Advertisement
Published: February 9th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Well everyone I've been back home for a couple of days and I have to admit that it's been a bigger than usual struggle to get back into the routine of life. That usually happens when you had such a great time, and it ends sooner than you wanted. What makes it even worse is my new Dutch friend Coline, who I met on the trip, writes me an email teasing me about how she is traveling all over Argentina while I'll be working. Sigh! I guess you can say that I'm crying for Argentina.
It all started in Buenos Aires, where I met Joe and Di (Joe's girlfriend) at the famous Obelisco in the heart of the city. The Obelisco is the centerpiece for the widest avenue in the world, 9 de Julio. It's twelve lanes from one end to the other, and it is impossible to walk across it in just one signal light. The first thing we did was go to a cafe, eat empanadas, and people watch. This was a recurring theme during the my entire time in Buenos Aires. Go visit Evita's grave, then hang out at a cafe. Shop along the outdoor pedestrian mall
on Avenida Florida, then relax at the cafe. Stroll through the artsy district of San Telmo, then escape the heat at the cafe. It's definitely a life style that I can adopt. In fact, Joe's Argentinian friend, Raul hangs out at the same cafe almost everyday to talk with his friends about "absolutely nothing". Too bad Americans don't know how to relax and talk about nothing.
Of all the cities that I have been to in Latin America, I would have to say the Buenos Aires is the cleanest and most comfortable. It still is difficult for me to comprehend that Argentina has been in economic turmoil for the past eight years, when the quality of living is still so high. I think the biggest highlight of my time in Buenos Aires was when Raul ( he is the manager of the Patagonia store in Buenos Aires, and thus the connection with Joe) invited us over to his house, and later out to dinner. It is these experiences of hanging out with a local that I feel best because you are getting a truer feeling about the place you visit, which the normal traveler doesn't get. It gives you
a better perspective of how people in a different culture live there lives, and in essence you realize that it is really not too different from your own. Everyone around the world has the same hopes, ambitions, and dreams. We went out to dinner one night, and then the next day Raul took us to Tigre, a city about 30 minutes drive outside of BA that hosts a cool outdoor market, and nice homes along the waterfront. Thanks for being such a great host Raul.
Okay, here is the roster for our team of travelers. The three Dutch girls, Coline, Bertine, and Sandra. Coline and Bertine are sisters, and Sandra is their childhood friend. The three of them were by far the rowdiest and most fun in the group. They actually sang pretty well in harmony when everyone was encouraged to sing their national anthem. We never got to play Bertine's favorite camp game, bottle futbol, but they were definitely an entertaining group. Lara from Melbourne, Australia was the most distinguished member of our group. She is a diplomat, who lives in New York and does work with the United Nations. She had some cool stories about her experiences
in Bosnia. Robert is a Canadian from British Columbia. He was by far the strongest hiker of the group. He works for the forest service in Canada, so long hikes for him are nothing. Brian is from the UK, or to be more specific "the midlands". Brian had been traveling all over Central and South America for over three months and was nearing the end of his trip. Brian's distinction is having an electronic bug zapper which looked like a tennis racket. He would get odd looks from both the locals and the travelers as he hiked the trails with this racket outside of his backpack. Gouri and Shyla were an Indian couple who were originally from Bangalore, India but now reside in the Bay Area in Fremont. Gouri works for BMC software, which just happened to be bought by Oracle while they we on the trip. Then there were the Americans. Masumi who is from New York, was by far the craziest person in the group. At the first meeting, she turned heads by saying that she wanted to go scuba diving in the freezing waters of Ushuia. Now if you ever met her, you would never expect this from her. She is a petite 5'4" and looks like she is eighteen even though she is much older. Anyways, she did it, and probably has more guts than anyone in the group. And then finally bringing up the rear, and adding to the stereotype of the lazy ass Americans, were Joe, Di, and I. We had the unfortunate distinction of being the three oldest in the group, but at the same time, mentally we were probably the youngest. Our fearless leader was Tom who was from the UK. He had started on this around the world trip when he ended up in Argentina and decided to stay for awhile. He got this job as a guide for Gap and the rest is history. Tom was constantly harping on my poor Spanish grammar. He did a great job of dealing with a diverse group of personalities.
Next time, the national parks.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.052s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 46; dbt: 0.0273s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb