Uruguay Is Paradise: The Land Where Prehistoric Fish Help Make Beer

With no idea of what to expect, we stepped onto Uruguayan soil.  Our mission was the so-called "expat shuffle," a short jaunt out of Argentina to renew our 3 month visas.  We crossed the murky and uninviting Tigre River on the surprisingly opulent Eladia Isabel Ferry, complete with a blond singer in a black dress performing her rendition of Elvis Presley's "Only You" and other "international classics" as on-board entertainment – at 11:30 in the morning.

We landed in Colonia, where a strange sensation immediately took hold of us.  As our lungs began to open up, we realized that it was the air...  It was clean.  After so much time absorbing the smog and bus exhaust in Buenos Aires we had grown unaccustomed to the normal mix of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide.   

Tall trees line the wide streets of Colonia and an autumnal scent wafted through the air.  After a warm welcome at our hostel, we set off to explore the town.  We wandered among fallen leaves and through cobblestone streets, enjoying the warm sun and cool breezes coming off the water.  Absolute tranquility.

(These care have exclusive restaurant seating inside)

Colonia is touristy but not overwhelmingly so.  Small artisan shops sell crafts from all over the country.  In one we found a little magnetic puzzle showing an upside-down South America.  It's arbitrary to decide that the North is the top of the world and I've always loved the idea of turning that on its head.  The old town is filled with colorful colonial buildings and the stone ruins of old Portuguese outposts.  Relaxed restaurants feature live Bossanova music and serve Uruguayan classics like matambre- steak cooked in milk - and chivitos - delicious steak sandwiches garnished with egg, ham, bacon, peppers, lettuce, tomato, olives, and cheese.

We continued to enjoy chivitos and Uruguayan wine over the next few days in Montevideo.  The mellow "little sibling of Buenos Aires" marks the spot where the Tigre River loses its murky color and enters the Atlantic.  It's surrounded by deep blue water and the walls are lined with fishermen enjoying the sun and drinking large cups of mate, the tea that comprises half the Uruguayan diet (the other half is beef).  The plazas are green and filled with people, trees line the avenues, and there's a uniquely relaxed vibe that pervades the city.  

It's the perfect place to sit outside on a sunny afternoon having a few beers and watching sailboats and windsurfers navigate the waters.  We even watched a rock-and-roll cover band in the pub below our hotel, where we met an old hippie who had been living outside the city for 30 years.  As he guzzled a few Bud bottles he explained that he somehow supported himself by selling marine fossils to beer companies, but he took off before we could clarify whatever the hell that meant.

10 Idiosyncrasies of life in Buenos Aires:

1) Language - Castellano.  Literally meaning Spanish like in Spain, but really a completely unique dialect.  New words, conjugations, and all.  Matched with hand movements and an accent not understood by anyone outside Argentina.

2) Meat - Imagine a grill the size of a twin bed, every inch covering in sizzling steaks and sausage.  Delicious.

3) Coins - Nobody's got them, everyone wants them.  Actually, since you need to pay with change every time you take a bus (the main mode of transport), the bus companies hoard the change.  Seriously, the police busted a bus company owned van the other week with millions of pesos stockpiled (literally).  Apparently they sell the coins to the Chinese supermarkets for a profit of 10-15 pesos on every hundred.  Shops often try to give candy as change instead of parting with valuable coinage.

4) Argentine Advertising - It's all about paper flyers.  They'll drop them through mail slots, over fences, shove them into your hands on the street, or simply stick them up anywhere possible.  To the end result that you never look at the words on a piece of paper ever again.

5) Mullets - everywhere. Why?

6) Telos - Love Hotels in English.  Argies young and old opt for 1-2 hour hotel room stays, complete with ancient Egypt or comic themed rooms, jacuzzis, erotic vending machines and more.  It's too expensive to move out of Mom and Dad's place so if you want to get laid, this is your option.  Also used by stereotypical executives and secretaries.

7) Futbol - You have to love my team.  If you root for the rival I'll kill you.  They're kidding, sort of... but my roommates from Salta do say this on occasion.

8) Chinese Supermarkets - At least that's what the locals refer to them as, because all Asians are Chinese.  Generally staffed by at least a few 20 something year olds whose main job is to look cool, never be seen without a cigarette dangling from the mouth, and have fabulous hair.  We saw one guy today slice up a couple of kilos of meat and cheese without ever removing his cigarette.  James Dean's got nothing on these guys.

9) Sidewalks - Don't look up at that beautiful 18th century building while walking down the street... Your next step will land on either a) dog shit b) a loose tile that will plunge your foot into sewage water or c) a hole that will cut a gash in your leg requiring stitches, a lifetime scar, and 2 tetanus shots (Meg Kenny, please stand up)

10) Pride - "Welcome to Buenos Aires, the best city in the world."

Playing with old photos

"One Summer Afternoon"

... a little movie by Megan

Buenos Aires: The Beginning of the End

Friends and family, sorry we’ve been out of touch so long.  I haven’t kept up with the blog since we arrived in Buenos Aires.  It’s an intoxicating city; full of so much life that it both draws you in and at the same time makes you wonder how to fit into it all.

(Recoleta Cemetery)

I’ve found some work in the time that we’ve been here.  It’s just writing articles for different companies, more related to advertising than anything.  It may not be the most interesting work in the world but it keeps me writing and gives us some spending money while we are here- a necessity!

(Open Air Art Exhibition of Bear Sculptures Representing Countries Throughout the World)

Trying to describe the city itself is almost a frightening task, and I certainly wouldn’t attempt it in one blog post- I want to at least have someone still reading by the time we reach the end!  I’m going to make an effort to publish a post every Wednesday from here on out while we are here.  It’ll just be a few thoughts on what BA is like, how we are finding our way in the flow of the city.

We are living in the neighborhood of Monserrat.  It’s one of the older barrios of the city, on the southern side.  The south of the city was the first area to grow and prosper, where all new immigrants arrived.  In the 1800’s a Yellow Fever epidemic hit Buenos Aires, at which point in time all the wealthy residents moved to the north of the city to the neighborhoods of Palermo and Recoleta, among others.  Most of the city’s wealth is still in the north, an area full of magnificent buildings and green parks.  The south is much more urban and still has a much lower income population, but has a vitality that can’t be found anywhere else.  Old cobblestone streets intersect with paved roads and grandiose buildings are interspersed with brick apartments.  Some of the older constructions have been abandoned and are currently in a decrepit state, with vines climbing through cracked windows and crumbling walls.

(A Tomb in Recoleta)

One example of the madness that we’ve plunged ourselves into.  May 25^th is a day of commemoration for the 30,000 Argentines who were “disappeared” by the government during the Dirty War.  Intellectuals, dissidents, and students all disappeared from their homes and jobs.  Some of their bodies washed up on shore, having been thrown from helicopters.  The mothers of the disappeared hold a weekly vigil in the main square of the city to ask for accountability.  On May 25^th, what seemed like the entire city turned out in a march that closes down many of the main streets in the city center.  Bands of students, families, and political activists all marched through the streets, banging drums and waving flags.

We’ve also done plenty of sightseeing while we’ve been here; both day and nighttime.  New York might be called the “city that doesn’t sleep,” but BA deserves the moniker.  Any night of the week it’s possible to find a rocking party that goes until sunup, so a nightlife post is in order at some point, listing a few weekly highlights.  Some photos of the city itself are also on the way, and there’s a chance that Megan and I will get the opportunity to put something together for a local English language paper.

Hasta pronto amigos.

New Photos!!!

Just added some photos from Peninsula Valdez...

http://kevinandmeganinsa.blogspot.com/2009/03/yes-we-wanted-to-see-baby-sea-lions-get.html

Photo update

Penguino photos are now up!

http://kevinandmeganinsa.blogspot.com/2009/03/penguins-everywhere.html

New photos!

Hey guys, wanted to direct you to some Patagonia photos we recently added.

http://kevinandmeganinsa.blogspot.com/2009/03/treading-on-thick-ice.html

Enjoy!!!

Welcome to BA

As the bus started to roll into Buenos Aires I got that feeling in my stomach which means something good is coming. Excitement, curiousity, and a tiny bit of apprehension all rolled into one. Everyone I've talked to about this city is so excited about it. I have this hope that it can live up to the hype.

I started to pester Megan right away: Do you recognize where we are? Is that near where you lived? How long do you think it'll take us to find an apartment? A job? I know the best thing is just to sit back, relax, take it all in, but there's a lot of excitement at the same time.

A couple of days in it feels like I'm just starting to scratch the surface of life here, and I know it will take much longer to even begin to understand it all. We've wandered into amazing bookstores and film shops, full of that food for the mind. Down the street there's a bar serving craft beer- it does exist in Latin America! Our first night in town we hit a house party in a former hostel, with a couple of DJ's and a mostly extranjero crowd but a few Argies mixed in as well. We've started to work through the Guia T, the bus guide which theoretically can get you anywhere in the city anytime of day or night.

And so it begins.







PS: Mac is up and running again, so we're going to start catching up and adding photos to our past posts, starting with Bariloche (http://kevinandmeganinsa.blogspot.com/2009/02/bad-news-in-beautiful-world.html) and El Bolson (http://kevinandmeganinsa.blogspot.com/2009/02/hey-wanna-trek-through-patagonian-andes.html)

Pengins, Doing What They Do

Yes, We Wanted To See Baby Sea Lions Get Eaten

Since we survived the car rental in Punta Tombo, we decided on the same plan to explore Peninsula Valdes, this time with guest drivers from Switzerland and Spain.

The peninsula is a national park filled with Sea Lions, Elephant Seals, Whales (in season), Guanacos; and with luck, Orcas can be seen. March is prime time for spotting the Killer Whales, because the recently born Sea Lion pups are learning to swim. They waddle and hop around, occasionally making their way into the surf... every so often, an Orca will propel itself up onto the beach to devour an easy lunch.

High tide is feeding time so we hung around the Elephant Seals as we waited for the water to rise. The massive balls of blubber are a boring lot, although very entertaining when they rouse themselves to jiggle their bodies across the sand. I can't imagine how long the Nat Geo crews must have to wait to actually catch Elephant Seal "action shots."

Next we settled in by the much more active Sea Lion colony. Adults wrestle over a good spot to lay out and occasionally let loose a roar; little pups roll around, hop after seagulls, and splash in the water's edge. They're such cute creatures, but there we sat hoping to see an Orca make lunchmeat out of them.

Unfortunately (depending on your perspective), the Killer Whales stayed away for the day. Nature sided with the Sea Lions.

Survival is cool too.