Until next time South America - Posted from Madrid, Spain

As some of you already know: instead of heading to Chili to do an internship, I'm almost home now. With family circumstances being as they are I opted to head back instead of being isolated and without communication on the other side of the planet. This also means that instead of traveling through Chili and Peru I only visited Lima. This blog post will show some final South America impressions, Madrid will be covered in a final post from home.

Let's start off with activities in the last week in Argentina: of course the final of the world cup. This would turn into a traditional Argentinian barbecue (Asado), with a load of Aureliano's friends coming in to watch the match on our projector. The asado of course featured great meat, cooked on our luxurious rooftop terrace.

Across the street, the exact same thing was happening on another rooftop terrace. Of course we finished eating before the match started. This was on a sunday: the San Telmo's antiques market day on our street's day. Just as with other Argentinian matches you could see the busy street turn into a deserted place in about 15 minutes, with people only coming out during the interval to get a smoke and a chat.

The match itself was exciting to watch, but with a very sad outcome for our Argentinian friends:

Youtube: http://youtu.be/m_gpbQH-NDc

I spent most of the week afterwards in bed with a nasty cold.. I got out to get a few shots of things typically Buenos Aires, which I will leave you to check out in the Picasa link at the end of this post. However, some things I did not capture, and I hope to cover here in plain text (in random order):

You know you are in Buenos Aires when ....

...you are standing in line at the post office, spending two hours to buy 3 stamps one day and two more hours another day when you need to send a package.

...you see people on the streets carrying thermos under their arms and stopping in the middle of the sidewalk to top up their mattés.

...you see side walk flower stalls open 24h a day, with the owner sitting right in the middle of the shop watching his little portable tv at 4am in the morning.

...you see lines in front of barred down kiosks at 3am in the morning, with people trading with the shopkeeper via a DVD sized hole.

...you sit in the metro and someone starts placing packets of paper towels on your lap (or packets of gum, or flash lights, or childrens playcards), doing the same thing to all the people on the wagon, only to return later to pick it up again when you show you don't want to buy anything.

...you see a centro cultural in just about every street you walk through.

...you hear people shouting 'cambio! cambio!' on the streets.

...you step into a bus at 04am in the morning and it is packed with people

...you get into a metro and after traveling in one direction for two hours you still haven't reached the end of the line.

Changing my flight from Buenos Aires to Lima from an overland trip to a flight was supposed to be a breeze: just call American Airlines (AA) and pay the change fee. However, due to Argentina's insane taxes it was looking like I should pay about 3 times the change fee in taxes. Paying in pesos to save 30% would also not be an option: Argentina charges 40% tax on flights paid in pesos... it was looking pretty bleak until after some 5 daily calls with AA I finally got the same superstar operator on the line that had booked my ticket in the first place (after all the calls with them I probably know all the first names of the people working there by now). She helped me tremendously: waiving the change fee because of the ridiculous taxes, and also fixing her colleagues' mistake (pricing the flight in dollars, while my credit card is in euro's). After a reprice in euro's the amount all of a sudden wasn't that ridiculous anymore (about the same as the change fee) so in the end it all worked out fine. With the exception that at this moment I've got 5 reservations on my credit card for this amount, instead of just one.

The flight was a morning flight, and with traffic and warnings about lines at immigration and customs that meant getting up at 04:30 to take a cab to the airport. This all worked fine (of course the streets were full of people at 04:30am). There was little traffic, now being a 'one world ruby' I could skip to priority check in, and customs and immigration offered no delays too. This meant I ended up at the gate about 2,5 hours early in an airport that does not offer free wifi... I wasted time by reading and drinking...

The flight itself was uneventful (sadly no sights of the Andes, except for a few peaks above the clouds near the landing). The taxi had trouble getting to the hostel because the roads were closed in Miraflores (the neighbourhood also known as 'gringo central'). The roads were closed because of the 'Corso Wong' a parade that is part of the celebrations for the month of the fatherland. Well, this meant that after getting set up at the hostel I would have to go explore this of course.

The Wong family runs one of the biggest supermarket chains in Lima, and as such the Chinese traditions were present in the parade. For the rest it's a celebration of local services and culture with folk dancers, school, fire brigade and police groups all giving 'acte de presence'. A funny thing is that all along the 5km route were supermarket employees, spaced in between 5m intervals... loads of 'em!

After seeing the start of the parade I went down to the coast to explore two of the other tourist must see sites of Lima's Miraflores area: the Larcomar shopping mall and parque del amor. 

Pq de amor is close to the final loop of the parade route, and also close to my hostel, so I walked up to parque Kennedy to get something to eat and have a look at the parade again.

It was already busy when the parade hadn't even started, but when it ended you could get a sense of what a big event this apparently is for the people here:

After a drink at the hostel I got to bed, as the following day would consist of proper sightseeing. Impressions below.

First up: a tour of Huaca pucllana, a pre-inca pyramid structure, wedged in between the city's buildings. I opted for the Spanish tour which left some 2 mins after I arrived and I must say I was pretty happy to be able to follow about 80% of it :-). Not much is known about the people that built this structure, but the structure is probably dedicated to 'mother sea' which, if you could remove the present day high-rise buildings you could see from the top of the pyramid. Human sacrifices were used in its construction and were probably also part of the rituals. Only half of it is uncovered at the time and it is estimated that it will take another 15 years to completely uncover it. 

Next up was the city center itself. Here you can see a lot of impressive buildings left from the days that this was the center of Spain's conquest of the Southern Americas. Some of them I also explored from the inside: the archbishop's palace (full of riches), the cathedral and the crypts of the Franciscan convent (the latter: not that interesting, save your crypt visit for Rome). 

Pizarro's grave

The office that managed the conversion of South America to the 'One true faith'

At night I went out with some people I met at the hostel bar, so the next days were kinda slow. I visited a few more tourist sites, amongst which the 'circuito del agua' a popular destination for families, but apparently also for the teenagers. A water labyrinth switching on and off is guaranteed fun for anyone young.

While this city had got me worried about it's safety when originally booking my round the world trip it felt a lot safer than Buenos Aires. Ofcourse I only spent time in the safe tourist areas. But apparently crooks just don't go there with the sheer amount of police that is around (and each shop has an armed guard in front of it too). Another thing that surprised me is the quality of the food. Although you're eating strange stuff it tastes really, really good:

Chicken organs, beef, maize and potatoes in various forms... still don't know what the green paste is... all tasted good though!

Ceviche: raw fish in lemon and pepper, with assorted other seafood accompanying it. Tasted incredibly well!

The three days I had in Lima flew by, and with that it's time to say goodbye to South America, and to give you the Picasa links to these picture sets. Enjoy, and let's see if you get the next stories from me in person or from the blog.

Picasa links:

140719 Buenos Aires Last days

140720 Lima: Corso Wong and Coast

140721 Lima: Turistic center

140722 Lima: Circuito del Agua

140723 Lima: lastshots

Buenos Aires impressions - posted from Buenos Aires, Argentina

It's been quite a while already without posts. However, the four weeks of Spanish lessons have run out and with the world cup also getting near its conclusion I've got a little more time on my hands. This means that I've managed to upload the pictures of previous outings and also to write a little about the associated adventures.

The first two weeks of class are already a long time ago, but these consisted of getting to know my roommates, classmates and teachers and the way around our Buenos Aires neighborhood (barrio): San Telmo.

Housemates and classmates, from left to right:

Nick (UK), me, Aureliano (ARG), Maud (FR), Marianne (CHI), Lucinda (IRL, class), Felix (CH, class) and Denise (USA).

Spanish class finished after four weeks:

Nancy (teacher), Lucinda, me in transparent shirt :-S and Alejandro (director and teacher during first days)

It was a fun time with lots of eating out, but also a tiring time: after four hours of Spanish your brain is really really tired. This meant that most afternoons were spent having lunch and a siesta afterwards. The nights were sometime spent having dinner at Argentinian times (22:00-00:00), but especially in the first weeks my body would already scream for food around 18:00. With me being old and feeling tired I have not explored the night life the way and Argentinian would (until 05:00). I had a little more energy during the last two weeks of class: my brain was getting used to the Spanish and the daily rhytm here, but I also caught a cold, reducing the amount of energy I had available to spend. I went on a few touristic outings, so let's start with those.

 

First up: the Recoleta cemetery: the labyrinth of mausoleums where famous and wealthy Porteños have been buried for decades. Evita is also buried here, but I never managed to find her grave (it is not marked as hers, and is not as impressive as some of the others). The place is quite impressive to walk through, and the contrast with the high rise residential housing surrounding it is at times stark. Entrance is free, so it is normally littered with tourists, but because it is such a maze you regularly find yourself turning corners without bumping into other tourists, able to admire the beauty or decay of the various graves.

Just across the street from my house you find 'El Zanjon'. This is a restored 18th century building, one of the few in Buenos aires, offering views of the various stages of its history. Like most houses in the San Telmo area it started its life as the residence of a wealthy family. Various rich people built their mansions in this area during the 18th century. A peculiarity is that they tunneled over a river while doing so: due to pollution and decay they weren't big fans of the stench of it: hence you can now walk through the tunnel where the river(s) used to run. Sadly the museum does not let you take pictures there, to ensure that people will actually come and see it themselves. 

During an outbreak of disease (TBC if I remember correctly) the rich people left the area to live in a part of the city which was still healthy. The various mansions were soon taken over and reorganized as tenements: housing families of up to 10 people in rooms which used to serve other functions. All without proper sanitation and shared use of one kitchen, so you could imagine the kind of atmosphere and stench that would be present in such a house. In various parts of the building the details of the old life are made visible by exposing old walls, tiles and recesses for floors.

At the end of the 20th century the building stood abandoned for several decades until a wealthy businessman acquired it to start a restaurant. While discovering the various original details in the building and the tunnels underneath he decided to to restore it instead and give it a double function: museum and venue available for rent for events. It is now beautifully restored and modernized. A guide shows you around the building while telling the tale of its history. Quite entertaining and fun to walk around in, although not as mind blowing as some of the online reviews would lead you to believe.

Pz de Mayo and Casa Rosada are the center of Argentina's government: the case rosada (literally pink house) is Argentina's equivalent of the White house and provides quarter for the President. The square in front of it is the scene of al lot of protests against the goverment, the financial crisis and whatever else is wrong in Argentina, so it is permanently guarded by police, and has riot fences right across it. During one of the firsts nights I was here there was a small band of people protesting something there by throwing fireworks at people, playing loud music and speeches and waving a big flag around while a folklore performance was taking place next door. See pictures on Picasa.

Puerto Madura is the old renovated harbour front. The old harbour that was here before stood derelict for years, as the retreating shoreline had left its ports inaccessible. Business moved elsewhere and the area deteriorated. In recent years the goverment has spent millions to renovate the area, which leaves it now as one filled with skyscrapers, gleaming glass structures and a Calatrava bridge. Quite a contrast to other parts of Buenos Aires, especially San Telmo. The wide avenues between the skyscrapers, as well as the nice boulevards next to the water are great places to stroll through in the winter sun.

Behind Puerto Madura lies an area which was once to be reclaimed on the sea, but this project was abandoned, leaving it to become an ecological reserve (much like the Oostvaardersplassen in the Netherlands). What remains is a great green area to walk through: away from the noise and pollution of Buenos Aires' traffic. A small walk even gets you to the seaside, where lots of Argentinians enjoy the sight. Besides this you also find a lot of birdlife here, for instance the Caracara you see depicted above. It had caught something and allowed me to get quite close to it: very cool!

A few quick impressions of my own area: San Telmo, and then especially the type and state of the buildings and the grafitti. Grafitti is legal here, resulting in some great works of art on some of the building (perhaps more pictures will follow in a later post). The history of a lot of the buildings is similar to that of El Zanjon, but not all are restored or maintained as well, this leads to a lot of contrast between beautiful old buildings, ruins and rusty and gritty concrete newcomers. 

Walking on the streets each day makes you encounter a lot of telltale San Telmo things: holes in the pavement, sometimes covered up with trash or planks. Dogs are ever present too: from the dog walkers trying to walk 8 dogs at the same time, to stray dogs running through traffic, but mainly as piles or smears of dog shit on the sidewalk... 

The holes in the paving show a lack of maintenance which seems present in more things: I've regularly encountered streams of water coming out of walls or out of the sidewalk itself, trickling down into the sewer: it seems that water connections are broken in a lot of places. We even went without water here for one day: apparently the wind was blowing so hard down the valley that the water level in the river dropped 4 feet: preventing the water intake stations from getting water. 

During my time here the world cup has also been a regular presence: with 8 nationalities to choose from, someone's team always seemed to be playing: a good excuse to visit our regular watering hole 'Gibraltar', the British pub around the corner of the school, and two blocks from our house. We watched a lot of matches there, but also in various other bars in the area, and I watched two of the dutch games in the only Dutch bar of Buenos Aires: 'van Koning'. Some impressions below:

Chile - Brazil in Gibraltar, with Chilean housemate

Netherlands - Mexico in van Koning

 Celebrations outside after winning against Mexico

Argentina - Switzerland in los Talentos

Yesterday I went to van Koning again, to watch the semifinals of Holland versus Argentina. Sadly this did not end the way it was supposed to :-(. The only thing on the plus side: we could join the Argentinians in their parties on the street and in the bus... and in front of the dutch bar, where the local people were quick to run to after the penalty series. 

Argentinians trying to make fun of the Dutch losing the semifinal
(Also see the videolink furher down the page)

Crowds out on the street in front of Messi's face on the City council's building

Celebrations around the obelisk

And for the people that haven't had enough yet (I have): celebrations on the streets and in the bus:

 

http://youtu.be/5fOkwjA1PFk

http://youtu.be/rY7nwz7iUEY

And if you havent had enough yet here are two more:

http://youtu.be/pK6usXbmyG0

http://youtu.be/h4HzifIpsz8

Me and my American room mate watched the match together and took the bus to the obelisk. Afterwards we walked back to San Telmo. She was pretty tired though, so we stopped for coffee and something sweet. I ordered a brownie, and got something that was quite different from a brownie... making this a good moment to discuss Argentinian food:

The so called 'brownie'

First of all the make-up of this brownie: the bottom layer is what we would normally call a brownie: a rich chocolate cake, however, on top of that is 1 cm of  'Dulce de leche' (I'll come back to what that is), a layer of chocolate mousse, another layer of Dulce de leche and then a layer of sugared cream/eggwhite about the same thickness as the whole pie itself. A number of the Argentinians food loves come together in this pie, so let's zoom in. 

Dulce de leche is sweetened milk heated until it becomes like caramel. It is one of the staple sweets in South America and you find it in a lot of places (as a sandwich topping, as icecream flavors, in filled croissants, on cookies and in cakes and other sweets). It is often a part of the Argentinian tea time, which consists of tea or coffee and something sweet at around 17:00-18:00. Medialunas (sugar coated croissants) with or without filling (jam or dulce de leche) are one of the sweets that normally accompany this.

Except for sweet, the pie was also pretty creamy/greasy (loads of butter in the brownie itself, and cream in the whipped cream). This you see in almost all of the food you order here. Most dishes are floating in fat (from fries that leave a puddle of grease on your plate, to steaks or even salads, when you empty your plate you will find a little grease puddle on the bottom of it). Pizza's have turned into a special kind of grease holder here:

The regular pizza already lacks in resemblance to the Italian pizza (the amount of cheese on top of the pizza is about the same thickness as the crust and flows across your plate when the pizza is delivered hot). However you can even get 'filled pizza', with the crust formed as a sort of saucer to hold in all the cheese. This comes acompanied with a slice of an omelet-like maize cake. 

The problematic thing with all this food is that it actually tastes great, making me gain all the kg's that I previously lost quite quickly :-(. So these last days I try to make salads a lot more, exercise and eat out less... the only thing still on the list is another great Argentinian steak!

I'll try to reflect on some other peculiarities in a next post, for now this one is already more than long enough. Let me finish with the picasa link to a whole bunch of pictures: 

14 06/07 Buenos Aires highlights  

(tip: zoom out on the mini-map displaying the pictures locations across the city in satellite mode: you'll get an idea of just how small a section of Buenos Aires I've seen in the last month)