FRIDAY 02/12/10
Went for a run in the morning around Plaza Italia (a rather small park with many stray cats to avoid). Had lunch at a “Cuban” restaurant down the road – really cool décor and Buena Vista Social Club playing for a majority of the time. I was the only crazy one choosing to sit in the sun, but it felt so good. Had an empanada and a steak quesadilla…and it took another 45 minutes to the check. (I asked one of my Argentine friends if there was any way to get the check quickly and she said there wasn’t.) After packing up for the weekend in Gualeguaychú, I headed to the Subte, to find a man closing off the turnstiles – my line was “fuera de servicio.” I quickly caught the bus to Vanessa’s house so that we could catch the “combi” (small bus) with the rest of our group of 30. There was no real need to hurry, though, as I should have expected – good ole Argentine time. The group that we were going with was Buena Vibra Viajes – the 6 of us (Vanessa, 2 of her rugby teammates, 2 French friends, and I) were definitely some of the older ones of the group.
The bus ride to Gualeguaychú consisted of mate and fernet (Argentine liquor that is usually mixed with Coke) – only the mate for me – and lots of reggaeton and argentine pop music. We made a stop at a truck stop – only 1 hour into the 2 ½ hour trip, but they did have hot water (for a peso!) available to refill our thermos for mate.
(Natalia paying for hot water)
(my combi compañera)
We arrived to the small town of Gualeguaychú around 12:00 am where we unloaded our things and then headed to dinner at a local pizza place in a plaza with a live cumbia band. The locals definitely seemed a little disgusted by 2 bus-loads of people coming through their Friday evening. After our mediocre dinner, we headed to Macuba, a discoteca that the tour group had a contract with. It was a nice club with multiple dance floors and 2 patios. The only problem was the lack of good dancing music – so we just all sat around waiting for something to happen…and after about half an hour, the 6 of us decided to call it a night at 4:00 am (which was extremely early).
After falling asleep at 4:30 am in our HOT room of 5 sets of bunk beds (there was AC, but it didn’t seem to be functioning), I heard the other girls come in around 8:30 am, but thought that it was time to wake up…instead, I rolled over and slept some more.
The bus ride to Gualeguaychú consisted of mate and fernet (Argentine liquor that is usually mixed with Coke) – only the mate for me – and lots of reggaeton and argentine pop music. We made a stop at a truck stop – only 1 hour into the 2 ½ hour trip, but they did have hot water (for a peso!) available to refill our thermos for mate.
(my combi compañera)
We arrived to the small town of Gualeguaychú around 12:00 am where we unloaded our things and then headed to dinner at a local pizza place in a plaza with a live cumbia band. The locals definitely seemed a little disgusted by 2 bus-loads of people coming through their Friday evening. After our mediocre dinner, we headed to Macuba, a discoteca that the tour group had a contract with. It was a nice club with multiple dance floors and 2 patios. The only problem was the lack of good dancing music – so we just all sat around waiting for something to happen…and after about half an hour, the 6 of us decided to call it a night at 4:00 am (which was extremely early).
After falling asleep at 4:30 am in our HOT room of 5 sets of bunk beds (there was AC, but it didn’t seem to be functioning), I heard the other girls come in around 8:30 am, but thought that it was time to wake up…instead, I rolled over and slept some more.
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