YPF is Argentina

For those of you who don’t read the international section of the newspaper, Argentina recently nationalized YPF, a Spanish oil company.

For anyone living in Buenos Aires, this move came as no surprise. The writing had been on the wall for weeks. More specifically plastered all over the city.

I woke up in mid-April to find hundreds of political posters plastered all over the city: on bus stops, utility boxes and construction sites. The cheap glue dripped down the sides from an assuming rushed and hurried application of mass produced posters. Here a few examples:

For those of you who don’t speak Spanish, the main idea is this: YPF should be publicly owned.

Since I love Latin American politics, this was fascinating for me. And as strange as it sounds, this is one of the things I love about living in a different country. The chance to see and hear a political debate that would never happen in my home country.

Since the vote, the public TV station has been playing spots like this with nostalgic footage of YPF, emphasizing that “YPF is Argentina”.

By and large, Argentines seem to agree with the principle that Argentina should control the production of such a strategic resource, although not everyone agrees with the manner in which it was done.

For me, it’s just part of the adventure of living in Buenos Aires.

CouchSurfing in Montevideo, Uruguay

Sunset in Montevideo

For those of you who haven’t heard, CouchSurfing.org is a website/movement (that’s right, I called it a movement) where you can find people who will let you stay in their home for free.

Yup, true story.

In reality, it’s a little more complicated than that. Think Facebook meets Hostelworld. But CouchSurfing is not just about finding a “free” place to stay. Instead, CouchSurfing offers an incredibly valuable experience that all world travelers long for: the chance to get to know a local.

My host Diana was absolutely amazing. She met me at the Montevideo bus station, thus avoiding one of the biggest downers of arriving a new city, the ol’ where-the-hell-am-I while I juggle my priceless travel documents. Off to a good start, Diana then led me around Montevideo’s amazing waterfront, armed with a health portion of yerba mate.

Waterfront in Montevideo

In the evening I tagged along for a birthday party where I sampled my first homemade chorizo. The chef eagerly shared photos of the source i.e. the cow’s severed head as well as the chorizo making process. He was understandably proud and I was understandably impressed.

Homemade Chorizo

Next, it was time to listen to some really good guitar players, which if you don’t know, is one of my favorite things to do in the world. Music is a collective creative effort but as usual, I failed to impress anyone with my singing abilities. (Why do we cut music programs in public schools? WHY?!)

Sunday it was off to Diana’s hometown of Colonia for more meat eating, beach walking and touring the city in moto before watching the sunset over a South American reggae competition.

Remnants of a Dock in Colonia

Beach in Colonia, Uruguay

Ready to go!

It's some reggae music.

This was way more than I had planned for my entire vacation and I was pleased to start my vacation off right thanks to the my great CouchSurfing host.

Oh it’s a wonderful life.

My Return to Uruguay

After a year and three months of living in Buenos Aires, I was starting to get homesick.

One of my best friends Sam came to visit me in early March, bringing his aura of silly jokes and awesome acoustic guitar playing along with him. It made realize just how much I missed my friends and family back home.

My self-doubt was beginning to gnaw on my toes.

What the hell am I doing here?

The only cure for homesickness when living abroad is doing the things that you love. For me, that’s traveling.

So I snagged a cheap ferry ticket and begged my boss for a week of vacation (Graciasss!).

It was one of the best decisions I’ve made in a long time. I needed inspiration. Quotes from my Yogi tea bag labels and the Dalai Lama’s twitter account just weren’t cutting it anymore.

Sometimes you need to get out there and explore.

Fishing at Sunset - Montevideo, Uruguay

Fishing Boats on the Beach at Punta del Diablo, Uruguay

Self-Portrait - Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

More to come soon…

Camping in Villa Gesell

When you ask Argentines about Villa Gesell, they will warn you that it’s full of pandejos. Roughly translated: Rambunctious teenagers on their first vacation or shirtless dudes with silly tattoos zipping around on 4 x 4s.

Not exactly my scene.

Lucky for me, we decided to camp at Mar Dorado, a campsite nestled amongst pine trees and whimsically white sand dunes, 4 km outside of Villa Gesell.

Jogger Meg

It was exactly what we were looking for.  A world away from the honking horns of Buenos Aires. A place where wandering paths lead to empty beaches on the last long weekend of summer.

Entrance to the Beach

The first day was a bit of rainy camping adventure. Think pouring rain with thunder ringing louder than relaxing sound of the surf. When water began to enter the tent, I suggested to my friend Sarah that it was time to seek reinforcements. Sarah, being the awesomely perky travel companion that she is, quickly agreed to tromp out in the pouring rain without much fuss.

Sarah not only came back with an extra plastic covering but she had successfully rounded up a camp staffer to improve our tent set up (“Ohhhhh, that’s what that string is for”) and open our bottle of wine. Salud!

We decided that the best way to spend the night was to stay tucked inside the cozy tent.

Weathering the Storm

The rest of the holiday weekend was tranquilo and full of long breakfasts, looking for sea shells, sprinting up sand dunes and roasting marsh mellows over cozy fires.

Things Found at the Beach

Sand Dunes

Things I Love: Beach Bonfires

Blue Sky + Sand Dunes = Relaxation

Photo Blog: Lifeguard Towers of Villa Gesell

I recently seized the opportunity to get out of Buenos Aires for a long holiday weekend, since February 27th is National Flag Day in Argentina.

My Destination: Villa Gesell. Home to quirky lifeguard towers staffed with bored surfer-lifeguards whose main job seemed to be keeping an eye on las chicas.

Guardavidas de Villa Gesell, Argentina

Patriotic Lifeguard Station

My Favorite

Where is Villa Gesell?

View Larger Map

My New Travel Obsession: Beaches in Uruguay

Waves crashing ashore in La Paloma

Let me start at the beginning. Due to Argentine visa restrictions, I occasionally need to make a border run to Uruguay. At first, I relished the enjoyable day trip to the coastal town of Colonia. But since summer is in full bloom in the Southern Hemisphere and I have made this trip several times, I decided that I was not going to Colonia una vez mas! It was time to seize the day. The problem was, I didn’t have much time and the best beaches in Uruguay are in the north, five to eight hours from Buenos Aires.

What is a girl to do?

The answer: Go to La Paloma. Two hours north of the absurdly posh and ridiculously expensive Punte del Este, La Paloma is a much more relaxed beach destination. An even bigger bonus, Buquebus offers a night boat-bus service that gets you there directly from Buenos Aires with a minimal stopover in Colonia.

I book myself the cheapest hostel option I can find, a bed in a 12-person dorm. Ugh. I pack an eye-mask and earplugs.

Done and done.

La Pedrera

I’m making this trip solo and it has been a long time since I have traveled on my own. I am a little nervous, but more than anything, I mentally prepare myself for days of reading, writing and thinking deep pensive thoughts while taking long walks alone on the beach.

Instead, I find travel buddies, beach bars, bonfires, biking adventures and the occasional liter of beer. (It’s the only way they sell it in South America.)

Pilsen - Uruguayan Budweiser

Getting ready for my jumping photo

Bonfire Love and Music

Unexpected adventures are the best.

Largely responsible for my fun is the fact that I’m staying at the El Cruz del Sur, a local bar turned tranqui hostel with whale bones hanging from the ceiling. Sweet.

Whale Bones

For the next 4 days, this is my home. El Cruz del Sur seems to inspire guitar playing, random acts of dancing and informal cultural exchanges. The hostel is also close to the golden sands of La Aguada (beach for surfing), La Balconada (beach for watching sunsets) and Bahía Grande (a calm bay perfect for swimming). The beaches are full of shells.

Why are beaches in Uruguay my new travel obsession? Because my trip to La Paloma was awesome and it awakened a strong desire to get the hell out of the city more. On my list of places to explore: La Pedrera, Pabo Colonio and Punta del Diablo. This will not be my last post about Uruguay.

La Aguada

Practical Stuff: January is high season in Uruguay. And when I say high season, I mean expensive-as-hell-all-hostels-are-booked-weeks-in-advanced season. Book ahead, or go in December, February or March.

Ice, Ice Baby: Checkin’ Out Glaciers in Argentina

Blue Ice

Cool wind rushes past my face as I look out over a field of 7-Eleven Slurpee-blue icebergs. I am very, very far south, navigating through a terrain of floating and cracking ice.

The journey begins!

Glacier National Park in Santa Cruz, Argentina is full of… you guessed it, glaciers. Big glaciers, hanging glaciers, chunks-falling-off-it-glaciers; they are all here. The most famous is Perrito Moreno, the world’s only glacier that is actually growing, bucking the global trend of shrinking ice caps. While Perrito Moreno is easily accessible to the public, the rest of the glaciers are not and the only way to see them by boat.

Ice, Ice Baby

Now, don’t get me wrong, I like boats, I like mountains and I like glaciers. But a glacier boat tour is not the top thing on my list of things to do in Argentina. Because there is no adventure in sitting around looking at glaciers and then dozing off in your seat for an afternoon nap. However, it really is the only way to see all of the glaciers in the park including the over 400-foot high Spegazzini glacier and the tongue shaped Viedma glacier.

Glacier Viedma

Therefore I’m on a boat. But I am not alone.

Fighting to take a picture

But the glaciers, sunshine and fascinating people watching (so these are the type of people that take glacier tours) make for an incredibly enjoyable day. Plus the tour is full of fun facts that you can use at your next trivia night. For example: What gives icebergs their color?

Science of ice

Answer: Variety of factors, most importantly the density of the ice and the air bubbles. Blue icebergs tend to be older and have a higher density (less air bubbles).