Day Trip to Colonia, Uruguay

Hola todos,

After coming back from the US, I was in a little bit of a funk, I missed Boston and all the people there. To snap me out of it, cheer me up AND get 4 new stamps in my passport, Stef and I decided to plan a day trip to Uruguay.  Our good friend Miranda decided to join us.

The southwest coast of Uruguay is separated from the eastern coast of Argentina by Río de la Plata.  The water looks disgusting but the brown color is actually natural and is caused by sediments in the water. Ferry's run from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay and Montevideo, Uruguay daily.  It takes 50 minutes to get to Colonia and 3 hours to get to Montevideo. The three of us bought Buquebus ferry tickets to leave Buenos Aires for Colonia, Uruguay at 8:45am and return at 8:00pm. 

We arrived in Colonia on a "bright sunshiny day", exchanged some Argentine pesos for Uruguayan pesos (for reference, US$1 = Uruguay$25) and visited the tourist center for a map. Colonia is an old Spanish strong hold in the Río de la Plata region, the historic part of the town was actually a fort.  We wandered in to the historic district and never left.

The town was so quaint and absolutely adorable.  The main entrance in to the town takes you over an old draw bridge and through a massive stone gate. The streets were all cobblestone or gravel and there were tons of blooming flowers. Bogan villa, one of my favorites, was everywhere in hot pink, royal purple and flaming orange (see the picture below of me and Miranda under the tree). We hung out on the old peer watching sailboats go by and walked along the shoreline (picture above). We climbed to the top of the old white lighthouse built in 1845 and visited the ruins of the governor's old estate (picture below). After a spectacular lunch in an old mansion, we took a little siesta nap on a park bench on a cliff overlooking the water. There was just enough time to visit the basilica before we had to return to the dock for our ferry departure back to la capital federal. The basilica was still decorated for Easter.  In the US, churches are decorated with springtime flowers like tulips and lilies, the altar of the basilica in Uruguay was decorated with a hundred or so birds of paradise flowers.  I thought it was an interesting difference and absolutely beautiful.

             

Note:  Since my camera was broken and then stolen in Patagonia, all photos in this post were taken by Stefanie Bair.

Love to all,

Raquel

Easter in Boston, MA USA!

It has been quite some time since I wrote a blog entry! 

Semana Santa break in Argentina gave me some time off school and my wonderful boyfriend flew me back to the States to spend Easter with him and his family in Boston. 

My adventure started with an awesome taxi driver named Roberto who drove me the 45 minutes to Ezieza Airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. We talked the entire way. He is devoutly Catholic - crossed himself every single time we passed a church - but has many Jewish friends. Upon learning that I was half Catholic half Jewish, he broke out singing Hava Nagila. Don't laugh, I joined him. Roberto and I were driving down the highway for a good 5 minutes singing verse after verse.  For those of you who don't know Hava Nagila, this is the tune we were singing to with Hebrew lyrics. Oy vey! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFtv5qe5o3c&feature=related 

My flight was long and cold but I landed in Boston on Wednesday safely and surprisingly on time.  Jason met me at the airport with a my down jacket, Boston is much colder than Argentina! At his apartment, there was a beautiful bouquet of flowers waiting for me on his nightstand :)  He spent the afternoon in class and at crew practice.  I spent some time with sorority sisters and catching up with friends.  Jason made sure I ate at all my favorite places, Chipotle, Pho and I, Chicken Lou's, YUM!

Saturday was the much anticipated sprint race between Northeastern and Boston University for the Artlett Cup. Northeastern won!  I went back to the Northeastern boathouse with Jason's family; after a boat christening and a hearty diner breakfast, we went back in to the city to relax. Saturday night there was a white t-shirt party in honor of the victory over BU. I got to wear Jason's prize, a BU rowing shirt.  Belted with skinny jeans and heels my, my outfit was complete.

Sunday morning we woke up early to drive out to Needham, MA and attend Easter service at Grace Lutheran Church where Jason's mom is pastor. The service was lovely, I really enjoyed the singing. Easter brunch was served at the family home in Needham and the menu was absolutely delicious.   

Monday sent me back to BA.  I had a wonderful 5 days back in the USA.  It was really nice to see and spend time with so many people that I miss in Boston.  The rest of my week was spent getting back in to the BA swing and attending classes.  

Hope everyone is doing well!  I'll try not to be such a delinquent about updating my blog from now on.

Love,

Raquel

Party Time

Hola!

Thursday was Día del Veterano y de los Caídos en la Guerra de Malvinas aka no school in honor of the veterans and fallen soldiers of the Malvinas War.  If you want to anger an Argentinean refer to the Islas Malvinas as the Falkland Islands--they are very sensitive. In celebration of our day off Stef and I decided to have a party at our apartment Wednesday night.  We wrote letters to out neighbors above, below, and next to us introducing ourselves as US foreign exchange students and explained that we were having a party and not to be concerned if there was noise. We stocked the fridge with beer, wine and spirits. About 20 of our exchange student friends were invited of which about 15 could make it. The party started around midnight, we hung out playing cards and the all american game of beer pong.  Around 2am there was a knock on our door.  Our Argentine neighbors wanted to join the fiesta, the letter of introduction was taken as an invitation! The neighbors brought friends and then their friends brought friends and the party grew to 30.  Someone brought a guitar and was leading sing-a-longs in the kitchen.  It was fun, for a while.  Then people started getting drunk.  Men my age, especially Argentines, can be very rude and forward.  People started getting clumsy and dropping glass bottles.  The floor became filthy and began to resemble bar tar.  People were getting louder and more belligerent. 

A friend of mine had taken off her heels and borrowed a pair of flip flops.  She decided to leave around 6am and on her way out we stepped in to my room to swap out the shoes.  The door to my bedroom was closed, odd.  The lights were off, strange.  There were two Argentineans lying down on my bed making out!!

My friends said they saw the crazy Mexican side of me at 6am on Thursday morning.  I told everyone to get out of my apartment and the party was over in not so eloquent terms.  The Argentineans left, it can't be said for the entire group, but I have to say I was surprised and disappointed by how rude so many of them were, both males and females.  Some of my friends hung around to help clean up a bit, we stayed up talking and watched the sunrise on Thursday morning.  It was raining and the sky was gray but there was the most beautiful arco iris (rainbow) I have ever seen arching over the neighborhood.

Stef and I spent Thursday doing homework and cleaning.  She mopped the floors twice and our apartment is now sparkling.

Hope everyone had a fun weekend!

xoxo,

Raquel