Ouch!! (Day 3 in Cordoba)

So on Monday night my friend Marcelo took me to a restaurant that served "asado," a traditional kind of Argentine food. I assumed it was just going to be a big piece of steak, but the waiter actually brought us several different kinds of beef (and I think some organs, as there was something white on my plate). I actually tried morcilla, and if you don't know what they use to make that, trust me, you don't want to. And if you do, well, look it up :).




Tuesday morning I got up pretty early to catch the bus to Villa Carlos Paz. I think it was the oldest, most rickety bus I have ever ridden in, and I'm extremely surprised it didn't fall apart on the way there. I thought I was going to be swimming in the lake all day, but apparently the lake is only for water sports. I had to catch a local bus to head to the "playas del oro." Really, there were just stretches of grass and some wet sand alongside a river, but it was really pretty. I found a nice, low-key grassy area and stretched out there. The sun was extremely hot so I covered myself in SPF 30 sunscreen but i still managed to get very burned in some parts of my body. I will NEVER buy spray sunscreen again, it is the worst!!

I was feeling kind of lonely as everyone around me was there with family and friends. I was also feeling kind of hungry so I went to get lunch. I asked the waiter for a menu and sat down, and this guy sitting at a table next to me started speaking to me in heavily-accented English. He was from Buenos Aires, his name was Damian, and was vacactioning in Carlos Paz with his friend. They invited me to eat lunch with them and then I went with them to another part of the river where there was sort of a dam/waterfall type thing that people sit on. We had fun in the water for a little while, and then settled ourselves on some dry rocks in the middle of the river and I had my first "mate" experience. At first I was a little nervous, because I thought the tea herbs were supposed to dissolve into the water but they just kind of float and flavor the water. They say most people don't like it the first time they try it but I actually did (probaby because we also added sugar). We left the river around 6 and the guys walked with me to my bus stop. I was really lucky in meeting them because now I know people when I go to Buenos Aires on Monday.

When I got back to Cordoba I rested for a bit, showered, and then headed out in search of Aloe and dinner. After successfully finding both, I went back to my hostel, where I stayed in for the rest of the night reading and relaxing.

This morning I went to the Plaza San Martin to exchange money again, and this time there were no lines in any of the banks or anything. Weird!! Then I stopped in a cafe and tried dulce de leche for the first time. I thought it was a drink or something, but it's actually a kind of spread that you put on toast and, of course, it's delicious. On the way back I went into a grocery store and bought a bottle of champagne to bring to Marcelo's family's house tonight. Apparently much of his extended family is also going to be there, and he warned me that his uncle might speak to me VERY loudly, and VERY slowly, just like people do in the movies with foreigners haha. After dinner, we will head out for a night of dancing with his brothers, sister, cousins, and friends.

I might not get a chance to write again until I arrive in Mar del Plata on Friday. If that's the case, I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful evening and I will see you in 2009!

Kate

Some pics

A plaza in Nueva Cordoba, near where I'm staying.

Another view

The window of a store in the "chopping." I have no idea what it's supposed to mean.

I was SO excited to see an Xterra. I never once saw one in Spain.

Lines, lines, lines (Day 2 in Cordoba)

Somehow I managed to get up pretty early this morning (at least for me anyway). I had lots to accomplish and wanted to get started right away. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so I made sure to put on some sunscreen before I went out because I knew that if Argentina was anything like Spain, random senoras in the street would tell me "ooo hija, I hope you put on sunscreen because you are very white." :)

My first stop was the shopping center, appropriately called "un chopping," to pick up a SIM card for my old cell phone. After I got that set up I went to the Plaza de San Martin where all the banks are located to change some money and to make a deposit at the hostel where I'm staying in Buenos Aires. If I had known how crazy the lines were going to be I would have brought all my money to change so as to never have to go through the process again! I stood for about 30 minutes in a line, only to be told I couldn't change money if I didn't have my passport on me. Luckily, I found another place that was willing to change the money anyway (after another good 20 minute wait of course). Then I had to head to a specific bank to make the deposit. After waiting about 30 more minutes I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Fortunately these two guys behind me were extremely nice and (mostly) instructed me on what to do. Then when it was my turn at the kiosk thing the lady who was helping everyone disappeared so I was kind of just standing there until a girl about my age came up and basically did it for me (though I believe she was motivated more by wanting to get me out of there than by good will).

Feeling a little better having accomplished those tasks, I headed to the bus station to buy my tickets to Mar del Plata, the beach town where I'm heading on Thursday night. I thought it was going to be an easy task, but I soon discovered that there were about 40 different companies selling tickets and the vendors were generally pretty miserable people. It's kind of surprising because everyone has told me that the people in Argentina are the nicest people you will find anywhere, but I haven't really gotten that sense yet. Except for the one incredibly nice man who helped me in the bank and then pointed me in the direction of the bus station, most people simply seem to tolerate my questions and maybe respond with a polite smile and a short answer. My Spanish is fine, but people seem kind of impatient when it is difficult for me to express my thoughts. So far, I think the people in Sevilla are much nicer, but maybe I'm just still a little nervous and self-conscious about being in a new place with a new kind of Spanish.

I got lunch at a bar close to my hostel, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a young boy (obviously Argentine with the mullet he was rockin') sporting a Jerome Bettis Steelers jersey!! I wanted to take a picture but I thought that might be creepy. After lunch I was too exhausted to go to the zoo so I think I'm going to go on Wednesday instead. I came back to my hostel, took a nap, showered, and then went out to the patio of the hostel (where it is much cooler than in my room) to read the second Twilight book. As I was reading, my friend Marcelo called me and asked me if I wanted to do something, so in about 15 minutes we're going to get some food and maybe see a movie.

Tomorrow, as mentioned in the last post, I am going to Villa Carlos Paz to hit the lake, so by the time I write the next post I should have some color (hopefully brown, not red). Hope you all are safe and well. Hasta manana...

Kate

Trip and Day 1 in Cordoba

After months of planning I finally arrived in Cordoba, Argentina, at around 11:30 this morning (7:30 am Chicago time). My flight from Chicago to Miami (luckily with all the crappy weather and my mom telling my some flights to Miami were canceled) went off without a hitch. We boarded the flight from Miami to Santiago, Chile early, so I thought we were in good shape. Then we got an announcement from the Captain that we had to wait until Peru or some country gave us permission to cross its airspace, so I started to get worried as I only had a 1.5 hour layover in Chile. While we were waiting I started talking with the woman sitting next to me. She's American but she's been working in Santiago for 15 years and has her own wine distribution business. There was also a group of really nice college students from West Virginia who were flying to Chile to do a 2 week hiking trip through the Chilean Pategonia. One guy said he was looking at William and Mary Law so I was talking to him for awhile and trying to sell him on coming.

We finally got up in the air and I somehow made my flight to Cordoba easily and my luggage actually arrived as well. A chauffeur service took me to my hostel and on the way I realized that, while seemingly impossible for those of us who have lived in Europe, the drivers are actually worse here. There are lines on the street delineating lanes, but apparently they are invisible to all the Cordobeses (the people from Cordoba). Still, I arrived safely at the hostel and was greeted by a really skinny guy with a sweet mullet and a name I couldn't decipher. I got up to my room, called my parents to let them know I made it, and passed out for a good two hours. Then I woke up and tried to take a shower, but all that came out was scalding hot water, so I got switched to another room.

After my shower I went exploring. Most of the restaurants and bars were closed as it's Sunday, but I managed to find an open one and tried my first "lomito," which is basically like a hamburger but with thiner beef. As all my friends in Spain know I love to make crazy sandwiches and this one had an egg on it, so of course, I loved it.

All of you reading this likely know that I am a pretty (alright, extremely) outgoing person, but I just felt really nervous being here by myself. Luckily, before I came, a friend had put me in touch with this really realllly nice guy from Cordoba and so I called him after I ate and he came to pick me up and took me around the city. We went into the Cathedral and then took a walk around the city and ended up at a cafe where we had a couple beers and talked for about 4 hours. He invited me to spend New Years Eve with his family (and luckily he's my friend's friend so he's vouched for), so I'm excited that I won't be alone!

We stayed at the cafe until it got dark (about 10:30 PM...amazing!!) and then he brought me back to my hostel, which is where I am right now writing this first entry. Tomorrow I am going to the bank and buying a sim card for my cell phone, and then maybe going to the zoo. Tuesday I'm planning on taking a day trip to a town called Villa Carlos Paz where there is a big lake and apparently a huge kukoo clock ("reloj cu cu" in Spanish hahaha), so hopefully I can get started on a tan!

I'll try to write again tomorrow, and hopefully post some pictures. Take care and I miss you all!

Kate