Mar del Plata Continued

As the cars pulled away from the curb, Juan, Toro and I waved them goodbye. To me it seemed a completely natural thing to do but Toro laughed and commented that it was ¨just like in the movies.¨ My goodness, the life of a north American is so cliche…. I never knew…

With the majority of the group gone back to the city we spent the next ten days entertaining ourselves at the beach, fixing up the house, cooking, meeting new friends, running and watching the rain. Oh and how could I forget the THRILLING game of Tejo, the boring beach game that stole my boyfriend from me daily… Here I am sat on the beach, typing away as Juan and Toro throw wooden disks across the sand. NO, don´t worry. I am fine. Not bored at all… at least there are myriad people to watch and games to play like, who got the better deal and best beach body and who´s dad is that guy.. Obviously, I play these by myself as I sip a Fernet and diet Coke…


No, but really, the beach is lovely and the relaxing week of vacation from our normal daily vacation lives felt fantastic. So good that I have now begun to ponder what it would be to rejoin the working world… Perhaps this is something I will do in the near future?

Beach Time 2011!

We spent the first several days of the new year at the beach enjoying the fantastic weather in Mar del Plata. We drank loads of tetere, which is just mate made with cold juice as opposed to hot water. It is nothing short of delicious! Yum and refreshing, the perfect beach beverage. The boys were jealous of everyone else who was playing tejo on the beach so they bought themselves a game. That was the last we saw of them for hours. Tejo is something like bocce ball, in that you have to throw a small version of your projectile to a location within the court and then you aim your subsequent objects in the same location. Whomever lands the closest wins with additional points being earned if multiple pieces land closer than any of your opponents´. This simple game entertained them for hours until they discovered there was a bit of a cliff that was just begging to be climbed. Naturally, I couldn´t let the boys have all the fun on this one so I had to show ´em how it´s done. hahhahah Though I look reminiscent of a fat spider on the wall I def made it up and over. Thank Casey for taking me climbing with you. I finally found a place to climb where it doesn´t matter if your hands are sweaty! A moist, seaside wall is perfect regardless of your hand humidity!
Here are a few pics of the beach and the enchanted forest we visited post one loooong day at the beach. This place was incredible! It is referred to as the energetic forest. From the moment you step foot inside the trees you can tell there is something different going on. I am not precisely sure as to the cause of the massive change in energy and magnetism at this spot because all the literature we were given was A) in Spanish and B) listed only mystical reasons as the source i.e. ancient Indian burial ground or alien, meteor landing site. Regardless, it was incredible to behold the hundreds of enormous trees bending and arching over one another all reaching toward a specific center point, creating an incredible conical shape. Many of the trees on the outer perimeter have grown nearly completely sideways in an attempt to reach this mysterious center. In the forest you are able to balance the sharp end of one stick on the round side of another, then twist it and the sticks remain balance! This as well as numerous other stick balancing mysteries lend to the idea that there is something quite strange going on in these woods!

New Years in Mar del Plata

Juan´s grandma Didi has a house in Mar del Plata that is roughly 25 blocks from the beach… I suppose that is a bit of a stretch to call it a beach house but it is certainly a house that is located in an area that is known for it´s beach. Good enough for me! I miss the ocean! I miss it´s sound, smell, the feel of sand between your toes and in all the places you never hoped it would go… I miss it all and was so excited for a chance to experience it Argentine style. Nine of us piled into two cars for the four hour journey south of BA. Juan, Carly, Flor, Flor´s pug, Trotsky and I in one car and a gaggle of boys in the second.

The 31st was spent shopping and gathering goodies for the nights festivities. Since we were celebrating at the beach we decided it would be best if we ate fish as opposed to the traditional parilla (BBQ) – I totally didn´t influence that pescatarian decision hehehhe.

Due to the difference in season there is also a major difference in wardrobe expectancy for the passing of the new year. Generally, I would choose an outfit that was spicy yet still reflected winter colors . Here it is summer and white signifies the color of renewal and change. The women donned white dresses and as the clock struck midnight we rung in the new year with kisses, champagne, about a million fireworks!

The remainder of the weekend was spent at various beaches, drinking tetere (mate with juice instead of hot water- mega yum!), eating snacks, climbing rocks and playing tejo (a game played on the sand that is similar to shuffle board). I managed to convince the group to stay one more day so Monday evening they headed back to Buenos Aires. This signified the end of my time with Carly as she and Pedro were going to Brazil for two weeks and she would be returning to England after that. Carly had become one of my closest friends during our time together. She is a great gal, a true friend, one who and helped shape my time in Buenos Aires. Who knew I would meet someone so cute and so fun (mahahhaha Carly that one is for you)!!!!

I wish you the very best, my sweet Carly, and hope to see you again somewhere in this world. Take care my friend. ¡Buen viaje!

Pics from Christmas Day in Tigre with our Friends!

Christmas 2010 Argentine Style

Christmas is my absolute favorite time of year. I have never known a Christmas day that isn´t white and here I am sweating, shedding any unnecessary article of clothing that my be inhibiting my body from cooling… The heat is brutal here. I had heard tales of what would come to pass in a full fledged Bs. As. Summer but I really had no clue what to expect…

The holidays are a whole new beast here south of the equator. The family aspect is strong but tradition holds that you spend only the eve of Christmas, Dec 24th with the fam and then the friends gather and let me tell you, they gather with purpose. Argentines, especially those of Capital Federal are known for their ferocious ability to party. However, in order to party properly, one must prepare adequately, which means consuming a solid meal prior to engaging in the hardcore festivities. The Christmas meal is held on the 24th and as Argentines do, it doesn´t begin until at least 10:30 or so. In attendance were Grandma Alma, Gma Didi, Ruth, Marg, Juana, Beto, Juan, Areal (a Jewish friend of Juan´s, obviously not celebrating that night but Juan can hardly stand to have anyone feel left out so naturally he invited him to join us) and myself. We gathered around the table stacked high with 17 different types of meat, a delicious avocado-shrimp salad, apple sauce and blueberry sauce (they tried to convince me that it was the same as cranberry sauce. Nothing to do with it . But as you cannot find cranberries here blueberry sauce would just have to do. In reality, it was delicious though incredibly sweet). After the meal there were cakes, ice creams and about 12 different types of desserts to choose from. At the stroke of midnight we were able to open our gifts. I guess Santa is extra magical here in Arg. I suppose the gifts just appear beneath the tree for he clearly was not able to utilize the fireplace as it was full of the nativity. In my opinion, this was a fairly decent location for the nativity as there was no chance we were going to use the thing for its proper function. This year was the first that the Beraza family did not have a true Christmas tree. Instead, they had decorated the post that had was formerly referred to as the home of the parrot the kids had given to Ruth for her birthday a few weeks prior (please see pictures for a full visual of said ¨tree¨). Sadly, the parrot had recently met an very untimely demise when he unfortunately encountered a dog at the Quincho who literally scared him to death… Perhaps because of this tragic loss, his post was used as the tree to honor his short life… Despite the major differences, it was refreshing to see the holiday from another angle. The traditions that we participate in at home are so lovely and often very family focused but are totally commercially driven… umm viva Capitalism! Hahahah

After gifts were exchanged on came the friends and the celebration. I took what I thought would be a ¨power nap.¨ Juan was to wake me when friends got there before we were to go out but TWO hours of ¨power nap¨ went by and I was still sleeping. It was 4 AM and time to head out, fortunately (and I know that none of you will believe this) I have developed the ability to get ready in roughly five minutes. A new found talent, I tell ya. As the night was far from young, clubs were full but as you may suspect, here the party must go on and eventually as the sun made its first appearance on this glorious Christmas morn, we found a place to play!

We woke at noon on Christmas day… or so we thought. The entire city was deserted. The cement palace had become a sweltering oven. Juan and I walked three blocks in an attempt to find anyplace serving food. One restaurant appeared open but when we asked they said that the kitchen closed at 4. Juan told the man that he knew they would close at 4 AM but wouldn´t they be open later today? The waiter replied that it was 5 PM and no, they were closed for the remainder of the day. To date, this was the oddest Christmas day I had experienced (and my fam and I have had a few weird ones…). Returning to the house, we called our friends and arranged to spend the night in Tigre at the Quincho so we would pass the next day there in the sunshine by the pool.

Here are a few photos from my Christmas experience in Argentina 2010.

Beto Turns 30!

Juana´s boyfriend Beto (actual name is Juan Pablo – EVERYONE here is named Juan something or other…) turned 30 and to celebrate we of course had a massive meat fest at the Quincho in Tigre. Now that summer is here we can´t get enough of that place and the pool! You must know that Argentines are meat and potato folk and Beto is the carnivore of carnivores so this celebration required nothing less than about 6 tons of meat roasting on the parilla all day long. There were bits and pieces of darn near every little beast whoever walked the planet, some in full body form and others segmented, coupled with nuts and raisins then stuffed back into some slimy casing of another beast´s entrails. Yum… As appealing as all that sounds, my appetite was focused on the numerous cakes that adorned the table tops. Juana attempted to get me to do a Marylin Monroe style version of the happy birthday song to Beto but fortunately, as I carried out the cake everyone else chimed in with the Spanish rendition. Saved!

A Dye Job NOT to Die for Dec 8 2010

My roots were getting out of control and despite all the crap that Carly was telling me about how ¨fashionable¨it is in England to look like you don´t care about what you look like, I can´t do it. I know I am a backpacker and I have let a lot go (I don´t even wear make up daily- I know! Me, no make up. Shocking!). Soooo I scheduled an appointment with my local English speaking hair gal, selected a color online and headed over to her house, where the magic would happen. The color I chose was out of stock so we went with something similar but a bit more red... or so I thought. Terrie and I chatted while the color sat in my hair, she washed it out like normal, wrapped my head in a towel and sat me in front of the mirror. When she removed the towel I think that my heart may have actually stopped. My hair was purple. Not like sort of purple or in the sunlight it might have a purple tint. No, this was Fraggle Rock purple, teen punk purple, crayola crayon PURPLE! I obviously didn´t hide my horror very well because within seconds Terrie had thrown a book at me and swore she would be back in 3 minutes with a color to cover THAT. I couldn´t stop staring. What had I been thinking? My once lovely blond hair was now a color that exude teen angst. Where had I gone wrong? At one point in my life I was driving 5 hours from San Francisco to Santa Barbara to have Gabe highlight my hair. Ridiculous, I know. And now, this is what I have become... a mess. Purple. Terrie quickly reapplied the new color, which claimed to be some form of deep brown. Though the color tab on the box looked fairly light brown... Another bought of waiting, washing and unveiling, only this time it was BLACK! Black really? Me with BLACK hair? I tried to convince myself that it was only the lighting in the apartment and that outside it would look like the beautiful chestnut color I had imagined. Every time I caught a glimpse of my reflection in a window or mirror I was shocked by the stranger who had my same face. It has been three days now and I think that I have washed my hair 12 times. Every time I see those pink soapy bubbles running down the drain I shed a tear of happiness! A few more days of extreme washing, a couple dips in the pool and perhaps a handful of long runs in the sun and that chestnut dream with make an appearance on my head.