Rosario, Santa Fe, Cordoba
Trip Start
Aug 03, 2008
1
15
23
Trip End
??? ??, 2008
Cordoba,
Central Argentina,
Argentina
Friday, October 10, 2008
I only have 20 minutes right now, so illījust give a brief update of what Iīve been up to this week. Iīll start off by apologizing for the lack of effort put into this, but iīm on a foreign keyboard and kind of down on technology right now. And also, sorry for the lack of pictures, but my stupid computer broke so Iīm on my host momīs while sheīs in Chile. After several extensive google searches, I was able to discover that my computer has some mystery windows vista bug. It just freezes about 30 seconds after I start it up. Canīt get much done in 30 seconds. Totally understandable, I mean the computer is 4 months old already. I know, I know. Shouldīve gotten a mac. I donīt think Iīll get it fixed here, because itīll be free when I get back to the states. Iīm sure my vast viewership will take a hit with no pictures (or sufficient time to write entries), but Iīll just have to deal. Huge bummer though . (I realize technology isnīt a real problem, but it is frustrating to have no music and have basically all communication severed.. my phone is gone too.. continue reading)
We left Saturday morning for Rosario, which is a beautiful city. Itīs over a million people, and was big enough and entertaining enough for me despite several Argentines telling me that it was a waste of time to visit. Argentines seem to be really self conscious while talking tourist destinations with me, I think because they feel Americans have really high standards. But I really donīt!
Rosario is on the Parana river only 4 hours from Buenos Aires, so we had some nice beach time and saw some restaurants on the waterfront. The hostel was great, the weather was great (low 80īs isnīt bad for beginning of spring, huh?), and my sunburn was great. We took a 2 hour tour of the city from the river, that was probably my favorite part of this stop.
After a couple of days hanging out in Rosario, we went to Santa Fe. We had originally planned on 2 days in this city as well, but my hard-to-please trip mates didnīt think it warranted the time. I thought about just ditching them and sticking with my plan (it was my trip after all), but in the end I just gave up and decided to appease them. So we spent just Monday during the day in Santa Fe, looking at some colonial buildings, Jesuit churches, the waterfront, and eating at a seafood restaurant. Yes, I ate the fish.
Monday night, we hopped on a bus to Cordoba. Tuesday morning, I hopped off the bus, without my phone, realized it, and then watched the bus drive down the road. Grr. So I had to buy a new phone.
Cordoba is Argentinaīs second largest city, and it is, for lack of a sophisticated adjective, really flippin sweet. It feels a lot different than Buenos Aires, I could even tell a difference in the Spanish, and that says something. We went on a day tour in a McDonalds city-tour bus where we sat on the 2nd story and had to duck branches. More churches, more Jesuits. Again, the trip mates were kinda hard to please, which means Iīm going to put more thought into my company during travels from now on. It can really put a damper on things.
Hmm, we also went to the city of Alta Gracia which is where Che Guevara grew up. Also a beautiful city, very small, but too many hostile stray dogs for my liking. Also the home of some really famous composer whoīs name I canīt recall.
Getting off the bus from Alta Gracia, the same thing happened with my camera as my phone, except this time I chased down the bus. I had to lay down on the sidewalk after recovering it. Camera, phone, and computer in one week would just be too much to bear. I donīt know why Iīm such an idiot with those things.
Okay we did more interesting stuff but Iīm out of time. Iīm back in Buenos Aires for the afternoon, reorganizing some stuff at my apartment before I take off again. On Tuesday, I got a call from my Argentine friend Marianela, who I was on exchange with in South Africa, and she invited me to hang out with her and her family from tonight (Friday) until Monday. I havenīt seen her in almost three years (ew, am I getting old?) so it will be interesting to meet up with her again tonight.
Good luck to all you crazy kids in Wadena for the October Outing, Iīm thinking of you all! See you in just over 2 months! Iīll write more this week, and from a better mood, I promise. Chau lambs.
