Week Fourteen: Mendoza and Back to Buenos Aires

Because I was in the West, I really wanted to visit Mendoza, which is home to many of Argentina's vineyards and also close to Chile and the Andes.  I spent a few days there before returning to Buenos Aires, and it was beautiful and also really, really cold. I arrived late in the afternoon and went to the grocery, cooked dinner, and got to know some of the guests in the hostel.  

One interesting thing about hostels here is that they are often full of people from Argentina or from neighboring countries.  Of course there are also people from the UK and Australia, but it seemed different from the hostels of Europe in that there were people from nearby cities there on vacation or traveling through South America.  All that is to say, I spoke Spanish as often as English with other guests at the hostel.  Special thanks to Mikaela, who put up with my Spanish struggles and took the time to talk to me in Spanish every night.  

The next day I went on a wine tour. I had originally intended to bike, a popular option, but it was freezing and supposed to rain.  I was, in the end, very glad I chose the bus option because it actually snowed and I did not have the right clothing for that situation at all.  

We went to three different bodegas: Navarro Correas, the largest; Vina el Cerno, a local winery; and Don Arturo, another local distributor whose products can't be found outside of the bodega.  

We toured the facilities and tasted at each place before ending with a delicious lunch that afternoon.  It was a great way to spend the day, and I met very nice people from all over the world. 

To be honest, I had no clue about wine or the process of making it, but it's one of the things that makes Argentina famous and a day of learning, drinking, and meeting new people sounded like it couldn't be bad.  

First stop: Navarro Correas

It's a large distributor owned by the same company that owns Jose Cuervo.  It was by far the largest place we saw and the most industrial. 

Wine becoming wine

Special, older process

The barrels, French or American Oak

Lobby display



Wine tasting



We tried two glasses.  I preferred the white (blanco) to the red (tinto), which was a mix of different kinds.  Ultimately Navarro Correas was my least favorite, but it was still really interesting and informative.

Next up: Vina el Cerno

When we got there, it began to snow.  Nothing stuck but wow was it cold.  Also, it was fun to see snow.  Maybe it's because I'm from the South but any snowflake makes me really happy.  I just wish I had had a hat. 

Punny sign outside the entrance.  Bienvenidos means welcome.  Beber is to drink.  

The wines set out for us to try

I liked this one much better than the red at Navarro Correas.  It was a Malbec, for which Mendoza is famous. 

Finally: Don Arturo

I'm not sure what happened to some of my pictures but this is the only one from Don Arturo.  

We were then taken to an excellent lunch.  We all left feeling stuffed and happy. It was delicious and the food just kept coming.

During the tour I met two other travelers staying at a hostel not too far from ours.  Chloe, from the UK, was also traveling on her own.  After the tour, I went to Chloe's hostel to hang around for a little while and steal some of her Kindle downloads.  She had a large collection and I left with lots of new books, yay!

The next day I scheduled a trail ride in the Andes but it didn't begin until the afternoon, so in the meantime, I explored the city with Pedro.  We walked to the main square and along the way stumbled upon this pink fountain.  We weren't sure why it was pink, but assumed it was a prank.  Sydney told me that at one point someone filled the Cordoba fountain with bubbles and now there were guards.

Fountain in yet another Plaza de San Martin 

That afternoon I went to ride a horse near the Andes!  We took a van out to the mountains and there waited to get started.

Our horses and dog friends

The gorgeous view on the ride

From the camp

"My horse is too far away from anyone" selfie

From the side of one of the foothills

At our destination

An asado! So good. 

Cute beggars

One of our hosts playing and singing.  

I really enjoyed riding through the hills.  Even though they were trail horses who could have taken us where we needed to go if we had done absolutely nothing to direct (and really, we didn't.  We were more like bags of flour but it was awesome still.)  The country is beautiful and after being in cities for so long it was really nice to have a chance to get out, sort of like Iguazu.

The food was great, the people were nice, and we ended the night looking at a gorgeous moon and stars outside the cabin where we ate an asado (BBQ, basically, with more kinds of meat and different sauces).

On the last day in Mendoza, I went back to the park on the way to Parque General San Martin, which is huge and has a nice lake and great benches for reading.  See below. 

In the Parque General San Martin

The lake was being cleaned for the first time in something like 30 years so the water level was a little low, but it was beautiful still. 

View from my reading bench.

That afternoon I got on a bus to go back to Buenos Aires and move into my apartment.  I was tired and excited to get started in the city. 

The next morning I took a cab from the Retiro station to Palermo, my neighborhood.  I met my landlord, Jorge, in front of my building, and he walked me up to show me around. 

My apartment here is slightly bigger than the one in Warsaw, still a perfect size for my five t-shirts, and the neighborhood is excellent.  Palermo is green and when I told the teacher at my Spanish school which neighborhood she said, "Que fashion!" It was recommended to me by a friend and by a professor as well, and I'm really thankful for that because it has been wonderful so far.  

There are restaurants, bars, cafes, shops, malls, and, best of all, huge parks all within walking distance or a quick subway ride away.  On that note, the subway stop is just six blocks or so from my apartment, which is perfect.  

Bed and shelves

Closet, dining room table/desk, oven

Kitchen and bathroom entrance

Window

I spent the first few days after I arrived getting settled and walking around.  There are several grocery stores close by, so I stocked up and put together my research lists for my neighborhood and the rest of the city.  

It was so nice to have some privacy again.  It had been close to two months since I had been in a place of my own, with my own bathroom and kitchen and space to unpack.  Traveling was wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for anything, clearly, but I was really looking forward to becoming familiar with a space and neighborhood again.  It was that process that made me love Warsaw and made me feel at home there, and I imagine it will be the same in Buenos Aires. 

Also, I was extremely grateful to have stable wireless for a little while.  It had been so long since I had been able to talk to my family or friends or girlfriend via Skype because connections were really poor or I was running around or the time difference made finding a good time really difficult. The Watson Foundation encourages us not to be dependent on technology and to try to live life in the moment, and I try to follow that rule.  At the same time, however, it's great for my mental health to be able to check in and see the people that I love. 

This week I'm particularly thankful for: 

1. A chance to taste wine and ride horses in a beautiful new place

2. My new apartment! 

3. Friends and family at home who make my days/weeks a thousand times better with emails and stories from home

Quarterly Report One

I can't believe that it's already time for the first quarterly report.  Every three months, I send the Watson Foundation a few pages about what I've been doing and what I've learned so far.  They ask us to think of it as a "long letter home."  It was hard to fit everything into a small space, and I'm so grateful for that.

As I go forward into the next quarter, I have made a few promises to myself.  First of all, I will stop applying the systems of evaluation that I learned to use in my life at Rhodes to this experience.  The need for a serious amount of stress as an indicator of success is not only not the healthiest thing, it's also counterproductive to embracing the best parts of this year, which I have found live in the moment instead of the long-term plan or schedule.

I am going to stop being scared of failing and start doing things that I know I enjoy, trusting that I can pursue my project successfully and be flexible.  I am going to keep exploring and listening and asking questions.

This is, of course, is easier said than done, so if y'all can help keep me in check when possible, it would be much appreciated.

So, with that, here's my letter to the Watson Foundation about the past three months and every new, scary, and beautiful moment or experience I could fit into this space.

Thanks to everyone who made the past three months what they were.


Hello from Argentina!  Although I've officially begun the second leg of my journey here in South America, I should start at the beginning, with beautiful Warsaw and the amazing people there.

Boarding the plane in Memphis, I was a jumble of emotions, so ready and excited to begin but also overwhelmed and despite lots of research, entirely unsure of what my life would be for the next year.

It seemed like the Equality March, the official name of Warsaw Pride, would be a great way to dive into my project and introduce myself to the LGBT community.  On my third real day in the city, I headed to the beginning of the route.  Unfortunately, in my first Watson year lesson in language barriers and in the frailty of the best laid plans, I barely missed the parade due to something lost in translation.

This was extremely disappointing, but one of the big lessons I'm learning so far is to work with the reality instead of planning everything around an idea.  I was able to follow the route after the parade and see the sites most important to the marchers, to feel the presence of the huge number of police officers and witness the protesters who remained, and most importantly, to see openly affectionate LGBT couples, an older woman proudly waving her rainbow flag, groups of friends with painted faces and rainbow bracelets.  Nervous and unfamiliar with the city, the happy and open people made me feel at home and guided me into my project.  

Shortly after Pride, I met with Slava, who is the Office Manager and a Project Coordinator at the Campaign Against Homophobia (KPH), which is the major gay rights organization in Warsaw and the place where I spent many of my afternoons over the past three months.  The situation for LGBT people in Poland is not what it should be, and there are no real protections beyond basic workplace protection mandated by the EU. At the KPH, they work to change law and policy, with specific attention to hate crimes and sexual education at the moment, and to raise awareness.  Everyone at the KPH has what someone in an interview called an "activist's soul," and they could not have been more welcoming or open. They helped me to find little ways to help out that related to my Watson.  

Days in Warsaw were filled with time at the KPH and explorations of the city.  There is not a specific gay-friendly neighborhood in Warsaw, so there were nooks and shops and areas to find everywhere.  Looking for these places raised new questions and made me think about the importance of space in relation to identity and community, an idea that I hope to continue to explore here in Argentina. Slava also introduced me to gay and gay-friendly night life in Warsaw, coming to get me at the Metro when I was lost and connecting me to many people, all of whom were similarly open and friendly.  I found a favorite grocery store close to my little apartment, a walking path and bus route that worked, a coffee shop where a gay couple might hold hands (and where "Walking in Memphis" was regularly on the playlist).  I explored Lazienki Park, just about a mile from my apartment, and on Sunday afternoons wandered to the Chopin Monument to see the piano concert open to everyone in the city.   Warsaw is beautiful, nothing like the vague, gray picture in my head before the plane landed, and it was a privilege to be able to walk through two parks to get to the KPH and sit outside to read and write.  It was a privilege to live in the city, generally, and to be able to get to know the people who live and work for change there.

During my time in Poland, I learned from the pursuit of my project, from people and cities, and from the experience of the Watson as a year of solo travel, none of which can really be separated from the other.

The feelings of community that I experienced on the day of the Equality Parade in Warsaw and on short trips to Berlin and Prague for other Pride celebrations reinforced for me the importance of visibility.  At this moment, I have no doubt that Pride is extremely important as a site of solidarity, but I do have growing questions about the impact of the commercialization of the celebration and what it means to drop political posters in favor of Easy Jet floats.  

In both formal sit-down interviews and informal conversation, the activists at the KPH frankly discussed their own lives and thoughts on the community and the movement for change.  These discussions, combined with conversations around Warsaw, brought me face to face with the everyday bravery that many people nonchalantly wrote off in their own lives.  Almost everyone spoke about verbal, and occasionally physical, harassment as a fact of life. This is not to say that it didn't make them angry or push them to change society and the law, but that when I asked about what it was like to live in Warsaw, the response was generally that it was great, but a certain amount of harassment was expected anywhere.

Reflecting on whether or not I would allow for the same in a description of what it is to be gay in Memphis again raised questions about the extent to which sexual orientation or gender identity can serve as a tie between individuals.  There are lots of things that we share and experiences, like coming out or going to Pride, that make stories that can in some ways reach across social and cultural gaps.  The unbelievable generosity from everyone in Poland made me feel at home but did not change the fact that ultimately, I did not live with the same struggles.  It's my continued goal to find commonalities and still remember my position as a guest, my own privilege, and the importance of the differences in our experiences.

I spent a lot of time alone without being lonely and learned how to sit on a bus, walk down the street, or make dinner in peaceful silence.  I felt the benefits of being disconnected, without texts or great internet access.  There was a moment when I fought the urge to let my hair grow out.  To explain: cutting off eleven inches of hair was a personal transformation and a sign of accepting myself and a butch identity.  It was also, of course, the result of an extremely supportive community to help along the way. That moment outside the door of the barbershop in Warsaw was a refusal to hide again, even alone in a new place.

Of course not every moment was so triumphant.  I struggled with loneliness and missed my family, friends, and girlfriend.  I had a breakdown and consequently, a realization that the way I had been programmed to understand success and progress for most of my life would not cut it during this year; I've made a promise to spend the next nine months fighting the urge to make success and stress dependent upon each other and to embrace the freedom that this year offers.      

The flight from Poland to Buenos Aires landed just more than a week ago, and so far, things have been wonderful.  In the first few days, I met Saulo, who is part of a group in Buenos Aires called Gay Geeks, which has several hundred members throughout the city.  He welcomed me to the group and invited me to participate in the various events that they coordinate each month.  I've found an apartment in the city, but it won't be ready for another ten days, so in the meantime, I decided to explore queer community in other parts of the country.  After two days walking through Iguazu National Park, which was the most beautiful place I have ever seen, I began the bus journey westward.  Currently I'm in Cordoba, which is the second largest city and home to a large population of university students.  After reading an article about the budding LGBT life here, I thought it would be a good place to spend some time, and in an excellent stroke of luck, a friend of a friend from home, Sydney, is here with her boyfriend, Marco, whose mother works in sexual education.  Lizi spoke with me at length about issues of sex and sexuality in Cordoba and Argentina as a whole and provided me with some great contacts working on these issues.  I was able to speak with a trans woman about her relationship and her thoughts on Cordoba (Psh! Buenos Aires! Psh! Cordoba is much better!), and Sydney, an excellent sport, became part of a drag show in a local gay bar.

It's difficult to believe that this year is real, and sometimes walking down the street, I get a goofy face just thinking about it.  Thank you, so much, for these opportunities and for that goofy-faced person, for pushing me to move out of my comfort zone and to question and explore in a deeper way this thing that has been a driving force in my life for so long.  Thank you for the past three months and for the chance to keep going for another nine.


Un abrazo,

Sarah  

 

With the fabulous Slava at the KPH office





With a few of the lovely people at the KPH





With Robert Biedroń, a founder of the KPH and the first openly gay Member of Polish Parliament.  He was nice enough to sit down and talk to me about his work in activism.





At Plac Zbawiciela (aka Savior Square, Hipster Square, Rainbow Square), which is home to many gay-friendly bars, cafes, and restaurants.  Although the rainbow is meant to be a sign of peace and tolerance, it's seen as a symbol of the LGBT community and has been burned multiple times.  Although volunteers always put it back together, only about a third of it was left when this photo was taken, just a few weeks after the last attempt to burn it.  





With Thaddeus, a friend I met in Warsaw who studied in Berlin, at Christopher Street Day, the official name for Berlin Pride




        
At Garganta del Diablo (the Devil's Throat) in Iguazu National Park.  It was overwhelmingly beautiful.  





One of the many rainbows at Iguazu.  A great start (and I'll take it as a good omen) to the beginning of my time in Argentina.

Week Twelve: The Move to Argentina and a Visit to Iguazu

My first week or so in Argentina was filled with lots of jet lag but also with lots of cool people and beautiful, new places.  I landed in the city at the end of August and stayed for a few days in the Art Factory hostel.  One website said it was gay-friendly.  It absolutely was.  It was also a great place to rest after the long trip.  I'm not sure why but the transition from Poland to Argentina was much more difficult than the transition from the US to Poland.  I couldn't really get my bearings for a solid week or so.  While at the Art Factory, I met several really nice people from around the world, including Rike and Mark.

Mark and I explored the city a bit on the Sunday after I arrived and stumbled upon the end of the street fair in San Telmo, a central neighborhood of the city.   

Drummers and dancers in the street

A tango in the neighborhood

Excellent truck. 

While staying at the Art Factory I also met Saulo, who invited me to join Gay Geeks, a social group in Buenos Aires that has picnics, movie nights, and various events every month.  Saulo couldn't have been nicer and I was really excited to have a solid contact in the city.  Although I had sent at least a dozen emails before arriving and even before leaving the US, I still didn't have an organization or person like I did upon arriving in Warsaw.   

When researching, I found addresses for several organizations, so I was really hoping that showing up would be more fruitful than the email attempts.  Before I began knocking on doors of different organizations, however, I spent a few days seeing the city (and trying to adjust, time-wise).  

Because free tours were one of my favorite things in almost every city I visited in Europe, I thought I might really enjoy one in Buenos Aires as well.  Unfortunately, it was a "free" tour that midway through became a paid tour.  A bit odd and because none of us really had the cash to continue (I only had tip money), the tour was fairly brief.  Luckily, I have enough time in the city to explore on my own and to pay for a tour if I choose as well.  In the meantime, here are the pictures from the first half of that tour.  

Manzana de Luces (Illuminated block), one of the oldest places in Buenos Aires named the "block of ideas" because it was home to the Church of San Ignacio, the University of Buenos Aires, and other intellectually important spaces. 

The Plaza de Mayo and behind it, the Casa Rosada, office of the President. The Plaza has been an important site of revolution and protest throughout Argentina's history, starting with Argentinian Independence from Spain.

The symbol of the Mothers of the Plaza painted on the sidewalk at the Plaza.  The mothers began marching under the dictatorship in an attempt to find information about their disappeared sons, daughters, and family members.  Around 30,000 people were disappeared, activists, intellectuals, and families deemed dangerous to the regime.  There were sites around Argentina where prisoners were taken and tortured or killed, and afterward, those responsible changed the architecture to make it more difficult for survivors to identify the buildings where they had been kept.  There are still many unaccounted for.  The Mothers continue to march every Thursday.  

Casa Rosada, the President's office and mansion.  Our tour guide told us the pink color orginally came from a paint made with cow's blood but there's also a story of mixing the two colors of the opposing political parties, red and white, to make a neutral color.  

The tour ended in the Plaza, but I will definitely take another one before I leave.  

After a few days in the Art Factory exploring and meeting new people, I had to make a decision about what to do until my apartment was ready. 

Although I had an apartment booked in the city, I didn't have access to it until the 19th of September.  That left me with lots of time, and after doing a little research, I decided to head off for a few weeks of exploration in the rest of the country.  I found two cities with reputedly budding LGBT social and political life, Cordoba and Salta, and I scheduled visits Iguazu and Mendoza for a few days as well.  I did all my traveling by bus, with my shortest trip at around 13 hours and the longest about 22 or so.  Bus travel in Argentina is great, although each company is a little different, and because it's different from anything we have at home, I gave it a post of its own.  

The first stop was Iguazu, north of Buenos Aires at the border with Brazil and close to Paraguay.  Iguazu National Park is home to Iguazu Falls.  It is the most beautiful place I have ever been.  I spent two full days at the park, walking all of the different trails and seeing all of the falls at least once.  

I stayed at a little hostel in Puerto Iguazu, the town closest to the national park, and because it was essentially off-season, I had a five person room to myself.  The hostel was wonderful, with hammocks and really friendly staff who helped me practice my Spanish skills and gave me recommendations for the rest of my trip in the country.  After all of the walking and traveling, it was a perfect place to rest up before continuing.  

Below are the pictures from the park and when I figure out how with my limited equipment, I will upload a video of the Garganta del Diablo, which was so incredible that when I saw it I actually laughed out loud in amazement.  

These were all over the park.  The most dangerous animal I saw was the coati, although there were definitely some things skulking in the forest as I hiked the Macuco Trail, which is the longest and least disturbed trail in the park.  That said, there were amazing birds and butterflies everywhere, and in the water, there were turtles lounging on the cement bases of the walking trails.  

Coatis were all over the park, especially the areas with food.  They have no fear and will rob tourists of food.  They'll also climb onto the trains and help themselves to anything left in a bag on the floor.  

Cute, right? 

On the way to Garganta del Diablo

Right before reaching the falls. 

Sneak peak. 

Garganta del Diablo.  Unbelievable. 

Still at the Garganta del Diablo

One of the many rainbows in the park. 

At Garganta del Diablo

Back that way is the Brazilian side.  Because I didn't have a visa, I stayed in Argentina, but I certainly didn't feel like I was missing out. 

Turtle on the trail

On the base of one of the trails

There was gorgeous wildlife and plant life everywhere.

Lots of turtles

Mildly intimidating and extremely effective sign

A coati outside of a restaurant area.  

I made a butterfly friend on the train 

One of the signs explaining the dangers of approaching a coati or monkey.  Graphic and again, effective.  

Lesson of the Watson: sometimes you have to selfie.  Alone on a trail in the woods in front of a waterfall?  One of those times.

Just ridiculously beautiful.  

I ended up on the same path as a really nice couple from Southern Argentina.  We took turns taking pictures and they spoke slow Spanish to me, which I really appreciated.  They couldn't have been nicer and we spent the rest of the day walking together.

The Macuco Trail is the longest and least developed trail in the park.  It was beautiful.

The waterfall at the end of the Macuco Trail.

My bus to Cordoba left around noon, but I walked to see the Tres Fronteras that morning before leaving.  It's the point at which the borders of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina meet and it's at the top of the longest road in tiny Iguazu.

Selfie Round Two.  The Argentine marker.

Brazil

Funny enough, walking back down to town, I ran into two guys who walked with me on one of the trails in the park.  Iguazu is tiny and it was nice to see them again.

After visiting Tres Fronteras, I hopped on a bus to Cordoba.

This week I am thankful for: 

1. Mark, Rike, Saulo and the great people at the Art Factory

2. Iguazu and a chance to be in nature for a few days

3. Juan and Katarina, the couple from the park who were so nice

4. Feelig exhausted in the best way and a chance to catch up on sleep.