No rain in Uruguay, por suerte!
Trip Start
Jul 29, 2007
1
7
9
Trip End
Dec 2007
Colonia,
Uruguay
Sunday, October 28, 2007
This weekend, I left Buenos Aires and I left Argentina for the tourist destination of Colonia, Uruguay. I was so excited to go because ever since I got to Buenos Aires I have had the desire to take the ferry across the rio de la plata and check out some of Uruguay. Everyone told me there was a chance of rain and this dreadful news almost broke my heart. For one thing, I am not a rain person. Whether it is in California or the winter of Buenos Aires, me and rain do not get along well. I am used to our 30 minute rain showers in Colorado before the sun comes back signaling that dinner approaches. Beyond my distaste for being out in the rain, recently I had a very traumatic experience involving me, flip-flops and a terrential down-pour that came out of left field on Thursday in the city.
Ok, I will admit, my host-mom after me complaining about the recent heat explosion did tell me that rain was sure to come the following day. Thinking that I have become quite the seasoned expert of Buenos Aires, no pun intended, I disregarded her statement with a slightly famous eye roll of mine and dressed for the day in a skirt, tank top and the only shoes I ever wear practically, flip flops.
It was two in the afternoon and I had just been telling my friend Mackai that it was such a great day and I felt on top of the world. We decided to go to Avenida Florida which is one of the most famous shopping centers in Buenos Aires. There are no cars permitted on the streets, but plenty of vendors to haggle you in both spanish and broken english.
Las Locas in Club Congo
Fat drops started to fall on my bare shoulders but we did not think much of it. We entered one store and perused the three levels before I glanced out of one of the windows which was covered with such a fog from evaporation that it looked like it was snowing rather than raining hard. For about 30 minutes we waited in the entrances of a store with several others looking for an open cab or waiting until the rain let up. It didn't let up until around 8 that night but we decided to be bravadas and venture towards a busier avenue in search of a cab. As we were approaching a corner, my flip flop caught a loose board on the sidewalk and before I knew what had happened I was face down on a board with my hip bone writhing in instant pain. If I had not been in so much pain from my baseball slide-angled dive as I like to call it, I would have been more focused on the hundreds of eyes behind me gloating because they now had a perfect poster-child for why you NEVER wear flip flops in the city. Mackai, not knowing what exactly happened to her already crazy friend was searching for a public bathroom to clean me up while a woman, talking a mile a minute on her phone managed to pick me up, brush me off and continue on her merry way. I hobbled over to a cab looking like a wet cat with sand and blood all over me.
As we sat in the dry cab thinking that we were on our way to the dry sanctuary of Mackai's apartment we took time to re-assess just how hard Mother Nature kicked our butts, mine especially and literally.
Colonia day 1
We were laughing just re-playing the moment in our heads and not really listening to the cab driver as he seemed to be rambling about something that we couldn't quite understand but nodded along and agreed out of courtesy to him. However, we should have been listening more carefully because given the time of day or the type of person that this cab driver was, he could not take us to her apartment because of "traffic" so he dropped us nowhere near her place and charged us seven pesos. We were getting taken and while I was tending to my wounds, Mackai put up an argument but he was a jerk and we ended up back in the rain, angry, still wet and wounded. I decided to walk from where we were because it was only 6 blocks but at that point they were the longest blocks I have ever walked. I finally managed to get home and get all cleaned up but I was, well actually still am hurting both physically and mentally from that experience. I not only hate the rain, I now fear it!I am lucky to get to travel so much here because experiences like I had this week just make you want to get out of dodge if you know what I mean. Luckily, it did not rain in Colonia and it was one of my favorite places I have been to this whole trip. Colonia was founded in the 17th century by a Portuguese general. It was a center for agreements between Spain and Portugal in relation to Brazil and the rest of South America. The whole town is laid out on cobble stone streets with beautiful tropical flowers and palm trees flanking the narrow, hilly streets.
Down towards river
The buildings are old but colorful with little balconies that remind me of a small town in Italy. I kept telling myself that the views and angles are a photographers dream and I was completely trigger happy with my camera this weekend. The weather was breezy but sunny all weekend and we took advantage of being out in the sun on a beach without having to lay out in a park where we get hassled by men all of the time. The only downside to the weekend was that once again we got taken for a ride in terms of money. Yesterday we ate lunch at a cute outdoor café when we first arrived. I couldn't decide what I wanted to eat because before I could do that I had to decide if I could even afford to eat. The prices in Uruguayan pesos were extravagant. Our meal which included two hot dogs, I haven't eaten hot dogs since I was 7 but just go with it, and two bottles of water ended up costing 186 pesos. In Argentina that meal would cost probably 15 pesos all together. We had heard that Uruguayan prices were much higher because of the economic crisis of 2001 so when we paid with 200 pesos we were unaware that the exchange rate was 6:1 meaning that our meal in Argentine pesos really only cost around 30 pesos. When she brought us our change, the waitress decided to not tell us about the 170 pesos we spent on our lunch as well as the tip we left her. I'm sorry if that was complicated because it took me all day to realize that we were completely taken for a ride. When the realization actually hit, we were both so upset and tried to talk to them knowing fully well that we would never see that money again but we were completely powerless to them. Regardless, we learned the lesson that with both the restaurant and the cab driver you can never get too comfortable because you should always be aware of what your surroundings are.
My parents are coming on Thursday!! It is about time, right! I have quite a long list of things to do with them so I will probably not be heard from for a couple of weeks. The weeks are picking up pace and I am getting sad to leave Buenos Aires, even if I happen to fall in the rain. However, I can actually I look forward to seeing the majority of you all very soon!
Cuidate amigos!
Kate
Comments
You were predestined...
Like mother like daughter...I have to say, when your mother vaulted you off her shoulder when you were just a baby, she too was wearing flip flops. You have witnessed the many times your mother has dropped to the floor, Patrick lifting her to her feet with out missing a beat. We are so use to it on our shopping trips with Patty that we now flank her and loop arms...
Have fun with your parents. Keep your dad out of trouble.
Love Betsy