Bariloche: Argentina's Winter Wonderland

Whether you’re a high school senior in Argentina or a student studying abroad, Bariloche is a prime destination for sun, snowboarding, and cervezas. Apparently this is a hot spot for high school kids; I guess kind of like our spring break in Cancun. Not only is Bariloche famous for its skiing in the Andes, it is also well known for its many chocolate stores (see picture) and delicious food. During my 4 day visit, I seem to have conquered it all.

After this last trip, I’ve become very fond of traveling by omnibus. This trip was by far the longest, clocking in at just about 22 hours. We kept ourselves busy by watching some American movie classics; among them Harry Potter 4, The Italian Job, Mean Girls, and Love Actually. Much of my time was also consumed by picture taking out my window as we traveled farther into beautiful Patagonia (the huge southern region of Argentina). Having left Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires Thursday afternoon, we arrived in Bariloche around 10 the next morning.

Like in Iguazú, we stayed at the Hostel Inn. I have to say, it is almost offensive that I only paid $16 USD per night for what I got…Not only did we have our rooms get cleaned daily (this is a hostel, remember), we also got free breakfast and dinner and an absolutely STUNNING view of the Andes. There was a large patio with small tables and comfortable lounge chairs that overlooked the town and a large lake with the mountains behind it. It was absolutely gorgeous.

While others decided to be really intense and go for a 20 mile bike ride immediately after arrival, the rest of us found that sitting and having a luxurious lunch seemed like a much, much better option. Downtown Bariloche was very quaint, just like a ski town should be. The streets were lined with restaurants, chocolate stores, cafes, and cute little shops that sold warm, handmade sweaters (I got myself one, it has llamas on it).

After lunch, we figured we should be at least somewhat productive, so we decided to visit one of the viewpoints that we were recommended. When we arrived, the chairlift that we were planning on taking up was apparently closed…at 3:15 in the afternoon. So we decide we’ll hike up it I guess. Yea…nearly died. I felt like it was 90 degrees up the entire hour. BUT, we made it, and the view was unreal. We almost got in a fight with the chairlift workers to let us take it down. We had to argue with them until we finally just said, “If you make us walk back down that, we will die.” Apparently that one was legitimate enough.

That night we found our favorite bar, an Irish pub called Wilkenny. If you ever get down to Bariloche, try one of their signature brews- the Wilkenny Tostada. Later that night, a friend and I decided that we weren’t ready to go to bed yet, so instead we found a crack-in-the-wall bar and decided to explore. We met a few very nice Argentine girls who took up our foosball challenge. We played USA vs. Argentina, and we won. How embarrassing for them…we don’t even like soccer that much.

Saturday morning we woke up to a lot of rain. I had planned to go snowboarding, but we decided to save it for Sunday, since the weather was supposed to be much better. Instead we took a ferry out to a National Park called the Parque de Arranayes. It’s a forest full of these bizarre trees that look like twisty breadsticks and have crazy, wavy branches that go off in every direction. It was a very pretty walk, after which we enjoyed our complimentary hot chocolate as part of the boat fare.

Sunday was our ski/snowboard day, and we had perfect weather. You can rent equipment and also ski jacket/snowpants/gloves/goggles/helmets. Very convenient. However, though the weather was great, the snow was not. Spring skiing was definitely apparent, so the snow was getting more slushy in the last weeks of skiing. We still had a pretty good morning, but then soon after we decided it was a better idea to go back down and eat chocolate. The rest of the day was very relaxing, and we checked out the ski resort area until a bus took us home. Another recommendation: Diez Empanadas. It is a restaurant that sells only empanadas and has a bunch of different flavors. Everyone must experience it.

Monday we spent our day in town. After a long lunch, we stopped at a few more chocolate stores, did some casual shopping, and made Jauja, an ice cream shop, our last stop before heading back to gather our things for the trip home. Jauja is claimed to be the best ice cream in Argentina, and I’m gonna have to agree. For 15 pesos I had a huge bowl of dark chocolate mousse, raspberries and cream, and pineapple ice cream. The best thing ever.

Monday afternoon we made our way to the bus station. The ride was, again, seemed much shorter than it was, because I had a lot to take pictures of on the way home. It was an absolutely wonderful weekend. I couldn’t have been more happy or more relaxed, and I spent it with a great group of friends.

So I started my week yesterday, Wednesday. I had 3 classes, and now it’s the weekend again.

Rough, I know.

GOOD NEWS:

1. I received my Brazil visa today. It was quite possibly the easiest government/document-related process I have ever done. Apparently in the States it takes a month to complete. For me, it was a 30 second conversation, followed by a trip to the bank and a trip back to the embassy today to pick it up.

2. We will be having a tango make-up class at IES this Monday, unless we get an email from the university saying that the strike is over. I’m also considering going to a tango class tomorrow evening to jump-start my tango skills.

Hope has been restored.

Becoming History Savvy

This was supposed to be posted before I left for Bariloche, oops! Didn’t realize it never went through:

Sunday morning we were supposed to go to a polo match that had been rescheduled from the previous week, however, there in fact was no match scheduled (poor planning, yet again, IES?). I was so ready too, sweater vest and all. No worries though, we were assured that we would be made aware of the next match. Instead, we headed to one of the biggest (and most wonderful) malls here, Alto Palermo, to go see a movie, Going the Distance. Definitely MUCH funnier than I expected, highly recommended. However, anybody over 40 would probably think it was a waste of time and money, not unlike many of the other movies I like.

Sunday night I received terrible news. As a result of the student strike at IUNA, my tango class was suspended until further notice. I felt like a part of my soul had died. Naturally, everybody else in the class was ecstatic not to have to wake up early the next morning, which I guess was nice, to a certain extent.

I actually had to do a substantial amount of work this week. I know, I was shocked, too. My friend Allison and I were to present a project on San Telmo, one of the barrios of the city, the one with the antique fairs on Sunday afternoons. We presented on Tuesday and it went great. Our professor, Mercedes, is a wonderful woman. She always gives us compliments after we give correct answers in our grammar exercises, just like in middle school. “MUY BIEN, Diana!” or “Excelente!” or “Buen trabajo, mi amor” or “Increíble, Diana. Muy bien.”

I win.

Urban History class has been very interesting. There’s a lot of reading, though. And I mean real reading, like 50 pages for each class in Spanish. That’s legitimate. Otherwise, it’s been great, because we get to go on field trips to explore different parts of the city. Since we’ve been around some of these barrios quite a bit, it’s nice to be able to actually picture the place that we’re talking about in class and then see how it has changed. We went on 2 field trips in the last week and a half, one to the famous Plaza de Mayo, which also has the Casa Rosada (presidential palace). The Plaza de Mayo is important for several reasons, most importantly because it is the focal point for politics in the city. It also is the home of the National Bank of Argentina and the cathedral. Many civic demonstrations occur there too. One of the most famous demonstrations is that of the grandmothers at Plaza de Mayo, who, to this day, have a peaceful march around the Plaza every Thursday. This march is in memory of all the disappeared persons of the Dirty War (la Guerra Sucia) that occurred in the 70’s, the result of a military coup that put Argentina under the dictatorial rule of Jorge Videla. The other was Plaza San Martín, an area characterized more by its many lawns and palm trees for afternoon lounging than historical landmarks. It is dedicated to José San Martín, an Argentine general and significant figure in the country’s struggle for independence from Spain.

Wednesday night we celebrated our friend Mike’s 20^th birthday. We went to one of our favorite bars, The Spot. It was hip-hop music night. Enough said.

Tigre, Evita, and Lionel Messi

I would just like to take a moment to apologize for some of my typos in previous posts. I was reading them over the other day and cringed in embarrassment. I will do my best to proofread better so that never happens again…

Well, last Friday was yet another gloomy day in Buenos Aires, though Santa Rosa was coming to an end. Since there wasn’t much to do outdoors, several of us visited the Evita Peron Museum. It was very interesting, however I regret not reading up more on her before I went. I found that some parts were difficult to catch on to if you didn’t know about her life at least somewhat well. Many of her outfits were put on display as well (Argentina’s Jackie Kennedy?), including many fun hats and cute shoes. The museum was in a house that used to be one of the halfway houses for women and orphans that Evita established.

Saturday morning we left for Tigre! Tigre is a town about 40 minutes from the city that is basically a weekend getaway for most porteños, many of whom have homes there. It functions mainly by river. Kinda like Venice…except not at all. They do have libraries that move around by boat, which is pretty cool, I guess, if you’re into reading and that sort of thing…When we arrived in Tigre, we walked around the Feria de frutas, a Tigre street fair, and later grabbed some lunch before we headed to the Tigre Museum of Art.

We arrive at the Tigre Museum of Art, and it is closed. Why? Because it is flooded. Cool. Thank you, Santa Rosa.

Apart from that minor hiccup, Tigre was just all around wonderful. Upon our arrival at the beautiful La Becasina Delta Lodge, we were directed to our cabanas. BEAUTIFUL cabanas. Complete with a large bath tub, insanely comfortable beds with goose down pillows, and a personal porch with cushioned beach chairs. Later we had coffee and pastries, then had snacks, and then had dinner…we literally did nothing but sit and eat. It was also very nice to be able to all hang out in one room together. One of the downsides to homestays is the inability to be able to all just lounge around together because we live in somebody else’s home. So it was great to be able to chat and snuggle up in our luxurious beds. Before I went to sleep I noticed the stars, absolutely breathtaking and covering the entire sky, with none of the city’s air pollution to block them out. I also realized that I could not recognize any of the constellations. I felt so lost. No big dipper? Oh right, that’s what happens when you’re in the southern hemisphere.

Sunday morning, we went on some sort of nature hike, though it did not deserve the name hike at all. It was a very pretty morning, though, with Santa Rosa now over and gone. After our hike we floated around on paddleboats, and later ate more snacks before lunch. The trip was only one night, so after a relaxing weekend with WAY too much food, we headed back by boat towards Puerto Madero, where IES buses picked us up. On the way home, the sun was setting, and I included one of my favorite pictures of Argentina so far.

Monday morning I had no tango class. It was such a sad day. Apparently there is some kind of student strike at IUNA, because they have over 2,000 students and only 11 classrooms or something ridiculous like that, and are now protesting to get more money from the government to expand their school. This is even evident in our tango classes, which are very packed and should be held in bigger classrooms. Hopefully this ends soon, because I really need to get back into those awesome pink tango shoes.

Monday I also officially booked my tickets for Rio! We have a made-up spring break, thanks to IES abroad, in the beginning of October. We will be going to Oktoberfest in the city of Cordoba (Argentina) the first weekend of October, and then heading up to Brazil after. I am very, VERY excited.

Tuesday was a very short day, it seemed. After early 9am Spanish class, I rushed to buy my official Argentina soccer jersey, as we were going to the Argentina vs. España soccer game that afternoon. A group of us found a lovely park nearby, sat on the lawn and had some afternoon drinks in the sunshine before heading to the game.

The game was great. We bought tickets for the Centenerio Popular section, basically the peasant/dirt cheap seats. There was barbed wire fencing at our end. Aggressive? The amount of passion at these games is unreal. So much yelling and flailing arms and swearing and whistling. Whistling, however, is for bad plays, not good ones. Counter intuitive? I thought so. When the game began, tons of blue/white and red/yellow confetti shot up into the air, with the crowds cheering and all the players running out onto the field. All the best Argentine players were there, including Lionel Messi, who is a soccer god. He scored Argentina’s first goal within the first 4 minutes of the game. We hope to be able to learn all the chants they sing. The only one we knew was “Ole ole ole oleeeee Messi, Messi.” Wasn’t too hard to catch on.

The final score was 4-1 Argentina, of course. It was pretty embarrassing for Spain, I have to say. So much for World Cup champions. At the end of the game there were fireworks going off for probably 10 whole minutes. It was bigger than some Fourth of July displays I’ve seen. These people love their fútbol.

The highlight of my day on Wednesday was being able to go out to this patio we have at our IES center on the 12^th floor. It overlooks Avenida 9 de Julio, that gigantic street that’s one of the largest in the world. I lied down on one of the benches and soaked up some sun while chatting with friends.

Yesterday, Thursday I had to go back to the DMV-type government office to pick up my criminal certificate for immigrations. Apparently I cleared. Grand. After that was done, we headed to Puerto Madero and walked around the ecological reserve nearby. It was so nice finding such a quiet, beautiful place literally right next to the city. Later we walked back home and got ice cream along the way. I chose apple, and it was absolutely delicious. Life is hard, right? I know. I think Jesus thinks I’m weird…that evening I had been watching an episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and dying of laughter, when she came into the room, gave me a funny look, started laughing at me and then called me crazy. Oh well.

Last night I stayed in because I had to be up bright and early this morning for my immigration appointment at 9:30. Oi. I have to say, compared to other people’s experiences, mine was a breeze. I was in and out in 38 minutes. I timed it. On the way home, we met Jimmy the cab driver. Jimmy is probably about 70 years old and the happiest man alive. Jimmy not only handed me the morning’s newspaper to catch up on current events, but he also let me try out his fantastic electric in-car neck massager. He proceeded to give us a long history lesson about Argentina that was actually quite interesting, but too long to recount here, apologies. Quick fact though: There was one large clock tower that we passed that was, in fact, a replica of Big Ben in London. It was a gift from the British for Buenos Aires’ 100^th birthday. Jimmy also recommended that we take a tango class from on Saturdays from a woman named Stella. Apparently she is great, so I am definitely up for that. 30 pesos for a 3-hour class sounds like a great deal. He made sure that we had his correct cell phone number so we could call him up when we were going to Stella’s class. Jimmy says that Stella could always use some more talented men. He says he’s a pretty damn good dancer. Jimmy is my new best friend.

Yesterday, Saturday, I dragged myself out of bed to go to MALBA, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires. I’m not very art savvy, but I believe those exhibitions were considered contemporary art. I wasn’t sure what it was going to be like, considering many times contemporary art can be a square on a white canvas, and I just really don’t get it. But to my surprise, it was actually very interesting, and I really enjoyed myself. My favorite exhibition was that of Alfredo Prior, an artist from Buenos Aires who had a selection of 21 paintings on display with very interesting abstract images and vivid colors. I recommend googling him. After the museum, I met up with one of my friends from Northwestern that grew up in Ann Arbor, and together we walked (almost ran) to a nearby sports bar to watch the U of M vs. Notre Dame game. We had nachos and pizza and were literally giggling from excitement as the game began. It was a perfect Saturday afternoon.

In the evening, we went to a Mediterranean style restaurant named A’ Manger to celebrate our friend Lauren’s birthday. The food was absolutely incredible. Most of us shared platters of various cheeses and meats, not to mention plenty of bread, hummus, and babaganoush. The one I ordered was a platter with salami and cheese stuffed with sun dried tomatoes and herbs. Unbelievable. That evening we hit up a few bars, chatted with some porteños, and headed to a boliche called Crobar to ring in Lauren’s 20^th birthday.

Santa Rosa hits

Every year, around the end of August and first week of September, Argentina experiences a large rainstorm. Several weeks of warm, sunny weather precede it, yet every porteño knows that soon, it will become cold again. Her name is Santa Rosa, and I hate her.

It is cold. It is very cold. No, it’s not like the Midwest in winter, but for a place that I assumed would be sunny and beautiful all year, it’s decently chilly, around 9 degrees. Oh, sorry, that’s about 48 degrees Fahrenheit for all you non-cultured Americans.

However, according to local legend, once her heavy rains, high winds, and dark days pass, she leaves months of glorious sunshine. She better.

Last Saturday I felt like an Argentine. I woke up late, went to a café to casually chat (and I swear I tried to do homework, Ma ir Tet) and later went to a late dinner. That evening, I went out to a boliche (club) until the early hours of the morning, 7:30am to be exact. The boliche was called Pacha, apparently a club chain in other major cities. I have never seen a club so massive in my entire life. It was awesome. There was a sea of people in a pit below the DJ table, dancing for hours and hours to trance music. There was VIP seating upstairs and also at the other end of the main floor. We decided to sit down in VIP and see if anybody would notice and kick us out. They did, and we were. Oops. Later we got into the VIP part, which really wasn’t that spectacular because it’s just more seating and had its own bar.

Needless to say, I was a bit tired the next morning, but I couldn’t miss our trip to the Feria de Mataderos. This fair occurs every Sunday, and it represents much of the “gaucho” or Argentine cowboy culture with folk dances and folk music. The word “mataderos” literally means slaughterhouses, which makes sense considering that was what gauchos did; they prepared meat. Fun fact: This area is also often called Nueva Chicago because of the cattle-killing history it shares with Chicago.

This fair is truly Argentine, and definitely a must-see in the city. Tons of stands are set up, selling empanadas, cheese, sausage, salami, and steak sandwiches. For some reason, I decided I needed to try everything. I had a sandwich called a vaciopan, which is a cut of Argentine flank steak, topped with an amazing sauce (olive oil, garlic, pepper, herbs) between two pieces of fresh bread. It was unbelievable. Later, we got empanadas that were freshly made AS we ordered them by an assembly line of women, sitting and forming delicious empanadas by hand. It was a dream come true. For dessert, we had a kabob of fruit that was dipped in a hot honey/sugar mixture that hardened over the fruit. I don’t remember what it was called, but it was heavenly (pictured).

After we feasted, we were advised to go check out the horse races. These horse races are actually an old gaucho sport called La Corrida del Sortijo, or Run of the Ring. Men on horses run full speed towards what looks like a goal post, of sorts, attempting to put a metal pin through a tiny ring hanging from the top of the post. It was so interesting to watch. After watching la Corrida, we meandered past the many venders, selling everything: mate cups, clothing, jewelry, shoes, home decorations, and tons of leather goods. It was a truly Argentine fair, which I loved, and they say that it is a pretty well-kept secret in the city. Come to think of it, I doubt there weren’t any other foreigners besides us.

Monday morning tango is by far my favorite class. We learn so much every week, and we are given lots of time to practice all the steps. The professors are wonderful, very patient and always willing to help. I’ve also mastered the bus system in that area and now don’t have to be a lazy American who takes a cab everywhere. Success. Also, I apologize in advance, but I feel like I’m in the movie Step Up, waking up early, taking the bus into the shady part of town to attend one of the country’s best dance schools in hopes of becoming the next TANGO STAR. Too much? Maybe. Still kinda great? I think so. Is it true that I’ve realized how embarrassing it is to be a sheltered American who thinks that figuring out a bus system is an achievement and who finds it interesting going to school in an area that’s a little more dicey than what I’m used to? Absolutely.

I felt the need to mingle with my fellow porteño classmates, so I decided to be social over our break time. I sat down with a bunch of the girls in the class, and I was relieved to find how warm and open they were with me, and how much more smoothly I was able to speak to them in Spanish when I was in a comfortable setting. They were all very sweet and eager to learn more about my life in the States. All around, a great Monday morning. Wow, how many of us have ever said that?

In the evening, I come home to find Jesus busy in the kitchen with another helper, shining her best silverware for some kind of party occurring that night. Another party? Shocker. Interestingly enough, this one was for her ex-husband. Strange, right? Apparently, here it’s very common to have good relations with your ex-spouse. Not for all, but for many. Which to me makes sense, considering this was a family event, and they have 4 children plus 11 grandchildren. The whole fam is pictured above. Jesus is on the left in the red shirt.

A few highlights:

-Dulce de leche ice cream + chocolate ice cream

-Later, the traditional Argentine dulce de leche cake (refer to picture). It’s even better than it sounds.

-Watching all the moms (and children alike, but the moms were more entertaining) rock out to reggaeton hits like, “Abusadora,” but also other artists like Mika (how random?), and the Black Eyed Peas. Everybody here LOVES the Peas.

-Being called out of my room to read the instructions written in English for a breathalyzer that was presented as a gift to the birthday boy. Once I explained how it worked, everybody seated around the dining room table proceeded to test each other and cry of laughter as they tried to drink more and more to hit the red light, which means “high intoxication.” Jesus hit yellow. Oh boy.

-Discussing golf with one of the son-in-laws. He hates putting, too. I made a friend.

Tuesday was rather uneventful, and with Santa Rosa starting to kick in, everything was pretty gloomy. My lack of sleep also caught up to me and I started to get a sore throat. Wednesday wasn’t too much better, in fact, it was probably worse. I spent that evening curled up in bed, drinking tea and watching hours of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

Having slept 12 full hours, Thursday I woke up feeling like a new person. Santa Rosa was in full force though, with constant rain all day. I had to go to a government office to get some kind of criminal clearance certificate, fingerprints and all. It reminded me of the DMV. Just as miserable, and with just as many people waiting. A warm, fuzzy feeling came over me as I scanned the room, watching all the people looking like they hate life. Ah, a little piece of home. Although, unlike the DMV, here they did play Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie,” which helped a little. Not really, but a valiant effort on their part.

Sidenote:

I can’t believe I’ve forgotten to mention the gym scene around here…First of all, everyone here loves to work out, even if you’re 80 years old. Women don’t wear shorts. They wear long pants or skirts (?). Every guy tries to one-up the guy next to him. Many talk to themselves in the mirror as they lift weights. Some work out in polos. Others work out in jorts…I’ve seen it. Others wear dress pants. To put it simply, they work out in anything but appropriate gym clothes. The gym probably has one the highest percentages of individuals with some form of plastic surgery in a single location. It is one of my favorite new places for people watching. The class instructors here are fantastic. My newest friends are Jorge and Daniel. They love having Americans in their classes and try to help us out by attempting to speak English, though we repeatedly assure them that we understand everything they’re saying. Seems like we’re doing well, because last time Jorge gave us all fist bumps after class. Win.