to many people´s surprise, all of us have only known each other for 8 months or less! we decided on this trip during project management class, hence the spreadsheets. (we would have added a gantt chart if we could). at first, it was just kavitha and i, but after much cajoling, the other three were convinced to come! WOOOT! we knew that we could all get along and didn´t annoy each other, but as a result, we are just learning about each other now along the way.
everywhere we have gone as a group, we have received many confused glances. when we say that we are canadian, they ask, ¨EVERYONE? really?¨ yes, it is true. we are the united nations, as aptly described by cheryl. some of you have asked who some of the thomas, hooper, mak, gal and davda travelling companions are. below, we will detail:
arti is a cancer (which i claim represents the flakiest astrological sign, apparently) and is from calgary. WOOT! if we were to describe arti as an animal, we would assign the giraffe due to her tall and slender frame. arti and the davda family will be hosting us for the calgary stampede in 2009. MUY EXCITING! MUY THANKS IN ADVANCE! and MUY INVITING OURSELVES OVER! we also need to add that arti was a pathfinder, has her canada cord, and does garba dancing (displayed at her brothers wedding two years ago, as well as random chinese new years events).
bossmat is a sagittarius, which allegedly is the smartest astrological sign (according to cheryl, who is also a sagittarius). she grew up in thornhill. bossmat packed a lot of colourful clothing, and even brought along a pair of khaki coloured sweat pants, which we call ¨fancy pants¨. (by the way, if you saw them, you would think they are fancy too) bossmat in general is definitely the fashionista of the group. anything she wears looks good. MUY JEALOUS!
cheryl is also a sagittarius, she is muy athletic and quite good at tango steps, which reflects her figure skating background. we learned that she used to be a troublemaker in her youth (i.e. grade school) and constantly was in detentions! WHO KNEW!? cheryl is from whitby. we also learned that cheryl makes lots of pies, and we are waiting for our share of the pie. MUY PIE! cheryl has not referred to us as her friends yet, rather, referring to us as her acquaintances, peers or esteemed colleagues. we hope the next 6 weeks will change this. we feel much pressure.
heather is a taurus, and recently celebrated her 26th birthday. (sigh. muy old.) because i am writing this, i am not very neutral. i am great.
Alright, to be fair...and after reading my profile, I (Cheryl) have decided to take over.
Heather is the lightest packer, which is great for her but bad for us as we have to look at the same outfit everyday. She is also a postcard freak! It is the first destination in every new city, and often involves a long trek around the city (thanks Andy). She is by far the best at providing random peices of information, for instances, she recently told me that glass is actually a liquid, which is why in really old glass it disforms and is pushed downwards in its frame.....MUY RANDOM). Heather also have many Mak-isms....we have all started to pick them up. Lately Heather´s addiction to Dulce de Leche has been all consuming...now it is a staple at every meal (she even steals "to go" packages for the road to satisfy her random cravings).
Now back to Mak:
kavitha is a libra and is our oldest travelling buddy but youngest looking by far. (for example, the old man in rio who thought she was not of age to drink yet.) the fact that she puts her hair in braids and pig tails does not help! we have learned that kavitha was a MUY bookworm in school, and went on an exchange to australia in high school. WHAT! kavitha loves burritos, and also has 5 pairs of shoes in her bag! she also has a bright yellow rain jacket. we feel (note that girls use ¨we feel¨ so as not to appear too decisive or harsh) we need to ply kavitha with wine tonight to get some more juicy gossip to give you in a further entry. MOOOOHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. to conclude, we would like to add that kavitha is often the ticket holder, because as the oldest, she is by default the most responsible.
and now, off to dinner. BON APPETIT!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
day ? - montevideo
the past two days have been a bit of a whirlwind. in the morning, we were supposed to catch a ferry over to colonia. bossmat went for a brisk walk at around 7AM, that ended up being a marathon around buenos aires. we had previously thought that we were taking a 1 hour trip on buquebus to colonia, then a 2 hour bus to montevideo. however, it turns out that we were taking a whole other company´s servies (colonia express), with a 2.5 hour ferry ride and a 2.5 hour bus ride. it is also important to note that the bus smelled like stale urine, an upgrade from the bus tour that we had taken in buenos aires, which smelled like fresh urine. gross. or rather, muy gross.
anyway, we ended up getting into town at 3ish, and our first stop was at mcdonalds to get a sense of regional pricing. our base point is the cono con dulce de leche y vainilla, which is 2 argentinean pesos, or around 65 cents canadian. imagine our surprise when we got to the bus station, and it was actually $22! WHAT! twenty uruguayan pesos is equal to one canadian dollar. this was a surprise to cheryl, who took out 100 pesos from the bank machine, not realizing that it equalled $5. she has since spent that on her bank charges for that particular withdrawal.
we then took two cabs into town, which cost about $5 canadian, which is not too shabbo! (¨SHABBU!¨ adds cheryl) we then found our hotel, which when we walked in, was very dark, and the main reception area had very low carpeted ceilings. there was also a little doorway that resembled a hobbit hole. muy interessant. we were pleasantly surprised when we got our rooms, because they had 20 foot ceilings and adjoining door! talk about MUY GIRL TALK GOSSIP SESSIONS! pillow fights! braiding hair! and painting nails! girl guide singalongs (to-wit, to-wit, to-woo)!
it was also nice to get our own beds that were not part of a bunk bed. muy rolling! it was also nice not to have random people in our room, coming in in the middle of the night (cheryl adds, ¨WOOHOO! no random naked men!¨) we also got some heaters, which were a welcome addition given that the rooms were so cold that we wore about 4 layers. EEEK.
we ended up going to a diner called pasiva, which was very decently priced. i dont think that any of us spent over $5 on our meals. the waitress thought that we had scammed her and counted the money in front of us, and she was surprised to find that we had left her a nice tip. HA! the same cannot be said today with our rude waitress. eek.
afterwards, we ventured over to a grocery store called ¨ta-ta¨, which may or may not be affiliated with the indian conglomerate. (i am guessing not.) we stocked up on fruit and lots of cookies, and others picked up yogourt drinks, water and juice. i got some gross chunky soy milk by accident, which was muy gross.
for dinner, we ended up at cafe baccacay, which was a block over from our hotel, and was muy delicious. arti ordered an apple pancake with ice cream accompanied by a glass of white wine (she claims it was big and this is the reason why it took the evening to finish), bossmat ordered a salad and leche caliente, cheryl and kavitha ordered a cute meat/cheese/bread plate, as well as a 1/2 bottle of red wine (boozehounds!!!!!!!!), and i ordered some fish tidbits, which ended up being fish sticks. i was SO roped in by the tidbits. sigh. cheryl and i decided to go overboard and ordered some pear pie, which was a bit too heavy on the glaze, but had some good pear-ish moments. bossmat claimed there was some rum flavouring. lastly, we were quite impressed with our waiter, who had MUY GOOD english, and everytime we spoke to him in spanish/spanglish/sign language, he responded to us in english.
this morning, we all took showers (some colder than others) and then walked around town. we came across a store called ¨indian emporium¨ which was neither indian (and contained no indians save for arti and kavitha), nor an emporium. in fact, it was just a large clothing store. arti claims that some of the clothes were made in india, but no one can verify this. no one ended buying anything from the store.
something strange about montevideo is that you have to place all your bags in lockers before you enter stores. kavitha, arti, bossmat and cheryl found this very refreshing, meanwhile, i thought this was a bit of a nuisance and wondered if people could scam long term storage in the store.
we also walked along the rambla (the path beside the water) which was nice. bossmat and cheryl made full use of the rays while kavitha and i hid in our sweatshirts. arti was the perfect medium for sun exposure.
we stopped at a terrible restaurant for lunch (refer to previous note about no tip) and i had a terrible spaghetti bolognese that tasted like a leather wallet. muy gross. kavitha had a hot sandwich with MUY cheese, cheryl had a salad with hard boiled eggs, chicken, tomato, and cheese, and arti and bossmat shared a plate of papas fritas (french fries). the waitress was terribly brusque and as a result, we left her NO TIP. that is right, NO TIP. she literally asked us for one, but alas, NO TIP. we promptly left the scene while bossmat was left behind assembling her many bags (when we say many bags, we mean 2).
afterwards, we walked up to the mercado de puerto, which is where we should have had lunch, because it smelled MUY YUMMY. it was also super cute! it was essentially like a uruguayan st. lawrence market, but without all the produce.
right beside it was the tourist office, which was in a non-descript location. we wanted to come here to find out how to get to the airport, however the four ladies working there gave us that and BEYOND. they almost gave us a self-guided tour around the city. but we were clearly kindred spirits, because the ladies had a spreadsheet monitoring all the visitors that came to the centre. (our guess was that we were the only people on the spreadsheet).
after that, we attempted to go to a mall, but found it difficult. instead, we ended up going BOWLING!!!!!!!! when in uruguay, what do you do? bowl! uruguayan bowling does not require that you rent those gross smelly shoes. a girl in the adjacent lane was even wearing heels! the lanes were also very rough, and were not waxed in the slightest. arti was the top scorer, and you should have seen how gracefully she bowled. you could literally not hear the ball drop when she bowled. it must be her garba (indian dancing) training in full force!
on the way back, we stopped at ta-ta, and we all took photos of yerba mate and dulce de leche. as it turns out, they kicked us out of the store!!! MUY LOW POINT!
bossmat has been trying all day to get a photo of a uruguayan (perhaps a good looking one) drinking some mate in one of the special mate cups. even though there are many of these situations occurring throughout the day, it seems to be an elusive photo. the hunt continues.
now we are back to the hostel and will go to don peperone for dinner tonight. it better be muy good after that terrible meal today. cheryl and i have eaten a ton of dulce de leche wafers (i thought they were MUY bad) and me, cheryl and arti have inhaled all of cheryl´s vanilla arrowroot type cookies.
another thing we have noted in montevideo is that garbage collection occurs with horse-drawn carts. MUY STRANGE! some horses even wear straw hats for this endeavour! unfortunately we were unable to capture this on film (or rather, memory card)
below, we have detailed some of our expected vs. actual comparisons of south america thus far:
expected vs. actual comparisons (an ode to BO)
1) beans and rice - we were expecting a lot of beans and rice in the cuisine of south american countries, including burritos. instead, in brazil we found a lot of meat and deep fried meals. in argentina, it has been beef, chicken, and more beef, and a lot of pasta (who knew those italians were taking over?) in uruguay, there has been a lot of pasta, pizza, and oozy cheesy/meaty sandwiches.
2) squat and sit toilets - arti and i were fully expecting squat toilets, however, so far we have not come across one (to our excitement). showers, on the other hand, have been interesting in uruguay, following a somewhat ¨open concept¨ (aka the entire bathroom is flooded)
3) cold vs warm - being semi close to the equator, we expected south america to be relatively warm, i.e. mid 20s. yesterday night, we found ourselves wearing ski gear, including all our sweatshirts, gloves, hats, and (pashmina) scarves. we really blended in with the locals well. :S
anyway, we ended up getting into town at 3ish, and our first stop was at mcdonalds to get a sense of regional pricing. our base point is the cono con dulce de leche y vainilla, which is 2 argentinean pesos, or around 65 cents canadian. imagine our surprise when we got to the bus station, and it was actually $22! WHAT! twenty uruguayan pesos is equal to one canadian dollar. this was a surprise to cheryl, who took out 100 pesos from the bank machine, not realizing that it equalled $5. she has since spent that on her bank charges for that particular withdrawal.
we then took two cabs into town, which cost about $5 canadian, which is not too shabbo! (¨SHABBU!¨ adds cheryl) we then found our hotel, which when we walked in, was very dark, and the main reception area had very low carpeted ceilings. there was also a little doorway that resembled a hobbit hole. muy interessant. we were pleasantly surprised when we got our rooms, because they had 20 foot ceilings and adjoining door! talk about MUY GIRL TALK GOSSIP SESSIONS! pillow fights! braiding hair! and painting nails! girl guide singalongs (to-wit, to-wit, to-woo)!
it was also nice to get our own beds that were not part of a bunk bed. muy rolling! it was also nice not to have random people in our room, coming in in the middle of the night (cheryl adds, ¨WOOHOO! no random naked men!¨) we also got some heaters, which were a welcome addition given that the rooms were so cold that we wore about 4 layers. EEEK.
we ended up going to a diner called pasiva, which was very decently priced. i dont think that any of us spent over $5 on our meals. the waitress thought that we had scammed her and counted the money in front of us, and she was surprised to find that we had left her a nice tip. HA! the same cannot be said today with our rude waitress. eek.
afterwards, we ventured over to a grocery store called ¨ta-ta¨, which may or may not be affiliated with the indian conglomerate. (i am guessing not.) we stocked up on fruit and lots of cookies, and others picked up yogourt drinks, water and juice. i got some gross chunky soy milk by accident, which was muy gross.
for dinner, we ended up at cafe baccacay, which was a block over from our hotel, and was muy delicious. arti ordered an apple pancake with ice cream accompanied by a glass of white wine (she claims it was big and this is the reason why it took the evening to finish), bossmat ordered a salad and leche caliente, cheryl and kavitha ordered a cute meat/cheese/bread plate, as well as a 1/2 bottle of red wine (boozehounds!!!!!!!!), and i ordered some fish tidbits, which ended up being fish sticks. i was SO roped in by the tidbits. sigh. cheryl and i decided to go overboard and ordered some pear pie, which was a bit too heavy on the glaze, but had some good pear-ish moments. bossmat claimed there was some rum flavouring. lastly, we were quite impressed with our waiter, who had MUY GOOD english, and everytime we spoke to him in spanish/spanglish/sign language, he responded to us in english.
this morning, we all took showers (some colder than others) and then walked around town. we came across a store called ¨indian emporium¨ which was neither indian (and contained no indians save for arti and kavitha), nor an emporium. in fact, it was just a large clothing store. arti claims that some of the clothes were made in india, but no one can verify this. no one ended buying anything from the store.
something strange about montevideo is that you have to place all your bags in lockers before you enter stores. kavitha, arti, bossmat and cheryl found this very refreshing, meanwhile, i thought this was a bit of a nuisance and wondered if people could scam long term storage in the store.
we also walked along the rambla (the path beside the water) which was nice. bossmat and cheryl made full use of the rays while kavitha and i hid in our sweatshirts. arti was the perfect medium for sun exposure.
we stopped at a terrible restaurant for lunch (refer to previous note about no tip) and i had a terrible spaghetti bolognese that tasted like a leather wallet. muy gross. kavitha had a hot sandwich with MUY cheese, cheryl had a salad with hard boiled eggs, chicken, tomato, and cheese, and arti and bossmat shared a plate of papas fritas (french fries). the waitress was terribly brusque and as a result, we left her NO TIP. that is right, NO TIP. she literally asked us for one, but alas, NO TIP. we promptly left the scene while bossmat was left behind assembling her many bags (when we say many bags, we mean 2).
afterwards, we walked up to the mercado de puerto, which is where we should have had lunch, because it smelled MUY YUMMY. it was also super cute! it was essentially like a uruguayan st. lawrence market, but without all the produce.
right beside it was the tourist office, which was in a non-descript location. we wanted to come here to find out how to get to the airport, however the four ladies working there gave us that and BEYOND. they almost gave us a self-guided tour around the city. but we were clearly kindred spirits, because the ladies had a spreadsheet monitoring all the visitors that came to the centre. (our guess was that we were the only people on the spreadsheet).
after that, we attempted to go to a mall, but found it difficult. instead, we ended up going BOWLING!!!!!!!! when in uruguay, what do you do? bowl! uruguayan bowling does not require that you rent those gross smelly shoes. a girl in the adjacent lane was even wearing heels! the lanes were also very rough, and were not waxed in the slightest. arti was the top scorer, and you should have seen how gracefully she bowled. you could literally not hear the ball drop when she bowled. it must be her garba (indian dancing) training in full force!
on the way back, we stopped at ta-ta, and we all took photos of yerba mate and dulce de leche. as it turns out, they kicked us out of the store!!! MUY LOW POINT!
bossmat has been trying all day to get a photo of a uruguayan (perhaps a good looking one) drinking some mate in one of the special mate cups. even though there are many of these situations occurring throughout the day, it seems to be an elusive photo. the hunt continues.
now we are back to the hostel and will go to don peperone for dinner tonight. it better be muy good after that terrible meal today. cheryl and i have eaten a ton of dulce de leche wafers (i thought they were MUY bad) and me, cheryl and arti have inhaled all of cheryl´s vanilla arrowroot type cookies.
another thing we have noted in montevideo is that garbage collection occurs with horse-drawn carts. MUY STRANGE! some horses even wear straw hats for this endeavour! unfortunately we were unable to capture this on film (or rather, memory card)
below, we have detailed some of our expected vs. actual comparisons of south america thus far:
expected vs. actual comparisons (an ode to BO)
1) beans and rice - we were expecting a lot of beans and rice in the cuisine of south american countries, including burritos. instead, in brazil we found a lot of meat and deep fried meals. in argentina, it has been beef, chicken, and more beef, and a lot of pasta (who knew those italians were taking over?) in uruguay, there has been a lot of pasta, pizza, and oozy cheesy/meaty sandwiches.
2) squat and sit toilets - arti and i were fully expecting squat toilets, however, so far we have not come across one (to our excitement). showers, on the other hand, have been interesting in uruguay, following a somewhat ¨open concept¨ (aka the entire bathroom is flooded)
3) cold vs warm - being semi close to the equator, we expected south america to be relatively warm, i.e. mid 20s. yesterday night, we found ourselves wearing ski gear, including all our sweatshirts, gloves, hats, and (pashmina) scarves. we really blended in with the locals well. :S
Monday, May 12, 2008
an argentinean birthday celebration
before i talk about todays events, i will recap last night{s events. we went to a tango show at cafe tortoni, which cost us 60 pesos. the show was good, perhaps even MUY good. the first set was a bit confusing because all the women were wearing scandalous boudoir type outfits and not so much about the swishy dresses that we have seen in other tango routines. the food at cafe tortoni was not too bad either. i was happy to see that they sold churros at the venue, and of course HAD to pick some up! (shoutouts to a-beans. sigh.) what i thought was chocolate sauce with churros (chocolate con churros) ended up being hot chocolate and churros. my tummy was none too happy!
today was my 26th birthday (sheeesh!) typically, birthdays for me are bittersweet. another year older, another year wiser. i preferred to keep it rather low key, and in the morning the girls went shopping while i handwashed a load of clothing and then dried it at the laundromat. so nice to have (semi) clean clothes! then we met up and then went to san telmo, which ended up being a bit of a ghost town in terms of things being open. we ended up having some empenadas and various beverages in the square, and noticed that there were a lot of pigeons around us (note that cheryl LOVES pigeons.... not.) and a lot of americans who seemed to like using the word like a lot. like oh my god. like totally, like STOP! AHHHHH!
afterwards, we took the subway over to chinatown, which is 5 blocks a way from juramento station close to the end of the D line. the juramento area was super cute - very residential, with lots of cute boutiques and much less touristy. chinatown was behind some train tracks and consisted of maybe 5 restaurants and a couple of import/export type stores. but boy was i glad to have some chinese food!! i also want to add the strangeness that is argentinean chinese people. they speak what sounds like mandarin, but with a bit more of a twang! i have found communicating with them very careful. it is strange that as chinese people, we look similar, but can{t communicate!! between pigeon spanish, english, and cantonese, there was very little common language ground.
then of course, we went to mcds for a dulce de leche ice cream. YUM!
in bs as, we have not been able to go out, because we have been too tired to do so! it seems as though buenos aires is coming up as a big party city a la ibiza - i cant believe that people go out at 1, 2AM! so opposite to north america.
tomorrow morning we are going to uruguay, montevideo in particular.
last note: we also learned today that kavitha sometimes goes by the name of cavity.
today was my 26th birthday (sheeesh!) typically, birthdays for me are bittersweet. another year older, another year wiser. i preferred to keep it rather low key, and in the morning the girls went shopping while i handwashed a load of clothing and then dried it at the laundromat. so nice to have (semi) clean clothes! then we met up and then went to san telmo, which ended up being a bit of a ghost town in terms of things being open. we ended up having some empenadas and various beverages in the square, and noticed that there were a lot of pigeons around us (note that cheryl LOVES pigeons.... not.) and a lot of americans who seemed to like using the word like a lot. like oh my god. like totally, like STOP! AHHHHH!
afterwards, we took the subway over to chinatown, which is 5 blocks a way from juramento station close to the end of the D line. the juramento area was super cute - very residential, with lots of cute boutiques and much less touristy. chinatown was behind some train tracks and consisted of maybe 5 restaurants and a couple of import/export type stores. but boy was i glad to have some chinese food!! i also want to add the strangeness that is argentinean chinese people. they speak what sounds like mandarin, but with a bit more of a twang! i have found communicating with them very careful. it is strange that as chinese people, we look similar, but can{t communicate!! between pigeon spanish, english, and cantonese, there was very little common language ground.
then of course, we went to mcds for a dulce de leche ice cream. YUM!
in bs as, we have not been able to go out, because we have been too tired to do so! it seems as though buenos aires is coming up as a big party city a la ibiza - i cant believe that people go out at 1, 2AM! so opposite to north america.
tomorrow morning we are going to uruguay, montevideo in particular.
last note: we also learned today that kavitha sometimes goes by the name of cavity.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
an update on the towel, as well as gaucho-ness
strangely enough, the most comments we have received on a post has been my post on the smelly towel!!! i would just like to follow up with the fact that i purchased a 100% cotton towel at falabella for 12 pesos, and i have never been fresher. just in case you were wondering. smell factor = 0!!!
kavitha will update you on the occurrences of the past two days but i just wanted to update you on todays gaucho experience that me and cheryl went to. although it was muy expensive at $190 pesos (about $60 canadian), as soon as we got off the bus we were given empenadas (WOOOOOOOT!) and argentinean wine. best empenadas i have ever had! of all the ones i have encountered, these have included carne, pollo, and corn. carne is definitely the best. i quite enjoy the bits of hard boiled egg and olive in them. :D
after that, we went on a couple of horseback rides - quite short but a lot of fun. hooper had a blast as she had not been horseback riding before. muy shoutouts to liz, it reminded me of when we went in hawaii. sob.
then we had the meatiest meaty asado i had ever seen before. it included chorizo, blood sausage (not a repeat consumer of this), various cuts of beef (vacuno), and chicken. with some random salads - one of which i particularly enjoyed. i will discuss more in depth the blood sausage and salad.
the blood sausage, which is like black pudding, was semi repulsive. taste wise, it was good, but texture wise it was like eating meaty butter. not a fan! particularly gross was when you sliced into it - jets of it just squirted out. shudder.
one of the salads had mayo, potatoes, beets, hard boiled eggs, and tomatoes. a colourful and unlikely combo, but muy delicious!
overall, both cheryl and i had a major case of meat sweats AND meat coma. and we only had half a portion of what we were supposed to! i cant even imagine those people who had the full servings of meat provided.
also, there were a bunch of chinese peeps on the tour - they were cantonese speakers! so i had a nice conversation with them. this was in contrast to last night, which kavitha will speak to more in depth.
after the huge lunch, we ended up seeing a bit of tango and some gaucho performances. this included a lot of spinning of ropes and tapping and slapping and dancing. muy fun!
and after that, we ended up watching a mini-rodeo. it was muy dusty!!!
btw - i should add in our blog that the word of this trip so far has been MUY, and we try to use it as much as possible, even though it is incorrect. i think it actually means [very]. for example,
that guy is MUY cute!!!!!
you need to MUY ZOOM on to that soccer player!
i am so MUY tired!
sometimes we will use it with a proper spanish word, such as, MUY BUENO! but this does not happen often.
on that note, i am awfully dusty from the estancio gaucho party, so i am off to take a shower with my wonderful towel. i will talk to you later! tonight we are off to a tango show!
kavitha will update you on the occurrences of the past two days but i just wanted to update you on todays gaucho experience that me and cheryl went to. although it was muy expensive at $190 pesos (about $60 canadian), as soon as we got off the bus we were given empenadas (WOOOOOOOT!) and argentinean wine. best empenadas i have ever had! of all the ones i have encountered, these have included carne, pollo, and corn. carne is definitely the best. i quite enjoy the bits of hard boiled egg and olive in them. :D
after that, we went on a couple of horseback rides - quite short but a lot of fun. hooper had a blast as she had not been horseback riding before. muy shoutouts to liz, it reminded me of when we went in hawaii. sob.
then we had the meatiest meaty asado i had ever seen before. it included chorizo, blood sausage (not a repeat consumer of this), various cuts of beef (vacuno), and chicken. with some random salads - one of which i particularly enjoyed. i will discuss more in depth the blood sausage and salad.
the blood sausage, which is like black pudding, was semi repulsive. taste wise, it was good, but texture wise it was like eating meaty butter. not a fan! particularly gross was when you sliced into it - jets of it just squirted out. shudder.
one of the salads had mayo, potatoes, beets, hard boiled eggs, and tomatoes. a colourful and unlikely combo, but muy delicious!
overall, both cheryl and i had a major case of meat sweats AND meat coma. and we only had half a portion of what we were supposed to! i cant even imagine those people who had the full servings of meat provided.
also, there were a bunch of chinese peeps on the tour - they were cantonese speakers! so i had a nice conversation with them. this was in contrast to last night, which kavitha will speak to more in depth.
after the huge lunch, we ended up seeing a bit of tango and some gaucho performances. this included a lot of spinning of ropes and tapping and slapping and dancing. muy fun!
and after that, we ended up watching a mini-rodeo. it was muy dusty!!!
btw - i should add in our blog that the word of this trip so far has been MUY, and we try to use it as much as possible, even though it is incorrect. i think it actually means [very]. for example,
that guy is MUY cute!!!!!
you need to MUY ZOOM on to that soccer player!
i am so MUY tired!
sometimes we will use it with a proper spanish word, such as, MUY BUENO! but this does not happen often.
on that note, i am awfully dusty from the estancio gaucho party, so i am off to take a shower with my wonderful towel. i will talk to you later! tonight we are off to a tango show!
somewhere in week 3
To our loyal readers, we apologize for the absence of blogging over the past few days. I will attempt to re-cap all the juicy details of our recent adventures...
So Friday morning we all woke up bright an early ready to be the ultimate tourists on a bus tour around the city... however to our annoyance when we went to reception to pick up our voucher, we were told that we were bumped to the afternoon bus. grrrr. so we decided to go see what our tango options were. we ended up at a tango hall just around the corner from our hostel. We opted to take a 3hr tango lesson for 20 pesos (bargoons!). Clearly we were all beginners and were ushered to the very back of the tango hall where we were greeted by Roxanna, our instructor. The step-by-step instructions started off slow, but definitely picked up in complexitity by the end of the 3 hour session. Roxanna was great, giving each of us personal tips on how to improve. It was easy to get distracted by the more advanced dancers who were practicing in the middle of the hall... there was an adorable old couple who were probably in their 70s who were brilliant dancers - so fluid in their movement and clearly still in love (muy cuuttteee!!).
After the tango lesson we gave ourselves ´free time´(yes, the HK itinerary is that detailed) and split up to do our own thing. Heather, Arti and I hit up Florida street (shopping galore!)... where Heather ended up finally getting her much desired haircut. despite the hairdressers´lack of english, the cut turned out great and was el cheapo as well ($20!). Arti and I ended up shopping in one shoe store for about 40 minutes.. there were sooo many cute shoes, we couldn´t decide what to buy. I of course bought a pair (yes mom, i know there´s no more room in my closet!) and although Arti didn´t make a purchase, she´s inspired and is eyeing a pair of boots! Bossmat and Cheryl went exploring near the port... this is where I believe they discovered that they were both Sagitarius.
On a side note - the five of us have adopted a HUGE addiction to McDonald´s soft-serve ice cream. We just can´t help ourselves... it´s awful, but ooooh-sooo-delicious!!! We´re all loving the option of the dulce de leche flavour (caramalized condensed milk.. YUM!).
Thus far, we´d experienced planes, trains, vans, taxis and boats, so it´s only natural that we add the subway to our list of transportation methods. When asked to re-count her experience on the Buenos Aires subway, Arti flinches and says 'Oh God!' -- that just about sums it up. It was absolutely ridiculous. Three subways cars went by before we were able to shove ourselves on. We almost had to give it a running start to be able to cram ourselves in. Once inside we were so tightly packed in that you didn´t even have to hold on to anything. We were all hoping that we were hit a subway stop like Yonge&Bloor where half the people would exit and the subway car would free up... no such luck.
We took the subway to an artsy neighbourhood called La Palermo. We walked quite a bit before we a) got to the actual restaurant district and b) found a restaurant that was appealing/in a reasonable price range. Cheryl, Heather and I finally indulged in some good hearty Argentinean meat. Mak and I opted for steaks and Cheryl, a pork/roasted apple option. Arti enjoyed quesadillas and mozza sticks and Bossmat had a tuna salad. And although all our dinners were scrumptious, nothing could prepare us for what came next. We ordered 3 different desserts - tiramisu, apple crumble and the crunchy banana. The third dish was absolutely heaven on a plate (even for me, the non-dessert lover) -- deep fried banana wrapped in filo pastry with a coconut topping and vanilla ice cream on the side. Cheryl, Heather and Arti went at it like a pack of coutis.. it was hilarious and I sooo wish I had videotaped them devouring the plate. It was a wonder that Bossmat and I even got to taste it!! This dinner for me was a highlight of the trip so far -- a great 3 hours of eating, drinking, reminicing, devouring and laughing.
Saturday...
We finally got to take the bus tour. It took us all over the city.. to some neighbourhoods we had already been and others that we had been curious about. The one tidbit that we learned was that 'porteno', the word that described people from Buenos Aires, is derived from the fact that Buenos Aires is a port city. The bus stopped in La Boca -- the neighbourhood that is home to the fan-favourite ´La Boca´football team and to Caminito, an iconic street with very brightly coloured houses. After the bus tour we hopped off the bus early and wandered around the port, where we grabbed lunch. After that on our way back to the hostel we swung by a recommended tango hall to grab tickets for a Sunday night performance.
We were all pretty exhausted after a long day, and had big plans to go out on the town that night, so we decided to all take time to relax/nap before gussying-it-up for our night out. We initially wanted to hit up China town, but after a lengthy discussion with the guys at the reception about dinner options/club options, we decided to stay close to home. We walked a few blocks up the street and consulted about 15 menus along the way before we decided upon Oro d'Dragon - a Chinese restaurant that smelled divine when Heather and I first walked in. The restaurant also had Chinese staff, so the legitimacy meter rank high. We got quite a few strange stares as we made our way to our table. I didnt really think much of it as Heather and I have become accustomed to random stares. With our luck we were sitted behind a table of guys who were smoking non-stop. There were several empty tables near the front of the restaurant, so we attempted to make a move. Heather politely asked in Spanish if we could move to the front. That didn't work out so well. Then we figured perhaps she should try in Cantonese. We were of course assigned to the ONE Spanish waiter in the restaurant, so I asked him in Spanish if Heather could speak to a Chinese waiter. That didn´t work so well as we were then handed an all-Chinese menu (the ones we had previously were in spanish and chinese). So I asked again. woot.. it worked -- a Chinese waiter came over. However, the waiter interpretted Heather´s request as us wanting the guys at the next table to STOP smoking. So she went over to their table and told them to stop. we got the WORST death stares ever. UGH. I swear the guys started smoking even more. we could barely breathe at this point, let alone consider eating. So out of total frustration we high-tailed it outta there. We ended up at a Cuban restaurant... nice atmosphere - even had entertainment (Cheryl and I are convinced the MC was AB's Argentinean counterpart, appropriately decked out in white pants, white shoes and a red blazer). By the time we ate it was 1130pm... well that was when Heather, Cheryl and I ate... Arti and Bossmat, who ordered what we thought was a fairly basic meal choice of beans and rice had to wait and extra 45 minutes.. ridiculousness. All-in-all a very bizarre night.
On a personal note, Heather and I are suuuppppeeeeerrrr excited that both our siblings got engaged!!!!! (no, not to each other). Out of total coincidence Heather´s sister and my brother both got engaged last Thursday -- WOOT!!!!!!!
So Friday morning we all woke up bright an early ready to be the ultimate tourists on a bus tour around the city... however to our annoyance when we went to reception to pick up our voucher, we were told that we were bumped to the afternoon bus. grrrr. so we decided to go see what our tango options were. we ended up at a tango hall just around the corner from our hostel. We opted to take a 3hr tango lesson for 20 pesos (bargoons!). Clearly we were all beginners and were ushered to the very back of the tango hall where we were greeted by Roxanna, our instructor. The step-by-step instructions started off slow, but definitely picked up in complexitity by the end of the 3 hour session. Roxanna was great, giving each of us personal tips on how to improve. It was easy to get distracted by the more advanced dancers who were practicing in the middle of the hall... there was an adorable old couple who were probably in their 70s who were brilliant dancers - so fluid in their movement and clearly still in love (muy cuuttteee!!).
After the tango lesson we gave ourselves ´free time´(yes, the HK itinerary is that detailed) and split up to do our own thing. Heather, Arti and I hit up Florida street (shopping galore!)... where Heather ended up finally getting her much desired haircut. despite the hairdressers´lack of english, the cut turned out great and was el cheapo as well ($20!). Arti and I ended up shopping in one shoe store for about 40 minutes.. there were sooo many cute shoes, we couldn´t decide what to buy. I of course bought a pair (yes mom, i know there´s no more room in my closet!) and although Arti didn´t make a purchase, she´s inspired and is eyeing a pair of boots! Bossmat and Cheryl went exploring near the port... this is where I believe they discovered that they were both Sagitarius.
On a side note - the five of us have adopted a HUGE addiction to McDonald´s soft-serve ice cream. We just can´t help ourselves... it´s awful, but ooooh-sooo-delicious!!! We´re all loving the option of the dulce de leche flavour (caramalized condensed milk.. YUM!).
Thus far, we´d experienced planes, trains, vans, taxis and boats, so it´s only natural that we add the subway to our list of transportation methods. When asked to re-count her experience on the Buenos Aires subway, Arti flinches and says 'Oh God!' -- that just about sums it up. It was absolutely ridiculous. Three subways cars went by before we were able to shove ourselves on. We almost had to give it a running start to be able to cram ourselves in. Once inside we were so tightly packed in that you didn´t even have to hold on to anything. We were all hoping that we were hit a subway stop like Yonge&Bloor where half the people would exit and the subway car would free up... no such luck.
We took the subway to an artsy neighbourhood called La Palermo. We walked quite a bit before we a) got to the actual restaurant district and b) found a restaurant that was appealing/in a reasonable price range. Cheryl, Heather and I finally indulged in some good hearty Argentinean meat. Mak and I opted for steaks and Cheryl, a pork/roasted apple option. Arti enjoyed quesadillas and mozza sticks and Bossmat had a tuna salad. And although all our dinners were scrumptious, nothing could prepare us for what came next. We ordered 3 different desserts - tiramisu, apple crumble and the crunchy banana. The third dish was absolutely heaven on a plate (even for me, the non-dessert lover) -- deep fried banana wrapped in filo pastry with a coconut topping and vanilla ice cream on the side. Cheryl, Heather and Arti went at it like a pack of coutis.. it was hilarious and I sooo wish I had videotaped them devouring the plate. It was a wonder that Bossmat and I even got to taste it!! This dinner for me was a highlight of the trip so far -- a great 3 hours of eating, drinking, reminicing, devouring and laughing.
Saturday...
We finally got to take the bus tour. It took us all over the city.. to some neighbourhoods we had already been and others that we had been curious about. The one tidbit that we learned was that 'porteno', the word that described people from Buenos Aires, is derived from the fact that Buenos Aires is a port city. The bus stopped in La Boca -- the neighbourhood that is home to the fan-favourite ´La Boca´football team and to Caminito, an iconic street with very brightly coloured houses. After the bus tour we hopped off the bus early and wandered around the port, where we grabbed lunch. After that on our way back to the hostel we swung by a recommended tango hall to grab tickets for a Sunday night performance.
We were all pretty exhausted after a long day, and had big plans to go out on the town that night, so we decided to all take time to relax/nap before gussying-it-up for our night out. We initially wanted to hit up China town, but after a lengthy discussion with the guys at the reception about dinner options/club options, we decided to stay close to home. We walked a few blocks up the street and consulted about 15 menus along the way before we decided upon Oro d'Dragon - a Chinese restaurant that smelled divine when Heather and I first walked in. The restaurant also had Chinese staff, so the legitimacy meter rank high. We got quite a few strange stares as we made our way to our table. I didnt really think much of it as Heather and I have become accustomed to random stares. With our luck we were sitted behind a table of guys who were smoking non-stop. There were several empty tables near the front of the restaurant, so we attempted to make a move. Heather politely asked in Spanish if we could move to the front. That didn't work out so well. Then we figured perhaps she should try in Cantonese. We were of course assigned to the ONE Spanish waiter in the restaurant, so I asked him in Spanish if Heather could speak to a Chinese waiter. That didn´t work so well as we were then handed an all-Chinese menu (the ones we had previously were in spanish and chinese). So I asked again. woot.. it worked -- a Chinese waiter came over. However, the waiter interpretted Heather´s request as us wanting the guys at the next table to STOP smoking. So she went over to their table and told them to stop. we got the WORST death stares ever. UGH. I swear the guys started smoking even more. we could barely breathe at this point, let alone consider eating. So out of total frustration we high-tailed it outta there. We ended up at a Cuban restaurant... nice atmosphere - even had entertainment (Cheryl and I are convinced the MC was AB's Argentinean counterpart, appropriately decked out in white pants, white shoes and a red blazer). By the time we ate it was 1130pm... well that was when Heather, Cheryl and I ate... Arti and Bossmat, who ordered what we thought was a fairly basic meal choice of beans and rice had to wait and extra 45 minutes.. ridiculousness. All-in-all a very bizarre night.
On a personal note, Heather and I are suuuppppeeeeerrrr excited that both our siblings got engaged!!!!! (no, not to each other). Out of total coincidence Heather´s sister and my brother both got engaged last Thursday -- WOOT!!!!!!!
Friday, May 9, 2008
day 16, buenos aires
since our last update, we have settled into buenos aires nicely. yesterday, we got a bit of a late start adjusting to schedules and everyones morning routine. we had braekfast, then finally left the hostel at around 11. we spent about an hour searching for a tourist information office, and when we did find it, there was a sign that said "be right back" - 5 minutes later, we decided that a south american be right back might not be as immediate as we suspected. so, we walked back to the hostel, then walked over to the cemetary in recoleta.
people say that this cemetary is the main tourist attraction in buenos aires - kind of makes you wonder if a cemetary is the best thing to see in a city! it is similar to ones i have seen before in spanish colonies where the formerly rich and famous are buried with their families - lots of glass, marble and stone. one modern gravesite looked like the entrance to a club! very strange choice.
we went to find evita perons grave site, which took about half an hour. it was in a very nondescript location but was covered in tons and tons of flowers. this cemetary also had a lot of cobwebs and stray cats taking in the afternoon sun. some were a little bit creepy.
we had dinner at another cafe, and ate much better food than the night before. kavitha had a hamburgeusa, i had an arroz con pollo (my favourite latin american dish), cheryl and bossmat had an academica sandwich (bossmat{s without ham), and arti had her first empenadas (filled with creamed corn). after that meal, we rolled back to the hostel to get ready for the football match later on that evening.
the football match was the semifinal match for the south american cup (we think), featuring river plate and san lorenzo. it was insanely rowdy walking in, and i was shoved more than once. eeeesh. safety first? when we did get our seats, we did not leave them once - i had my first coke in ages, and they had some awesome candied peanuts. in terms of the game, the team we were cheering for (river plate) started off very strong and scored two goals almost immediately. however the reigning team (so we think) came back strong with two goals and tied the game. river plate played very sloppily in the second half. oy.
in addition to this, was the abundance of fireworks/sparkler launchers that people had! there were firemen all over the field with hoses ready to go in case a fire occurred. similarly, all the cheering was INSANE. in the upper decks, fans were jumping up and down and sitting in the lower deck, we could see that the upper deck was literally vibrating. (vibrating cement = interesting.) after the game finished, we realized that it was customary for the fans of the visiting team to leave first in order to avoid riots and fighting, so we had to wait for about 30 to 45 minutes before we could take off. the drive back to the hostel was much faster than it was to get there!
because we were craving churros and ice cream before we got to the venue, after the game we ended up at mcdonald{s (GASP!) and had some soft serve ice cream. delish! totally hit the spot! i was also impressed at how much mcdonalds has progressed with its mccafe venture. holy schmoly!
today we are going on a bus tour and doing some tango lessons. cant wait to flail!
more residual questions:
1) who is bartolome mitre?
2) where does one cut their hair in buenos aires?
people say that this cemetary is the main tourist attraction in buenos aires - kind of makes you wonder if a cemetary is the best thing to see in a city! it is similar to ones i have seen before in spanish colonies where the formerly rich and famous are buried with their families - lots of glass, marble and stone. one modern gravesite looked like the entrance to a club! very strange choice.
we went to find evita perons grave site, which took about half an hour. it was in a very nondescript location but was covered in tons and tons of flowers. this cemetary also had a lot of cobwebs and stray cats taking in the afternoon sun. some were a little bit creepy.
we had dinner at another cafe, and ate much better food than the night before. kavitha had a hamburgeusa, i had an arroz con pollo (my favourite latin american dish), cheryl and bossmat had an academica sandwich (bossmat{s without ham), and arti had her first empenadas (filled with creamed corn). after that meal, we rolled back to the hostel to get ready for the football match later on that evening.
the football match was the semifinal match for the south american cup (we think), featuring river plate and san lorenzo. it was insanely rowdy walking in, and i was shoved more than once. eeeesh. safety first? when we did get our seats, we did not leave them once - i had my first coke in ages, and they had some awesome candied peanuts. in terms of the game, the team we were cheering for (river plate) started off very strong and scored two goals almost immediately. however the reigning team (so we think) came back strong with two goals and tied the game. river plate played very sloppily in the second half. oy.
in addition to this, was the abundance of fireworks/sparkler launchers that people had! there were firemen all over the field with hoses ready to go in case a fire occurred. similarly, all the cheering was INSANE. in the upper decks, fans were jumping up and down and sitting in the lower deck, we could see that the upper deck was literally vibrating. (vibrating cement = interesting.) after the game finished, we realized that it was customary for the fans of the visiting team to leave first in order to avoid riots and fighting, so we had to wait for about 30 to 45 minutes before we could take off. the drive back to the hostel was much faster than it was to get there!
because we were craving churros and ice cream before we got to the venue, after the game we ended up at mcdonald{s (GASP!) and had some soft serve ice cream. delish! totally hit the spot! i was also impressed at how much mcdonalds has progressed with its mccafe venture. holy schmoly!
today we are going on a bus tour and doing some tango lessons. cant wait to flail!
more residual questions:
1) who is bartolome mitre?
2) where does one cut their hair in buenos aires?
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
the arrival of hooper, gal and davda in buenos aires
this morning, kavitha and i flew over to buenos aires from the puerto iguazu airport. LAN was not only on time (gasp! shock!), but had some awesome snacks and they even gave us some nifty airplane magnetic bookmarks! you can be assured that they are all stuck into kavithas lonely planet south america book.
we flew into the jorge newbury airport, which is the domestic airport in buenos aires, and lo and behold, as soon as we exited we were right on the water! what a great location! it cost us only $5.50 per person to get into town, and we were dropped right at the door of our hostel. hooray for this manuel tienda leon airport shuttle service.
we checked in (after a bit of kerfuffle) and were convinced to get a hostelling international membership. 43 argentine pesos, which is about $15, while at home the same membership costs $30. what gives?!
meanwhile, we had a bit of time to kill before arti, bossmat and cheryl got in, so we wandered about town trying to get a sense of the area. thank goodness, we came across carrefour and picked up some cookies and water. it felt like a slice of home and there were some major bargoons!
when we got back to the hostel, lo and behold, the girls were there with their backpacks! it was so surreal seeing them here in buenos aires. check-in took about 40 minutes (cheryl claims it was closer to 12 hours) because of all the various iterations of pricing, and we ended up getting two different rooms - kavitha and i in one, and arti, bossmat, and cheryl (from now on, referred to as ABC) in the other. we had some nice aussies and a lady from washington state in our room, while the other three ended up with a naked man with a towel.
speaking of towels, i am happy to report that i have found a replacement COTTON towel for my smelly quick dry towel. i am excited to use it and not smell worse after my shower than before my shower.
anyway, besides that, after the girls came in we went out for some beverages and a bruschetta sandwich (?) at a little cafe on florida street. this was followed by phone card purchases at farmacity (0.13 pesos per minute to canada - suspect?) and then dinner at a cafe down the street from our hostel. the meal left a little to be desired. i had a lacklustre turkey and tomato sandwich, while cheryl and kavitha had some ricotta cheese ravioli (their review: kavitha was hungry and it did the job - quasi.), arti had some fettucini with really lame tomato sauce, and then bossmat had perhaps the piece de resistance. the waiter brought her the wrong dish at first, which was fries, ham and egg, which did not jive seeing that it was not what she ordered, and that she is a vegetarian. so, the dish was sent back, and it was replaced with a tomato sauce with two raw eggs and several misplaced green peas. bossmats review: it did the job at the time, but now she is feeling some regrets.
at this point, i think we are all pooped from our flights and will get to bed soon. until tomorrow, goodnight!
we flew into the jorge newbury airport, which is the domestic airport in buenos aires, and lo and behold, as soon as we exited we were right on the water! what a great location! it cost us only $5.50 per person to get into town, and we were dropped right at the door of our hostel. hooray for this manuel tienda leon airport shuttle service.
we checked in (after a bit of kerfuffle) and were convinced to get a hostelling international membership. 43 argentine pesos, which is about $15, while at home the same membership costs $30. what gives?!
meanwhile, we had a bit of time to kill before arti, bossmat and cheryl got in, so we wandered about town trying to get a sense of the area. thank goodness, we came across carrefour and picked up some cookies and water. it felt like a slice of home and there were some major bargoons!
when we got back to the hostel, lo and behold, the girls were there with their backpacks! it was so surreal seeing them here in buenos aires. check-in took about 40 minutes (cheryl claims it was closer to 12 hours) because of all the various iterations of pricing, and we ended up getting two different rooms - kavitha and i in one, and arti, bossmat, and cheryl (from now on, referred to as ABC) in the other. we had some nice aussies and a lady from washington state in our room, while the other three ended up with a naked man with a towel.
speaking of towels, i am happy to report that i have found a replacement COTTON towel for my smelly quick dry towel. i am excited to use it and not smell worse after my shower than before my shower.
anyway, besides that, after the girls came in we went out for some beverages and a bruschetta sandwich (?) at a little cafe on florida street. this was followed by phone card purchases at farmacity (0.13 pesos per minute to canada - suspect?) and then dinner at a cafe down the street from our hostel. the meal left a little to be desired. i had a lacklustre turkey and tomato sandwich, while cheryl and kavitha had some ricotta cheese ravioli (their review: kavitha was hungry and it did the job - quasi.), arti had some fettucini with really lame tomato sauce, and then bossmat had perhaps the piece de resistance. the waiter brought her the wrong dish at first, which was fries, ham and egg, which did not jive seeing that it was not what she ordered, and that she is a vegetarian. so, the dish was sent back, and it was replaced with a tomato sauce with two raw eggs and several misplaced green peas. bossmats review: it did the job at the time, but now she is feeling some regrets.
at this point, i think we are all pooped from our flights and will get to bed soon. until tomorrow, goodnight!
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