Posts
We have been in Lima for 2 days and so far it is nothing like I expected. The city is clean and modern, the people friendly, and I haven't seen a single bean. I have however had some delicious seafood, listened to some great live music, and met some nice people of all ages in our spanish school. The only thing I would change is our housing, and Brent is working on that. Our apartment through the school is hot and does not have a real kitchen. We will be looking at apartments tomorrow.
I am very glad we decided to go back to school for our last month in South America. There is nothing like being forced to practice for 4 hours a day with people who are as interested as you are about learning. The students here are a little more diverse than in Argentina. There are the students just out of college, but there are also two women here who I am pretty sure are even older than me!
We took a brief walking tour of our immediate area yesterday, and this afternoon we are going with some classmates to a park with some kind of light show with fountains. I have no idea what to expect, but if it is anything like the rest of our trip I am sure I will be pleasantly surprised!
Later!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Lastima Dia
Today was our last full day in BA. It sucks sucks sucks sucks....sorry got on a roll there. We spent the day a little hung over because last night we hooked up with our only authentic, born here, raised here, friend at The Drink Gallery and ended up talking till 4:30 in the morning. His girlfriend was really nice (first time we have met her) she is from Finland and speaks great english but is like me as far as being timid to speak spanish. We swapped some amusing stories about misunderstandings in spanish. For instance, you would never say estoy sucio if you were trying to tell someone you were sweaty and dirty, because you would essentially be saying I am a dirty girl -wink wink. Anyway it was entertaining to have someone besides Brent to talk to.
We woke up this morning and finished our last errands. We went and bought a new duffle bag, Brent dropped off our excess luggage at the bed and breakfast, and I donated our excess clothes. I still have to clean the apartment tomorrow, but aside from that, we are ready to go.
Argentina played Venezuela this evening in a world cup qualifier so we went down to our sports bar and watched Argentina put a whupping on those whimpy commies! 4-0. There was a group of guys watch the game with their dog. Every time Argentina scored the dog went crazy! After the game the dog got on a motorcycle (and this was a big dog) and rode away with his owner the whole way down the street popping a wheelie!
As we walked home, I knew we had good karma following us when Brent found a 10 peso bill laying in the sidewalk right around the corner from our apartment. It was almost like Argentina was trying to bribe us to stay (or paying us to leave; kinda a half full, half empty proposition).
Anyway you pour it, we are off to Peru tomarrow!
Later!
We woke up this morning and finished our last errands. We went and bought a new duffle bag, Brent dropped off our excess luggage at the bed and breakfast, and I donated our excess clothes. I still have to clean the apartment tomorrow, but aside from that, we are ready to go.
Argentina played Venezuela this evening in a world cup qualifier so we went down to our sports bar and watched Argentina put a whupping on those whimpy commies! 4-0. There was a group of guys watch the game with their dog. Every time Argentina scored the dog went crazy! After the game the dog got on a motorcycle (and this was a big dog) and rode away with his owner the whole way down the street popping a wheelie!
As we walked home, I knew we had good karma following us when Brent found a 10 peso bill laying in the sidewalk right around the corner from our apartment. It was almost like Argentina was trying to bribe us to stay (or paying us to leave; kinda a half full, half empty proposition).
Anyway you pour it, we are off to Peru tomarrow!
Later!
Friday, March 27, 2009
The lions are pacing
Today Brent and I are trying to get everything packed up for our trip to Lima. Neither one of us wants to do it and spend a good bit of the time pacing around our small apartment, bumping into each other. The second one of us goes into the bedroom to make an attempt, the other jumps onto the computer to look up something "useful"- like do people in Peru use pepper as a table condiment? Well maybe not that obscure, but clearly the internet is being used as an avoidance mechanism.
We just have so much stuff! We didn't even buy anything! We are giving a garbage bag of clothes away before we leave and I still don't think we are going to fit everything in. We fly out of here on Sunday and tomorrow we are going to drop off a few bags at the bed and breakfast we will be staying at when we return. Thank goodness they were nice enough to let us do that, or we would have had to hire Peruvian sherpas to get our bags from the airport to our lodging. We will be staying in a shared apartment thru the school for the first week, and then we may try to find our own place. It will be nice to have a daily routine and I think fun to live with some different folks for a while.
I am not sure about internet access in Peru so I may be a bit hit or miss with the blog for the next few days. Be assured I will get back to it as soon as possible!
We just have so much stuff! We didn't even buy anything! We are giving a garbage bag of clothes away before we leave and I still don't think we are going to fit everything in. We fly out of here on Sunday and tomorrow we are going to drop off a few bags at the bed and breakfast we will be staying at when we return. Thank goodness they were nice enough to let us do that, or we would have had to hire Peruvian sherpas to get our bags from the airport to our lodging. We will be staying in a shared apartment thru the school for the first week, and then we may try to find our own place. It will be nice to have a daily routine and I think fun to live with some different folks for a while.
I am not sure about internet access in Peru so I may be a bit hit or miss with the blog for the next few days. Be assured I will get back to it as soon as possible!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
3 more days
I thought I might jot down the names of some of the places we have enjoyed while we have been here so at least I would have a record for the next time we come down.
Restaurants:
Las Cholas- really good chicken quesadillas, good beef tamales.
Jackie O's- excellent lamb.
El Cantones- chinese delivery. fried rice mixto is excellent. Also pollo frito con salsa de ostra.
Bokoto- favorite sushi. Buenos Aires roll particularly good.
La Fidanzata- empanadas are cheap and good expecially the cabresse. Great place to watch River play on Sundays.
Parilla Pena- best steaks.
Campo Bravo- excellent pasta dishes.
Palermo subte station- cheap tasty choripan.
Places:
La Rural- great festivals and expo venue
Nuevo Chicago- cheap neiborhood with delish street food and live music
Campo de Golf- Best course for next to nothing
Geba equestrian/ hippocampo
Restaurants:
Las Cholas- really good chicken quesadillas, good beef tamales.
Jackie O's- excellent lamb.
El Cantones- chinese delivery. fried rice mixto is excellent. Also pollo frito con salsa de ostra.
Bokoto- favorite sushi. Buenos Aires roll particularly good.
La Fidanzata- empanadas are cheap and good expecially the cabresse. Great place to watch River play on Sundays.
Parilla Pena- best steaks.
Campo Bravo- excellent pasta dishes.
Palermo subte station- cheap tasty choripan.
Places:
La Rural- great festivals and expo venue
Nuevo Chicago- cheap neiborhood with delish street food and live music
Campo de Golf- Best course for next to nothing
Geba equestrian/ hippocampo
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The countdown continues
Today I had a lesson at the farm. It was not over big jumps. In fact it was over poles on the ground. I could not do it. Could not focus. Too many things going on.
Kinda like what is going on in our lives right now. What are we going to do when we get home? What are we good at? Hell, what can we sell?!? Instead of solving all of life's questions we decided to go watch some polo and get a choripan.
Tonight we went over things we did not accomplish, and things we thought we would find here and did not, and things we thought we wanted to do and did not do. On top of Brent's list was that we did not live in a sleepy little beach town. On top of my list was that we did not find a new meaningful career here and still do not feel comfortable in Spanish. Maybe we will accomplish both in Peru, who knows. All I do know is that I will be back!
Later!
Kinda like what is going on in our lives right now. What are we going to do when we get home? What are we good at? Hell, what can we sell?!? Instead of solving all of life's questions we decided to go watch some polo and get a choripan.
Tonight we went over things we did not accomplish, and things we thought we would find here and did not, and things we thought we wanted to do and did not do. On top of Brent's list was that we did not live in a sleepy little beach town. On top of my list was that we did not find a new meaningful career here and still do not feel comfortable in Spanish. Maybe we will accomplish both in Peru, who knows. All I do know is that I will be back!
Later!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Nancy Negitivity
I am one of those people who likes to assume that things, places, or events are going to be terrible; so that when they turn out good, I am pleasantly surprised. I am trying to keep that knowledge about myself in the forefront of my thoughts as I consider our move to Lima. To be honest, I know next to nothing about Peru or Lima. Brent's feeling is that is what makes travel exciting, wheras me, Negative Nancy, is feeling like we may have made a hasty decision.
Today we sold all our unwanted books to a book buyer and picked up a copy of Loney Planet's South America Guide. Granted, South America is a large continent with many countries, so there were not a whole lot of pages dedicated to Lima, Peru. 5 pages. Most of them filled with information about the poverty levels, the constant fog, the unmetered taxis, the unsafe areas at night, ect. So, of course, I am a little freaked out. There is a reason I chose to come to Argentina and Buenos Aires in particular- it sounded (through months of research) like a great place. Even without the dose of negativity beforehand I would have been pleasantly surprised. Brent promises to go get a guide book devoted solely to Peru tomorrow. I only hope it will be full of fantastic complements so I can retire some of my fears. Come on, Peru! Surprise me!
Today we sold all our unwanted books to a book buyer and picked up a copy of Loney Planet's South America Guide. Granted, South America is a large continent with many countries, so there were not a whole lot of pages dedicated to Lima, Peru. 5 pages. Most of them filled with information about the poverty levels, the constant fog, the unmetered taxis, the unsafe areas at night, ect. So, of course, I am a little freaked out. There is a reason I chose to come to Argentina and Buenos Aires in particular- it sounded (through months of research) like a great place. Even without the dose of negativity beforehand I would have been pleasantly surprised. Brent promises to go get a guide book devoted solely to Peru tomorrow. I only hope it will be full of fantastic complements so I can retire some of my fears. Come on, Peru! Surprise me!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Flashback from the past
They say sound can trigger all kinds of memory from your past. I have to agree with whoever "they" are after listening to a band from my past, Donkey. After about 2 bars of the first song I was transported back in time to when I was 25, carefree, and full of Potential. Donkey is one of the best bands I have ever had the pleasure of seeing live, yet they only lasted a few years, breaking up for God knows why. What could this possibly have to do with our trip to Buenos Aires, you might ask? Well, it is an all good things must come to an end situation. Sometimes you just have to move on.
We are headed to Peru on Saturday to continue on our journey of learning and exploring life outside of the states. I am a bit sad about leaving although I am looking foreward to meeting new people and experiencing a new culture. But... what if they like eating dinner at 6 pm and all the girls wear nothing but turtlenecks and sweatpants? You can only assimilate so much!
Tomorrow we will go back to the school where we started or language learning process and arrange for 4 weeks of classes in Lima and then book our flight and confirm our apartment. Also I am meeting with a local bookseller to sell all of our books, and later go by the salvation army and donate the clothes that I now know I will never wear again. Hopefully that will get our luggage down to a reasonable weight.
I know you can never go back, but I hope when I here the sounds of tango, or the call of an ice cream seller, I will be happily transported back to Buenos Aires, just as I was transported back to those great times in Atlanta by the music of Donkey.
We are headed to Peru on Saturday to continue on our journey of learning and exploring life outside of the states. I am a bit sad about leaving although I am looking foreward to meeting new people and experiencing a new culture. But... what if they like eating dinner at 6 pm and all the girls wear nothing but turtlenecks and sweatpants? You can only assimilate so much!
Tomorrow we will go back to the school where we started or language learning process and arrange for 4 weeks of classes in Lima and then book our flight and confirm our apartment. Also I am meeting with a local bookseller to sell all of our books, and later go by the salvation army and donate the clothes that I now know I will never wear again. Hopefully that will get our luggage down to a reasonable weight.
I know you can never go back, but I hope when I here the sounds of tango, or the call of an ice cream seller, I will be happily transported back to Buenos Aires, just as I was transported back to those great times in Atlanta by the music of Donkey.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
