Mamushka

I can now say that I have skied the Andes. Last weekend Morgan, Sam and I took an eighteen-hour bus trip to Bariloche for a quick ski ‘getaway.’ However painful eighteen hours sounds, it was surprisingly comfortable. We took off Thursday afternoon (after classes of courses, we only had to miss a few classes on Friday) and arrived Friday morning in the quaint lakeside town of Bariloche. The bus was very luxurious, with the seats reclining into full beds. They served meals, played movies etc. and despite the crazy little bathroom the trip was enjoyable. And boy was Bariloche worth it…
The best way to describe Bariloche is Lake Tahoe, except bigger and with tons more chocolate. Yes, Bariloche is famous for its chocolate. The few main strips are littered with chocolate shops, “Mamushka,” “Abuela Goye,” “Fingolia,” to list just a handful of the heavenly chocolate shops. The first day we got there after dropping our backpacks at the MarcoPolo Hostel, we had our first of many chocolate experiences. All the chocolate shops are intently touristy (like Disneyland but ONLY for chocolate). The workers all dress in matching little outfits complete with white little caps. We inquired about the “best” chocolate, and we were directed to “Mamushka.” We picked a large sampling box and spent the afternoon chowing down…
If your head is starting to ache from all the chocolate talk, than you can understand a fraction of the sugar-overdose. Due to poor weather conditions we were unable to head up to the slopes on Friday, so we spent the day exploring the chocolate shops, and the mini-museum which claims to be the “BEST” museum in Patagonia (a bunch of stuffed birds, animals etc. making me wonder what the other museums have…)
The rugby world cup is going on, and Argentina is very fanatic about the games. So Friday afternoon was also spent watching Argentina beat France, again and again and again-
The MarcoPolo Hostel, added an interesting element. One girl staying there was from the O.C. (the Argentines thought it was amazing to actually meet someone from the O.C.- they are very into the show here) and she had just decided to stop going to school and snowboard her life away- (how can she have the funding for this?) Another guy was from Hollywood, and he had just decided to drop everything and come to Bariloche to snowboard because it was “getting to be too hot in LA” (-side note this guys name was Star if it gives you an idea of what type of dude he was). Also another girl from our program was staying in the same hostel with her brother, so we ended up spending the majority of the trip with them.
Saturday we woke up early and caught the local bus to CerroCatedral, the slopes. We rented our gear for $54 pesos (less than $20 US for everything!) and hopped on the ski lift. The major difference between skiing in South America and skiing in the U.S. (haha just wanted to say that I had skied the Andes!!! Yes, I am rubbing that in-) is that the view literally looks like you are at the end of the earth. Also the runs are a lot more ‘free-for all’ with fewer signs, safety measures etc. We also managed to enjoy some chocolate at the top of the mountain in the form of a chocolate churro (yes I am eating my way through Argentina- there is no better way to know a culture than to know every form of chocolate they have ever invented!)
The photos really don’t do these mountains justice- but hopefully they help.
We arrived back Monday morning in time to head straight to class. It was weird how leaving Buenos Aires is really what made it feel like home. It was great being back in my purple room-
A few quick updates from the city: I found an art gallery yesterday (quite near my home) that had an exhibit of photos by Robert Frank. A couple photos were of San Francisco, which filled me with the desire to grab the person next to me and say, “Este es cerca de mi casa! Cerca de mi casa!” (I refrained). I also tried a TaeBo class at the new gym I joined, which is basically a super hyper Argentine man leading a class full of students in punches and kicks. It was very much like a computer game as the music had been synched to the moves, and the instructor would jump around and pretend to be wounded by jabs etc.
Midterms are coming up and it makes me nervous that my time here is fast disappearing…
That being said I must head out and seize the day (or more importantly head to class…)