La Vida Errabunda

Well, hello parents! My family landed Thursday morning, and our activities started on Friday. As grand master planner and main Spanish speaker, I was in charge of navigating, translating, and relaying the funny moments (my mother laughs, looks at me, and then asks what was funny). La Reserva Ecologia is an oasis on the edge of the city, next to Puerto Madero. We rented some bikes and navigated the busy calles streets to the protected area. View of Reserva from parrillas de la calle street parrillas in Puerto Madero  The area was full of beautiful birds, annoying bugs, and had a cool breeze off of the Rio de La Plata . We got to ride along the ugly red river, and I told my parents the significance of the river en la historia de Buenos Aires the history of Buenos Aires. This includes the shipping port and the dumping of the bodies during the military regime. Mom and Dad at Milión, famous bar Mom and I at dinner along Puerto Madero  On Saturday, my mother a...

Back in Argentina meant recovery time from the wild, untamed Bolivia. SLEEP. SHOWER. WARM BED. That may seem basic, but those were not existent during our trip.  The first day, after SSWb, we headed to the infamous museum with momias . Inca mummies. The Museum of High Altitude Archaeology has an entire exhibit dedicated to three frozen Incas, perfectly preserved due to the extreme cold and high altitude at Mt. Llullaillaco (22,000 feet). They were discovered in the late 1990s. It surprised us that the "Inca Trail" extends through northern Chile and Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. Only one of the three frozen children is displayed at a time due to the religious context, respect, and controversy. It was amazingly intact- hair, teeth, and skin. Saturday was outdoor day. Salta is surrounded by beautiful mountains, so we headed for the nearby Quebrada de San Lorenzo. We decided to fill up on some delicious regional goat cheese, bread, and salami before he went. Full an...

Classes and internships started in full force this week, so Monday and Tuesday were our last free days. Commence being a tourist. However, the weather wasn't cooperating. It's been unseasonably stormy. So instead of hitting up the gardens on Monday, we went to La Casa Rosada, l a oficina de la Presidenta the office of the President. Great PR photos for the President, Cristina Fernandez The group minus Ashley We then went down Calle Florida, the place for shopping. It was insane how many stores there were, and how inflated the American products were. A four palette eyeshadow from Mac? Eighty US dollars, when it's normally $30 to $40. End of Calle Florida with Christmas decorations still up Katie and I hit up Plaza San Martin, a park/square in Retiro. Katie and I next to one of the cool trees The plaza San Martin statue We then stopped for a quick tarta caprese lunch. Tartas son muy rica tartas are very very delicious, and I would c...

Imagine a hot, sticky city of a 90 degree day. There is no free water at restaurants. There is no breeze. The air conditioning is average at best. That is Buenos Aires. So where do the masses escape to? El Tigre, just a 50 minute train ride away. We woke up early on Saturday and caught the 9:12 train to El Tigre. It was 50 minutes of pure torture; the Argentina version of the Von Trapp's were on the train, expect the children were not as well behaved. Their screeching lasted the whole time. When we finally exited the train (and walked FAST away from the kids) we went over to the dock. We selected a tour that took us to a private beach with a large swimming area, a restaurant, and a parrilla. A short boat ride later, we were at the small, sandy beach. It was blistering hot and cloudless, and perfect day to submerse oneself in the muddy Tigre waters (muddy, but safe). We were defintely the only Americans there, and definitely had the most modest swimsuits for people in the...

1. Flies on the food At the grocery, the onions and potatoes are swarming with flies. Nobody bats an eye. I really want to buy ciertos cebollas y papas para cocinar some onions and potatoes to cook, but I cannot bring myself to do so. It's just disgusting on a level I can't overcome.  2. Shoving people on bus Me toca a mi, te toca a ti Mmy turn, your turn doesn't exist on the bus. I was waiting for a seat for a good 10 minutes- everybody saw me standing by the seats. As the women got up to leave the bus, i moved out of the way to let her buy, and as I stepped away, some other women jumped into the seat, obviously jumping in front of me. This happened twice! Really? 3. Un espectaculo gratis  There was a free show on the train to Tigre was quite interesting. There was a family in the seats across the aisle from us. The toddler (around 18 months to two years) was sitting on mommy's lap. He was eating this chocolate and had it all over his face. After finishing tha...

My clothes were stuck to my skin. My glasses were slipping on my nose. My jacket radiated heat. I felt my dark shorts absorbing every bit of sunlight they could. I looked up into the sky- it was bluer than ever. The few clouds were definitely harmless. The weather had lied to us once again. It was supposed to thunder and lightening all day. Hence the rain jacket tucked under my arm. What was supposed to keep me dry was now just making me sweatier. The crowds of people around didn't help. But big surprise, we had traveled out to Barrio Chino in Belgrano, the outer western edge of the city. After a successful subway trip, we found ourselves in a large crowd of people with lots of red lanterns. The street in Barrio Chino We shoved our way through the crowds, determined to find some delicious comida de china Chinese food and peruse the grocery stores, full of imported items. Lai Lai, was fria compared to the scorching heat. The food was delicious and quality (not H...

After one week in Argentina, we are getting over "culture shock." Here is a list of the top moments that caused us to laugh, raise our eyebrows, or walk fast away. 1. Digging for gold Apparently picking your nose in public in Argentina is socially acceptable. We keep seeing really attractive Argentinians with their finger up their nose. They even do the "roll-flick" in public. No matter what, I will always burst out laughing at them. 2. Los Huevos y La Leche The eggs at the supermarket are NOT refrigerated. Some of the milk is, some of it isn't. Apparently the milk not refrigerated comes from powder; they sell a ton of powdered milk here. So if you want the real stuff, go to refrigerated section and pay twice the price. 3. Weird Cat Women Walking to dinner the other night, we saw a presumably normal looking women with a doctors mask on, talking to a cat through a fence. There is a large number of stray cats here, but talking to one definitely takes the...

140 pounds a year .  La vaca es el animal mas importante en Argentina . The cow is the most important animal in Argentina. Per person. Los ciudadanos comen 50 percento mas tan los estadunidenses. The citizens eat 50 percent more than Americans. Mis pensamientos? Traigame el bife . My thoughts? Bring me the beef. Thursday night we went to La Cabrera, a parrilla steakhouse in Palermo Soho. It's been written up in the New York Times, and is supposed to be one of the city's best. We arrived and waited about 30 minutes. We sat down to a basket full of bread and some dipping sauces and started scouring the menu. We started with a bottle of Malbec (15 US $) and some water (5 US $- yes water costs). We finally decided on Skirt and Flank (sharing is the way to go at parrillas). And thank the lord we did. Because HOLY CRAP it was a lot of meat. Three cuts of skirt steak and like a brick and a half of flank. Plus, the sides (all included), like hearts of palm...