Lovin’ It

Buenos Aires, Argentina

I’m not sure why the Rio de la Plata is called the Rio de la Plata. There is nothing silver about it. The river is more of a milky-coffee brown in color. If I were naming the river I think ‘Rio Café con Leche’ would be more appropriate.

I only bring this up because I’ve been staring at this river waiting to cross it since I arrive in Uruguay. I’ve loved Uruguay but knowing Buenos Aires was on the other side had me waiting in anticipation for the inevitable crossing. The time spent in Uruguay was beyond my expectations. Granted, I had none.

The river is the easiest crossing from Colonia or Montevideo into Buenos Aires. It’s just over an hour as the crow files. Uruguay made travel easy and those flying straight to B.A. Are missing out on a great experience.

But, B.A. what can I say about this city? The earliest I’ve been to bed is 3:30 am. This place combines everything I love about American and Latin American cities and puts a European spin on it. Cheap wine, steaks, great culture, friendly people, Happy hours last until 10:00 and the day doesn’t begin until noon. This place is easily becoming one of my favorite cities.

From Buenos Aires 2011-02 Tango in the streets

Time to Learn Spanish. Again.

I spent four weeks in Guatemala learning Spanish. After several months of traveling in C.A. my Spanish has only gotten worse. Why? Too many people speak English and see that I’m not Hispanic. No matter how many times I tried to speak Spanish they would revert to what little English they knew simply because I was not fluent in Spanish. It became annoying and several times I would just keep speaking Spanish to them just to maintain what Spanish I had learned.

I’m glad to be here. On the street people take me for a local and speak Spanish to me. They’re English is limited but they don’t feel the same urge as those in C.A. to switch to English because I don’t know Spanish. In the hostels everyone speaks Spanish as their primary tongue. At first it was intimidating until I recognized it as a prime opportunity to speak as much Spanish as possible. I constantly hear the advice to just ‘dive in’, ‘make a fool of yourself when speaking’, ‘just speak as much as possible’ and this is place to do it. Yesterday was the first day in months that I spent the entire day only speaking in Spanish.

I’ve found new reasons and a new desire to learn Spanish. There are also plenty of long bus rides in my near future and received some great advice for how to practice on a bus; sit next to an old lady. They’re friendly, speak slowly, and will want to chat your ear off.