Adventures with Katie

I arrived yesterday in Salta, Argentina, just in time to get my “sunrise service” on Easter morning. It wasn’t much of a sunrise because Salta is located in western Argentina, it is landlocked and there was an ugly bus station in the way, but it was still moving.

I finally escaped the craziness and strange comfort of Buenos Aires and hit the road again, this time headed north toward my much-anticipated final destination: Cusco, Peru. First I took a 18 hour bus to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina, to see the mighty Iguazu Falls. The falls are in the running to become one of the “new” wonders of the world, and it certainly has my vote. I found them much more spectacular than Niagara Falls because of the magical jungle atmosphere. Besides the impressive amount of water flowing, there were colorful birds, rainbows and butterflies galore. It was like a Disney movie on ecstasy and I half expected a unicorn to cross my path at any moment!

After a few days hiking around the falls and relaxing poolside at my fabulous hostel it was time to make the long journey across northern Argentina to Salta, an area that is supposed to have beautiful desert landscapes, lots of outdoor activities, folkloric “pena” music and the best empanadas in all of Argentina. The bus ride was hell, but at least I got a lot of reading done (check out “The Poisonwood Bible” by Barbara Kingsolver about a Southern Baptist family of 6 that moves to the African Congo in 1959 to do mission work).
I spent a good chunk of my trip in Buenos Aires, an immensely passionate, creative and mysterious city. Here is a summary of what I spent almost 4 weeks doing there:

Deportivos (sports) – Thanks to a local family friend of Andy’s I was able to attend not only a riveting futbol (soccer) match of Boca Juniors vs. Estudiantes, which Boca won with 30 seconds to spare, but also a polo match complete with a beer truck and asado (BBQ) to boot! Almost more exciting than either of the events was the fiasco of getting to both of these places, especially the harrowing walk through the rough-n-ready Boca neighborhood trying to find the Bombonero (Boca stadium) on our own.

Cafes – Argentina is famous for its café culture and a large part of the lifestyle revolves around sipping cortados (espresso ‘cut’ with a splash of milk) and nibbling pastries while discussing who knows what for hours upon end. I took full advantage of this ritual by visiting a café with my computer, book or journal for a few hours each day, usually in the morning for coffee, but often again in the afternoon for a snack or a cerveza (beer), also. Here are a few of my favorites to note: Café Mustezza (corner of Tucuman and Bilinghurst near Morgan’s house), Café Mua (corner of Soler and ?), Mamaracha (corner of Costa Rica, on the plaza), and the bright orange one in the bookstore in Palermo, of which I can’t remember neither the name nor the street it’s on, but was actually one of my absolute favorites.

Mate (popular tea custom) – I really only spent one very memorable afternoon participating in a full mate session, but it is such an important part of the culture here that it must be explained. Yerba Mate is a tea native to South America and is devotedly consumed by people of all ages and classes. People carry with them everywhere they go the necessary items to consume mate: the mate container (a hollow gourd), the bombilla (metal straw with a strainer on one end), thermos (hot water is needed to steep the leaves, not boiling, similar to green tea), and, of course, the mate leaves. There are strict rules about who gets to prepare the mate, what order people drink it in, etc. It’s a very interesting ritual and one that is observed with great seriousness. You can read more about mate and see pictures here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mat%C3%A9.

Ferias (literally means festival, but in the case it means “markets”) – Buenos Aires has some wonderful artisan craft and antique markets. The San Telmo neighborhood especially is known for its extensive weekend markets where you can find anything from vintage clothing and jewelry to antique posters and furniture to touristy Boca jerseys and mate accessories. Even if you’re not looking for something special, the street food is delicious and the people watching is epic.

Boliches (nightclubs/discos) – Another unique custom in Buenos Aires is the nightlife. Here, nightlife is not reserved just for the hot, young things—at any hour of the night you will almost definitely see people from ages 2 months to 92 years out and about in cafes, bars and restaurants. Someone explained to me that what we consider to be “nightlife,” the hours of 12-6am are really the start of the day for everyone, not the end. Of course, the boliches are mostly chock full of young, hot portenos (Buenos Aires natives) and womping beats of international DJ’s. One imparticular that I loved was seeing an Aussie group called Bag Raiders (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmQadCLHwco). Also spent a couple of ridiculous nights at Morgan’s house parties where her DJ friends tore up the basement (http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=100002283010504&sk=wall).

Sidetrip to Eco Yoga Park – After my first week in Buenos Aires I was already sick of the noise and smells of the city, so I headed an hour north of town to volunteer at an organic farm/yoga retreat center with a girl I met from Sydney, Australia. The center is run by a trio of Hare Krishnas, which on a VERY basic level means no meat and no alcohol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hare_Krishna). Here was our daily schedule: 6am report to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast. 8am eat fresh, healthy, delicious breakfast of herbal tea and homemade biscuits topped with fresh yogurt from the dairy farm at the end of the road. 9am report to the garden for several hours of hoeing, weeding, watering, planting and harvesting. 12pm yoga class. 1pm lunch of raw, mixed greens & veggies from the garden, grilled cheese slices and beet risotto. 2-4pm free time for napping, reading, sunbathing, exploring. 4pm yoga and meditation class. 7pm Dinner. 9pm Bedtime! After a few days here I felt so refreshed and the whites of my eyes were blindingly white, so I must have been doing something right. That’s what happens when you remove meat, most dairy, caffeine and alcohol from your diet! Easier said than done, especially in Argentina! See more here: http://www.ecoyogapark.com/

Sidetrip to Uruguay - Since Uruguay is only an hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires, and because Morgan needed to renew her visa, we took a 2-day trip across the river. Another passport stamp! We took a cute ferry through the deltas of Tigre (a city about an hour north of BA) to Carmelo, Uruguay, and visited a gorgous boutique bodega (winery) called Narbona. We then took an hour bus south of Carmelo to Colonia, a UNESCO heritage site with lots of crumbly old port buildings and dangerous cobblestone streets for the night. Check for pics coming to facebook soon...

Anyway, a lot of fun and relaxation was had in beautiful Buenos Aires. Don’t worry grandma, I also did a fair share of cultural activities such as visiting various art museums, government buildings and other notable tourist attractions, too! However beautiful and fun BA is, it’s also still a noisy, dirty city and I was very ready to be on my way out by the time I finally left. I think my lungs are thankful to be away from the smog and cigarette smoke that permeate the city air 

Hope everyone had a very happy, springy Easter! Although Easter reminds me of springtime complete with spring green tree buds and daffodils, here Easter occurs in the autumn! Although it was very sunny and beautiful yesterday, there were also dead leaves crunching underfoot and the night air was crisp. Interesting spending time in the Southern Hemisphere where everything is “backwards”…

Currently sitting bitch in the middle row of a minibus careening around hairpin turns in the Andes mountains after an especially irritating 2+ hour Chile-Argentina border crossing. Equally irritating is the Latin pop music video blaring in my face (not sure why anyone wants to watch tv when there is breathtaking scenery out every window, but, to each their own ). Did I mention that our driver is meticulously preparing his mate (traditional Argentine tea, like a very strong green tea) with at least one hand while also attempting to maneuver around a semi-tanker on a blind curve? I shit you not.

I’m en route to Mendoza, Argentina (Malbec land!) from San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, which is a fabulous corner of the world. The town of San Pedro reminded me of Santa Fe, NM, with white-washed adobe buildings and dirt roads throughout town. The surrounding landscape, however, is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The only problem with San Pedro is that it has been ruined by tourism. Cheap souvenir shops and pushy restaurateurs line the streets, each one offering basically the same things at “very special prices today.” A few of the highlights included a moonlit cave expedition, sandboarding in Valle del Muerte (Death Valley), sipping pisco sours at sunset in Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), mountain biking the rugged Catarpe rock formations, star gazing with professional grade telescopes (where I was disappointed to learn that my Cancer zodiac sign looks nothing like a crab at all) and floating in salty lagunas in the Atacama Desert. Whew!

On another note, I regret to report that I’ve lost a few very valuable things the past few weeks:
Camera charger – A hard loss when you’re seeing so many interesting, beautiful and unusual things each and every day that you want to remember forever. However, also a very liberating thing because instead of messing around with light settings and zoom angles and scene selections, I have been able to simply enjoy the scenes with my own eyes instead of through a viewfinder.

Guatemala hat – A sad moment when I realized I left my hat (purchased earlier this year in Guatemala) on the overhead compartment of an overnight bus from Pucon to Santa Cruz (both in Chile). I always wear my hat in transit and forgot to grab it when I was abruptly shaken awake and dumped on the side of the highway at 6 o’clock on a dark, cold morning in San Fernando. The really sad part is that I didn’t even realize my loss until 3 days later, glass of Carmenere (locally produced red wine) and Choripan (chorizo roll) in hand, at the annual Vendimia wine harvest festival in Santa Cruz.

Flip Flops – The most devastating loss of all was accidentally leaving my right Rainbow flip flop in the van after a fun afternoon of sandboarding in Death Valley. I changed into my hiking shoes after sandboarding to climb a rocky hill to watch the sunset and, after a lung-burning hike and a pisco sour, I fell asleep in the van and left behind my beloved Flop. The tour guide promised to return it to me the next day and a mini mental breakdown ensued after he (and my Flop) failed to show before I left town. I’m still carrying around the left one because I can’t bear to throw it away. RIP Flops. It’s been real…

Although I miss these things they are small prices to pay for all the wonderful experiences I’ve had in exchange. Such things are replaceable; Some things are not: Sunsets, perfect avocados, beachfront asados (Argentine BBQ), dancing til dawn, ice cream belly-aches and mountain bike “arm pump” soreness are not

I’m sitting at a sidewalk table under an umbrella at a popular pasteleria on the main drag in Bariloche. It’s a drizzly, cool afternoon, but I’m craving fresh air and needed to get out of the hostel for a while. It’s 7pm and I just ordered for myself an afternoon snack of a café mediano (espresso with steamed milk) and a mamuschka, which is basically a baseball sized lump of chocolately-caramel goodness. This kind of indulgence is the norm here, and to counteract these almost daily calorie binges (hey, when in Rome…) I have been using the region’s stunning landscape as my playground/gym to ensure the waistband on my pack still snaps together on my travel days!

I started my trip almost 3 weeks ago in this same town, and am loving every second! In just three short weeks I have partied until dawn in Bariloche (Argentina), camped in the rain in Colonia Suiza (Arg), trekked for days and hiked a glacier in El Bolson (Arg), battled class V rapids in turquoise waters and mountain biked in Futaleufu (Chile), tasted the most delicious meats and fondues, met some fabulous friends and learned a whole slew of new Spanish slang. Needless to say, I’ve been too occupied with new and experiences that I haven’t bothered to slow down and update you all back home!

I am back in Bariloche now because it is heaven and I absolutely love it here. I can’t stay away. The town is situated on a massive lake in the mountains and is referred to as the Switzerland of South America. In fact, it looks a lot like Colorado, which is probably why I love it so much! I also have fallen easily into the lazy schedule here. The typical day in Bariloche starts out with a light (but fattening!) breakfast of medialunas (croissants) topped with dulce de leche (caramel spread) and café con leche (which really tastes more like steamed milk with a tiny bit of coffee stirred in, which is why I prefer the stronger medianos instead). Breakfasts are usually included at the hostel, but sometimes I buy my own fruit in attempt to start the day somewhat healthily.

I usually spend the next couple of hours online, researching local activities, or at Spanish class (previously). Travel like this requires a ton of planning and research, even if you are trying to wing it. I usually spend at least an hour a day arranging bus tickets and hostel reservations, doing laundry (also offered by most hostels), packing/unpacking and working to find the best deals on tours/activities. You also need to do any errands in the mornings as almost all services/stores close from 1:30-5:30 every day. I usually grab a churrasco (steak sandwich) and a liter of Quilmes (one of the favorite Argentine beers) around 1pm and sit in a park to eat and maybe take a nap. Because everything useful (except restaurants and bars) is closed all afternoon, you really have no choice but to relax! It’s the best time of the day. You literally can’t get anything done, so you have to just chill and accept the fact that productivity is overrated! Some afternoons I go to the lake beach, some days I read in the park, some days I just nap. This is also the best time to hit the trails for some exercise. All the public areas have people just lounging alone or with friends, enjoying the sun and the mountain views. Everything just sloooowwws down, and it’s wonderful.

Stores open up again around 6 and stay open until at least 9:30. Dinner isn’t even served anywhere until 9, and I usually eat around 10pm. The classic Argentine dinner includes an array of grilled meats and pastas at traditional parrilla restaurants. Bars and discos open around midnight, but they don’t really get going until 2am. I have seen the sunrise more times in the past few weeks while walking home from the bars than in my entire life! But it’s ok because you get to take a 4 hour nap the next afternoon if you need to. Also, because it’s summer here, the sun doesn’t set until after 9pm. So, even if you party your face off the night before and don’t get out of bed until 3pm, you can still have a full day with 6 hours of sunlight before dinner! I love the schedule here and will definitely have a hard time adjusting to America’s pace of life when I get home.

The best part of Argentina is definitely the people. Everyone here is so full of life and so vibrant. They looove to talk and will spend hours asking you questions and listening to your responses. No matter how lengthy your story, they won’t interrupt you. They simply love to talk. Everyone wants to help you get to the next place or put you in contact with their cousins best friends girlfriends parents who could show you around the city you’re going to, or perhaps give you a place to stay. I feel guilty all the time for how nice everyone is to me!

On my flight to Buenos Aires I sat next to an older man who ended up escorting me to the place I was staying that night and paid for my cab from the airport, and it wasn’t on his way home at all. He also offered me a job at his antique store and offered to take me horseback riding at his brother’s ranch when I retured to BsAs. I asked him why he wanted to help me so much and he said I had “Buena Onda,” a phrase I’ve come to learn is very popular in Argentina. It literally means “good vibes” and you can feel it everywhere here. Apparently I fit right in!

Lessons learned the hard way:

-Don’t walk 45 minutes to the bus station to buy tickets for the next day without your passport and plenty of cash, because they won’t give you a ticket without your passport and they don’t take credit cards.

-Make sure when you order what seems like an expensive pisco sour at a festival in Chile that you are actually getting a cocktail and not an entire bottle of booze. With no mixers. Or ice. Or a glass.

New phrases:

Hoy para ti (today for you, tomorrow for me…similar to “pay it forward”). Learned while sharing liters of cerveza with friends or riding the local bus in groups. There is a national shortage of change and small bills in Argentina, so you have to trade off buying inexpensive items each time so you can use bigger bills.

Bujon – a bothersome obligation, something you don’t want to go do. For example, when my Argentine friend, Tomas, was lounging on the rooftop deck of our fabulous hostel (hostelinn.com) one hot, sunny afternoon, drinking liter after liter of Quilmes, and he had to leave to go to class. He say “Ay Bujon!”

Rechasar – to have a hangover. Learned on my second day of class when I overslept and arrived two hours late. OOPS. What can I say? Class started at nine, disco closed at 6

Buena Onda – Good vibes. The feeling you get when you’re living the good life in Argentina!

Next stop: Pucon, Chile
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Some people have asked me, dumbfounded, Why? I always respond, even more dumbfounded, Why not?

Other questions I’ve been fielding lately include Why do I want to “do this to myself”? What am I “running away from”? In return I ask, What exactly am I “doing to myself” that is so offensive to you? And, why do you assume I must be running away from something bad? I always thought of it as running toward something wonderful...

Why is it that when someone makes choices that go against the grain everyone automatically thinks there is something wrong with them, that they’re hiding some dark secret? I think the motives behind most of the gossip and accusations of such naysayers boils down to two emotions: Fear and Envy.

Creating change is a true challenge. It takes determination, patience, blind faith and high levels of emotional strength to survive great changes. There are fears of failure, of the unknown, of isolation. Change is scary, it is hard, and it is not for the faint of heart. However, more often than not the rewards are greater than the risks. It is so empowering to really choose your choices that is becomes addicting. All of a sudden you can’t imagine how you possibly waited even this long to make such changes.

This is the point where I find myself today. My desire for change is overcoming my fears. I have been so terrified at certain points recently that I have literally found myself paralyzed with fear, unable to move or think or even breathe. But, the process of facing each little fear and working through the worry has helped me become better at trusting my instincts and letting go of things that are out of my control. I am coming to terms with fear. Fear is motivating, and, dare I say, exhilarating. So, although I guess I understand that people are just scared for me, I wish they could just think instead about how scary it would be to let a silly brain chemical get the better of you. Consider this:

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

Unfortunately, the majority of people never get past their fears and never realize the true potential of their dreams. This is where the envy kicks in. Sometimes, instead of feeling happy for someone who is “getting” the life they want, we tend to resent them for being so “lucky.” In other words, if I didn’t get there, why should you? Or, I let go of my dreams, and you should, too.

Some “successful” people might say that they were good at recognizing opportunities, but this is not the only path to realizing ones dreams. You can also choose to create opportunities. Creating opportunities often means taking risks and making sacrifices, both very difficult things to do when the outcome is unknown. I realize I’m taking a huge leap of faith here. I’ve sacrificed everything to become a world nomad. And since I’ve pulled the rug out from under my own feet, I can’t just sit around hoping it pays off, I have to make it pay off. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t. The greatest challenge is trusting the future.

I don’t think anyone needs a “reason” to travel. If you feel wanderlust creeping up, why not welcome it? What does one have to lose by exploring the world outside their daily bubble, if for no other reason than they just felt like it? Right now I have the time, means and physical ability to do something I’ve always wanted to do, and so I’m seizing this moment. There will most likely come a time that I won’t have any of these luxuries, and there’s no better time than the present.

But, for those of you who do need reasons, here are a few of mine: To better understand the world outside my own. To better understand what makes people different, and also what makes us similar. To test my personal limits and learn what I’m capable of. To have extended time to clear my head of petty things and gain insight as to what I really want in life. And, of course, to eat great food, drink great wine, take great pictures and have some fun!

On that note, I embark on my journey to South America! I chose South America because of its passion and intensity. I want to dig into a new culture and work on my Spanish skills, beginning with a refresher Spanish course in Bariloche, Argentina. I chose to start my trip in Bariloche because it’s located on the Northern edge of Patagonia and therefore chock full of adrenaline-inducing outdoor activities, and maybe also because it’s considered the “chocolate capital of Argentina.” Hasta luego amigos!

Song of the Day: Unwritten by Natasha Bedingfield