Outside the School

Thanks to a few Argentine holidays, this past weekend was perfect for traveling. There was no school on Friday because it was the special anniversary date of the university and no school on the following Monday because it was a holiday for the province of Entre Ríos (these people take their holidays seriously), so we were left with a nice, fat long weekend.

A group of nine of us got together and planned a trip to Villa Carlos Paz, a smaller town to the west of Córdoba. We left Thursday night for Paraná, the capital of Entré Ríos. When we got there though none of us had really planned on where we were going to stay, so there was a moment where we were all standing on the sidewalk looking at each other with expressions similar to those of deer staring into oncoming headlights. It then finally hit me and I thought to myself, “Good God, I’m actually in Argentina—what the heck am I doing?!” Just when everyone started to think we were going to have to sleep out on the street, I remembered my Lonely Planet guide book in my backpack. Now, if you think guide books are some kind of scam, you’re wrong. They actually work (at least Lonely Planet). It said there was a nice, clean (the only two adjectives a traveler should have to worry about) place to stay just a block away from the bus station.

With our gigantic backpacks in tow, we tromped off to the hotel looking very American. Unfortunately we discovered that the prices were not at all close to what was listed in the guide. You’ll realize that being American actually has some downsides, like everyone thinking you’re made of money. We realized that we were all getting scammed. But suddenly out of nowhere (and I mean nowhere) a man approached us asking if we needed any help. We told him about the situation and he started talking to the owner. After he was done he said he could get us two rooms with eight beds for 240 pesos. Between the nine of us that’s about $10 American. We got a crazy good deal! The man turned out to be on the same bus as us. He said he saw us from a distance and that we looked a little out of place. Go figure.

The next day I woke up and walked around the town snapping some pictures. The building with the white steeple is a church situated across from the town square Plaza 1 de Mayo. The sidewalk with all the urban art was also from Paraná. Our bus for Villa Carlos Paz left later that Friday morning, so I headed back for the seven hour bus ride.

The bus system in Argentina is surprisingly dependable, despite the country’s chill mentality. Depending on what company you use, you can get a pretty sweet ride. The bus ride turned out to be more comfortable than my flight. The seats reclined back sooo far. The buses are also usually double-deckers, so the top half is really fun to ride in. Feels like Star Trek. No joke.

We made it to Villa Carlos Paz that night. This time someone in our group had called ahead about a place to stay, so we didn’t feel as stupid. But for some reason we ended up at a travel agency (I was too tired to remember why). They offered us a house and an apartment for 460 pesos between the nine of us for two nights. Again, we ended up with another great deal. I couldn’t believe we were actually renting an Argentinean house for two nights. It even came with a kitchen!

The following two days were filled with a lot of walking and sightseeing. On Saturday we went to a river just outside the city where there was some beachfront. The weather was great. Later we took a chairlift up to a hill that overlooked the entire valley. The next day we checked out of our house and took a bus to Córdoba. Now Córdoba is a big city. With 1.3 million people packed into a small area it feels a lot like New York City. It also is the Argentinean treasure chest for Spanish colonial-era type architecture. I spent most of the day walking around, taking pictures of the plazas and cathedrals. The bigger church shown below is the Córdoba Catedral. The close-up is of the dome. The building with the pink hue is an art museum full of religious-type art. That night we took a night bus to Paraná. We were hoping to reach Paraná around six in the morning but the bus happened to get there early, really early—at about 3:40 AM. To all you future travelers out there, let me tell you, it sucks to have to sleep in a bus station. For one you can’t. It’s cold. It’s noisy. It’s uncomfortable. But hey, that’s traveling. The fun part is being able to say you spent half the night in a sketchy place where the bathrooms have no toilet paper and dogs roam freely.

We finally made it to Libertador San Martín early Monday morning. I was so glad to be back! I slept way past noon. Strangely enough, the UAP is already starting to feel like home.