A Mountain Trek

Sunrise on the mountains

Dos Quebradas is ringed by mountains checkered with patches of plantains and coffee that hug the steep hillsides. Many of the residents in the neighborhood where I am staying enjoy trekking into the mountains early in the morning for the fresh air and the exercise.

Posing in front of the mountain view.

Starting at five in the morning, a group of seven of us  began our trek out from the city, across the main thoroughfares that at this time had minimal traffic, and onto the rocky road that led up the mountainside. The air changed dramatically as we climbed, and the noise from the city died away as the houses thinned away and we were left with a treelined road, dotted with peasant houses and the occasional finca (large, ranch-style homes in the country).


As we ascended, we took occasional breaks to admire the views of the mountains leading into the Andes Cordillera, and the peak of the Nevado del Ruiz, one of a string of active volcanos. From our view on the mountain we could see the volcanic giant with smoke rising from its crater. In 1985 the Nevado de Ruiz erupted, spewing ash and lava and causing massive mudslides that covered the town of Armero, killing more than twenty thousand in what has become known as the Tragedia de Armero.

Everyone relaxing in the clearing at the end of the trek.

We continued our trek up, seeing the occasional motorcyclist descending carefully, and we greeted campesinos along with other trekkers and runners. According to some reports, Colombia is ranked as the happiest country in the world, and this isn't surprising judging by the way strangers are generally greeted with smiles.

After an hour and a half the road ended in a small clearing surrounded by the thick rainforest. A cool mountain stream trickled down into the clearing and we took turns drinking from the pure mountain water and eating bocadillo, a sweet made from the sugar of guayaba, a sweet fruit found throughout Colombia. In the clearing, the air was fresh and rich with oxygen, high above the noise and pollution of the cities below.


On our descent we stopped for tinto, Colombian coffee, black with sugar, and cookies, a motorcyclist and a campesino in the typical rubber work boots were also taking coffee and agua panela (hot water with brown sugar).

The mountain stream

Everyone on the descent

We arrived back at the house at 8:00 in the morning, ready to begin the day, though not without a little nap beforehand.

Cheers from Colombia,    

Colombia, The First Days

Bienvenidos a Colombia,

A view from the terrace of the mountains

Having arrived and settled in, I can now begin to write on my first impressions of Colombia. First of all, I am grateful that Claudia's brother, Andres, has welcomed me into his home and has helped ease me into my new environment. The entire family has been very generous and have helped me feel quite at home. Below are a few of my first impressions.


There is a saying in Colombia that those who come here never want to leave, and there is probably some truth to this. Everyone from the employees at the airport to the campesinos selling avocado and spinach, have all met me with smiles and friendly expressions--a pleasant change from Buenos Aires. 

The nativity scene in the living room

Pereira and Dos Quebradas are located in the Cafetero (the coffee region of Colombia). The plantain and coffee plantations checker the mountains and the two cities are nestled in the valley below, separated by the Viaducto--the suspension bridge that spans the river connecting Pereira to Dos Quebradas.  

Colombia has been heavily influenced by the holiday spirit of the United States, and the houses are adorned with Christmas trees, Papa Noels, and multicolored, flashing Christmas lights. However there is a strong Catholic tradition as well, and an elaborate nativity scene--complete with lights, three kings, Jesus and Mary, and a fisherman--occupies the larger part of the living room.

A sugarcane juice stand

Corn, fruit, beans, rice, make up the base of the Colombian diet, and corn, in some form, can be found in just about any dish. Two of the most common foods are arepas and empanadas. Arepas are a form of flat bread made from corn and sometimes cheese, and can be accompanied by egg, ham, rice, beans, or just about anything savory. Empanadas are a tasty snack found throughout Latin America. and consist of meat or vegetables wrapped in flour. In Colombia the empanadas are usually made from corn flour and are filled with meat and potato.

Ripe coffee fruit ready to be picked

Fruits abound. Myserious and fascinating fruits. Sweet fruits, tart fruits, fruits with unpronouncable names, like guanabana, lulo, borojo, or chontaduro. And other more well known fruits like mango, banana and plantain. Most of the fruits can be eaten raw, or blended into delicious juice, packed with vitamins, nutrients, and refreshing flavor. So far I've had the opportunity to try guanabana, borojo, maracuya, tomate de arbol, sugarcane juice, and mango. All delicious.


The other day I ventured with Andres and family to a mirador, a place on the mountains where you could get a good view of the cities and the coffee plantations. We spent the afternoon there, taking photos, relaxing, and enjoying the view of the cities, and the cloud-covered mountains.


So far, my first visit to Colombia has been a positive and a friendly one. It is a country of friendly people, open to share their culture and their customs with the world.

Cheers until next time,

Kyle

A view of Pereira from the mirador

A Gaucho Thanksgiving

Ah, Thanksgiving! That time of year when the cold begins to set in, the leaves dry up and crumble, dancing as the winter wind whips down from Canada. To feel the comforting sensation of a warm oven, to arrive home to the sweet smell of pies baking, the turkey in the oven, and friends and family gathered around the hearth, Ah, such fond memories... But none of that this year!

For expats like myself, we are all too familiar with those particularly pernicious challenges of living far from home, far from the culture and tradition that makes this day so much easier. And for those of you who think celebrating Thanksgiving in the U.S. is hard, you really need to go that extra mile to have a true Thanksgiving feast far from home. 

Let us first list the ways in which celebrating Thanksgiving is easier while abroad. 

1. No family! Yes, no family means you decide who attends, and who DOESN'T attend. No hyper children or crazy aunts. No table divided on religion or blue or red party lines. Yes, living abroad takes politics and religion almost entirely out of the equation. But this is perhaps the only way in which Thanksgiving abroad is easier. 

2. Well, also that friends typically don't need to travel very far--perhaps 30 minutes by bus at most.

The stuffing before the burn.

Here are a few challenges faced, fought, and overcome in my efforts to host a Thanksgiving dinner whilst living abroad. 

1. One must improvise. Yes. Forget turkey in Argentina--and a host of other countries for that matter. Most of what you cook traditionally cannot be replicated exactly in other countries, unless you are wealthy enough, and can take the time off of work (another complication) to spend the day traveling around the city in search of all the ingredients you will need (You still probably wouldn't find marshmallow fluff or cranberries). 

For food I swapped organic chicken with homemade barbecue sauce for the turkey, which may or may not be located in a large supermarket far away from home, the price and quality of which is as mysterious and unknown as the presence... or lack of presence... of the bird. 

I made apple crisp to replace pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  

Mashed potatoes: The secret is in extra
crema de leche, garlic and cheese.

We had some damn good mashed potatoes and macncheese, but I needed to sacrifice the cranberry sauce and marshmallow salad. 

Fortunately the Canadian brought deviled eggs and the Argies brought cider, which brought us a couple steps closer to that traditional thanksgiving table we so desperately sought to replicate. 

Stuffing was a success, but the top burned because the ovens don't have temperature settings, and a thermometer isn't one of those luxuries you go out and spend money on : )

2. Thanksgiving isn't a holiday. You can't take a day off of work and neither can anybody else. So you opt to have Thanksgiving dinner on Black Friday, at night, after a long day of work. This not only means you have to cook much of the food the day before, but you also need to eat, and eat, and eat, at 10PM at night, then sit around for five hours until the food is hopefully sufficiently digested so that you can climb into bed and not suffer too much regurgitation. I suppose you wouldn't have to eat so much, but that kind of takes the fun out of Thanksgiving. Celebrate 100% or not at all.

Setting the table.

3. Summer. Thanksgiving is not a good holiday to celebrate in the summer, and right now it's summer in Argentina. Imagine doing oven-broiled barbecue chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mac and cheese, and apple crisp on a hot, humid summer night. Well, you put a hand to your heart and tell yourself it's for the holiday and you suffer through it. But...

4. Add water cuts to the mix and you're in for some pretty scrappy cooking conditions. I went to clean those potatoes and apples and realized there was no water. None. I couldn't even go to the bathroom...for a day. But I guess this is part of the sacrifice as well. 

Nick, Cristian, Cece, and Anne. Let's eat already!!!

5. One or two general mishaps. There are always one or two mishaps with every Thanksgiving whether at home or abroad. My mishap was that in preparing the salad I dropped the olive oil, the glass bottle shattering on the floor and the oil slicking across the kitchen. I mopped it, and mopped it, and mopped it, but oil can be a nasty, slippery business to clean up--and I left a little to fight another day. There was also the cider bottle incident, which chinked a piece of the glass table. Sigh...

Listing all of these difficulties in hosting a Thanksgiving makes it seem like a nightmare, though in reality it is far from such. For as with all difficult circumstances, with greater difficulty comes greater reward, so long as you succeed in reaching that reward. After all the sweat, the cleaning, the preparing and the improvising, we came out with one damn good Thanksgiving. 

Pollo barbacoa, estilito gringuito!

So for all the folks living abroad, don't fear the preparation of the Thanksgiving meal, or hosting other holidays for that matter. Stay strong to your traditions. Fight the good fight and reap the rewards. 

And for all you folks who gripe about the Thanksgiving madness at home, once the battlefield has cleared and the table has been set, you can hopefully settle down to a good meal and good company, so long as the crazy aunts and hyper children stay home. 

Next I will be travelling to Colombia for Christmas and new years with Claudia's family, so stay posted for an entry or two about that. 

Cheers from abroad,

Kyle

Me, Cristian, Cece, Ann, and Claudia.

Visit to La Plata: Couchsurfing Style

A map of the city clearly displaying its mathematical design

About a month ago I had the opportunity to visit La Plata, a city of about a million inhabitants about 40 minutes south of Buenos Aires. La Plata, the name, has several different meanings. In Spanish it means "silver," in Porteño it means "money," or "Silver Dollar City" in English if such a place exists. Regardless, La Plata is the capital of the Province of Buenos Aires and has just celebrated its 132nd anniversary.

Visiting La Plata from Buenos Aires is like moving from a rushing river to a calm flowing stream. Everything is slower, quieter, more organized, and less "rushed." Granted there probably is a rush hour, and stress, but the mathematical way the city was structured, by the city planner Pedro Benoit, allows for maximum efficiency with minimal dysfunction. Indeed, instead of street names, each street is numbered mathematically on a cuadrant so you can know, if you understand the layout of the city, exactly where you are and exactly where you need to go just based on the street numbers. This is partially true in Buenos Aires--only partially.

A view from outside the Cathedral of La Plata

I travelled to La Plata couchsurfing style, for a couchsurfing event in which one of my students invited me. I have to say many of my experiences have been akin to dipping my toes in different pools without actually plunging into any single one, save perhaps life in Buenos Aires, but I suppose you can't dive into'em all. You live in one pool while occasionally dipping into others.



The couchsurfers of La Plata are a very close-knit group, very open and inviting, especially to foreigners. They also tend to view Porteños similarly to how a Vermonter feels about a New Yorker: as a necessary nuisance. Four of us carpooled to La Plata, where we met the group in a large, open plaza in the center of the city. We chatted until midnight, at which point we realized our hunger and had a typically late Argentine dinner, finishing up at 1-1:30.


As it was a couchsurfing event, we were invited to stay in the apartment of one of the couchsurfers from La Plata. We all crammed onto tiny mattresses for an authentically couchsurfing experience. Unfortunately for the other American in the group, his air mattress deflated during the night, and he awoke to the sensation of a hardwood floor and perhaps a stiff back.

Another view of the Cathedral

From inside the Cathedral

On Saturday three of us went out to get facturas and juice for breakfast, and in the afternoon we headed to the neo-Gothic cathedral, the construction of which took one hundred years--more than a generation. We had the opportunity to travel up the glass elevator to get a good view of the city. Unlike Buenos Aires, La Plata isn't a tall city, and most of the buildings were no more than three storeys, giving us an expansive view to all sides from perhaps the highest point in the city.

Animalitos!!!!!!!

Finally we finished in one of the expansive parks for the Feria Internacional Folklore, a music fair happening during that weekend. I had seen the little furry animal advertisements for the Feria in Buenos Aires and I was really hoping to get a glimpse of the little animalitos, or maybe keep one as a pet. After searching intently for some time through the expansive parks, I spotted the animals with their instruments and endeavored to approach them but I was stopped by some burly security men.

Claudia recommended I should jump the fence and rush the animalitos as though I were a hysterical fan. This I tried, but was promptly hauled down and crushed beneath the meaty stomachs of four security guards. They told me never to interfere with the fair again, and if I did they would need to deport me. I laughed madly at their vane words and, intending to clamber over the fence once more, and was immediately tazed into a compliant and malleable daze. I can't vouch for the validity of this story.  

Exhausted by the efforts expended upon acquiring one of the furry animalitos, I took a long nap in the grass and then went to listen to some music while some of the couchsurfers slacklined and others drank iced mate with juice, known as tereré. 

Four of us returned to Buenos Aires by taking the bus 29, which connects La Plata to Buenos Aires. The cost was relatively inexpensive, and had several stops on 9 de Julio, which is very convenient for anyone needing to or from La Plata. The cost itself was only $25 pesos one way.

The most interesting part of this rather uninteresting return to Buenos Aires was having to watch a drunk stumble around the bus terminal in an intoxicated stupor and muttering disconnected syllables in a language not dissimilar to Spanish. His fly was also unzipped--one cannot help noticing such things sometimes. As a side note, and it probably goes without mentioning, only use the restroom in the La Plata bus station as a last resort. Imagine rationed toilet paper, wet, sticky floors, and odors of stale pee and you're not far away from reality.

Aside from those minor inconveniences my experience in La Plata was a positive one, and it's a nice change of rhythm from the rush of Buenos Aires to something calmer--a dip into a calmer stream perhaps.

A great example of the intricacy of the stonework

Cheers and all best,

Kyle

Feria de Masticar 2014

Hello everyone,

I return after a long and busy absence. I believe it has been a month and a half, more or less, since my last posting, which is due to a variety of factors including heavy workload during the week, and weekends spent out of the house or away from home.

In any case here we are again--and the world keeps spinning so I'll keep jotting down these experiences, if only to occupy some of that empty space in that ceaseless earthly rotation.

I would like to spend this blog talking about a recent fair I had the opportunity to attend. The annual Feria de Masticar--Food Fair of Buenos Aires--occurred during the 17th-19th of October, in a large, enclosed public space used for city-wide events. Very well-organized, the fair was divided into sections based on types of foods or beverage; there were sections for coffee and tea, fruit and vegetables, desserts, asado, sandwiches, beer, wine, and just about any other tasty food related item popular in Buenos Aires culture.

I had been feeling a little depressed that day -- yes, I'll be open about that -- but as I had been looking forward to this fair for the entire week I wasn't going to let the moody blues bring me down; though I found it a touch of comic irony in going to an enjoyable event and eating good food, and yet feeling deeply saddened. I apologized to my girlfriend ahead of time for the slightly nihilistic outlook I was bringing to that evening's entertainment. Yet as with most-authentic human endeavors I beat on in self-consumed loathing, which I found nothing short of tragicomic-- funny in it's self-centeredness--but that is beside the fact.

Crowds and food for everyone.

The highlights of the fair for me were twofold. The first is that the fair had something for everybody. No matter an individual's interests in life, one must at some point eat--and Masticar literally had food to appeal to anyone's culinary interests. We stopped at vegetable stands, at coffee bars, and several different restaurant locations: and received exceptional service, explanations on the products offered, and other locations we could obtain their products.

$10 peso gourmet salad! I'll take that any day.

Specific examples of the good stuff include learning about organic produce and where it can be found in the city; a big challenge considering most if not all produce in supermarkets and verdulerias is not organic or, if it is, it isn't labeled as such. The second highlight, a wonderful, to die for ice cream panini sandwich made with peanut butter and raspberry sauce; a few moments in the heaven of tragedy : )

One of the highlights; La Cabrera serving
chorizo from a bus!

There were two downsides. The first were the crowds. The place was packed, which one expects of such a heavily advertised venue. The second downside was that you had to pay using small paper tickets, which you exchanged for $100 peso notes at little ticket counters throughout the venue. I remarked with my girlfriend that it was a smart marketing ploy because you weren't physically exchanging money with the restaurants themselves, only tickets. As a result, this made everything feel very much like a game of monopoly, where you weren't actually using real money, and thus likely to spend more. I think we spent a total of $250 pesos each at the event--which was much more than we had intended.




As it is an annual event, I would highly recommend it for following years as a way to know the Buenos Aires restaurant and foodie scene quickly, especially if you are only here for a short time.

Cheers and all best,

Kyle

Grilled vanilla ice cream panini sandwich!!! 

Loco for Paloko: Bowling in Belgrano

Hi folks,

Reporting live from Paloko!

This post is for all of you who've felt, at some point or another, that nostalgia for something close to home. Living abroad we all feel it at some point, a strong desire for a remembrance of the culture we left behind, be it in movies, food, or activity, sometimes we get a tug to do something, dare I say, patriotic. Well, I've felt the desire for foods, and for certain movies, but most recently I've had the strong urge to bowl. 

clockwise from bottom left: Me, Nick, Virginia,
Martin, Jojo, Luis

Tincha does the zombie crawl!

I felt the desire to grasp that big, cumbersome ball in my hand, to swing my arm and watch the ball fly down the lane, at times smashing into the pins, sending them flying upwards, backwards, and sideways, or at other times missing the pins completely. For me, half the fun of bowling is in the social interaction you can have. While not a very popular activity in Buenos Aires, I've found it to be a wonderful, slightly comical, and quirky alternative to the typical nightly engagements. At the least it is a fun, relaxed way to bring friends together for an evening with no social expectations.

Some may say bowling is bowling, but I've found bowling in Buenos Aires to be that much better because it seems to be a bizarre throwback to a culture that never really existed here.

Trying my luck with the age-old granny shot

I've gone bowling twice in Buenos Aires, both times at a place on Avenida Cabildo in Belgrano called Paloko. The atmosphere is fun and kid-friendly, though the staff were rather morose, which doesn't matter so much as you go there to interact with your friends, not the staff. It cost a reasonable $40 pesos per person per game, and aside from a few missing pins now and then, the bowling apparatus worked fairly smoothly. 

Second place! Not bad.
Granted 67 points is nothing to be proud of.

In conclusion, BsAs has some fun, authentic nightlife, but sometimes you need an alternative from the incessant joda (party). One wonderful alternative is bowling. It's a great way to spend an evening with friends, and to fulfill some of those nostalgic urges. 

For a list of bowling alleys and their locations check out this link to the Argentina Independent.

Cheers and all best,

Kyle

A wonderful group for bowling

Puerta Cerradas in BsAs

Hi folks,

I realize perhaps this is becoming a habit of mine, my writing ever more intermittently. But in my defense I feel as though I've been juggling a small arsenal of flaming knives. Estoy re apurado! I'm always running, at least this month, and a lot has certainly happened. Argentina made it to the final in the world cup, coming so close to clinching the game, but falling just short. This of course led to a few disturbances which one could witness not far from my house at the Obelisco, the beating heart of the city, where large crowds had gathered to celebrate, regardless of how the game went.

In other news the country has been experiencing a growing number of political and economic problems which have persisted or grown worse over time. One of these is the issue of Argentina's debt, which now  has entangled the U.S. courts and Argentina in a pickle which I can only describe as "dirty" no matter what angle you look at it. The current vice-president is on trial for charges of corruption, but as matters currently stand it appears he is being tried in a kangaroo court. Only time will tell the verdict, and one can only hope it is just.

My roommate Hernan and I tag-teamed on an obstinate sink drain that had been plugged for almost a month. Being one who likes to cook, I certainly struggled as I constantly journeyed back and forth to borrow the bathroom sink. As guys normally do, we put off the problem until the smell became unbearable, at which poin we heroically took action. We bought a 5 meter cable, alambre, and searched the depths of the piping below the kitchen sink. The alambre did half the job and the acid-like liquid we purchased with the alambre finished the job.

Finally, I attended a puerta cerrada called Lambok, which consisted of fiery Indonesian food cooked up by one of my best friends. A puerta cerrada is basically a restaurant in a home. The chef prepares four or five courses and the guests can enjoy them in a more intimate and relaxed atmosphere. It is an entirely different restaurant from the more formal dining experience. As an Indonesian native, Runi prepared a wonderful evening of food and entertainment for everyone present, and for anyone in Buenos Aires who feels simply starved for spicy food, or just wants a break from deliciously bland empanadas and tiresome mozzarrella, Lambok is a wonderful alternative.

Here are some photos below! Cheers, un abrazo, un beso, y all best.

A beautifully set table

Indonesian spiced corn fritter - la entrada

Javi, Checha, Mike

The second course - a spicy Indonesian soup!

A British style sweet biscuit
topped with a generous helping of fruit and cream