Undescribable Beauty

It is December 15th and I have 1 and a half more days in Buenos Aires. I truly can't comprehend the fact that as of Sunday morning I will be back in the US after 5 months abroad. It hasn't hit me yet, but more on that in another post.

View with the ashes

Over the weekend 2 friends, Genevieve and Erin, and I took a 22 hour bus to the northern door to Argentine Patagonia, Barlioche. Located in the Andes near Chile, Barlioche is know for its mountains, beautiful lakes, and delicious chocolate! It was also the inspiration for Walt Disney's Bambi.
When we arrived, the ashes from the volcano in Chile cover the air and I didn't know at that moment that I was going to see one of the most beautiful places in the world (in my opinion). Not only was the location amazing, I loved the feel of the town. In many ways in reminded me of Breckenridge with the German/Swiss influenced architecture, the quaint taverns, and the buzz of vacationers and locals enjoying mountain life.

Climbing up!

That afternoon we went on a hike around Lake Gutierrez to the Casacada del Duende (the Elf's waterfall). During our walk we made a new puppy friend who accompanied us all the way down the road until we entered in the national park. One characteristic of our trip that seemed to repeat itself throughout was the three of us breaking out into song during our hikes (and sometimes on the streets of Bariloche). Some of our top hits include "The lion sleeps tonight," "Build me up buttercup," and "Colors of the wind." :D Before reaching the falls, we took a few pit stops along the lake front. The reflection of golden flowers sprinkled throughout mountain range was the perfect scenery for relaxing and enjoying God's creation. When we reached the fall, although it was miniature in comparison to Iguasú Falls, it was so beautiful hidden away in the temperate forest of the Andes. Being me I couldn't restrain myself and I climbed to the middle portion of the falls :)
Then, after a long day of traveling and exploring the lake we made taco salads, played cards in the hostel, and drank mate. During our game we became friends with some Colombian girls who were visiting for the week. They were intrigued by our violent hand slapping card game :) and the fact that 3 American girls were drinking mate and speaking Spanish! haha! Que porteña!

On our second day we took a gondola up to the peak of Cerro Otto. Once we reached the top, I began to realized the magnitude of the mountains and the lakes that we were surrounded by. With the cold front that came in, most of the ashes traveled east and we finally got to see the beauty of Bariloche! At the top, we enjoyed the view from the rotating café which gave us a chance to see all of the area from one of the highest points in the town. We then continued our adventures by hiking over to the mirroring peak. I was shocked at how much the view changed during such a small hike. We were able to see the other sides of the islands in the lake and an even more stunning view of the mountains.

In the early evening we headed into town to check out the chocolate stores and for me, the sorbet :D In Patagonia there are a number of berries that cannot be found anywhere else in the world; one of which is the calafate berry which resembles a blueberry in form and a blackberry in taste. At a chocolate store called Rapa Nui I tried the best sorbet I have ever had in my life that was made with calafate berries! It was such a rich dark color that it tinted both my tongue and my teeth purple. As we walked down the main street, my friends enjoyed the free samples of chocolate from every store we stopped in. On every block where was at least 4 chocolate stores! Lucky for them, too bad for me ;)

BIG PUPPY!

Cerro Otto and the rotating café on top

The dark purple one is Calafate berry

Llao Llao National Park

On Saturday we took a bus to the Llao Llao National Park and went on another musical hike! After about 30 minutes of trekking through the woods, we came upon a field filled with vibrant flowers with rays of sun shining down on them. I felt like I walked into a Disney scene; The yellow flowers cascaded down as the purple bulbs burst from the ground.

As we came to the end of the trail, we found ourselves slightly disappointed with the view. We had been hoping to finish at one of the lakes and eat our lunches on the shore, but we came to a rode full of privately owned homes. So we continued down the road hoping to find a public entrance to the lake and right as we began to loose hope a car came driving up the rode. Not knowing where we were even going, we decided to ask the driver where the closest public access point was to the lake and he responded by inviting us to see it from his lawn which was 2 houses down from where we currently were. Walking up to his home we were speechless. Not only did Martín, our new friend, have a breathtaking view of the lake and the surrounding mountains he also owned a beautifully landscaped mansion (which later we found out is soon to be a lodge for renting)! The girls and I enjoyed our cheap peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the lawn of his million dollar home wondering how we got so lucky to run into such a generous man and his wife. Here is a just a sample of the scenery during our unexpected adventure.

Martín's mansion

Our lunch background

On our last day in Bariloche, prior to heading home on the bus at 4pm, we walked around town, buying gifts for friends and family, and eating a deliciously filling lunch at a quaint tavern. I was sad that I had to leave and that I don't get to live in beautiful Bariloche, yet I was also grateful that I live in Colorado which I think is the "Bariloche of the United States" :)

I think I'll be able to fit in one more blog in before I go back to the US! Be anticipating a description of my last week in Buenos Aires and my thoughts about my time here and about returning to home sweet home!
Chau amigos,

Abbey

My "real" family was here!

Since the 19th my family has been visiting me here in Buenos Aires. I am so blessed that my parents, both of my sisters, and my uncle were all able to visit me for more than a week! During their time here we saw the sights: visiting the Recoleta cemetery, La Boca, going out in Palermo, and more. My real family also got to meet my host family when they came over for dinner one night :)

During their time here my two highlights were Thanksgiving day and visiting Iguazú. We celebrated one of the most unusual but amazing Thanksgivings together when we learned how to play Polo out in the country. We traveled about an hour outside the city for what we thought would be a day of light horseback riding and viewing our first Polo Match. It turned out that we would be the ones playing polo as well!!!! Our instructor, Fernando, taught my family and a lovely group of Australians the ropes when it comes to being polo stars. Let me just say that I was sore after! I never knew how hard it was to control a horse, swing that surprisingly heavy mallet, and actually hit the ball. Also there is a ton of rules which I had a little trouble abiding by. haha! Then we took a lunch break from our rigorous training and had a steak parrilla lunch! So much for a Thanksgiving turkey. After our feast, we played a small game of 5 on 5 polo. It was sooo hard! Those horses did not want to move; I think they sensed that we were armatures. haha! It was an unforgettable experience that I am so glad I got to share with my family. After our own attempts at playing polo we ended the day by letting the pros show us how its done. The game was so fast pace and beautiful. Those horses are so powerful!

The professionals

Us. haha!

The following day we took a flight up to the north near Brazil to see the falls in Iguazú! Recently listed as one of the natural wonderful of the world, Iguazú Falls is 4 times as big as Niagra Falls with 5 mouths total. The remarkable thing about the falls is that they are truly in the middle of the rain forest and we got to stay in the park at the Sheraton (Thanks mom & dad). The national park has multiple upper and lower trails, which allowed us to see each fall from multiple angles. Seeing it from above and from below really made me appreciate how breath-taking they truly are. There were so many butterflies and rainbows on every path; we were in paradise! God's creation is so amazing! :)

View from our hotel

Erika's friends!

Mi familia

On our first day of the trip, we headed down to the lower trail and took a speed boat into the falls. We got to see the falls up close and got soaking wet; the ride was so much better than the ones they offer in the US. We got about 3 feet from one of the falls, I don't understand how it didn't suck us in! Then, after lunch, we viewed the same falls from above. It was awesome seeing them after being in the middle of the falls just a few hours earlier! On our second day we took the upper trail to the Devil's Throat, which is the huge horseshoe fall that is so powerful you can only see it from above because of all the mist and crashing water. When we were walking the trail, it was very calm and then before you knew it we were at the drop off! I can't imagine how the explorers felt when they saw the falls :/ oh dear!!

Looks calm, eh?

Not so calm now!!

“I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.”- Psalm 9:1

During one of our hikes through the rain forest we saw a family of around 20 monkeys traveling above us in the canopies. They were so adorable; I secretly wanted one to miss its leap and fall down into my arms :) At the end of that walk we went swimming in the natural pool at the base of one of the smaller falls in the park. The water was so fresh and surreal!

swimming in the rain forest!

Lazy mono!

La Historia de Argentina

HoLa AmIgOs!

It is official: about t-minus 2 days until my family gets here!!!! I am so excited! You have no idea! I am thrilled to show them where and how I have been living for the past 4 months. With the extremely crowded subte (the subways) rides, to the various catcalls on the street, to the mountains and mountains of empanadas they will eat, my family will get a small sample of how my life has been while living here.

This weekend Buenos Aires offered their annual "La noche de los museos" where they opened 174 sites (including museums, cultural centers...)to the public for FREE from 8pm until 3am! During that time, I made my way over to 3 museums! I saw multiple exhibits at the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, such as a Francisco de Goya exhibition and other famous paintings from the XII, XX, and XIX centuries. From there we walked to the Borges Museum which showed the works of Jorge Luis Borges, a famous Argentine author. Being a Spanish Language and Literature major, I have both read and analyzed a good number of his books, poems, and his life, so it was very interesting to pair the museum with the information I already knew concerning Borges. Finally we ended the night at the Evita Museum, which honors the life and social works of Eva Perón prior to her passing in 1952. In addition to being the first lady, Eva Perón was a strong advocate for the well being of the working class and woman's suffrage in Argentina. To many people in Argentina she is seen as a saint, love by millions. The museum reflected that admiration!

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes

Eva Perón

Then on Sunday three friends and I went to the ballet "Manon" in the Teatro Colon, an opera house finished in 1908. The ballet was a tale of a young woman who is being forced into a marriage with a wealthy older man, yet she falls madly in love with a local intellectual. Sounds like Moulin Rouge to me! The costumes were remarkable and the lead was a beautiful dancer!

Ballerina Abbey

Teatro Colón

Buenos Aires is a city that is strongly influenced by literature. It is one of the main publishing cities in South America. With this, my Argentine Literature course has been full of interesting accounts about the city of Buenos Aires. In my "Language in Action" course after reading about an area in the city we do monthly walking tours to different locations to help us fully experience the readings. So far we have visited areas that were the heart of the city in the 1920s, areas that reflect the European influence on the city, and today we had the opportunity to travel to a place that has had an enormous impact on Argentine history, yet is often not addressed.
From 1976 to 1983, Argentina was under a military dictatorship that banned Peronism and silenced the voices of many Argentine citizens. During the dictatorship, many Argentinians in the working class, students, and intellectuals were kidnapped and placed into concentration camps. They are known as the "desaparecidos" who were detained, tortured, and often killed in these camps. During this era, a genocide of thousands of people occurred in Argentina. In my perspective, it is unreal that prior to coming here I barely knew anything about it. Recently in both my history and literature class, we have been readings accounts by people who by God's grace survived these traumatic events and shared what they lived through to ensure that it never happens again.

Side of Olimpo with the lower windows cemented shut

To follow up with our readings, today my class traveled to one of the camps "Olimpo" which is now a memorial in honor of the desaparecidos. The most mind baffling part of seeing the camp today for me was its location. When I learned about the Holocaust in my high school history classes, it was always clear that the concentration camps were located in rural areas away from civilization. Yet in contrast to what we learned, here in Buenos Aires "Olimpo" was located in a middle class neighborhood in what appeared to be a bus terminal. The tour guide shared with us that the mixture of the noise from the buses and loud music helped muffle the sounds from the people being tortured. He explained that the neighbors in the residential area who listened to the screams everyday couldn't tell the government about the events in the camp because it was their own government controlling those camps. For those people as well, there was no way to escape. To me, this was chilling to think about. Simply imagining my own government capturing our citizens and torturing them in my neighborhood is impossible for me to begin to fathom. While the tour guide was closing the tour, I could see the pain and sadness in his eyes. Later on our way home, our teacher told us that today is the anniversary of the permanent disappearance of our tour guide's cousin. Prayers for him and his family today.

"In this center remained approximately 500 detained people,

many of whom are missing permanently.

 As students we always have the opportunity to learn facts and events about other countries and cultures, but it is amazing how real everything becomes when you're here, in the middle of it. So much of what I've learned in Buenos Aires would have been impossible to understand without actually coming down here, seeing the customs, going to the places, and meeting the people. For that reason alone, I am so grateful to be here. It is remarkable how much I have learned.

Tea time, running, and zombies

After my weekends of traveling, now I have had a relaxing few weeks in Buenos Aires. I'm proud to say though that I have done a variety of fun new activities!

For example, 2 weekends ago I saw two of my friends' host homes (something that is somewhat uncommon here). On Friday I went to my friend Genevieve's house for her birthday party! Her host mom lives in an apartment which was once an old theater. Needless to say it was gorgeous! Basically my dream home: Brick walls and high vaulted ceilings with an overall artsy laid back feel about it!

Then on Sunday I went over to Marta's for tea and waffles. Marta is the host mom to Erin, one of my close friends here. Her home is a adorably stereotypical grandma's house. Fully decked out with collections of spoons from various tourist locations, teacups on mantels, and embroidered wall decorations. She invited Erin's friends over for tea and waffles because in Argentina breakfast isn't as common nor as large. Marta wanted to make us all feel at home and she succeeded. It was a lovely afternoon! Of course being with a group of girls we spent the tea time talking about extremely girly things :) Weddings, fashion blogs, baking... so stereotypical that it was kind of funny!

So lady like!

The gals with Marta!

 Then this weekend my program organized an evening full of music performances, cooking demonstrations, and other activities led by my classmates and their host families. I never realized how many talented friends I have down here in Buenos Aires. A few of my friends sang, played the piano, and even sang songs they wrote (one of which was in Spanish... impressive, eh?) My friend Tara has been really committed learning and perfecting her tango while down here, so it was amazing seeing her dance as an accumulation of all her practice. I was so proud of her! I'll have to show all of you the sweet tango moves I have picked up as well! I'm hoping to continue taking classes in Boulder (wink wink David!)

Then on Sunday I had one of my strangest, but most fulfilling and joyful days in Buenos Aires. I woke up at 6:30 am for the "Mujeres Corremos" 5K for the Ronald McDonald House Foundation, which I did with some of my classmates. After training a bit before with a friend, the race went really well for my first 5 K race. For me the highlight of the race was bouncing around and doing aerobic steps to Lady Gaga and Black Eyed Peas with all the gals as a warm-up. Something that would only happen with all women wearing bright pink race shirts! haha! It was a race full of so much joy and it went by so quickly. It was an amazing experience. I felt so united with the women here in Buenos Aires. For the rest of the morning as I took the bus home and walked around the city in my pink shirt, I saw various women still wearing their race shirts as well. We smiled and waved at each other; it was warmth I haven't felt very often from the people here in the streets.

Then after heading home and showering (first time of the day...), my host mom called me into the living room to tell me about something she read in the newspaper. As many of you know I LOVE Halloween. From an early age my parents instilled in me a love for detailed costumes, fake blood, and fangs! So being here in Argentina, a country that almost completely ignores the holiday, I was afraid at one point last weekend that I wouldn't end up doing anything for Halloween. Thanks to my host mom and La Nacion newspaper that she read Sunday morning, I ended up celebrating it in a way I would have never imagined. I participated in a Zombie March!! In the paper, an article explained that in the Plaza de Man Martin (5 blocks from my house) a mass gathering was happening Sunday at 3pm to celebrate Halloween with "la marcha del zombie." So after reading about this I was hooked! Although I knew I was lacking the zombie essentials (fake blood, face paint, and dirt) I decided I had to go! My zombie get-up consisted of ripped tights, teased hair, baby powder, and red lipstick gashes on my face. A friend and I went, dressed up a bit, took pictures of some pretty creepy people, and learned the Thriller dance in a mass group of zombies! Here are some pictures from our adventure!

Full out acting! Love it!

Then I topped off my very sporadic day by showering again (2nd time that day... to get off all of the makeup I had on), doing some homework, and heading to church! Now that is what you call making the most of my time here!!

Oh, one last thing. Last night I saw the Argentine film "Medianeras" and seriously feel in love with it. It is a romantic independent film based in Buenos Aires. It was shocking to me how many things I recognized and could relate to about their porteño (the name for people from Buenos Aires) lifestyle just after living here for 3 months. For example, the gym they go to, the descriptions of their addresses, the dog walkers with 8 dogs at a time, the kioscos, the Kavanagh building, and so many other little things. It is a pretty neat movie, you guys should check it out! I know its playing at some theaters in the US!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4ZYCFIZBcw&feature=related


Nos hablamos,
Abbey