A Lovely Getaway in Tigre

At first, I imagined an IES run weekend trip would be jammed with obligatory activities and tours, strictly organized to the point of boredom.  How wrong I was!  After dropping us off at a feria to browse and shop at our leisure then taking us to an art museum with a guided tour, they packed us on a boat to our island paradise.  The leisurely ride brought us to a secluded hotel consisting of private bungalows and a pool-side patio.  Due to the river’s proximity, all of the buildings were on stilts and reached by a network of suspended wooden pathways curving through the trees.  I felt like I was staying in some sort of tribal tree house, what with the birdsong and dense vegetation.

The evening brought bonding, food, and a light night pool run that sent us sprinting to our cabanas for a hot bath.  It was a pleasantly odd situation: vacationing with our professors and their significant others.  Running it all was Filomena, a frazzled and excitable woman that resembles an adult version of Dora the Explorer.  The following day was marked by meals: breakfast complete with pastries and fruit, a lunch asado of immense proportions, and pool-side teatime with muffins and rolls.  Between feedings, we soaked up the sun by the pool and in peddle-boats which we enjoyed in the river.  With sweeping branches curtaining the river banks, the day felt like a romance scene in a film.  (This is starting to feel like the theme of my life here!)  It was sad to leave, though the return passage brought more gorgeous river views. Buenos Aires’ port welcomed us home with the warm glow of lights glimmering in the water.

Breaking Barriers: My Weekend in San Pedro

I’ve traveled a ton, tried lots of new things, and explored many different aspects of Buenos Aires.  But it wasn’t until this weekend that I really felt like I broke through the tourist experience and got a real view of how the Argentines live.

An Argentine student, named Yanina, invited my friend Catherine and I to go home with her for the weekend to the town of San Pedro (about 3 hours from Buenos Aires).  We arrived Friday night and were welcomed by her parents who were really excited to give us a taste of San Pedro and made sure we tried lots of new things.  Tired from our journey, the three of us retreated into her room for some much needed sleep.

Saturday morning we shared the first of many mate experiences with her parents and met her pets: two dogs and a duck.  For lunch, Yanina’s parents cooked us yet another asado of endless meat, chorizo, and blood sausage.  It was delicious (though I didn’t quite understand the draw of the blood sausage).  Chatting with them was great Spanish practice, and they welcomed us into their household like part of the family.  However, our American habits did seem a bit odd to them and they teased me for cutting my meat into such small pieces and for drinking water with a meal.

Later in the afternoon, Catherine, Yanina, her boyfriend, and I relaxed in her friend’s horse pasture where we rode and drank mate.  (I even drank mate while on the horse!)  There was a four-year-old neighbor there who was riding the pony around while squealing and singing the entire time.  Needless to say, we were quite entertained.

Back at her house, we met her grandparents and tried the traditional San Pedro treat: ensaymada, a large round pastry filled with cream, dulce de leche, or half of each (ours was of the half-and-half type).  I didn’t like it all that much, but it was great to sit around the table, passing around a mate cup, and getting to know her family.

San Pedro is known for having a beautiful riverside landscape, ensaymada, growing oranges, and its annual country music festival, which happened to be this weekend.  We stopped by to see swarms of cowboy-hatted Argentines relaxing at the outdoor event, which featured mostly American artists.

That night, a bunch of her girlfriends came over, and they loved teaching us slang words and laughing about our complete ignorance of such things.  They took us out to a friend’s birthday party and then to the clubs for a typical San Pedro experience.  They accepted us into their group, and for the first time I really felt immersed in the Argentine society.  Until now, I’ve felt like a foreigner on vacation, an outsider to a fascinating world.  But spending the weekend with Yanina gave me an opportunity to integrate myself, and I absolutely loved it.

An Exhausted but Excited Arrival

I made it!  I arrived at the Buenos Aires airport at 11am yesterday.  After making my way through customs and waiting what seemed like an eternity for my luggage, I got into my first Argentine taxi and headed to my hotel.  The taxi driver was extremely chatty, and I have to admit I only understood about half of what he said.  But he told me about some good places to go and gave me a bit of advice about getting a cell phone.  It turns out “Claro” is the name of a cell phone brand and doesn’t just mean “of course.”  I was wondering why he kept saying that!

My hotel room was decent, though the elevator took a bit of getting used to.  It was tiny- the porter and I barely fit with all my luggage!  After a shower and an extensive nap, I set out to explore.  The city is really cool- there is a lot of old architecture, and trees and parks litter the busy streets.  Street vendors sell magazines, snacks, and flowers.  I had a pizza at a quaint café- (yes I felt foolishly American ordering pizza but I wanted to wait for some advice before venturing into the more unknown parts of the menu).  I finished up my evening with a bit of New Moon (okay more like 300 pages of it but I had to finish it) and turned in for the night.

This morning, I took advantage of the continental breakfast and set off for the apartment of my host family.  It is located in Recoletta, a really nice part of the city. (lucky me!)  Lucia, the woman I’ll be living with, greeted me downstairs and helped me shove my luggage into another miniscule elevator.  Quite unlike American ones, these elevators require that you manually close the door- if you forget once you disembark, it won’t work and nobody else will be able to use it!  Something I must not forget…

The apartment is quite quaint, with a beautiful balcony overlooking the neighborhood park.  The blinds that descend to cover the balcony window are open and close automatically with the touch of a button!  My room is mint green and has a nice closet and small desk.  And I was lucky enough to be able to pick up a neighbor’s wi-fi.

Lucia took me on an extensive tour of the neighborhood, starting with a local café where I had a tomato and chicken sandwich- and that is exactly what it was: bread, a slice of tomato, and a slice of chicken.  We continued on to see various parks, an old cemetery, an ornate church dating back to the colonial period, and the local mall.  I was proud of how well I kept up with her Spanish (or Castellano as they call it here)- I’ve been able to understand most of what she says (though there have been a few smile and nod moments).  The area is beautiful, and I am so excited to be living here!  I’m all moved in and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.