom. Throughout the hike, we saw a fair amount of animals: tarantulas, lizards, and some really cute foxes.

From there, we got some completos before getting back on the metro. Paul and David advised up against eating them, but we felt like we had to try them. They are a hot dog with avocado, tomato, ketchup, mustard, and mayo. In other words, heaven on a bun. We can't figure out why we were advised against eating them as they were incredibly delicious. When we got back to Valpo, we pretty much only had time to stop in real quick at our favorite icecream shop, shower, and hop on the night bus to Mendoza, Argentina...

Shirtless in Santiago

I really need to get out of Santiago, Chile. Why? There are just too many pretty things to buy. Today was an intense day of shopping mostly motivated by the fact that between Chile and here, most of the shirts I packed have disappeared. Maybe someone in the hostel in Cusco grabbed my bag of shirts by accident, or maybe I drank a little too much pisco on Thursday night, which affected my packing ability on Friday morning in the dark (we had to leave really early); either one is plausible.

Anyways, I really like Santiago! Before arriving, all I had heard about the city was that it's insanely expensive, the people are unfriendly, and there's nothing to do. My experience has been the opposite of all of that. Well, yeah, the food is expensive compared to everywhere else I've been in Latin America, but it's delicious and I've taken to eating off the street, which is cheap. Things aren't very expensive, which was especially good for me with my shirt crisis. I am stocked up on shirts and souvenirs for the fam and have spent less than I did on food these past few days. The people have been overwhelmingly friendly and hospitable. They are very expressive when they speak and have been more than willing to help us when we're lost, need a bit of advice, or just want to hang out.

We spent the afternoon sight seeing. Susan didn't feel great, so I went to a Moroccan Bazaar solo and we met up later. At the bazaar, I talked to some people about Chilean politics, got an idea of what it's like to be Arab in Chile, see lots of pretty things, and get a henna tattoo a long with some other Chilean ladies. It'll be around for a month and that's all, mom and dad! When I met back up with Susan, we went to the handicraft market, Plaza de Armas, the Museum of National History, a modern dance concert, and then to a discoteque. The modern dance show depicted a day in the life of a very bored Chilean woman. It was interesting and the theater was awesome! It was called Teatro del Puente (Theater of the Bridge) and was literally situated on a bridge with the river and traffic of Santiago as the backdrop. After the show, we went out and had a ball. First we went to a bar with a singer who was hysterical and then to a discoteque. At the discoteque two Chilean girls and a group of guys who may or may not be a soccer team befriended us, and following suite, they were super friendly and fun. Also, Chilean beer, Kuntsman, has been my favorite in Latin America so far. It's a pale ale and delicious.

I really like Santiago. We're staying in Chile for a few more days, but will spend them in Valparaiso, a beach town just outside of Santiago. We aren't expecting very warm weather, but either way it should be pretty and hopefully the people will be as awesome as they are in Santiago.