Scouts, sights and mountains from Argentina

Having finally crossed the border to Chile, I guess it is time for my next - and last -  post from Argentina. 

About two weeks ago I met with the scouts of La Plata, and since one of them, Jose, even offered me a place to sleep, I ended up staying there almost a week (once more, thousand thanks!). We toured a bit in the city of La Plata, visiting for example the cathedral and the natural museum (fun practice for my Spanish again, with a tour through dinosaurs...). With Jose we made a couple of trips to the capital, to see some more tourist attractions and for me to take a class in tango. A couple of days we spent at the pool (thanks Eugenia!), chatting about the differences and similarities between scouts of Finland and those of Argentina. It is great how a hobby can bring people together. The second night I hosted a Finnish dinner for the scouts: makaronilaatikko - ok, nothing special but at least it was something new here. Another night we had a movie night watching the Finnish horror movie Sauna (which was a bit ironic given that that day had felt like being in a sauna, the real feel temperature rising over 50 degrees!). I have to say that after about a week of the temperature varying from around 28 degrees at night to nearly 50 degrees during the day, the heat really started to affect me. I didn´t feel like eating, didn´t feel like sleeping, and there was no use going to the shower... but luckily I had great company!

I really enjoyed La Plata, although of course it doesn´t have the same kind of attractions as the capital. What appealed to me was that it was more peaceful. It was like the rhythm of the city is completely different to that of Buenos Aires, which reminds a beehive, be it day or night.. Maybe it reminded me a little of my city Tampere, as it was about the same size. A funny curiosity at La Plata was that the streets do not have names, but only numbers - and they have additionally four diagonal streets crossing the city centre. In the end the city plan is actually really easy, but you can imagine me trying to find the hostel on the first day, without a map and only a bunch of numbers in my hand... The numbered streets are really an interesting thing considering that every other city I visited here since had names - and the same street names are basically used in every city (lack of imagination much?). For example there were tons of "Chile", "Peru", "Las Heras", "San Luis", "hipolito yrigoyen" etc.  

I had planned to go to Mendoza capital, but one of the scouts recommended San Rafael, which too was in the Mendoza district, a three-hour drive south from Mendoza capital. I took the chance and it was totally worth it - the place was adorable!!! A tiny peaceful village, and the only tourists I saw were argentinos - for example at my hostel I met three guys from Buenos Aires, and we chatted that day late into the night, talking about Finland and Argentina (Cheers Marcelo, if you´re reading this :). Also, I took a taxi on the first day (which I rarely do, even though the prices are pretty ok), and the driver, not more than 25 years, surprised me by asking about where I was, where I was going, how do you say "hey, how are you" in Finnish and so on. Last thing before my stop he asked if I had a boyfriend and if I would like to have a boyfriend from San Rafael. Although this really made my day, I politely declined.  

For tourists San Rafael has basically three things to offer: amazing scenery just a little drive out of the city, adventure tourism and wineries (loooots of them!). When I arrived I hadn't decided whether I would stay even two night, but I ended up staying three! One day I went to see one of the wineries, the other I participated in an excursion to the mountains, canyon and gorgeous river Atuel. That is also where I did rafting - which was really interesting since nobody spoke a word of English! When boarding the boat I started to recite in my head how does one say "help, hold on, let go" and other useful phrases if I actually fell to the river. Of course I didn't need any of those phrases and we had an absolute blast. As there were several sections of the river that were tranquil, we could even jump in the water or have a "guerra de agua" - war of water with the other boat that was rafting at the same time. During the day I got to know two really nice couples of about my age, with whom I once again got to chat about this and that. The other couple, although they didn´t know any english, actually knew several Finnish heavy metal bands, so I was an inmediate favourite! The third day I decided to spend at Valle Grande, a spectacular place by the River Atuel, which we had passed the day before on the tour. A great place to lie in the sun and have a dip in the refreshing river at any time, surrounded by the beautiful mountain-view. Here are a few pics from San Rafael and Valle Grande, just to prove my point:

In San Rafael for the first time I really noticed how I have started to understand the Spanish here, especially since nobody speaks English there. Even though I would lack words myself, I could still get the hang of what was asked from me or what people were talking about! It took a while to get used to the new vocabulary in the beginning. There are words they do not simply teach at school, or then there are words that are completely different from the Spanish of Spain which is of course what I had learned. Here are just a few examples from the top of my head: maybe = capaz (not quizas), hurry = apuro (not prisa), and the best is that "you are" is actually voz sos (not tú eres). Boludo is something good to know too, it can be used as a mild swear word or simply an added exclamation basically at any occasion, at least how I heard it used. But definitely the hardest part was learning to listen the accent, which to me has a bit of an Italian feel with the words being stretched. The hardest part of it was the fact that the letters y and double l are pronounced as "sh". And in Spanish those letters appear really frequently, so it was like every sentence was a battle in the beginning... The funny thing is that somewhere along the way I started to speak with that same pronunciation too. I hope it wears off now in Chile, or otherwise nobody will understand me :D. 

One last thing I will say about Argentina (although I think I have already mentioned this) is that the people really are awesome - so friendly and helpful. One of the guys at San Rafael asked me if I had felt lonely at times since I am travelling alone, and I realized it has been over three weeks and I haven't felt lonely at all! Fair enough, I've had a few contacts in Buenos Aires, but even them I didn't know beforehand! And it feels like there is always someone to chat if I feel like it. Telling people you're from Finland is a good ice breaker at any occasion. For those with whom I have made friends during my stay in Argentina, I send my best regards and loads of thanks! It is with melancholy that I leave Argentina, but now it is time to head toward Chile and continue the adventure.

First glimpse of Argentina

Finally I have the time and energy to write my first post from the road. It has been a nice eleven days and fairly busy, given I have been to three hostels around the city plus a camping site which was a good 400 kilometers from the city. At the moment I am writing this from La Plata, a province or a city of Buenos Aires (visiting some scouts, but I will write about that later). But, let's start from the beginning and the first impressions of Argentina. 

Firstly, the country welcomed me with an incredible heat (I think it was something around 35 degrees or more on the first days) and really friendly people. Buenos Aires is a lively city with more than 3 million people just in the capital area. The different areas of the city vary alot from upscale and fashionable Palermo to for example San Telmo or La Boca which have more a nostalgic feel of Argentina. It was still interesting to note that the architecture reminds pretty much that of Europe. No wonder it is said to be the Paris of South America. 

The economic situation, however, is pretty bad in the country. There are a lot of people who are unhappy with how things are (most of them poor of course), and some demonstrate their discontent for example by burning things on the roads, blocking traffic. The country is now regulating the currency change so that argentinos cannot withdraw anything else than pesos, and the exchange rate is therefore also pretty bad. Additionally the prices are fairly high, pretty much same as in Europe, only the price of meat and beer is lower. Other annoyance was the difficulty of using public transport. The busses are cheap but basically you need a card on which to load money (SUBE card). For me it was a pain in the ass to acquire this card. It took me a day and a half, including several visits to different kiosks and post offices, to find a place which actually sold the card. 

But then again, the people are really friendly - to give a few examples, when trying to catch the bus first time and failing of course without the card, another passenger behind me offered to pay me, after which I chatted with the bus driver about Finland for the whole 20 minute trip. The staff at the hostel invited me for an afternoon barbecue with them on the very second day. And when arriving to La Plata, I asked for directions from a lady, and after sharing a two-block walk after which we separated, she told me that if I don't find the hostel I am looking for, she had a spare bed which I could use. I can't imagine this happening in Finland. 

The argentine barbecue, called Parrilla, is one of the things Argentina is known for. My first week was all about parilla - it was my dish for each night.  Empanadas, pastries filled with meat or vegetables, are also a specialty, although I guess their origins are not in Argentina. And speaking about food, I cannot help but to mention the gelaterios - ice cream that is absolutely delicious! No wonder, because they were brought here by Italian migrants. Mate, on the other hand, is highly Argentine; a drink something between coffee and tea. Drinking mate is always a social gathering, where one serves mate, that is, filles and passes the same cup to each one at a time. 

Ok, in addition to eating, which definitely was one of my most expected highlights for Argentina, I have been soaking the atmosphere and also relaxing (although changing hostels has taken a toll on me too). On the third day of my trip we left to camp at the sea side for four days, at a little village called las Toninas. There were altogether six of us, two argentinos, two Europeans who live in Argentina, a French visitor and me. The weather was perfect compared to the unbearable heat of Buenos Aires, and it was great to relax at the beach. Evenings we basically spent making and eating parrilla, of course.

Now I will continue my day with a great bunch of argentine scouts,  let's see where the road leads next! 

Sitting, waiting, wishing...

Last night before The Trip begins! The new shiny backpack is packed and ready to go. I am hoping I have prepared enough, although the point of this whole journey for me was to plan as little as possible and prepare only the necessary.

At this point I would already like to thank everybody who have been giving me advice, sharing their contacts in South America and helping me out in any other way.
It has actually been really interesting to note what people think when you tell them you're going to travel for 4 months. 

Alone. 

As a girl. 

To South America. 

Some have questioned my sanity (including me at times) and I have gotten some really interesting comments, remarks and opinions from many people. The funny thing is that after all the warnings about diseases, robbers, raipers, and so forth, I am mostly worried about if they will let me pass through the boarding gates tomorrow. I have had more than one nightmare about that. Mostly though every one has been very supportive, and I thank you for that!

And so I embark on this once-in-a-lifetime journey across the sea, as did my great-great-granddad in the beginning of 20th century. Only whereas he joined the military in the US, I will make quite a different journey: backpacking through South America. Let's see where it leads :)