Cordoba, why are you so good to me?

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After the natural wonder that is Iguazu Falls, it was time to head further south to 3 of the major cities in Argentina: Cordoba, Mendoza and Buenos Aires. First up, Cordoba. The direct bus from Puerto Iguazu to Cordoba was supposed to take a mere 21 hours but it ended up taking 25. Go figure. At least we had 6 (yes, 6!) movies to keep us somewhat sane the whole time. The bus was pretty empty, but the two other gringos on the bus and I found a hostel together when we got to Cordoba. I´m no expert, but Tango Hostel has to be one of the best hostels in Argentina. It´s small, so you get to meet people easily, and everyone that works there under 30, or 25 even. A totally laid-back atmosphere, and the homemade meals they served each night for only $3 US were delicious. Checkout time was 12:30pm (most hotels in Argentina are 10AM) and you could order breakfast at any time of the day. That´s right, even those who went out and partied till 7 in the morning could still get their breakfast when they woke up at 3pm in the afternoon (but I didn´t partake in the 3pm breakfasts, I swear).

And let me tell you something about Cordoba...Cordoba, Cordoba, Cordoba. Except for Cusco, Peru, I have by now already visited all the planned cities on my trip, and Cordoba has been my favorite by far. The city itself is beautiful, and in terms of its size reminds me of Philadelphia with a population of 1.3 million (which probably is another reason I liked it so much). Besides that, the general vibe of the city is pretty exciting as it is the premier university city in all of Argentina. The people of Cordoba also might be some of the nicest, most laid-back people I have ever met. The city of Cordoba alone rivaled the friendliness of the Cuban people when I was there three years ago. That isquite a feat indeed, as you will be hard-pressed to find a friendlier group of people than the Cubans. In Cordoba, I was simply overcome by it. From the people at the hostel to the taxi drivers to the guy at the corner store, everyone was simply chill. And they weren´t overdoing it or being tourist-friendly, that´s just how they are. Cordoba isn´t a touristy city by any means (definitely a good thing). You also have some of the most beautiful women in all of Argentina, which doesn´t hurt at all (Even though I haven´t been all the over world, I think I can still say that Argentina has to have one of the highest averages of beautiful women in the world). And on top of all that, you have the surrounding Sierra mountains with numerous little towns that make for the perfect weekend getaway for relaxing, fishing, camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, paragliding, skydiving...you name it, they got it.

I arrived in Cordoba on a Tuesday and was disappointed by the rain that hung over the city for the next couple days. Although my pictures came out bleak and dreary those first few days, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Two nights that week, Wednesday and Thursday, I went out to a few boliches (dance clubs) with friends from the hostel. Let´s just say that Cordobeses know how to party. Even on a Wednesday night the club was packed until it closed at 5am. The next night we went to another club till at closed at 5am (on the weekends they close later) and after that went to an after-hours club that we left at around 8am. They just never stop. By Friday, after 2 long nights, I was toast, and would barely drink much for the next few days.

That Friday night, I went to a local´s house, Cesar, a friend of my sister´s. I had only planned to have dinner with him and his girlfriend and then head back to the hostel, but he lived so far from downtown that I suddenly found myself staying the night. I didn´t complain, as they had a nice house and it was very tranquilo (relaxing). The next day I had planned to leave in the early afternoon, as the entire family was coming from Buenos Aires for a cousin´s wedding. I definitely didn´t want to interrupt family time, but I found myself staying there the whole day until the family came and Cesar invited me to the wedding! I couldn´t believe it! From what started as a harmless dinner turned into staying overnight to going to an Argentinean wedding. Hah! Oddly enough, I had never even been to a wedding before. All my relatives live in Europe (read: expensive flight) and luckily none of my friends have been dumb enough, err I mean, careless enough, to get married. My sister´s wedding was supposed to be my first wedding, but it was not meant to be.

So anyways...

I get invited to the wedding, but of course I didn´t have a suit. I even had to go and buy a toothbrush at the corner store. I had nothing. Cesar showed me his father´s suit to try on. It looked like it fit, but I told him right away that I just couldn´t do it. He had told me the day before that his dad had passed away some 10 years ago, and this seemed like the most disrespectful, heinous thing I could do. But he would have none of it. ¨No te preocupes, esta bien,¨ he said (Don´t worry, it´s fine). I was hesitant, but if I wanted to go to this wedding I had to give in, so I did. We arrived at the wedding (all 8 of us) just as the ceremony was starting. The wedding was held in the event hall of a pretty exclusive private community on the outskirts of Cordoba. There were less than a 100 people, most of them relatives or close friends (Cesar has dozens and dozens of cousins). After some food and drink, that´s when the dance party started. I had totally not expected an Argentinean wedding to be like this, let alone any wedding, but there was the DJ spinning electronic music like in the hottest clubs. Of course, everyone had been curiously eyeing the pale gringo with red hair and glasses for much of the night already, and Cesar must have told the story of how he knew me (through my sister) dozens of times. My voice was still so hoarse from the nights of revelry before that I couldn´t even talk much. But I figured, what the heck, I´m here at an Argentinean wedding, of all friggin places, I might as well enjoy myself. I danced the night away with raucous approval from the other guests. Most of the guys weren´t dancing much, so if it was the gringo that had to pick up the slack, then so be it. I think they definitely respected the celebratory mood of the gringo. Oh and did I mention the women? Of course every woman there was gorgeous, especially the bride, Dolores. Her now-husband Claudio is pretty lucky to say the least.

At about 3am the electricity went out, so Cesar got his conga from his car (which he had conveniently decided to bring) and started a jam session. At one point someone´s car stereo system was used to keep the dancing going, but that only lasted so long. Awhile later, the power came back on and the DJ continued until 7am.

After some more relaxing at Cesar´s house the next day, I made my way back to the hostel downtown. I had told everyone I was going out for dinner on Friday, but of course had never planned to disappear the whole weekend. Even though I called the hostel to let them know I was alive (the girl on the phone got a kick out of that: ¨Oh, ok!¨) the day before, everyone was still shocked to see me after being gone for 2 days. They all thought I had just had too much fun with a chica, but after about 2 hours in the hostel I had already told the story about 8 times or so, and would tell it many more times over the coming days. What a weekend.

I had originally planned to leave Cordoba by then, but I loved it so much that I decided to stay a few more days, for a total of 9. I explored the city a lot more and went one day to the town of Alta Gracia, the site of a Jesuit Estate and Che Guevara´s old house. Che´s house was especially fascinating for me after having been to Cuba and writing a thesis on the country. I spent 1.5 hours at the museum while most people do it in 30 minutes. I´m weird like that I guess. Che was born in the city of Rosario, but he and his family moved to dry Alta Gracia because of his asthma problems. The original house contained scores of fascinating photos and artifacts, including the infamous ¨El Poderoso¨ motorbike with which he did his famed trip through South America that changed his life and, later, the world. Seeing that, THE bike, was just amazing. There was even a photo exhibit documenting a visit to the museum by Fidel Castro and his good old pal Hugo Chavez in July 2006. For those 90 minutes in there, I was a total dork. No shame.

My last couple days in Cordoba were spent relaxing, more city exploring, including the city park, a few museums and beautiful Jesuit architecture, and staying another night with Cesar and his girlfriend Suzanna, going to a classic Argentinean asado (barbecue) at a friend´s house. We ate and drank the night away, and the Cuban cigar I gave to Cesar´s friend Gonzalo (one of only two left from my trip to Cuba) was especially well-received.

And that´s that. The next night I left Cordoba to go to Mendoza. I never thought it would happen, but I was a little sad to leave Cordoba. If I wanted any time for Mendoza and Buenos Aires though, the show had to go on. Even a couple weeks later Cordoba still seems fresh in my mind. I liked it so much that I wouldn´t mind going back to Cordoba to live there for awhile. Maybe some day.

At the barbecue that night, Gonzalo had asked me: ¨Por que te vas de Cordoba, la joda esta aca!¨ (Why are you leaving, the PARTY is here!). Maybe you´re right, Gonzalo, maybe you´re right...

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Photos

Public Bathroom, Sarmiento Park
Don't ask why I took this picture. If you really want to know, by this point of my trip I was just sick of the generic smile-at-the-camera-with-a-beautiful-background photos

The Wedding of Dolores and Claudio
On the left is Suzanna, Cesar's girlfriend, and on the right is Mariana, Cesar's sister. And in the middle? Well that's Dolores. I don't think I need to comment on that.

Sisters and friends
From left to right: Luka, Janina's son; Mariana; Lorena; another cousin named Dolores; Janina. All were sisters of Cesar except for Dolores.

Keeping the party going
The electricity went out at about 3, 3.30 AM. Somehow anticipating this, Cesar had brought his drum and he and the bride kept the party going.

El Poderoso
Yes, this is the original bike that Che used to traverse South America on his trip chronicled in "The Motorcycle Diaries." Very, very cool.

Comments

[Juanma]

Congratulations!
what a nice trip you had! it seems that you had so much fun in Cordoba, you should come to Entre Rios (Argentina) someday LOL...see you!

[Folkert]

what a super life..
Bernie, what a super trip and the stories with it. Thanks for sharing and the time you spare to write it ...for us! More so! Folkert in Brussels

[Suse]

Che!
Che como estas? estoy en alemania :( y vos? que haces? todo bien? te pienso! hasta luego, susita!