Vida de Gaucho

Well, I finally have internet!  If you are not aware, I'm currently living in a tiny town called Cholila in Patagonia nestled up next to the Andes.  Right now I only have internet at the school I volunteer at and usually don't bring my laptop with me here, so I'm not very quick on writing people back.  In addition, the internet at the school is too slow for Skype and pretty much anything else.  But hey, there's a reason I came here, and it sure as hell wasn't to waste my time on youtube!  I've been very happy with life here, the change from bustling modern city life to occasionally living without electricity and usually without internet has been refreshing.   As you can probably tell by the photo above, there are amazing mountains everyone I look; This is quite an improvement over the endless cement and skyscrapers of Buenos Aires.  I've been using my free time at the school and throughout the week to practice my Spanish and do small day hikes to get some exercise and great views!  

One of the few things that I get tired of around here is the routine.  Not necessarily the things I do in a day, but the fact that (during the week) I always have to wake up at 7:05 and catch the same bus every morning.  I prefer life a little less regimented, but since I live with boys from the school I have to follow their schedule.  Speaking of living...I live with 6 boys aged 14 to 17 and they have about 14 or 17 times as much as I do on any given day.  In addition to them, there is one professor assistant who is different every night that sleeps in my room.   Life is simple and there is not much in the house, but the food is tasty and authentic.  Now, Cholila!

Goalpost for our daily fútbol matches

View of the mountains from my front yard

At the edge of the town, there are farms until the foothills of the andes

One of the few paved roads in Cholila looking out toward the mountains

The end of the above road

Life here is relaxed and down to earth.   Every morning I wake up at 7, take a shower, eat a tiny breakfast of tea or coffee and bread.   The boys I live with and I walk a few blocks on a dirt road to the bus stop in the town and take it on a bumpy 15 minute ride to the school.  There, I typically help out in the kitchen in the mornings and spend my afternoons cleaning, working in the expansive garden or teaching an english class with a professor.  At the end of the day (usually around 6 or 7) the boys and I take a van home, drop our things off inside and play soccer until dinner a few hours later.  After dinner, we clean and promptly go to sleep around 11.   Sounds like a lot, but I often find myself with free time at the school (although rarely at home).  The first week, all this free time sometimes left me a little bored, but now there's always something to do or someone to help.  If I want to take a little time for myself I stroll up a nearby mountain, usually finding a great view at the top. Still, I have been faced with the frustration of massive, beautiful mountains in the distance that I do not have the means or money to climb.  GRRR.  Well, here's a glimpse at what things look like from the top of the hill nearby the school:

Must...hike...more!

In other news, I'm exhausted and might have had my camera stolen along with my sweater as I dozed off on a bus ride this past weekend.   There's a small chance that I left these things at my friends house but I have my doubts.  The bus was nearly empty save a few locals travelling to the next city, and I let my guard down.  So, don't be expecting any more pictures for a while....  Thankfully my memory card was left in my laptop so I have pictures for this blog and the next one.  

My time here is flying by, and I only have 10 days more in Cholila!  As for this next weekend, I'll likely be going to a farm of a professor where there are two volunteers from the UK.  A week or two ago the school went to help build a greenhouse and I really enjoyed the area.  In addition, there's a free concert somewhere near the nearby hippie capital El Bolson. See ya later!

Gringo for a week

(Heyo, this blog was originally going to go up last Sunday, October 29th, but I wasn't able to upload all the pictures.  I have a new blog about life in Cholila I will post tomorrow...ish).

The past week (my last week) in Buenos Aires I had been busy doing tons of touristy things that I have been putting off.  It was a really great time and my trips to Tigre and the ecological reserve really gave me a nice breath of fresh air from this bustling city. Although I usually cringe when I'm surrounded by tourists and doing tourist things, I decided that since I was in Buenos Aires, I might as well see some of the commons sights, as well as a few places a bit off the tourist trail.  Enjoy.


On Monday I attempted to go to Tigre, a small distant suburb of Buenos Aires with a developed and touristy waterfront and history with rowing clubs.  The fastest and cheapest way to get there is by train, which I attempted to do.  I failed miserably.  All in all, I took one taxi, two trains, two buses and one subway.  After all this, I found myself in tourist central with my camera so I got to work. 

As I came out of the subway, an incoming protest had cleared the streets for this shot.

Casa Rosada (Equivalent to the White House)

Plaza De Mayo, a place with some historical significance pertaining to Argentina's independence and the frustratingly unsymmetrical workplace of the president

"Always with the mothers." 

                                               Puerto Madero, a place where the locals and tourists can stroll along                                                the water away from the sounds and smells of nearby downtown.

Tourist trap boats

Some point in time, England decided to give Argentina a clock tower.  The locals call it Big Ben.

A uninteresting picture of the widest avenue in the world....not a fun street to cross.

The following Tuesday I took a trip to Buenos Aires' very own ecological reserve. In the middle of the 20th century,  there was a island of trash built up as part of some massive public works undertaking. Years after years of political turmoil, native species began to spring up and take over this pile of trash.  Recently it was designated a protected park of the city closed to motorized traffic. 

The city's newer skyscrapers end abruptly at one end of the reserve.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A half finished hut I found to study Spanish in.

The view of grasslands

The whole place was peaceful, quiet and deserted

The entire coastline was frustratingly covered in this stuff

Although  impossible to photograph, there were flocks of these amazing colorful birds

 I did eventurally make it to Tigre on Thursday in the afternoon.  Normally I would be volunteering a good portion of the day at my community center, but I put in an extra 5 hours the day prior to get some time off.  I managed to spend only 15 pesos (~4 dollars) on the entire trip, quite a feat for an area prone to tourist prices.  With my frugality I still managed a museum and a little food on top of the train to and fro.

One of the still functioning rowing clubs (the boats in the water are from a separate tourist operation)

The walkway by the river on a perfect sunny day!

The maritime museum.  A mix of enormous and intricate models of ships of times past and antique treasures and gear salvaged from wrecks and the like

Anyone up for a little rowing? Dad?

In warehouse-style ad on there were an array of mines, submarines torpedo and much more.   Nothing seemed to be organized in a particular way, but almost everything had a small little. 

Well, my week of tourist stuff in Buenos Aires.  Although it was only a week and a half ago, Buenos Aires already feels a month away as I'm writing this.  Life is tranquil and relaxed here in the country and expect another blog post within a day or two!