Author Archives: thhensley

Mendoza Wine Country Argentina Malbec Mr Hugo's wine bike tour river rafting horseback riding
Argentina, Travel

Mendoza Wine Country | Argentina

Mendoza Wine Country

 

A week in Mendoza offered a week of relaxation, adventure and surprises.  Kip and I decided to splurge on our 12-hour bus ride with Chevallier and get seats labeled “Cama Ejecutivo”, which included leather seats that reclined 180 degrees,  a small individual television and headset, blanket, eye covers, wine service, wi-fi, chocolate and a pastry –  a dinner that was surprisingly too much to finish – and finally, coffee and juices for the morning. The U.S. could learn a little from Argentina about quality bus service.  Greyhound is a joke. We arrived to a sunny and humid Mendoza around 11am the following morning after an all-too comfortable bus ride through the night.  We stayed at Hostel Empedrado for the first night only (which was recommended to me by someone in my first hostel I stayed at in BsAs) since the first hostel we had booked didn’t have the first night available and found it very quaint and perfect for socializing.  While it is quite a few blocks away from the main plaza, it was still less than a 15 minute walk.  We met a few Brits here who we later randomly encountered again on the bus to go wine tasting and ended up forming a fun little group for the bike wine tour. All the more emphasizing why hostels serve such a great purpose! The next day we moved our things to the sister hostel, Hostel Mora, which is a bit more tranquil but just as beautiful and new.

Adventure:

Wine Tasting Bike Tour-  Ask any young person who’s been to Mendoza where and how to go wine tasting and they’ll all tell you one name:  MR. HUGO’S.  This little, yet wildly popular, bike company run by none other than Mr. Hugo himself has made a name for his himself in the traveling community.  Firstly, you need to take a 30-minute local bus ride out to Maipu but fear not, there’s only one bus number  and every bus driver knows where you’re going if you say Mr. Hugo’s.  It was the day after Halloween so our bus was filled with spirited foreigners dressed in wigs, capes and spandex tights which made me sweat just looking at them because it had to have been at least 85 degrees or hotter outside.  Once you arrive at Mr. Hugo’s, you’re somehow no longer in the quiet town of Maipu but in backyard tropical oasis, complete with free pitchers of wine, a bottle of water and party music to set the mood for an entire day of peddling. Starting before 12pm is key because not only are there lots of wineries to see but they’re fairly spaced apart even for biking.  It was suggested to us to go to Familia Di Tomasso first, which is the furthest and the nicest of the wineries and work our way back inwards.  We made it to two wineries and a tiny bohemian beer garden tucked far from the main road before surrendering to the heat  and drunken stupor, thus calling it quits.  Afterwards, more wine awaited us and at the end of the night, Mr. Hugo makes it a point to walk you to the bus stop and wait until the bus arrives. Great business etiquette!

The rest of the week was followed by river rafting and horseback riding in the Andes and venturing out to a club full of locals where a cover band played classic latin rock songs which we pretended to know.  The next post will contain pertinent information about what happens when a 7-year anniversary trip turns into an all-out proposal….

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notes on buenos aires empanadas futbol mate
Argentina, Culture

Notes on Buenos Aires

Notes on Buenos Aires: Greetings and Mate and Dogs, Oh My!

True to form, I’ve hit my lazy peak and put off writing for the good of no one.  Maybe I’ve been overcome with the uber-lax and carefree Porteño mentality, where time knows no limits and life is too good to care.  Regardless, I’ve procrastinated too long and now would like to share with y’all some accumulated points of interests I’ve come across these past 4 months in the lovely Buenos Aires:

1. Greetings are important here.  You greet everyone with a kiss on one cheek (not two), whether they are friends or strangers and leaving a party can be quite an investment of time as typically you kiss EVERYONE goodbye.  I love this about Argentina.  I’ve been told Americans are “cold” in our greetings with a wave of hello or a handshake. Guess we can’t get anything right!

2. This is a dog-obsessed city but clearly not an excrement-cleaning-obsessed city because the sidewalks are abundant with poop.

3. Women wear their hair VERY long here, young and old alike, and let’s not forget the myriad of plastic surgery options, which proves to be a bad combination for men who see a hot bod and long hair from behind and as she turns around…BAM! She’s 60. Oops.

4. Argentines use hand and facial gestures like a deaf …. Ok too much. But yeah, the gestures are a hoot.

5. Dulce de leche: a thick caramel-like, milk-based sauce that is in EVERYTHING. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan, although it is starting to grow on me only because it’s literally shoved into my face every chance I turn.  I’ve told people about my lack of fondness for DDL and immediately get the “wtf is wrong with you” look.

6. People ACTUALLY pay to get on buses here!

7. Why do they call croissants “medialunas” when in fact they are not half a moon but more so a third moon? Think about that!

8. Drinking mate (pronounced mah-teh) is like a cult following.  You have your gourd, your yerba, your straw, your thermos and your bag to carry all the said items.  People walk around with their mate like we walk around with our massive starbucks/pete’s/coffee bean lattes. Yeah, it’s like that, except they share and we don’t.  And their gourds look way cooler than our blah cups.  There is an entire set of rules that needs to be followed when drinking Mate.

9. Fútbol (or soccer as we call it) teams are passed down in family tradition like last names.  It’s in your family, it’s in your blood.

10. Best meat and wine I’ve ever tasted in my life came from Argentina and they’re damn proud of it too. They take their meat very seriously.

11. Dinner at 10pm, Previa (pregame) at 1am, club at 2am, home by 6am.  These have been my weekends.  Nothing like coming home from a club or someone’s house  when the sun begins to rise and birds are chirping.  I guess the walk of shame doesn’t exist here.

12. So yeah, racism. Anyone who’s Asian is called CHINO and anyone with dark or tan skin is called BLACK. Hey at least it’s a simple system right?

13. Ask any Argentine kid if they know what peanut butter is and they’ll cringe at you.  My response? “ You eat caramel on toast for breakfast, how is that not gross?”

14. Milanesas. Empanadas.  Pizza.  If you don’t know what these are, you’ve clearly not left your hostel or apartment. Ever.

15. You have to consider every cab driver as shady and willing to give you fake bills as change, so always come prepared with small bills in the cab!

16. Argentina time: 1.5-2 hours after proposed time, yup, TIA: This Is Argentina!

17. Argentine men often describe Argentine women as “hysterica”, which doesn’t necessarily translate to ‘hysterical’, it just merely describes a woman who is back and forth, hot and cold, plays games, lays it on heavy and then backs off, dramatic then plays it cool, etc My teenage boys  at my camp definitely use that word a lot.

18. An ASADO is NOT like a bbq, not in the least bit.  An asado entails the following: an asador (the person in charge of cooking the meat), a parilla (often times a large fire pit of a grill) and massive amounts of wine and beer.  Meat is not slathered with sauce but tastefully salted and peppered, every piece of meat is cut and shared with everyone and at the end, someone always makes an announcement for a round of applause for the asador (or in my case asadora).  Drinking continues. When it’s your first time being the asador/a and people clap for all your blood, sweat and tears, there’s no other feeling like it!

Just a few observations.  The longer I’m here, the more and more I fall in love with the culture, the people, the city.  Stay tuned for more.

 

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Argentina, Culture

Buenos Aires Apartment Hunting

Buenos Aires Apartment Hunting: A Game of Collateral

A LOT has happened since the last post, I don’t even know where to begin. Firstly, Kip and I had moved out of our previous apartment into a new one. Our arrangement at the old apartment was only a one-month stay since someone had already paid the deposit for the month of September. During our overlap of having to sleep on a mattress on the questionable floor of the upstairs game room, we had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with Philip, the German gent who took over our room. We had agreed to be roommates with Trevor, a guy from Tulsa, Oklahoma (old stomping grounds of Chandler Bing) who we met through our first set of roommates. Finding a new apartment had proven to be much more challenging than expected, and here’s why: Trevor has a Puerto Rican dog named Coqui, but she was never the problem as practically everyone in BsAs has a dog and you’d be hard-pressed to find a place that doesn’t allow pets. The problem was that we were looking for an entire apartment, not a room in an already-occupied house, so unless you’re an Argentine with something called a Guarantee (putting up property in Buenos Aires as collateral for rent), you’re faced with having to pay massive fees in commission and/or deposit. The struggle was trying to find a place with the least amount of both and the cheapest rent at the same time that wasn’t asking for a Guarantee.

After massive searches online and in classifieds, through which I am now somewhat more knowledgeable in reading Spanish classified abbreviations, and after walking through apartments of all shapes, sizes and smells, we finally found the right balance and settled into our new apartment in the Palermo/Barrio Norte area. We’re 2 blocks away from the main Avenue of Santa Fe, where you can find many subways stops, shops, restaurants and cafes and 6 blocks away from the famous and beautiful Recoleta Cemetery. Trevor has been an awesome roommate so far and the addition of Coqui always makes the apartment feel homey. Trevor is fluent in Spanish and absolutely hilarious and his love for hot sauces and peanut butter has only brought him more acceptance from both Kip and I. We threw a housewarming party the first weekend in our new apartment and themed it American Night where we (and by ‘we’ I mean Trevor and I) cooked buffalo wings, loaded potato skins and made all sorts of dips with chips for our handful of international friends. ‘Twas a hit!

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colonia del sacramento uruguay
Travel, Uruguay

Colonia, Uruguay

Colonia, Uruguay: con Mama y Papa

Colonia. Ah Colonia. A mild and tranquil oasis away from the bustling day-to-day of Buenos Aires.  Just a one-hour ferry ride across the Rio de la Plata and you’ve stepped foot into the territory of Uruguay.  The planning for the trip was fairly easy: 1. Go online, book the tickets through Buquebus 2. Go to the ferry terminal 3. Enjoy a coffee and brief conversation with a Colonia native and professional body builder along with his family while waiting for the arrival of our boat.  You know, the usual. The ride, comfortable.  The journey, smooth.  Customs in Uruguay, a breeze.  Now, how to get to our hostel without having to walk 12 blocks or grab a sparsely available cab?  Solution: rent a golf cart, naturally.  It’s airy, it seats four comfortably, quite easy to maneuver and ridiculously indiscreet but it gets the job done and the streets of Colonia are calm enough to feel confident that you won’t find yourself as road-kill.  The historical town of Colonia is considered a World Heritage Site, restored and preserved to its original 17th Century Portuguese architecture.  Its quaint, cobble-stoned streets and picturesque neighborhood is ideal for a one- to two-day, relaxing getaway but be aware of the prices as the closer you get to the center of the historic square, the higher the prices rocket. It’s tourism at its finest.  After spending more than we had liked for lunch on the first day, Kip and I decided to buy pizza from a local pizza shop and a couple bottles of wine for dinner to bring back to my parents at the hostel and it turned out to be much more pleasant of a meal knowing we had spent significantly much less than at lunch. The company was, of course, enjoyable as always!

The sites are limited but beautiful.  Being as small as Colonia is, everything you need to see can be done in a day:  The lighthouse tower, which you can climb up for a small fee, will give you breathtaking views of Colonia and the Rio de la Plata.  The Plaza de Toros, which is a 10-15 minute drive up the coast in our little ol’ cart, is the site of an old bullfighting ring which had been abandoned and is now closed off to the public but obviously is not regulated well by the looks of the disheveled fence prohibiting visitors.  The church and the drawbridge evoke images of the beginnings of a small village or town and the many vista points near the coast and beaches are perfect for photo ops.  All in all, it was a wonderful mini vacation from our vacation and I’m sure my parents enjoyed riding in the back of the golf cart while Kip drove! Colonia: two thumbs up.

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el boliche de roberto tango music spanish guitar
Argentina, Culture

La Música Tango

La Música Tango:  A Time Warp

Me encanta. Last Wednesday night, my roommates and I trekked the whole half block from our house to a small, intimate little bar called El Boliche de Roberto. Mikael and Aliya were heading to Brazil the following day for a couple of weeks, so we thought it exceedingly necessary to celebrate their brief departure. After a few bottles of wine, some cheese, some excitement from the fútbol game on tv and the usual debatable topics of conversation spewing from Mikael, a woman came to a stage which was no higher than 10 inches off the ground and no wider than can fit 2 people. The second she took to the stage, the entire bar fell silent and all eyes were concentrated in her direction. Our table was directly in front of her as I sat inches away from the music that would capture me for the rest of the night. When she finally opened her mouth to sing, I felt transported to a time and place, unfamiliar.  Her raspy voice: oddly beautiful. The music: a fine balance of intensity and comedy. I only understood about less than half of what she was singing but the passion behind her subject was evident in her voice, her face, her body language and even the guitarist was moved by his own guitar playing. I was obsessed. She sang about five songs and then while she walked around collecting tips in a basket, which I was glad to hand over, her younger male apprentice came up to sing and as I suspected, I had not been disappointed. Now, on to DANCING Tango!

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almagro buenos aires argentina malbec
Argentina, Culture

BsAs Living | Casa Potosi

BsAs Living: 5 Roommates, 1 awesome apartment

Kip has finally arrived in Buenos Aires and his welcome to the city was met with 3 new roommates and a charming old-fashioned home in the neighborhood of Almagro. I can’t say enough about our new (and sadly, short-term) living situation. Our roommates are phenomenal. They’re sociable, well-traveled and enjoy having a good time. In the past three days alone, we’ve spent nights cooking together, purchasing and drinking several bottles of wine and have had the pleasure of meeting their close-knit group of friends. My first night at Casa Potosi, Sylvia cooked up a feast of two different types of curries while eight or so of their close friends mingled, introduced themselves and played Wii. It reminded me so much of our close-knit gang from back in San Francisco and suddenly, I felt a slight twinge of homesickness. The apartment’s got an inviting indoor patio encased by the kitchen, two bedrooms and the living room. It’s great for studying, having dinners or just hanging out and chatting. It’s actually my favorite part of the house! There’s even an upstairs game room loft.  This house does have its disadvantages, though. While it’s perfect for warm, balmy Argentine nights, it’s unbearable in the winter. It’s an old, open-air type house so there’s hardly any insulation and the room that Kip and I co-habitate is the largest and in front of the house facing the street so we definitely feel the bitterness of the cold. But I wouldn’t trade it for the experience and the company. It’s a house with character and it should be a very interesting month at Casa Potosi!

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colonias de inmersion al idioma buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Culture

Spanish Immersion Camp Counselor

Spanish Immersion Camp Counselor: Evoking my inner child

Just when I thought I was wrapped in the serenity of a subtle Argentine chill, a blast of icy misery descends upon us. Okay, let’s back up a couple of days. Last week at the hostel, my roommate from Quebec, Maggie, decides that it would be fun to dye Cara’s (roommate from Michigan) and my hair. Not all of it, just strings and pieces. The bottom portion of Maggie’s hair is stunningly purple.  I played it safe with one little streak of bleached rusty blonde/brown near my temple so that it peaks out just a bit. I figure, new country, new ‘do! Thanks Maggie!

After finally securing a room for Kip and I at a very cool looking house in a neighborhood called Almagro and with roommates I can’t wait to get to know – Syl from El Salvador, Rob from France, Mikael from Denmark,  I took off for two days for training for my new job as a camp counselor at an English Immersion program. The idea of these 3-day camps are to allow children of various ages and stages in English development to become immersed in the English language. The camps are themed and kids are only allowed to speak English or face light punishment, often times in the form of an English essay. All Spanish-related items are confiscated at the beginning of camp and all counselors are native English speakers from all over the world (Ireland, USA, Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa, we didn’t have any Canadians at the training;)). The training brought about a child-like glee in all of us as we were expected to do and learn everything the kids will be going through during the actual camps – from arts, crafts, campfire songs, dances from various English-speaking countries etc. All the camps are at least an hour outside of Buenos Aires, mostly in provincial areas and I’m really excited for my first camp, which I believe is in September.

And finally, after two whole weeks, I left my hostel today and am at my new house. It’s already 3pm and most of the roommates are still sleeping, I guess it’s expected? Ciao!

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copa america san telmo market buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Culture

Sunday Market and Copa America | Buenos Aires | Argentina

Sunday Market and Copa America: Walking around BsAs

Photo captions:

People geared up to cheer for Uruguay in the Copa America (vs. Paraguay). Uruguay won! Buenos Aires was all fluster that night 7-24-11

Sunday Markets in San Telmo, miles of vendors! It went on FOREVER.

Note to self: While BsAs is very dog friendly, watch out for LOTS of loose tiles and dog piles…

 

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sushi hostel arrabal malbec wine buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Travel

Argentine Sushi | A night of wine and Winehouse

Argentine Sushi – a questionable cuisine

After viewing two apartments today, snagging an interview on Monday for a camp counselor position in an English Immersion program and booking two more apartment viewings for tomorrow, I joined some of my hostel mates in splurging for some “sushi” (if you call cream-cheese filled rolls even that) tonight for dinner. Between 6 of us, we ordered 3 trays of 30-piece sushi and went to the corner store to buy 4 bottles of wine, Malbec being two of them, of course and went to town. I can’t even begin to explain how interesting this dinner was. For starters, there were at least 4 different languages being thrown around at once. There was a couple from Brazil, the guy was Japanese but spoke Portuguese, Spanish and English and his Brazilian girlfriend spoke Portuguese and Spanish but no English. There was the German girl, Carine, who spoke German with the girl from Holland, Wanda, but also interchanged between Spanish and English, which they were fluent in both. Then there was me and Leelah, from Missouri. We both spoke Spanish and English (although my Spanish was questionable), so you can only imagine the hodge podge of tongues being spoken at that dinner table. The funniest part was having to find out about Amy Winehouse’s death today in Spanish. I thought, at first, I was mistaken in what I had heard, perhaps they had wished she was dead? But it was confirmed with both enthusiasm and sympathy that the news was, in fact, true. The rest of the night was reserved for hustling in pool! I found it very useful that the Brazilian girl didn’t speak English because I was forced out of my comfort zone in order to make any attempts to converse with her.

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obelisco subte buenos aires argentina
Argentina, Travel

Buenos Aires | Day 2

Buenos Aires: Surviving Day 2

Last night, I ended up passing out 9pm, the first of my 5 roommates to fall asleep.  When I woke up, everyone was already gone from the room. I checked the time and I had slept until 10:30 this morning! Apparently, it was much needed. After shamelessly sleeping for more than 12 hours, I finally got dressed, grabbed a map, some cash and my camera and headed out to venture into the streets of Buenos Aires. I walked up Avenida  9 de Julio, one of the main roads in downtown Buenos Aires, parallel to the waterfront and leading up to the Obelisco de Buenos Aires, a national monument. A few protests appeared here and there but they were calm.  Further to the right of the Obelisk were several pedestrian streets full of little shops and restaurants that I perused but felt reluctant to spend. The only thing I bought was a 4 peso empanada con queso y cebollas (cheese and onions). Everything is so ridiculously cheap here.

I went to look at an apartment in another neighborhood and on the way back, decided to brave the subway (it was either this or walk 20-something blocks back to my hostel) and it only cost me 1.10 peso, which is roughly .33 cents? Fabulous. The subway system is nothing to fear, it’s well-labeled and easily understood. Mind your claustrophobia during peak hours. It’s literally time to pack like sardines but otherwise, it’s harmless and enjoyable if people-watching is your hobby. One key observation about Porteños y Porteñas (Argentines, specifically those living in Buenos Aires) is that they are very stylish, very fashionable and very good-looking. The women are beautiful and the men are really handsome (or at least so they say, not that I’ve been looking, Kip).  I have never seen so many cute boots, scarves and coats in one city. Everyone is just so well dressed, men, women, young and elderly alike. It’s the tourists that dress poorly in comparison. Then for the rest of the night I hung out with a few Brits and Irish people and exchanged a few S. American travel stories – some disturbing, some funny but all in all, I remember why I love hostels so much: you get to meet the most incredibly interesting people!

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