Argentina... the Land of the Friendly Mate

Sorry for the delay in entries... computers have been plentiful and cheap in Argentina, but many of them seem to block me from uploading pictures. Anyway, from the Atacama desert of Chile, we rode a bus through sandy roads filled with llamas, vicunas (cousins of the llamas), salt lakes, and even through the clouds (shown below... it was fun to get closer and closer to the clouds and finally plunge straight in!). After 10 hours, we arrived in Jujuy, Argentina and Joo jumped off to get a drink to quench her dry throat (after all it was a desert bus).

Getting money wasn't too bad, although I was surprised to find that the ATM shelled out bills that were so old they had been taped, torn, and retaped. In India when that happened, I would politely but firmly give it back to the person and demand a newer bill, but when an ATM gives them to you??? Finding a bus to transfer on was a bit more of a challenge unless we were willing to pay premium dinero or wait around five hours until 2 am (neither of which were appealing to any of us). Teamwork turned out to be the key... Gyu found an information desk, I talked to the guy who told me a busline that could go soon, Joo found the busline, and Kiwi... well, his laidback spirit helped ease some of the fastpaced tensions going on.

So 10 minutes later we were on yet another 12 hour bus ride, this time through countryside that looked very much like home. In the next seat over was a man who had the most explosive snores I've ever heard which made for 12 hours of sleepily gazing out the windows of the bus at the Argentinian countryside which looked remarkably similar to back home in Ohio.

In the morning, we pulled into Cordoba, Argentina. It was INCREDIBLE. Not so much the architecture, which itself was a beautiful blend of European stonework and South American flavor...

...nor even the delicious carnivorecentric cuisine consisting of lots of beef and milk (Our first meal was a set of 4 super panchos (hot dogs) smothered in sauces like bleu cheese, garlic, dill mayonaise, mushrooms, etc. and our second was a pair of couple ice cream cones)...

...or the romance of the flowery trees, the flavor of tango all around and the horsedrawn carriages side by side with the cars...

But the PEOPLE! My word! Of course, the perception of citizens of any country has a great deal to do with the weather, the specific locale, and most importantly the attitude of the perceiver. But even after factoring all of that in, I can't believe how friendly the Argentinians are that we've met so far! That's not to say there was anything wrong with Peruvians or Chileans, both of which were mostly very wonderful and hospitable. But it seems like Argentians are little walking conversation time bombs just ready to explode in a funfilled but sincere dialogue! The people of Cordoba were especially interested in my three travel companions as apparently Koreans were quite rare. They were asked to translate Korean songs, give Korean equivalents of Spanish words, and one guy in a candy shop even had Gyu draw him a tatoo for his shoulder.

And I suppose I shouldn't be discriminative... to be fair, even the animals of Argentina were particularly friendly, especially to Gyu...

I also found their antismoking campaign funny... every cigarette pack was plastered with not only words about how smoking kills, but also the most disgusting picture of nicotene teeth...

And yet, not to be outdone, I designed my own version with an even more drastic and creative picture, should they ever choose to use it...

But who would possibly have any desire to smoke in Argentina when they have MATE!!! That final e should have an accent over it to avoid any confusion with ¨mate¨which would be a lover or companion. But both lovers and companions can enjoy mates together in Argentina. The mate is the name of the gourd itself, which is dried out, decorated, and then filled with yerba mate, the name of the tea which goes inside. The lucky owner then drinks it with a bombilla which is a metal straw filled with holes to siphon out the yerba mate. There´s the solitary mate style, where you cup it in your hand and sip as you take a walk. And then there´s the community mate where you sit around together and continually fill it and drink it together. I was introduced to the whole concept by my mother a few years ago and have been in love with it ever since, but unfortunately my only mate came to a mysterious end soon after I used the final leaves of yerba mate last year... so... coming to Argentina and diving into the actual mate culture has been one of my big anticipations of the last few weeks. WOOHOO mate!!!

Our time in Cordoba was a nice comfortable stop as our time with the boys slowly came to an end. We spent most of our time just walking the historical streets (according to the Lonely Planet, Cordoba was recently named the cultural capital of North and South America), talking to people (and animals), trying all the new foods, and diving into Argentinian culture (and of course, taking showers... that was a significant highlight after the waterless hotel in the desert).

We had a little conversation reflecting on our six weeks together and it sounded like everyone had had a great time filled with lots of memories. However, I also sensed a bit of lament in Kiwi´s sharing that, because Joo and I had done most of the planning, he hadn´t experienced as much of the true core of what it means to travel. After reflecting on his words for a night, I came up with a little challenge for him. Upon arriving in Buenos Aires, he would immediately have to go his separate way and survive for a day on our tight budget (the boys´mothers had wired me money and I had been controlling it up until that point). After 24 hours, we would meet up at a predetermined location.

At first, Kiwi looked at me like I was crazy and even drew me a picture on his napkin apologizing for what he had said the night before (just for the record, it wasn´t a punishment, but I knew he wouldn´t step out on his own unless I pushed him a bit.) But, slowly he warmed up to the idea and became quite excited (and stressed) as he prepared by reading the Lonely Planet...

Our final taxi ride to the bus station was steered by a friendly driver originally from Colombia who had travelled all around South America and finally settled in Argentina because of the people... I don´t blame him one bit. Yeah Mate! Yeah Argentinians! Yeah Argentina!