My farewell to Argentina was a surprisingly emotional and sad one. I spent my last day in true Argentinian style eating amazing meat and drinking fine wine in great company. In total from top to bottom I calculated that I spent 60 days in the country, travelling more extensively here then in any other country in the world. Without a doubt we made the most Argentinian friends on the road, both inside and out of the country, even getting the opportunity to see friends made in Bolivia again in Argentina. I feel almost at home here now and yesterday arriving at the hostel in Buenos Aires for the last time, I bumped into a local, our Argentinian friend Ricky from Rosario, which further enforced this feeling. Another important part of this trip for me was being able to see my two good friends from university in México, Lu and Juancho. Being able to see their homes that I had imagined for so long and experience finally a little part of their lives made Argentina extra special.
But in general I think what makes it overall so emotional is that Argentina itself is a very emotional country. Its the kind of place that embraces everyone or at least makes you feel that way. Even with some of the bad things that happened on our trip, I felt I could easily live here without feeling like an outsider. It’s difficult to put your finger on it but even crossing back to Argentina during our fragmented trip in the south really gave me a sense of coming home. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all the other countries we visited, but I just don’t feel I connected with any quite as much as with Argentina. This is the kind of passionate place that almost gets too much after a couple of weeks, but then when you leave you just can’t wait to get back. Kind of like my crazy family: we are loud, dramatic, at times insane, and sometimes I just can’t stand them but I wouldn’t change them for the world.
Our arrival in Argentina was not during the smoothest period for the country. Inflation continues to be high and it was an absolute nightmare financing ourselves here. As mentioned before, the dollar is worth double on the black market as the Argentine government is trying to stop money from leaving the country and everyone is desperate to get their hands on some foreign currency to secure their assets. So walking around in pretty much every city/town that we visited you can easily find any average Joe looking to exchange their Argentine pesos for dollars or other foreign currency. Argentinians planning to go abroad sometimes plan their money situation months in advance and I even had friends who offered to exchange my Chilean pesos just in case they go on a weekend trip to Valparaiso or Santiago. For us this was a nightmare because it meant that every time we were about to enter Argentina we had to plan how much we were going to spend and secure that amount in dollars. This sometimes meant taking the maximum out of the cash machine a couple of days in a row and exchanging that to dollars before we leave only to have to look for a place upon entering Argentina to exchange it on the black market back to pesos. The upside was though that everything was two times cheaper for us so we can’t really complain.
And this isn’t the only thing that Argentinians are unhappy about. President Cristina’s popularity has gone downhill since her reelection in 2011. We were in the country at a time of particular unrest and we witnessed quite a few protests and riots. One thing that seems to differenciate the Argentinians from their neighbours is that as a nation they are very politically aware. Speaking to people in the country, most seem to have an opinion about its political and social situation and often they are very passionate about it and eager to share. Obviously opinions vary greatly but it was a great way for me to get to know more about the country. And even though the nation is divided about some issues, it is clear things are not running as smoothly as they should and people seem to have figured Cristina out. So pardon the Shania Twain reference but while she attempts to distract the nation from government failures and boost popularity with bold moves such as challenging the Falklands Islands’ sovereignty, even the most patriotic Argentinians react with “that don’t impress me much.” One thing is for sure, yes she may support the blue-collar classes, but she is no way near as pretty as Evita.
And from a cultural perspective there are things in Argentina you really need to adapt to. Unless you are from Spain I highly recommend you start drinking large amounts of caffeine around afternoon time because you won’t been having dinner until around 11pm. And if you are, like me, obsessed with meat and wine (and even if you’re not- trust me, in Argentina you will be) it is so delicious you will not be able to avoid consuming large amounts of it and around 1am you will be desperate to go to sleep. But no, 2am is when you start leaving for the clubs because home time isn’t until early morning. And trust me, going home in the early hours of the morning has never been an issue for me, but not when you stuff your face with God knows how much wine and what seems like half a cow at the time when half of Europe is usually asleep.
On a side note a good rule to remember in Argentina is football is not a joke. When talking to most men and a lot of women do not make jokes about the competence of Boca or River or any of their players because they will not find it funny and you will just end up receiving a heated lecture about why their team is the best. Trust me I have been there. The situation is a little more relaxed with basketball, but not much. I got news for you guys, there was no foul and we won that 2002 Championship fair and square. Booya!
And finally I feel I can’t conclude the blog without mentioning Argentinian men. As emotional and passionate as they are, I think this country has the world record for shortest time needed to fall in and out of love with a woman. When entering clubs, especially in Buenos Aires you need to have your wits about you because men are sitting ready to prance and “no gracias” is never enough. Outside of clubs they are a little more restrained but not much, and even in the streets there are very few who can resist yelling compliments across as you walk past. There is something charming about them and there are a lot of handsome men in Argentina so even when we girls pretend to complain we don’t really mind. Afterall, with the large amounts of beautiful women in this country you can’t really blame them.
Otherwise, Argentina was quite an adventure, we experienced a lot of kindness and had loads of fun in this gorgeous country with this amazing people who are usually as sweet as the dulce de leche they can’t live without.
Highlights
Just crossing the border and dancing a little hava nagila at 11.30 at night after waiting all day to cross because of the strike
Tilcara and the amazing night of peña we had there
Finally being with Lu and her beautiful SantaFe-ans
Mendoza- just loved the city, hanging out with Juan and the wine trails
Perrito Moreno- its spectacular
Ushuaia and being at the end of the world
Buenos Aires- I think it’s a beautiful city and I feel almost at home there now
Going to miss
Obviously the meat- one day I will fly to Bariloche just to eat that steak! Incredible
The wine- again incredible
The peñas of the north they were my favourite parties
Just generally the people- Argentinians are talkative and interesting people, who always have a good story to share
I know its awful but just being a woman in Argentina- you can get away with a lot
Maté- it really grew on me and I began to love it
Not going to miss
Dulce de leche- a little bit every now and then yes but it’s too sweet for me and they are obsessed with it and put it in everything
Bus ticket system- you have to have an Oyster card to pay for the bus which is annoying when you are travelling coz you have to buy one in every city
Italian food- I’m sorry guys but this is the land of Italian immigrants, I was expecting food like that found in Italy and I can find better Italian food in Serbia. It’s really not nice
