Caminito treasures (Day 4)

I was up late last night trying to figure out how to upload photos form Flickr to this blog, while I have the luxury of free internet. Not much luck, so I'm happy to take suggestions from anyone? I've loaded photos into Flickr and I've linked the two so that I can blog Flickr photos, but how do I have multiple photos in one blog entry? Dee? Anyone?

Today I accompanied Susie back to La Boca to find a tango painting to match a painting of Caminito strip that she bought yesterday. We searched a long, long, long time. So, eventually, she went back to the same artist and he offered to paint a painting for her while we waited and watched. So, we pulled up a chair and he went to work, painting and telling us *again in fantastic English) all about his dancing (he teaches tango dancing all around the world), competing and his art (he also uses body art and paint in his dancing to make art pieces on the dancefloor-pretty cool!). He completed a gorgeous painting and then insisted in showing us a few tango moves. Guillermo Allio-he was adorable.
After watching a few more tango dances over a glass of fresh squeezed OJ and a quick stop for lunch at the hostel, I headed with Susie to San Telmo to catch the Sunday artisan market on Defensa street. We only cruised a little as we wanted to make it to Feria de los Mataderos in the North of the city, where we were told we'd find lots of artists, homemade liquors and yummies and gaucho demostrations. However, only once we arrived in Mataderos, did we learn that this all goes on on Saturday....yesterday. Oops. So, we hopped back on the bus and headed back to San Telmo. All not lost though, since I got to see another area of the city, although nothing too remarkable from what I'd already seen.

Back on Defense street, I walked the whole strip which was closed to traffic for all the artisans to display their wares. Many were flea market/dollar store-type wares, but there were equal numbers of original art, jewellery, crafts and busker. And, this is where we met Lucas-a jeweller, photographer, renaissance man and kindred spirit from Bariloche. He lives, by his own means, to travel and explore. When I asked him if he had a website to display his photography, he replied that he takes photos for himself first and that he's not interested in "getting ahead" as much as creating something he's truly proud of. And taking the time to do it properly. He's incredibly well read, super intelligent and was a total pleasure to listen to. I love talking to people like this, who have made a simple, honest and good life work, at any odds. He's worked really hard for what he has and accomplished so much- makes all the excuses we make for why we can't do things we say we really want seem pretty trivial. I walked away feeling really energized to have met such an inspiring person.
We talked to a few other artisans, about the history of tango and how it came from the brothels to become a national icon of passion and culture, and about their various paintings and crafts. No one was pushing their wares, but were just enjoying the people and the nice day.
By the time I got back to the hostel, after a tasty supper and a bottle of wine, I was feeling much better and more confident about heading out tomorrow (the shared bottle of wine probably didn't hurt). I've heard wild stories about the Retiro bus station in Buenos Aires, so I guess I'll see for myself tomorrow!

The shoe has dropped...

I had my first freak-out this evening, after returning from La Boca. I booked a bus ticket to Bariloche for Monday, which means leaving the temporary sanctuary that the hostel has become. At the suggestion of the hostel hosts, I booked on a comparison site called Platforma10 which is great....the bad part is it's totally in Spanish! I had to get my hosts to help me with the whole thing. Then I started to think, how am I going to do this when I don't have the crutch of someone to translate for me? Stress level rising....
But, I did manage to get a ticket and get a hold of my racing heartbeat (somewhat), so I'll be okay. But, it's still scary!

La vie in La Boca (Day 3)

I'm a little behind in my blog (learning takes time...) so I'm going to try to catch up a bit here. I may not get photos in right now, but they'll be up soon. Excuse the wierd symbols...I'm on a slightly temperamental keyboard in a slighty bizarre internet cafe...

Today I went into the downtown area (closer to ritzy Retiro area) to search out a merino wool t-shirt and some headphones w/mic for Skype. At the camping store I got told that, in exception english [hold on Denise, you'll like this one] that wool is very old skool and that now companies are making new fabrics called polypropylene. Really, how cool. So, needless to say, no shirt but I did manage to find a headset. Skype here I come!

Then I headed into the La Boca district, close to Puerto (Port) Madero. La Boca was developed when those working in the shipyards settled in shanties closeby and the signature of the area are the corrugated metal-sided houses painted in bring colours, from scraps scavenged from the shipyard.

Today, there are still lots of super colourful houses (could compete well with NL) and a really tight community. The touristy area of La Boca is Caminito, where are the houses are done up, there's tonnes of street cafes and lots of open-air tango dancers. La Boca has by far been my favourite spot in Buenos Aires. I love the feel of the area (however raw) and even though they definitely cater to the tourists, it still is a really cool place to be.

On my way out, I stopped at a supermercado (supermarket) to pick up some veggies and I was treated to the sweetest person I've met so far. Susie, from the hostel, was with me and suffers from Celia's disease. The guy picked up right away based on what Susie was asking for and, in extroadinary English, proceeding to personal-shop with us. Turns out he's a med student, which was incredibly lucky on our part. Once we left the shop, we bumped into him on his way home and he sent us home on a "safer" route than I guess we were heading. I'm telling you, the people make all the difference in this city.

Here are a few of the photos of Caminito.

Curly Sue

This is just a test blog, since I'm learning how to upload Flickr photos so that my blog entries don't look as nasty as the last one! It's a slow learning curve for me.

Check out my crazy, crazy hair. I'm gonna end up with dreads by the end of this trip!

Taste of Buenos Aires (Day 2)

So, between the bus ride in from the airport yesterday and some exploring today, here's my first impressions of Buenos Aires. Some of the buildings and streets are pretty cool- very old, intricate buildings with fantastic details and lots of cobblestone and brick streets. Especially in the area of San Telmo, where the hostel I'm staying at is, there's a really funky vibe with lots of artisan shops, antique galleries and art studios. But, this is a big, bustling, city. Read: pretty dirty and smoggy by Tera standards (and I know they're pretty steep), lots of wandering stray dogs (and their poo) everywhere, quite a bit of garbage littering the streets and a lot of what were once beautiful buildings that have become too expensive (I'm assuming) to maintain. But, I can't say enough great things about the local people I've met. They approach in Spanish, and soon learn I have no idea what they just said to me. Then, without question, either switch to their best English or begin the best charades they can muster for me. You'd be amazed at what you can act out when you're really stuck. I'm lucky to have a few basic words that I can throw in here and there to help along, but for the most part, it's just nice people taking the time and patience to try to understand me. So far, Argentinians are fantastic people.

Today, accompanied by Susie who's staying at the same hostel, I headed out towards the neighbourhood of Recolleta- in the southwest of downtown- to do some sightseeing. Lots of cool buildings (check some of them out below) and quite a few open spaces. The architecture in these buildings are pretty cool.

Shops of San Telmo and the Government "Pink" House at Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Congreso (left), Streets in San Telmo (middle), Museo Sanfrancisco (right)

In the same district, we headed to the Recoletta Cemetery. There are no "graves" so to speak, but hundreds of shrines housing caskets of the dignitaries and their families, on full display (middle). The shrine of the family of Eva Peron (aka Evita) is in this cemetery (left), although well tucked away despite her fame in Argentina (from what I understood, her controversial life had a lot to do with where her casket came to be, or not be).















Regardless, it was unlike anything I've ever seen and really cool. And, there are cats everywhere in this cemetery. Just strays (like the dogs in Buenos Aires) who appear to be pretty healthy for strays.

Since we had walked a lot, a whole lot, we opted to take the bus back to the hostel. Man, the traffic and smog in this city is unreal. There are so many 14 lane roads, right in the middle of the city (not highways but downtown streets) that the exhaust just hangs in the air.







Last but not least, here's a photo of the hostel I'm at (Extremo sur Hostel). There are 3 open patios, it's clean and bright and the hosts are fantastic- a really cool spot. And, I'm slowly learning that everything in Argentina happens exponentially later as the night goes on- breakfast seems to be a morning snack right before bed!

Just the clothes on my back (Day 1)

Remember how I was spouting off that I was having great luck? Well, that seems to have come to an end.

So, my flight to Buenos Aires was really quite good. I was fed really well (supper and breakfast- take that Air Canada!) and I slept pretty great, considering the seats we were crammed into (paired with the fact that I can sleep anywhere!). The plane was also a good ease into culture-shock, since I was exposed to lots of Spanish and Argentinians heading home. Things were looking pretty great! We landed and deplaned without any problems. The weather looked spectacular and sunny. After about a 1.5hr wait in customs (I guess there was a backlog from other delayed flights), and with NOTHING to declare, I got to the baggage claim. And this is where my luck stopped. Seems, with my sprint to catch my flight in Dallas, the airline must have assumed that I wouldn't make the Buenos Aires connection, so they considerately left my pack for me. In Dallas.

So, no pack for me. No change of clothes, no deoderant and no wash cloth that I was really looking forward to (and likely those around me would appreciate it too), no toothbrush, no sandals...just the clothes on my back. Awesome. So, I fill out my baggage grievance with a very nice staff from American Airlines who assured me my pack will be delivered to my hostel tomorrow afternoon, get my $25 credit for a "convenience pack " (read: bathroom essentials so I won't be shunned from public places) and I head to the bank. But no. Brick wall once again. Why no, you can't cash that $25 credit here silly, and no, you can't cash American Express traveller's cheques into local currency at the airport bank either! Silly Tera.

Hmmm. Okay, this is the part where I'm supposed to just "go with the flow". Just part of the adventure, right?! So, I manage to grab some local change and head for the #86 local bus that will bring me to my hostel. After a 2hr bus ride, which was actually a really great way to get a taste of the surrounding city from the comforting bubble of the bus, I arrived at the hostel. All in one piece, even if I do only have what I'm wearing and the few extras in my carry on. Ah yes, the adventure has begun!




The Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, ARG







To be honest though, I haven't really felt the "freak-out" yet that I have been warned of. So far, I'm still in complete holiday mode- I can roll with the bumps so far and I'm pretty calm. In a completely foreign place, but totally excited and really looking forward to what's ahead. I believe DFAIT calls this the "honeymoon stage " (http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/living/culture_shock-en.asp) of culture shock ;)

Luck is in the air (Day 0)

With a few centimetres of fresh snow on the ground in Ottawa this morning, I expected that my day may not quite play out the way my airline ticket said it would. And I was right. My flight in Ottawa way canceled but I got bumped to a later flight. This conflicted with my original flight from Toronto to Chicago (and on to Buenos Aires). But, when I called American Airlines, they had actually canceled the Chicago leg, so they entirely re-booked me on a flight through New York-Kennedy that, as luck would have it, worked with my new Toronto flight. Super! However, when I arrived in Toronto, almost 2 hours later than re-scheduled, American Airlines had rebooked me again. This time, through Dallas and my connection from Toronto was pretty tight. So, I grabbed my stuff and headed to Customs for pre-screening. That´s when the real fun began.

Being the honest Canadian that I am, when I got to the box that asked, "Are you carrying any fruit or vegetables", I thought of the three clementines and apple slices I had in my bag and dutifully checked the "Yes" box. A cardinal mistake. When I got to the customs official, she grumpily stuffed my passport and customs form in a big yellow holder and barked at me to "Go to the Agriculture inspectors". Oh crap. So, there I waited, in the Agriculture inspection holding zone, for 15min, while my flight to Dallas was supposedly boarding. All the while, I'm kicking myself for being so damn honest. Then this changed to outright pissy, when the customs officer finally emerged, ordered me to dispose of the fruit and head on my way. At this point, now a little stressed, I grumpily dug out my oranges (saving the apple slices out of spite), mumbled that "they better compost this" and ran off to my gate. Lo and behold, the flight was delayed. 2 hours.

So, I waited again. When we finally got onto the plane, we sat for over 1.5hrs, while they de-iced, repositioned us, de-iced again, repositioned...you get the idea. Not that I want anyone rushing safety precautions, but c'mon! We finally got in the air. But, as you can probably imagine, this delay leaving Toronto would come back to haunt me in Dallas.

Landing with literally 3 minutes until the Dallas flight was to take off, I sprinted (and I mean sprinted) to the gate. As I got closer, I could hear the flight attendant frantically calling my name. I pulled up to the counter, panting and wheezing, where I was ushered onto the flight. I made it. I can't believe I made it. Before I even got off the plane in Dallas, I had already accepted that I would likely miss the flight, have to spend the night in the Dallas-Fort Worth mega-airport as my pack went sailing onto somewhere in Argentina. But, I actually made it. Maybe this was going to be a lucky trip....

PS: I have to point out the LUSH boutique that beaconed when I landed in Toronto. For those of you who don't know the story, my dear friend Greg, being the good guy that he is, agreed to go to the LUSH store in Ottawa for me to buy me some girly shampoo/soap for my trip (all in an effort to save me from having to figure out how to drive and park in the Market). Then the saga that ensued was long and complicated, to say the least. That pesky tin of soap traveled from Ottawa to Toronto, Peterborough, Maberly and back to Ottawa, then changed hands three times before it got to me. All in the midst of Greg trying to get ready to start a new job and leaving for Orlando. So, when I walked into the Toronto terminal and saw the LUSH boutique (with shampoo bars available in-store), I had to laugh, Greg. 'Cause that's about all I could do buddy :)