How to be a porteña...
Hola a todos!
Time for another update.
I´m getting the hang of how to live like a porteña (that´s how they call the inhibitants of Buenos Aires). It´s a very interesting city, however not very shocking on the matter of cultural differences.
I have done some sight seeing here and it´s an absolutely gorgeous place. I have a long while to go before I´ve covered the most interesting places but I have time, so no rush. The neighbourhoods, or barrios as the are called are very different and all have their own flair and places of interest. Mine is Palermo, which is one of the more beautiful and wealthy barrios. I´ve been told it was not always like that, but now it has beautiful streets, many really nice boutiques (have to hold myself back with shopping!!), loads of nice restaurants, bars and clubs and therefor also many tourists. It is one of the safer places, whereas for instance La Boca is one of the poorest and also most dangerous. During the day it´s fine to walk around, there are many tourists, you should just watch your bag because of many pickpockets. The barrio is known for the colourfull houses, however the only interesting part is also very overcrowded with tourist and the houses are overly colourfull just to attract people, so it might seem a bit fake. What annoyed me were the people in the restaurants trying to lure you in, just like they do in greece or turkey for instance. Other than that I did really like it, it´s a very lively place.
Recoletta is another very wealthy barrio, the highlight in there is the famous cemetary where Evita Perron is buried. It´s huge and has many many tombs with actual ´streets´ so you can get lost there for hours, being amazed by the enormous sculptures and decorations that are erupted around tombs of many famous people. Evita´s is actually quite boring compared to most of them. I still have to explore the barrio more, it has many nice museums and streets. Same goes for San Telmo, only visited the craft and antique market so far, so there´s lots to do!
Have to find some time in between my spanish classes, I go there every morning from 9 to 13 and in the 3 days that I went there I´ve already learned so much! So I might actually have a conversation with my doorman that´s more than just hi, how are you... I probably won´t do the full 5 weeks, right now I´m thinking of skipping the last week to go surfing in Uruguay before Catherine comes or go skydiving in Bariloche. Decisions decisions...
So I am well settled in here, met some awesome people, had the best steak EVER (and it was huge...) and am discovering new things every day. Way overspending, so I have to cut on the shopping and eating out, what a drag. As you can tell: a backpackers life is a hard one, especially with a gym like mine...
More pictures on facebook here:
I´ve added new so you have to browse towards the last 34.
Hasta Luego!!
Pictures!
Well, this is attempt nr 1254 to try to get some pictures online... Computers here aren´t the best.
Anywho: I am probably not going to post any pics on this website because it takes a lot of effort to put them online at all, so I´ll post the link for facebook, you can all see them there.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=362645&id=736800320&l=943007f3d2
Things here are better and better. I´ve met quite some people now, which makes all the difference. I´m also starting to get to know my way around, and feel more comfortable to try and ask for things with the little spanish I have. Unfortunately I couldn´t start spanish lessons yet, there was a miscommunication. I have just received an email that next monday I can start, which is really good.
The weather here is just perfect! It´s warm, only in the sun it´s hot, but not humid like back home. I think it´s about 26 or 28 degrees. I´m even starting to get a bit of a tan! :) Yes, I can feel your jealousy! hehe... I´m slowly doing al the tourist stuff, La Boca is on today´s schedule. This Barrio (neighbourhood) is know for it´s colourfull houses and it´s also where tango was first created. It´s one of the less safer places in Buenos Aires, but during the day time it´s ok. So far the city feels pretty safe. It´s often reffered to as the most european city of the continent and I get where they get that from. The streets are beautifull, with cobble stones and big old trees, really nice buildings.
This saturday I will spend a night at the hostel. They´re organizing an Asado, which is argentinian barbecue. The hostel is a great place to meet people, so I go there often to meet someone and then usually some more join us for the day and so the group grows a bit. It´s really nice. Just a pity that most of them stay only a few days, but I´ll probably meet some more when I start my spanish classes that will stay longer.
The food so far is really good, but I have yet to try my first argentinian steak. I´ll let you know how it was. ;)
Thanks everyone for the nice comments on my stories! Feels really good that you´re thinking of me, I sure do think of you! I miss Sjoerd a lot, but we stay in touch regularly and feeling good here now makes it some more bearable.
Hasta luego!
Besitos, Iris
Day 2
To make sure you all don´t worry too much, I´m already posting the next update, because things are much better.
Yesterday I wasn´t feeling too good, being tired and alone and all. I actually planned to have a quiet night at the apartment. Next to me in the internetcafe were two europeans, so after some tossing and turning I decided to talk to them. Have to start someday, right?! The girl was Swiss and the guy Dutch, both very nice. They invited me to an early party (nightlife usually only starts around 2am here), so I met them later on again. The party was awesome!! (Catherine, if we are in town on a monday, I will take you there! Bereid je vast voor!) Around 15 guys going wild on percussion instruments. The crowd went crazy! It was a lot of fun, everyone danced to some awesome tunes. Inspite of being tired, I enjoyed it a lot.
Afterworths a drumband lured some of the crowd through the streets to another club. It was very funny, like ´de rattenvanger van Hamelen´. I decided to call it quits there, enough party for me, so took a cab home.
There was another surprise waiting for me there: My view!!! Absolutely stunning!! Not having electricity for e few days really is no problem, the city illuminates my room just enough (and otherwise so does your very handy flashlight, thanks Boas!). I stood there a while, just watching and took some cool pictures. Sorry, still no upload of them, I nearly crashed this PC trying to get them online! Slept very very good after all this.
So things are good. I´m meeting Natalie again today to go into town and I can join in on the daily Spanish class that started yesterday. Felling way better now.
Btw: thanks for the comments and keep the going! :)
Besitos.
View from the top
Ola a todos!!
First I want to thank all you precious people that took the effort to come to my party and also give me nice and/or usefull presents and all the good wishes there on the spot and also in the books I got! It feels good that people actually care that I go away. :) Heel erg bedankt, liefjes!!
I have arrived safely in Buenos Aires after a good journey. While beeing lifted off the ground in the big aircraft, seeing the Dutch countryside covered ina thin white layer of fresh snow getting smaller and smaller, Icouldn´t help havinga big grin on my face. Something different than the tears when I had to leave my family behind after the security check. The flight to Rome seemed very short. On the airport there I spent some time shopping and eating disgusting pizza (in Italy, for crying out loud...) and then on the plain to Argentina. Too bad I ended up in the one row with no window, but it was night anyway and cloudy over Buenos Aires on arrival. No problem. I slept most of the time. Of course dinner was crap, but I didn´t care.
Bit nervous while going through my first custom service ever, having my passport stamped. Never had any problems with the one way flight, by the way. While walking out, to my relief their was actually someone with my name on a sign. When I waited for my car, I knew Buenos Aires had to be a good city, because one of the first cars passing by was a Twingo! :D
A luxurious airconditioned car brought me to my appartment. BsAs at that time was a bit cloudy with some slight rain, but I didn´t really care because it meant less hot and less of a difference to freezing temperatures at home. The sun came out eventually and made it look lovely! Indeed slightly european, like some people claim.
The apartment itself is great! Nicely done, however not yet finished. There is a bed though and the shower is finished, it has a floor,so all I need is there. They´ll finish it while I´m there. The view is stunning and goes a long way, but still not to the end of the city (wonder if there is any...) I took pics to make you all jealous, but not sure yet how to post them. So you have something to look forward to. It was quite humid, so I used the swimmingpool, took a shower and threw myself into the city life. I must say: being tired in a new, big city with a huge language barriere isa bit overwhelming. Many people don´t speak English, but I seem to manage with looking silly and using my hands.
I think I really need some sleep and give it another go tomorrow. Did some shopping, tried to arrange a language course and went into the office of the people that rent to appartment. I think that´s all for the day: I have myself a bottle of nice argentinian wine, so I guess I´ll cal it quits and see what the world has to offer me tomorrow. I must say, I feel pretty drained from energy and the spirits are not too high. So enough adventure for now... :)
Adios!
Regelneef
Well, there I was, thinking I'd settle this whole travelling business real quick and off I go!Apparantly there are quite some things to take care of when you want to go travelling. Yes, I knew that! The thing is just that one wants to hop on a plain and GO! rather than thinking of all this paperwork that needs to be done before. But the world ain't goin' round like that...
So here I am, spending my days reading 'experienced traveller's weblogs' (or rather: experienced in finding all the info. Hehe, very handy!), looking at rates for insurances, flights, visa requirements and so on. It's interesting, I tell ya!
Just now I have settled my travel-insurance. My visa application for Canada is in progress (damn you, Canadian consulate, send me my declaration of good behaviour at last! I've been a good girl!). I still have to look into the whole one-way-ticket-trouble-thingie some more. Warning for all of you who thought they'd just book a one way ticket somewhere and disapear: they might not let you...
The thing is, that most countries have a policy which says you can stay for 90 days without having to apply for a visa. This too goes for Argentina. Showing a return ticket would be the little proof you have to show you will not overstay these 90 days (imagine you'd stay and apply for permanent residence! Whooo...)So I've heard the Argentinian immigration department couldn't care less about this fact, seeing that I'm coming from a 'first world country'. I've even heard things about people living in Buenos Aires for over 5 years without a visa, just crossing the border every 3 months and getting a new permit for another 90 days. Yes, I, too, was wondering what kinda crap construction that is, but people do this... So what the hell is the problem, I hear you thinking.
Well, THE FRIGGIN' AIRLINE IS!! Since they are the ones responsible for 'deporting' (I imagine it feels like that, facing such a situation) you back home once you're denied entry and are fully responsible for the costs as well, they want to make sure you are not going to break the rules. So crap... Now there are many sources giving me loads of different experiences and opinions about this topic, so my quest for the week is to find out what they really want and what my options are but mostly: how the hell am I gonna solve this as cheap as possible?!
So if any of you potential sponsors is willing to buy me a ticket Argentina to anywhere: I'd bake you one (or two, if that's what it takes) of my notorious brownies and will love you forever!
And for some more crap-ness: I thought having this mexican-flu vaccination might be smart since it was free and might protect me from a being unable to enjoy one or more weeks of my trip due to illness. It still might, but I was quite pissed off I couldn't get my 2nd load of travelling shots this saturday, because you're not allowed to have them within 1 week of the flu-shot.I had even asked the lady who gave me the shot about this and she said it was ok! Guess not.Cycled all those 45 minutes at the top of my breath, against the wind, being JUST in time for nothing... At least I burned some calories, heh heh
Other than this I am VERY much looking forward to my trip! Bit nervous, but anxious to dive into all the adventures that lie ahead.
And also looking forward to the little party I've planned right before I go! Hope to see you all there! (2nd of jan, around eight-iss at my parent's house!)
Now on with exploring way too much info that's on the WWW about how to do this whole backpacking-thing.
Very un-into-the-wild if you ask me...
Welkom op mijn Reislog!
Hallo en welkom op mijn reislog!
Dé plaats om op de hoogte te blijven van alle avonturen en ervaringen tijdens deze reis. Vanaf nu zul je hier dan ook regelmatig nieuwe verhalen en foto's vinden, en via de kaart weet je altijd precies waar ik me bevind en waar ik ben geweest! Meer informatie over mijzelf en de reis die ik ga maken vind je in het profiel.
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Leuk dat je met me meereist!
Groetjes,
Iris
Daar issie dan...
... mijn reislog.
Voor mij toch wel een klein mijlpaaltje in mijn reisplan! Het wordt allemaal best echt en komt best dichtbij.
Ik heb enorm veel zin om te vertrekken, maar nu ' de datum' nadert bekruipen mij allerlei bijzondere gevoelens en doom-gedachtes. Vast heel normaal, ik ben ook maar een mens. Dingen als: moet ik wel gaan, ik heb het toch leuk hier? Oh jee, een vreemde taal waarvan ik niet meer beheers dan tot 10 kunnen tellen, m'n naam zeggen en meer van die heb-ik-in-mijn-eerste-en-enige-taalles-gehad-zinnetjes. En: Bah wat een hoop geld heb je nodig voor zoiets, gaat dat wel lukken? Of: Wat jammer dat ik mijn baan en fantastische collega's gedag moet zeggen en krijg ik die ooit weer terug? Weten mijn vrienden nog wel wie ik ben als ik terug kom? Wat doe ik met dat gat wat erna komt?
Daar tegenover staat dat ik fantastische plekken ga zien en bijzondere mensen ga ontmoeten. Mijn Ierland reis deze zomer was voor mij een mini testje van mijn reis-proofheid en als ik daar op terug kijk zit dat wel goed! Dus kom maar op met die cultuurclash, veel te lekker eten, prachtige mensen, de meest adembenemende uitzichten, feesten tot in de vroege uurtjes en mooie discussies met mensen die pas 2 uur eerder je leven in kwamen wandelen. Hoera!
Dus maar weer aan de slag met vaccinaties regelen, paklijsten bekijken, planningen maken en vooral weer loslaten. Eigenlijk best leuk allemaal! Beetje voorpret. Uiteindelijk overheerst uiteraard het gevoel dat ik HEEL VEEL zin heb en dat het een fantastisch reis gaat worden! Mijn binnenste weet heel goed wat ik gaan doen en waarom en daar word ik erg blij van!
...
Maar toch moet ik ook af en toe denken aan dat apartementje in Utrecht dat ik ooit wil gaan betrekken en het moment dat ik weer lekker in Nederland kan dansen met mijn salsa-vriendjes en het feestje wat ik ga geven als ik weer terug ben... Stiekem ben ik gewoon een enorme schijterd... :)
(Dear English speaking friends: I will try to write my blog in English from now on so you won't miss out too much, but now and then I might long for some Dutch. Please don't feel offended, it's not you. If you want to know everything: let's plan a date and chat up or otherwise: go practice your Dutch!)