Well, on a 70 degree morning, I'm sitting in my apartment with our "air conditioning" on, and by a.c. I mean it blows the air around in the room. Now, I'm not complaining because if anyone knows me just a little you know how much I love the warm weather. It has been in the 70s and 80s and even got up to 90 yesterday! Obviously the porteños are not happy with the stifling heat, but besides the fact that I don't have to sleep with covers on at night, I don't mind getting sun during the day and lounging around with an ice cold drink in my hand. So, it's been some time now since I've blogged and a lot has happened during the month of November!
I was busy writing a paper for my arte class about 3 artists during the 20th century from Argentina, Lola Mora, Emilia Bertolé and Raquel Forner. I really enjoyed writing it because it was about women who have influenced Buenos Aires and I have seen some of their artwork and sculptures around the city. The most interesting part of all of this was having to go to the Bellas Artes Museo Library to find information on these women. UCA has a library, but most of their books don't have to do with argentine art...go figure! I wasn't allowed to take the books of the museum, but I sat in the small library and did some research. That weekend, the roommates and I went out to dinner on Friday to a place nearby called Trapiche. This parrilla was very family oriented and their were tons of locals in this large open room where they were serving beef and Italian food to happy families and kept the wine coming. The next day I got up early to meet downtown in Plaza San Martin for a bike tour along the coast of the Río de la Plata up to El Tigre. I met up with the tour guide, a porteño about my age, and 6 other tourists from all around the world ready for a 15 mile bike ride along the river! We first rode our bikes down to the Retiro train station and got on with our bikes to get outside of the city limits. Along the train ride, we passed through Recoleta, Palermo, Belgrano, and the President's house. A very large, white house on a hill with guards and walls around it. We got off the train at a small town, and continued biking through many other small towns along the river. We made various stops along the way. One stop was to catch a glimpse of Buenos Aires in the most panoramic view of the city I have seen. It is such a flat city and there is no large building that you can see a full view of it. The only real way to know how big the city actually is is to fly over it. Our next stop was a small ecological reserve along the river that had many birds and turtles in the grasses and swamps. It was nice to see that this is what the entire riverfront used to look like. Also, that they still preserved some of it and also have the huge ecological reserve in Puerto Madero along the Costanera Sur.
Buenos Aires and the Río de la Plata
We kept on biking until we got to San Isidro, an adorable town along the river that has a large main plaza and a beautiful church on top of a hill. My friend, Leti lives in this town and I can see why she loves it so much! We stopped here for a while to have some mate but instead of with hot water we had it with ice water and orange juice. It was delicious and perfect for the hot day! After sharing the mate, we headed all the way to Tigre! We finally got to the destination town for many porteños on the summer weekends who want to escape the heat and have an asado or go boating with friends. Tigre belongs to the mainland but also is made up of islands that have no connection to the mainland other than by boats. These islands are inhabited by many people who have their homes built on stilts. The reason being that about two times a year, the way the winds change brings heavy flooding and the houses need to be rebuilt every year. So, benefits of living in Tigre is you get to be on the river, have your own island, and own a boat BUT you have to rebuild your house every year. After having a late lunch we got back on the train and took it all the way back to Retiro. It was such a great day and a really amazing way to see the coast! That night, my friends went to the 15 hour techno fest that started in England called Creamfields. Now, I'm not a huge techno fan by any means and although I have been able to go out later than when I first got to Argentina, 15 hours was too much even for me! Luckily, Perry felt the same way so she and I went down to San Telmo to go to Bar Seddon and then Brasserie Petanque. The bar was adorable, very quaint with old furniture and a candelabra that had the wax from candle's that had been burning for over a year. We then walked down the street to the French restaurant that my cousin Lauren and her husband Jim had raved about so much! Lauren has told me she dreams about this place and now I know why! The food was absolutely delicious. Perry and I split a bottle of wine, I had onion soup to start, then I got a pork dish while Perry had the duck and for a dessert we shared the cheese and fruit plate. It was all so delicious and we had such a great time at dinner!
Tigre Boat Club
The following week was our last week of classes! I had to turn in my paper and my photo project and take a final exam. Wednesday, I decided it was a good idea to get a haircut. There are tons of salons near our apartment. Helen and I went in and she got a simple cut but because my hair is shorter and extremely thick, I was interested to see what she would do with it! I have never had anyone spend so much time cutting my hair, making sure every piece was perfect! Only costing 4o pesos (10 bucks) I was more than pleased with my new porteño style cut. However, on Thursday, to celebrate Perry and I decided to get pedicures down the street. Okay, when you see that your pedicure is going to be 30 pesos (8 bucks) you probably should turn right around and walk out. But hey, we just thought it was a great deal and went ahead with it anyway. The woman had her smock opened so that you could see basically everything down her shirt. Then she took my feet and used some electric tool to cut the cuticles, well unfortunately she cut my cuticle and it started bleeding. So what does she do? She puts nail polish removal on my cut so that makes it feel really great...NOT! She only put one coat of nail polish on one foot and no top coat on either. Let's just say, it wasn't relaxing but probably the most stressed out I've been since I've been in South America! Who knew? Luckily, later that night made up for it. Jen, Perry, and I went down to Las Cañitas, an area in Palermo where there are tons of bars and restaurants. We found one Mexican restaurant and we each had some margaritas before returning to the apartment. It was just nice to enjoy the weather, the drinks, and each other's company. Also, getting 3 drinks and spending less that 20 bucks is something I will miss considering I'll be 21 and hitting up some bars when I get home but probably spending close to 20 bucks for a drink.
On Saturday, I went to a polo match with some of my friends from UCA. It was the beginning of the National tournament and there were two matches, one at 2 and one at 4. It was blazing hot but really interesting to see a sport that the Argentines love but I knew nothing about! For 30 pesos we got in and were given free bags, polo balls, and information about the sport. There were porteños dressed in sundresses and the men in polos and brightly colored pants...and NO I wasn't at Richmond's pig roast. People were sipping on champagne while you heard the galloping of horses and their riders playing this magnificent game. After the first match was over, all of the fans headed over to the larger stadium in the park and watched the second match. I wish I could say I was more of a polo expert now, but unfortunately, I didn't understand too much of the game but it was a great thing to see!
Chicas at the polo match!
Later that night, Steph and I took a nap then got ready to go out to dinner with some friends at a parrilla in Las Cañitas. We shared a grilled provolone, veggie parrilla, and bife de lomo with some friends. It was delicious! The grilled veggies were a neat change from the usual meat parrilla. After dinner, our friends came to our apartment where we hung out before heading out to Pachá. This was one of the first boliches to put Buenos Aires on the clubbing scene. It is right on the river and with the full moon and rooftop terrace/dance floor it was absolutely beautiful. Watching the moon reflect on the water and dancing with my friends, I just couldn't be happier spending the night that way in BA.
The next day, Steph and I woke up and headed down to San Telmo to the fair. We picked up some gifts for family and friends (and maybe something for ourselves, too) and spent about 4 hours walking along the main calle, Defensa. Later that night, we met our friend Daniela at the movie theatre to see Harry Potter. It was great and I figure now is a good time to finish reading the last 3 books! The next day I slept in and worked on my last paper. It was about Argentina and Chile and urbanization in Buenos Aires and Santiago and how they differ based on the politics over the past two centuries. That night I went to a concert on avenida 9 de julio right in front of the obelisco. They had hundreds and hundreds of chairs set up right in the middle of the 16 lane street. The concert was a free ballet and they performed Carmina Burana and it was just so cool to see this huge city street blocked off for a ballet and how many people took time off their busy holiday, National Day of Sovereignty, to watch this show. After the show, our friend Dylan came over and we just hung out and played cards. It was a relaxing night.
Ballet at the Obelisco
The following day, Helen, Steph, and I went to breakfast at a little French café in Palermo Hollywood called Oui Oui. I had a delicious tea, homemade granola, yogurt and fresh fruit. It was absolutely delicious and a great start to our day! We then went back to Plaza Italia to meet Dylan and the four of us bought bus tickets and headed to the Temaikén Zoo. The zoo is about an hour outside the city and supposed to be the best zoo in the area....and that's the truth! I've been to several zoos in my day and other than the San Diego zoo this is probably second best! There was a lots of space for the animals, it wasn't too crowded, there was a Tuesday discount, and the animals were really happy and playful! They had animals from Patagonia, bats, cheetahs, meerkats, zebras, and many other animals. However, my favorite was the tigers! There was a white one and two orange tigers and the three were playing in the water together! It was so cute, the white one was really playful and kept jumping around and going under the water. Another really cool part of the zoo was where the exotic birds were. You walked into these rooms where there were birds just freely flying around. I got up close and personal with a toucan and the parrots were going crazy! They would fly from one end of the room to another and get so close that we had to duck down! We headed back into the city after a full day at the zoo and got a good night sleep to get ready for our full day of cooking the next day to prepare for Thanksgiving in BA!
Tigers playing together at Temaikén Zoo
The next morning, Jen and Helen had come back from their long weekend trip in Chile. We all split up the groceries and we headed to the meat store, veggie store, grocery store, and I had to go look for aluminum disposable cooking dishes. Now, you think they would have these everywhere. Well, you'd be wrong. After searching at the Jumbo, the large Wal-mart style store and not finding any I finally went back to the store nearby where I bought my devils horns for my Halloween costume and they had them. Extremely random, but hey I picked up a bunch and went back to the apartment to make my pies (apple and pumpkin!) Our kitchen is on the smaller side so we prepped all the food Wednesday so we would just have to heat it up on Thursday. I made the crust for my pies by hand which was the first time. Let's just say I had to get inventive. After finding an easy recipe online I made the dough but then had to flatten it between wax paper and use a rolling pin. Well, with no wax paper or rolling pin I soon figured out I could use a large trash bag that I had cut up to put the dough between and then use a wine bottle for a rolling pin...perfect! After getting a little worried how they would turn out, the pies seemed to look alright! I quickly showered and got ready to head over to my friend Toby's apartment for a good-bye with friends. Being German, he made his favorite hot wine, spice drink known as Glühwein. It was really delicious but I just couldn't drink it considering it was 80 degrees out at night. I invited him to our apartment for Thanksgiving the next day and he was so excited considering it would be his first Thanksgiving! The next day, I woke up and went for a nice run through the gardens. Afterwards, I got back and took an ice cold shower. It was noon and the heat was already stifling. I set up the living room and rearranged the chairs and tables. Unfortunately, our dinner table isn't big enough for eight people so we had to serve buffet style. We had lots of champagne and wine and the food was absolutely delicious! We went around and everyone said what they were thankful for and it just was really great that even though I was away from my real family, my abroad family was there and we all agreed how thankful we were for one another and the time we had in Argentina. After we ate, we were all so stuffed that we just lounged around the apartment and hung out, laughing, listening to music, and drinking champagne and red wine. And guess what? The pies were a success!
Thanksgiving- BA style!
The following day, we went to Toby's pool and relaxed in the sunshine and cooled down in the water. It was a relaxing afternoon before we went out to dinner to Sarkis, a Greek restaurant, in Palermo Viejo with Helen's parents. It was our last night with the five of us apartmentmates all together in BA. Dinner was absolutely delicious, from the falafel to the hummus to the kebabs. After dinner, the 5 of us went to Bar 6, a nearby bar and just reminisced about the semester and enjoyed interesting cocktails.
Tonight is my last night out in Buenos Aires...crazy! Then my last few days are going to consist of packing, packing, and just enjoying Buenos Aires and my favorite places here one last time. Ah, I really can't believe that this is all coming to an end. My study abroad experience has been everything and more than I expected. I wouldn't change a thing and I have no regrets. I'll be on my way home in 4 days. Besos to you all and be seeing you soon!
