After some confusing as to when check-out actually way we got up at 11am and realized that we were already an hour late. I quickly got dressed and packed my bag. I was waiting for Ruben and Maria to finish packing up when Sofia arrived! She helped me move my backpack downstairs and the two of us played on facebook catching up with many of our old classmates. Maria wanted to take her time and enjoyed her morning Mate and showered and packed, so it took her about an hour and a half to get ready. She called us and we went up and helped her move the suitcases down to the lobby. When we were all checked out it was around 2pm and we decided to grab some lunch. We went to a great pasta restaurant where I had meat filled raviolis with a tomato cream sauce, it was unlike anything that I’ve ever had before, but really good.
After lunch Maria, Sofia and I walked around for a couple of hours along a different shopping road. I really didn’t have anything that I wanted to buy so the three of us enjoyed window shopping and looking at all of the different things in various stores. We found a really old fashioned ice cream parlor (in fact, they told me it was one of the oldest in Buenos Aires), and we all got ice cream. I had dulce de leche, which was great! I can’t get enough of the dulce de leche here!
At 5pm we headed back to the hotel to meet Ruben. When we got onto the road in front of the hotel (this is one of the main road in the city, and the largest avenue in the world) we realized that it was blocked off by the police and that there was a huge riot taking place. Maria continued to explain to me how awful it is here in Argentina and how she would leave the country in a heartbeat if she could take her whole family with her. She told me how corrupt the government is, and how it’s always causing so many problems. I really feel bad; I can’t imagine living in a place where the government was corrupt and awful to the people.
We met Ruben and said our goodbyes to Sofy. I wish she didn’t have to take her big exam and could have more time to spend with us, but I keep telling her that she needs to come visit the USA and that I will be back to visit Argentina again soon! Maria, Ruben and I grabbed our luggage and realized that since the road was blocked off we’d have to walk a ways to find a taxi. We walked out of the hotel and down a block to where traffic was moving a little; we stood there for about 15 minutes and had no luck getting a taxi. Since we didn’t have very much time to get to the airport we decided that we needed to relocate. We walked about half a mile in the other direction and waited at a busy corner. It took about 10 minutes there, but Ruben was finally able to get a taxi to take us to the airport.
At the airport we checked in and only had about 20 minutes to kill before we boarded the plane. As with many of the airports in South America we had to load a shuttle bus that took us to the plane that wasn’t near the building at all, then we had to walk up the stairs and get on the plane. I am very curious about and why the planes don’t pull up to the terminals. Regardless, the flight was really good. I set next to Maria and we chatted most of the way. The flight attendants served us Havana snacks (Ham flavored biscuit, a chocolate cookie, and a white chocolate with dulce de leche small cake like cookie), it was good! The flight was only an hour and a half which was great.
We arrived at the airport and gathered out bags and were greeted by Marita and Jaun. Who helped us load our bags into the car and drove us back to their house. Their house is only about 15 minutes from the airport and is right near the center of Neuquén which is really nice. They gave me a house tour; I’m staying in Sofys room which is so cute! Her room is filled with pictures, and many of her friends have written her notes and signed her wall. She also has a great collection of stuffed animals and toys from her childhood that I’ve enjoyed looking at. Her bedroom, as well as her brothers and parents have sliding doors that open to a really nice backyard where her parrots and turtle live. It is so nice to finally see the house where Sofy grew up in!
I unloaded my bags into Sofys room then was called to the table for the feast that Marita prepared for us. She made a delicious roast beef and we made roast beef sandwiches. Marita is a great cool and even made a wide variety of sauces for us to put on the sandwich. I really like the mayo garlic sauce that she made. I enjoyed my first taste of Malbac with Ruben in Argentina! Usually I’m not a red wine loved, but Ruben had it chilled and it was really nice and refreshing. I am excited to actually enjoy a red wine! For dessert we had homemade chocolate mousse which was out of this world! We all added dulce de leche to the top and it was to die for!
After dinner I played online for a bit and killed some time as my food digested a bit, then called it a night. I was exhausted!
Bye for now.
Love,
Katie
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