TO THE HEAVENS AND BEYOND:
Spring Break could not have come at a better time. I had already been in Buenos Aires for about a month in a half. I had only traveled twice. Once to Bariloche, San Martin de los Andes (you can read about that trip below), and Uruguay. And I had had it up to my ears with filling out forms and school work. So after the first full week of school, were I endured 15 horrific hours of boring lecture, spring break was a godsend! It seemed like everyone and there mother was traveling. And those that were not had a legit reason, there mothers were coming to visit them.
It was like everyone assimilated into Argentine culture within weeks…but not this guy. I know where I come from, and I know what basketball means! I decided to forgo the first three days of SB to stay in BA and watch the final four and the final. How could I leave now? It was the first time 2 # 1teams and 2 # 2teams made it to the final four since like 1980. And each game could make or break my pride and dignity. Every year I play mom, and every year she beats me. So this year I vowed on my first born child I wouldn’t lose! But as soon as the all the excitement was over and I got to keep my first born child, I took a cab to the bus stop and took a 12 hour trip to Cordoba (middle of Argentina) to meet Nickole and Claire (and no grandma neither one is my girlfriend). It would be my first time in a hostel. I was pretty nervous. I would be rooming with 7 other strangers, and I hate people who snore. But it turned out to be ok. We went to a club for a live band performance, which was completely insanely awesome and at the same time annoying. The place was SO PACKED, no joke, you couldn’t bring your drink from your side to your mouth without spilling. The whole place was like a mosh pit. Because Cordoba was on holiday, no one was there, and it was raining cats and dogs, so we decided to change bus tickets and leave early for La Cumbre. A small mountainous town about 2.5 hours north. (Dave ur prolly the only one that knows what I’m talking about but…) grandma Maria would have def. yelled at me, because I sat on the stairs of the bus in front with the bus driver. Now before you jump to conclusions, let me explain. I did buy a ticket for a seat, and I did get one that wasn’t the stairs! But I fear it is common practice to sell standing tickets. At first I didn’t budge, I wasn’t about to stand for 2.5 hours, that’s about how much sleep I got the night before. But when I awoke an hour into the trip, there was an old lady standing next to me, and you know how I’m a sucker for the elderly. So I gave up my seat, and opted to sit on the steps instead of standing for the next 1.5 hours. Thank you grandma Maria and Edna for teaching me well! I was disgusted when I woke up to find this old lady standing there while other youthful people were sitting awake and aware that she was standing. I wanted to shout at them. I know I did the right thing.
We arrived early afternoon in La Cumbre. Didn’t even settle into our hostel before the manager asked us if we wanted to go paragliding, and there was no doubt I did. I love doing anything that my parents disapprove of; it’s almost what I live for. It’s more or less a lifetime goal!!! Haha. So there I was, 45 min after arriving, strapped to a large parachute running off the top of a mountain only to be flying thousands of feet in the sky. I didn’t even have time to get nervous. It’s definitely not as dangerous as people make it out to be. In fact it was very peaceful and relaxing. I even got to take pictures while in the air and enjoy the magnificent view. But there was this annoying little device that constantly beeped, and depending on wind strength it would beep every couple seconds or repeatedly very quickly. I don’t know what it was telling the instructor, because he never did anything
differently that I could tell. I think it was just there to remind me that I was at the mercy of the wind gods. And that they could send me where ever they wanted at any moment. And with the jagged rocks staring me in the face below, I respected the wind gods’ strength and allowed my heart to skip a beat when the wind and beeping noise picked up and we got tossed around like a rag doll. It was about a twenty minute experience, because they say anything after that will induce motion sickness. It was quite expensive though, but well worth it. It was a nice warm up to skydiving in Rosario in a couple of weeks! Since I was already floating the heavens, I thought it only fitting to visit Jesus himself.
Another tourist attraction in town is a giant Jesus statue. (I don’t think that’s blasphemy, but if it is, sorry God!). It over looks the entire town atop a mountain. A lot of people make the trek up the winding dirt path. I think every poor city in the world should invest in one of these. For a small town, there wasn’t a single bad neighborhood, and I don’t know where revenue came from, because there wasn’t THAT much tourism running through the place, at least not enough to construct the homes I was seeing. Call me crazy, but I think it had something to do with the Jesus statue over looking the whole town with His arms wide open. But then what is Rio de Janeiro excuse? Anyways, I stayed on top of the mountain till sunset. If you haven’t noticed by now, I have become obsessed with photographing sunsets. I find the colors intense and provocative. They evoke such passionate emotions, sunsets are very moving. I think they are some of Mother nature’s most beautiful creations. And with the scenery that I am surrounded by, it’s hard not to take advantage. I think I snapped close to a hundred photos in 10 minutes.The girls and I were exhausted by days end. We had very little sleep the night before and the day’s activities created and used a lot of adrenaline. A good dinner with good wine did the trick, we past out for the rest of the night. Partying would be put on hold or the moment.
La Cumbre would have been incomplete without horseback riding. Our guide picked us up at the hostel with some shabby looking horses. I was a little worried they might die on our three hour trek. They looked sickly, and like they hadn’t eaten in days. But our guide was more worried about us completing the trail then the horses. The style of saddle is very different from that of Mexico. I felt like I was almost riding bare back. The saddle was thin and hard as rock. You have no idea how much pain I would be suffering through for the next week.
But our guide was awesome. He rode behind us with a whip, and kept whipping our horses. At first it was extremely frightening, because I forgot how big and powerful horses can be no matter how deathly they appear. I almost fell off several times. After the fist hour I FINALLY got the hang of it. I didn’t need the guide whipping my horse anymore. I pulled a branch off from a nearby tree and started whipping him myself. If they were cows to chase down you better believe we would have gotten all of them. We were flying. We raced cars, and I blew them out. We were going at least 30 mph. I preferred galloping to trotting. I had very little control when he trotted and that’s when
I felt most likely to get tossed off. It was a lot of fun. I felt like a real cowboy, or as they are known in Argentina, a real gaucho.Saturday night at the hostel we shared a wonderful asado filled with stories, laughs and fun. The food was spectacular, and the wine was even better. But best of all, we meet some great people. Most were from Rosario. A city about 5 hours north of Buenos Aires. The next day we shared Easter Sunday brunch together. We swapped emails, and all promised each other that we would meet up soon, either in Rosario or Buenos Aires. Semana Santa was coming to a close, but not before I shelled out the extra cash and bought a ticket on an overnight bus back to Buenos Aires that featured a late evening dinner, movie, as well as a semi bed (which reclined almost into a bed, and very spacious), as well as a movie, and breakfast when we woke up in the morning. I won’t travel long distances any other way from now on. It was a 12 hour trip, put with all the accommodations it felt like a 4 hour ride! Semana Santa was extremely fun, but I missed the fam. It was the first Easter I haven’t spent at home…I think. But no worries, I was only homesick for about 10 minutes!
Choi.
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