So since my last blubbering entry, things are looking up for the intrepid traveller! She went to a Salsa lesson (which was HEAPS of fun), went to a live music bar (which was HEAPS of fun), caught up with some wondeful friends that she had met in Christchurch and London respectively (both living here) and managed to use her broken Spanish to navigate herself to the Bus station AND to a different city! (which was satisfying).
So I decided to leave Buenos Aires for a few days, and go to Rosario, a smaller city about 4 hours away. Argentina has the most amazing busses. So comfortable, they are definitely better than New Zealand. I did get a little lost getting to my couchsurf host´s house, but so far am having a really nice time with her and the other couch surfer here at the moment too.
Rosario is a nice city. Smaller than Buenos Aires, it still has 1 million people so in New Zealand standards, is still a big place.
I´ve been discussing a lot the cultural differences between our countries, as everything is still new to me, but it is really interesting. Mate (pronounced Ma-tay) is taken by Argentinians EVERYWHERE and is kind of like a green tea. You see people on the streets with their thermos and Mate.
So far a lot of the basic differences I am noticing is in the food. Here they love pastries, sweet and otherwise, and finding vegetables is difficult. In fact I went to a restaurant the other day and ordered Milanesa (chicken schnitzel) and mashed potatoes. The schnitzel came and although it was absolutely delicious, was bigger than the plate itself. The mashed potatoes came on a separate plate altogether. I am finding the food a little too sweet and carbohydraty for me, but as long as I make sure I cook things with vegies in it, I´ll be ok. There are fruit and vegie shops everywhere so it´s just a matter of cooking for myself. I´m not sure how the Argentinians stay as slim as they are, since they eat a dispropotionate amount of pastry, bread and sweet stuff. You think that they would be the size of a house.
Last night I found out what it is like to eat Latino style. We bought wine and ingredients for empanadas (yum!) a kind of pasty filled with whatever you like. We started this at 9pm and when we finally sat down to eat, it was midnight. We talked until 2am and although it was later than I am used to, it was wonderful. The latinos (and many parts of Europe) just understand how to take their time with food, wine and talking. They aren´t in a rush to do anything and is one of the things that I love. Don´t think I´ll be taking the timings back to New Zealand though, maybe just the feel. I have a feeling that if I invited friends over to dinner and didn´t feed them until midnight, I would lose a few friends in the process!
