buenos aires, part II

ringing in the new year with my girl!

beautiful statues at recoletta.and of course, eva's resting place at the recoletta cemetary.

they call this food. crista and i were very frightened.
with some new friends at museum club (wearing cute new dress -- crista and i shopped heaps!)

when it was time to leave, i was sad, but psyched to get home to good food!

mar del plata

who wears the purse in this relationship? me and my friend scott. he's grabbed my purse though!
three running musketeers - cris, scott, and me

nothing captivates me like waves

the beach crew. poor cris reacted towards malaria pills and got bad sunburns, thus, had to cover up.

iguazu

so amazingly beautiful. these waterfalls blew away anything i've ever seen before.

bariloche, again

in bariloche again, i met up with crista. it was different traveling with someone else (i'm honestly not used to it), but quickly adjusted. we had a blast -- shopping, eating chocolate, hiking.at the stupa at the top of a horseback riding, the beautiful prayer flags.

we went horseback riding on xmas eve, and saw this amazing view at the top. the horseback ride would've been more pleasant if crista and i didn't have to go to the bathroom during it.
the amazing lake we hiked to.

the chocolate-obsession in bariloche was insane. i wanted to climb into this case and eat my way out!!!!

amazing view on our hike.

the best chocolate cake of my life. i am still dreaming of it.

el bolson

of all the places i went in argentina, el bolson was my favourite. in the morning before i flew to bariloche, still tipsy, i met some other travelers who had been to el bolson and talked abt how absolutely boring it was. i worried. they were wrong.

i had a blast. my first day was freezing and rainy. the hippie fair, part of the reason i went there, was winding down b/c it was so crazy windy and rainy. i bought some amazing jewelry (v, rachelle, rosa, and others, this is where it's from) and met some amazing artists. i spoke spanish. i bought yarn -- handmade -- from this awesome argentine family (and i'm currently -- as in, tonight! -- knitting with it and it's absolutely gorgeous!). i talked spanish with random people. i ate a waffle topped with amazing fresh raspberries and cream. i fed a stray dog. i met a nice american boy at a cafe who's farming down here. we had some pretty amazing conversations.

back at my hostel, i chilled with silvio and jerome. they were both really interesting. also met a nice argentine boy, marco. at the hostel, we cooked, chilled, knitted (well, that was me, and eden crocheted) by the fireplace. i drank a $3 bottle of red wine that was quite delish.


silvio and i went on an amazing hike to this waterfall. we got lost hiking there and coming back. it was absolutely stunning, truly a vortex. it took our breath away. it was phenomenal. el bolson truly is a special place.

jerome, silvio and i headed to a type of commune outside of el bolson where we celebrated the summer solstice with yoga, chanting, and meditation. it was freezing but pretty amazing. i don't know the spanish words for some of the asanas, but i figured much of it out...it was an amazing and special time.

el bolson is one of those places -- kind of like burning man or dominical, that takes you breath away. the combination of nature and amazing people and some sort of truly special vortex...i did not want to leave. it was truly a peaceful and wonderful place. i miss it.

bariloche, argentina

i got to bariloche, exhausted from clubbing all night long. i immediately went down to the water and lost myself in the amazing view. i met a nice argentine jeweler who invited me to a party. unfortunately, i was way too hired and almost felt like i was on some sort of crazy drugs - i was that out of it from exhaustion. i went to bed at 8:30 pm

buenos aires, part I

buenos aires was great. it had the same intensity as new york city, only more chill and less stressful/in-your-face. i met a rad woman from queens who was staying in my room. we ended up talking about burning man while walking around the japanese gardens and in a modern art museum.

the other big thing i did was go clubbing. pretty fun. here's me and one of my hostel friends, while drinking caipirnhas. we went to the legendary club 69, with drag queen performers and too much fun. i came home at 7:30 a.m. (you don't go clubbing until at least two a.m.) and i was tipsy. i sat on the balcony of my hostel, chatting with other tipsy and tired backpackers. and then i flew (on less than two hours sleep) to bariloche.

salta

in salta, i spent a lot of time walking, thinking. i did a pretty amazing hike (here i was sweaty after the hike), met some rad peeps, and really fell in love with mate.
my view from my hike.
another view from my hike.
the architecture in salta was just stunning.


i ended up knitting frantically to finish crista's xmas gift. here i was, chilling in the sweaty salta afternoon, knitting on the hammock. it was quite nice and relaxing...i had a great hostel, met some amazing people. it was here i made some realizations about my life, about love, about needing time to think and be and live.

full reportback on argentina trip

sorry for the delay. i'll be posting photos and brief bullets on my argentina trip in the next few posts.

saying goodbye to buenos aires

i´m on my way out of here...i can´t believe how quickly the past few weeks have passed. i´ve explored the north of argentina in salta la linda, hiked and horseback rode and eaten lots of chocolate in bariloche, met amazing people and practiced my spanish and saw some amazing vortex-like spots (like the yoga summer solstice celebration and the waterfall) in el bolson, was wowed by the amazing iguazu waterfalls (oh my god. that is one of the best things in the world), chilled on the beach, surfed, ran and met incredible people in mar del plata, and shopped, explored, had tea and LOVED buenos aires. it was a real treat to do it all with one of my best friends, though part of it was alone, and was much-needed -- i did heaps of exploratory thinking and walking in salta, and have really figured some stuff out.

what have i figured out? i´ve figured out what is important to me-

• running, but i don´t need to be obsessed with it
• trev, luna, and my fam
• i need to learn to be less stressed and overwhelmed and manage my time better in nyc
• i want to see more places. time to start saving for a big RTW trip.

with my final hours, i´m going to meet a friend for tea, relax in the hostel, get my stuff together. i´ve loved it here, and while i´m sad to leave, i´m excited to go home (and eat good food!) and hoping to feel refreshed. i was clubbing until 6a.m., slept 2 hours, ran 1.5 hours, and shopped. i´ll sleep on the plane and wake up in a new country.

argentina, overall impressions

so far, i´m digging argentina. the food here, in my opinion, is atrocious. if you like red meat and bread and dulce de leche, it´s really fantastic. but for a vegetarian who eats mainly whole grain breads, veggies, fruits, beans, and nuts, it´s been a real challenge. i´ve had the occasional good meal.

i started my trip in salta, where i hiked, met new people, and did some pretty good thinking. i went to buenos aires for a few days, where i went to museums, parks, and met some pretty rad people. following, i went to bariloche, where i ate chocolate, explored, and rested after too much partying in buenos aires. i went to el bolson for a few days where i hiked, explored, shopped, talked, knitted, and met some pretty incredible people. back to bariloche where i met up with crista where we hiked, horseback rode, shopped (for your xmas gift maybe!), talked, and relaxed. oh yes, and ate chocolate. we flew up to iguazu where we saw the amazing iguazu falls which completely stunned me with their power and beauty. then i flew and bussed it to mar del plata. so far, i´ve struggled to find food to eat (a theme of my trip), went surfing, chilled on the beach, met some rad people, drank mate, got sunburnt. abt to head on a run now for some ice cream (the main thing i seem to be eating on this trip!), then showering, dinner, a club of some sort. should be fun. tomorrow will be beach, sea lions, and a bus ride back to buenos aires for a few final days of clubbing, meeting rad people, museums, and more. i´m learning to relax, and it´s great. i hope i can continue this amazing feeling of being chill and relaxed once i get back home. if i forget, please remind me.

i m so sexy i dont stop traffic, i cause car wrecks

on christmas morning, crista and i decided to go for our running. in our street stopping attire of pink running shirts and black t on crista, and pink running skirt and pink running top on me, we had a driver who craned his neck to see us and ended up causing a pretty major crash.

yes, we are that sexyª

chocolated out

i{m really starting to get into my trip, especially now that i feel as if it is ending (when in fact, it barely started). i was off to a rough, slow start in salta, but am glad i went since i met some amazing people, learned a lot about myself and the world. i fell in love, hard, with buenos aires, and met some amazing people. last night went out dancing and drinking caipirinhas and was not feeling sober until after 730 a.m. seriously.

now i{m in bariloche which has some of the most beautiful scenery. it{s just stunning. as i{m on only 2 hours sleep, i{m starting to feel completely out of it...i feel like i{m on drugs or something. i was invited to this party by these argentine jewelers but may need to just crash instead, esp since i plan on getting up early for a run before i head on the 11 a.m. bus to el bolson (for which i need to be there an hour early, ugh).

heading upstairs to dig through the pack. it{s the point where everything{s wrinkled and maybe even stinky but who cares? bob marley is playing in the background, rad people surrounding me, and i can{t help but smile at how lucky i am.

buenos aires

really enjoying buenos aires. this city has incredible energy -- it reminds me of nyc, the intensity, but less rush-rush-rush stressfulness. it's full of fantastic fashion, great energy, and good vibes. i love it here.

went to museo del la cuidad today, and the malba, and the japanese gardens. good times. discovered an amazing vegetarian restaurant, which was outstanding. better than any steak place, in my opinion.

the running here is lovely. nice parks. i've been wandering, journaling, chatting with people, practicing my spanish. it's so wonderful not to be at work this week.

salta la linda

the mountains are quite lovely in salta. i mostly relaxed, walked a lot, met some good people, saw some incan mummies, enjoyed mate and wine, and got back in touch with myself. it´s so nice not to rush-rush-rush all the time like i do in nyc. i´m sick of that rushing around and am hoping things will not be so bad...

off to buenos aires in a few hours, that cosmopolitan land of big buildings, tango, parks, and enjoyable life. looking forward to it...especially i enjoy this time alone as a time to think, relax, and get in touch with myself again.

melt. down.

i have had various meltdowns while traveling. it´s usually early on, though not always. it involves me feeling overwhelmed, like i made the wrong decision to come to a certain place or to travel at all. i have memories of crying into the phone in the basement of the louvre to t, who listened, and then finally i said to him, ï´m being spoiled aren´t i? i mean, here i am at the louvre...´and he didn´t say no, but he got me to understand that i was lucky.

i had a long ass day of traveling - plane to shuttle to waiting to shuttle to waiting to another plane to another shuttle. i got to salta and everyone at my hostel seemed nice, but not ultra-friendly. i hadn´t eaten anything all day sans a clif bar and i ended up trying to find something vegetarian to eat for over an hour and a half. carnivores delight down here. i know i could never date an argentinian b-c i could never deal with all the meat eating. finally, i ended up eating some empenadas and salad (chopped lettuce, tomatoes and carrots). i had a huge migraine and went to bed at 10pm.

i felt like, ´what am i doing here in this ugly city where every man i pass must sexually harass?´yesterday involved a lot of wandering and thinking. in the afternoon, i met andy, federico, and others. we drank mate and chilled in the shade and i knitted and relaxed. maybe it was the mate, but it put me in the mood. andy made dinner for a couple of us, we had some bad wine, and hung out. it turned out to be all right after all.

so far, have done some hiking, walking around. siesta is over in a few so i´m heading out to the art museum. i´m showered and feeling good, just ate some more ¨salad¨so am feeling okay. if i lived in salta, i would weigh 88 pounds. seriously. tonight i want to head to the vegetarian restaurant for dinner so i can eat good!

tomorrow, museums in the morning, some wandering, and then an early evening flight to buenos aires. should be fun. i´m going to keep my chin up. when i get down for whatever reason, i just need to remember, i´m in argentina, i´m in vacation, i´m speaking spanish, i´m free...

travel updates

i'm going to argentina instead of ecuador.

i will tango my way into your heart. or stumble.

i may stop at uruguay along the way. plans include patagonia, iguazu falls, buenos aires, hitting up the coast (beaches! surfing! sun!). maybe tierra del fuego instead of patagonia?

you'll miss me over the holidays, but we can eat those red & green m&ms in the new year.