Choripan in San Telmo

One of our last days in Buenos Aires we took to the streets, as many of the locals did on Sundays, and went exploring with some of our new friends. It's been really cool meeting new people from all over the world, but at the same time its weird knowing that we probably won't ever see them again. It teaches you to take the moments you have with good friends and live in the moment knowing that tomorrow will be very different. 

On Sundays there are tons of really eclectic markets along different barrios in the city. Specifically on the weekends, all of the locals bring their best treasures to sell to the public. Everything from antique trinkets, to modern art, to some of the best street food in all of South America. We let our noses lead us into a little side cove off the main market street. Inside was the perfect Argentinian outdoor oasis. An open parilla (grill) with chorizo grilling away, a man and his guitar, and a diverse crowd of travelers locals enjoying the day. 

 The food made on the outdoor open fire grills was amazing! The sausage we had on our Choripans was some of the best I have ever had. Argentina is known for its meats so of course we had to make sure we experienced this! Seriously, nothing says Argentina better than this little parilla and some acoustic tunes.

 The market is in San Telmo and it seemed to go for miles and miles before we actually hit the end of the street. We must have walked for hours wandering through these culture filled, cobblestone path. At the end of street we stopped to find our bearings on a map and figure out how we were getting to our next stop (something we often did). It wasn't often, if at all, that we were lost thanks to Michael and Sara's embedded GPS systems in their minds. So we're standing there at the end of this street and we look over to see this sweet little lady playing street music out on a home-built traveling instrument contraption. If you look really closely you can see the oranger, yellow, and red barrel looking things. Those are her drums and just above, and to the right, of the red one is her tiny single cymbal. She had her foot going with something too, but I wasn't quite sure what it was. All at the same time she was singing her little heart out. It was awesome!

 Our next stop was a barrio called La Boca. It is known for one of the most famous and rowdy futbol (soccer) stadiums around. Most of the buildings in this barrio are built out of sheet steal and painted really bright colors. Street tango is common and the eateries are in plenty! Walking through this area was far different than anything I've ever seen. I could have sat on the curb and watched the people for hours. And the tango is actually really good!

 I don't think anything like this would ever be accepted in the States. Graffiti is common here in South America and treated as well respected art form. Back home, graffiti like this would never be allowed. I think it has character and I truly treasure culture like this.

We ended our entire trip with a bang at an incredible restaurant on the river walk in Buenos Aires. It was complete with all you can eat meats, vegetables, specialty dishes, dessert, and wine.  And only for $25!! It was well worth our money treating ourselves to a "fancy meal" for our last night. The friends we shared our time with in Bueno Aires were memorable and are true characters I will never forget.

Monday night we boarded our plane and took off at 9:15pm for our 11 hour journey home. It was a bittersweet feeling getting on that plane, but I was definitely ready to be home. The Lord blessed this journey in more ways than I could have imagined and I hope and pray to never lose this sense of adventure in my life. I know that if I continue remembering how He provides for the things our life has in store for us, then I know that I should never fear what's next. Although this adventure is ending, my journey will continue upon moving to Dallas a few days after getting back. Just as faithfully as I started this moment in time, I will continue it with this verse as I move forward:

"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9

It's like Paris in New York but in Argentina

What a city to end our trip in! The people and sounds of Buenos Aires are full of energy. We arrived to the city in the morning and the first thing that was on our minds was of course breakfast. Here's the thing with South American bus lines. They are really efficient and will get you just about anywhere you wanna go on this entire continent. What they aren't necessarily so great at is sharing any kind of information with you. Not when we stop (or if we stop) along the way, where we're supposed to get off, how long we have at our stops, what we eat on the bus (if we eat at all), etc. It's actually been quite humorous seeing some of our faces trying to figure out what we're supposed to do sometimes.

For example, our 31 hour bus ride consisted of "three meals" along the way. Those meals ended up being peach juice, crackers, and wafers three times. Needless to say, we didn't eat so well for two days and the snacks we brought absolutely saved us. But all was well. It's just another little thing we learned about South American traveling.

We decided to indulge in a big yummy breakfast at our hostel that we ordered. It was perfect to start the exploring for the day. We went to a ton of plazas, government buildings and monuments getting a feel for our way around the city all of Friday morning and afternoon.

It's been really fun to just explore all of these new cities not really knowing what we're getting ourselves into. Do as the locals do! The caves are great and we even somehow found our way into a few sweet shops for ice cream and pie just like we tend to do at least once a day. It's kind of our thing. All of Friday was a success and being in Buenos Aires is quite spectacular. It truly is a nice combination of France and New York.

Today, after meeting some more new friends at our hostel, went out to a barrio in Buenos Aires called Palermo. Saturday is a big local market day with fruits, crafts, and all sorts of other goods. I've really enjoyed meeting people along the way and getting to include them I our daily and night time activities. Although there's a good chance we'll never see them again we have had the opportunity to share some unforgettable moments with new friends.

There's this really popular chocolate snack here called alfajors that Sara and I absolutely love! It's basically two vanilla sugar cookie things with dulce de leche spread in the middle and then covered in chocolate. I hope your mouth is watering by now because I will be finding a way to either make these or buy them when we get back to the states. Today we found a bakery with homemade alfajors and just about died biting into our first bite. Not only were they delicious, but they were gigantic. No problem there! We enjoyed them while we were walking around one of the markets.

As the day went on we found ourselves in this really peaceful botanical garden taking us right back to feeling like we were in the jungle. Something about a botanical garden and a mysterious park make you just want to slow down and put life in slow motion. It was wonderful walking through without city sounds and just being still among the gardens.

On the way home tonight we hopped in this subway that looked like it was from another time period. It was so cool to see that in the middle of such a big city. Michael really wanted to see it and seemed to be enjoying himself quite a lot. Just one more unique thing to add to the list of South American to do's. We have a ton more exploring to do so hopefully the rain will hole out on us tomorrow and Monday until after we leave.

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Our furry friends

We had a good part of the day on Thursday to kill because our bus to Buenos Aires wasn't until 6pm. The other side of Mendoza was supposed to be quite a site to see, not to mention the largest park in South America...sounds strange for a little town like Mendoza. It's actually quite a gem on the outside of town.

We walked through these royal looking steel gates at the front to be welcomed by beautiful rows of fall-colored leaves. What? Fall? We don't have that season in Texas...it just goes from hot and less humid to hot and more humid. For the most part. This was a nice change of pace and a wonder to walk through. Sara and I took a long stroll through the beautiful landscape to enjoy the richness of the colors in this park.

Also as soon as we entered the park we were greeted by the two most adorable little dogs that seemed to enjoy being our little protectors and followed us the entire way around the park. And then continued to walk us all the way bak home to our hostel (a solid couple of miles for a walk).they were too cute waiting to cross the roads and would skip ahead of us and the. Wait for us to cross the road before continuing alongside us.

It's the little things in life that can really make your day that much sweeter. That, and we couldn't help but smile knowing that we were followed all the way home. It was awesome. We boarded out LAST bus of the trip (thank goodness) that evening and were off to Buenos Aires.

In just a few short days we'll be back in the states. It's a bittersweet feeling knowing that this has kind of become a comfort being down here, but that doesn't change the fact that we all miss home. There's nothing like home with family. We love you all and will be home safe soon!

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Caution: bike crossing in the vineyards

When we arrived to Mendoza it was about 4:30 in the afternoon so we had a little bit of time to explore the city before dark. We did just that after settling into our room at the hostel. We stayed at a place called Mendoza Backpackers and absolutely loved it from the moment we got there. The staff was super friendly and our room was great. You win some, you lose some when traveling from hostel to hostel. With this one we definitely won.

We didn't cover too much of the city because it seemed to be a but quiet already for the evening so we found a place for dinner and walked back to our humble abode. In the middle of Skyping, Sara busts In the room to ask me if we should go take a tango lesson. When in Argentina, right?? Heck yes! One of the guys that works at the front desk of the hostel goes to this underground place on Tuesday nights from 9-11 pm for Tango. It's kind of random and on the basement level of a bank building in Mendoza. Sounds kind of strange, but the people ere were so great! Learning the Tango is much harder than it looks. We brushed the dust off of our shoulders for a few hours so when we get to Buenos Aires we won't be as bad if we go to a tango show or melonga. We had such a great time and it was quite funny to watch Michael try and figure some of those steps out. We had met some friends at the hostel so we weren't newbies entirely by ourselves. It was great!

The next morning was our big day for our bike tour of the wine country and several wineries in Mendoza. We made our way out to the area that all the bodegas (wineries) are in called Maipu. Based on recommendations from a friend we went with a company called Mr. Hugo's Bike Tours. Happy and welcoming Mr. Hugo himself greeted us at the front gate of his house where we were to rent our bikes. The way it works is that they rent us the bike, give us a map, show us a route, recommend the places to go and how much everything costs, and then send us on our way to travel at our own pace and route. We think that was the best way to go so we could take our time. We got all geared up and ready to go!

 

This is Maaike with Michael above. She was sating at our hostel and we invited her along as well with another guy. She's from Holand and was absolutely wonderful to meet. Off we went into the sun for our tour of the day. Let me tell you, this little area is probably a hundred times more gorgeous in the actual summertime here, but it was still so awesome to venture into the middle of olive trees and tons and tons of grape trees.

Awaiting us almost of our stops were these incredibly fancy VIP parking signs. The bikes in the vineyards are very common in Mendoza, but we found them quite humorous. Take a good look at the bike rider in this sign. I agreed with Sara that it might make a pretty great logo on a shirt for a running club. This one's for you granita!

The casts in the wine museum that we went into first were absolutely gigantic! They had rooms full of these suckers as well as a ton of other really cool wine making contraptions that were used a long time ago.

Not to mention our first tasting was free. Always a good thing on a budget!

 

Our next stop was a little family owned chocolate-making, olive-spread-making, jam-making, chocolate-liqueur-making house. We sampled incredible chocolates that were full of wonderful South American infused favors. All sorts of yummy snacks that sent us on our way to the next winery and restaurant stop with happy hearts and little but more knowledge. These are two of the guys that came with us. So many cool friends from all over the world!

The next leg of the ride was quite a long ways, but enjoying the sunshine, vineyards, and mountains all at the same was priceless. What an amazing way to experience this beautiful region. Especially with awesome friends to share the memories. The afternoon ended nicely at a place overlooking infinite rows of grapes. Watching the Argentinian sunset from the deck of Tempus Alba Winery with a glass of summer rose in hand. Cheers to that!

Our hostel had a pizza party going on that night in combination with a few other hostels so we decided to join in. It was quite an adventure to say the least and at the end of dinner we were serenaded by an interesting fellow and his broken guitar.

All in all, the day was everything and more than we could have imagined. Thank you, Mr. Hugo!

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The final border crossing

On Tuesday morning we had our second to last bus of the entire trip. Bright and early we bought tickets for our crossing into Argentina. As we have gone along the way our border crossings have been collectively more enjoyable. And by that I mean I think we're finally just getting used to the routine of paper work and customs. It's certainly not the most fun process ever, but it's kind of cool seeing one more stamp going in the passport and guessing where the border patrol officer will decide to put the stamp. It sounds silly, but it's rather frustrating when the ink isnt properly transferred. Maybe it's just a girl thing, but Sara and I like talking about how cool the Visa stamps look on paper. It's proof of our journey; therefore I think we're just a bit picky about it.

This bus ride was actually our most feared of the whole trip. It only is traveled during the day because the mountain curves on the road are unsafe to travel at night. That, and the border station is actually in the mountains so when it snows the border can be shut down for up to weeks at a time. We've been praying since before we left on this trip that the snow woulda cease until we crossed that border. Considering it's high season here right now (aka winter), snow is very possible. God is good and the day we booked our bus the sky and weather were beautiful. Crossing the border was incredibly easy and other than the beautiful sight of snow on the mountains during our drive, there wasn't any snow to be seen on the roads. Praise God for that. Because two days after we arrived in Mendoza the snow hit and they shut the border down for about 5 days. I know what you're thinking. Why not just fly? Yes, this is indeed an option but as an American the reciprocity fee to fly into the Argentina airport costs about as much as the plane ticket (which isn't cheap). That was going to be our last resort to be able to fly home on time, but we were well taken care of and safely driven across into Argentina. Safely, and with a big handful of money saved in our pockets compared to the plane ticket.

It's not just the big things in life that God is faithful through. Even crossing borders safely in foreign countries (as a stress of our trip) was handled with ease by a God who loves us and ultimately wishes joy upon our hearts. Welcome to Mendoza, friends! It's time to explore the South American wine country.

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Painted stairs and Chilean cuisine

This morning we casually woke up and got ready to travel and catch a bus about an hour and a half outside of Santiago to a popular town called Valparaiso. We've been looking forward to visiting this area because of its artsy community and colorful scenery. It's on the coast, but for this time of year that means more foggy and cold than the inner regions of the county. Not exactly what you'd be expecting for coastal weather, but the drive was worth it.

One of the famous Chilean dishes to eat is called a Completo or a Hot Fog Italiano. It's going to sound gross when I describe it, but it's actually pretty good. I had to try one at least since we're here and I chose Valparaiso for ,y stomping grounds today. It's basically a big toasted hot dog bun with a hot dos, shredded beef, tomato, guacamole, and mayonnaise. The traditional name is Completo but some places call it a hot dog Italiano because it encompasses the colors of the Italian flag. I quite enjoyed it and Sara and Michael both had Cuban sandwiches that were also very yummy!

As I said, it was a little chilly outside but we still enjoyed our walk around.

All throughout the city there are these elevator riser things hat were built even further back than the 1900's I believe that you could ride up and down certain hills and areas to see different parts of the town. They were super old and rickety, but fun to experience.

The graffiti and colors painted all over this town are quite spectacular. It's interesting how this type of art is something that we ban in the stats, but in Valparaiso it is a lasting treasure and trademark of the country. I truly enjoyed the colors and sights.

 

 

It was a unique little area to experience and we're all excited to be crossing the border once again tomorrow into Argentina. Today marked our one week left so it's time to enjoy our last few moments!

Welcome to Santiago, land of the more expensive

With our hostel booked and ready to go this time, we went straight from the bus station at 6:30am on Saturday morning to our place of residence while in Santiago. Traveling farther south means moving south on the thermometer as well for this time of year. It was quite cold when we arrived, but it didn't exactly phase us much considering we were quite content being off that bus.

After a little bit of searching with our taxi driver we made our way into our hostel and into a warm house. The guy at the front desk seemed about half awake when we checked in, nonetheless we were able to lock our bags up while we went out for breakfast until check-in. Notice I said the guy at the front desk was half awake. Particularly, he really wasn't paying attention when we asked him where a good place for breakfast was. By this point it was about 8:30 so surely something was open. That's funny, because NOTHING was open. After walking around the area aimlessly for about 30 minutes we realized that the typical dinner time of 9pm for Chileans must also mean they don't eat breakfast until about 11am. So back to the hostel it was for us! The guy there let us eat the complimentary breakfast even though we technically hadn't checked in yet so that we could head out to explore.

We started out by walking across a not so pretty river to some rather European looking parks. Chile is much more developed than Peru and Ecuador and resembles parts of Europe in many ways.

 

It was great being in a new place and getting to experience an entirely different culture and schedule for that matter than in the United States. Although everything is a little bit more expensive here, it's still cheaper on the average than back home.

We even had the opportunity to enjoy our Sunday afternoon going to the Bella's Artes museum for free before going to Mercado Central. It was a combination modern and classical art museum with some really interesting displays and showcases. Even though everything was in Spanish, it was fun to walk around and see something we're not necessarily used to seeing.

The Mercado Central is this gigantic fresh fish market that everyone loves to buy from and eat at. It will be hard for me to explain the craziness that was going on inside this market on Sunday, but I will do my best. Aside from the overwhelming smell of fish in one poorly ventilated area, there were an overwhelming amount of people buying fish and viewing the spectacle. No pun intended, but I felt like a sardine in the middle of everyone.

We were told we had to eat there for lunch and enjoy the freshly cooked fish that they serve. This area of the market was also extremely hectic and the picture above does not do the smell, noise, or craziness of this scene any justice whatsoever. It was like lunch and show while we watch hundreds of people filter through and dozens of waiters run around the masses trying to please the locals and tourists.

Once again we seemed to find our niche of acting like kids in another one of the popular parks in Santiago. If I would have had these jungle gyms as a kid I would have been in recess heaven! The play area was unreal and we decided to jump in on the action a little bit just to make sure we weren't getting too old.

Monday we will be taking a day trip to a town called Valparaiso (a colorful, graffiti town) to see another side of the country.

Fresh Civiche and a 30 hour bus ride

We took Arica by storm early that morning after breakfast. It's a beach town and known for its surfing in the summer months. It's currently their winter season right now, so the sun and warm weather were a little far off for us. We walked all up and down the town exploring the main street of the city and The Fisherman's Wharf. We decided to go visit one of The best places to get fresh seafood and ceviche and found a few friends along the way.

The area is know for its humongous pelicans and sea lions so we had to get in on the spectacle. These suckers just lay around baking in the sun all day long it seems like. With the weight they carried, I'm not even sure how they moved from rock to rock. They were pretty humorous creatures to watch and the pelicans were just as funny. We even had one decide to chase us around a bit up on the wharf. Although a bit terrifying, it was pretty funny.

For lunch we indulged in the famous ceviche that the local fisherman are know for preparing? It was quite delicious and was made from these huge tunas that you can see parts of in the picture.

That night we wanted to make sure we got a good meal in us because we weren't sure over the next 30ish hours when our next meal would be! Have no fear folks, eating has not been a problem on this trip and it wasn't any different Thursday night. We filled up, had our bags packed, snacks in hand, and boarded our bus that we'd be bonding with over the next 31 hours.

I know 30 hours sounds like a lot...oh wait, it is. Luckily it went by pretty quickly. Two nights of sleeping in the half upright position and three meals (peach juice and crackers) later we made it to Santiago. There's a lot of time for talking to God, jamming out to your iPod, thinking about life, and doing a whole lot of nothing in that time. The entire way our viewpoint out the bus window was the Atacama Desert. It was actually quite beautiful, just in a very different way than before. But we made it, and that's all that counts!

Crossing the border collectivo style

You might be wondering why on earth we've decided to take so many buses for so many hours across this region. 1 we're avoiding reciprocity fees at the airport and 2 we've had the opportunity to see much more countryside and, I believe, cross the border in almost every legal form of transportation except by boat. Next stop, Chile.

We got up early once again in Arequipa to continue the journey. Our route was to take a bus from Arequipa to a border town in Peru called Arica. From there at the bus station we would catch a Collectivo Taxi (joint car to cross the border) into Arica, the border town on the other side in Chile. Sounds complicated, but it really wasn't all that bad.

When we arrived in Tacna we were welcomed by a frantic set of currency traders, local travelers, collectivo drivers, and confused tourists like ourselves. We couldn't find the silly taxi line for the life of us. We must have walked all around that entire bus terminal before finding this rather small opening in the back that lead to a huge group of drivers auctioning off their car. Mind you, all the cars were pretty much the same and all the drivers were saying practically the same thing. So, how did we choose? Exactly like you probably think we did. We picked the first one we saw! Would they get us to Chile? Most likely. Was it the best choice? That we'll never know.

Once all said and done as we got out of the car in Arica, Chile we decided that was just about the sketchiest AND easiest border crossing we've encountered thus far. Picture this: a car full of 3 gringos, two Chileans, and a Peruvian collectivo taxi driver all packed into a "Buick-ish" type car rolling across the border from Peru to Chile. I guess we looked decent enough, because we made it across just fine! A lot of prayer went into that process and the Lord definitely came through for us because we had NO idea what we were doing or what to expect.

As soon as we arrived we walked to our hostel. Now, this place was a little different than most student oriented places we've been staying at. I'm pretty sure this is the hot spot for European old people. Take note of the decorations behind Sara and Michael in this picture.

It was quite an interesting little place, but the owner was very helpful and friendly and we were very appreciative! He suggested a few places for dinner and we found ourselves at a local sandwich shop. Not just any old sandwiches, GIGANTIC sandwiches! All of our "burgers" came out looking like this and we didn't even know how to begin eating them. It was a ridiculous amount of food, but certainly did the trick for our hunger. Way to go Roly's Sanwich Shop!

That night I went to bed feeling very blessed for a VERY full stomach and a safe border crossing. The next day would be another one day city exploration before moving on!

Just the beginning of our 50 hour journey

Arequipa to Tacna to Arica. That's the route we embarked on at the end of our last day in Cusco. We took an overnight bus, much like e rest of our trip to Arequipa. We hadn't found a hostel yet even though we were planning on staying there for a night but that's all apart of the fun.

We arrived in Arequipa very early in the morning and very ready to find a hostel and a good breakfast. Eating on the bus is much like eating on an American airline. It's usually a fairly unhealthy and incomplete meal. And you never know what you're going to get. Luckily we found a great hostel on our first try and immediately set foot to find the nearest decent breakfast. The desayuno Americano was on the menu for us at a local restaurant and we were able to fill up on fresh juice, coffee, eggs, and ham. Perfect start.

Since we only had a day in Arequipa it was our goal to see as much of the city as possible. Apparently every little town in South America has a Plaza de Armas and Arequipa wasn't any different. The beautiful weather added to the repetition of tourist hot spots. The town sits right at the foot of an active volcano which made our trip slightly more risky with an awesome view. We made our way by foot around a city sports center, a traditional and quaint bridge over the river, through several plazas, the viewpoint over the city to the volcano, passing a few grazing llamas, and to the supermarket to pick up a few needed items.

If you look close in the background of the picture above you can see one of the volcanoes we were close to in Arequipa

Although it may sound weird, the sporadic grazing llamas are quite normal for us now. More South American law mowers just getting a tan for the afternoon. Our next day would be filled with slightly more interesting encounters.

We knew Arequipa would just be a small stop anyway so we weren't too worried about getting to see everything. Our trek to Chile needed to be broken up somehow and this was a good way to start out!