Life in Argentina

We left Buenos aires via the biggest most comfiest bus ever at around 9pmish local time. Argentines know how to travel bus wise. Better than airplanes, for real. Had so much leg room, DOUBLE DECKER!!, and had airplane lighting, etc. It took a whopping 6 hours to get from Buenos Aires to Mar del Plata. Right now, in retrospect, it was so worth it. The weather here is simply gorgeous. It can get very windy and chilly in the shade and at night, but the warmth of the sun and the beaches are quite amazing. Anyways, we got here around 2am in the morning. Jane and I luckily got a bigger room, with a better shower in which I can actually move around in. No A.C, but since its a bit cooler here than in Buenos Aires, its no problem. We were finally able to sleep around 4am, after unpacking and settling in.

It seems like I will never get any proper sleep while in Argentina- I’ve always been either traveling, or having to wake up extremely early to get things accomplished. Today, I woke up around 9am to shower and to get ready in time for the breakfast served at the hotel.( We have to pay and buy every meal from out other than the breakfast provided by the hotel). Breakfasts here are very light and very very VERY sweet. There basically is just sugared sweets, such as glazed croissants, weird wafers, slices of ham, and if you are lucky enough, a very small bowl of cereal. Coffee here is a must, and I must say its very delicious and soon becoming a staple of my diet here. The coffee served at the Liberty hotel in Buenos Aires was much more delicious than the coffee served here. Thankfully I picked up a banana along the way back up to the room- it was essentially the main portion of my breakfast. I’m scared I’ll one day die of hunger here because of how light breakfasts are here, and how lunch is hours afterwards. We’ll see what happens.

Afterwards, we ventured out to the beach, only a few blocks away. Again, Lonely Planet was correct in saying how Mar del Plata beaches get very veryyy crowded. As this is the Christmas break, and summer down here in the southern hemisphere, Argentines commonly flock to Mar del Plata and other coastal beach towns/cities to enjoy the sun and sand. It was quite amazing how we were able to park our beach towels and claim a bit of little real estate down there. I was overjoyed to be able to soak in the sun ( not so happy that I irrevocably turned a few shades darker) and feel the warm sand and cool water beneath my toes. The best prescribed medicine to that horrible winter blizzard the northeaster US seaboard suffered last Sunday.

We had lunch afterwards at what seemed to be a cute outdoor beach restaurant ( it turned to be almost deadly as the umbrella shades covering another table flew and almost impaled a few in the group). I had a hamburger with the best tasting beef patty ever. I normally hate eating hamburgers, but this was very delectable. Its really depressing though to know that I’m spending quite a lot of money in Argentina on food alone. Argh. oh well.

After lunch, we ventured a bit around in the city, and finally found a supermarket. Bought essential soap, fruits, bread and ham to supplement our thinning wallets and light breakfasts. Oh yeah, I also bought milk ( I can’t believe I have gone three days, THREEEEEE DAYS, without a cold tall glass of milk).

Now, its onto getting ready to ringing in the new year. I wish you all a Happy 2011!!!