Arrrrgentina

So Malargue was kind of a bummer. We couldn´t find a reasonably priced room and ended up spending 40 bucks on a room with a leaky toilet. The next morning, we got all our stuff together to go hiking only to discover that it was going to be an $80 journey to the park, plus $20 a person to camp. This was unreasonable and we left Malargue with a final finger in the air and headed up to San Rafael. We had read about a canyon there and thought this might be a better place to hike.

San Rafael is, by the way, lame. Don´t go there, dudes, except to pass through it on your way to Cañon Atuel/Nihuel. The canyons are beautiful polychromatic (though mostly reds) striated rock formations that have been flooded due to a recent dam. Below the dam is a rushing river famous for its rafting, though the rapids looked pretty tame to us. A girl on the bus recommended a campsite to us that had a swimming pool, though it turned out that you had to pay $10 to enter and an additional $5 a person per day. This is, by the way, more expensive than camping at the Grand Canyon which is definitely cooler. Whoever said Argentina was cheap was a lying foo´. CAmping here was more expensive than camping in the Atacama desert in Chile (an allegedly and confirmedly expensive country) and there are zero natural resources in the Atacama except for sand and heatstroke.

Nevertheless, it was great to hike through the canyons and take pictures of the lakes within. Also, we met really nice Argentines in the campsite on the two nights we stayed there. We have heard that Argentinos are stuck up and egocentric, but we have not found that to be the case at all. They were lots of fun and very generous: the first night our neighbors gave us pork chops and the second night our new neighbors bought us beer, munchies, and gave Stew a cup when they found out about the tragic thievery in Guatemala that claimed so many of his belongings. Everybody gave us great advice about what to do in Buenos Aires, in which...

We arrived on Superbowl Sunday after a very long bus ride from San Rafael. Our bus got in at 9 in the morning, it was raining, and we couldn´t find a hostel. Thus, we sat down and ate chorizo and drank wine until the rain stopped. It didn´t stop but we didn´t care anymore and walked our way to Tango Hostel. Stew´s friend Mike works here and recommendedly strongly against staying there. It was the only place we could find a bed, so it seemed like a good idea. Our room was great, if eccentric. We had a spiral staircase to a lofted bed but nothing but a chest on the ground floor. The need for the elevated bed was unclear but who cares as long as it is comfortable.

We went to a gringo bar with Mike to watch the superbowl. The bar could have been any sports bar in the states: plasma screens, pricey beers, no Spanish, and fans from New York being tools. There was, fortunately, a feed in English which was great because the commentary in English makes much more sense than in Spanish. Most importantly (to Tori) we saw the American commericals. Most importantly (to Stew) we ran into one of his friends from Semester at Sea in the bar which was completely random and fortuitous.

We´ve spent the last couple days walking around the city, seeing the sites and experiencing the culture.
Recolletta Cemetary is the bizarre resting place of Argentina´s dead elite, housed in truly opulent mausoleums. They look like mini mansions of the creepy dead. We saw Evita´s grave which was also weird (the whole idea of walking around people´s blinged out coffins is weird) because everyone was so solemn about being there while they took their tourist photos. We can only imagine them later saying, ¨This is me in front of Evitas coffin, isn´t that awesome?¨as if this isn´t bizarre.

Casa Rosada is a pink palace with catacombs that are open the 3rd sunday after a blue moon when it is also a prime number, the same as every museum in Latin America. This day, they were closed for renovations, which is also a common occurrence.

Epic statues and architecture that define the micro center (actually quite large) including one of San Martin´s bucking horse while he waves a speared flag in the air. Totally epic.

Nearby, we saw a protest for social justice and better living conditions. These are more common than coins in Argentina.

A formalized drum circle that is a big tradition among the locals here, who are apparently huge hippies, and a bunch of tourists. Great beats, better people watching. Australians love tank tops, Germans love them more, and some body (not sure who), likes dancing shirtless.

Yesterday, we met up with Stew´s friend Claire at her apartment in Belgrano (a neighborhood of BA) and hung out by the pool in her building. Later, we went bowling. We were refused bumpers on the ground that we were too old to need them. Everyone else in the building had them which made us jealous of all the sub 12´s around us. One of Claire´s friend was going back to the States today, so we all went out for a fabulous mediterranean meal which included: falafel, hummus, pitas, schwarma, beef stuff, and a great Malbec. All in all, a fantastic meal that fulfilled one of our cravings. WHERE ARE YOU SUSHI??

We moved out of our dorm today because bed bugs minus airconditioning = suck. Tomorrow we go to Carnaval in Gualeguachu with Mike, Claire, some new friends from Australia, and maybe our friends from Panama that have just moved to Buenos Aires.

Amor,

Esteban y Victoria