Phase I: Complete

Well, Phase I has reached its end and I am currently soaring over the Andes with about an hour left in my flight to Chile. I fell in love with Paraguay while I was there and I am actually sad to leave. In my book, I defined Paraguay as…

A friendly hand offering a cup of ice cold terere,

The red dirt roads that intersect the country,

A pile of mangos littering the ground around the tree they fell from,

Strangers welcoming you into their homes as if you had known them your entire life,

The slightly uncomfortable humidity and innumerable bug bites,

Safari playing on repeat,

Harsh R’s and a rollercoaster of inflections,

Refreshing bursts of air conditioning,

Broken down busses on poorly paved roads,

And finally, doble besitos.

I am going to miss this place but I am sure I will be back…

Anyways, back to where I left off…

Days 8-9: San Ignacio, Argentina

To put it this way, I am not sure exactly why I spent two full days here. I went to two different Jesuit ruins that had little historical context and looked pretty much like any other ruins I have been to. I also tried to go to a beach, only to walk for two hours only to find out said beach doesn’t exist. Overall a relaxing couple of days.

Days 10-14: Posadas, Argentina

The beauty of being a world traveler is seeing people you never thought you would see again! I spent four days in the lovely city of Posadas, staying with a friend from exchange. The days were pretty relaxed; drinking terere by la costa, eating pizza, reminiscing of our times in Denmark, and hanging out with Argentines. On the last day there was an incredible reunion; Me MN to DK 14-15, Brenda ARG to DK 14-15, Agustina ARG to MN 15-16, and Sage MN to ARG 16-17. If that is too hard to follow, disculpa pero no tengo otra manera para explicarlo. 

Day 15: Encarnacion, Paraguay

Just across the river from Posadas, this little merchant beach town became my home for one night. I took the train over then spent the day at the beach, getting sun and just relaxing. I ordered a kebab and a daiquiri at one of the beach bars and ended up getting a huge sandwich and 700mL of fruity, alcoholic deliciousness. I was also approached by an old man wanting to know why such a pretty young girl was at the beach alone. While that may sound creepy, and in the beginning I thought it was, his intentions were to make sure I was safe and that is why I love Paraguay.

Days 16-19: Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay

My world is a whirlwind of things I don’t understand… When I was in Posadas, my friend put me in touch with a Rotex Club in the middle of Paraguay. I took an eight hour bus ride (without air conditioning and mostly on gravel roads) to spend the weekend being taken care of my other ex-exchange students. They took me to party after party, I got my makeup professionally done, they showed me around the city, let me stay in their guest house, and gave me an amazing weekend. I also got to see another Minnesotan who is there on exchange which was really cool and he has already promised me an ice cold cup of terere when we both get back in July. There was also a big Rotary lunch that I was invited to; imagine endless meat and lots of mandioca. The Chairman for the district is close with North Star and knows everyone that I know. We chatted about how small the world is and a picture of me is now on his facebook page. Next thing I know they are calling people up on stage and I get called up as the “Blonde Rotex who came all the way from Minnesota.” It was a very odd moment for me…

Day 20: Santiago, Chile

That’s today! PHASE TWO HAS BEGUN.

Tomatelá

A week has passed since I left Mendoza and it has felt like seconds but at the same time, it has felt like years. This is the first time I would say I have ever truly solo traveled and it is incredible. I am learning so much about myself; what I am capable of, my strengths, my weaknesses, my inability to budget well, and my need for good food. Something that has really struck me is that I am falling in love with myself. I have only been on my own for a week, but I already feel so much more empowered and I can see how strong I truly am. What I am about to say might sound egotistical BUT I seem to have forgotten how cool I am and I haven’t been giving myself enough credit. I am an amazing person; I am strong, funny, energetic, enthusiastic, empowered, determined, optimistic – I love to laugh, to talk to people, to take the road less traveled by, to learn, to be. I am weird, but I am myself and I have no need to live up to anyone else’s standards but my own. If you disagree with any of what I just said, read the last sentence again.

Day 1: Traveling from Mendoza to Asuncion.

Nothing too spectacular, just buses, airplanes, taxis. I ran into trouble at the Paraguayan border though; I wasn’t aware I needed a visa to enter the country… Luckily, they have a visa upon arrival option. $160 later, I have a sticker in my passport that allows me to come and go as I please for the next ten years.

Day 2: Asuncion, Paraguay.

I head to the city center and the first thing I do is stop the Tourism office to get information because what is there to do in Asuncion (actually someone please tell me, I spent two full days there and I have yet to find an answer to this question). The girl I was talking to looked oddly familiar but I thought nothing of it until she stopped and said the same thing, followed by the question “did you go on exchange in Denmark?” Low and behold, she went to Denmark the same year I did but to a different district so we had met in passing at the camps and get togethers. Can I get a whaaaaaaaat? Anyways, after she got off of work, we got a traditional lunch and then the best ice cream I have ever had in my entire life.  She had to go to her other job but afterwards I continued my wandering, still in shock over what just happened.

Other side note, while sitting on a park bench a man tried to preach me the bible but was texting prostitutes during our conversation.

Day 3: Caacupe, Paraguay.

Andrea (the girl from before) invited me to go with her church group to Caacupe, a city 35 kilometers from Asuncion, and I happily accepted. I spent the morning wandering through the “tourist” neighborhood Loma San Jeronimo. Not only was it in a sketchy part of town and I thought I was going to get robbed, but there was no one else there and nothing to see. I met Andrea just outside of the neighborhood and we took off with about 45 other people. A little back story: a long time ago, the Virgen Mary appeared at this church and every year people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to see the Virgen. So essentially I walked a 5K with thousands of people all singing, praying, dancing, rejoicing, walking in the name of god then listened to a sermon given by Paraguay’s finest priests. There was an incredible energy to this place and if I believed in the Christian God (sorry Grandma, I’m agnostic), I probably would have exploded.

Day 4: Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

Six hours on a bus later, I made it across the country. Nothing incredibly exciting besides the cat with a claw holding its hips together at my hostel.

Day 5: Itaipu Dam, Paraguay.

I took off with this German girl to see the world’s second largest dam and the largest producer of natural energy! We were given a free tour on a hydroelectric bus and taken to all the different parts of it. I can’t describe to you how enormous this thing was and my pictures don’t do it justice. After we got back into town, I packed everything up and walked into town. Here’s the thing about Ciudad del Este: it is South America’s cheap shopping and black market capital. The center is crazy; so many people in a very small space, everyone trying to see you knock offs, never ending honks and terrible traffic. It is right on the border of Brazil and if I would have tried harder, I could have easily snuck into Brazil illegally. I took a bus that passed through Brazil (it didn’t stop so there was no immigration hassle) and made my way back to Argentina.

Day 6: Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.

How to even start with describing this day? Probably one of the best days of my life.

I woke up really early and took off from my hostel shortly after – a quick walk and a bus ride later, I was standing at the gates to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. Las Cataratas de Iguazu is the second largest waterfall in the world and using the word amazing doesn’t accurately describe how cool it actually is. I hiked all the trails and saw everything I possibly could, I had a Coati (raccoon, squirrel, dog, rodent) steal my lunch, and I walked through a rain forest in a thunderstorm. I am going to let pictures describe to you what I saw because my words cannot capture the beauty of the falls.

Day 7: Puerto Iguazu, Argentina.

I took a rest day and wandered around the city with Chad from Utah and an obnoxious Israeli man. We had lunch then headed to Tres Fronteras, which is where you can see Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil at the same time. We headed back, relaxed and ate dinner then Chad, Renee from New Zealand, and I went out for a drinks. When trying to pay our check, the waiters were trying to rip us off and being the only person that spoke Spanish, I got into a yelling match with them, who then threatened to call the cops (typical South American bluff). In the end, they accepted we weren’t going to get scammed and let us pay the amount written on the bloody menu. The three men at the table next to us watched all of this happen then bought us another round, which turned into buying us three rounds and us having to escape them. Overall, twas an interesting night.

Day 8: San Ignacio, Argentina.

Well, I am writing this on the bus so I don’t have a whole lot to say yet… Stay tuned.

Besitos. 

My Great South American Adventure: Phase I and II

Below is my plan for the next month. I probably won't stick entirely schedule but this is a rough overview. Also apologies for the information overload; this is copied directly from my personal notes.

Phase I: Paraguay and Northeast Argentina

1/12: Bus from Mendoza to San Juan – Flight to BA, flight to Asuncion land around 18.

2-3/12: Discover Asuncion – Costanera, Palacio Presidencial, Barrio Loma San Jeronimo, Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, Mercados, Lago Yapicarai

4/12: Bus to Cuidad del Este – Shopping, Represe Hidrioelectrica, Puente de Amistad

5/12: Saltos del Monday; bus to Puerto Iguazu without crossing into Brazil

6-7/12: Foz de Iguazu, visit the falls and go hiking.

8/12: Bus to San Ignacio – Jesuit Ruins

9/12: Visit Parque Provincial Teyu Cuare

10/12: Bus to Posadas to vist Brenda

??/12: Bus to Coronel Oviedo

19/12: Bus to Asuncion

20/12: Flight from Asuncion to Santiago, Chile

Phase II: Family Visit in Chile

20/12: Arrive in Santiago, check into AirBnb, grocery shopping, Museo de Derechos Humanos

21/12: Issak and Mom arrive in Santiago 8 AM – City Tour, exploring – Cerro San Cristobal, La Vega, Metro Park O’Higgins, Museo de Bellas Artes

22/12: Hiking – Pochoco or another mountain.

23/12: Bodega Tour and more city exploration

24/12: Rent car; Cajon de Maipo. Drive to Valparaiso.

25/12: Valporaiso and Vina del Mar – Beach day and Chrsitmas!

26/12: Wander the streets of Valparaiso and check out the street art

27/12: Drive to el Concon and go sandboarding; drive back to Santiago. Isaak flies home, Mom and Amelia fly to Punta Arenas.

28/12: Arrive in Punta Arenas around 1AM; Check into Hotel – Isla Magdalena (Penguin Island), Magallena National Reserve, Park Pali Aike Volcanic Fields

29/12: Punta Arenas in the morning, bus or drive to Puerto Natales.

30/12-1/1: Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine, boat trip to a glacier, Sena Ultima Esperanza, Milodon Cave, Lake Nordenskjold, Cerro Dorotea

2/1: Mom flies home and Amelia is now on Phase III of her Great South American Adventure

Un Gran Aplauso para Nuestro Asador

The beauty of Mendoza cannot be found in the buildings along the poorly paved sidewalks, nor can it be found in the among the seemingly endless stream of cars, but rather the beauty of Mendoza is found in its people and in its culture. Kissing every person on the cheek before starting anything and then again to say goodbye, passing a highly sugared cup of mate dulce with friends, family, and strangers, spending long hours doing absolutely nothing; that is Mendoza and that is beautiful.

Today marks my four month mark in Argentina and in typical Amelia fashion, I am leaving. I start my Great South American Adventure today and I am writing this in an airport cafe in Buenos Aires. I won't give too many details, as I am posting a second post with my schedule for the next month but I am beyond excited to start this journey alone.

Over the last few weeks, I have done too many things to count. They are as follows:

I hiked to a waterfall in the mountains with only Argentinians! Round trip, the journey took about six hours; three hours up, hour break, two y pico on the way back. The trail followed a river and was pretty flat until we got close to the waterfall, when it switched to some hands and knees climbing. The waterfall was about 50 meters high and at the bottom there was a ginormous snow mound (take that Minnesota, I got snow first - climate change at its finest). Being who I am as a person, I decided to try to get under the snow mound and ultimately ended up wet and shivering. By the end of the day, I was exhausted, incredibly sun burnt, and extremely happy. We got back to Mendoza, I ate dinner, then fell asleep almost instantly.

I have spent a significant amount of time in the park, practicing self care and love. The park is the pulmon verde (green lung) of the city; it takes up over twenty city blocks, it has a lake, a running track, and lots of quiet space to sit and think. I have been drawing there, basking with friends in the sunshine, climbing trees, falling out of trees, and loving myself.

My ultimate team (basically just friends that meet in the park every Saturday with the intention of playing ultimate frisbee, but never actually play ultimate) had Cervezas y Frisbee. Essentially, we drank beer in the park and tried to throw the disc around. Afterwards, I ended up going to a birthday party for a French exchange student and got home at five in the morning. Overall, a successful night.

I took a wild trip to Cacheuta with the IFSA crew. Everything was already planned so all we had to do was show up on time and have a good attitude! First we hiked up Cerro Feliz Cumpleanos, which was a relatively short hike but still beautiful. Once we were off the mountain, we were served a pot roast lunch and then taken rafting. Mira, rafting goes up to class five and we were on a class two... Lets just say it was more of floating on a dingy and having splashing battles with the other boats. However, it did turn into a war as I was literally yanked by my lifejacket out of my boat into another as prisoner. To return, I had to be pulled by my lifejacket again. Between being held hostage and swimming, I was pulled in and out of boats five times during the hour of rafting. From rafting, we went to an artesenal liquor factory and tried countless kinds of alcohol as we are all dripping wet and in our swimsuits. I tried absinthe for the first time, flaming sugar and all. We went home, changed and then were given a wine tasting from the local bodega. Four glasses of wine later, we were eating dinner and then "sleeping."

Day two of the IFSA excursion started with a riverwalk during a thunderstorm. Everyone was pretty hesitant about entering the water, considering that lightning was flashing overhead, but eventually we all got wet. There were parts of the river walk that were walking, swimming, climbing rocks, jumping off of rocks, literally anything you could have thought of. As we got to the end, the weather had cleared up and the water turned stagnant soI got to actually swim! The guides kept yelling at me for taking off my life jacket but eventually I yelled "I am a lifeguard and I can save myself if I drown." That shut them up. This was probably my favorite part of the weekend. Afterwards, we were served an amazing rustic lunch and we tried almost every part of a cow that there is to try. With full bellies, we waddled over to the thermal spas and relaxed for a few hours before heading back to Mendoza. As we were loading up the trafics, I heard what I thought was thunder, but it didn't stop and everything was shaking. When it registered in my mind that I was in the middle of an earthquake, I froze. Luckily, I was no where near the epicenter and it was just an aftershock that stopped after a minute but I now get to cross Survive an Earthquake off my bucket list.

Thanksgiving as an expat is always a weird thing; having to explain why you're celebrating, the lack of snow, trying to find food that resembles traditional American dishes, organizing the dinner with all of your American friends - it's weird. Added in this year the amount of pride I have for my country has dropped substantially and the fact that we are celebrating the massacre of indigenous people while their lands are being taken over by greedy oil companies and the government is doing nothing/sending in militarized police forces to suppress them (#NoDALP), it is hard to feel festive. However, I had Eirini and Madison over to my host families house to make Caprese Mac n' Cheese and Apple Crisp. Probably the least traditional Thanksgiving I have ever had (in Denmark I went to an Elvis Presley themed American Restaurant) but I am happy I got to spend it with them.

My last Saturday in Mendoza was spent with my Rotaract club! We had an amazing end of the year asado. I ate my weight in deliciously cooked meat and then danced the night away among friends. We ended up making a Mannequin Challenge that it on my Instagram account if you would like to see!

Lastly, I passed all my classes! My finals were all jokes; my art final was making sure I had completed all of the projects, my history final was a group interview where the first question was "what did you learn this semester?" and lastly, my social work final was a repeat of the midterm. I passed all of my classes with good marks and I am happy with how it turned out.

That is all for now, I'll try to keep my blog updated during my travels.
Besitos

Do you even hike, boludo?

Beautiful sunset over Mendoza.

Cerro Feliz Cumpleanos.

 Before I was pulled by my lifejacket repeatedly.

Post rafting shenanigans.

 

Thanksgiving and questionable headband choices.

Un gran aplauso para nuestro asador.