May 31: 20,471 steps in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This morning we took a bus to Samaipata. Samaipata is an ancient Incan ruin on top of a mountain that is a giant boulder carved out to make a village. During the bus ride a lot of stray dogs would bark at our bus and run alongside it for a short amount of time. It's scary how close they got to us, but they must know what they are doing around here because we have yet to see a dead dog o the side of the road. It was a 3 hour bus ride to the town, and roughly an hour and a half hike up. The bus took us up the mountain as far as it could go, but the rain and mud forced us to walk the majority of the path up. It was very foggy, and very muddy. All of our shoes were covered in mud very quickly.

Once we actually got to the base camp, we went on a 2 hour walk around the property. We couldn't walk in the actual ruins in order to preserve them, but the paths took us all around the ancient grounds to see them from multiple places. It was pretty exhausting, but very cool. I'm still battling a cold so that didn't help, but I made it through.

It took around an hour to get back down to where the bus left us, and we were al starving at this point. So we went into town and had the most delicious dinner we have had on the trip so far. I had tea, chicken noodle soup, and three cheese spaghetti.

After another 3 hour bus ride back to Santa Cruz, we all went back to the hotel, showered, and passed out.

Today is my dad's birthday, and I'm sad I couldn't spend it with him. I'll be happy to get home and give him and my mom a big hug in just 10 short days!

May 30: 8,027 steps in Santa Cruz, Bolivia

This morning I woke up on the big comfy bus upon our arrival in Buenos Aires. We rode the overnight bus from Córdoba to Buenos Aires to catch a flight out of Buenos Aires to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I got off the bus to get by bag from underneath the bus. I picked up my bag the bottom of it was all wet. Some of the water had soaked through to the inside, leaving my packing cubes (which contain my freshly cleaned clothes) moist. Reva’s bag was also wet. We blame the grumpy bag man who wanted tips from last night. So I carried my wet bag all through the bus terminal because I couldn’t wear it on my back without getting wet. We caught another bus to the airport and I checked my bag. I also had 2 more cups of tea, much more successfully than my previous attempts I might add.

Just before our plane was about to board, I was waiting for pictures for last night’s blog to upload. They called for our group to board 30 minutes before take-off, so I waited until my pictures finished uploading to get on the plane. Kristi, bless her soul, waited with me. So about 5 minutes later the pictures finished uploading and we headed through the gate. We kept walking down the hallway, down some stairs, and then we were outside, to find a bus waiting. I handed my boarding pass to a person dressed in airport looking clothing and they told me to get on the bus, so I did. The bus was empty, except for Kristi. Over the next 5 minutes, more people got on it, but the bus didn’t go anywhere. When it was 10 minutes before take-off, you could say I was in full blown panic mode. This flight I was about to miss was not just taking us from one place to another, it was taking us, and all of my luggage, to a different country. Thank the Lord for Kristi because she calmed me down a bit. When there were 8 minutes left until we were about to get left in Argentina, two more guys got on the bus and we started driving to the airplane. We waited for TWO DANG GUYS. And who’s idea was it to put our gate at the opposite end of the airport as the plane that the bus was taking us to? Luckily we made it to the plane, and we all got on safely. Kristi and I sat next to each other, drank tea and coffee, and watched modern family, almost like we planned to do when we get home!

Once we landed in Bolivia we had to go through a lot of steps to get through the airport. We had to pay a $53 fee and get everything checked twice to get through. It was about an hour long process to get all of us through.

Bolivia is a third world country, and you could tell pretty quickly as we were driving to our hotel. No tall buildings, rundown streets, people out walking in the rain, electric wires running all over the place…and we were in the downtown city portion. Flying in on the airplane we could see shacks for miles that were people’s homes. The downtown wasn’t too much different from other South American cities, just less dense. The town square reminded me of Córdoba. We were warned to be very cautious of pit pocketers here (people who will grab things from your pockets/bags and run with it).

Our hotel room is the nicest place we have stayed in yet. Kristi, Reva, and I are in a room together, and we each have our own bed! The shower is strange because you have to flip a switch to get warm water, and it’s really not even that warm. But our view is cool!

After we got there are got settled we walked around the downtown and went to dinner. I had 2 cups of tea (still feeling under the weather) and mini cheeseburgers. It’s been raining since we got here, but the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow! 

May 29: 15,635 steps in Córdoba, Argentina

Today is our last day in Córdoba, and our last day in Argentina. Last night was rough, so I’m very tired and I don’t have a lot of energy. Kristi and I spent the morning in a café while the rest of the group went on a walking tour. I decided to stay back because I wouldn’t be able to keep up all day. Kristi stayed behind with me, what a pal. Ana gave me some medicine to help with the drainage and congestion. It was a pill that dissolves pretty quickly. Ana said to either take it or put it in some lemon tea and drink that once it dissolves. I tried to just take the pill then almost choked on it because it started dissolving so quickly, so I went for the tea route. The tea didn’t taste the best, but the hot liquid felt good on my throat.

As Kristi and I were leaving the café to go meet up with the group, we heard loud banging. There was a bus full of people holding Argentina flags out of the windows chanting, and others on the bus were banging on drums. The bus was stopped in the street, and in front of it people were setting off firework bangs into the air. They must have been doing some find of protest. It was very loud. We wanted to stop and watch but at the same time we didn’t want to get ourselves into any trouble, so we kept walking.

We met up with the rest of the group at the downtown building for the college we visited yesterday. The dean of the school gave us a lecture on his most recent residential project. Today was also his birthday, so we sang to him!

For lunch we all went to an empanada place. We were all sitting at different tables because our party was too big, Judy, Ana, Ally, Paige, Kristi, and I were at a table together. Our waiter was a short plump little man, and he must have been in a bad mood because he treated us poorly. He came up to ask our order and we al told Ana what we wanted so she could translate. Once he realized we couldn’t speak English he got flustered and made Ana write down the order. Then whenever she asked him a question about something on the menu he got angry at her for not knowing. Ana told us from the beginning we will not be giving him a tip.

After we placed our orders Ana was telling us a funny story about Judy from last night. Ana, Judy, Ege, and Spodek went out for dinner and Judy was telling them how in China (she is Chinese) they eat really big breakfasts, and the small hostel breakfast was not going to be enough for her, so she wanted to order an additional cheeseburger for dinner to eat in the morning. Spodek was trying to convince her otherwise and she told him “I am Chinese. I am hungry.” Ana got a kick out of that and was cracking up telling us the story.

The grumpy waiter came back to ask Ally what side she wanted with her meal. Ana translated for her and told Ally to keep changing her mind, just to mess with the waiter. He ended up walking away and coming back a minute or so later.

Once we finished eating we added up our meal total for the bill. They don’t do taxes here so what is on the menu is the total. All of us combined total was $379 pesos. After having to wave him down about 4 times, the grumpy waiter told us an amount for our bill ($430 pesos). He didn’t actually give us a check that had this total. So Ana asked him for a printed copy to compare our totals with his. He had overcharged us. So Ana argued with him until she got her way and we paid the amount we had totaled up, not the grumpy waiter’s total. She sure knows how to take of us down here!

After lunch we got some ice cream and picked up our laundry. I feel so fresh and so clean now! I rerolled all of my clothes and shoved them into my packing cubes in my backpack suitcase. Surprisingly everything still fits, even with the small souvenirs I’ve gotten. I’ve just been putting them in my shoes when I pack.

Afterwards Paige and Ally took me and Kristi on the same walking tour they went on this morning, just a more accelerated version. We saw Iglesia del Sagrado Corazón, Museo de Bellas Artes Evita, and best of all Centro Cultural Córdoba. The building is set into the ground so people can walk all over the sloping roof. We raced up the big slope to the top. Kristi won.

On the way home from our walking tour we stopped by a market to get some snacks for the bus ride, and I found some halls cough drops! It’s the little things that mean so much when traveling abroad. Once we were all packed up we all walked the 15 minute hike to the bus terminal. I had my big green backpacker bag on my pack, and my portable small backpack on my front. I took up a lot of space in this get up. Plus I was holding a half full 2 liter bottle of water.

Once at the bus station Ana got us all some little chocolate treats, which were delicious. We had about an hour to kill at the bus station, so Kristi and I went to a restaurant that was similar to Steak n Shake. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich and a tea with lemon again. This time the waiter brought out squeezed lemon juice in a little shot glass sized cup. Once I got my tea made I just went for it and dumped all of the lemon juice in the tea. I instantly regretted my decision. I took a sip and it was on a higher level than a sour patch kid. There was no going back though, so I put 3 packets of sugar in it. That made it more bearable.

After that we went to the bus. We got in line to put our bags under the bus, and I heard some commotion towards the front of the line. By the time I got towards the front, I learned that people were upset because we had to tip the bus bag loader. A couple people tried to load their bags themselves, but the guy wouldn’t let them and took their bags from them. Kristi was in line in front of me and the guy took her bag and loaded it. She wasn’t going to tip him but he refused to give her her bag ticket until she gave him money. Ana was not having any of that. She gave him a piece of her mind. She was not upset about tipping the guy, but that he expected and demanded a tip.

So after that incident, I boarded the bus. Bus is an understatement. This thing is like the Taj Mahal on wheels. Our seats were like first class airplane seats. They leaned back super far and we had little feet props. I am pretty pleased as I sit here now typing from this luxurious spot.

Since I have some time now I thought I would reflect on the trip thus far. Today is officially the half way point in the trip, day 13 of 25. I have to say if it weren’t for Kristi I for sure would have lost my shit before now. She has held me together. Of the many moments I have had to vent or almost wanted to break down, she held my fragile little pieces together. She has made me drink coffee, and I kind of like it. I am sad when she is far away. Right now on this bus we are not sitting next to each other, and it is weird. We have discussed what we will do the day after we get back from South America if she isn’t sick of me. We will sleep in a big comfy bed, go eat pancakes and coffee for breakfast, float in a pool, then watch modern family and do nothing. It will be glorious.

I have compiled a list of things I am looking forward to when I return home:

My mom and dad’s voices

My full size not bunk bed with warm fleece blanket

Temperature and humidity controlled living space

Clean laundry

Talking to Mimi on the phone

Television, Netflix, and Harry Potter on DVD

Having wifi

My own room and shower

Hugging Brian

Fresh fruit and lettuce that is safe to eat

Water that is just water, not “agua con gas” in a bottle

English speaking

Cheap McDonald’s

Consistency in my schedule

American money

Burying my nose in a clean towel

My non flea infested dogs on leashes

Pancakes

Sleeping in

I have also compiled a list of things I will miss about South America after we leave:

The culture

People always out and about

Attempting to speak Spanish

Looking forward to new places

Hanging out with Kristi 24/7

Meeting and getting to know the students I am traveling with

Going out to dinner and coffee with the professors

Dogs everywhere

Platform shoes

Being humbled by living out of a bag

Being unplugged from the world

Café con leche y medialunas

Taking pictures of new exciting things

Trying to sketch

Mate

Blogging

Testing my comfort zone

Souvenir shopping

Empanadas 

May 28: 11,962 steps in Córdoba, Argentina

Today was my least favorite day of the trip so far. I woke up with a scratchy throat, and to find out that the laundry machine at the hostel was broken. Luckily there was a laundry mat down the street, so a bunch of us took our clothes there.

We spent the entire day at Facultad Arquitectura Urbanismo y Diseño Industrial (College of Architecture, Urbanism, and Industrial Design). We were split into groups and paired off with groups of their students to do a collaboration project. Kristi, Reva, and I were put in a group with 5 guys from the college. Only one of them spoke good English. 

The project they were working on was a 3 day design charrette where they had to design and build a piece of interactive furniture. Today was the last day of the project, so all of the groups were working on building their pieces to present later. We were all under the impression that we would be working on a design with the students for the project, but since it was the last day, they were obviously beyond the design phase. So our role for the day was to pretty much help them build their project. Which would have been fine if the group we were placed in had actually worked with us. 

Since only one of them could and would talk to us, he was pretty much in charge of giving us non-essential tasks to entertain us. Keep in mind these groups had 3 days to put this project together, so every minute is crucial to getting done on time. So this guy really did not have all day to tell us what to do when he could just do it himself in less time. Which is what ended up happening. After an hour of us drawing measurements on some wood only to have him erase them and so them himself, he told us to do some sketches to hang on the bulletin board that was in their project. Basically busy work to get us to go away. I don't blame him for wanting us to leave them alone because I would not want to be distracted by other random people if I had a deadline either. But we can only do so many random sketches. 

We went and got some lunch after a while and came back. The group kind of ignored our existence on more than one occasion when we tried to approach them for more work to do. So we got the hint after a while and went to another group with Ally, Ege, and Judy. They didn't need help either, and only one of them spoke English.

We talked to our fellow BSU classmates and apparently all of the other groups got pizza for them, except the guys we were paired with, which we were kind of mad about. Apparently the groups were given money to get us food because they knew we were coming to help them, so I'm not sure what the guys in our group did with the money they were given, but they definitely didn't buy us lunch, or even offer to eat with us. 

The 6 of us ended up practicing sketching on our own to pass the time. We started doing times sketches (1 minute, 30 seconds, 15 seconds) of random things around the area, like a tree or a wall. It was actually pretty fun and a good way to practice sketching and to think about what to focus on when doing a sketch in a small amount of time. We started filming each other while we sketched and then hyperlapsed the videos (watched them in fast forward), which was really cool. 

A couple of the groups actually did utilize the people from our study abroad group, so some of us got to help build the projects. All of the other groups at least invited their designated BSU humans to present the project with them, except for our group. They clearly did not want us around. 

It was no one's fault how today went. It was just really frustrating because we had nothing to do and no way to contribute to this project that was a big reason why we came to Córdoba in the first place. Plus I don't feel very good. 

The language barrier caused a huge rift in today. Collaborating with these students could have been very beneficial to both us and them, even if it was just linking pieces of wood together. At the end of the day Spodek gave a presentation in English and Ana translated to Spanish. I tried to pick up on some of the translation to better understand the language, but wasn't very successful. Kristi tells me you have good days and bad days when traveling abroad, and you just have to appreciate the good ones and get through the bad ones. Darn I hate when she's right. 

Kristi and I ended the evening with McDonald's in bed at 9:15pm, and I never left my bed after that. I fell asleep shortly after eating, and woke up a couple hours later with a headache and feeling achy. I tossed and turned all night, never getting back to sleep. At 5:00am I got up and went to the bathroom and decided to take a Tylenol because I had to be up in 3 hours and I was unbearably uncomfortable. It must have worked because I passed out within 10 minutes. 

May 27: 11,762 steps in Córdoba, Argentina

We left Iguazu this morning on an 11:40am flight, so we actually had a good amount of time to get our stuff together, eat breakfast, and leave the hotel. I checked my bag again, and it is still expanded, but hopefully I can try to carry it on for our next flight. The Iguazu airport is very small, with only 2 gates. We got there around 10:00am, but we couldn’t go through security until 10:45am because the flights before us and all of the passengers for them were still at the gates, so there wasn’t enough room to let us through. Kristi, Zach, and I went to a café to grab a bite to eat before going through security.

After we finally got through security, it was about 11:15am and the electricity went out at the airport. This must not be an uncommon thing because people didn’t seem too alarmed. It kicked back on about 10 minutes later and we were boarded within 20 minutes. Ana somehow got a first class seat for the flight, but she was trying to convince one of us to take her seat and trade her. She is too humble. We had to force her to take the first class seat. Later in the day she was making jokes about being in first class and how we were all below her. The flight we were on made a pit stop in a city called Rosaria to let a bunch of people off and a few more on, then we continued on to our final destination. Two take offs meant two sets of snacks!

We took a bus to the hostel, arriving around 5:00pm. I think this is my favorite place we have stayed so far. It seems to be very clean, our room for the 6 girls has its own bathroom, wifi is good, and we can do our laundry here! This town is a good size too. It definitely has the city vibe to it, but with not so many people or cars. There are a lot of cathedrals here. We went in 3 alone tonight that were within blocks of each other.

Kristi, Paige, and I went to a café before dinner and had the usual coffee and medialunas. We walked over after to the place where we were all having dinner to meet up. Ana, Spodek, and a couple of people from the group were already there and had mate before. Guess what brand of mate this place used? Amanda! All of their mate things had the Amanda name on it, including the mate cup itself! Ana asked the waitress if I could buy one from them and she gave me one for free! But she told me to put it in my purse so others wouldn’t ask for free handouts. For dinner I had pizza, too much pizza. I’m so full now.

May 26: 18,164 steps in Iguazu, Argentina

This morning we woke up at 3:00am to go to the airport for our 5:30am flight. As we were in line for bag check the flight got delayed until 8:00am for weather reasons in Iguazu. I had to expand my bag this morning because it just did not want to zip. And I had to check it at the airport because we can only have one carry on, which was my little purse thing. So that was a bummer. But other people in our group managed to slip by with two bags for carry on, so I don’t know how they pulled that off. We played a round of euchre at the airport and ate breakfast. Then around 7:30am the flight got delayed again until 9:00am. I blogged, sorted through photos, and napped to pass the time. We finally took off at 9:30am, 4 hours after we were supposed to leave. The plane was really nice at least. Kristi and I sat next to each other and I had a window seat. The plane had little TVs on each seat, so we watched a documentary on Haggia Sophia in Turkey and Modern Family. When we were landing, the ground snuck up on me because there was a thick layer of clouds. We couldn’t even see the ground until we were less than 100 feet from it. I wish we could have seen it without clouds because it was solid trees for miles. The airport was practically in the middle of the rainforest.

Once we got to Iguazu we took a bus to Iguazu National Park. We had to take a couple of trains to get deep enough into the rainforest to go to the Cataratas Falls. At the train stations there were little cóatis running around everywhere. They look like a mix between an antelope and an ant eater. They weren’t afraid to come right up to us. They were looking for food and would dart on and off of the trains when they were stopped at the stations. Apparently they can be pretty dangerous though, as there were warming signs scattered throughout the park about their claws or teeth cutting deep into your skin if you reach out to try to pet them.

To get to the falls, we had to walk along a series of bridges that led out to them. Most of them went over the water, which wasn’t very deep below us. It looked like a big shallow pond leading up to the falls. There were a lot of butterflies along this initial walk, and they kept landing on us. It was kind of drizzling throughout the day, which is to be expected in the rain forest I suppose.

We could tell when we were getting close to the falls because a big cloud of mist was rising up from the waterfalls. And we were getting wetter. The people walking back from the direction of the falls were pretty soaked.

Once we got up on them, we couldn’t even see the bottom they were so deep! It was the perfect panoramic view because literally everywhere we looked there was water pouring over the edge. It’s difficult to describe them because they were so amazing! I had a plastic bag around my camera and a rain jacket on over my backpack so I was able to view them up close without getting soaked to the bone.

After seeing the first set of falls, we walked back to the main area for lunch, and we saw a couple of monkeys! They were just running around the common area and then ran up into the trees. For lunch I had a cheeseburger (finally!) and some ice cream.

After lunch we went to a different path to go see more of the falls. This path winded through the rainforest most of the time, unlike the previous one. We got to walk over a couple of small waterfalls on this path. Again, the falls were amazing and indescribable! Even the consistent amount of rain coming down couldn’t distract from the views. We could see the bottom of this section of the falls, and could see the boat tours going through them. There were two boat tour options, one that was mild and one that was more intense where they actually drove the boat directly into the falls. The amount of force from the water hitting the bottom only allowed the boats to go so close before it forced them back out to gentler waters.

The path we were walking on was much longer and went deeper into the rainforest, but led to some spectacular views! We made it to the end of the trail just in time because it started to thunderstorm while we were out there, so we headed back.

At the hotel the girls were split up 3 and 3, so Kristi, Reva, and I shared a room. We all showered (although we were all already wet before the showers) and went into town for some dinner. Kristi and I shared a cheeseburger meal and pasta. While we were at the restaurant there were a couple of kids that came up to us at separate times trying to sell us little carved jungle animals. Ana ended up buying a couple from the little girl. These kids didn’t even have shoes on. It was very sad to see. It was strange because they were allowed to just come up to our table in a restaurant and try to sell us things, something that would never be allowed in the states. It was also bizarre that these young kids were just wondering the streets without shoes on trying to tell us things. My thoughts were similar to how I think about a homeless person in the states. Yes, I have pesos to give them, but where is the money really going? Surely not to buy these poor kids a pair of shoes. I made me feel bad for sitting there eating all of this food and refusing to buy a little toy from a kid. This isn’t the first time we have seen kids doing this. It isn’t necessarily uncommon here for people to be selling things on the streets for a little extra income.

After dinner Kristi, Ana, Spodek, and I went out for some ice cream and took a casual stroll back to the hotel, stopping in a few little shops along the way. Since tonight is our only night in Iguazu, we didn’t unpack our bags to the extent we have been in the last few locations. Kristi and I shared a full size bed, watched Disney Channel in Spanish, and looked at pictures from the day. Today was the first day Kristi has taken more photos than me! If you know me, you know I take a lot of photos.

Off to Córdoba tomorrow! 

May 25: 9,945 steps in Buenos Aires, Argentina

Today was our last day in Buenos Aires. We take off tomorrow morning for Iguazu. It has been a fun stay, but I am ready to move on. There are a lot of people here and I’m about over the hostel situation. Having 5 girls in one tiny room is tight, plus we are all trying to dry our laundry and it’s not working. Our room is so humid so nothing will dry. Luckily all of the girls are cool and we get along really well!

This morning Kristi, Ally, Paige, and I went to a café for a few hours to drink coffee, eat croissants and blog. It was so nice and relaxing!

For lunch we went to Ana’s apartment for facturas snacks. Her apartment is really cool and the pastries were delicious.

After lunch we rode a bus to La Boca. While waiting at the bus stop we witnessed our first Argentine car accident! I am amazed that was the first one we saw with the way they drive around here. La Boca is only a 5 minute bus ride, so much closer than yesterday’s ride. La Boca is a very colorful neighborhood, and I mean that literally. The majority of the buildings are painted bright colors. When the immigrants first moved to this area, there wasn’t a lot of money so they painted everything bright cheery colors to keep their moods high.

We went into the PROA Modern Art Museum and looked at the exhibit, walked around the market, then sat at a café and had coffee and pastries. Talk about a sugar high today. I finished 2 coffees in less than 24 hours! Also I found a brand of mate called ‘amanda,’ so I had to get it!

This evening was spent buying face lotion (because my face is super dried out for some reason), playing Egyptian Rat Screw, and packing my bag up. I may have to unzip the expandable portion of my bag, but I am going to try my hardest not to. There is a possibility that they will only allow us to carry on one bag total, not even a purse and backpack. So I may have to shove my purse into my backpack! There is also a possibility that the carry on size bag here is smaller than in the US, so I may have to check my bag. Off to Iguazu on a 5:30am flight tomorrow morning!

May 24: 28,673 steps in Buenos Aires, Argentina

This morning we took a bus to Recoleta, which is a neighborhood of Buenos Aires city. It was definitely a nicer part of town. Not that the inner city wasn’t, it was just less crowded and more open, with less cars and more green space. We looked at the Biblioteca Nacional Mariano Moreno, then Paige, Kristi, Ana and I got a much needed Starbucks. I was in need of something American and warm, because it was chillier today at 60ish degrees.

As we kept walking around we found a gomero tree, which was a giant tree with long branches that reached the ground in multiple places. It felt like a canopy when we walked underneath it. Definitely would have been fun to run around and play on it if you were a kid.

We went to the Cementerio de la Recoleta next, which is a giant cemetery for the wealthier people of the community. It has been around since 1816, and it is set up with family names on each of the “mausoleums” so there are multiple spaces for coffins as people of the family die. There was even a funeral going on today, so it appears that the cemetery is still “active” in a sense that they are still putting people’s coffins in the tombs. It was a bizarre setup to me because it felt like a normal town street, with little houses along the sides. There wasn’t a field of grass with tombstones scattered about like the states. And in a lot of the mausoleums you could see into the inside and see the coffins. That was so strange to me since we burry a coffin in the ground never to be seen again. I guess it makes sense in a way because at least if they are spending a decent amount of money on a nice coffin, then when family members come to pay their respects, they will see it still. We spend money on a fancy coffin only for it to be visible for a couple of days. At least they are getting their money’s worth this way!

This graveyard is also where Eva (Evita) Perón (1919 – 1952) is buried, the wife of Argentine president Juan Perón. She was the first lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death from cancer in 1952. She was loved by all of the people and even to this day people still remember her through various symbols throughout the city.

After the cemetery we walked through the market and admired all of the craftsmanship of the vendors. I bought an engraved piece of artwork. I want to try to collect a painting/type of artwork from each place that we visit. Something small, but I think it is so cool to see the different styles of art and the various subject matters that the artists focus in on. Also artwork is flat or can be rolled, so it makes for easy transportation on a carry-on bag!

On the bus ride back into downtown we drove by a huge line of soldiers on horses. Argentina’s Independence Day is tomorrow, so we assumed the soldiers had something to do with that. We found out later that this processional was actually because they were transporting a very important saber from hundreds of years ago. Apparently even the current president of Argentina was involved with it!

After we got back into downtown we walked around the San Telmo market, which was also full of vendors and various street performers. It was crowded but really cool to see all of the different types of people the market draws in. Some people were even able to speak English with us!

While walking through the market Kristi and I stumbled on another church, Parroquia San Elmo. (Kristi pictured below) Then we went to the market to get lunch, which consisted of bananas, a loaf of bread, a ham and cheese sandwich, and churros.

After lunch were supposed to meet up with Ana and Spodek to all go to Palermo, After waiting in front of Ana’s apartment for them for 40 minutes, we decided to go on our own. So we rode a bus to Palermo, another wealthier neighborhood within Buenos Aires. We underestimated how long it would take to get there by bus, because it was about a 30-40 minute ride. But once we finally made it, we walked through the botanical gardens, looked at the zoo (but did not go in because it was too expensive), and walked down to a side street to go through their street market, where we ended up finding Ana and Spodek.

Ana took us to see a clothing store that a couple of her architecture friends from The University of Buenos Aires designed in the neighborhood. It was a really cool modern design, but we weren’t allowed to take pictures. We all walked into the store cameras ready when 2 of the employees rushed up to us and said something in Spanish, but were motioning at the cameras, so we figured out that they didn’t want us taking pictures. So we obeyed and continued walking into the tiny store. We walked up a big ramp to the main portion of the store. There was another monumental ramp that lead up to the next level, so naturally we kept walking up, but again were scolded (in Spanish) that we shouldn’t be going up there because it was staff only. My thought was ‘who makes a monumental ramp that everyone is going to want to walk up that leads to a place where we aren’t allowed?’ So we stayed off the second ramp and continued looking around. There was a set of stairs in the back of the store that lead down to an outdoor terrace, which was also very inviting. So a couple of students started to walk down them and we were scolded again for going where we weren’t supposed to go. We started making our way towards the exit down the first ramp we came up and one student reached his hand up to touch the ramp above so see what the material was like, and that apparently wasn’t okay because one of the workers started rushing us out the door with her hands and in fragmented English told us not to come back. So we are standing outside the door to this place and told Ana what happened, and she was not happy. She marched her little self back in there and gave them a piece of her mind. In the mean time we are all watching through the glass façade entrance. After a couple of minutes of her shaking her hands and sternly talking to the employees, she comes back out. Apparently one of the girls thought that we had called her stupid, but Ana told her ‘how could they have called you stupid if they don’t speak Spanish?’ It was a really funny experience, to say the least.

We took the subway back into town to save ourselves a lot of time on a bus, grabbed some dinner, and went back to the hostel. I played a round of euchre with Bryce, Zach, and Paul. Apparently I play euchre very intensely and at a quick speed.

It’s officially been one week since we left the US to come down here. It feels like it has been so much longer. This isn’t the first time I have been away from home or my family for a week. This isn’t the first time I have traveled away for a week. This isn’t the first time I have left the country for a week. But it feels so much different. I’m used to being in what I would consider luxurious environments. I know the people I am around, it is clean, I have my own room, or at least my own bed and own space to retreat to, I am familiar with the food…traveling is a very unique and humbling experience. I’ve started developing these thoughts and habits (like wanting to go sit by myself without people around) and Kristi says that is called being an introvert. This lifestyle is foreign to me, and I don’t understand it. I have never not wanted to be around people! It has been eye opening how spoiled I am at home. I have all of the luxuries I could ever ask for at the tip of my fingers. Air conditioning, soft water, a washer and dryer, a big comfy clean bed, television, a refrigerator full of food…I have to say I can’t wait to get back to that familiarity. But I know this trip will make me a stronger person and I will be able to carry these experiences with me for the rest of my life.