Pachamama

EL CALAFATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have always heard that Patagonia is spectacular and i got a glimpse of that when i went to Bariloche but WOW...Calafate is like another world. SO SO beautiful and raw and incredible. I felt like i was living a dream. Because Carol and Bob took me we stayed in a beautiful hotel with an awesome view of Lake Argentina, went on a boat adventure to see the glaciers and explored the catwalks in the national park. Delicious salmon from the lake was eaten several times, delicious jams made from berries from the forestes ( including calafate which is a berry!) were bought and i thanked pachamama for not allowing us to freeze to death. No, it wasnt THAT cold, but it was pretty damn cold. Take a seat before you look at these pics... they will take your breath away!

proof we are in Argentina together.
line to get on the boat for glacial explorations!

hugging for warmth, nothing else. bob being too scared to leave the pole and come to the edge of the boat, also making silly faces. carol being a hot model and posing with glaciers. tyra banks should really do an episode of ANTM here...

i almost fainted when i walked into my room at the hotel.
can you imagine staying in this after 7 months of staying in hostels?

1) view from airport terminal 2) view coming back from park after is snowed 3) 8:00 am view from hotel window of the town of Calafate

wildlife!

Bob and Carol in Argentina

Mom and dad came to visit me in Argentina and let me tell you it was SUCH A RELIEF and pleasure to have them here! We ate our way through the city, walked around a ton, did all the touristy things we could cram in and of course snuggled up. At the begining Mom and Dad were in shock at how dirty the city is, but then they came to the beautiful streets of fancy Recoleta and realized that not the whole city is dirty, just 98% of it. They met my host mother Estela, we ate empanadas like the world was about to end, sweets several times a day and they even took the city bus with me...more than once!! I discovered a new love for the city because they allowed me to see if through new eyes and allowed me to appreciate things i never really payed attention to before...There was lots of adventuring and exploring...enjoy the pictures!

Tandil...

I am in the Human Rights concentration on my program and this weekend they took us on a little trip to a city called Tandil which is 5 hours outside of Buenos Aires the city. We hiked, bike rided, went kayaking and bonded a TON! it was a little too much group time for me, but it was nice to get out of the city, drink mate, eat some iiiincredible cheese at a cheese house we went to ( tandil is in the countryside so the dairy here is unlike any i have ever had). Here are some picutres from a very chill weekend...

view from the hike

paragliding!! we didnt do it, but we watched others do it

incredible sunset

Cool bridge

Colonia Bolognia

My program took us on a short trip to Colonia, Uruguay. Its just a 50 minute boat ride from Buenos Aires across the worlds 3rd most polluted river! Colonia is very quaint and pretty and relaxing. Uruguay is so much calmer and friendlier and relaxed and easy going than the people of Buenos Aires. We had a feast at Marios house ( director), went to the beach a lot, explored marshes, ate a lot of delicious food, had sangria with white wine ( typical uruguayan drink), got tan, slept a lot and bonded!!

Pretty

Mario our directors HOUSE in Colonia! beautiful beautiful beautiful. We had a feast of delicious food and this is my friend Sari's plate. She passed out from a food coma soon after.

hanging at the beach

" its just something they do here"-police mans explanation

sunset on the way back to Buenos Aires

Iguashoe False ( Iguazu Falls)

My second big trip in Argentina was to Iguazu Falls. They are in the province of Misiones which is in the northeast of the country and borders both Brasil and Paraguay. The bus ride is only 18 hours but i was lucky enough to get a seat under the dripping airconditioning. The busses are usually amazing and clean and nice and wonderful but this specific company happened to be awful and we starved because they didnt give us food. Anyway, we got to Iguaza in the afternoon and just walked around the 5 block town checking out touristy chachkies and trying to enjoy the 500% humidity. The next day we headed out to the falls VERY early in the morning and were some of the first people there. Did the whole park in a day: Devils Mouth, short circuit, Macuco Trail with a baby waterfall at the end, train ride, playing with butterflies, gawking at baby monkeys and sweating our lives away. I felt so small while watching the falls, so temporary and young. These things are hundreds of years old and SO SO powerful and beautiful and scary and breathtaking. That night we were pooped and cooked some delicious dinner at our hostel while deciding what to do the next day. Our final decision: do some tourist trap things in the morning, see Paraguay and Brasil from a "landmark" spot along the river ( pretty cool), yerba mate ice cream, house made of wood and then in the early afternoon head to San Ignacio a town 5 hours south. There we decided to explore the ruins and see what else there was to do. Turns out there was a HUGE storm, raining swimming pools on us so we only did the ruins and then drank mate in the hostel until our bus left for Posadas ( capital of Corrientes, the province below Misiones). From Posadas we took our bus home to Buenos Aires. On the way, i looked out my window and saw these incredible golden yellow lights painted across the sky and thought they were either the northern lights( which would be impossible bc i am in south america) or aurora borealis ( which would also be impossible). but it turns out that they are SOMETHING special, we just didnt know what. Enjoy the pictures!

the falls!!

cuahti( relative of both pel our cat and raccoons)

hot water machine for yerba mate addicts who need hot water all the time so that they can drink their mate aka every argentine

tucan and butterflies and monkey!

ruins in san ignacio

yerba mate ice cream for 4

3 borders point. you can see brazil and paraguay while standing in argentina...
pretty S-W-E-E-T

Bar-i-losh ( Bariloche)

My first trip since coming to buenos aires! Anna and I decided to go to Bariloche this weekend. It is located in Rio Negro Province of Argentina around 21 hours by bus from the city. We left around 9pm and got there the next day around 4pm. The long long bus ride was TOTALLY worth it. the views are beautiful, the 7 lakes are extroardinary and the people were very very friendly. we went on a 17 mile bike ride around the 7 lakes which was killer. it was mostly uphill which we were not forewarned about but the views and the adventure were one in a lifetime. we hiked, made new friends at the hostal, watched a boca vs river game, ate a lot of yummy food and explored. anna had to head back to buenos aires a day early so i decided to check out El Bolson, a city 3 hours south of Bariloche. There was a feria the day i went so i ate some artisan empanadas with salmon from the lake, tried some chocolate and bought some Mosqueta jam!

long time no blog!

hi everyone, there will be several new posts tonight! i apologize for not blogging since i arrived in buenos aires...things have been hectic and stressful and busy, but no more excuses! here we go...