August 26, 2002
26 Agosto 2002
My last weekend with Teresa was amazing, after about 6 weeks of talking about it, we finally got up to Iguazu Falls. Teresa and I drove up, leaving Celso and Matias on their own for the weekend. It took about 4 hours to get there, somehow I expected it to be a lot more, so it was a nice surprise. First, we drove up to Tres Fronteras, an area where rivers meet and you can see Paraguay and Brazil while standing in Argentina. Then we took a quick driving trip through Iguazu, a dusty, tourist town. Finally, we headed to Iguazu Falls, it was 4pm when we got there and they were closing up, so we went in and signed up for the tour of the falls by full moon. We deliberately planned this trip to coincide with the full moon as Teresa had heard that it was amazing.
Because it was just us ladies, solo, we made jokes the whole trip about being “Las Chicas Superpoderosas” which is what they call the Powerpuff Girls here and it means, “the superpowerful girls.” Which in a way was fitting. Every time we passed a car on the road we hooted and hollered and generally had a great time driving.
At Tres Fronteras there was a stand of artesanial crafts and I found a rain stick for 20 pesos. I have always wanted one of these!!!! It is a piece of hollow wood (tree branch?) that when dried out has all these little ??? seeds, or residue (Kevin heard it was dead cockroaches but I am disinclined to believe that story) and when you tip the stick downwards all the little things inside drop down to the bottom, making a noise like rain.
After that we went to check into our hotel, only to find that they hadn’t received our reservations that we made via the web! So we went on down the road, each hotel had one room for Friday night, but nothing for Saturday. So we settled on the last hotel we went to, “Latino” and it was a basic cheap hotel, shower, toilet, two twin beds and a tv. But for 60 pesos a night (less than $20) it was just fine. It also turned out that dinner and breakfast were included. We both took a quick siesta and then did a little window shopping. After a nice dinner at the hotel, we still had 30 minutes to kill before we drove back to the falls. So we went up to the room, I stepped out on the little balcony and the full moon was out, there were stars everywhere. So we just took our chairs out to the patio and sat and watched the full moon, with very little talking. It was a really nice moment, a good sign for the rest of the weekend. For the rest of the trip, every time we drove past all the hotels that didn’t have room for us, we thumbed our noses at them, in true Chicas Super Poderosas form.
We signed up for the later tour, 10p, and got there about 9:45, I thought it was going to be about 30 people, with a tour guide. There were TONS of people, probably more than 200! As for guides, they put us all on these 2 passenger trains (something akin to a train that you might find at Disney but maybe a little more rustic) and left us to our own devices. The falls are actually a good 30 minute train ride from the entrance so I was glad we weren’t on foot. As soon as we got off the train we all started the walk to “La garganta del diablo” (Devil’s Throat). This is what is considered to be the most spectacular view of the falls, it is an area where all this water meets before plunging down into the abyss. To get there you have to walk 1,000 meters on metal ramps that they have built out to the falls (i.e. on top of the water), all of this in the light of the moon. It was breathtakingly beautiful. To the side of the metal ramps you could see the remains of the old wooden ramps they used to use. Instead of the train they used to put you on a boat and you drove to the ladder of the wooden ramp. I have to say the old ramp looked pretty darn scary!!! I was glad we had the train and the metal, hooray for modern technology!
I did a little research about the falls after the trip, a waterfall is a place where, well, water falls. If there are several waterfalls all conjoined (I think there is a certain amount that they need to be but I don’t know what) then they are called “cataracts.” They only gave 3 examples of what cataracts are, Angel Falls (the world’s largest), Niagara and Iguazu. I haven’t ever been to Niagara so I can’t really compare but what I saw blew me away. The moon was so bright that everything was lit up, it was like walking in silver. La garganta del Diablo is gigantic and there is so much water rushing through there, and it falls for so long, I just don’t have the words to describe how thrilling and amazing I felt to get to see such a sight. It was so romantic and everyone had someone that they were kissing, it made me miss Kevin. I made a promise that we would return there, together, maybe for an anniversary and see Iguazu by moonlight. There were several different views, each with their own special beauty, so in all I think we must have been out there for an hour. A lot of people wore rain gear so I was a little concerned about my jeans and t-shirt but there wasn’t any wind and I didn’t get the slightest bit wet.
There were, however, too many people, and because we all headed out there at the same time, everyone was jockeying for space. So as we walked back to the train Teresa and I decided that we would come back first thing the next morning and see the falls in the daylight, without all the people. There was a little store near the train and they were giving out juice or this drink called caipireña that had caña (liquor de cane), lime juice, sugar and ice, whew it was strong and slightly bitter from the peel of the lime, but good, the perfect nightcap. It was just a small sample, so we slept like angels but didn’t feel horrid the next day. I had to ask Celso how to spell that drink and he also told me that it is a very typical Brazilian drink. It is similar to the Cuban drink Mosquito (yeah yeah yeah the restaurants in the USA call it Mojito) but that is made with rum and it also has mint. A drink made famous to the world by Ernest Hemingway.
We didn’t get back to the hotel until almost 1 am and we set the wake up call for 645a OUCH! I am just not a big fan of less than 8 hours of sleep. Still the day dawned hot and early and we got up and got a move on. Iguazu is much farther north in Misiones (and it is in the malaria warning area) so it is in a more tropical zone. Therefore, I covered myself adequately with “OFF” and then a liberal dose of 45 sunscreen. It was going to be a scorcher, so I wore shorts, a short-sleeved shirt and sandals. I thought the night before that I had seen one of the most beautiful views of the world, until I saw it in the morning by daylight. With the sun, you could see everything, all of the water, how far it fell, all of the spray that comes back up, it was AMAZING. Because it was morning and the spray was so strong there were thousands of little birds flying in and out of the spray. Iguazu Falls are immense, and I ended up taking more than a roll of photos in this one area alone.
I said once before that the dirt here is full of iron and therefore very red. Well, the water after rainfalls is also extremely red. I have seen several postcards of the falls with red/brown water. It looks so much like polluted water it is hard to tell yourself that it really is just the dirt!!!! Luckily, there hadn’t been any real rain for a week or so and the water was perfectly green and clear. Because there was way more wind that morning we got soaked by the spray, I had to keep wiping the lens of my camera. Still it was going to be a hot day and I was glad of the water.
There were two other hikes, so we headed back and started in on those. These were views of the rest of the cataratas (cataracts) and there are TONS of them. The hikes weren’t difficult but they were long (another 1,100 meters for each one) and one of the hikes had a lot of stairs. After about 5 hours of breath-taking beauty and 3 rolls of film later, we were exhausted! It was possible to take a boat out close to the falls and get completely soaking wet, but because it would have been bad for the camera and I didn’t think it would be that much more amazing, we didn’t do it.
We left the park around 1 pm, stopping at one of the tourist shops along the way so I could buy an overpriced fishing hat that said “Iguazu.” You should have seen the look on Teresa’s face when the lady at the shop told us that it was 35 pesos! She whispered to me that there were other shops in the park if I wanted to go look for a better price. I am pretty sure they are all owned by the same outfit so I happily bought the hat where we found it, but I could tell that Teresa didn’t exactly approve. Probably a good thing that I didn’t buy one of the sleeveless, polar fleece zip-ups for 55 pesos. It was too warm that day to even contemplate something that hot.
Well even with sunscreen I managed to burn myself to a nice little crispy shade of red (you can see the area on my arm where I missed with the cream). I guess all that water at la garganta del Diablo didn’t help after all! Still I hate to imagine what I would have looked like without it. For Winter, I have to say that I am not feeling the lack of sun, or heat. For the last week it has been around 90 every day. The car was a little fire all its own when we got to it, so we opened up the doors and let it cool off a little. Then we headed home. Teresa doesn’t like to drive in the dark so we only stopped twice, once for gas and once for lunch. We got home by 6:15 pm, what a DAY, I was whipped.
Celso thought we were going to be gone until Sunday, so he was very surprised to see us. When I told him about our adventures he was pissed that we didn’t stay and extra day and try to find a hotel. Also, on the way there is a spot that has a mine with a lot of natural stones (llike amethyst for example) Teresa suggested that we stop and see it, if I wanted. Well I am not exactly the biggest fan of mines, and it was after out day long trek at the cataratas and I just wanted to go home. You should have seen the expression on Celso’s face when I told him we didn’t go in because I didn’t want to. He threatened to put me on a bus the next day back to this place. I guess he thought that maybe for my last real day with the family that I was wasting it. Still it kind of ticked me off. I had to go to my room and cool down for a bit. Celso was also in a pissy mood. At dinner Teresa and I had to joke and make fun of him for an hour before he finally got in a good mood. Teresa thanked me for my help in this area and I told her it was a gift.
However, my special gift really lies in saying the wrong thing at the wrong time, so after I said that we laughed and laughed. The night before we left for Iguazu, I had a class at the Institute with Juki the director. She had a private class with 2 ladies who work at Mazza. Mazza is the only place in town where you can exchange traveller’s checks, you can also go there and book flights and tours, and it is also, in part, a bank. Exchanging money has always been the one sore spot with me here because it is difficult. You have to stand in this one special line, where only one man works, it takes ages for each transaction, so even if there are only two people ahead of you, it will be at least 30 minutes until you get helped. When I first got here, I was a little intimidated by the language so that was also another factor. Well, more or less, the man who always helped me was this stern character in his 40s, grey speckled hair, very matter-of-fact, to tell the truth he scared the crap out of me. But each time I went, it got a little better and in fact the last time I was there he even remembered my name before seeing my passport.
So since these ladies worked there, I tried to tell them about this guy, and tell the story of how at first I thought he didn’t like me, how he scared me a little, and I hadn’t gotten to the part of where everything worked out when one of the ladies said, “but that’s my BROTHER!!!!!!” HA! Yup, she is the wife of one of the owner’s of Mazza and that is her brother. This is my real gift, and I get to use it so often. I am getting a little tired of the taste of my own foot, maybe I should pass this gift on.
So, Heather gets here tonight, I already have everyone calling her “Margarita” (the name her Spanish speaking friends gave her) as the H is not pronounced in Spanish and her name is difficult for people to pronounce. In fact my brother also has a hard-to-pronounce name in Spanish, what WHERE my parents thinking???? I can’t wait to show her the town, the costanera (something like greenlake but along a river) and have her meet all my family here. I wonder how the language thing is going to work out? Then we are off to Mar Del Plata with Heather’s friends, then Mendoza!!! I can’t believe it but I have less than 2 weeks until I am home and sleeping in my own bed! I think I will end up keeping a hand on Kevin’s shoulder for about 5 days straight. I plan on leaving my computer in Buenos Aires with Heather’s friends while we are in Mendoza so this is likely one of the last times I will be sending out a journal. I am going to send one last one after I get back.
I feel so lucky and privileged to have taken this trip. There have been many times in the last weeks where I thought my speaking had improved to the maximum amount that it was going to. For instance, I thought, “well I am good now, but I probably won’t be able to understand what teenagers say (boy teens talk FAST).” Then the next day at lunch with Sergio, Cecilia and their 3 daughter’s I understand all the words that are being said (even if I don’t understand all the meanings). I know my own speaking has improved and I am definitely more grateful for some of the things that I once took for granted in the United States. I certainly have even more respect for the culture and friendliness of South America. Truly, you cannot guess a culture based on television, news and fictional stories. These people have a broader culture that most “Americans” and their families are a lot more closely knit. I haven’t ever lacked for good food, hot water, fun things to do and beautiful things to see. A whole new world is open to me because I feel comfortable and even eager to explore South America. How amazing that to most people in the United States, Spanish means Spain. Our Euro-bias doesn’t wear well.
I hate when the US news has something terrible to say about South America because then I get all sort of emails and warning about the possible danger I might be in, when it simply isn’t true. I haven’t once felt like I was in any more danger than I would be in Seattle. I try to remind myself of how Seattle was presented to the world during the WTO riots. Everyone thought Seattle was practically burning down, yet 3 blocks from the demonstrations, life when on peacefully, I even went to work. Remember, it is the job of news stations to get your attention, to SELL what they have to say. Therefore, if they find a story that is sensational, say about a truck of cows that dumped over and a riot of people came with knives to get food, they are going to sell it for all they’ve got. Because it fits the bias that we have about South Americans being uneducated savages. I guess that would also mean that Seattle is full of violent hoodlums and we should all move away. One small story does not a complete picture make.
When the truck dumped over and there was a practical riot over dead cows, the people here felt the same as the people in the United States felt, what a shame, how awful. Shameful, awful things happen everywhere in the world everyday, including in the States. However, beautiful, wonderful things happen too. Maybe the trick is to try and remain open to the beauty and skeptical of the sad, horrible things. I would prefer to think that people ARE more good than bad. I would even say that this trip bears this out. I have met the most amazing and wonderful people here. Everyone is so open and friendly. The people I live with are smart and funny, they are the same as “us”, there isn’t a “them.” Language doesn’t separate us, “We are better than they are,” is what is keeping us from getting along. Too bad it just isn’t true.
August 13, 2002
13 Agosto 2002
So I went to the office for Aerolineas Argentina so see about getting tickets for Santiago (having conferred for many days via email and MSN Messenger). Ok, ok no problem getting to Santiago. Unfortunately, unless we only wanted to spend a day and a half there, or if we wanted to spend a week and a half (and thereby miss my flight back the States) Santiago was out. I guess we picked some popular week to leave Chile.
The lady at the airline office was really nice, so I asked her where she suggested instead, for instance Montevideo, Uruguay. (I am still holding a grudge against Paraguay so that is totally out.) She said that if we were absolutely form on going out of the country that was fine, but she thought that Mendoza, Argentina was much nicer and a lot prettier. Then she told me the deal clincher…………Mendoza is the premier wine region of Argentina, with a lot of wineries in close proximity. Also, as it turns out the tickets are WAY cheaper to Mendoza, too. I can’t wait!
So now the plans are as follows, Heather arrives the 26th of August, we stay in Posadas until the morning of the 30th, when we fly to Buenos Aires. Hopefully that night we will hook up with the people that I met in Cordoba, we have been exchanging emails, so I think it will work. Then, Heather has friends in Buenos Aires and we are going with them for the weekend to Mar del Plata, a resort beach a little South of Buenos Aires. It is winter here after all so we aren’t going for tanning, but I hear it is fun and pretty, so it should be fun. Plus it is always so much more rewarding to hang with the locals, so to speak.
The following Monday afternoon, the 2nd of September, we fly to Mendoza. Back to Buenos Aires on Friday the crack of dawn, the 6th of September. We fly back to the States that night. Heather and I have the same flight back so I will have someone to talk to on the plane! So we have various days in Buenos Aires, but no length of time. Since there is a lot of unrest in that area, that is probably best. Still, the day I was there, I saw nothing horrible, encountered no problems and life seemed business as usual. So, we will have caution, but we won’t be afraid. We just won’t carry all of our valuables along with us wherever we go.
I had a cold last week that pretty much kept me in bed for a few days (it was SO boring!) but I recovered in time for a great weekend. This last weekend was the reunion of Kevin’s family, so I was feeling a little homesick. I thought Kevin was going to call me on Saturday, so I could talk to some of the people there. However, Friday night the phone rings and lo and behold! It was Kevin, I was so excited and so happy I just started crying! Everyone kept saying, “Honey are you ok? Are you SURE?” It was really wonderful to talk to everyone and it was such a surprise, like an unexpected gift. I promise next year there is no way I am going to miss the reunion!
Well, right after that, Celso came home from work with an invitation to a wine event that night, with Chandon wines! (Chandon, a French wine company best known for their champagne owns a lot of wineries here in Argentina, and you can buy Argentinean Chandon sparkling wine for 15 pesos – less than $5.) Both of the Fia’s are doctors and this even was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, the whole place was filled with doctors! So we got dressed up and went. It turned out to be a discussion about the properties of wine, where it is grown, why it is a good region, and then following a wine tasting with one of the enologists of Chandon. Right there that man was doing my job! I think he probably earns more money since he was traveling and stuff, but STILL.
Teresa and Celso never miss a chance to help me in my stay, so since this guy , Pablo Cuneo, worked for Chandon in Mendoza, and I am going to Mendoza……..well, you do the math. After the initial talk, before the wine tasting, they made me sit there and wait to talk to the guy and tell him I was going to Mendoza. They pretty much made him promise to give me his card so when I was in the area I could get a more personal tour. Then during the wine tasting he came over and talked to us for a little bit. Poor guy, he never had a chance. Since it was a discussion of the wine basics, it wasn’t really anything I had to pay attention to, so it was nice to not have to pay 125% of attention. It was a really fun night and then Celso ended up winning a bottle of sparkling wine (not Chandon, but one of their labels). As we were leaving, Pablo was talking to some of the people, and I was willing to just cut him a little slack and not bother him anymore. Oh noooooo, the organizer of the event had heard from Celso that I this poor man was going to give me his card, so he went and interrupted him, I was SO embarrassed! Still, now I have a business card, and a personal cell number for when I go to Mendoza. As we left Teresa made jokes about Kevin having to look out. Funny when they were the ones being so pushy! It is probably good to have someone who is my promoter. Because so many times, with the language barrier, it is easier to let things go.
Well it was only midnight, and on a Friday night that is pretty early so, should we continue on? Or??? (this is after spending the last 2 hours eating appetizers and drinking wine) we drove over to the place where we usually watch the Folkloric singers and dancing but it was shut that night. So we ended up going back to the house, opening the bottle of sparkling wine, and talking. It was a really nice night, and I probably didn’t get to bed until at least 2:30. Saturday was a pretty laid back day. We basically spent it getting ready for the birthday party celebration for Celso, which was at the farm the next day. I had told the Fia’s about the annual reunion of the Victors, the bocce tourney, the big dinner, all the pictures…..they LOVED it and decided that they would use Celso’s birthday as a jumping off point for starting their own traditional reunion, there was even bocce! (which they play differently enough that it took me about 20 minutes of playing to understand).
When we got to the farm Sunday morning, the guys immediately started a fire going in this big pit, then the seasoned all this meat (we are talking 2.5 chickens, chorizo, morcilla-blood sausage gross!, beef, pork, sheep, I think every animal group was pretty much represented). Then put all of it on a grill over the fire, after everything had cooked a good amount, they killed the fire down to coals and smoke, covered the meat with newspaper and then let the smoke cook it for about another hour. When we finally ate, I was in HEAVEN, the chicken tasted exactly like the chicken that we used to eat at the Spokane Fair every year. During the whole day I got a chance to get all these family pictures, Teresa, Celso, Cecilia, Sergio, Leo, Elisa and all the kids. I had a discussion with Cecilia and Sergio about the wine talk, the travels I was going to do with my sister. We talked about how fast all the time went and how sad I will be to go. Then Sergio asked me if I would give a talk to his friends about the enjoyment of wine….HELL YEAH! Are you kidding me!?!?!?!??!?!?!?! Another of my favorite things, they told me how much my Spanish had improved, how fluently I was talking.
The middle daughter of Cecilia and Sergio, Selene (the one who met me at the airport and consequently has a slightly larger place in my heart) is going to be 15 this year. In Latin America, 15 is the year that a girl becomes a woman, kind of like the sweet 16, but here there is a HUGE party. The girl gets to wear a dress very similar to a wedding dress, there is a big cake, a salon is rented out, there is food, dancing, a basic all-night festival. Sele is having hers the 2nd of November, and she thought I would still be here for it!!!! I am so sad that I am going to miss it. Then she asked if I could maybe come back for the party, these people are so nice! (If only tickets to South America weren’t SO much money I would have said, “yes” in a heartbeat.) On the other hand, I am not going to stay here until November just to see Sele’s party. I will just be there in spirit.
We didn’t get home until about 9pm and we were all pretty bushed. Their dog, Pepi, had run all over the place all day and I think she was the most tired of everyone. Monday signified the real end of my vacation inside my trip (school had been out for the kids so there wasn’t any volunteering at the Institute, and I went to Cordoba). I had a private Spanish class with Pilar in the morning and then in the evening I went and volunteered at the Institute. I had a class with the director of the Institute, Juki. She is a wonderful lady, and I like her class a lot, this was a group of students I had met before, so they were over some of their shyness. One of the best parts of going to class with Juki is that she really involves me in the teaching.
We talked about the differences of teenagers in the States vs. those here. After we were done, I think they were all glad that they live here! Because, kids here don’t have curfews, on a Saturday night some of the dance places don’t even open until 3am! Another thing I noticed that was really different. When people go out on the weekends, they bring their kids (toddlers, babies, teens…..) they travel together as a family. The kids stay up as late as the parents stay out, they drink Coca-cola. On the weekdays they probably don’t get to bed until midnight. However, here they do have that handy 4 hour rest in the middle of every day, so it works out to the same amount of sleep, I think. I also explained to them about school dances, oh man what a difference!! They don’t have anything like that here. Dances are clubs or discos, your school would never sponsor a dance, no one gets flowers (wrist corsage was a very difficult thing to explain…”they get a bracelet?” “oh flowers?” “And the man, he buys them for the woman???”)
Maybe we have more family problems in the States because children are more of a burden, they keep you from going out, you make them special meals (here, everyone eats the same meal, I have seen these girls chow on polenta, roast, gnocchi, you name it. No one refuses to eat the food set in front of them.). Here, in South America the kids are just along for the ride, they go and do everything their parents do. When we went for that endless walk in the forest, with a 5-year-old there was never any thought of warning this child that it might be a long walk. She was never carried, she did it all herself. It was pretty damn impressive. It makes me wonder if our puritanical roots (and our colder climate) create more problems than they solve. Here, people aren’t so up in arms about what the best behavior for others is, instead they concentrate on themselves and don’t lay too much blame. In fact when something falls to the ground, they don’t say, “I dropped it.” Instead it is always, “It fell.” “It broke.”
So these are my travels up to now, I can’t believe I only have 2 weeks until my sister arrives! I can’t wait!
August 01, 2002
01 Agosto 2002 part B
I got to the hotel room expecting to see Teresa and EvilG, but they weren’t there. I was pretty tired from my adventures, so I called Kevin, wrote in my journal and went to bed. The two ladies didn’t arrive until about midnight. Gustavo told me that he would be the tour guide for my trip the next day, too, and while I was happy about that I was a little worried that Graciela would ruin it. My alarm clock decided to schitz out so we all slept past 830, so we were rushing around. Well around 9 we all stumble out the door of the room. Teresa stopped for a second to look through her bag. I had the key so I didn’t lock the door in case she had forgotten something. Graciela says to me, “Carmen, give me the key.” Not in a nice tone, I might add. Teresa is still looking through her bag, so I decided not to understand what she had said. So EvilG says is AGAIN, but louder. No please, no may I, no manners. So I turned to her and said, “I was waiting for Teresa in case she needed anything.” So, Teresa is ready to go, I hand Stinky the key and she just walks off, she didn’t even lock the door! Hello???? Boy am I looking forward to spending a day with her.
So we go down to breakfast, but as soon as I get my coffee, Gustavo is there. I go over to him and tell him the other 2 ladies are on their way. Teresa grabs her stuff, but grumpy lady stays at the table. Turns out that on the city tour the day before, we stopped to see this beautiful church, apparently they have Capuchin Monks (how that is different from capuchin monkeys I have NO idea) at this church and Graciela was ticked off that we didn’t take the time to go see in and see them. She decided to spend the day in Cordoba, seeing these monks and who knows what else. Personally I think she didn’t want to spend the 42 pesos + lunch. All in all, it was perfectly fine with me.
This second tour was a tour of the Sierras and the pueblos around them. First stop, Alta Gracia and then Che Guevara’s house. Teresa had already seen the cathedral at Alta Gracia and I had enough churches the day before so we both went and looked at all the crafts that were for sale in the open-air market. I found this really cool black pottery and bought a little plate and tiny vase. There was this really fabulous 10” tall vase with nice designs, I wanted it soooo bad but I don’t want to buy anything too heavy or too delicate, because I don’t want to be carrying it everywhere later, when I am traveling through Argentina. So I didn’t buy it, but I felt bad about it later. Oh well.
Well the Sierras are stunning. Clear, blue air, dry climate, all the beautiful colors that mountains give. We saw all these great pueblos, a dam (no, Dad, there wasn’t a fish ladder), more artisan stuff, bought some jewelry. Generally had a great time with Teresa. We talked a lot and laughed a lot, I told her about my breakthrough with the language and she is going to help me with vocabulary. At one pueblo, there was this huge group of gigantic hotels (7 in all) that would hold about 600 people, kept grounds, trees cut into all these wonderful shapes. But it was like a ghost village, I guess that one of the hotels is still open, but this showed an Argentina that was big business with tourists, once upon a time. But now, no one. This isn’t recent either, the buildings looked like they hadn’t been inhabited in a decade or more.
As we headed back, we talked a little about EvilG. Apparently the day before, with Teresa she had been a real handful. Insisting on finding a video of something to watch in the hotel instead of catching an earlier bus to the city where Celso’s aunt lives, then making them take the last bus back to Cordoba. Just being willful, and not caring about other people’s feelings. Teresa told me that she snapped at her once and that she felt bad about it. This is a rare thing for a person like Teresa, she is so sweet and generous in her nature, she must have been really pushed to say something. Teresa told me that she was going to spend part of Saturday with her family and I asked to come along, she said, sure.
We also talked about how it was just 2 more days of EvilG (Teresa of course didn’t call her that) and we just needed to be nice and sweet and soon we wouldn’t have to think of her one little bit. We both agreed there would be no fighting. So when we got back to the hotel room, we were both really nice, asking about her day, telling her about our trip. We told her we were going to go get a small meal and did she want to come along. The first thing she said in response to that was, “Who is paying?” PUH-LEASE. This wasn’t a dinner-is-on-me kind of invite. She decided to go along anyway, which was fine. As we walked to find a restaurant, Stinky took Teresa’s arm, and walked close. Then Teresa took my arm so we were all joined, which was nice. Still I got the feeling that Graciela was jealous of me. That she wanted Teresa to do all the things she wanted to do, to hang out with her and leave me to my lonesome. Since this was my vacation, and we came to Cordoba for me, and just invited her along, I don’t know where she came up with this idea, but whatever.
Dinner went reasonably well, then Teresa paid! I thanked her, it was a nice gesture, I know she was just trying to make EvilG happy, and that woman didn’t even say thanks for it! How RUDE. As we walked back, Stinky kinda walked all by herself, I kept slowing down to stay even with her but then she would slow down even more. I finally gave up. When we got to the hotel, I took a shower, while I was in the bathroom, Graciela started a fight with Teresa! She wanted to know why we weren’t involving her in things, why she was always by herself! Excuse me? I was under the impression that we invited her along to everything that we did and she chose not to go with!!!!!
She also wanted to know why Teresa kept going over to her family’s house. Yeah, like you go and visit the city your family lives in and then don’t hang out with them. What she basically told Teresa was that she thought that she and Teresa should go and sleep at the family home and I should be all alone in the hotel, paying the whole bill of course.
After this whole thing Teresa was really upset, I could tell she was really hurt and she was crying. She packed up her things, told EvilG that tomorrow she and I were going to her family’s house to hang out, then the next night she would stay at her family’s house and then pick her up before the bus left back for Posadas. (I had decided to stay in Cordoba for two more days on my own.) So Saturday, Teresa arranged to pay the bill one day in advance (I think to make sure that Graciela paid her share, but also so that she could spend the Sat night with her family and not worry about having to come back.) Then we went and spent a very nice day with her family, telling horror stories about Evila and laughing, but Teresa was still hurt. I told her that I thought that Graciela was maybe a tad insane, for real. After we told some of the things that happened to the sisters they came to that conclusion as well. I tried to explain the concept of “Passive/Aggressive” to Lina and she said that is what they call, “A cow in the arms” and I think it is very fitting. A big weight, that contributes nothing, carries you down and makes everything difficult.
I am sorry that I was correct about evilG, not for myself (I mean, come on, we all LOVE saying, “I told you so.”) but I know it hit Teresa really hard, and that bothers me, because she is really dear to me, I wouldn’t have her hurt for the world.
We decided to return to Alta Gracia to look for that vase I wanted and to see the inside of Che Guevara’s house because I didn’t go in that first time. At the last minute, Teresa decided to call Graciela and invite her along, just to be polite. Well she decided to go!!! She did manage to keep her mouth completely shut. She went and looked at the church with Teresa as her guide and I found that GREAT vase. I guess I will be shipping some things back to the states.
I ended up spending Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on my own, exploring the city and having some private time. It was really nice (except for the broken toilet in my hotel room on Sunday that couldn’t get fixed until Monday, it was usable but the water ran 24 hours a day, and sooo noisy! What IS it with me and toilets in this country????). I also went and saw an Argentinean movie in the theater, “Apasionado” it was really sweet and I understood a good portion of it. Monday as a treat to myself I decided to see “Men In Black II” in English, but it ended up being dubbed! Still it was pretty funny, that pug is GREAT, and there were parts that were so American that I was the only one laughing in the theater, probably with everyone else wondering what the hell was going on.
Tuesday I checked out of the hotel and the morning desk clerk who barely said more than “Buenos Dias” to me the whole week had a HUGE conversation with me about travel, student exchange, Europe, Argentina, Cordoba……it was really nice. My bus didn’t leave that night until 6pm, so I went to the bus terminal and checked my bag into something I can only call “left luggage” you pay someone to put your bag, back and away and safe. Well it turns out, that not only was I able to leave my bag there all day for just one peso, but because I had my ticket on me, they also gave me a claim check and put it on the bus for me! When I got back to Posadas it was stored on the bus and I picked it up! It was so easy! The man who checked my bag turned out to be a Sonics fan and he had a chatty conversation with me as well. Figures, on the last day. But it was really sweet and you can’t help but like people who tell you how well you talk!
One of the movies on the bus was “Me, Myself and Irene” which also turned out to be MUCH better than I expected, some icky parts but in general, reasonably funny. When I got off the bus Teresa was there to meet me, and when I got home, Celso was really sweet, saying he missed our after lunch walks. Then I had to wash every bit of clothing I owned because after all that time, everything was dirty.
The best surprise was that Kevin had sent me a care package that showed up at the house while I was gone. It had a really wonderful card, film and just in time, I used my last roll in Cordoba, some chocolate kisses (awwwwww), a CD from one of my favorite bands and HOORAY! Coffee from Diva, and a solo French press. Now each morning my coffee is wonderful.
I really do hope that everyone is enjoying my travelogue, because I do actually put a decent amount of time into them, even if it seems like an impersonal chain letter. To everyone who has written me personal emails, thank you SO much, because it ends up meaning a LOT to me. When I am down, or tired, they really lift my spirits. I do miss Seattle and my family and friends, but this is the trip of a lifetime. I can’t believe it is already half over!
Sorry this last one was so long (with both combined, I mean) but I had so much to tell. I am so excited about my Spanish, now I just need to stop sounding so gringo!
01 Agosto 2002 part A
On this bus, on the top, there is a set of two chairs together, then the aisle, then a single chair. Since Graciela was coming with us, I told Teresa it was ok with me if she wanted to sit next to Graciela and I would sit in the solo seat. I assumed then that Teresa would sit in the chair across the aisle from me, but instead G, whom I shall refer to as that Mothball-lady from here on out, sat there. The seats were reasonably comfortable and the view was nice. We left in the evening so I watched the sunset as we drove out of town, it was really beautiful.
So mothball-lady turns out to be a talkative pain in the ass. When the host-guy comes by to bring dinner and ask us what we want to drink, she says something to the tune of, “Well I don’t understand English, so I am not sure.” Even now I haven’t decided if that is a slam on me, or just her usual joke to the bus guy. But she kept saying it every time that guy came by. I was about to say, “Listen lady, that joke was only marginally funny the first time, not in the least funny the second and it isn’t getting any funnier as you re-tell it.” Sometimes it is a good thing to be hampered by a lack of vocabulary.
After dinner they put on the first movie, I can’t even remember what it was but it was something really awful but it was in English with subtitles so I ended up watching it anyway. The second movie was U-571, a WWII movie about submarines (or was it WWI? I am not actually certain, thinking about it) well I had seen bits and parts of it in the past and I slammed it before, but I have to say if you sit through the whole thing, it turns out to be pretty decent, or maybe I was just happy to have another movie in English. Then I stayed up a little to write in my journal. When I tried to go to sleep I kept smelling mothballs, probably all mental but that doesn’t really make much difference. I fell into a fitful sleep (much aided by the eye cover and earplugs supplied so long ago by my dear sister) only to wake up when evilG pulled her coat out of her bag to cover her legs. Just WHY do mothballs have to smell so horrible anyway? You would think by now they would have made something to keep moths away that wasn’t so foul. I would rather have clothes with all sorts of holes in them, then have my clothes smells like that.
The night we traveled there was a full moon and we were driving through all this scrub brush area, passing semi’s. It was indescribably beautiful, I felt like I was in a Thelma and Louise movie, except that I didn’t kill anyone, rob a convenience store, lock a policeman in the trunk of his car and I wasn’t driving to Mexico. This did make me reminisce about those college years with Christie, watching that movie 8 million times, quoting dialogue, “You, say you’re sorry, or I’ll….” I even brought that movie with me on DVD so when I get homesick I can watch it on my computer. Miss ya girlie!
On the bus I decided that since I was halfway through my trip it was time to re-define my goals. I was definitely getting better with my Spanish, what next? Well I am basically deadly afraid of answering the phone, anytime anyone asks me to answer it, I feel deep dread in the pit of my stomach. Also, I could use more vocab and pronunciation work, that likely means more classes at the dog-smelling house. Why not try to have some private English sessions with Tania, I am sure she wouldn’t mind. Need to exercise more. Fear, fear of being wrong, being misunderstood or not understanding is the biggest problem with language. It is time to get over that. Time to answer the phone without being forced, talk to people before they start conversations, during a party, don’t just sit in a corner and talk only to the people I already know.
I finally hit deep restful sleep only to have it be morning and time for breakfast. It was a foul and disgusting dry breakfast that I couldn’t even face eating. It was 9ish when we got into Cordoba and too early to check into the hotel so we went to the neighborhood where Teresa’s family lives. Her parents had a piece of property, that they split up and gave to each girl in the family (Teresa, Louisa and Lina). Now it is a set of 3 or 4 houses with Lina and the mom, then Louisa and her two daughters and their families, and a patio area that doesn’t have a house, that is actually Teresa’s property. All joined so that they families spend a lot of time with each other and are very close. We weren’t staying there because with 3 people it was a bit too much to take on, with Teresa’s mom not being well. Also, Elisa’s daughters Rosario and Sophia were coming from Posadas a few days later. There just wasn’t bed space.
Lina and Louisa were simply wonderful, and really funny, truly they just love life. I can see why Alma likes them so much. They said how much they delighted in Alma’s visit and how much they missed her when she left. They also asked Teresa if Alma had been much in touch and wondered what was going on in her life - that was a little plug to Alma. (For those of you who don’t remember, Alma was the girl who got to stay here the term before I came down.) Silvia (the niece from the waterfall incident) even popped her head in and we talked. I saw Elmice for about 20 good seconds, and even though she wasn’t the sweetest child on the block she is starting to grow on me. Of course, compared to the true evil of Graciela she looks like a perfect little angel.
After a nice lunch and nice dessert (there is almost always a dessert around here, I think they would try to fit one in after breakfast if it was possible) we headed to the hotel. Since it was a “triple” I assumed it would be a larger room with 3 beds in a row and lots of drawer space. Instead it was the same size room you would get with a single, with 3 twin beds two in a row and the other basically laid the other direction near the foot of the others, making a U shape. The 3rd bed was near the door and along a large mirror. Not the best bed in the world but I seized the opportunity to be as far away from Graciela as possible and put my luggage on it. Then I thought we might get a nice chance to get some rest but I was told the tour guide was going to be there soon, so I washed my face, changed my clothes but some makeup on and was ready to go. We were standing there and evilG was urging me to go downstairs with her. Teresa was taking a shower so I told her I was just waiting, well it turns out that Teresa decided NOT to go on this tour so it would just be Stinky and me. Joy.
It wasn’t as horrible as I thought it would be, the city was nice, the tour guide was really sweet and the 2 other people on the little mini-tour bus were also very nice. Graciela, for the most part didn’t make any “I don’t understand English” type jokes. She did seem a tad grumpy but I chalked it up to lack of sleep and travel. I didn’t understand very much of what the tour guide said, but it really was a nice day and I got some nice pictures. I was starting to feel as if I had judged the evilG a little prematurely and had some hopes for the following days. She even fell asleep for a bit on the tour. We got to the hotel about 530 and I was ready to drop, I was so tired and my head was killing me. When we got in, we both said we were going to sleep for a bit, Teresa had already been resting so she went to her family’s place while we slept. When I woke up from my nap around 8pm, I felt so much better!
Teresa came back around that time and we decided to go see some classical music that Teresa had read about in the paper. We got dressed again and started to go out. Well I couldn’t find the money I had left over from the tour earlier, so I looked and looked. It was only 20 some pesos, about $6, so I said “never mind.” Dear me. Graciela went into some sort of tizzy. She looked through all my stuff, including a coat I didn’t even take along on the tour. Then she asked permission to stick her hands in my pockets, bleah. She finally found it tucked into a side pocket of my luggage. I know I would have found it later, I didn’t understand all the uproar. It was nice that she sent to so much trouble to look for me, but, I don’t know, it was freaky.
Well, we get to the place, and no classical music, the paper was wrong, so we went to this upscale shopping mall instead. G was tired so she went back to the hotel and Teresa and I had a really nice dinner alone. The next day was a 10-hour tour of the area surrounding Cordoba, called the Triangulo de Jesuitico, or basically a tour of all the areas where the Jesuits were, way back when. EvilG is some sort of muckity-muck in the ministry of her church in Santiago and when she heard I was going to see Jesuit stuff she showed an interest in going along. Oh dear me NO. However since lunch wasn’t included in the price and it was 48 pesos for the day, she decided to just wait (also it turns out that on the next tour the ladies were both joining me).
Background info on Graciela. She turns out to be the niece of an infamous ex-dictator of Chile (by marriage? Not certain) Every time she says her last name, people look a little more attentive and say, “Pinochet?” with a kind of bemused, poor-you look on their face. That must get a little old. Also, she seems to have decent clothes, she keeps saying how she is a “Lady” and her family is moneyed, why then does she act like she has about two cents to rub together wherever we go, and she always has a death-grip on her purse. I understand being cautious but this seems excessive. Anytime the topic of money comes up, you can bet that EvilG is trying to figure out a way of spending less than anyone else. I bet you are wondering just why I seem so bitter about this woman, well that is coming up in my next installment. While I went to see the Triangulo de Jesuitico, the ladies went to see the Aunt of Celso who lives near Cordoba. Teresa asked me if I was alright traveling on my own, and while I was a little tentative, I decided anything was better than hanging out with Stinky.
Well I couldn’t have had a better time on the tour. Gustavo was our tour guide and after collecting everyone we started on our way. First we went to this little pueblo Caroya, where they have this really long main street lined with these 300 year-old enormous trees. The day is sunny and gorgeous. First stop? A Bodega, or winery to you. Could this tour be MORE designed for me? Not certain. When we get to the bodega, Gustavo pulls me aside and checks to see if I am understanding everything (and for the most part, yes, I know I am missing details, like the name of the tree, but I get the gist. On the tour before I was so tired I just kept spacing out and forgetting to listen. But with a full night’s rest and some breakfast, I felt ready to conquer the world). I told him I worked at a winery in Seattle and this is the first thing he tells the lady who gives us the tour! He made her so nervous! Well, I didn’t understand some of what she said, but the wine knowledge I have, gave me the ability to know what she was talking about it.
Next stop? Artisanal Salami, yup, hand-crafted salami, apparently this area is best known for its wine and its salami. Since Gustavo used my name, loudly, in front of everyone at the winery, it is like I am the new guest-star, Carmen this and Carmen that. It is really cool, everyone is SOOOOOOOOOO nice!!!! On this tour there was a couple from Mexico, a couple with their baby from Buenos Aires and two people who live in the area around Buenos Aires (I can’t remember the exact name of it, but I was assured that it is the “most beautiful area in Argentina”) and me. I thought those people were a “couple” but they didn’t have wedding rings (I looked because I was considering asking them if they had kids, since everyone asks me that) so I asked the girl her name, “Juanita” and then I asked her what her boyfriend’s name was and OOOOPS, just cousins! I was so embarrassed. His name was Ricardo, btw.
Then we finally got around to stopping at a few old missions and churches. EvilG would really have hated this trip, it was the most expensive trip this company does, and at every church we all had to pay a peso or two to get in. This is where people started talking to me, Ricardo has visited the U.S. a couple times so we talked about that. The people with the baby (totally adorable little girl who smiled a whole lot) asked me why I was in Argentina. Then we go to this great restaurant for lunch. It is an asado style restaurant, which means bar-b-que but completely different than in the states! On the table there are wooden cutting boards, basically for chairs facing each other, one per-2 people. They bring you a whole lots of different salads, French fries with scrambled eggs on them, beverage of choice, and then the cook starts bring out different kinds of meat. First a steak, and you split it with the person across from you. No plates, eat off of the cutting board, just use your fork for the salad. Then we had pork chops, then just a huge assortment, chorizo, blood sausage (tastes like pâté in a casing) everything was wonderful tasting. One of the things the cook brought out (I can’t even remember the name) were these rings of something, that looked kind of like calamari, but a bit larger, and everyone looked at me, with that, “oh I wonder how she is going to take THIS” look on their faces. I asked what it was, and no one would tell me. All they would say is that it was really rich. Well you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to understand that this was most likely intestine. So I took a little bite, it was gamey and dry and I decided trying it was one thing, but eating it was another. So I didn’t finish it, to my credit I did eat the blood sausage which I had sworn before I would never try.
Then we all start a discussion about finances, and how Argentina’s downfall was basically the start of a domino-style crashing of the other economies of the countries in South America. So I chimed in that the US was in a down period, blah, blah, blah. The guy from Mexico said it was simply due to September 11. So I had to go into how it likely didn’t help any, but that things had been going poorly with our economy well before that. Then the lady with the baby asked me if Carmen was my real name. So I got to tell them how my Spanish professor had chosen to call me that, how I liked it and since my real name was difficult for everyone in South America to pronounce, it seemed easier to go with Carmen. This was a lot like throwing down the gauntlet. So, I told them my real name and they all said things like, “Oh, Karen? Oh we know that name!” Then I spelled it, “Ohhhhh, Carrie” and they all thought they had it right, it was really funny though, because they didn’t. We all laughed a lot about that. Then the lady who asked originally said, “Like that movie, Carrie?” Maybe because my parents spelled my name so much differently than other Carries, I have learned to really dislike that spelling, and I don’t really want to be compared to a lady who gets pg blood dumped on her at the prom.
“No, no, no, no, no,” I said, “well yes it is the same, but completely different!” at this point the man from Mexico, claimed that I had a great grasp on the language and gave me a high five! This is where I let go of my fear and realized that I can speak, more than just a little, and that the concept of being “fluent” is maybe slightly overstating the ability I will have gained when I leave, it isn’t far from the truth either. I really am getting somewhere with my goals. This isn’t just some fun vacation, I really CAN speak Spanish, or Castellano as they call it here. Taking this tour all by myself was one of the best things that could have happened. I even got the email of the cousins and hopefully we will hook up for at least one night, when I am in Buenos Aires with my sister.
We then saw a whole lot more and didn’t get back to town until 8:30, a full 11 hours on the road. Since I was gone a whole week and so many things happened, this has already gone on for quite a bit. I will write another one of these completing the journey in Cordoba, telling the final chapter on EvilG, or stinky or mothball lady, however you prefer to think of her. But for now, I give you a Karri/Carmen break.
Chau todos, likely more later today or tomorrow.