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!