Patagonia: Calafate

Since we had to be at the airport for our flight at 3:30am... I only got about two hours of sleep. We were exhausted by the time Sheridan, Sarah and I met at Las Heras y Pueyrredon to share a taxi to the domestic flights airport.

We got to the airport, drank a tea, befriended a kiosko worker (who then asked for our Facebook names...) and got to our gate.

This flight was actually terrible. The worst one yet.

I passed out right away, which I didn't even think was possible for me to fall asleep on a plane, with my neck in the worst position. Because I feel sleep I missed the food :( I was sitting in a window seat next to an older couple... Having to get out to pee was so annoying. Then like 30 min later I felt like I had to pee again; strenuously held that one in, though, until we landed.

Also, my ears hurt so bad from the altitude. Sheridan and Sarah said theirs hurt too so there was definitely something wrong with the airplane.

Another thing, it was so cold on the flight! I needed my long sleeve shirt, flannel and North Face and I was still cold.

Además, something was dripping on me from the ceiling... I was not impressed.

We landed 3 hours later in Calafate and took a booked van to our recommended hostel, America del Sur.

Our room wasn't ready yet but the receptionists told us to help ourselves with the breakfast that was still out.

The hostel is amazing. It has a compete view of the mountain range and a cool loft where I've if the receptionists came up to to explain the town and excursions. She was super nice and we could understand her Spanish perfectly.

We were thinking about doing the Mini Trekking excursion that cost 800 pesos but then she showed us pictures from an excursion called Big Ice. The pictures were so impressive we booked that one for 1,200 pesos.

We went to the super market after to get lunch and lunch for our excursion and explored town.

It was a beautiful tiny town with awesome views of snowy mountains everywhere. It was a little chilly but after walking around in the sun it warmed up.

We got back, made great pasta with sausage, lentils and peas and just talked.

By the time we were done chatting it was around 4:30 and we decided we needed a nap.

We set the alarm for 6 to watch the sunset behind the mountains though.... Jokes.

We slept right through that and vertically all the way until our 6am alarm. We got up once at 10 because my birth control alarm went off. We randomly got up, weirdly did some intense stretching, Sheridan showed, and a half hour later we got back into bed and slept till morning.... Great nights sleep.

Then we got up, got breakfast, and were picked up by our excursion van. We dove for probably 1.5-2 hours west toward Chile to a glacier called Perito Moreno.

On the way we stopped at an awesome viewpoint of a glacier that was 60 meters tall above the water and about 100 meters below sea. Our guide explained that the glacier was bigger than the city of Buenos Aires... Are you kidding me?? That's fucking enormous! Bigger than I could ever imagine. That was on the south side.

All of a sudden, I heard something like a gun fire then tons of loud rumbling. Turns out it was part of the glacier falling off. That kind of thing happened every 10 minutes or so.

So then went to the place where we were going to hike in the glacier (on the north side). We took a boat across the river and stopped at the "refugee" where we got our gives and into or groups.

We hiked for a bit, passing the Mini Trekking group to a right before we entered the glacier stop where we got our harnesses and crampons.

Then, we boarded the glacier. It was amazing. The Big Ice was a more intense hike on the glacier than Mini Trekking and I'm so glad we chose it. The views were beautiful and the delicate ice was such an experience to climb across.

We asked our two guides if there are accidents and they said not really. The ice is so thick even if there's water in top of it. There were lots of large cracks in the ice, some filled with water, some empty, that we had to cross over.

There were also rivers grooved into the ice with mini waterfalls. Also, we went through an ice cave! So cool!

Our total trek on the ice took about 3 hours and by that time, my feet and ankles were hurting me a bit because I was wearing running sneakers, not hiking shoes.

We hiked back to the boat with one of our guides, Luiz.

Once on the boat we each got a glass of whiskey and an alfajor! Such a nice end to the hike!

We went to Esquina Varela for dinner which is famous for their lamb so we had some yummy lamb stews and wine!

Tango tango

So with my extensive dance experience (lolz not really) I obviously signed up for  tango night with IES.

A bunch of chicas meet at IES and we went to Milonga en La Catedral del Tango. A milonga has a few different meanings:

1. It's a type of tango music
2. It's a type of tango dance
3. It's a tango dance party

My favorite definition, though, is tango dance party. Obviously!

Milongas originated in Buenos Aires.

During a milonga, three to five songs are played in a row followed by a short musical break to give dancers a chance to find new partners. Dancers who attend milongas are called milongueros or milongueras.

The term milonga also refers to a distinct style of tango. Milonga is a faster-paced and less complex form of tango. Milonga can also refer to a musical genre.

We took a bus there from IES to the Milonga in Villa Crespo and automatically went to the bar and got a few bottles of wine :) We needed to loosen up before our tango class!

In our class there were a lots of people on the dance floor of a dimly lot club and we learned simple, fundamental steps while rotating partners every few minutes.

It was so hard for me to allow my partners to lead 100% because in my dance experience I'm in total control of my body. But in tango, you have to let your body go and have your partner put it where it needs to go.

I danced with tons of partners from experienced to beginners, Brazilians to porteños, old to young, creepy pony trail to suave cuts. I was enjoying the diversity.

After the class you were able to dance around, changing partners during the breaks like I said above.

I had a great time but my back started hurting after a while from keeping the posture. It's very similar to ballet posture which made it not as bad because I was used to it.

I have to say, though, I definitely mastered the 8 step plus some... click here to check it out!

The IES group left but a handful of us stayed a bit longer to drink wine and dance. We all had such a great time and I can't wait to take more classes. Maybe samba next? Who knows :)

PS. The old people were freaking adorable. My husband better be down for some tango when we're 70.

Las Cataratas de Iguazu

17 hours.

Yes, 17 hours.

We bought a bus ticket from BA to Iguazu, packed up our supplies, and Jessie, Lean and I headed out on Thursday afternoon after class. The bus ride really wasn't bad. However, our bus was about 45 minutes late which worried us a little because usually the long distance buses are on time.

We met a girl from New York named Ola who is traveling around South America for a month. She got fired from her job, her boyfriend broke up with her and she got evicted from her apartment... all in less than a month!!!

So what did she do? She applied and go unemployment, booked a plane ticket and started traveling. Side note -- Ola knows maybe 5 words in Spanish. That's it!! That's a brave girl right there if you ask me.

Finally our bus came and we got on board. For this trip I only had two backpacks... on on my front and one on my back. Suitcases are too difficult to carry around when traveling like I do here.

We had dinner, a cold and hot meal with wine... lots of wine. The steward was kind of coming on to us... asking if, ya know, he could marry us and all. Instead of marriage, I just asked for tons of wine.

I slept pretty well but you can only sleep so well with cama (bed)... which isn't exactly a bed but more like an awesome recliner.

We arrived to Iguazu around noon. We got some milanesa for lunch then went to Tres Fronteras which is a viewpoint from Argentina where both Brazil and Paraguay are visible. We went right at sunset which was the most beautiful time to go!

Hey look! Brazil!

Monument at Tres Fronteras

 Viewpoint from Argentina; Paraguay on the left and Brazil on the right

We got snacks and food for Saturday's hike through the Iguazu park.

The park was amazing!!!! We took a cab, which our hostel booked for us, to the park. It was only 50 pesos each (Ola, Leah, Jessie and me).

Iguazu is also often compared with Southern Africa's Victoria Falls which separates Zambia and Zimbabwe Iguazu is wider, but because it is split into about 275 discrete falls and large islands, Victoria is the largest curtain of water in the world.

Iguazu currently has the second-greatest average annual flow of any waterfall in the world, after Niagara, with an average rate of 61,660 cu ft.

First we took a boat down the river and we got so close to the waterfalls that we were soaked! Luckily we wore our bathing suits! They gave us big waterproof bags to put our things in during the ride. We didn't go directly under the falls because that would have definitely crushed us with the power of the water. We got damn close though.

There are different hikes you can do including the lower sector, the upper sector and Devil's Throat.  

Lower sector

Upper sector

Devil's Throat

Long story short: Upon seeing Iguazu, the United States' First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt reportedly exclaimed "Poor Niagara!"(which, at 165 feet, the Niagara falls are a third shorter).

The park was amazing -- one of the most incredible things I've ever seen.

To get to Devil's Throat, we had to take a free in-park train up and walk along a massive bridge over the a large source of the waterfalls. 

The power from the falls was actually a bit scary. I couldn't imagine someone ever surviving a jump from Devil's Throat. The force was magnificent.

Instead of taking the train back down the falls, we took an ecological tour down the river. However, right when we got on the boat it started to rain... lame. There were three French guys on the boat with us all working in Brazil. They were good company for the ride.

We all had life vests and the guys and I also had ponchos. Leah made a funny saying that the Frenchies looked like the Hunchback of Notre Dame... LOLZ. Jokes on jokes.

Well, our backpacks, everything inside our backpacks and our sneakers got soaked... but we saw some awesome wildlife! We saw toucans (one I named Toucan Dan) and a monkey!

It was a great, great day :)

That night we went to a nice restaurant and got some free Brazillian drinks called Caipirinhas. They kinda tasted like Pisco Sours (the Peruvian national drink). Tons of lime in em! We all ordered all different things like fish, steak, gnocci, salad and rice and vegetables. Soo yummy!

That night we all sat outside and enjoyed (a lot) of fernet and cokes and wine... even yummier! Paul, a guy from France that we met, Misha, a guy from Montreal, Ola, and other people from IES that stayed in the same hostel as us all hung out outside drinking and having fun.

Paul was traveling around then ran out of money in Iguazu so he decided to volunteer at the hostel for 40 pesos a day... aka nothing. He knew some English but not much. He seemed super into me but I wasn't into it. He was cute... but that's about it. Steven is better :)

We got pretty drunk then most of us went to bed, it was just Ola, Paul, Misha, Mindee and me left so we took a walk around town... the town was literally deserted from elections that day. We had a whole dog pack following us though. They were awesome and so friendly.

Then we got back to the hostel and decided to jump in the pool... and play Marco Polo (ironic because we were staying in the Marco Polo hostel). It was a great time but it was so late so Mindee and I headed to bed.

The next day we were going to go to the animal reserve but we thought hanging out in the pool and drinking fernet and coke and beer sounded better... and that's exactly what we did. An Australian and two Argentines joined us which was fun.

Then our bus was at 3pm. We got back to BA around 8:30 and I showed up just in time for my 9am Spanish class... go me...

Iguazu was amazing... next weekend is my last traveling weekend and I'm heading to Calafate! Studying abroad is seriously the coolest thing ever :)

Weekend in and around Buenos Aires

It's Mommom's last few days in Buenos Aires so we had to make it special! My week was just so busy with work and school that I barely had time for her. This weekend made up for it though.

Friday I had work and a makeup class until 6, traveled to the other side of the city to the apartment, and started drinking wine. It was great!! Sheridan, Sam, Mindee and probably some other girls came over for a pasta and salad dinner and wine.

Having this apartment is actually so nice. We can have people over at our homestays but it's very, very rare. And we usually only have people stop by briefly. But this apartment is in the center of Palermo SoHo, the coolest, hippest part of Buenos Aires with tons of bars and restaurants. We can have people over whenever we want. We don't have to spend a fortune on a bar to hang out. And if we don't feel like going out, we don't have to and we can still hang at the apartment. Whenever I'm too tired to go out, it means a night alone for me. But I didn't go to any bars late this weekend but I was still always surrounded by friends in the apartment drinking wine and watching movies.

Basically, I wish I had this apartment for the rest of my stay here. It'd be pretty sick.

However, Mommom is leaving tomorrow evening, and I'm gonna have to go back to my homestay... I guess I'm a bit bitter about it. My host mom is cool and is a great cook but it sucks being alone all the time at home. It was so nice to be able to invite people over without feeling scowled.

Sorry, back to my awesome weekend.

The girls went out Friday night after our dinner, wine and Dirty Dancing: Havanna Nights sesh. I was exhausted from the week so I just went to bed.

Saturday we got up, had an awesome breakfast of scrambled eggs with rice, yogurt and granola, toast and tea. Then we found out there was going to be a big club rugby playoff match between Hindu and Sic in San Isidro... I've always wanted to go to a rugby game!!!

So we got ready and met Sam, Sheridan, Chloe, Jessie, Jenna and Juan P at the Retiro train station to take the train into the suburb of San Isidro.

The trains are weird here because you don't actually pay for them. I didn't even see a place to pay for the train! You just get on and off at your stop... I don't mind free transportation.

We walked a few blocks... Mommom practically crawled half of the way but not to worry, we got there.

The game cost AR$60 and it was awesome!! It was such a good match and I got to finally learn about the sport.

Poor Sheridan was a little sleepy.

Mommom and I!

Sheridan, Sam, Juan P and I watching the game!

Oh yeah, and a guy ripped his shorts and had to change 'em. Not complaining. I had fun taking pictures objectifying  men. Sorry not sorry.

There were some crazy fans there too!

That night we had another wine and girls night-- having our own apartment in Palermo SoHo, the collest part of BA, really had its perks. We walked around a few blocks until we found a restaurant we liked.

We found one and all sat down and automatically ordered 3 bottles of the house wine. All of a sudden, I looked up at the TV and it looked like the stadium we went to that day for rugby and the jerseys were also similar. All of a sudden, Jessie's face popped up on the TV!! We were all on TV and we didn't even know we were filmed!!

We also pretended it was Mommom's birthday so our mozo brought her a huge piece of tiramisu- like cake to share with us and we each got a glass of champagne! Great night with the ladies!

We went back to the apartment got into our jammies and had a sleepover. Sheridan and Sam with me in the bed, Mindee on the couch with Mommom and Carla on the floor with some cushions... lo siento, chica. Christina went out with hombre.

Sunday was a day for Buenos Aires Ciudad. We all got up and went to Magdalena's Party for the best brunch in Buenos Aires. We had omlettes and breakfast burritos with Mimosas and Bloody Marys! We sat outside on the patio and had a great time.

After a great, filling brunch, we were about to head out the door to take a taxi to the San Telmo fair (a market I haven't gotten to yet) when who other than Christina rang our intercom!! She told us she was going to come to brunch with us but we haven't heard from her since last night when she went to see hombre. 

And alas, when I went out to the balcony and called her name, she responded... wearing the same clothes as last night-- that's my girl!

So since we had 5 people and the taxi could only fit 4, Sam, Sheridan and Christina took the bus and said they'd meet us at the Starbucks there.

Now unfortunately I was too nervous to bring my smartphone out to a neighborhood I wasn't familiar so I have no pictures to show you. But honestly, Recoleta fair is better. The San Telmo fair had a lot of antique goods which were cool to look at, but I really wouldn't want to buy. 

It was a beautiful area but Mommom got tired quickly and I really wanted to show her Recoleta since it was her last day so we headed out. 

The taxi driver headed down Av. Libertador and dropped us right off at the fair. On the way we passed Casa Rosada (where Cristina, the president, works) and a few other big BA hot spots. 

Mommom LOVED the Recoleta fair. She was throwing pesos to the merchants like it was Monopoly money (which in reality, it basically is).

She got a really beautiful white blouse, a handmade South America map puzzle for Monkey (my cousin, her other grandaughter), a boomerang for Jay (her son, my uncle) to play with Monkey and a leather flower hair band for her friend. 

It was already after 6pm and we had to get home to pack our things. 

Mommom packed her things and luckily had a lot of extra room that I could send some of my gifts home with her. I got really excited the next day when she sent me an email while I was in class saying she got her suitcase closed-- SCORE!!

Christina came over to get her stuff and I was going to go back on the bus to Recoleta with her since we live so close to drop off my clothes and stuff. We were about to eat and ended up having a lot of extra food so she stayed for dinner. We even popped open one of the wine bottles that we got at the awesome bodega (winery) from Mendoza.

Sam stopped by a bit later to get her things but obviously had to have a glass of wine; that basically turned into a rule: if you step into the Young/Maxwell apartment, grab yourself a wine glass and start pouring... and fill up everyone else's glasses as well.

Sam left and I got the last of my things together. About 20 minutes later when we were about to head out for the bus to Recoleta, I got a message from Sam saying to be careful tonight because she almost got violently mugged four women on her way home... one was pregnant!

More on that on another post.

So Christina and I were really freaked out so decided to take a cab. Sam is fine, it was just a really scary experience for her.

Update: Mommom's flight landed saftely in Philadelphia and she's home safe and sound :)

Last day in Mendoza

Today we got up (with no hangovers!) and ate another awesome breakfast... This time with dulce de leche crepes!

Then we explored around Parque de San Martin. Which is like 10 blocks from our hostel next to Plaza Independencia so Mommom and I took a cab.

Mommom really can't walk far so she chilled on a park bench on this beautiful afternoon while we took a walk around the pond.

Then we stopped at a cafe and got some sandwiches. Now were at the hostel relaxing until our bus back to Buenos Aires at 8.

We all had a great long weekend in Mendoza :)

The Andes: Mendoza style

We got up early and had a bangin breakfast at the hostel... Best breakfast I've had in South America! There were hard boiled eggs, cereal, oranges, coffee, tea, orange juice, pastries and cut up tomatoes. They also had eggs you could fry up but we didn't have time before our 7:30am pickup.

We 5 and another 4 from our hostel got picked up in a van which then picked up a bunch of different people from other hostels... No Australian man today :(

We took a drive to the Andes and saw the Monumento Natural Puente del Inca. It is a natural bridge with beautiful colors from the minerals in the water that runs under it. There was tons of artisan tables but they weren't about to bargain with us so we didn't buy anything. Mommom was having trouble breathing at that attitude so didn't walk much.

We then stopped at a small cafe and had some café! We were dragging so it was definitely necessary.

We then saw the tallest Andes mountain, snowy mountain tops and a Volcano. Then we drove all the way to the Chilean border. We were so close! It was just over the mountain (or 3 kilometers through a tunnel under the mountain).

^^ CHILE ^^

Don't tell anyone but I'm still gonna scratch Chile off my scratch map... I was to close not to!

On the way back we stored at the same cafe we stopped at earlier and got empanadas! Yum yum!

We got back to the hostel, showered, and got ready for another wine hour. This time, our New Zealand roommates, Nina and Adeline, joined us! They're doing a gap year in Argentina teaching English. They taught at a bratty private primary school in BA last semester and are teaching high schoolers and adults this semester.

Mommom, Christina and I also met our new roommate to our 6 person room: a HUGE rugby player from the UK.

It was so funny. He was in the bunk above Mommom's bunk when we came in, Mommom sat down on her bunk pointed up to him without him seeing and asked, "normal?" Yes, Mommom, this is extremely normal in a hostel room of more than 3 people.

We made our pasta while the other girls got takeout pizza. We finished wine night and broke out our own bottle of wine. Then the girls got out a huge bottle of Gray Goose and this green melon flavored liquor called Midori. Now that was a hostel party.

We played never have I ever and let's just say I learned a lot about my grandma and she learned a lot about me... We were all just so open and so drunk and passing around hot pictures of men we've had sex with and objecting them... It was great. It was so fun swapping stories and taking pictures with Nina's Polaroid camera.

It was a perfect night with friends and alcohol... That's all I gotta say.

Wine and olive oil

We went on a wine and olive oil tour today! Obviously we had to since Mendoza is Argentina's best wine country! We went to two different wineries and a small olive oil factory.

The first winery was a very small family one. We did the tour of the factory and tried a Malbec and a Cabernet Sauvignon and a Syrah. They taught us about the colors of the wine (Malbec is ruby red while the others are more purple and the wine should never be brownish or orangey) and how to smell it.

Mommom and I really liked the Malbec and Carbernet so we those for ourselves and gifts. We couldn't find that wine anywhere else since the family doesn't export their wine.

We met a really hot Australian who was traveling around South America by himself... Mommom was into it and wanted me to go in for the attack. We made conversation but that was about it. His eyes were beautiful but honestly, Steve's are even bluer :)

Then we went to a bigger winery which I didn't like as much. It was holding a bunch of other tours and wasn't as family-oriented. The building was very modern looking with white walks, black trim, and tons of big windows. In this factory, they have great metal, temperature-controlled tubs for the wine to ferment in but the last winery had pools that were temperature controlled by pipes with cool water from the Mendoza river. The smaller winery also had their wine in barrels in a wine cellar gated off where the big winery had their barreled wine displayed behind glad for tourists.

There we tried a Malbec and a Cabernet Sauvignon. We liked the other place better so we didn't buy a bottle.

We then went to a small olive oil factory. The tour was brief but the taste testing was awesome!

We tried extra virgin, unfiltered extra virgin (more flavor but less clear because they don't filter out the olive pulp), garlic, bail, Rosemary and oregano olive oil and some olive pastes. They were all so good and we got those for gifts as well.

After we got home we ran our to get snacks, dinner and water for tomorrow from a grocery store. Then it was wine hour! Free wine for an hour at the hostel! We shared two bottles and had a great time swapping stories. We also ate the rest of our pizza we had for lunch and dulce de leche with banana on crackers for dinner. Oh! I forgot! While we were out for lunch, we stopped at a cool Indie/Bohemian store and Sam and I got awesome pants and wore them for wine tasting.

Bad news, when I was opening the door to put yogurt in the fridge for the next day, the fridge tipped and a half a handle of cheap Vodka shattered all over the floor at my feet and pants. It smelled terrible and I had to clean up all the glass and cheap Vodka with a mop...

I wrote a little note to the owner... RIP.