I have created an album on facebook with 150+ of the best shots I took during the trip. There are new videos on facebook, too. I also wanted to provide a list featuring the names of the countries of the people we met (excluding Chile and Argentina):
Brazil
Canada
Colombia
England
Finland
France
Germany
Honduras
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Mexico
Netherlands
Norway
Peru
Scotland
South Korea
Switzerland
U.S.
Venezuela
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
It´s been a crazy awesome past few days in Buenos Aires...
On Friday night, we went to a club downtown called La France. If you´re not familiar with the nightlife here, you should know a couple of things: 1) people usually don´t even start getting ready to go out until 1:30 or 2:00 and 2) they oftentimes don´t leave home for the club until 3. We went out around 2:30 and danced to reggaeton until 6:30 AM(!) then cabbed it back to the hostel and passed out. The club was still packed when we left. It´s a common thing for people to stay out until 8 and then go for breakfast. How do they do it?
Yesterday we ran into Andy Levinson, a guy we know from Atlanta, at a random shop in downtown Buenos Aires. He had been studying here for the past several months and was leaving town today. Over the course of this trip, we have encountered a few people with whom we have friends in common, but never someone we personally knew. This encounter was literally a small world story.
Today, we spent the entire day with one of Matt´s dad´s clients, Señor Hernan Tomasini. He picked us up from our hostel and then took us on an amazing tour of B.A. and the surrounding suburbs. We met his two older children (a son of 16 and a daughter of 19) and his youngest son, who is 4. He was one of the cutest kids we´ve ever seen. We´ll post a pic of him soon. After a delicious lunch (consisting, of course, of beef), he took us out on his boat. It was sweet. We´ll try and post the pics and vids from the trip in the next couple of days.
Tonight there is a samba band playing at the hostel, and then there is going to be karaoke. We miss you all and hope you are well. Hasta mañana.
On Friday night, we went to a club downtown called La France. If you´re not familiar with the nightlife here, you should know a couple of things: 1) people usually don´t even start getting ready to go out until 1:30 or 2:00 and 2) they oftentimes don´t leave home for the club until 3. We went out around 2:30 and danced to reggaeton until 6:30 AM(!) then cabbed it back to the hostel and passed out. The club was still packed when we left. It´s a common thing for people to stay out until 8 and then go for breakfast. How do they do it?
Yesterday we ran into Andy Levinson, a guy we know from Atlanta, at a random shop in downtown Buenos Aires. He had been studying here for the past several months and was leaving town today. Over the course of this trip, we have encountered a few people with whom we have friends in common, but never someone we personally knew. This encounter was literally a small world story.
Today, we spent the entire day with one of Matt´s dad´s clients, Señor Hernan Tomasini. He picked us up from our hostel and then took us on an amazing tour of B.A. and the surrounding suburbs. We met his two older children (a son of 16 and a daughter of 19) and his youngest son, who is 4. He was one of the cutest kids we´ve ever seen. We´ll post a pic of him soon. After a delicious lunch (consisting, of course, of beef), he took us out on his boat. It was sweet. We´ll try and post the pics and vids from the trip in the next couple of days.
Tonight there is a samba band playing at the hostel, and then there is going to be karaoke. We miss you all and hope you are well. Hasta mañana.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
The Once district
Today we visited the Once (OHN-say) neighborhood of Buenos Aires. While not officially a barrio of the city, the area houses a large garment district and is where several departments of the University of Buenos Aires are located. It also features the largest concentration of Jewish people in the city. After lunch, we went to a Sephardic synagogue. The security presence was tremendous, and it apparently has been since the mid 1990s when there was a rise in terroristic acts committed against Jews. We weren't even allowed to take photographs for reasons of security. It's sad. We think we're going to return tomorrow for Friday evening services and then try to go to someone's house for shabbat dinner.
Afterwards we briefly visited the rather dumpy Museum of Foreign Debt, located in the basement of one of the U of B.A. buildings. As its name suggests, the museum chronicles Argentina's series of fiscal crises. We were able to obtain English language headsets to guide us through the exhibit, but we became so bored that we decided to leave midway through the recording.
The weather here has been great--cloudless blue skies everyday. Our Spanish fluency has been improving daily, but we fear it will become crappy once again when we return to the U.S. C'est la vie, we guess...
Afterwards we briefly visited the rather dumpy Museum of Foreign Debt, located in the basement of one of the U of B.A. buildings. As its name suggests, the museum chronicles Argentina's series of fiscal crises. We were able to obtain English language headsets to guide us through the exhibit, but we became so bored that we decided to leave midway through the recording.
The weather here has been great--cloudless blue skies everyday. Our Spanish fluency has been improving daily, but we fear it will become crappy once again when we return to the U.S. C'est la vie, we guess...
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Puerto Madero and walking around
Greetings,
Today we walked around the Puerto Madero barrio, which lies along a portion of the Rio de la Plata (Silver River). The sky was clear and blue, and the riverfront views were very nice. We visited an old Argentinian naval vessel which has been converted into a museum. That was pretty cool, too.
Afterwards, we did a lot of walking. We came back to the hostel and napped and then went out for dinner. We had some tasty pasta casera (freshly-made pasta) from a local chain called Il Gatto. The food in Buenos Aires is among the best we've ever had. It's also pretty inexpensive.
Not sure what we're gonna do tonight. Later.
Today we walked around the Puerto Madero barrio, which lies along a portion of the Rio de la Plata (Silver River). The sky was clear and blue, and the riverfront views were very nice. We visited an old Argentinian naval vessel which has been converted into a museum. That was pretty cool, too.
Afterwards, we did a lot of walking. We came back to the hostel and napped and then went out for dinner. We had some tasty pasta casera (freshly-made pasta) from a local chain called Il Gatto. The food in Buenos Aires is among the best we've ever had. It's also pretty inexpensive.
Not sure what we're gonna do tonight. Later.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Arrival in Buenos Aires
Hi,
After a nearly sleepless night, we arrived early yesterday afternoon in Buenos Aires. This place is big! It really reminds us of New York City. There are huge signs advertising Broadway musicals, enormous buildings reaching skyward, and people everywhere busily making their way to their destinations. We've already met people living here from the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. We even met a guy here from outside of Atlanta (a GSU grad from Snellville) who, at the age of 25, is enjoying a great deal of success after organizing the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl, a wildly popular bar-hopping event. He is also the part owner of a restaurant/bar. Pretty interesting.
Last night, we went to a steak place called Desnivel in the San Telmo neighborhood to try some of this amazing Argentinian beef we've been hearing so much about. The meat was unbelievable. We each got a huge steak, perfectly seasoned and cooked, and shared a liter bottle of Quilmes, the most popular beer in the country. Including tip, the meal cost us each less than $10 American. We will both be returning to the states with high blood pressure and hardened arteries.
Our hostel here is unlike anything we've seen. It is so nice! It has a bar complete with pool table, a full computer lab, and a TV lounge. It is five stories high and has one of those charming old-fashioned, cage-style elevators. It also has a 130-person capacity.
We also forgot to mention that the tap water in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Buenos Aires is safe to drink. We were buying bottled water every day (which can add up quickly), but some Americans studying abroad in Chile told us we could drink right from the sink.
More to come later.
After a nearly sleepless night, we arrived early yesterday afternoon in Buenos Aires. This place is big! It really reminds us of New York City. There are huge signs advertising Broadway musicals, enormous buildings reaching skyward, and people everywhere busily making their way to their destinations. We've already met people living here from the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. We even met a guy here from outside of Atlanta (a GSU grad from Snellville) who, at the age of 25, is enjoying a great deal of success after organizing the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl, a wildly popular bar-hopping event. He is also the part owner of a restaurant/bar. Pretty interesting.
Last night, we went to a steak place called Desnivel in the San Telmo neighborhood to try some of this amazing Argentinian beef we've been hearing so much about. The meat was unbelievable. We each got a huge steak, perfectly seasoned and cooked, and shared a liter bottle of Quilmes, the most popular beer in the country. Including tip, the meal cost us each less than $10 American. We will both be returning to the states with high blood pressure and hardened arteries.
Our hostel here is unlike anything we've seen. It is so nice! It has a bar complete with pool table, a full computer lab, and a TV lounge. It is five stories high and has one of those charming old-fashioned, cage-style elevators. It also has a 130-person capacity.
We also forgot to mention that the tap water in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Buenos Aires is safe to drink. We were buying bottled water every day (which can add up quickly), but some Americans studying abroad in Chile told us we could drink right from the sink.
More to come later.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Our last day in Santiago (for real)
A few things...
Beard-off '09 has, sadly, come to an end. With a mere ten days remaining in the competition, Matt shaved off his beard. He was quoted as saying, ¨It looks like shit. I´m getting rid of it.¨ And Shane? Well, he´s gonna keep right on growin´. It ain't too pretty, but he is starting to have a legitimate beard. Look out for pics in the next couple of days. We know that´s the main reason you´re reading this blog.
Today we took the Metro to a neighborhood where there was a huge flea market. We saw an original Gameboy for sale (with a nice selection of games) and Matt almost bought it. We also saw some really cool surplus Chilean army stuff. Additionally, there was some Nazi paraphernalia (stuff with swastikas, the SS insignia, etc.). Chile (as well as other South American countries) apparently has a decently-sized Nazi community comprised of expatriated former Nazis and their decendants. There are apparently entire towns of Nazis scattered throughout the continent where the beliefs and values of the Third Reich are being perpetuated still. One American girl from Brandeis who has been studying in Chile also told us that the Nazis taught their torture tactics to the Chilean military. We thought all of this was pretty disturbing.
After the flea market, we went to a Middle Eastern restaurant in Bellavista. It was delicious! The hummus, falafel, and babaganouj were outstanding. The restaurant was run by a Palestinian woman and her family (there is a sizable Palestinan community in Santiago, mostly Christians).
Tonight we're taking it easy. We fly outta here at 11:30 AM. The next time you hear from us, we´ll be in B.A. ¡Ciao!
Beard-off '09 has, sadly, come to an end. With a mere ten days remaining in the competition, Matt shaved off his beard. He was quoted as saying, ¨It looks like shit. I´m getting rid of it.¨ And Shane? Well, he´s gonna keep right on growin´. It ain't too pretty, but he is starting to have a legitimate beard. Look out for pics in the next couple of days. We know that´s the main reason you´re reading this blog.
Today we took the Metro to a neighborhood where there was a huge flea market. We saw an original Gameboy for sale (with a nice selection of games) and Matt almost bought it. We also saw some really cool surplus Chilean army stuff. Additionally, there was some Nazi paraphernalia (stuff with swastikas, the SS insignia, etc.). Chile (as well as other South American countries) apparently has a decently-sized Nazi community comprised of expatriated former Nazis and their decendants. There are apparently entire towns of Nazis scattered throughout the continent where the beliefs and values of the Third Reich are being perpetuated still. One American girl from Brandeis who has been studying in Chile also told us that the Nazis taught their torture tactics to the Chilean military. We thought all of this was pretty disturbing.
After the flea market, we went to a Middle Eastern restaurant in Bellavista. It was delicious! The hummus, falafel, and babaganouj were outstanding. The restaurant was run by a Palestinian woman and her family (there is a sizable Palestinan community in Santiago, mostly Christians).
Tonight we're taking it easy. We fly outta here at 11:30 AM. The next time you hear from us, we´ll be in B.A. ¡Ciao!
Friday, June 19, 2009
A change of plans...
Hola compañeros,
Today it poured in Valparaiso. Matt and I went to the bus station to see about buying bus tickets to Mendoza and were promptly informed that the only route through the Andes was unpassable. The guy we talked to said that it could be 3, 4, 5 days or more before it was cleared. Bummer. We checked Orbitz and found a relatively inexpensive flight to Buenos Aires from Santiago (we didn´t want to stick around Valpo anymore). Tonight, we are back at La Chimba, our original hostel. We´re a little upset about not being able to go to the Sonoma County of Argentina, but we´re also stoked to be back in Santiago where we´ve made some good friends.
Our stay in Valpo made us realize that we take so much for granted. Hot water during all hours of the day, central heating, a computer in every building we walk into--these are things that we simply expect in the good ol´ USA. Our hosts in Valpo, however, were fantastic. The hostel we stayed at (Hostal Nuevamente) was run by this dude Gustavo and his girlfriend Pilar. They hardly spoke any English, but we were able to communicate with them plenty. They gave us bar/club recommendations and always wanted to make sure we were as comfortable as possible.
Nothing else for now. Ttyl, y´all.
Today it poured in Valparaiso. Matt and I went to the bus station to see about buying bus tickets to Mendoza and were promptly informed that the only route through the Andes was unpassable. The guy we talked to said that it could be 3, 4, 5 days or more before it was cleared. Bummer. We checked Orbitz and found a relatively inexpensive flight to Buenos Aires from Santiago (we didn´t want to stick around Valpo anymore). Tonight, we are back at La Chimba, our original hostel. We´re a little upset about not being able to go to the Sonoma County of Argentina, but we´re also stoked to be back in Santiago where we´ve made some good friends.
Our stay in Valpo made us realize that we take so much for granted. Hot water during all hours of the day, central heating, a computer in every building we walk into--these are things that we simply expect in the good ol´ USA. Our hosts in Valpo, however, were fantastic. The hostel we stayed at (Hostal Nuevamente) was run by this dude Gustavo and his girlfriend Pilar. They hardly spoke any English, but we were able to communicate with them plenty. They gave us bar/club recommendations and always wanted to make sure we were as comfortable as possible.
Nothing else for now. Ttyl, y´all.
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