Kristen la Exploradora

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Home on the Range

Dan and I quickly turned from Porteno city slickers to Argentine gauchos at La Estancia Los Dos Hermanos, a small family-owned horse ranch in quaint San Antonia de Areca, Buenos Aires. The plan was to spend two nights at the ranch (16-17 de abril), go on a few horse rides, but aside from that, I had no idea what to expect.

When we arrived at the La Estancia Los Dos Hermanos, the owner warmly greated us with a kiss on the cheek and showed us the way to our casita privada. Next we met the rest of our riding group - sweet couple from Madison, WI, five frenchmen, and our guide, Rosario. Rosario was very sweet, and funny, but when it comes to horses, it's nothing but business for her. With a very serious face, she got us suited up, explained the riding rules, then hand-picked one of their 50 horses for us to ride. I'd ridden a horse several times as a kid, but it had all been very mellow, slow paced rides. All of the jerky trotting that we did through their fields was not only scary but tough on the butt! We went on two 1 1/2 hour long rides split up by a giant lunchtime feast prepared by the cook/caretaker, Veronica. Veronica's empanadas really were something else... add the asada (BBQ), a few side dishes, vino, and dessert... now you've got an instant food coma! Makes it difficult to climb back onto a horse!!

Later that evening, the rest of the guests went back to their Buenos Aires hotels, while Dan and I stayed behind for the overnight experience with Rosario and Veronica. Rosario opened up to us much more over dinner, and aside from our riding instructions, all conversation was in espanol!!!

Day two was much the same as the day before, the biggest differences being that:

1. Dan and I were the only guests on the ranch;

2. every muscle in my body ached like never before (simple tasks like getting out of bed were big feats for me);

3. fewer mosquitos;

4. we had more confidence on the horses; and

5. we learned that cantering/galloping is way more fun and 10x less painful for the butt than trotting!

All in all, fun times with Rosario and the horses!

Below are a few pictures from our brief time as Argentine Gauchos...

Day 1 - all suited up for the ride!

Veronica's feast!

Dan recovering from a long first day of ridding

El presto del sol... So pretty!

First night after dinner

Rosario, our hospitable guide!

Day 2 morning ride!

Pretty owls we saw watching over their nests of eggs

La Segunda Semana en BA

Hola!

I'm back with a few more updates from our semana pasada! This past week... hmmm... Let me think back to what we did with ourselves. Right, there was quite a bit of spanish, lots of carne (steak), miles and miles of walking, some Tango here and there, rowdy futbol fanaticos (soccer fans), contemporary art, and the Buenos Aires suburbs. Quite a bit to cover, so I'll try to stick to the highlights. ;)

Los Alumnos

Dan and Kristen, the scholars. I mentioned that Dan and I have a rule between us: no english unless there's an emergencia, remember? Well, that was going great, but we definitely needed some professional help to round out our education. We found Los Ayres, a very convenient and quaint school of private spanish tutors in the trendy neighborhood of Palermo. Location couldn't get any beter - about a 15 minute walk from our departamento, and just about two blocks off of Plaza Armenia in the trendy Palermo Soho. Our instructora, Inés, was a huge help and no-doubtedly kicked our spanish skills up a notch! The ten hours went by so incredibly fast... already wishing we had more time with her!! More language classes may have to wait a few more weeks until we get to Bariloche.

We also attended another Spanglish mixer to mingle with a few more locals. This time instead of having the typical "speed-dating" type of format, the organizers held a Spanglish Trivia Night at a fun little bar in Palermo Soho. We were terrible at the trivia but made lots of new friends... some Porteños (people from Buenos Aires), a couple of Brazilians, father/daughter from Miami, and a young guy from Australia.

El Tango

Yes, the Tango returns to our travels!! Not only did we get to see a few Tango perfomances in the plazas around San Telmo, but we also attended a Tango dinner/drink show at La Ventana (means 'the window' but also just the name of the venue). It was a bit touristy, but the show was AMAZING, absolutely loved it... even Dan would agree! Later on during the week we took a second tango dance class with Rafael in his Recoleta studio. I have to say that our steps are starting to look more and more like a real dance! ;)

El Partido

INTENSE! Wow, I have never seen a crowd of fans so loyal to their team before! Dan and I bought tickets to the Saturday afternoon partido (game) between the River Plates and Hurucan... we thought it would be in our favor to root-root-root for the home team, which worked out very nicely with a 2-0 win for us! To fully understand the intensity of these games, you have to experience it for yourself. On our walk over to the stadium we saw several bus loads of Hurucan fans chanting their fight songs, escorted by a regime of police through their private entrance, to their maximum security cheering section. After we passed through three security check points, we finally make it to our seats, where we watched some 50,000 fans tie down their homemade signs. No joke, almost the entire stadium was covered in the signs! Throughout the entire game, loco fanaticos from both sides were screeming at the top of their lungs (sometimes to the tune of somebody's drum) their team chants. It was a great game, but the fans were real highlight.

Tigre

On our last day in Buenos Aires, we visited the suburb of Tigre, about a 45 minute train ride northwest of BA. Tigre was an interesting place... very beautiful town built-up around the river, but very touristy! We were their on a Sunday so their were lots and lots of familys their with screeming kids... probably due to the fact that the town had a Disneyland/Solvang feel to it - complete with a small amusement park! The main attractions for us were the river tours (which we missed!) and the Mercado de Los Frutos. We did a lot of wandering around, bought a few souvineers, then took the train back to BA right after sunset. All in all, very cute town. :)

That's all I have for beautiful Buenos Aires! Next up is our Dude Ranch trip to La Estancia Los Dos Hermanos... stay tuned!

Besitos,

Kristen

P.S. a few more pics below!

Yummy helado

Dan enjoying his bife de lomo

Iba de compras...

Waiting for la obra del Tango to start

Walking around

Puente de la Mujer

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Nuestra Primera Semana

A few highlights from nuestra primera semana en Buenos Aires!

Spanglish...

On Wednesday, Dan and I went to a Spanglish language exchange event at a bar in Palermo. It was a bit like speed-dating, with different goals of course! There were about 7 bar tables, each with 1-2 spanish speakers and 1-2 english speakers. The first 5 min are spent talking to each other in spanish, the next 5 min in english, then we rotate tables and do it all over with a new group of people! People there came from all levels of language skills, but I have to say that Dan and I were among the top! Don't get me wrong, we've got a lot of work to do, but not a bad feeling :)

Country Music?

Later on Wednesday night, while looking around for a good empanadas/pizza place to dine, we came across a bar with a live band. They were just warming up when we sat down, but they ended up being an Argentine group who play US country music covers... slightly comforting to hear so many miles away from home! Their southern accent was perfect, hard to believe they had never been to the States! They loved having us their and even played a special canción (song) for us, their only US fans! It's really funny that here in BA, they listen to more US and English music than their own. In fact, our upstairs neighbors are blasting the Beatles right this very moment! Hilarious!

Espanol...

It's going really well! Dan and I have made a pack to speak only spanish between the two of us. It can be a little frustrating sometimes but has been incredibly helpful. Of course our vocab is limited, but after one week, we are already talking more naturally and confidently. Sometimes shopkeepers will see that we're American and try to speak english with us... if I respond in english, Dan gives me major demerits. If we REALLY need to communcate in english to talk about important stuff (like tricky lodging planning), we have to grant eachother permission, but usually that's the last resort. Every day we've been writing in spanish in our journals and are making a list of new vocabulary. I think we're up to about 80 palabras nuevas - not bad, right?

We've also been looking around for a spanish teacher. Thursday afternoon we set up a lesson with a woman named Cecilia who teaches classes from her home in the Villa Crespo Barrio. She was awesome, but the bus ride their on colectivo #110 was a bit far... not sure if we'll continue with her. While at her house, she offered us some mate, a south american tea drinking ritual. I'm glad we tried it but it wasn't my favorite... a little amargo (bitter) for my liking. You also have to drink from the same gourd and same straw... which seems kinda gross, but that's the tradition. It's supposed to symbolize friendship between those drinking.

There is another spanish class that's closer to where we're staying - hoping to check that out first thing onMonday morning.

I mentioned that we're living with a few Porteños, right? Best decision so far and soooo helpful - social education is defintely the way to go!

Los Bailarines?

In addition to learning the language, we are also learning their dances! Our first Tango class was on Thursday, and I'm determined to drag Dan back on this coming Tuesday and Thursday... and possibley a class dance club outing on Wednesday. He may say the opposite, but I know he loves it ;)

Dan and Kristen, Las Touristas...

On Friday we went on a free walking tour of the Recoleta cementary and surrounding mansions with Buena Onda Free Tours. Our guide, Carlita, was so sweet and so much fun to be around. Since we were the only patrons, we asked her to give the tour in spanish... which turned into a free three hour language/culture/history class for us! The Recoleta Cementary is the third most important in the world, after those from Paris and Genoa, for the size, architecture, and important remains. We saw Evita's tomb among others, each with it's own interesting story. The freakiest was about a 19 year old girl who was found dead in her bedroom, pronounced dead, and placed in her coffin. A few days later, the cemetery workers heard noises coming from her tomb. They later opened her coffin to find her dead, but with scratch marks from trying to escape... apparently she suffered from an epilepsy attack and appeared dead, without pulse, at the time she was pronounced dead!

Los Boliches...

Last night we went out dancing for the first time here with our new roommates and their friends. The thing about boliches is that nothing gets really started until around 4AM... arriving at 2AM gets you in the doors for free with the other early birds. We hung around the apartment until about 3AM, sipping yummy cocktails prepared by one of our roomies, Martin, and chatting with his friend, another Martin. Carla does promotions for the boliche we went to, which happens to be owned by her boyfriend's sister. Once we got their, not only did we get free entry, we got a special reserved area, and free drinks all night long! Being the old fogies we are, Dan and I left to go home around 6AM... which may be later than any Vegas night I've every had! I'm pretty sure that our roommates are still sleeping in right now... at 7PM! Craziness!

Dan and I had a nice little Easter Brunch/Supper this afternoon and are now thinking about hiding a few candies around the house to conduct our own Easter-Egg Hunt. Dan is in an exceptionally good mood right now - he's been streaming the Tigers v. Red Socks game while I've been sharing our stories with you all. Tigers beat the Red Socks in the 11 inning on a walk-off home run!! Looks like we can now catch a bit of the Giants Game - things are looking good so far, we're up 6-2 in the 6th against Arizona!

Okey-doke, time for me to sign off for now!

If you are celebrating, I hope you all have a fun Easter with your friends and family!

Besos,

Kristen La Exploradora

P.S. Here are a few pics from our adventures this week!

First Parrilla experience

Picking out a Spanish-Spanish dictionary

Night out around Plaza Serrano in Palermo

Picture with Carlita, our tour guide

Recoleta Cemetery

Settling In

Hola Amigos!

OK, it's about time to start sharing a few adventures with y'all, pero primero, Felices Pascuas a todos (Happy Easter to everyone)! :)

I just got back from a very late easter brunch (it's 4:45PM right now), and am sitting here with Dan in our THIRD place in BA... don't worry, I will explain. I guess I left off with arriving here in BA last Sunday. We decided to rent a room in a modest hotel for a few days, then look around for a short-term apartment rental on AirBnB.com for the rest of our time in BA. Apparently that would have worked out quite easily for us, had the city not been packed for Semana Santa (Easter Holy Week)! Bueno, todo fue bien. We were able to extend our Recoleta hotel stay for an extra night, found an apartment studio in Recoleta from the 3rd to the 7th, and are now renting a room in a 2br apartment in Palermo from the 7th to the 16th. Recoleta and Palermo are two of our favorite Barrios in BA. Recoleta is a little more posh and ritzy, and Palermo is a bit more trendy with fun shops, restaurants, and boliches (night clubs).

So far my favorite place between the three is our shared apartment. Our roommates, Carla and Martin, are so welcoming and a lot of fun to get to know! They both speak english pretty well, but we insisted that we all speak spanish... which is going way better than I could have imagined! I'm surprised in the range of conversations that we can understand and participate in! Sometimes I don't understand every single word they say (both accent and vocabulary issues), but I understand the message well enough to give input and respond. So exciting for us!!!

Aside from our quest for lodging, we have spent most of our time walking around and around and around the city... well, the nice parts, anways! The abundance of cafes, restaurants and shops that we have around us puts San Francisco to shame. Good for me because I need to go shopping, big time! It has been so much warmer than I thought it would be... and with having to fit clothes for all climates in one backpack, only decided to bring 3 short sleeve shirts. Moreover, Porteños, people of Buenos Aires, are ridiculously well dressed and very trendy... When in BA, dress as the Porteños do, right?? Well I think I've got a valid excuse ;)

For size, BA is HUGE! Just the northern nicer neighborhoods are about 2-3x bigger than SF! Comfy walking shoes for me are a must - it's amazing how many well dressed chicas you'll see in cute little heels or platforms! Most aceras (sidewalks) are in disrepair, adding variable terrain to the long distances we've been covering.

La cultura...

I was also surprised to see how much Italian influence this city has. The culture is a mix of Spanish and Italian, with a lot of French Architecture from the early 20th century. The most popular types of cuisine are pizza, empanadas, and parrillas (barbeque meat houses). Argetines are big on meat, cheese, bread, and potatoes... a vegan has about a 2% chance of survival here... no joke! We eat out for most meals, but now that we have a slightly more permanant place to with a real kitchen, I think we are going to try to ahorrar nuestro dinero y cocinar en casa con mas frequencia (save some money and cook at home more often). We've had to change our eating habbits quite a bit, too, and now eat dinner with the rest of the Porteños closer to about 11-12PM. That way you have a few hours to digest before you head out for los boliches (dance clubs). More on that later :)

More to come!

Besos,

Kristen

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Getting There!

Part of the adventure is just getting there!

On Saturday AM, Mom and Dad dropped my off at SFO for a tearful good-bye, and I was off to embark on my journey. This will be my first time spending more than 11 weeks more than a three hour drive away from home, and since I am fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family, saying goodbye was a little harder than I thought it would be. I'm going to miss you all so much!

Pictures courtesy of Mama...

First Day of Kindergarten (with slightly smaller backpack) -> First Day as La Exploradora (with 11 weeks of gear):

Goodbyes at SFO :(

Anyways, I made it to my United aisle seat and I was off. I was lucky enough to be able to break up my long 18 hours of travel at the Houston Airport with a fun little dinner date with my cousin, Paula! We met at the Airport Marriott Lounge (so close that it's practically attached to the terminal!), which was the perfect place to meet my cousin, who lives about 30 min from the airport.

Fast-forward about 13 hours and I'm collecting my giant backpack from the carousel in the BA Airport. Dan flew in the day before me, so he came to the airport to collect me and bring me to "Vida Baires," our temporary hotel located in the Recoleta, BA's ritzy-est Barrio (neighborhood).

Here's a the first pic of Dan and I on our taxi ride from airport to hotel. Don't judge... this taken after more than 18 hours of travel!!