Hey folks,
Apologies for neglecting the blog, but here's a short update.
I've been travelling around in Argentina, and have been enjoying it a lot. When I left this off I was on my way to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the world. Well I got there, and it was OK, but I didn't stay long. It was about as touristy as you might expect, and then maybe a bit more. People get signed certificates verifying that they've been there. I guess it sounds impressive, but the reality is that lot's of these people just fly straight in from the capital. Yet another lesson for me of the journey being more important than the destination.
One interesting thing, at least, was a festival I stumbled upon outside of town where I hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. There were hundreds of kids running around spraying each other with silly spray, while others marched around with costumes. There was loud music blaring, and adults kind of haphazardly mixed into the fray. It was mayhem, and there were almost no tourists there. A parade would later start up where the kids in costumes marched through rows of adults and then along the way would stop and breakdance. Turns out there was some authentic culture in Ushuaia. It didn't make much sense to me, and I guess that's part of what made it authentic.
One interesting thing, at least, was a festival I stumbled upon outside of town where I hadn't the slightest idea what was going on. There were hundreds of kids running around spraying each other with silly spray, while others marched around with costumes. There was loud music blaring, and adults kind of haphazardly mixed into the fray. It was mayhem, and there were almost no tourists there. A parade would later start up where the kids in costumes marched through rows of adults and then along the way would stop and breakdance. Turns out there was some authentic culture in Ushuaia. It didn't make much sense to me, and I guess that's part of what made it authentic.
My journey continued by bus over the rural South in what would be the longest bus journey I've taken so far in my trip and in my life - 38 hours plus a 5 hour layover part way through. Would you believe me if I told you it was easy? Those of us who travel South America by bus are seasoned for that sort of thing. We put down 20 hour bus rides like daily multivitamins.
I arrived in Bariloche, in the lake district of Argentina. For the week I was there, I found ways to get outside of town and see how beautiful the landscape was there. I went on a roadtrip in a rental car with some people I met in my hostel to visit some of the lakes and go swimming. I also went on a bike ride around a popular lake circuit which had me riding up and down hills and cruising through a network of lakes all around me and going swimming. Lastly, I took a tent and some food on a bus outside of town, and then by foot into the mountains. My destination was a popular rock climbing spot, where I was hoping to meet up with someone who had more gear and skills than I did who was willing to take me on as a climbing partner. That actually worked out when I met Ruddy from Brazil. Together we climbed a massive rock that took 3 pitches of rope, and at least as many hours to get to the top of. I was a bit terrified intially, but with determination made it to the top, and it felt great. Afterwards, I went swimming. The lake there was colder than a polar bear.
After camping for the night, I made my way back to Bariloche, and from there onwards to Argentina's wine capital, Mendoza. The scenery there reminded me an awful lot of my home in northern California, which I guess you could say is where the wine is in the northern hemisphere of this side of the world. A popular thing to do there is to tour the vineyards by bicycle sampling wine - this could be a good or bad idea depending upon how much wine you drink. When I went with my friend Amy, we saw some pretty wasted bicyclists (who later got pulled over by the police). I once again discovered that wine tasting wasn't really my thing, but still had a nice pleasant bike ride. That night, a couple friends and I would experience a curious cultural festival in the town. Large crowds gathered as beauty pageant contestants rode through the streets on large floats throwing fruit, boxed wine, and other things at them. Not to be misunderstood, it was the beauty pageant contestants throwing things at the crowd. Personally I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones to catch a melon, but had to settle for several bunches of grapes. As far as an explanation, the only one offered me by a local was that wine and women were the two best things the province produced. So they celebrate them both at the same time.
Before making the trip to the capital, I spent a couple of days sightseeing outside of Mendoza. I saw the biggest mountain outside of the Himalayas, Mt. Aconcagua (I really wanted to climb it, but didn't have the required 2 weeks or $1000 US handy), as well as an old calcified incan stone bridge which was really cool.
And then from the Mendoza countryside I showed up in the most overwhelmingly big city I'd ever been in. The metropolitan area of Buenos Aires has an estimated 14-16 million people. That's a lot of people! Fortunately I had some contacts here, and was able to orient myself initially by staying with one of them in the suburbs and doing day trips into the city. I met Monica in Bariloche. Her family moved to Buenos Aires from the US, and she now works for the US Embassy in Argentina. Her husband, Guillermo, is originally from Peru and since he's home more than Monica we had the opportunity to have lots of good conversations, and all throughout try and work on fixing my now lazy Spanish. It was nice to stay in a house for a change.
As far as my early explorations into the city, all I really did was walk around a few places, and go to a museum (A museum for Eva Peron, or 'Evita'). I've relaxed quite a bit when it comes to exploring new places, and I guess traveling in general - taking it in slowly, and taking more of it in. Visiting different neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, I've found it to be an incredibly charming place. In the neighborhood of San Telmo, there's a plaza where you can watch people tango dancing. In the Microcenter, there's a street which at night has musicians, street performers, and artisans. There are 'milongas' throughout the city where you can take dancing classes during the day, and then come to dance later at night.
I've now been in the city for over a week and moved around quite a lot. I've stayed in three different hostels, and another house with some other friends living in BA that I met traveling. One day I took a tango class in a milonga, and realized how much harder tango is than it looks. I'd still definitely like to do more of it. Another day, I went to a futball (soccer) game for the popular Buenos Aires team, the Boca Juniors, and was highly entertained by how spirited their fans are. The whole stadium was singing songs for their team pretty much nonstop for the entire game. And the rest of the time I've just been hanging out with people doing whatever - going to the cinema, cooking empanadas, playing music.
In the moment, you aren't worried about the joy you have then leaving you. We learn, though, that life has it's seasons. It's sad to think this one might just be coming to an end. It's been one of my favorites.
Love to everyone,
Stephen
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