Monday was pretty boring. I went to COPA (I can’t even remember why….but I found out that we had another COPA laptop stolen. This time it was in a popular café with WiFi (one of the only café chains that also has plugs). The girl was sitting towards the front of the café with her laptop and some guys came in with a gun and stole all of her stuff and $600 AR from the register. What really freaked me out was that I was in the same café on Friday morning and Saturday afternoon with my laptop…my friends Diana and Blythe were there earlier on Sunday with their laptops also. This café is an easy target because like I said it actually has plugs and WiFi which is a rare combination. Many foreigners frequent its various locations and even though there is a security guard, he is relatively useless – he was in the bathroom during the time of the robbery. After leaving COPA I ran some errands and went home.
I spent most of Tuesday with the Tufts people. I went to their hostel and then we went to buy Buquebus (the ferry) tickets to Uruguay; I didn’t need to buy a ticket because I used the one we were supposed to use for COPA’s trip on Thanksgiving (I absolutely do not want to go anywhere with 120 people ever again…Iguazú was bad enough). Then I went with Marc and Julissa to Retiro because they wanted to buy bus tickets to Iguazú. They were only going to Uruguay for the day where as some people were going for the week (like me). We met up with the rest of the group at the Recoleta Cemetery, where we spent most of the time trying to scare each other. It was Halloween and we were in the cemetery so this was pretty fitting. Then we walked over towards Santa Fe because the girls wanted to go shopping, but we were first side tracked by an ice cream store. Marc, Ben and I ditched the girls (actually we let them walk ahead and didn’t follow). we went El Ateneo (a bookstore) where I saw more COPA people (I can’t escape them). Then I got them to a colectivo and I walked home. On the way up the street, I bought a pair of leather flip flops with brown flowers on them. They have already given me blisters.
Wednesday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn and grabbed my backpack and headed for the colectivo. we all met up at Buquebus to check in and stuff. The three hour ferry wasn’t bad at all; I spent most of the time talking to Christina (a Tufts girl here on another program) who I hadn’t seen this semester. we arrived in Colonia and split off into two groups based on who was leaving and who was staying in Uruguay (those who were staying were busy figuring out bus tickets first). Ben and I bought tickets and rented lockers for our stuff and then went outside to try to rent scooters (we were feeling adventurous). The other three girls soon followed us (Vanessa, Diana, and Raquel). we were going to rent four scooters (they wanted their own and I wanted to ride behind Ben who had ridden one before). There was also the problem of only two people having their driver’s license with them – this however wasn’t actually a problem because the scooter people didn’t really care that much. then we saw this girl wipe out on a scooter and screw up her ankle so we rented a golf cart for the girls and Ben and I got a scooter.
We scooted/golf carted around town and bumped into our friends. We saw all of the important sites in Colonia and went to a market. We climbed a light house and looked out over the city and we had a fantastic meal of seafood. Colonia is a tiny town which was originally founded as a Portuguese settlement to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires. The streets are cobble stone (which meant I actually had to get off the scooter at times because the stones were so big and uneven that Ben couldn’t maneuver the scooter over them). We left Colonia at 6ish and took a bus to Montevideo. The bus station in Montevideo is amazing; its actually a shopping mall with a food court and stores and tons of stuff, which meant we could have food court Chinese food for dinner…I really miss Chinese food. Then we caught a bus to Punta del Este where we arrived at midnight or so. We tried to find a hostel, but the one in lonely planet had closed. we finally found this really nice new one which happened to have a free room that could accommodate all 5 of us and had a private bathroom. We decided to go out and explore Punta del Este to see its nightlife (apparently its fantastic during the summertime, but this was only early November). We went to a bar where this crazy guy talked to us in English (he was very drunk, a total beach bum, walking around banging a drum). Punta del Este is a peninsula. The eastern side is the Río de la Plata (same river as in BsAs, but with nice water – its blue, not like our brown) and the western side is the Atlantic Ocean. it is the summer vacation destination of the wealthy from BsAs and Uruguay. we were not there in high season, which was a good thing. our hostel was 4 blocks from the ocean and one block from the river.
Even though we went to bed late Wednesday, I woke up early Thursday morning. I reset the alarm clock to wake the rest of them up and I went to the beach. I walked along the ocean and collected sea shells which I gave to the rest of them when I returned to the hostel. We were thinking of going to Punta del Diablo (a more private beach about three hours away), but realized it was really hard to get there by bus – the buses drop you off along the ruta (country road/highway) and you have to walk/hitchhike the 2 km to the village. We were going to rent a car – Ben and I walked around pricing it and it would have been relatively cheap, but then decided not to go because it wasn’t yet summer and the area would have been really dead. Instead we went to the beach, first the river and then the ocean. it was great to walk around in a bathing suite and flip flops and no one cared because we were in a beach town. We layed out trying to get a tan (I got one!). Then we walked around a bit and went shopping, but I didn’t really get anything. The rest of the girls continued walking but I went to the hostel to get my camera. I found Ben in the hammock and convinced him to walk to the harbor with me. At the harbor we saw seals. They had climbed up onto the dock and were just chilling out. I could get within 2 feet of them (they barked at me, so I didn’t get any closer), which was really awesome. Then we kept walking and stopped at a restaurant along the water. We had fantastic seafood and watched the sunset. On the walk back to the hostel we saw four seals on a dock in the harbor. We went to bed when we got to the hostel.
I woke up early again on Friday. The sky was grey and it appeared to be cold out…which meant I had to wear pants. I went to the ocean and climbed around on rocks. The waves crashing on the rocks were amazing and the town was so quiet. I got back to the hostel and woke the rest of the group. We ate breakfast and left for Montevideo. While we were leaving the woman at front desk commented on the girls’ suitcases, which were absolutely huge. We got to Montevideo and took cabs to the hostel, which luckily had space because there was a group of high schoolers there. They were from the interior of the country and were visiting Montevideo to see universities and the city. First we went to the eat lunch. We went to eat parrilla, which is a mix of grilled meats – various parts of the cow, and chicken and pork. Then we walked around ciudad vieja (the old parts of the city), which was disastrous because all of the Latin American presidents and the Spanish prime minister (or diplomat or someone) were at the Radison in the center of the principal plaza – Plaza Independencia. There were barricades all over the city: some for car and some for people. Also, there were motorcades with police escorts passing by constantly. We followed Lonely Planet’s walking tour and saw some old/nice buildings and plazas. Then we walked along the river and went back to the hostel to take a nap; I didn’t nap. There was karaoke going on for these high school students and the noise was so terrible. Afterwards, we walked to the downtown area again and had Mexican food! we left the restaurant and wound up inside the barricades. We walked around Plaza Independencia, but not near the Radison because there were a lot of police over there.
On Saturday, I woke up early and had breakfast with Ben and some of the guys he had been staying with at the hostel. Then we woke the girls and walked back to ciudad vieja (this time a different route around the barricaded plazas) for lunch. we all wanted seafood and Ben wanted paella. We found a restaurant in this market, el Mercado del Puerto (the Market of the Port) and tried to figure out what to order. The paella was for two people so basically he told me I had to share it with him…which was fine because I wanted it anyway. It was fantastic: they brought us the whole pan thing and plates, but we soon abandoned our plates and just ate it out of the pan, which lead to fork issues when I was eating too slowly and apparently had the good piece of fish on my fork. He basically just stole it off my fork and ate it. we shared with the rest of the girls and had a really good lunch. Then we shopped around the market and I bought a pair of earrings made from an Uruguayan stone. They actually clapped when I bought earrings because I don’t buy nearly as much stuff as the other girls. We walked back to the hostel and again wound up inside the barricades. This time we were in a different part of the plaza and couldn’t get to the center.
At the hostel we split up because I really wanted to take a local bus and the other girls couldn’t because their suitcases were too big. Ben came with me because he couldn’t fit in a cab with them and their stuff (and they were kind of driving him a little crazy). The local bus was interesting, we boarded and then paid a man who was in the middle of the bus who gave us a ticket. It was great because we got to talk to some Uruguayans and see other parts of the city. We got to Tres Cruces (the bus station) and got in line for the bus to the ferry (same company). It was so weird to be on a first come-first serve bus (I’m used to them issuing seats with the tickets). The girls were no where to be found, so we got on the bus without them, I was worried, but Ben wasn’t the slightest bit phased, even though our bus was clearly full and leaving. We saw them on the platform as we pulled away and they caught the next bus (I think there were three in total). when we got to immigration, we realized that the buquebus forms they had given us when we left Argentina were our entrance cards. I explained to the immigration official that mine was in my backpack which was checked. he acted pissy and then allowed me to go to the Argentine official who told me that my visa only allowed me to be in the country until July 18, 2007 (hello? thank-you….like I didn’t already know that). I walked through and found Ben searching through his papers for his entrance card, which he didn’t have and had to go back and tell them the same thing I had told them. Then we went through duty free where I bought Milanos. I don’t even really like milanos, but they were really good and I knew they didn’t exist anywhere in Buenos Aires. We got in the line to board and I tried to hand them my ticket when we got to the front, I was supposed to have my boarding pass out…it was in my bag.
On the ferry, I was in the tourist (aka cheap class) and the rest of them were in first class. I got one of the last cheap tickets (I already had the ticket, I just had to change it from the COPA dates). That meant that they were upstairs and I was downstairs. Ben left me in my seat and we figured we’d meat up and eat something when the girls arrived (we figured we had a three hour ferry ride ahead of us). I was studying my Borges readings for my upcoming final when the boat started to slow down…I couldn’t figure out why because we had only been going for an hour. I looked out my window and saw a city…we had wound up on the high speed buquebus; after talking to people around me, I found out that the slower one had broken down that morning and they were only running the faster one. I met up with the rest of them at baggage and we left. Once outside my cell phone started ringing, it was Marc wondering where we were. They went to their hostel and I went home. On the colectivo, the little girl in front of me (she was about 8 or so) was staring at my backpack and asked me about it…I though her grandma was going to kill her for questioning me. it was hilarious; I explained that my backpack was a suitcase and I went on a trip to Uruguay. I spent about an hour at home: took a shower and basically dumped my backpack all over my floor trying to find my razor for the shower. Then I went back to the centro to meet up with my friends and go to dinner with them for their last night in BsAs. I got home at 3ish and my key wouldn’t open the door. This had started happening recently, my key just doesn’t seem to work in the door…it takes me like 10 tries until it goes all the way in. I had told my host mom, but she refused to believe me and in a very condescending way told me to just be patient. So, to make my point, I switched her key with mine so she could understand that, yes, she should call the locksmith and stop putting it off…I hadn’t seen any results yet…
On Sunday, I woke up ridiculously early (well I went to bed really late). I went to the hostel (woke Vanessa, Diana and Julissa) and said goodbye to everyone. Then I went home and unpacked my stuff. I met Blythe at noon for coffee (I had juice because I had just had coffee at my apartment). We went to the feria de naciones, which was kind of like an indoor fair/market of items from around the world. We didn’t really see anything we were interested in buying. we had fake “Arabic” food (we in the PC world refer to it as middle eastern food) which wasn’t that great because it was made with meat instead of lamb. Then we went across the street to the feria de recoleta, which is an outdoor crafts fair. It was absolutely pouring, which meant that venders were more likely to give us deals on jewelry…Blythe is the biggest jewelry shopper I know.
Then we went to another café where she had more coffee and I had tea. I read the newspaper while she read for her paper. The Argentine newspaper is absolutely hilarious. There was in article about women in their forties who go shopping together “para que les digan si es cool o grasa” (Clarín 5 nov 2006) – to help each other buy clothing that they say is cool or grasa/fat/phat?. Basically they are using the word grasa which literally means fat to mean phat….which we found really funny because its an example of really bad translating…no one here refers to anything as grasa…its always cool. Clarín is a humorous newspaper anyway because it is my host mom’s bible and one of the two serious newspapers here (I never read the other because it is rarely in cafés). This particular issue had an entire article (we’re talking 1/3 of the tabloid-sized page) about how voters in Washington D.C. don’t have senate representation which means they have less representation than porteños (people from BsAs). I mean really, they dedicated precious column inches to this which seems so ridiculous because really all they are trying to do is point out that they are better than Americans. When I got home my host mom wanted to talk about the Washington thing because she thinks its ridiculous and doesn’t see how the US can allow this. I tried to explain that DC isn’t a state and she didn’t really understand that.
We almost left the café forgetting to pay because we had been there for so long and just didn’t realize. This happens fairly often because you don’t pay until you are done with everything, which is the opposite of how cafes/coffee shops work in the states. Then I went to Alto Palermo Shopping (the mall) and got completely lost trying to find the bookstore because I was confusing this mall with another one in BsAs. I think it was also the second time I had been to this mall even though it is five blocks away from my house. I finally found three bookstores, which only had novels in English, no polisci or history books like I was looking for. one bookstore basically specialized in Danielle Steal, John Grisham, and Stephen King…and only one had Lonely Planet guides (but not any good ones). Then I went home and ate dinner with my host mom.
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