Thoughts from Buenos Aires (email excerpts)...* * * * * * *
im in buenos aires, with a dog sleeping under my feet, and a cute kitty named felix running around. today i toured the city by bicycle with cecilia - the woman's house i'm staying at (note: i connected up with cecilia and alejandro through SERVAS (servas.org) similar to Hospitality Club (hospitalityclub.org). it was really generous of her to take time to show me
around. we took the train into the city (buenos aires has great public transportation) and then cycled around. most notable (or interesting for me) was seeing the plaza de mayo, where women still come every thursday to protest the disappearance of their sons...over 30,000 people disappeared (los desaparecidos) during the military dictatorship in the late 70's-early 80's...it's really tragic. it was good to see the monument, and reflect on the mothers that still come, in protest, to the human rights violations that took place.
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staying with cecilia and alejandro was great...i played with their animals, went to an asado (think a barbecue of cow that lasts 3-4hours plus wine/beer), and simply enjoyed meeting regular people. now...in a hostel in the city. will probably stay here one more night, might move if i can find something cheaper...
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it's weird speaking spanish again. ha. it´s not like friends in india who are so used to moving back and forth multiple languages...it's taking me a bit to be able to do the same. it's like i operate in either english or spanish, but not both simultaneously. i'll find myself choking on my own thoughts as i walk down the street, because i'm thinking in spanish and can't remember a word. :) ha. it's kinda funny. it'll get all sorted out after being here awhile.
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buenos aires is different than all of the other latin american capitals i've been in (guatemala city, san salvador, managua, san jose, quito). it's a lot calmer - traffic obeys the laws - and it's also a lot more european. both culturally, in the food (pizza and pasta and bread. yikes!!! where's the rice??), and also that most people in the city are really light skinned. like, people can't tell just by looking at my that i'm not argentinean. it's a very different experience for me...than even walking around quito, for example, or another part of latin america. i almost feel more like i'm back in spain, for all those reasons, than in south america.
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i've been debating since i arrived if i should go to uraguay or not...it's really just right around the corner...and i'd be great to see another country...but the only thing to do really is go to the beaches and beach hop for a week or so (but i'm not really in the mood for beaches). otherwise, the transportation costs to get there for a quick trip just aren't worth it. i decided today that the mountains are calling me. i was looking at a book today with different trails/routes...and oh yes...it made my heart sing just thinking about possibilities. so, i'm headed to bariloche on the 29th, a 22hr. bus ride, arriving sometime on the 30th. from there...i'll spend some time in the lake district around bariloche, and eventually start making my way south, hopefully hopping on and off some day hikes to 3-5 day circuits...should be great. i got a confirmation from parque nacional torres del paine (it's pretty well known, i'm sure you've seen pictures of it) and will spend the first few weeks of march volunteering there.
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