Patagonia

Brace yourself for a long blog post:

The final trip I took in Argentina was to Patagonia, in the south. I went with two friends, and we planned a week-long trip, stopping at El Chaltén, El Calafate, and Ushuaia. It was an absolutely amazing trip, and quite possibly my favorite trip I took this semester. It was a great way to end the semester!

On the first day, we flew in to El Calafate, and then took a 3 hour bus ride to El Chaltén, which is Argentina’s newest city (founded in 1985) and home to the best trekking in Argentina (according to my Lonely Planet guidebook). The bus ride was beautiful, with a constant, breathtaking view of the mountains surrounding us. After we arrived in El Chaltén, we checked into our hostel and went and ate dinner with a cool little restaurant that had cool signs and pictures hanging all over, and the waiter there was super impressed with our Spanish – he said we sounded like natives! We think he was just trying to get a bigger tip, but it was still nice to hear.

On the second day, we went hiking. We hiked the Fitz Roy trail, which is an 8 hour, 25 km/15 mi trail that went uphill pretty much the whole way. It was pretty intense! However, it was insanely beautiful. The mountains were picturesque, with snow on the peaks. The trail took us through the mountains to the Fitz Roy overlook. The Fitz Roy is the largest mountain in El Chaltén, and it’s certainly a sight to see. With the clouds hanging around its peak, it almost looks like a volcano – that’s actually where the name of El Chaltén came from. The natives thought that it was a volcano, so in their native language (I don’t remember what it was called) “El Chaltén” means the ash that surrounds a volcano. We continued on the trail, through trees and across streams and up and down the mountain, until we came to a sign that said “Danger: must be in good physical condition to continue on this trail”. We kept on going, and we soon found out the reason for that sign: the trail was super, super steep, and kept going and going. You kept thinking you’d seen the top, but then you get there and realize you’re not even close. It was super difficult, and what made it more difficult was the fact that there were a bunch of old people flying up this trail, passing us with ease while we were barely able to breathe. However, we eventually made it up to the top, and it was totally worth it. We climbed over the top and were greeted with a view of a lake nestled in a crater-ish thing between several mountains, which were covered with snow. It was so peaceful and serene, and there are no words I can use to adequately describe how beautiful it was. We sat up there, ate lunch, rested, enjoyed the view, and took lots of pictures. Eventually it was time to begin the long trek back. After several hours, we arrived back at the hostel, completely exhausted but very happy. We cooked dinner, showered, and went to bed early, ready for another day of hiking.

On the third day, we woke up super sore from our previous hike. We still wanted to take advantage of all the trails in El Chaltén (and the nature that is nonexistent in Buenos Aires) so we decided to do two short trails: the Mirador de los Cóndores and the Mirador de las Águilas. These were about an hour each, and took us up to a place where we had a panoramic view of the city and the surrounding mountains. Again, it was very peaceful and tranquil there. We hopped on a bus that evening to go back to El Calafate and begin the next leg of our trip.

Our stay in El Calafate began with a hike around the Laguna Nimez to go birdwatching on the fourth day of our trip. There were tons of birds around – even flamingos! I must say I never expected to see flamingos in Patagonia, but I did! I also found snipes, which do exist! I guess snipe hunting might actually be a real thing then. It was super windy this day, making it a little bit chilly. Overall, Patagonia wasn’t as cold as I expected it to be. We wore layers, but we did so much hiking that we stayed toasty. After hiking around the lake, we went shopping in the city for awhile. We picked up several gifts for family and friends at home, but the best part was that we discovered a pastry called a “cañoncito”. It had dough kind of like a croissant but a little different, and it was stuffed with dulce de leche. It was so good we had to return to this confitería the next day to get more! After shopping, we went back to the hostel and at an asado with other people staying there. It was super delicious, and it never ended – they just kept bringing out more and more meat, and they looked so sad when we told them we couldn’t eat any more! With our bellies full and our bodies tired from hiking, we went to bed.

On the fifth day, we went to go visit the most popular attraction in El Calafate: the glacier Perito Moreno.  We didn’t actually walk on it, but we went to the National Park area, where they had metal walkways set up around it, so you could walk around it and look at it. They also had a boat tour that takes you up super close to the glacier, which we did. It was so impressive, and so huge. It made me feel very small. Every so often, small chunks would fall off of the glacier, which sounded like thunder, and splashed into the water below. It was quite the sight to see! My friends and I had gotten very little sleep during this trip, so we had a moment of slap-happiness walking around the glacier, making it even more fun. After the glacier, we returned to the confitería we found to eat more cañoncitos, then bought pasta and made mac ‘n cheese for dinner, which was the first time I’d had mac ‘n cheese since being in Argentina! We finished up our last night in El Calafate with our typical dessert of fruit and dulce de leche.

On the sixth day, we left El Calafate to go to Ushuaia aka the end of the world. It’s the southernmost city in the world (before Antarctica), so it rightfully gets the name “el fin del mundo”. It’s beautiful there. It’s a tiny city right on the coast, with mountains all around. I think this was the part of Patagonia I was most excited to visit, because we went to go see penguins! We took a boat tour that took us around Ushuaia. We saw an island with cormorants (a type of birds), another with sea lions, and then one with Magellinic and Gentoo penguins! The boat got super close to the island (we couldn’t get off on the island and walk around – there’s only one company that’s allowed to do that) and we got to watch the penguins waddle around the beach for awhile. There were a couple who would swim up close to the boat and then speed away, like the scene from Finding Nemo where they touch the “butt”. They were so adorable!  I really wanted to take a couple home with me, but I don’t think I had enough room in my suitcase for that. This was the highlight of the Patagonia trip for me.

On the seventh day, we went to the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego to do some hiking. It was beautiful, and despite the fact that we walked on a often-traveled trail it felt like we were the only ones who had been to this part of the world. It was so quiet and tranquil. The trail started by a lake, then would wind through some trees for awhile, then would pop out on a small, rocky beach, then go back in the trees. It kept this up the whole way. We met someone from Holland and someone from Denmark on the trail, and we all stopped on one of the beaches to take a break and drink some mate. It was so serene and peaceful, drinking mate on the beach with mountains in the background. We finished that hike, ate a late lunch, then headed back to the hostel. The week had caught up to us, and we were exhausted. We rested for awhile, then went out to a restaurant to try some Patagonian food. I had lamb, which was pretty good! I’d never tried lamb before coming to Argentina, but I’ve eaten it a couple times and I like it. We went to bed early, ready for one more day in Patagonia.

On the eighth and final day in Patagonia, we decided to explore the town some more. Our flight left in the evening, so we didn’t really have time to go hike some other trails, but we did some exploring! We walked by the waters and discovered some yummy cafes. It’s a really cute, colorful city. We were all pretty tired, so we just wanted to do something chill. Eventually we went to the airport, and went to head back to Buenos Aires, with some delay (it wouldn’t be Argentina if everything went smoothly!) The BsAs airport we were originally supposed to fly into got changed to the international one that’s super far away, which was annoying. We found out they did that because they had to switch to a bigger plane – however we got on that plane, and it was only half full, if that. It was one of the bigger, international planes that have 8 seats in a row and the tv screens built into the seats. It was a nicer plane than the international ones I flew to/from the US and BsAs! It was such a waste. We got there eventually, hopped on a shuttle that took us to the original airport, and we took a taxi home from there (much cheaper than a taxi from the international one!). We finally got home around 2 AM. Traveling was a pain, but it was totally worth it.

I’m so glad I got the chance to travel to Patagonia! It was definitely a trip of a lifetime, and I got to spend it with great friends. I definitely want to go back someday to see more of it, because it’s huge and there’s so much I didn’t get to see.

I took TONS of pictures (mostly of mountains) on this trip, so here are a few of my favorites: 

 Beginning of the Fitz Roy trail

 Hiking the Fitz Roy trail

 Fitz Roy

 Selfie!

 Lago de los Tres, which was the end of the Fitz Roy trail and absolutely beautiful.

 Laguna Nimez

 Perito Moreno Glacier

 Penguins in Ushuaia

 Andes

 Hiking in the Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego

 Ushuaia

 Argentine flag at a stop on the bus ride from El Calafate to El Chaltén

 Laguna Nimez

 Perito Moreno Glacier

 Perito Moreno Glacier

 Penguins in Ushuaia

Thanksgiving Away from Home

For the first time ever in my life, I spent Thanksgiving away from home. It was definitely weird to be away from family and friends for this day, but I got to spend it with friends on the beaches of Uruguay, so I think that makes up for it!

My program, IFSA, took everyone on the program to Uruguay for Thanksgiving weekend. It was nice, because it was just around when I started to get really homesick and ready to go home that I got to go on this awesome trip.

On Thursday, we got up early to take a 3 hour ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay. From there, we went to the house of Mario, our program director. It was so beautiful! It's a bed and breakfast type building on a lemon farm, with lemon trees, a little pond, a quaint house, a pool, and an outdoor dining patio. The weather was also perfect - warm, sunny, hardly a cloud in the sky. Mario served us a real Thanksgiving meal, too, complete with turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and even pecan and pumpkin pie! It was a nice taste of home, and super delicious. We spent the afternoon at his house in Colonia, chilling by the pool, drinking mate with friends, eating chorizo, and playing cards. Super relaxing, and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

In the evening we went to the different hostels we were staying in, and got a tour of the old part of the city. It's a very quaint and old city, with lots of Spanish and Portuguese influence. The tour happened during sunset, so we got a lot of beautiful views of the sunset over the beach.

The next day we got up bright and early to hop on a bus to go to Punta del Este. After about 3.5 hours, we arrived to our apartments that we were staying in. That's right, apartments - IFSA put us in super nice, beautiful apartments, which none of us were expecting. We got there, got rooms figured out, and then some friends and I spent the afternoon at the beach. After the beach, we had an asado for dinner at the pool area of the building. I learned that nothing brings out people's true colors like a buffet. Some people acted like this was their last meal and stampeded the tables as soon as the food came out, sitting there so they could get each new course before anyone else while others were waiting patiently in line. There was plenty of food to go around though, so there efforts to consume all of the food were in vain. After dinner, some friends came to the apartment I was staying in with Natalie and Rachel to celebrate Hanukkah and to light the menorah. After that, we took a walk to the beach to look at the stars and just hang out. It was nice to be able to see the stars again after being in the city for so long - that's actually one of the things I really miss.

The next day was spent all at the beach. We walked to go see La Mano, which is a giant hand that is reaching out of the sand (you may remember from my last blog post that I went and saw it the weekend before with some NU friends). It was very nice and relaxing, especially after the hectic chaos that is life in Buenos Aires. For dinner, IFSA took us to a restaurant that really loved their karaoke. They would play random songs that no one knew, and ask people to sing them. Several people got up and rocked out, though, which was fun to watch.

On Sunday we left to go back to Buenos Aires. We hopped on buses to go back to Colonia to take the ferry, and from there concluded an awesome Thanksgiving weekend. It was definitely a very relaxing and fun weekend. If I couldn't spend Thanksgiving at home, I would choose to spend it this way. We made in back to Buenos Aires, and I had one day in the city before leaving for my epic, week-long Patagonia trip (blog post about that to be posted soon). So much traveling in the last few weeks, but I wouldn't have it any other way!

Pictures from Thanksgiving in Uruguay:

 Mario's house

 Mario's house

 Sunset in Colonia

 Sunset in Colonia on the tour of the city

 House in Colonia from the tour

 Lighthouse in Colonia from the tour

 The view of Punta del Este from our apartment

Our awesome apartment!

Montevideo and Buenos Aires with Friends

Last week I finished all of my classes and began a whirlwind, travel-filled final 3 weeks in Argentina. On Thursday, my friend (and future roomate!) Meghan, who's studying in Santiago, Chile, came to Buenos Aires. Together we went to Montevideo, Uruguay to visit our friend Kevin for the weekend. We got there late Thursday, so we just got dinner and checked into the hostel.

On Friday, we took a day trip to Punta del Este, which is about a 2 hour bus ride away from Montevideo and full of beaches. It was a beautiful weekend - the weather was perfect. We decided to follow a circuit thing around Punta del Este that had different stops and cool things to see, but we ended up misreading the map and going the completely wrong direction and getting quite lost. However, it was an adventure and we ended up seeing a part of the city tourists don't normally see! After getting un-lost, we went and hung out at the beach for the afternoon. It was awesome being able to relax and catch up with some Northwestern friends in South American. After the beach, we went back to Montevideo, cleaned up, and went to a parrilla for dinner. It was so delicious - I'm going to miss these parrillas when I go back to the US!

On Saturday, we took a walk around the boardwalk of Montevideo in the morning. It was beautiful, and made me wish that Buenos Aires had beaches. Everywhere we went we saw people drinking their mate - they're super obsessed with it there. After walking around the boardwalk, we went to la ciudad vieja (the old city), which is the oldest part of the city, and walked around. They had a bit of a craft fair, so we did some shopping. We also got chivitos for lunch, which are the food to eat in Montevideo. They're like hamburgers, but with ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, different kinds of mayo, and tons of other stuff. They're huge, but super delicious! I have no idea how people can finish them (see below for a picture). Saturday evening Meghan and I returned to Buenos Aires, and she stayed here for a few days with some of her friends from Santiago and I got to be Tour Guide Sarah once again.

On Sunday, we went to the feria in San Telmo and bought some souvenirs - specifically, some awesome, colorful, super comfy Argentine pants! Afterwards we went to La Casa Rosada (the pink house) which is where the president works, and got a tour inside. It almost looked more like a museum than a government building. After that, we went to dinner and had some delicious pizza with ice cream for dessert.

On Monday, I took Meghan and her friends to Recoleta. We went on a tour of the cemetery. I've been to the cemetery a couple times before, but never took the tour, so it was cool to hear the history behind several of the tombs. After that we walked around a bit, got lunch, and saw the giant metal flower that opens during the day and closes at night. We tried to go the the Museo de Bellas Artes, but it was closed. After that we went to a parrilla where they were having a happy hour - 40% as long as you finished in an hour. It was super, super delicious, and a mountain of food. After we were stuffed from dinner, Meghan and I went back to her hostel and we skyped some friends together.

Tuesday was a dreary, gray day. However, we didn't care and went to the Jardín Japonés (Japanese gardens) and walked around a bit. This was my first time going there, and they were very beautiful. I'm sure they'd be much prettier on a sunny day. After that, it started to rain more so to get out of the rain we went to the Evita museum. I'd been before, but it was just as interesting the second time as the first. After that, Meghan had to catch her flight to return to Santiago, ending a super busy but super fun weekend. I'm so happy that I got a chance to hang out with friends while in South America.

Tomorrow I leave to go back to Uruguay with my program to celebrate Thanksgiving. This is my first Thanksgiving ever not at home, which is kind of weird. I miss my family, but I'm excited to celebrate it with all my friends here! We're going to the house of our program director in Colonia, then spending a couple days in Punta del Este. It should be a great weekend. After that, I have 1 day in Buenos Aires and then I leave with 2 other friends to go to Patagonia for a week, which I'm SUPER excited about. We're going to the "end of the world" to see glaciers and penguins! After that, I only have 3 days left in Argentina, and then it's back to the US for a few weeks. So much to do, so little time!

Here are some pictures from my travels this weekend:

 La Mano - a sculpture on the beach in Punta del Este, Uruguay

 Still can't figure out how to rotate these, but my friend Meghan and me!

 The 3 of us in Punta del Este

 La playa

 Chivito!

 Other view of a chivito - it's huge!

 Selfies in La Casa Rosada

 Painting in La Casa Rosada

 View from the balcony of La Casa Rosada

 Cemetery of Recoleta

 Parrilla!

 La Jardín Japonés

Where did the time go?

It's hard to believe, but I only have 3.5 weeks left in Argentina. There's still so many things left that I want to do, and not enough time to do them!

A couple weeks ago I went to La Noche de los Museos, which is the night of the museums (not like the movie though - unfortunately, nothing comes to life after dark!). It's a night where all of the museums in the city and the transportation to and from the museums is completely free. I took advantage of this with some friends and we went to El Museo de la Lengua y el Libro (Museum of Language and Books), MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires) and the Planetarium. There were long lines and huge crowds, but it was definitely worth it cause everything was free.

I also went to the Teatro Colón to see the ballet Cenicienta (Cinderella) with a couple of friends, which has been on my bucket list forever! Our seats were super high up so it was difficult to see, but it was still awesome. It's a beautful theater (see pictures below).

Last weekend my friend Kevin, who is studying in Montevideo, came to visit me for a couple days. I became Tour Guide Sarah, and we only got lost a couple times! We went to see the march of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, who march every Thursday at 3:30 in the Plaza de Mayo and have been since the dictatorship in search of their loved ones who have disappeared and to protest the dictatorship. It was really neat to see. We went out tango and salsa dancing at night, which was a lot of fun because we're dance partners back at Northwestern. We visited El Ateneo, an old theater-turned-bookstore (and only walked 8 blocks in the wrong direction trying to find it!), stumbled upon an orchestra concert, and went to the feria in Recoleta to buy gifts for friends back home. We also had tons of good food - we found a delicious cafe for brunch and I ate Nutella french toast. Om nom nom! It was a great weekend.

I've already finished two of my classes, and I finish my other two tomorrow, which is crazy to believe. I feel like I just started them a week ago! Once classes are finished, I'm going to be traveling a lot. I'm planning a trip to Montevideo to visit Kevin with my friend Meghan who is studying in Santiago, Chile; a trip back to Uruguay with my program; and a trip to Patagonia to (hopefully!) see some penguins (my mom wants me to take one back to the US for her - I'm not sure that's such a great idea!). These last few weeks here are going to be super fun, but super busy.

As it's almost Thanksgiving and my friends at home are getting ready to go on break to see each other, I'm starting to miss home a bit more. I love it here, but there's just some things that I miss from home, like:
1). My mom's banana bread. And chocolate chip cookies. And macaroni and cheese.
2). Food with lots of flavor. Seriously, no one here can handle any bit of spiciness in their food.
3). Friends and family and the boyfriend, of course!
4). Personal space while traveling - not having to share your personal bubble with 5 other people when it's 90 degrees on the subte. Gross.
5). Being able to walk to class. At Northwestern, it takes me 10ish minutes to walk to class. Here, my closest class is about 35 minutes away by bus or subte. So much time is spent in transit here.
6). Being able to make puns. Anyone who knows me knows I make puns all the time, but it's so hard to make them in a different language.

As much as I miss these things, I love it here, and I'm planning to make the most of my last 3.5 weeks here!

Pictures:

 My friend Rachel and I outside the Teatro Colón

 Inside the Teatro Colón (sorry for the bluriness).

 Inside the Teatro Colón.

 La marcha de las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo.

 Nutella french toast and pancakes with fruit!

 The awesome orchestra we stumbled upon.

Tango!