Chilean Ending and on to Argentina.

I have done quite a lot since the last post and it really feels like just a few days ago since I posted the last blog. So, I went to La Serena, Chile and spent a few days there. It´s a coastal town so I spent some time sitting on the beach, walking around the city and figuring out how to go see Valle del Elqui (Elqui Valley). Valle del Elqui, which is made up of many small towns, is said to be the magnetic center of the world and a place full of tranquility and good energy. So I met this girl in my hostel in La Serena named Yali who is from Santiago. Yali works with placing volunteers in the valley to teach English at the local schools so she gave me a lot of great information and even connected me with a family in Pisco which is the most touristic town in the valley. Yali was visiting for work and had rented a car, she invited me to go to Coquimbo with her to look around, see the port and watch the sunset so of course I went. We drove through all the colored houses, stopped at the port to see the sea lions and boats and then went up to the tres cruceros (3 crosses) to watch the sunset.

Coquimbo, the city right next to La Serena, built into the mountain

sipping mate on the beach

The day I was going to head into the Valley Yali was driving that way to go visit some of the other small towns so she told me to bring my stuff and I went with her. We ate lunch at a restaurant with solar kitchens and had a fun afternoon. She dropped me off at the bus station and I took the bus to Pisco to go meet the family that Yali connected me with. I spent 3 nights in Pisco, it was very quiet since it was off season but I spent time walking around, reading, volunteered at this place for Earth Day that was painting with children and also went to a Buddhist meditation at the same place.

Had lunch at a restaurant with solar kitchens. This is one of 2 solar kitchen restaurants. 

Me and Yali in Valle del Elqui. 

Katiu, Sofia and mom at their house in Pisco Elqui. Stayed with their family for 3 nights and it was an excellent opportunity to practice español.

Vineyard in Valle del Elqui

Valle del Elqui (Elqui Valley)

I was ready to keep traveling and had heard amazing things about this campsite in Cochiquaz which is another small town in the valley that is unable to be accessed by bus. Cochiquaz is 19 kilometers away from the nearest town with buses but I wanted to go. So I packed my stuff, made sure I had enough food and set out to Cochiguaz where I camped at Rio Magico. I spent two nights there in solitude, besides the one couple I saw. I was there for the full moon and built a fire by the river. It was overall very relaxing and absolutely beautiful. It would be fun to go back during high season because apparently there is yoga, massage, reiki, big campfires every night and lots of other energetic types of things.

Amazing tree at Rio Magico in Cochiquaz

catching sun by the river at Rio Magico

solitude

view from the campsite

yes, I built that fire. night of the full moon (lunallena)

leaving campsite

After camping I returned for a night in La Serena then took a night bus to Santiago followed by another night bus to Mendoza. On my bus to Mendoza I met a guy named Elijah who is from New Zealand and we were going to the same hostel so we went there together. In Mendoza I went on a sunset horseback riding trip that evening and he went on a wine tour during the day. I was a little bit scared to ride the horse but thought it would be fun and I had heard great things about it, so I did it. Our group was 7 people and our guide, Alejandro (whom I chose to call Gaucho which is similar to cowboy). We rode into the mountain for about 2 and a half hours which was then followed by an asado (bbq). The food was delicious and then we had a fire and Gaucho played guitar and sang songs in English and Spanish. The stars were shining bright and it was a fun night, besides being quite tired after taking 2 night buses in a row. 

In Mendoza, Argentina going on sunset horseback ride. My horse Vino Tinto.

nice sky

on the trail with our group

Gaucho (Alejandro) fixing my saddle

waiting for asado (BBQ) at the other ranch after horseback riding

what a fun bunch! Girls on the left are from the USA and the other three are from Buenos Aires

Gaucho playing guitar and singing for us

The big park in Mendoza

Honors the Jewish people living in Mendoza

spices!

Elijah drinking his jugo de piña at the market

oink, oink. (sorry Nat)

So Elijah and I were both traveling to Cordoba next so the following night we took a night bus together. When we arrived to Cordoba it was a holiday so many things were closed but there was a big racecar rally competition going on in Carlos Paz so we went to the rally. Carlos Paz is in the hills of Cordoba about an hour from the center. Neither of us know much about racecars but we had a good time. We returned to Cordoba and the following day walked all around the city seeing the recommended sites and experiencing the daily hustle in Cordoba. Cordoba is a university city so there are students everywhere which also means nightlife here is awesome. I am currently in Cordoba, have been here for 3 nights and have not been able to leave because the bus drivers are on strike because they want their salary increased by 20%. However, I am taking a night bus tonight to Buenos Aires and will be reconnected with Ali in the morning.

some VIP guys for the rally, in Carlos Paz 

Elijah and me waiting for the car races to begin

FASTTTT!

Big church...

and inside of it.

Leaving Justice Palace 

Cathedral, construction began in 1573 and is the oldest standing cathedral in Argentina

Museum of the Memory, used during Argentina´s military dictatorship for detention and torture

Oldest university in the country, over 300 years old. 

butcher

street named after my birthday! (October 12th)

So, I have bought my ticket to return to the states and will be flying back to Texas on May 22nd. I will be working as the gardening specialist at a summer camp with children, I am very excited for this next experience but am cherishing my last 3 weeks here in South America. 

and the journey continues... safe and protected.

Lots of love,

Sarah

A Love Letter to Buenos Aires

Hi everyone! So since I last wrote so many wonderful things have happened that I cannot wait to write ALL about. I really have to write a small love letter to Buenos Aires first.

Dear BA,

Hi, I just want to let you know how much I appreciate you and thank you for a few things. I first met you all the way back in 2007, when I was a pretty young thing of just barely 20 years old. Back then you introduced me to my first time living in a big, scary city. But it was really just a front you seeming all big and scary, once I slowly learned how to pull back your layers of gritty, dog-shit filled, crowded streets was I able to see your incredible, passionate people who seem to have an unprecedented amount of hand motions accompanying all types of conversation, your unmatched asados, the love of soccer (football) of which you can hear the entire city groan when a play is fouled up, the history marked all over the streets whether in Plaza de Mayo where the Madres walk in solidarity every Thursday or in the cobblestoned streets of San Telmo. Everyday I feel like I pull back another layer and see a different side of you and that I truly love.

Whether exploring your incredible museums, feeling the love, the heat, and passion the artists have put into their work or feeling the same amount of energy watching the news and seeing your Senators and Congressmen getting so fired up that they slap each other and throw water bottles across the floor of Congress.  If only our Congress was that lively maybe more people would tune into C-span. I love the way your Portenos speak Spanish, it's like they are hugging each word as they come out of their mouths instead of yo me llamo (yamo) your Portenos say Sho me shamo, I wish all language made me feel like that. I know I still have a month left to explore you and I can't wait to continue our love affair. I promise to visit your parks, to sip mate with friends, ride my bike all over you (that shouldn't sound as dirty as it does), enjoy your people, your food and your warmth. And thanks for showing me that big cities are not scary at all. They are more like hundreds of small worlds that lucky you gets to explore.

Thanks for being you,

Love,

Ali

P.S. New York I love you and there is nothing to be jealous about, I can have two favorite cities as long as they are in different hemispheres can't I?

Okay so now that that's out of my system onto the blog! I have had a wonderful few weeks, exploring this wonderful city. My Spanish teacher and host Carina has let me borrow her bike and I love riding all over the city. It's a way to get to see so many things that you can't see while riding the subway. One of my first stops was the Japanese Gardens which was beautiful. They were filled with red bridges, huge coy ponds and beautifully symmetrical structures.

Japanese Gardens in BA

Pretty Gardens

Red Bridges

Two weekends ago the Carciofi family (Carina, Sergio, Maria and Malena) took me to a plot of land that they have out in the country about two hours from BA where they plan to one day have a weekend country house. We had such a fun time jamming out to American songs in the car, having an amazing asado with a gorgeous view of the river, going fishing,  and enjoying the fresh country air. Their plot of land is right next to a Polo Field and we got to watch some of a match, and I got to sit on one of the horses!! The polo guys were so nice one of them gave Male a ride on his horse. I had so much fun and I can't wait to come back and visit when the house is finished. 

Male (Malay) on our trip to the country

At a monument of War in the country, me with Male, Maria and Martina (Maria's friend) 

Swingin with my bud

Little Adventurers

Gorgeous lunch (asado) in the country overlooking the water

Fishing Rockstars  with our homemade bamboo fishing lines

Sittin on the dock of the bay with Sergio and Martina

Second catch of the day by Sergio, we threw this little guy (not a babyshark) back. 

Their land is right next to a Polo match grounds and
 the guys let me ride a Polo horse!

Male got a full on ride!!

Sun setting in the country

I have to say that I really love the Museum of Modern Art in Buenos Aires or MALBA as it's called. Everytime I have been they have incredible pieces on display and I always love seeing that kind of creativity shown in a different way.  Also I got to see my favorite painting which is called Manifestacion by Antonio Berni which definitely had me grinning. If I were to say I didn't sit on a bench and stare at all it's little idiosyncracies for twenty minutes, I would be lying. I remember the first time I saw it being so affected by it. I think it is because of the way Berni is able to depict the subjects in his paintings. Manifestacion shows the incredible struggle of the Argentine people in the 1930s when pan y trabajo (bread and work) were not easy to come by. It's hard to say exactly why I love the painting so much, but you can see below for yourself how powerful it is at manifesting the emotions of the people within.

Amazing art at MALBA (Modern Art Museum)

MALBA

My favorite painting, Manifestacion by Antonio Berni, boy was I excited to see this again. 

I have to say that Carina is an amazing teacher, not only does she teach me Spanish but she incorporates all of my interests and ways I want to use my Spanish into her lessons. She goes above and beyond to teach me, one awesome example of this is she set it up for me to shadow her sister-in-law (also named Karina, but with a K) who is a Psychologist who works in a community hospital (sound familiar? My old job in the Bronx!) for a day. This was incredibly cool because I was able to sit in on a group therapy session for people struggling with addiction. One day I would love to be able to practice therapy in Spanish and hearing this fully Spanish session definitely helped. Karina and her colleagues were wonderful, so welcoming and open. I also really liked seeing all of the differences culturally while practicing therapy. All in all a wonderful day!

Shadowing Karina (my teacher Carina's Psychologist sister-in-law)

Me with some of the psychologists at the hospital,
Karina is in the middle with the glasses. 

Grounds of the hospital

So it is important to know that Carina is a Renaissance Woman, Jack of all Trades and so of course she is also an amazing actress! One of her favorite things is acting (she started teaching me the different acting methods in class yesterday which was both informative and entertaining) and she is often in different plays around Buenos Aires. Today she took me to a rehearsal of a play she is in on Saturday. It was so cool to be privy to all of the behind the scenes fun that actors go through and how the process really works. Thanks so much for taking me Cari and I can't wait until Saturday.

Carina backstage at her play rehearsal

The theater

Carina acting in her show, she is an amazing actress!!

Today was actually a holiday in Buenos Aires, something about "The Day of the Worker" which is apparently celebrated everywhere outside of the US. As it was a holiday I was able to see my old Program Director from when I studied abroad here in 2007, Claudia. We had the best time catching up, drinking coffee and chatting about everything from her kids, to her exciting new career passions to my travels and hopes for the future. There is nothing like seeing old friends! I love you Claudia!!

Had the most amazing time with Claudia my old Program Director

So that's all for now, I am officially coming home in about a month which seems surreal and strange but I know there will be nothing better then seeing my family, friends, and of course my bed. In other exciting news Sarah and I are going to be meeting up in about a week in Iguazu Falls, some of the most incredible waterfalls in the world. I'm sure we will post when we are together. 

Love,

Ali

P.S.  Happiest 26th birthday to one of my best friends in the world Vicki Hervitz!!!!!!