eating snow

[original post July 28, 2007]

I just got back from my first day of skiing in Bariloche, Argentina. This is like the Switzerland of South America. I look out from my hostel and see the Andes...across from a picturesque lake, of course. It is absolutely beautiful here! I have never seen snow on mountains before. Today I learned how to ski with a lesson, in Spanish! Actually Enrique knew enough English to keep me from crashing into every object unable to jump out of my way, but most of the lesson was in Spanish.

It was sooo much fun! I definitely ran into a tree, an orange barrier thing, and a few people, but it was really really fun. I tried tabogganing on a little seat thingie, but that proved even more dangerous than on skis...there is a picture that I will post as soon as I am able that shows just how far down the hill I slid after the little orange sled thingie abandoned me.

Tomorrow we will be like real skiers and get a lift pass. I am so excited...I just wish I had more time here!

I also forgot to update about my time living in the Recoleta hostel in Buenos Aires. That was my absolute favorite hostel I have stayed in Argentina. Not only was it a beautiful old building with the nicest owner ever, but the people were really fun. And they all spoke English, something I have not been used to for most of my trip. I hung out with two guys from London and two from Australia. It was so much fun to be an accent minority. I am trying my best, also, to bring back as much funny sounding slang as possible.

I promise to post funny skiing pictures when I get back to my laptop! I cannot believe I fly back to the states this Wednesday. I think I will have to go back through reverse culture shock. I will definitely miss this country and my friends here, but I am excited about seeing family and friends, though!

gauchita

[original post July 10, 2007]

This weekend I went out into pampas country with my boss and his family. We headed to his wife's childhood home in the country. It was such a nice and relaxing weekend, filled with good food and even horseback riding! All in all, a nice weekend.

belgrano

[original post July 1, 2007]

The next leg of my journey was spent in a little hostel in Belgrano, which is horrendously far away from anything that I wanted to see. Through this, I did discover the subway--which made me feel very urban and grown up.

Oh yeah, and Buenos Aires has a Chinatown! I found it!

iguazu falls

[original post June 29, 2007]

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been going from place to place--very exciting but it makes for a lot of catchup!

Iguazu Falls was absolutely fantastic. This is one of the most incredible natural wonders I have ever seen. There was so much water! What a wonderful, natural border between three countries! I've never seen Niagra Falls, but perhaps viewing Iguazu has ruined that for me--it will probably pale in comparison.

It was incredible--you could see the mist from the falls from far away. The falls actually consist of almost 300 different falls. You can view them from either Argentina or Brazil. The view from Argentina is closer, bringing you right up to the falls. The Brazilian view is more panoramic---great for pictures!

The biggest is known as "Garganta del Diablo," or the Devil's throat. It certainly lived up to it's name!

The falls are also a national park on both sides, which made for some beautiful scenery. I saw wild monkeys and birds! All around the park were coatis, which are like a mix between a monkey and a raccoon, only related to bears. These little guys have learned to beg for food from humans. (I avoided that strong temptation because I know, deep down, that it's bad for them). They are rather funny about obtaining their food. I saw about 15 jump onto a lady's lap--she must have had some food in her purse. I'm pretty sure that is the funniest mugging that I will ever witness.

I also took a trip to Itaipu, a gigantic hydroelectric dam on the border between Brazil and Paraguay. It's actually the largest operational one in the world. Nonetheless, I was a little jaded by the beauty of the Iguazu "cataratas" and wasn't as impressed with human craftsmanship as I should have been.

esteros de iberá

[original post June 19, 2007]

Sorry for not updating in so long! Internet connection has been hard to come by.

I spent a week up north near Corrientes in a reserve known as Esteros de Iberá. It's a huge wetlands (think Everglades) filled with wildlife. I was in heaven!

Gathered there was a large team of Argentine biologists. Each had their own specialty (birds, carnivores, ants, you name it), and they were all recruited to survey this area. I helped Luis out with the ant surveys. We put out pitfalls (a tube of soapy water that insects fall in--nothing fancy) and baits (salami). The pitfalls tell us what ants are in the area, and the baits tell us about the interactions between the ants--not quite as simple as I make it sound--there's lots of math involved.

On my last day there I got to help out Mario and Yamil with their motion-activated wildlife cameras. They were using cans of tuna to attract carnivores.

I also turned twenty here! Ignacio, Mario, Yamil, Luis, and Sonia serenaded me with a 7AM rendition of "feliz cumpleanos". Sonia gave me some chocolate--yummy! I even had a cake at lunch! It was a splendid birthday.

After spending a week at Corrientes, I headed up to Iguazu!

san telmo and southern bsas

[original post June 15, 2007]

Today was a day that I wish my Mom had been here--she would have loved today.

I started off from Plaza de Mayo (the city center) and headed south. I wandered around some of the southern barrios, stopping at cathedrals and museums. I saw El Museo De La Ciudad....which was a very idiosyncratic museum with random antiques from Argentina. It was neat to see the old toys and pieces. I think Mom would have liked to see all the the pieces.

I also saw the Museo Etnogeografia...which had an amazing anthropology collection. The building contained lots of artifacts from Argentina's idigenious people, many of whom have very few living members. This was my favorite part of the day.

Then, I saw parts of San Telmo, which is Argentina's tango district. It also was full of antique stores. I think Mom would have loved it because of Art Deco and Art Noveau influence in a lot of the Buenos Aires pieces (the city really wanted to be very European in its past).

I finished off the day at the National History Musuem, which had a lot of portraits and personal artifacts from the history of Argentina. After this, I was tired and headed back to the hostel.

coffee and josé gonzález

[original post June 14, 2007]

The lab I work at has a tradition in which the employees take turns making coffee after lunch. Apparantlly, I've been at the lab long enough to be put in the rotation, and today was my day to make coffee. Only one problem: being a non-coffee drinker, I had never made coffee before, especially not for 12 very demanding Argentines. They have this process down to an art, complete with a chart on the wall saying how much sugar each person takes. Oh yeah, and some people want tea...others want maté...and they are going to want varying amounts of sugar in that too. So, the whole process of making coffee turned into an ordeal, and miraculously, I survived (with some help and prodding). The tradition was very fun, and I was glad they included me in it--even if some of the coffee needed a little microwaving by the time I had figured out whose was whose.

I also tried blood sausage...once. Willy explained to me what was in it before I ate it---I think I remember him saying pig's blood, and lots of pig parts. I had one bite and it was enough---it had an awful texture, and the thought of it was too much.

Also, I saw an amazing concert tonight! José González is touring Latin America and stopped in Buenos Aires for the Nuevos Aires Folk festival. There were two openers, one not so good and one pretty good. But José was absolutely incredible. He played a lot of new stuff off of his upcoming sophomore album. He ended with Teardrop, a Massive Attack Cover. Just when I was starting to get sad that he didn't play Heartbeats, my favorite song (another cover--this time from The Knife)...plus two more. The show was absolutely terrific.