bariloCHEbbb

It has been FOREVER since I blogged and it's one of those things (like cleaning our disaster of a loft...) that piles up and seems overwhelming if it's neglected for long enough. Maybe a blog entry and uploading pictures will somehow jumpstart my productivity today so that I can do other productive things.

Literally 24 hours before we left for Bariloche (a town on the northern part of the Rio negro province in Patagonia) we had no idea what our travel plans were. We started tossing around ideas at least a month ago, but between varying budgets, awkward and immature group tension, a general lack of organizational skills and a skewed perception of ARGENTIME nothing got past the planning stage till two days before we went. We had Thursday and Friday off as part of Semana Santa- their version of an easter break which to me seems more like thanksgiving because its fall and they have their spring break, like us, during second semester. Purchasing so late meant that a travel agency was our best option and it was a little more expensive than we would have liked. In total the package which included the 44 hour bus trip, 3 nights in a hotel, an excursion and dinner every night cost us 940 pesos each which is around $300. We left sunny La plata at around 330 Wednesday and got to the bus terminal in Buenos Aires with plenty of time to spare before our departure at 720.
The terminal was PACKED and it was a bit of a stressful nightmare finding and boarding our bus...I really would think the terminal would be better laid out considering that B.A is a tourist packed area but I can't imagine travelling from there without at least a rudimentary knowledge of spanish.

We ended up with first class tickets on the bus ride there which made ALL the difference when compared to the return trip. We had blankets, pillows, good dinners with wine, an option for champagne and coffee later, movies (Adam Sandler's Bed time stories is terrible), and plentyyyy of food (mostly bread, South Beach isn't big in Argentina...). We arrived to Bariloche well rested and ready to explore. After checking into the hotel we headed out to a boat tour of the lake that drove us around and stopped several places so we can take pictures. Bariloche itsself is BREATHTAKINGLY beautiful- it's old fashioned wooden architecture is complimented by a backdrop of snow capped mountains atop a crystal lake. They are also famous, deservedly, for their decadent CHOCOLATE and we toured a factory and of course bought some while they were there.

Unfortunately for me, my stomache issues (who knows, and no...NOT code for hangover, I think I had a legitimate parasite or something)came back so I ate about 1/4 of the chocolate the rest of the group did there. I was pretty miserable for the greater part of the trip because of my stomache but managed to get out and see enough things that definitely made it worthwhile. The coolest thing we did was take a ski lift up to the top of an extremely steep mountain- the view was incredible. We left sunday at 11 and got back to la plata around 2 the next day. I will spare you the ugly details of that trip but it involved very little sleep and our bus driver getting lost.
I ended up missing my first class at the university Monday because of the delay but it all worked out because I just went to the later session at 5. It's an introductory art course where we have shorter sessions of specific types of art. There was definitely a moment yesterday as I was sitting in the fine arts school where I wondered what possible decisions I made along the course of my life that led to me sitting in a ceramics studio in a basement in La Plata Argentina. It's very random how things work out sometimes.

Random Funny Quote:

In our indigenous rights class while talking about stereotypes of americans after our teacher posed the question of why people from the US have weight problems.
"Creo que tiene que ver con comer demasiado preservativos" (I think it has to do with eating too many PRESERVATIVES (was my intention, but preservativos actually means condoms...well done)
"ah y eso es porque te duele el estomago" (oh...that's why your stomache hurts)