vamos a Bariloche / lets go to Bariloche

Buenos Aires --> Bariloche

After a two hour flight south, we landed in Bariloche. No more tall buildings, thousands of people, flat areas, or ruido (noise). We had left the quilombo (commotion) of the city and had entered into a scenic tranquil town with mountains, lakes, and forests as far as the eye could see.  We drove to our hotel, Llao Llao, and spent the afternoon exploring the area, it was breathtaking! This post has a lot of pictures and few words because the pictures mostly speak for themselves. 

Llao Llao Hotel, Bariloche

We spent the next day kayaking and then rented a car to drive around the area, following the "Circuito Chico", or small circuit, which leads you around multiple lookout points, small hiking paths, and beautiful views around Bariloche. We stopped for lunch at the Punta Panaromica Cafe for smoothies, empanadas, and waffles afterwards heading towards town to take the funicular up to a viewpoint over the town of Bariloche.

 

We woke up early the next day to take a boat out on Brazo Tristeza, Tristeza arm of the Lake Nahuel Huapi, for about three hours. We had an amazing guide, Alejo, who took us around the beautiful Brazo Tristeza, brought us close to waterfalls, pointed out cool birds and small animals in the area (we saw a Condor and its nest), and gave us a lot of information about the area. That afternoon we went rappelling down a cliff overlooking Lake Nahuel Huapi...WOW! The only downfall of the day was we were right in the middle of horsefly season so we spent a large part of the day swatting (really slapping) ourselves and each other so the horseflies would not bite us. Well, we can´t have it all! 

 

Bariloche is incredible and one of the places everyone should add to their list of places to see in the world. It is beautiful, relaxing, and constantly leaves you "sin palabras", without words. 

¡mi familia vino! / my family came!

I just had the best twelve days. I got to play tour guide, share my new home with my family, eat delicious food, and explore beautiful new places. 

The family arrived early in the morning and I surprised them at the hotel in Puerto Madero! My mom, dad, sister, and cousin had arrived for twelve days of South American adventures! After a good nap, we headed off to see my apartment, walked around my neighborhood Belgrano, met my Spanish teacher Roberto, and then went to Jardin Japonés (Japanese Gardens) and El Rosedal (Rose Gardens) in Palermo. We ended the day with delicious Italian food at a restaurant near our hotel in Puerto Madero, Bice. I cannot explain to you the feelings and emotions I had throughout the day. I have been living in this city for four months, had been to all of these places before, and now was getting the chance to share a part of my life with my family...it was really incredible!

The next day we spent the morning exploring touristy spots in the city including La Boca, Casa Rosada (Pink House, where the President works), Plaza de Mayo, Recoleta cemetery, and Avendida 9 de Julio. We ate delicious pizza and empanadas for lunch at Los Inmortales on Corrientes, definitely recommend it! 

That afternoon we headed to Baby Help, the daycare center where I volunteered last summer. Viviana, the Director of Baby Help, shared Baby Help´s story and JDC´s role in Argentina with my family. This was amazing for me to see because I had already told my family a bit about Baby Help but for them to hear it from Vivi firsthand adds a deeper personal level to the center. They were having their end-of-year show so we got to watch the kids perform their "circus acts". My favorite were the elefantes (elephants) and bailerinas (ballerinas). How cute!

Afterwards we headed to Hebraica, where I spend the majority of my working time. After a much needed merienda (snack), Jessi, the director of Hebraica´s youth department and my supervisor, showed us around and got to meet my family. We even walked into a kabbalat shabbat celebration where my mom proceeded to join in on the dancing (see picture below). It was great to share a bit of my worklife with the fam. For dinner, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in the city, Sarkis, an Armenian restaurant that is absolutely delicious and inexpensive!

We had a couple jammed packed days but it was wonderful sharing a bit of my life and city with my family. When they originally decided to visit, I told my mom that you cannot really get to know Argentina if you only see Buenos Aires, so we planned to head south to Argentina´s patagonia for a few days to experience a calmer part of the country. Off to Bariloche!

la semana de fiestas / the week of parties

You know that saying: "An apple a day keeps the doctor away"...

Well, to describe the week I just had I changed it to: 

"A fiesta a day keeps the doctor away!" 

Combining the end of the Argentine school year, beginning of summer, and Argentine's who use any excuse to have a party resulted in a week full of celebrations and WAY too much food:

Sunday: Mitnadev, Hebraica's volunteer group, has been fundraising the past few months to bring children from a rural school in another province to Buenos Aires for the week. Mitnadev has gone to visit this same school for eight years and wanted to reverse the trip to bring the students into their homes and let them experience a big city. Almost all had never been to Buenos Aires before and their faces showed it. They arrived so excited and with mouths agape passing the tall buildings, wide streets, and masses of people. They spent the weekend exploring the city with the Mitnadev, played on escalators (which they had never seen before), rode on the subte (although some were scared to get on), and ate at McDonald's (the idea of fast food is a foreign concept to them). It was amazing to see how excited they were and allowed me to see the city through their eyes for the day. It made me reflect on how thankful I am for all the opportunities I've had and how much I take for granted being accustomed to city life. Sunday night we of course had to celebrate them coming and spending the weekend in Buenos Aires so the children, their teachers, the Mitnadev volunteers, and the parents of the Mitnadev volunteers all gathered for a fun celebration!

Monday: Monday night we had the Hebraica Youth Department end of year party. The 120 madrichim (counselors) and directors gathered to celebrate a successful year. Highlights included delicious hamburgers, a "Cuentador" (storyteller) performing, and a photo montage of the year in review. The department also has a tradition where they give the madrichim who will not be returning the next year a gift and they always give something that has to be cared for. This year, the gift was a plant so at the end, the directors passed out plants to the madrichim leaving and told them even though they are leaving, they will still have something to care for. 

Tuesday: Tuesday night around 8pm I received an email from my co-worker, Vivi. It said come down to Plaza de Mayo, we are celebrating thirty years of democracy! I turned on my tv to the news and saw that the Plaza de Mayo, the plaza in front of Casa Rosada ("pink house" where president lives), was filled with people and a band was playing. I decided I needed to check it out so a few friends and I headed down to Plaza de Mayo. We had to get off the bus and walk the last little bit because the streets were closed for the celebration. We got to the plaza and our mouths dropped. There were thousands of people, huge screens projecting what was happening on the stage, and banners and flags everywhere, many that said "democracia para siempre" (democracy for always/forever). We listened to some bands, heard a few people speak, and also watched some political parties that are not in the majority silently march through the crowds. This was so interesting to me because thirty years ago the country was in a dictatorship and although they have "come so far", it does not seem to me that total democracy exists in the country. I think some people feel extremely proud and think they have come far enough while others were completely against celebrating democracy because they do not believe their country is a democratic state. I am so glad Vivi let me know about the celebration, it was extremely interesting.

Wednesday: Wednesday night, time for another celebration! Tonight was the school of madrichim's graduation where the teens in the school of madrichim perform small pieces and receive their diplomas. These teens have been in the school for two years and the following year will become madrichim and part of the leadership of the organization. To receive their diplomas, they each choose two madrichim or ex-madrichim to give them their diploma and usually a gift as well. It was so awesome to see who they had chosen. Some were given their diplomas by their brothers and sisters, others a madrich they had felt very close to, some their parents, and many chose their "mechanech", the madrichim who lead the school of madrichim. Their were hugs, tears, and huge smiles all around as they celebrated completing their two-year madrichim school! 

Thursday: Thursday we had a small gathering to celebrate a successful year of the BBYO project. About fifteen teens gathered to eat empanadas, talk about the previous year, start brainstorming ideas for the shuk at BBYO's international convention, where people sell all types of clothes with BBYO slogans or funny sayings, jewelry, blankets, stickers, hats, knick knacks, etc to fundraise. 

Friday: For Friday I have to change the saying to "two fiestas a day keeps the doctor away". First I attended the annual Hebraica end-of-year asado (Argentine barbecue). A couple hundred staff were there eating delicious salads, Argentine meat, chatting about the year, and most importantly for the annual raffle. Each staff person gets a ticket and their name is drawn to win prizes such as a blender, radio, gift cards to restaurants, popular DVDs, and the grand prize, a Honda motorcycle donated by one of the members of the board who works for Honda. Between eating and the raffles, the executive director Sergio said a few words and then one of the people who works in the adult department sang a few popular US songs. She would bring people up to sing with her for parts of the songs and as the only "Yankee" in the room (words they use for Americans), I am proud to say I belted out a bit of "I will survive" in front of everyone. What fun! 

Friday night I attended the end-of-the-year party for Mitnadev, Hebraica's volunteer project. Each small group had prepared something for the party, whether a poem, game, or small act. They also had put together a beautiful montage of pictures and videos of their service throughout the year, it was really nice! 

Phew! I made it through the week of fiestas in one piece with a very full stomach and more insight into how the organizations recognize their leaders and celebrate their successes. It was a fun-filled week and now I'm looking forward to welcoming my family to Buenos Aires in a few days!