One Way United

After completing a full circle, we finally headed to a new country, Uruguay.  We explored Montevideo our first day.  I was completely stunned at how laid back this city was.  This city is home to over one million people but walking through the streets you would never be able to tell.  Kids play in the streets, random soccer games are played, and people fish off the piers without a care in the world.  As I was walking through the old part of town I could tell something was not right.  Then I realized what it was, it was completely quiet!  No hustle bustle city life could be detected.  The only sounds I could hear were children and parents playing in the plaza.  Aaah…if only all big cities could be this peaceful.  This big city has the soul of a small town.  It was quite a contrast to the craziness of Buenos Aires. 

We wanted to get out and explore more remote areas of the country so the next day we rented a car.  We were only allowed 250 km a day unless we wanted to pay more so sadly we were somewhat limited in what we could see.  We followed the coast the whole drive and after passing through many cool coastal towns we were looking for somewhere to spend the night.  It was pitch black and we turned into some random dirt road heading toward the coast.  We found a little drive to park in and we spent the night there in the car.  We were hoping that we were not breaking any laws but it did not really matter as there was nobody around to catch us.  We had miles of coastline all to ourselves.  The darkness was overwhelming and we could not see the ocean but the deafening sound of the waves let us know it was there.  The next day I woke up and saw what we could not see in darkness.  The ocean sat right in front of me.  Adam had already left the car to go explore.  I walked onto the coast, looked in both directions and saw no trace of anybody and I broke into laughter.  I could not believe how cool it was!  We did not drive as much the next day as we visited a couple more small towns.  The most notable town was Punta Del Diablo.  This small town was a little more touristy than others we saw but had really cool sand dunes that bordered the ocean.  It took very little walking to get away and have dunes and coast to yourself.  After visiting that town, we drove a little further and turned on a random dirt road that led to this huge lake.  We drove to the end of the road and got out of the car.  Again, there was not a trace of anybody to be found, although there was an excessive amount of cows.  We explored this new area and discovered beatiful beaches with giant boulders, and fields that looked like something out of the African plains.  If you pretended the cows were giraffes and zebras, you could almost convice yourself.  We spent the night there.  I slept in the car and Adam sent up my tent, not being able to sleep well in the car the day before.  We both woke up early and explored.  As I was walking through the fields I was shocked to see two gauchos coming toward me with a zillion dogs.  I was hoping we were not wandering through private territory.  We ended up just exchanging greetings and talking about what a nice day it was.  That was a relief!  After that we drove back to Montevideo.  We stopped at a few cool places.  One of my favorite moments of that day came when we were driving on a dirt road near the coast and two horses began running along side us.  However, it was not cool when they bolted in front of the car and Adam had to slam on the brakes!  Also, on a dirt road the tail pipe got jarred loose and was dragging on the ground.  As we were determining how to fix it, two guys stopped who were very knowledgeable about cars.  They got their tools out and fixed it in 5 minutes.  I said a quick thank you to God for that one as we defenitely did not want to pay for any damages.  We arrived back in Montevideo and found a hostel.  We watched Memoirs of a Geisha in theaters also.  I thought it was a good movie but it could have been better.  The next day (yesterday) we were productive.  We got bus tickets out of here that leaves tonight back to Argentina, we returned the car, and we got hair cuts finally!  Having short hair feels so good!  We also saw Crash in theaters.  I saw it at least 4 monts ago on dvd but Adam had never seen it and it really is a must see movie.  So today, we are just waiting around mostly to leave.  Love you all! We’ve posted pictures in our cool new Uruguay album as well as a new album of Buenos Aires pictures in Argentina. Be sure and check ‘em out!

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So after leaving Cordoba we made our way once more to Argentina’s capital. Due to many factors (most of them being severe mind overload) we didn’t get a whole lot out of this gigantic city the first time around. Determined to do better we got into town bright and early after a long bus ride and checked into our hostel. After a little rest we set out into the city and wandered around for a bit. Later that evening we had dinner with this woman named Fara (sp) who just happened to be from Seattle. We talked and laughed and bugged our waiter to death with our constant ordering of desert, and it was a good time. Really awesome steak by the way for less than $3 American.

The next day we made our way on the metro to a close barrio and ending up going to the city zoo. It was a good size zoo with a good variety of animals. Jordan’s favorites were the monkeys. Mine will always be the large jungle cats. This zoo had a good number of both, although I thought the monkey cages were a little on the small side.

Later that evening we managed to meet up with our contact here that we missed the first time. Jordan’s friend Dani who he met in Gautemala has a brother named Hugo who lives in Buenos Aires. Originally from El Salvador, he came to this city to study medicine and be a doctor one day. After a fun game of email and phone tag we were able to get ahold of him and go out for a couple of beers with him and his friend. They were really nice and very helpful in getting us a cab when the night was done and making sure the driver didn’t rip us off.

The next day we met Hugo again and went to La Boca district. This is a lively section of town with little cafes and artists on cobblestone streets and people dancing the tango for entertainment. We really wished we could have bought some souvenirs but we really didn’t want to carry them around or mail them home at the moment. Later that evening we were going to go see a professional tango show at this good restaurant. We’d made a reservation and everything, but when we got there the place was closed. This was mostly due to the insanely huge parade of people coming down the street. Turns out March 24 is a national holiday in Argentina, set aside as a day of remembering the start of the country’s democracy after one of its worst dictatorships ended just 30 years ago. The “Dirty War” was marked by thousandsof civilian kidnappings and murders which led to many children being left without parents and identities. And now for the first time ever the day was declared a holiday and the people set out to celebrate. And boy do they know how to celebrate! Mobs of people everywhere in bright costumes, waving flags, dancing to the beat of dozens of drums. The streets were a madhouse and yet it was all peaceful and joyful with people of all ages immersing themselves in the spirit. It was incredible to watch as I’d never seen anything quite like it.

The next day we’d planned on leaving and making our way to Uruguay. We checked out of our hostel and went to the bus station only to find that the next bus leaving to Montevideo, the country’s capital, was at 9:30…roughly eight hours away. So we called up Hugo and met him and another friend of his and wandered around the neighborhood where he lives. We got to see his apartment and watch the end of “When Harry Met Sally” to boot. After that we said our goodbyes and went back to the bus station one more time, quite effecient at finding our way around by subway now and left the city. We got into Montevideo at 5 in the morning and found the nearest hotel and crashed until about noon. Now were off exploring this city on quiet Sunday, taking in the sights and figuring out what to do next. As always hope things are good with all of you.

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It has been exactly 10 weeks since the start of our journey, the length of a full UW quarter, and we find ourselves in the same place we began, Buenos Aires.  The city we could not wait to get out of the first time is the place we find ourselves in once again.  The city seems more bearable now, after everything we have seen and done.  We are no longer novice travelers as we have taken countless busses, hiked down rivers, hitchhiked many kilometers, been stuck in places with no money, hopped on ferries, backpacked through rugged wildnerness, and most recently jumped out of an airplane.  Yes, it is safe to say that this monster city no longer intimidates us.  In the span of one UW quarter, I have learned and grown up so much more than I would have in a whole year at college.

After taking the night bus to Cordoba, we recovered at the nice hostel we found, and then went out to see the sights.  We had not seen too much when we decided to watch a couple movies at the local movie theater.  The movies: Brokeback Mountain and Pride and Prejudice.  Both of these movies I would not have even considered seeing in the states but our options here were somewhat limited and after all the buzz surrounding Brokeback, I felt like I had to see it.  I liked Pride and Prejudice a lot more than I thought I would.  I am still unsure if I liked it because it was a good movie or because Kierra Knightley was in the lead role.  It just seemed like her character changed a lot throughout the film and it was interesting to see the gradual realization that she had a blind perception of Mr. Darcy who became more likeable as the movie progressed.  Brokeback Mountain on the other hand, I just don´t get it.  While I do think it is a solid movie, I do not think it was as good as people were making it out to be.  The actors´ performances were good but I did not like the story line, and it is not only the gay thing (which makes a few scenes make me want to cringe and close my eyes, I know, I know, I´m a homophobe).  I don´t want to spoil it for people who have not seen it but I was hoping there would be more character change.  It does not seem like the characters change or learn anything.  Also, it seems like the movie tries to paint them as victims of societal pressures and pushes aside the fact that they cheated on their wives and were terrible parents. 

Anyways, after sitting over 2 hours through Brokeback Mountain, we felt like jumping out of an airplace, so the next day we did. 

Our hostel is connected with this skydiving outfit and for $130 we got to tandem jump (hooked in with an experienced skydiver), got a video of our jump, and a cd with video and pictures…a much better deal than we could swing stateside.  We arrived and watched 2 Israeli girls do their jumps first.  The plane was extremely small and barely big enough to fit the pilot, the guide, the camera man, another random guy from Holland that likes to jump out of airplanes, and of course the client.  Therefore, only one client could jump at a time.  We waited for the first girl to jump down and we thought we saw her but it was the random guy.  He dropped from the sky, made a hard landing, dragged his parachute across the grass, told us good morning, and dragged his parachute inside the hangar.  I just thought I would mention this because that was the coolest introduction I have ever seen in real life.  I later found out he was from Holland and did a tandem jump once, became hooked, and has been skydiving everyday for the past 3 years.  Anyways, we watched the 2 girls do their jumps and then it was Adam´s turn.  We received brief instruction on technique (arch your back while free falling, legs up on landing, and that was the extent).  So Adam took off and did his jump and when he got down he had a big smile and was visibly shaking.  The scariest part for him was when the parachute opened and he realized how high up he actually was.  I am sure I did not do Adam´s jump justice, but I wasn´t there.  After watching 3 others before me, it was finally my turn.

I put on my jump suit and then my harness thing.  The guide dude put it on me and made sure everything was tight as the filming dude filmed me.  I got on the plane and was surprised at how small it actually was on the inside.  We were packed in there like sardines.  During the plane ride, I gradually got more and more nervous.  I think my primary thought was making sure I was hooked into this guy before jumping (he did have the parachute after all).  I watched as the random dude from Holland jumped out.  The guide dude held on to me as the door opened and the random dude literally dived right out of the thing.  The door closed and the plane went higher.  That plane ride felt like it lasted forever…that was the scariest part for me…the anticipation of jumping.  Finally, after we had climbed a considerable distance, it was time.  The camera dude got out first and held on to the side of the plane waiting for us to jump.  We got in position and then we were falling.  We twisted a couple times in the air through the clouds before stabilizing and then we fell with faces looking straight down.  All of a sudden the camera man appeared out of nowhere and was flying right next to us, filming us.  It was absolutely incredible and confusing.  After a 10 second free fall or so the parachute was deployed and I watched as the camera man continued falling.  He finally deployed his schute also.  The parachute ride down took about another 5 minutes or so.  We were just hanging there, gradually coming down, the whole city of Cordoba and a billion farms within view.  I think I said mierda a few times.  We eventually glided down to the bottom where he told me to lift my legs up for the 100th time, and we landed.  What a ride!  That was defenitely one of the coolest experiences I have ever had, the feeling is indesribable.  

Anyways, after falling from the sky we decided to go see another movie that night: Derailed.  It was a solid movie but not great.  There were a couple of twists that threw me which is always fun but other than that it was your average thriller movie.  We took a bus out that night to Buenos Aires where we are now!  So in Cordoba we basically watched 3 movies and went skydiving…so much for sight seeing!   

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