Cordoba on a Saturday

Yesterday (Saturday) I went for a walk into the city. There were so many shops! But almost EVERYTHING was shut. It was like a ghost town. I was with Alexander and Jo from the hostel and because all of the shops were shut, we decided to go inside all of the many churches that are in and around town. I'm not usually one for big cathedrals or temples or anything. But they were amazing buildings. More so inside than out.. But beautiful. It was actually really cool to go to a church in another country. No one spoke English but I understood what they were doing there.

My McDonalds experience of Cordoba was on Saturday too. I ordered in Spanish (and pretty good if you ask me!) a large Sprite and a small fries. Well I got my large Sprite... But instead of fries, I was given a cheeseburger. As it was handed to me in a bag, I didn't notice until I was almost back home. Oh well. How they got "hamburguesa con queso" mixed up with "pequeño papas fritas", I have no idea.

Saturday and Sunday, the hippies have their artisanal markets with all sorts of handmade goodies. Although I would have been perfectly happy to go alone, it was nice to have the company of Charlie (Argentina), Helen (Norway), Alexander (France) and Jo (Switzerland). Haha what a mixed bunch! We were stopped in the street many times, people asking the boys where they were from (I didn't get asked more than once. Mustn't look much like a tourist anymore!) but it was so much fun to say "Norway, France, Switzerland, Argentina, Australia" when we were asked as a group.

I scored myself a piece of lemon meringue pie the size of my head for only 5pesos (US$1). And the stalls were just beautiful. If the items weren't handmade, they were antiques or plants. And the markets stretched for 4 blocks or so. There was so much food, music, people getting dreadlocks (maybe I got a couple..) and friendly people in every direction.

A really cool day to enjoy the sights and culture of a smaller Argentinian town! Hope you get a glimpse of beautiful Cordoba from the few photos I managed to take..

A new project

Paula was looking through my sketchbook and liked my drawings so much, she said wants me to paint a mural on one of the walls in the hostel (WHAT???!)... Today, I wrote/drew a "Get Well Sebastian" note (because he fell and broke his foot rock climbing) and he said that it would make him feel better if I would paint on the wall. I asked him if he even has paints (hahah) and he said no, but we can just go buy some! I told them to think about what they would like me to paint and they are brainstorming some phrases for me to have a think about. They really like "hallelujah" so that would be amazing. Just waiting to see if that's their final decision or if they come up with something else.. I'm trying not to think about it too much, because when I plan art, I make a big mess of it and I always get disappointed. So if I just wing it and play it by ear, I will probably be more satisfied.

Excited! But if it turns out terrible, I can always leave the country...


Watch this space.

A couple of days worth celebrating. The 8th of February in two different time zones.

This morning, with a heavy heart, I said goodbye to Sofi, unsure if we will meet again because she had to drive to San Luis for her grandmother's sister's funeral. (San Luis is about 3 hours away and sounds amazing. But I thought it was a little inappropriate for me to ask to tag along..)

I have never met any one so carefree and so so generous. What a delight to meet. She invited me into her home and welcomed me into her circle of friends who all showed me around the town and their university. We went for ice cream and watched the hippies bang their drums and ate ice cream under the stars by the university.

Sofi's room is so beautiful and a true expression of herself. I am so inspired to create things and to play with all things creative when I get back to the land of Oz. I tried to capture her room on camera but it was more of an experience than something to look at.

This morning I headed on over to the hostel (a couple of blocks away) and met Sebastian who works here and tries to speak English (which is surprisingly good, considering he never learned!) and show me around by means of maps and my trusty translator app! We can, for the most part, understand each other and that's all that matters.

I said to Sebastian, "Tomorrow is my birthday, but in Australia, today is my birthday!"
He said that we should have a party! Paula, who also works here and speaks much more English, said that she would make a cake for my "party" on Friday night. So sweet!

I spent most of the day talking with Paula over a copious amount of watermelon and watching Friends on TV (the one where they find out that Rachel's pregnant- first episode of season 8). She is so great to talk to. We really bonded over our love for animals in their natural environment and a whole list of other things.

When I said that Sebastian for the most part can understand me, there have been a couple of mix-ups.. He told me that he was going to go rock climbing later and that I could go if I wanted to. I said "we'll see", but I think he thought I said "sí", as in "yes", because later, Paula said "Emma, it's time for you to go rock climbing now! Here is the map for how to get there!" So I sort of felt like I had to go. Well I went rock climbing, Little Bro, Nat! My thighs, ankles, wrists, fingers, OK, my whole body, is in AGONY! And it isn't even the day after yet. Sebastian was a wonderful teacher and he really pushed me to keep trying. This was so positive for me because from the moment I walked in, I was so overwhelmed!! I kept thinking "I can't do this, it's way too hard". And it was. It was so freaking hard! He makes it look so damn easy! I explained to him about my knees being so weak and fragile and he sympathised, but still pushed me to go "one more try" about 20 times. I felt amazing afterwards and a little accomplished even! (Even if I only made it a few meters off the ground!) I think I did prefer to watch the climbing, rather than climb myself. These guys are like Spider-Man!!
I eventually HAD to leave at 9pm because I was just starving and even half way out the door, he managed to get me back inside, with the climbing shoes and harness on for "one more (bloody) try". Hahhaah! Best part was that it was free!

After the gym, I headed back home, sneaking an empanada (Espinaca con queso- spinach&cheese) before the proposed 10pm dinner of pizza. I met a room mate, Becky from Philadelphia, USA. She has been travelling for 6 months (or more, I think?) and has a patient man at home. We had long chats about our love of art, travelling and different cultures we have experienced so far. I am now noticing just how different my speech is to people who speak fluent English, than those who speak little English.
I find that with an Australian accent, I am constantly repeating myself. So over time, I have started speaking English the way that Spanish speakers use English. It's hard to switch from Spanglish to English!

Anyway, after many many birthday messages (thank you everyone!) and in the middle of skyping Shane, I get a holler from Sebastian
"Emma, Emma!! Come!!!"
I hesitate, wanting to talk to Shane and wanting to eat pizza (finally!! At 11:30pm!!).. And again the calls come.
"Emma, Emma! Emma, Emma!"
So I go up onto the roof and eat pizza with about 25 other people I have never met and then at the stroke of midnight (I am oblivious of time once food reaches my mouth), they start signing happy birthday. The same tune, but with Spanish words! This is so very nice. I wish I could shower thanks in Spanish but all I know is "muchas gracias!" Which I can't say enough times to stress how thankful I am. Then they sing happy birthday in English!
And then out comes a cake with a massive sparkler in it (looks like a flare, but with a candle spoke to jab into the cake) and the singing starts again! People all around take turns in asking me how old I am in English, to which I can confidently reply "veinticuatro!" Paula must have been cooking this cake while I was rock climbing! It was amazing. Chocolinas is the type of cake.. It's made out of cookies! Amazing!!

One of the girls had her guitar out and was singing all kinds of Spanish songs that most people knew the words to and were singing along. She sang a few English songs too, the only one I really knew was Blackbird by The Beatles, which made me think of my beautiful Sister and the amazing family that she is taking with her to Africa in a few short months time. It was a great song for this girl to play and for me to recognise. A beautiful and nostalgic way for my birthday celebrations to begin.

Bus trip/ Cordoba

Safe in Cordoba, Argentina after a 20 hour bus ride across the border.
Sounds horrendous. But it was actually a really wonderful experience!! Probably because I was in first class... Before I even got on the bus, I made friends with Sofi, just by making eye contact. (Haha! Getting really good at this friend thing!)

There were only four of us in 1st class. We watched Knight and Day on the little TV screen, a light dinner was provided, my seat went really far back, I got 2 pillows and 2 blankets and I slept really well!! ..But that was only a tiny part of the whole bus experience. For hours I looked outside the window at the beautiful cities and countryside that we sped past.

Occasionally we would reach a small town and have to slow down through the winding roads. These moments were so beautiful to see a snapshot of local Uruguayan life: Small parks of men playing with a soccer ball, horses being tied to a nearby tree, children chasing each other around a building, old ladies perched on a chair in front of their colourful houses, boyfriend and girlfriend riding up the hill on their motorbike wearing summery clothes and no helmets... With the sun setting in the background, these made for very picturesque moments. And for once, I didn't reach for my camera, but just enjoyed watching life through my eyes and not through my lens.

Sofi rode on the top floor of the bus in economy, so we got to catch up at the border. She speaks very little English so it's fun trying to communicate. It makes it easier because she is studying theatre at university so she is a very animated character. Her acting skills are very useful when it comes to communicating!

We established that my hostel is very close to her apartment and she agreed to walk with me for part of the way. But when we reached her apartment, she invited me upstairs! How could I resist? After a short trip to the panaderia (bakery), we completely made ourselves comfortable on her balcony and she invited me to stay with her! So generous! She is currently washing my clothes while I chill out and charge my phone! Love the student life!

The apartment is a little smaller than ours but it has a massive balcony! She said that she pays approx us$500 a month and it's pretty expensive (hah!)! She lives with her brother (Santiago) and his girlfriend (Lala) and they are all so nice and welcoming!

For lunch, we ate like kings with salad, schnitzel and jamon con queso tartes (ham/cheese pastries) with grapes, cookies and chocolate for dessert. While we ate, we exchanged phrases in each others languages. So much fun!! I think I will stay here tonight but head to the hostel tomorrow, as I have already paid for it. Sofi and I are already friends on Facebook so it should be easy to catch up for cake on Friday :)

For a bit of fun, look up El Cuarteto del Amor on YouTube. They are so cute. Think barber shop + Latin America + boys to swoon over (if I were allowed to swoon).

Love you Shaneo :)
And Sofi says hello everybody!

Adios Uruguay

Uruguay was a bit of a suprise for me. I thought I would be out everyday seeing and doing new things.

But I mainly just took my time and spent most of my time relaxing and resting! I ventured to el Dorado each day (the supermarket, not the city of gold and riches) for breakfast, lunch and dinner ingredients. Cheese, breadsticks and sour "jungle ropes" were staples for each day, as well as a few tanks of water.

Anna, Mathilde and I claimed the sun chairs by the pool each day.. And if they were occupied, we would head for the hammocks! The hostel finally cleaned the pool too. And it has never been so appealing. We were still the only swimmers during the day. Most other swimmers were the early hours of the morning, either being pushed in by people from the bar area, or to retrieve a rogue ball that had fallen from the pool table.

One morning I woke up to find Anna and Mathilde still awake from the night before! I let them sleep all day while I stole the opportunity to scope the town and buy my bus ticket to my next destination.

While searching for an ATM to purchase ticket, (they are not as common as you might think- considering no one accepts Visa card!) I stumbled upon a market place in the nearby plaza. There were gazebos permanently set up with stall names and all. Unfortunately everything was shut. I had found this place a few hours too early! I did see a sign above one stall that showed pictures of hair braids and dreadlocks so I thought I would come back later. In the meantime, I wandered the shops Uruguay noting how expensive it all is! Wow! Even after dividing the price by 20 (to find the Au$ value), it's still quite an expensive town. I found a cheap looking shop that sold a bit of everything and one cotton bracelet was about Au$5! Whaaaat?! Needless to say, I didn't spend much money! I did however, find a store that sold sandals for $10. That was much more acceptable.

After a while, I went back to the market plaza and saw the lady setting up her stall I was interested in. I chose myself a nice bit of cotton and some wooden beads for my hair and she kindly attached it for me. She informed me as best she could (her English was poor and my Spanish is less than poor) that she doesn't do dreadlocks. So close!

That night I got to be closer acquainted with our other roommates, Rosia (Rochi) and Maria (Belu) from Argentina. It was so wonderful to bond with them over the pleasures of travelling and seeing the world for months at a time.. And they told me that last year they went to the Galápagos Islands! We had so many wonderful stories to exchange and shared an understanding that not many people can share about that magical place.

Today, most people are checking out (including myself) so I think Anna and Mathilde will have the 10 beds to themselves! They have even started stealing matresses from the other beds and piling them on top of their own (because they are so very thin and almost useless). Unfortunately, I am claustraphobic enough as it is on the bottom bunk, so if I limit my breathing space any further by adding more matresses, I would be off sleeping on the floor.

I have mixed feelings about leaving today. On one hand, I am excited to be seeing more things and adventuring to a new place.. Especially because there is hardly any time left before coming back to Sydney! And on the other hand, it would be so nice to stay with the friends I have met and get to know them better.. And even spend my birthday with them (which is in 3 days time). At least I have plans to meet up with Anna and Mathilde when I get back to Buenos Aires on the 17th.

Speaking of birthday celebrations, I am so wonderfully blessed to have the sister I do- who is showing me something new each day leading up to my birthday. First, a box of Adriano Zumbos passionfruit macarons which Arin is going to make! And then a cake that Lilly made me! I love birthday week. Even if it does feel significantly different on the other side of the globe...

Now I have to treck across town with my mammoth bag to the bus terminal (on the sunniest, warmest day since I got here!) and then sit for 20 hours on the bus to Cordoba, Argentina. So glad I spent an extra $30 for a seat that reclines! Praying for sleep and to say adios to the sickness for good!! Can't shake this tickle in my throat (yes mum, I tried gargling with warm salt water!) and it's irritating me to no end.

Resolutions for cordoba-
*Buy myself a birthday cake to share with whatever roommates I may have.
*Leave the hostel for more than food.
*Go paragliding or something else exciting like that!
*Shave my armpits. It's just been too long.

An amazing day.

After an 11 hour sleep, I am in a much better mood. I woke up to find half of the room packed up and about to leave (the Brazilian girls I met last night are now gone) and the other half of the rooms occupants were still asleep.

By the time I got back from my shower, they were awake and I got to meet Anna and Matilda, English speaking Danish girls who just arrived from Buenos Aires last night as well. They must have arrived soon after I fell asleep because they weren't there when went to bed at 11:30pm.

We made arrangements to go to the beach and headed to the supermarket to buy breakfast and a padlock each for our valuables.
When we got back to the hostel it was so good to feast on fresh bread, local cheese, blueberry preserve, tubs of yoghurt and watermelon sour ropes. Afterwards we headed to the beach and enjoyed the warm water and the soft sand. Oh it was a glorious feeling to be back in the ocean. Ohhhhh I had missed it so much!! It was really overcast and black shadows scared most of the beach-goers away. This suited me just fine! It was still so hot and there was a perfect amount of wind. This was a bit too cold for the girls (maybe I'm just hot because I have a fever?) so we went back to the hostel, where it was much warmer, and we braved the pool (except not putting our heads under for fear of getting a disease). We then soaked up the sun, eating the remainder of the supermarket bread teamed with the single serve sachets of butter and cheese spread stolen from my last hostel (with the help of my trusty pocket knife i bought from Lowes) and sipped on caprioskas until the sun set while Pearl Jam and Bob Marley played in the background...

I am so happy in this place and it really feels like a holiday away from the holiday. I love this. Company is the best! I also have plans to meet up with the girls once I get back to buenos aires for my last few nights before flying back to Sydney. Wow. To say that seems so close! It's less than three weeks away!! Quick! Get your adventure on!!!

So content right now. Yes, I say this with a few caprioskas under my belt, but what a beautiful thing it is to travel and to meet people and enjoy life together.

Indeed, Mathilde actually has a fresh tattoo upon her skin saying "live". How important this is. What a privilege this is. And in Punte del Este, by the pool, in the sunshine (and candle-lit moonlight), with amazing company.. Hallelujah.

The news of the last few days

There really hasn't been too much to report. I had a horrible experience trying to send some of my things back to Australia; involving walking for 4 hours in 39° heat, with 15kg worth of souvenirs in multiple shopping bags, only to be told that I wasn't allowed to send 15kg, I could only send 5. Then finding an ATM a further 1km away because for some stupid reason, the post office didn't take Eftpos. Oh. And that measly 5kg cost me US$100.

I've also started coming down with something- not sure what. But I am extremely tired all the time but unable to sleep; I have constant hunger/stomach pains, except when it comes around to eating, then I feel nauseous; my glands are swollen and I have chunky green flegm; I feel dizzy and disoriented when I'm on my feet for too long. And the worst part is that I started getting sick on my last day in Buenos Aires. Yeah, I just spent 2 weeks in San Telmo with not much to do- I probably could have afforded to get sick THEN! But no, leave it to the day I am about to start travelling again.

Yes, travelling again. That fateful post office day, I went trudging around the city to find a place to buy tickets for a boat to Uruguay. I found it alright. But there was some massive protest going on and the streets were more chockers than Circular Quay on New Years Eve. Now add the 10kg worth of bags in the heat with no shade to the mix... And lets not forget that I don't speak Spanish. I didn't get there easily.

Uruguay, being another country and all, required my passport at the time of purchasing my ticket. Well I thought I may have accidentally posted it because I emptied the remaining contents of my bags and didn't find it. Probably because it was in my pocket the whole dang time.

I did finally manage to get to the English bookstore at some stage! There I stayed and read children's books until I felt that my welcome was being overextended. It was however, a bookstore and not a library. So I bought Peter Pan and spent a whole day reading, sleeping and packing for my next adventure.

I didn't sleep at all the night before departing so I wasn't feeling very good on top of whatever sickness I had. At the port (Puerto Madero), waiting for the ship, the room was PACKED. And I mean more packed than the Japan subway. There were no seats, no floor space, nowhere to put my bag down, no where to sit and it was hot. I mean super hot. I just didn't cope. Forced to stand the entire time with a mammoth backpack on, while the lady kept announcing "5 more minutes until boarding" which I believed every time, even though it was NOT 5 mins, it was 2 hours later. I remember at Quito airport, when I was about to depart for Galápagos, how sick I felt then. This doesn't even compare. There wasn't anywhere to eat even if I wanted to. So i just had to endure it. The boat ride claimed to take a hour, but it felt much much longer. 2 at least (Probably because of the torture of it all).

At Colonia, I got directions to the nearest ATM and the bus terminal. The ATM was out of order, after I had waited in line for 15 mins but later found out that the bus terminal accepts visa! Hurray! I bought 2 bus tickets, one to Montevideo and then one to Punta del Este, where I hope to spend the next few days on the beach.

The bus ride to Montevideo was ok. It was long, but it was ok. I was asked to move about 3 times, because apparently I couldn't get my seat number right. This made it impossible for me to get any sleep so on the bus to Punta del Este, I was too on edge to even put my eyemask and travel pillow on to try and sleep.
This bus ride was the worst. Someone must have crapped themselves because the stench was unbearable. A nearby passenger must have been allergic to the smell because she sneezed for the entire three hours. Anyone that knows me, knows that sneezing irritates me to no end. I have no excuses, I just hate it. Trying to preserve my phone battery, I tried not to listen to music. But the sneezing became too much for me to handle so I needed to drown it out with a good dose of RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS, as Sufjan Stephens didn't quite cover up the sound.

When I finally made it to the hostel in Punta del Este, it was about 10:15pm and upon checking in, I realised that I had booked for the following two nights... And not for that night. They talked in Spanish for a long time and finally told me that they did have room in a 10bed dorm. So I paid for three nights worth (at least it was cheaper than the original 4 bed dorm that I booked)!

Wifi is pretty terrible here so Skype was a problem last night. I'm hoping it holds out long enough for me to upload this post! It's quite nice here, pool and deck chairs etc.. Although on a closer look this morning, the pool doesn't look too swimmable at the risk of becoming even more sick!

I'll try to upload photos. Fingers crossed it works!