Sonia and Erica's Amazing Argentinian Adventure

Awww… here it is, our last and final blog entry. Boohoo.

We went to Colonia,

Uruguay

this past Monday and Tuesday.

(our taxi to the boat)

We wanted to go to a small and peaceful place that had a beach. That is definitely what we got – Colonia is this super-tiny and slow paced beach town. It wasn’t on the ocean, but rather on the bank of a brown river. We took a high-speed ferry there, and went straight to the beach.

We met a cute little perro (doggy) and he followed us all the way from town to the beach. There were tons of stray dogs in Colonia.

(he liked to walk right behind us and get tangled in our feet)

(he followed us to the beach and hung out most of the day)

Sonia and I spent two days, about six hours both days, on the beach. I didn’t put any sunblock on, I’m an idiot, and so by Tuesday night I was BRIGHT RED. Seriously, I’m still sooooo sunburned. Poor me. We had lunch overlooking the river and we saw maybe three other people the entire time we were there. Like I said, Colonia is super small and I think it’s low season. Dead to the max. But I liked it – such a change from crazy Buenos Aires. I think it freaked Sonia out some.

We stayed in a hostel and had a very romantic evening strolling the quiet streets and gazing into each other’s eyes.

(i have to include this photo. these are the weirdest mannequins we've ever seen!)

On Wednesday, we went back to our favorite Botanical Garden with all the stray cats. Later that evening we went to an incredible Vegetarian restaurant called Artemisia. It’s a cute story – before we left for our trip, I asked my friend Andrew to flip through my guide book with his eyes closed, and choose a place with his finger where we’d absolutely have to go. He chose that restaurant Artemisia (random, cuz he’s a vegetarian, so it’s cute he happened to land on a veggie restaurant!) It was soooo yummy. They are very inventive with their vegetarian food here. It was also fun, because this week we finally learned how to use the bus system – so instead of using the packed Subte (subway) we were able to go around town on the bus. So much better.

(the waitress was walking by us as we were taking this photo, so that's why we're cracking up)

(this is for you, Andrew!)

On Thursday I had a private Spanish lesson with Graciella, the teacher we were studying with in group lessons. I learned all of the past tenses. Whether or not I can actually use them in a conversation is a different story, but at least I know them theoretically!

After class I went down to the Lucky Seven Tattoo shop for my tattoo appointment! I was super nervous…. Tattoos hurt! It took about 4 hours, sheer torture, but I absolutely love what Gustavo did.

(Gustavo)

(the new "tat")

Eventually I want a whole flower forest scene on my back. It was doubly painful cuz you have to remember that I’m sunburned to the max, so I was trying not to squirm and itch.

(Sonia) While Erica went to class in the afternoon, I did a little exploring on my own. I checked out some shops in San Telmo that I was curious about. And made my way to Plaza de Mayo, where every Thursday at 3:30 the Madres march in honor of their children who went missing, well, they were abducted by agents of the Argentine government during the years known as the Dirty War (1976–1983), they were then tortured, killed and their bodies thrown into the ocean. The women wear a white kerchief with the names of their loved ones sewn on the back as a symbol of their organization and loss.

I made my way over to where Erica was getting a tattoo, shopping, of course, as I went along.

(this is the inside of the funny little mall where erica got painted)

That night, there was a free folkloric ballet at a beautiful old building near our house. It was very interesting. The dancing is different. The men freakout and kick their legs wildly.

(the ceiling of the building was beautiful! a stained glass ceiling held up by four golden goddesses)

(a little video. notice that there's a cock fight going on on the left...)

(Erica) After I got home, I was a little bit of a wreck. Lots of pain. So I drank a lot of wine with m’lady. It was nice.

Friday we went to go to the “wilds of Palermo.” We didn’t really know what it was, we’d just heard about it, and on the map there are lots of green spaces in Palermo, so we just hopped on the bus and got off where it looked like there were lots of green. On the map it said “Hippodrome” and we didn’t know what that was, but it seemed like it’d be a good place to go. Turns out it was the racetrack! Tons of people out and lots of purty horses.

(we would have bet on #10... he was a good looking horse)

We walked through the Tres de Febrero parque: a huge rose garden, lots of rollerbladers, a big lake with paddle boats, children, laughter, etc… It was cute. We walked and walked and walked. Ended up at this sculpture of a flower that opens and closes with the sun – kinda cool. Sat on the grass and read. You know how we do.

(avant-garde flower in the background)

Later that evening we went to the FANCIEST HOTEL I’VE EVER SEEN. It’s called the Hotel Faena (designed by Philippe Starck) and it’s in Puerto Madero. We sat at the “Library Bar” and ordered two caiprinhas to drink while we played Uno. (Sonia won, damn her!) We were hesitant about the drinks, cuz it was super expensive, but we figured we might as well go for it… you know, you only live once. But at the end of the night, when we asked for the bill, the waiter came to us and said, “The drinks are courtesty of your experience manager.” We didn’t quite understand, “What? What do you mean? We don’t have to pay?” He confirmed this. We wanted to know who and what the experience manager was, but no one would own up to it. It was all very mysterious. So, we just left the hotel tipsy and without having paid a cent! It was a very nice surprise!

(living it up, courtesy of the "experience manager")

taxidermy flourished at the Hotel Faena

Then we had dinner at this Arabic place in San Telmo that we’d been meaning to try for ages. It was really yummy. I had this weird meat pie. The crust was made of meat, and the filling was meat. Go meat!

(meat pie.)

Saturday I woke up all depressed and weird. Alcohol doesn’t agree with me. I chilled out most of the day.

(Sonia) I walked around town and visited some of my favorite places one last time. I went back to the Botanical Gardens, the place with tons and tons of cats everywhere, can't get enough of that place.

(there are literally cats scattered everywhere)

(this guy liked me immediately! He jumped right up on my lap)

(cats and statues)

(filettato painting is real popular here)

I also checked out the Evita museum. I'm really curious about this woman. People here have strong opinions about this woman, they either love her or hate her. The museum, not surprising, didn't help me understand this phenomena anymore. It was very pro-Evita and had nothing, not one single word, negative to say about her.

(Erica again) We had made plans to meet up in the evening at the Centro Cultural Borges for an avant-garde performance of Kafka’s “Metamorphis.” It was all in Spanish and was actually really cool. I love me a dose of experimental culture.

(took pictures in front of the the huge obelisk in the center of town)

We then walked to Montseratt for dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Chan Chan. It was totally packed when we got there, seemed like a good sign, and we drank Pisco Sours while we waited for our table. They tasted like juice… but man, after a few sips we realized they were strong! I’d like to say the food was delicious, but it was actually really fucking weird. Sonia had ordered some sort of fish rolled and stuffed with cheese covered in a mushroom sauce. What she got was fish stuffed with hardboiled eggs covered in some mayonnaise/strawberry sauce. It looked pretty gross. I got some weird marisco blend in sauce. It was a'ight – I wasn’t complaining, but I’m pretty easy to please.

Today, Sunday, is pretty much our last day here. (Tomorrow is just for packing and finishing loose ends…and Sonia has to work) We walked through the markets of San Telmo, picked up some last minute gifts (for friends and for ourselves!)

(musicians at the san telmo market)

(the remains of our yummy lunch!)

Then made our way to a museum where we’d heard there were free chamber music concerts every Sunday evening. Mind you, this is the THIRD time I’ve tried to go – each time I’ve been too late, or it’s been oversold, or whatever…. This time, apparently there was no concert! Totally sucked. I was really excited to hear some chamber music. Oh wells…. We walked around the creepy museum – supposedly it’s haunted by a lady in a white dress – I didn’t see her – and then we walked around town some more.

Now we’re home, watching a Jim Carrey movie on TV and relaxing.

I’ve got to say that this trip has been absolutely amazing. I was able to get some serious ya-ya’s out, calm my restless soul a bit, and delve into my own psychology (remember all the self-help books?) I feel more ready to deal with my life in Los Angeles….

It’s been such a good experience – to remember that the world is larger than just myself – and that travel is possible! It’s important to do stuff like this, and now I realize that it’s really not such a big deal. It’s necessary. And I’m nowhere done exploring the world! I’ve only just begun….

And it’s also been so nice to spend such a huge amount of quality time with my lady Sonia. Really… what a special thing we’ve done together. I love that girl. ("Ditto" says Sonia...)

Life is good, and let’s not ever forget that.

friends 4 life.

Style note:

We may not have mentioned this, but did you know that Buenos Aires has the grossest hairstyles? They are really into mullets and dreadlocks, and often the two are combined. We have a few pictures to illustrate this fact. But it’s gross. People often just have a shaved head and one huge dreadlock coming out the back of their head. Or sometimes they have a full head of really nice hair, and then one dreadlock mixed in with it. And what’s really common is the Mullet Dreadlock. Short in the front, and long dreadlocks in the back. EWWWW…

(yes, that's his one dreadlock wrapping itself around his neck. and his girlfriend has a little lock peeking out of the back of her head)

(this guy has one coming out of the middle of his head. and he's carefull tied it up in a bun)

(this look was popular too. the dreaded mullet deadlock. dirty hipster in the front, dirty rasta party in the back...)

They are also super obsessed with eyebrow piercings and those Marilyn Monroe “mole” piercings. I’d say one in three people either has a mullet, dreadlocks, or one of those piercings.

Okay, that's the end. Goodbye Buenos Aires! We love you!!!!

A whole week has gone by and we’ve written nothing! We are such bad girls… We know…

The time has been going so fast! This last week we continued Spanish class, and this time, Sonia moved up into my level. We learned a bunch about the past tense, the difference between “por” and “para” and various other things… I’ll have to continue to study when I get back to LA – and I’ve actually decided that I’m gonna keep on taking lessons in California. There’s no reason to stop learning just because I’m back home!

(the subway on the way to school. It was PACKED every morning)

So, yes… time to describe the past week…

One night, we went to this Argentinian percussion show, “Las Bombas Del Tiempo” (something like that) with a few people from our Spanish school.

It was very percussion-y! There was a conductor and probably about 20 people up on stage playing various instruments. I kinda loved it… Except it was filled with twenty-one year old Americans smoking weed and chugging beer… had a definite frat vibe. Other than that, it was great.

Sonia and I, old ladies that we are, left early and had dinner in San Telmo. Oh! One story from that night – it was super random, cuz we were in the big crowd and this girl was staring at Sonia, and she got our attention, and it turned out they were friends from back home in Echo Park! Her name is Tess, and we ended up having dinner with her later that week (some Chinese food that was the weirdest Chinese food I’ve ever had…) Also random is that a few days after that, I was at this weird mall that’s like a huge version of Hot Topic – every store is a tattoo parlor, piercing shop, punk rock store, etc – and I ran into Tess again! We are destined to be friends.

(view out sonia's window)

Sonia and I met up with my friend Andy who’s living here – he took us to this yuppie restaurant for lunch. We didn’t know they had those types of places here. Lots of people on their Apple computers, and they even served arugula! He told us a lot about Bs.As – but we’re not so sure everything he said is true! We’re finding out that we have a much different experience/outlook on the city. But it was good to have some info…

(this is a cute restaurant we ate at one night)

(another really good meal.)

(desert!)

I hung out with my Latin lover Juan Antonio again – and realized he wasn’t so much my cup of tea. But it was fun while it lasted.

What else? Oh yeah, we went to check out the Galerias Pacifico – this really crazy fancy mall that’s here in Bs.As. Murals on the celings and everything! It was very grand.

(here's an example of the painted ceiling)

(this is for Dan. It's a gaucho store. We think of you everytime we see one. It's SO dan!! very urban cowboy.)

I had some wonderful days wandering around by myself, meeting handsome waiters, exploring random cultural venues, shopping around and feeling alive. And of course, reading my self-help books.

(Sonia) I walked around a lot by myself doing some window shopping. There's a huge street here called Santa Fe which had tons of overwhelming stores. I started there one day and made my way to Palmero, which is sorta like Silverlake, tons of boutiques, cute little stores and cafes.

(this is for Shannon. you would have SO much fun shopping here. these fugly pants in the middle are the biggest thing here! People actually wear them here, like, a lot...)

Yesterday, we went to a barrio that’s on the outskirts of the city called Chacarita – Andy had told us there was a cheaper Antiques fair that was held there every weekend. It was so great! We were the only foreigners there, and the prices were amazing. We got the best finds! I am in looooooovvvveeee with the antiques here.

(mullet! girls and boys have strange mullets here, consisting some, but not all, of the time, of dreadlocks. here we have, over erica's shoulder, is an example of a girl with a dreadlock mullet.)

Today we were back in Recoleta at another street fair – we wanted to get some more gifts and a mate set for myself. It was such a beautiful day out – tons of people around, and everyone was just chilling on the grass hanging out.

(our manta in action!)

(just one example of all the many temptations we had today... beautiful purses!)

(around five, people started gathering for mate time. and performers started performing.)

We spent hours there, Sonia shopping around, while I lazed around on the grass watching everyone prepare their yerba mate. I had heard about a free chamber music concert that happens every Sunday night at 7 at a museum in Retiro, so we walked over there, but we were too late and it was full! Too bad. Now we’re back home, chilling for a bit, and then gonna head out for dinner later.