Bariloche

Since I last blogged, I have since left Chile, and I am back in Argentina for a week. For my week that I spent in Puerto Varas, Chile, it was really nice. I definitely kept things really simple and got caught up on sleep and rest from the past month. I also worked all week. Each day I had at least 8 classes which was a good feeling to be making some money and to be busy. I have a lot of new students; some of them are great and some of them are not so great. But what is really nice about this online tutoring gig is that I only have to see them for 30-40 minutes and then they're gone. And I don't have to think about the students or the lesson plan until 5 minutes before the next class. It would be nice to get paid more but I am getting some more classes which is a good thing. The work is pretty easy except for when the students are bad. Back to Puerto Varas, the town was right on a lake, and I did go swimming one day although it was really cold. I took some nice walks around town and honestly just kept it really simple. I was there a full week and then on Friday I got on a bus to return to Argentina. 

The bus was about 7 hours long and it ended in Bariloche, Argentina which is where I will spend a week. It was an incredibly gorgeous drive and the bus was nice! Bathroom on board, reclining seats, and a place to charge your phone. The border crossing was easy which was great, and I got to watch the sunset which was really nice. I spent the weekend in a hostel and moved into an Airbnb room on Sunday. The hostel was very relaxed, and they had free breakfast which was nice. I was really active all Saturday and I did this thing called Teleferico Cerro Otto. I bought a ticket and then a bus picked a group of people up in town to drive us to these gondola/cable cars. I rode the gondola up the side of a mountain and had a really nice view of the city and lake while riding up. Then I walked around and ending up doing a longer hike that left from Cerro Otto. I walked to this insane view of a different lake. This is part of the lakes district so there are tons of beautiful lakes. I wasn't planning to do a hike like that, but I had some crackers, cookies, and lots of water that fueled me. And it was so worth it. Then I walked back to the building and rode the gondola down the mountain. The bus drove me back into town and then I just explored. Right now is summer and this is a super touristy area so there were lots of artisan markets with art and cool creations. There is also just a lot of stores. I didn't realize that Bariloche was so big. Big enough to have a McDonalds (which I did get on my first night because I arrived late and needed something easy)! There was also a parade/ protest against the government that was really empowering and interesting to observe. I walked around and watch the skaters at the skatepark for bit. Then I ate dinner down by the lake, but it got really windy, so I didn't stick around for sunset. It was not too cold for ice cream though. That was all Saturday so then on Sunday I moved from my hostel to my Airbnb and I just ended up having a lazy day. I was planning to go for a hike, but I did not really want to endure the wind. This week is more work and trying to explore the area when I can. I am hoping to make it out on another hike one morning before I start work. Because Chile and Argentina are 4 hours ahead of Colorado and 2 hours ahead of the Eastern US, I start work late in the day, which is nice, but it also means that some days I don't get done until 9pm. So hopefully I can make it out before I start work one day. 

Some fun cultural things that I have noticed in Argentina that I wanted to include:

- I have seen this in a few places and maybe we have it in the US but in cities where cars are parked in parking garages or lots, the driveway has an alarm and a flashing light that goes off, so pedestrians know to watch out because a car is coming.

- In a lot of places, you can't flush toilet paper. This was common in Costa Rica, and I guess the trend continues all the way down south. 

- In Argentina mate is a big deal. Mate is a tea drink that is shared among friends. There are special mate cups and straws, and, in the cups, they put the leaves. People carry around large thermoses of hot water to fill up the cups and to have fresh, warm mate. I have watched groups of friends and family pass the mate cup around and it is so cool to see because it is such a wonderful example of community. Many stores advertise having free hot water and I've even seen hot water dispensers in place of drinking fountains. 

- When people greet you, they come in for a brush of the cheek. Sometimes people that you don't even know will come in and put their cheek against yours. A little bit jarring as someone who doesn't love people in her personal space.

- Argentinians do have an accent but it hasn't been really hard to understand for me (yet). 

This is a picture of the driveway thing with a flashing light and alarm.

I'm sure there's more cultural things that I'm not remembering but those were the ones on top of my mind. I have really been enjoying Bariloche so far. It has Colorado vibes a little bit, just the ski town aspect coupled with the beautiful nature makes me feel a bit reminded of home. I think of all the places that I've visited so far, this is one that I could see myself staying for a long time. I leave in a few days and head back to Chile for a while which I am excited about. Peace and love <3