Will Smith Hits the Hiking Trails

When we first got here, our program director gave us a list of possible volunteering opportunities. All of them sounded great, but my friend Olivia (also an environmental studies major) and I asked if there was anything we could do involving the outdoors. A few weeks ago, Vicky came back to us with information on a trip to Los Gigantes, a mountain range in the Córdoba province which is roughly 3 hours away from the city by bus. We eagerly signed up, not really even sure what we were signing up for, and this weekend the two of us and two other guys from our program packed up our mochilas and headed out for some down and dirty time with nature.

When we arrived at the Los Gigantes bus stop, I was reminded of my kindergarten days waiting for the bus (which I would inevitably end up puking all over through most of that grade, as well as on Jimmy, the quiet boy who was in the wrong place after a particularly unfortunate lunch involving cheeze-its. ya. gross.) at my friend Jane's house, in the little hut of a bus stop that the neighbors had built. Except there is NOTHING around this bus stop except a few houses that you have to walk a good 15 minutes across the Pampas to get to. We said what's up to some cows as the bus swerved around them, and then hopped off to be greeted by our guide, Ivan. This kid was pretty cool, as he was still in high school and had been coming up to do work in Los Gigantes long enough to know the way up without hesitation. From there, we hiked up, and up and up, until we reached a hiker's refuge at what we calculated to be roughly 7,000 feet. While my mind said "That was awesome," my legs and butt said something akin to "I will get you back so hard in the morning, you just wait."

After meeting the rest of the volunteers, all of whom were thankfully Argentine and very cool, we got to work restoring "el medio ambiente" (literally the half environment, which our project director Ricardo laughingly pointed out). A lot of erosion has occurred because the cows that somehow make it to the top of the mountains (they just wander everywhere, there aren't really any boundaries) eat all the Tabaquillo plants, which naturally maintain the soil structure. Because the land has become so eroded, it's getting inhospitable to Tabaquillo. After resting por un ratito, we got to work digging up Poa plants, which are big grass clumpy things. While the guys planted the Poa in an eroded hillside to reconstruct the integrity of the land, Olivia and I dug. And dug. And fell down. A lot. Mostly because we were laughing too hard.

That night we had an awesome asado in the refuge (which has lights and water because of a solar panel on the roof. very cool.) and played Chancho Va!, which is a card game that is translated to Pig Go! We played that with the guys in Tanti about a month ago and were very pleased to continue. The next morning we leisurely awoke around 9 because Argentina is awesome and not concerned with schedules, and I brushed my teeth outside with some extremely gorgeous nature around me. Needless to say, I felt pretty lucky to be there.

Before we headed down the mountain we moved a bunch of buckets of sand and rocks, which is about as physically fun as it sounds but was made infinitely better by some awesome conversation on Argentine and US environmentalism. This is Olivia and me (I used correct grammar, Dad. I think.) in front of the refuge, nice and dirty and loving Los Gigantes.

The title of this blog comes from the backwards hat Fresh Prince in his prime look that I rocked all weekend with Martha's prized Bodega hat from Mendoza (which I returned a little dirtier than it started out as, but otherwise unharmed). After the Great Flood passed (it rained REALLY hard for about half an hour) we started the hike down sporting the latest rain gear, trash bags. The hike down was quite a bit easier to swallow than the climb up, let me tell you. At one point when we were walking across the plains and could look out for miles and see nothing but cows, Olivia turned back to me and said, "We're in Argentina." Sometimes we have to remind ourselves just how fortunate we are and how amazing this experience is, because Argentina already feels like home and we're so comfortable here. However, I fully appreciate that I spent my weekend giving back to the land that's supporting me for 6 months and basically walked across a scene from National Geographic for two days. But just to emphasize, I'm in Argentina. It's fairly cool or whatever.

Cool Contest: Brasil v. Argentina

So the past couple weeks have been pretty quiet here in Córdoba. I started some of my classes at the program center on Monday, and will start my university class in April (the art department is having building issues, so they just decided to chill til next month). So far I've made a couple new friends who are from different parts of the world, but I'm still waiting to really hang out with Argentines. I'm hoping that when I start my art class I'll make some new contacts, because I feel like part of the point of my being here is to make Argentine friends! However, it's hard to do this when you're constantly hanging out with American kids (all of whom I love, however).

Fortunately, we ARE in a foreign country and are therefore forced to have contact with Argentines on a regular basis. While I've not yet made any long-lasting Argentine friendships, some very cool Argentine people have made guest appearances in my life here. We usually end up chilling with some locals in whatever place we go, which has been great. I think part of our appeal is that we're foreign and therefore new, but I also believe that Argentines are just incredibly friendly and genuinely curious and open people. I'm grateful for that, because it's made my life in Córdoba so much more interesting.

Last night, for instance, we went to a place called Casa Brasil to listen to live Brasilian music. The Casa Brasil is kind of like a community center for Brasilians abroad, and unless you know exactly what you're looking for it's kind of a Diagon Alley-type situation to find it (three taps on this brick, four to the left). The only distinguishing factor that tipped me off to its existence was the distinctly Brasilian beats coming from inside as I passed the door. I kind of slinked inside, still unsure as to whether I was actually entering someone's home, and thankfully saw my friend Olivia waiting by the door. Man, am I glad I didn't get sketched out and leave! The music was awesome. I adore Brasilian music. The beats, the instruments, the Brasilian men who play them, I love them all. We drank a traditional Brasilian drink that involved a lot of lemon-lime deliciousness and generally soaked it all in.

The show was great, and afterwards we hung out with the band for a while and shared some Quilmes and conversation. Things at the Casa wound down but it was still really early (only 3 am!) so we all headed back to the band's hostel. Low and behold, our friend Hendrix was there playing the guitar in a jam sesh with the band! The whole night turned into a singfest with half the hostel, Argentine guys, hostel employees, and British man included. The British man more just sat on a couch by himself, but he still counts.

It's random nights like these that truly make my time here special. You never know where you'll end up at the end of the night or who you'll meet. It's an aspect of life that I've never really experienced before, this spontaneity. Sure, I've definitely had a lot of random nights with my friends back home, but here everything is new. There's a 90% chance every day that I'll go somewhere I've never been before or do something I've never in my life done, which is something I'm growing to truly appreciate and love. I'm learning a lot of life lessons down here, which is kind of the point I guess. Who knows what tonight will bring. Whatever it is, I'm down for the ride.

Bright Lights, Big City

Last Thursday our month-long intensive language and culture course ended, and after taking our finals and a language placement exam for the universidad we hopped on an overnight bus bound for the BIG city, Buenos Aires. The overnight buses here come in levels of luxury, starting with your normal bus and ending with a full blown bed chair that reclines and has a foot rest. We were in a semi-cama, meaning semi-bed, which was still pretty freaking comfortable. I don't sleep well on various modes of transportation, including buses, because I'm a side sleeper with a preference for the fetal position. But, low and behold, you can actually sleep that way on semi-cama buses! Big points for Argentine travel.

We got into town Friday morning around 7. I say town but I definitely mean that metaphorically. Buenos Aires is the biggest city I've ever been in, and I was only in a tiny section of it. We took a city tour on our super American tour bus, and this tour took us roughly 4 hours. We didn't even cover half of the city. What we did see was some beautiful arquitecture, lovely gardens, happy looking people, and major landmarks like the Casa Rosada (instead of a white house they have a pink house) and the Plaza de Mayo. What we didn't see was the southern part of the city where all the poor people set up shack. I understand that we couldn't go there, as it would be very dangerous and stupid for a group of American college students to go gallavanting around a Villa Miseria (literally village of misery, which is the name for slums). However, I wish I could have visited somewhere without manicured parks and a bazillion tourists buzzing around. The Villas are where I want to work, the people I want to help. Therefore, I kind of feel as though it's important to actually SEE a villa miseria for myself. Unfortunately, there's just no safe way to do that while I'm a student down here. Next time I'm back I'll hopefully be working with an NGO, so I guess I'll just have to wait to see what I'm up against.

We also visited the museum of Evita, or Eva Perón. Having taken many Latin American history and politics courses I was familiar with the story of Evita and Juan, but the museum was a great way to learn more about her story and the reason she is both so beloved and so disliked by many here in Argentina. Saturday was also the day I lost my voice, due to a cold I seem to have picked up somewhere. I still don't have it back, which makes it difficult for people to understand me as I already have an American accent. I'm assuming the collective 15 hours of sleep over the whole weekend didn't help too much, but I've been doing my best to catch up these past few days (11 hours each night!). The picture here is with Evita and Juan's awesome auto, which is currently parked in the museum.

One place you need to visit in Buenos Aires is La Boca. This barrio has such an interesting history, and is reknowned for its multitude of both boats (it used to be the main port in Buenos Aires) and colorful houses. Artist Juan Quinquela Martín grew up here and painted the shipyards his whole life, and we visited his home/museum to view some of his beautiful work. The colors in his paintings are ridiculous, but I guess that comes from the ridiculously colorful backdrop that is La Boca. Unfortunately we had to stay in one very small section of the barrio as it's pretty poor and relatively unsafe. I would have liked to see more of it, but at least we got to see the Boca Juniors stadium from afar. No fútbol game that day, but still pretty cool to see the place that many Argentines equate with church.

Sunday was my friend Olivia's 21st birthday, so Saturday night a bunch of us took her out to celebrate Argentine style, aka with a lot of Fernet. It was a fairly awesome way to spend your 21st in my opinion, because we also went to an amazing live dinner and Tango show on Saturday. The main dancers were incredible. I cannot fathum moving my legs so fast and with such precision, expecially when you're kicking all up in somebody's man parts (they did this backwards between the legs kick thing that I was just waiting to see go terribly, terribly wrong). However, girlfriend's face was SCARY as the result of too much plastic surgery at far too young an age. A couple of the other girls looked like they hadn't eaten in the past 2 decades, but that's Argentina for you - plastic surgery and eating disorder capital of the world. I'm assuming it's worse for the dancers.

Overall, Buenos Aires was a great weekend and I'd love to go back for another. However, we were all very happy to come home to Córdoba, where things move a little slower, the people are a little friendlier, and you don't hear as much English. I'm about 80 times more greatful that I'm studying here and not in BA or another huge city. It was also pretty cool to realize that when I got homesick this weekend it was for Córdoba and my life here. I think that's a pretty good sign.

Our Friend Stanley

This weekend a big group of girls from my program hauled off to a little town in the Sierras called Tanti. It was a much needed break from the hustle and bustle of the city, especially because we're going to Buenos Aires this weekend and will be truly overwhelmed. Tanti is situated roughly 20 minutes from Carlos Paz, a city smaller than Córdoba that attracts many tourists who want both city and country life. Tanti, however, consists mostly of a few houses, some little shops, and 4 different heladerias (heladeria: ice cream shop. A staple in all of Argentina.). All I can say is, Tanti is perfect.

To the right is a picture of some of the countryside that we hiked through on our first day in town. We stayed at an incredibly picturesque hotel that was built in 1918, and cost us only $10 (US) a night and included breakfast (you have not tried croissants unless they're homemade by a little old lady in a population 2000 town. Or I guess if you go to France or whatever). From our hotel we walked along the river to a small waterfall, and then continued on to the hills. It was beautiful. Also on this walk we made an important new friend - Stanley. Stanley is one of the many street dogs that live free in Argentina. This is a phenomenon that we've all had to get used to, because there are dogs literally everywhere. Stan found us half way through our hike, and accompanied us thereafter. He also led us back when we weren't sure which paths to take, so thanks, Stan. We pretty much fell in love with this dog and were quite sad to say goodbye.

The people of Tanti are some of the nicest I've met so far, which is saying a lot in Argentina, country of nice people. To be "simpatico" (an agreeable, generally good-natured person) is highly valued in this country, and in most places it shows. However, the people of the mountains are famous for their friendliness and I'm pretty excited to meet some more of them in the near future.

Saturday we had two very cool (and attractive, but that's not surprising as EVERYONE in Argentina is attractive) guides take us into the mountains to hang out in the river, do some rock climbing, and ride a zip line. They also gave us some of the best salami I've ever eaten and bread made by a very old woman up the road. I managed to get a pretty awesome sunburn, and by awesome I mean not, but this is my only complaint. Thankfully, there were aloe plants everywhere and we all snagged some leaves to rub all over our painfully red appendages.

That night we made some new friends at a bar. Juan, Tomás, Nacho (Ignacio) and Mariano hung out with us until 7 am (standard) until we finally stumbled back to our hotel to sleep for a few hours before we met back up with them at Tomas' house for the best asado I've eaten to date. It's kind of ridiculous. Here's a picture of what you're missing in the US:

And yes, those are eggs cooking in those red peppers as they roast. These people come up with the best uses for eggs, but unfortunately none of them include breakfast foods. To make the trip complete, guess who found us in the street as we were walking to the asado? Stanley! It pretty much made my life, and that is not an exaggeration. All in all, these were some of my best days in the Tina so far. Next weekend is the big B.A., so that should make for some interesting stories as well. For now, it's nice to know that whenever we're feeling a little overwhelmed, we always have Tanti to go back to.