Friday, December 15, 2006
A Tale of Two Cities
Hello all,
Sorry I haven´t written as much as you had become accustomed to from the Ecuador leg of the trip, but the Argentinian and Chilean legs of the trips were WAY more work and we often would arrive exhausted at night with no time for computers. (and, sorry to say, having Matt here with me makes the blogging less urgent). But that is all over now and Matt and I are living the good life in Buenos Aires for a few days on our true honeymoon. We did the capitals of countries back to back....yesterday we were in Santiago, Chile Santiago is a large city (a third the population of the country lives there), and it backs up to the giant Andes. Really, the views of the mountains in Chile were unbeatable. But other than that, I am afraid to say that Argentina beat Chile pretty soundly in all other travel aspects for me. (Oh, Chile wins for the beach, too, but we aren´t really going to Argentine beaches so it isn´t quite fair. And North Carolina beats them all...at least you can swim in it! The Humboldt current makes the water freezing in the Pacific) People in Santiago were anything but friendly, and it wasn´t the easiest city to navigate. Argentina has most of the same stuff as Chile (though maybe not as much tasty fruit...buying cherries and strawberries on the side of the road definitly was fun), but is cheaper and more äutentico.
In Santiago we did have a nice seafood dinner and got to walk about a bit. We saw the presidencial palace where Allende was murdered by Pinochet´s troups. All the Pinochet business was pretty much over, as he had been buried, and everyone was once again riled up about soccer and CHristmas. I did really enjoy reading Chilean newspapers, learning about the intricacies of Presidenta Michele Bachelet´s response the the Pinochet death. Apparently her father was a general and was killed in the coup he controlled, too. I think I am a big fan of the Chilean president, mostly because she is a woman and she has a lot on her plate.because
flew LANChile back to BA; which I most highly recommend. They feed you, beverage you and entertain you to no end, even on the shortest of flights. Really, flying in the US is ghetto compared to South America. Back in La Plata, we hauled it to the herbarium to face the moldy pile of specimens from the Argentinian leg of the trip. I was initially pretty angry about it, after all that work and no one could even put them in the drier for us, but they are redoing the herbarium currently and most people who work there are in Patagonia now, so I guess I can understand. We doused the particularly fuzzy inflorescences with ethanol, which I think cleared up the problem and the ever attentive Diego will now see to them. Diego was very happy to be home, which I can completely understand, and we said goodbye, thanking him for all his hard work and for making the trip go so smoothly. Perhaps we will meet again in Bolivia or Peru for more collecting. Our plants grow in similar ecosystems.
After more pleasant conversation, wine and empanadas with the Criscis, we headed into BA. Our very cute bed and breakfast is in the very Swanky Palermo (special thanks to Lisa and Z for their recommendation). I wish Keri was here and we had several thousand pesos and unlimited luggage space to fill with designer clothes and handbags. I have a strong desire to be girly and materialistic, after pretty much looking like hell for two months. I am strongly tempted to go to a hip pelaqueria and tell them to cut my hair anyway they like (Matt has thought about doing the same too). We´ll see...maybe you´ll be surprised. Might load up on leather coats too. For now, though, we are just walking about, hoping to work up an appetite to start eating. This place is loaded with amazing food and bars and I can´t wait to dig in.
I can´t believe we will be heading back to the US soon, and into full Christmas insanity. Oh, and cold. I hate cold...it is HOT here and we love it. I will not think about it for a few days, and just live it up!"
Rachel
Sorry I haven´t written as much as you had become accustomed to from the Ecuador leg of the trip, but the Argentinian and Chilean legs of the trips were WAY more work and we often would arrive exhausted at night with no time for computers. (and, sorry to say, having Matt here with me makes the blogging less urgent). But that is all over now and Matt and I are living the good life in Buenos Aires for a few days on our true honeymoon. We did the capitals of countries back to back....yesterday we were in Santiago, Chile Santiago is a large city (a third the population of the country lives there), and it backs up to the giant Andes. Really, the views of the mountains in Chile were unbeatable. But other than that, I am afraid to say that Argentina beat Chile pretty soundly in all other travel aspects for me. (Oh, Chile wins for the beach, too, but we aren´t really going to Argentine beaches so it isn´t quite fair. And North Carolina beats them all...at least you can swim in it! The Humboldt current makes the water freezing in the Pacific) People in Santiago were anything but friendly, and it wasn´t the easiest city to navigate. Argentina has most of the same stuff as Chile (though maybe not as much tasty fruit...buying cherries and strawberries on the side of the road definitly was fun), but is cheaper and more äutentico.
In Santiago we did have a nice seafood dinner and got to walk about a bit. We saw the presidencial palace where Allende was murdered by Pinochet´s troups. All the Pinochet business was pretty much over, as he had been buried, and everyone was once again riled up about soccer and CHristmas. I did really enjoy reading Chilean newspapers, learning about the intricacies of Presidenta Michele Bachelet´s response the the Pinochet death. Apparently her father was a general and was killed in the coup he controlled, too. I think I am a big fan of the Chilean president, mostly because she is a woman and she has a lot on her plate.because
flew LANChile back to BA; which I most highly recommend. They feed you, beverage you and entertain you to no end, even on the shortest of flights. Really, flying in the US is ghetto compared to South America. Back in La Plata, we hauled it to the herbarium to face the moldy pile of specimens from the Argentinian leg of the trip. I was initially pretty angry about it, after all that work and no one could even put them in the drier for us, but they are redoing the herbarium currently and most people who work there are in Patagonia now, so I guess I can understand. We doused the particularly fuzzy inflorescences with ethanol, which I think cleared up the problem and the ever attentive Diego will now see to them. Diego was very happy to be home, which I can completely understand, and we said goodbye, thanking him for all his hard work and for making the trip go so smoothly. Perhaps we will meet again in Bolivia or Peru for more collecting. Our plants grow in similar ecosystems.
After more pleasant conversation, wine and empanadas with the Criscis, we headed into BA. Our very cute bed and breakfast is in the very Swanky Palermo (special thanks to Lisa and Z for their recommendation). I wish Keri was here and we had several thousand pesos and unlimited luggage space to fill with designer clothes and handbags. I have a strong desire to be girly and materialistic, after pretty much looking like hell for two months. I am strongly tempted to go to a hip pelaqueria and tell them to cut my hair anyway they like (Matt has thought about doing the same too). We´ll see...maybe you´ll be surprised. Might load up on leather coats too. For now, though, we are just walking about, hoping to work up an appetite to start eating. This place is loaded with amazing food and bars and I can´t wait to dig in.
I can´t believe we will be heading back to the US soon, and into full Christmas insanity. Oh, and cold. I hate cold...it is HOT here and we love it. I will not think about it for a few days, and just live it up!"
Rachel
# posted by Rachel Jabaily @ 7:14 AM 
