So we are about a week behind in blogging. Forgive us but the connection is spotty and slow. I am a spoiled American brat used to my high speed internet connection and it drives me bonkers to blog on the hostel or internet cafe computers. But we are now in Puerto Iguazu, near the Brazilian border. It´s raining. I´ve got down time. So blogging it is...
We flew into B.A. (Buenos Aires for all you non-backpackers) last week and spent 5 nights at Milhouse Hostel in the City Centre. The Milhouse is one of those hopping, party-central, backpacker hotspots, and Jess and I were ill-prepared for the noise and constant buzz and pervasive cigarette smoke of the place after our stressful weekend of flying back from Nassau (yeah yeah, we´re brats, I know so spare me), booking it to Tommy´s graduation in Austin and throwing the ´rents a surprise 25th anniversary party. And y´know, packing last minute of course. Everyone seemed too cool for school and had been traveling for seemingly 15-20 months, and here we were, 2 Americans (everyone tut-tutted after hearing we were from los Estados Unidos) in our first city on the first week of our mere two month trip. So I´m not sure we loved B.A. as much as we should´ve and for that, I´m a little sad. But big deal. It gave us some time to decompress and get used to the culture of backpacking and talking to strangers non-stop.
However, some B.A. highlights:
- I saw my 1st futbol game (ever) where La Boca Juniors beat the crap outta Gimnasio de Jujuy 3-1. Thank god we went with other gringos from the hostel and sat in actual seats rather than the rowdy hooligan standing only section. I had wanted to chance it and sit with locals. Jess´ friend Jacob actually went solo to the same game we went to and sat with them, where he later got mugged on the way out... The hooligans sang and cheered and jumped non-stop for the entire game. It was fun albeit cold. Note to self: don´t wear flip flops in the middle of winter.
- We walked through the main hoods of Recoleta, San Telmo, Palermo, City Centre. There are plazas everywhere. Argentinian women dress oh so cute and I constantly felt like a fat sloth in my backpacker´s wardrobe of thermals, long sleeved tees, cargos and sneakers. And there´s dog crap everywhere. You would think the concept of picking up after your pets would be pretty basic. Guess not.
- I was quite trite and listened to ¨Don´t Cry for Me Argentina¨ while sitting in the plaza outside the presidential palace where Eva Peron aka Evita would address the common folks. Yeah, I did. Bite me. We also saw where she was buried in the big Recoleta Cemetary. Cemetaries creep Jess and out and she screamed bloody Mary and jumped about 10 feet when she saw an open coffin with old bones peeking out. Yup, that´s my sister. We also saw the grave of poor sad Rufina who was accidentally buried alive after an epileptic seizure. Her nurse heard noises and when they opened the coffin, they saw scratches on her body and face, but she had died (for real). That discovery prompted a paranoid response where the rich Buenos Aires dead set up bells and contraptions from the coffin to the mausoleum front.
- We had an AMAZING steak dinner at La Cabrera in the Palermo ´hood where I actually conceded defeat to the big ol´ medium rare filet on my plate. I made it through half and I still thought I´d blow up. All that bloody moo-ing goodness and 2 bottle of wines shared between 5 backpackers wasn´t even $20US. I think I´m in heaven...aka hell for vegetarians.
- B.A. is quite polluted, but not as bad as Santiago we hear. Jess´ allergies have flared though and the constant cigarette smoke doesn´t help. We´ve both been a bit under the weather because it is winter here. And it´s only going to get colder as we travel north.
- We went out for 2 nights with others from the hostel, but we just couldn´t hang with the Argentines. Lunch is around 12-2pm and dinner is around 9-11pm, which means we wouldn´t head out to the bars or clubs til 2-3am...We couldn´t stay out til the wee hours of the morning like the other backpackers and Argentines. Who would´ve thought? belligerANT is not all that belligerent relatively.
B.A. is actually all a bit of a blur. Because of that, Jess and I have gotten into the habit of journaling in our paper journals everyday since B.A. If not, cities and restaurants and people start blending into one big mess. We´ve met people from all corners of the world: New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, Spain, Brazil, Mexico. Americans are in the minority, obviously, in the backpacker crew. We actually traveled with a Kiwi named Kirsti from the Milhouse to Uruguay for 3 nights but I´m leaving the Uruguay entry up to Jess. We are quite the little border stamp whores now. I hope to have a filled up passport upon my return!
My Spanish has picked up and Jess´ has too but a bit slower than mine. I think it helped that I spent a month in Bolivia last year and was forced to speak Spanish with patients. Communication is still an issue sometimes but with a smile and a ¨Can you please speak slower?¨ we are both able to manage quite well. There are others traveling with only the most basic grasp of Spanish and after watching them struggle, I´m quite happy with ourselves.
And no, Jess and I have not killed each other yet. We actually have barely fought or squabbled. I´m pretty amazed. But it´s also been only one week. Seven more to go...
Keep emailing and commenting. It makes us feel loved! Hopefully, I´ll add pictures to this blog later.
PICTURES!
We flew into B.A. (Buenos Aires for all you non-backpackers) last week and spent 5 nights at Milhouse Hostel in the City Centre. The Milhouse is one of those hopping, party-central, backpacker hotspots, and Jess and I were ill-prepared for the noise and constant buzz and pervasive cigarette smoke of the place after our stressful weekend of flying back from Nassau (yeah yeah, we´re brats, I know so spare me), booking it to Tommy´s graduation in Austin and throwing the ´rents a surprise 25th anniversary party. And y´know, packing last minute of course. Everyone seemed too cool for school and had been traveling for seemingly 15-20 months, and here we were, 2 Americans (everyone tut-tutted after hearing we were from los Estados Unidos) in our first city on the first week of our mere two month trip. So I´m not sure we loved B.A. as much as we should´ve and for that, I´m a little sad. But big deal. It gave us some time to decompress and get used to the culture of backpacking and talking to strangers non-stop.
However, some B.A. highlights:
- I saw my 1st futbol game (ever) where La Boca Juniors beat the crap outta Gimnasio de Jujuy 3-1. Thank god we went with other gringos from the hostel and sat in actual seats rather than the rowdy hooligan standing only section. I had wanted to chance it and sit with locals. Jess´ friend Jacob actually went solo to the same game we went to and sat with them, where he later got mugged on the way out... The hooligans sang and cheered and jumped non-stop for the entire game. It was fun albeit cold. Note to self: don´t wear flip flops in the middle of winter.
- We walked through the main hoods of Recoleta, San Telmo, Palermo, City Centre. There are plazas everywhere. Argentinian women dress oh so cute and I constantly felt like a fat sloth in my backpacker´s wardrobe of thermals, long sleeved tees, cargos and sneakers. And there´s dog crap everywhere. You would think the concept of picking up after your pets would be pretty basic. Guess not.
- I was quite trite and listened to ¨Don´t Cry for Me Argentina¨ while sitting in the plaza outside the presidential palace where Eva Peron aka Evita would address the common folks. Yeah, I did. Bite me. We also saw where she was buried in the big Recoleta Cemetary. Cemetaries creep Jess and out and she screamed bloody Mary and jumped about 10 feet when she saw an open coffin with old bones peeking out. Yup, that´s my sister. We also saw the grave of poor sad Rufina who was accidentally buried alive after an epileptic seizure. Her nurse heard noises and when they opened the coffin, they saw scratches on her body and face, but she had died (for real). That discovery prompted a paranoid response where the rich Buenos Aires dead set up bells and contraptions from the coffin to the mausoleum front.
- We had an AMAZING steak dinner at La Cabrera in the Palermo ´hood where I actually conceded defeat to the big ol´ medium rare filet on my plate. I made it through half and I still thought I´d blow up. All that bloody moo-ing goodness and 2 bottle of wines shared between 5 backpackers wasn´t even $20US. I think I´m in heaven...aka hell for vegetarians.
- B.A. is quite polluted, but not as bad as Santiago we hear. Jess´ allergies have flared though and the constant cigarette smoke doesn´t help. We´ve both been a bit under the weather because it is winter here. And it´s only going to get colder as we travel north.
- We went out for 2 nights with others from the hostel, but we just couldn´t hang with the Argentines. Lunch is around 12-2pm and dinner is around 9-11pm, which means we wouldn´t head out to the bars or clubs til 2-3am...We couldn´t stay out til the wee hours of the morning like the other backpackers and Argentines. Who would´ve thought? belligerANT is not all that belligerent relatively.
B.A. is actually all a bit of a blur. Because of that, Jess and I have gotten into the habit of journaling in our paper journals everyday since B.A. If not, cities and restaurants and people start blending into one big mess. We´ve met people from all corners of the world: New Zealand, Australia, England, Scotland, Norway, Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, Spain, Brazil, Mexico. Americans are in the minority, obviously, in the backpacker crew. We actually traveled with a Kiwi named Kirsti from the Milhouse to Uruguay for 3 nights but I´m leaving the Uruguay entry up to Jess. We are quite the little border stamp whores now. I hope to have a filled up passport upon my return!
My Spanish has picked up and Jess´ has too but a bit slower than mine. I think it helped that I spent a month in Bolivia last year and was forced to speak Spanish with patients. Communication is still an issue sometimes but with a smile and a ¨Can you please speak slower?¨ we are both able to manage quite well. There are others traveling with only the most basic grasp of Spanish and after watching them struggle, I´m quite happy with ourselves.
And no, Jess and I have not killed each other yet. We actually have barely fought or squabbled. I´m pretty amazed. But it´s also been only one week. Seven more to go...
Keep emailing and commenting. It makes us feel loved! Hopefully, I´ll add pictures to this blog later.
PICTURES!
 |
| Jess freaked out at Eva Peron's grave |
 |
| Madres de la Plaza del Mayo: these women march every Thursday in memory of their sons lost during the ¨Dirty War" |
 |
| La Boca Juniors v. El Gimnasio de JuJuy |
 |
| Crazy hooligans at La Boca Juniors v. El Gimnasio de JuJuy |
 |
| San Telmo |
 |
| With Kirsti the Kiwi and sporting our Argentinian pride on their Independence Day (25 de Mayo) |
besos,
Ant
3 comments:
thank you for finally posting. i think i'm your #1 fan, as i am religiously checking your non-updated blog everyday. sounds like you guys are having crazy adventures, but boo that it's winter! try not to get mugged and buy me a cool present :D
It should get warmer as y'all go north, I think. Stay safe.
Are you saying thermals, long sleeve shirts, and sneakers aren't stylin? Surely I must be misunderstanding.
Post a Comment