AWOL! Em and Chris in South America

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Actually, we had a good amount of time in the city. We stayed a week in Buenos Aires which was about perfect. But it did feel like we could have spent a lot more time there. It was probably our favorite city just to visit. Due to its size and the hot and muggy summers, it was not a prospect for us living there, and as such we were able to enjoy it simply as turistas – and as such it was our solemn duty to enjoy ourselves.

So we did. We looooved Buenos Aires. Transportation was simple, just hop on a subway and go. Taxis weren’t too expensive if something lay off the subway routes. But we didn’t need them much, there were usually subway lines within a few blocks of the main places that we wanted to be. Buenos Aires often reminded us of San Francisco. One of my major beefs with San Francisco, however, is its sucky transport system. Maybe I’m just not familiar with SF’s system, but Buenos Aires definitely has it beat hands down in this area. Which is sad. I really wish I could spend more time in one of the greatest cities in the world, but the traffic and parking are horrendous at best (well, that’s not true, driving through San Francisco at 4 in the morning is great!). Buenos Aires reminded me that subways make me very happy….you avoid all street traffic and usually they are very easy to understand and get you were you want to go quickly. If only SF had a good one! Mmm yes, so where was I? Buenos Aires. Right.

Perhaps the most memorable afternoon was when we walked down to the San Telmo neighborhood, where they shut off one of main streets once a week and people flood the area. In other places with these types of events, the usual thing is to have a bunch of booths filling the streets. It was different in San Telmo, there are musicians, artisans and performers all along the streets. There are booths and vendors down the side streets but the main attractions are the music and dance. There is nothing like tango. The music and the dance are mesmerizing. And I have a new found appreciation for accordions and their players. Growing up, the only association I had with any accordion music was this somewhat pathetic blind man that played melancholic Christmas tunes at the events in Grass Valley and Nevada City. Well, that image got turned on its head…let it be known that accordion players can in fact be cool and amazing! I have never seen anything like it. I was familiar with tango music via the “Waking Life” sound track, but hearing it come alive in the streets was something else entirely. The music has an enchantingly eerie quality that is inescapable. Throughout our stay in Buenos Aires, the songs kept going through my head, even long after we had seen the performances.

(Emily) It seems like a lot happens in the streets of Buenos Aires. One evening, we were trying to find the art museum when we walked by a street that had fun music playing loudly and people milling about everywhere. We were curious, but the museum was about to close, so we stayed on track. It was definitely not my favorite museum, but it had some interesting pieces. After we were kicked out with all the other late comers we wandered back over in the direction of the music. It seemed like some kind of fancy shindig. It wasn’t just music, but DJ’s and spotlights spelling out the names of things and red carpets, champagne being handed out like candy, and all kinds of expensively dressed people mobbing the store fronts. The first store we came across did have something special going on. A famous Argentinian artist had designed some pieces for their store and she was there signing autographs. I tried to go in the store, but I got stopped by a very polite but firm man who wanted to know if I was “on the list”. It wasn’t just that store though. The red carpet continued down the street to all kinds of designer stores some that we could actually go in. Although it is a little scary to touch a tank top that costs almost $500.

Then at the other end of the street we noticed a row of policemen and TV cameras everywhere. There were picket signs poking out amongst the gathering crowds. I couldn’t figure out what it all meant. I asked a couple of people in Spanish and got varying bits of information that basically amounted to there was some political figure there, but I didn’t know who or what he was doing there. Finally, I stopped an elegant looking lady who was scowling at the group. She spoke English and explained that he was a man who frequently spoke out for the poor people of Argentina. He often shows up in places where the rich folks are and tries to use the contrast to further his cause. She didn’t seem too impressed with him and proceeded to tell me about how the Shanty towns being built up around the city are basically a blemish and are causing embarrassment. I found her next comment amusing though. She said that many people were concerned that the informal housing would deter tourists from visiting their city, but now there are tours set up specifically to take tourists there to see that part of Argentinian life. She concluded, “Apparently tourists will go look at just about anything!” We also found out from this lady, that this was not some special event. They do this every week.

I loved the fact that there is this crazy world of people and companies that have so much money that they can do whatever they please with it. I also loved how there were people protesting it and reminding everyone that there are many people who have a lot of needs and in light of that, these extravaganzas are absurd. I love that the politicians are allowed to say things like that and that the elegant lady scowled but listened.

(Chris) Well, we saw a lot more in Buenos Aires, but rather than drag this on forever, here is a very very brief summary of the things we liked about Buenos Aires: cool clothes (funky, fashionable and cheap!), steak and grilled meat in general – very tasty and comparably cheap, tango (we saw a formal show and street performances – sexy!), varied food – Chinese, Indian (very good) and Italian (actually, we weren’t so impressed with pasta in Argentina, also, don’t bother getting pizza it seemed to be universally disastrous), did I mention the subway?, dog walkers with 7+ dogs, artists abound, cemetery (imagine a city of the dead…woooo.), art museum, the waterfront. All of those things could use a whole little section to describe our experiences…..But that’s all for now, you’ll just have to trust that we enjoyed ourselves. Except that our hostel room was too hot and did not have air conditioning as advertised. Hrrmf. Life is so tough sometimes :p. It was good actually, because it forced us to spend more time in the city rather than holing up like a hermit like I might be inclined to do.

More pictures of Mendoza and Uruguay: Click Here

Uruguay, not exactly the first country that comes to mind when thinking of places to visit in South America. However, it turned out to be one of the places that we really enjoyed. We had just crossed Mendoza off our list because of the lack of work for Emily. A friend of Emily’s (thanks Marie!) told her that Montevideo was one of her top picks for places to stay in South America. So, since we needed to make a decision pretty soon, from Mendoza we skipped through Buenos Aires on an overnight bus and landed on a ferry to Montevideo that morning.

As it turned out, of all the places to stay, Uruguay is one that we wanted to stay the most in. There really isn’t a lot of wizbang stuff to say about Uruguay itself. It’s a very small country, and has been very peaceful ever since a violent political upheaval in the 80’s. So that may have been a big factor in why we wanted to stay there, we just felt safer. We didn’t feel like we needed to stress about our stuff all the time. Also, the people of Uruguay are some of the most helpful and kind people that we have met anywhere in the world. If we asked a question, complete strangers would go out of their way to try and figure things out for us or to help us. It was almost like being in a small town, even when in the large port city of Montevideo.

One of the more amusing moments we had was in an Italian restaurant in Colonia (about the cutest little town ever) that has one of the craziest waiters ever. Michelle and Neal, I think you would have absolutely loved this guy. He was very loud and random and would burst into song frequently. But the best part of his whole persona was his collection of hats. He had these crazy, crazy hats that he would switch from time to time. At one point we overheard him mention mate (pronounced mah-teh) and our ears perked up. The whole time we had been in Uruguay I had wanted to try this mate tea that I had seen people drinking. There were people everywhere in Uruguay with these thermoses and mate cups…this whole special ensemble they have to drink this tea. But oddly, no restaurants or cafes or any place like that actually sold the drinks individually. So we asked him if they had mate in the restaurant and he said no but would I like to try some. Absolutely! At this point the restaurant was mostly empty, so he was able to show us the whole mate preparation process and how special and healthy it is and everything. And finally I got to try some. Whoa! It’s pretty stiff stuff. He was telling us that mate is like a companion, and is sort of a solitary thing. I thought it was an interesting contrast to the more social coffee culture in the States and Europe. Anyway, it was fun hanging out with this guy in his restaurant.

Sadly, however, the whole living situation didn’t quite work out. Again, Emily was hard pressed to find work that started immediately. Also, the cost of living seemed to be just a little too high for us to make it work.

The Highlights of Uruguay:
Steak: I had the first real good steak in all of South America! Even in the parts of Argentina (renowned for its beef) we had been, their steaks were…well…odd. If you order ‘lomo’ what you will get is a thin steak topped with ham and a fried egg. Mmmm. Cholesterol lovers and heart attack seekers rejoice! So, it was a delight to finally sink my teeth into a nice juice perfectly prepared steak.

Montevideo: Like much of Argentina, the buildings are gorgeous colonial style buildings, apartments, whatever. It’s very pleasant to just walk down most any street in the city. The city is surrounded on three sides by water, a river on one side and the Atlantic on the other. The weather was perfect spring weather. For some reason I had a very strong urge to go fishing while in Montevideo. I don’t know why. Sadly, it was very hard to find an apartment or small house with a yard that was affordable, so that was a major setback for staying there. Also, we felt a bit claustrophobic when thinking about living because a lot of it was high-rise apartments/condos in the central part. And the houses with yards were too far out.

Punta del Este: It is kind a beach resort town (replete with high rise apartments and hotels), where many Brazilians and tons of Argentinians come during January to flood the beaches and rent apartments at ridiculously expensive rates. The rent and hotel prices double for one month. It is an extremely touristy place, but it is also quite beautiful and we enjoyed our few days there. It was the place we would have liked to live had we stayed in Uruguay. But again, no solid work prospects :(…So, it looks like we’ll be heading back to Cuenca as had been the original plan.

Colonia: I stated it before, but I have to say it again. This town is adorably quaint. It has cobblestone streets and from many parts in the town you can catch glimpses of the water that surrounds the town. It is a perfect town for spending a day shopping, relaxing and in general just spending time being the sad, soppy tourist type of person that I grew up despising in Nevada City. Our lunch with crazy hat man was very memorable.

Next stop, Buenos Aires. Uruguay we’ll miss you!