In Argentina, there seems to be two main ways of being social, at least outside of the cities. The first is to drink mate together (“Vamos a tomar unos mates?”) and the other one is to do an asado, a barbeque. The asado can be fancy and planned and involve nice glasses and lots of wine, or it can be improvised, with a very basic grill, some meat, and some good friends. We did an asado by the barn with colleagues on the first Sunday in seven months that we didn’t have guests in the hotel!
Last week I stayed in a wonderful little place in San Telmo. It is one of the most quirky, charming places I have ever seen, I think! There are seven rooms, all have both a number and a name – and the names are of the kids in Sound of Music! Marta, Kurt, Liesl and so on. Too cute! The B&B is located in an old building in San Telmo, and is over several floors. I had to climb something like three spiral staircases to get to my room, and then there was another spiral staircase to get to a rooftop terrace. The whole places is filled with little terraces and outdoor spaces. So cute! The breakfast was wonderful and the staff very, very nice. Recommended! (Although I wonder how you would get really big bags up the stairs…)
I definitely cook a lot less now that I more or less live in a hotel. But once in a while I do whip something up. Here is a delicious dinner of trout I made the other day, with a topping of shrimp, mussels, peppers, and zucchini. The fish at the Mercado Central is very good and I am delighted to know where to get good fish in this rather meat centric country.
The big Jumbo supermarket in Palermo had a whole table of Norwegian bacalao (dried cod) with Norwegian flags and all!
I am a transport nerd. I love trains, buses, bicycles, public (and green) transport in general. Today I decided to take the cheap, slow way to Buenos Aires. First, I took the bus to Monte Grande, where I had an errand. Then I took the train to Buenos Aires. The whole trip would usually take one hour. Today was a little different: the bus ride took two hours and the train ride almost 40 minutes. But, it was very cheap! The bus ride cost 4.50 pesos, and the train ride cost 3.50 pesos. As a comparison, the nice bus I usually take costs 40 pesos.
The train ride was my favorite. There were a lot of people on the train, and lots of stuff to look at. Many people come on the train to sell things, and there are also people asking for money, including little children. It is sad to see the children begging, or performing for money, but it was interesting to see how the conductors didn’t do anything about it. A couple of them would pat the children on their heads. Also, the conductors did not seem too strict about having tickets. A lady who looked very poor and was carrying a small child, said she had misplaced her ticket, and the conductor did not do anything. Shortly thereafter, a young man gave the woman his ticket, so that if there was another control she would have one. I thought that was a very sweet gesture. Some compassion in a tough world.
Here is a photo of the rather run down train.
Most people who live outside of their home country get this question on a regular basis. “Do you miss home?” “What do you miss the most from Norway?” All very normal questions. The thing is that now I have lived outside of Norway for so long that while I still feel very Norwegian, I don’t necessarily miss Norway, the country, that much. Of course I miss my friends and my family, and there are customs and attitudes that I appreciate and miss, but as far as places, I don’t miss it that much. I miss Washington, DC, much more, which is natural because I lived there recently and for many years. I sort of actively avoid going down memory lane too much, because I do love it and I do miss it – the gorgeous fall and spring, the heat, my friends, my bike, my beautiful neighborhood of Dupont Circle… We had a good run! And I am sure I will be back at some point.
Sometimes I think that to my 12 year old self, this place is paradise! So many beautiful horses everywhere. I would have done anything to have this when I was 12-13 years old. Here is a photo of Erik, my favorite horse here. I started riding him in January and rode him a lot on and off. He is a wonderful horse for a polo novice. I also started taking him out on trail rides to change it up a little bit.
Erik came here as a loan and nobody really knew his name, so I decided to name him Erik, after Erik the Red. Unfortunately he is hurt right now, but I go visit him in the field every day and he comes over like a little dog to be petted. He spots me from far away and starts coming towards the fence. My inner 12 year old is oh so happy!
Noruega en Argentina 