Blog Update!
Hello Everybody! Hope you are having a great time with family and friends over the Easter holiday. Holidays are always hard while traveling, Leah and I miss everyone from home very much. We are planning an Easter egg hunt today for the two of us, to keep the easter spirit alive. We’ve just arrived in Buenos Aires after two weeks of living at a yoga retreat. We had a great time there, posts to come soon! As you can see, we’ve updated the blog layout! Let me know what you think. Unfortunately, the subscription list was reset, so I’d kindly ask you to re-subscribe! Thank you!...
Read MoreMaria’s Homestay, San Fernando, Argentina
We stumbled upon Maria’s homestay on couchsurfing.org. After an exchange of emails, viewing Maria’s website (http://www.mariahomestay.com.ar/ ), and the promise of an Argentinian Asado, our minds were set. We were headed to Buenos Aires. Nestled just north of Buenos Aires is the nautical capital of Argentina “San Fernando.” Maria’s homestay is a beautiful guesthouse seperated from the main house by a lush garden. Song birds, cats, and dogs all wander around happily in the warm Argentianian sun. Maria’s homestay is a sanctuary of sorts, all of the cats and dogs are strays Maria has taken into her home much like us =) The first night in San Fernando, Maria’s son, Luicano prepared for us a traditional Argentinian Asado (BBQ). The meat sizzled on the barbie, while we chatted with Maria and her two sons, Mario and Luciano. Mario works teaching people how to use Apple computers. He absolutely loved coca-cola and Ireland. Mario and Luciano are very much into rock music. Maria brought out some of her home made pickles and an eggplant dish in oil and spices, both were delicious. We ate more meat than I thought humanly possible, before we headed inside for a night full of Argentinian wine, Fernet, and conversation. We spent nearly six hours chatting, eating and drinking. The next day Maria gave us a tour of the River through San Fernando. She showed us all the plants and trees of the area. The river through San Fernando is polluted so the fish really should not be eaten. However, there were plenty of fisherman there ignoring that information. Leah held some of their catch. The night we left, Maria prepared another meal for us! She also had some Dutch sailor friends visiting. We played rummikub with the Dutch couple and Maria. They have spent the last 11 years sailing around the world. They just came back from Ushria. Coined “the end of the world” Ushria is as far south as you can go in South America, and only a short boat trip from Antartica. Leah and I plan on going there, but maybe not this trip =) After games, Maria brought out another feast. We started the feast with some homemade hot pepper jam from Mia (The Dutch Lady). It was sweet, spicy and delicious. The food in Argentina is not very spicy, so it was good to finally get some spice. Maria brought out a platter of perfectly seasoned, baked chicken empadas! The empadas were amazing! We’ve had quite a few in restaurants and from street vendors. But all were put to shame by Maria. We could not have been any luckier. It was like having a home cooked meal from your own mother while in a forgien land. We chatted long into the night before heading to bed, it was our last night in San Fernando, and as always we were full of emotions when we went to bed. Staying in Maria’s homestay was an amazing experience, the food was better than I could have ever imagined, the garden was tranquil, but the best experience of all was the loving home Maria provided for us! Thank you! PS San Fernando is just south of Tigre, a town on the delta north of Buenos Aires. Many sailors frequent the area to get their boats fixed. The rates are much better than in Europe or America. Sailors will spend anywhere from a few weeks to months waiting for their boats to be repaired, or just relaxing in the warm Argentinian sun. Maria’s homestay provides them a place to stay....
Read MoreFlorianopolis, Brazil
What could make a beautiful city on an island covered with beaches, fresh fish, and oysters better? Meet Paula, our couchsurfing host. Paula has a heart much bigger than I could have ever imagined, she opened up her beautiful condo to Leah and me over the weekend. Couchsurfing has met a lot of opposition from friends and family. For those of you who don’t know what it is, www.couchsurfing.org is a online community of people who open up their homes for “strangers” to come and stay the night. The idea of couchsurfing is much bigger than a free place to stay, its an open canvas of cultural exchange. The niceties are always interesting in travel (where you’ve been, where you’re going, cultural and linguistic differences, etc). But the real beauty of our stay with Paula was much deeper. Minutes after meeting Paula, we felt at home, and talking with her was like talking to an old friend. Paula showed us Lagoa da Conceição a very trendy section of Florianopolis, with restaurants, shops, and street markets to rival any hipster area in an US city. We shared a large bowl of Acai and hours of window shopping. It was an acleptic mix of Brazilians, from the fashion-concious middle class, to the jewerly making Rastafarian, to the old men playing dominos. After a long stroll in Lagoa da Conceição we picked out fresh ingredients and cooked a pizza together; sharing stories, pictures, and wine late into the night. Paula’s friend Eleanor joined us for pizza and stayed for the rest of the weekend. She is a lively, free-spirited british girl living in Paraguay. (well Paraguay this week, her country of residence seems to change faster than the weather). Eleanor was a godsend, with her experience as a tour guide in Boliva, and extensive South American travel, she helped us tremendously. The next day Paula brought us to a delicious seafood restaurant in the San Antonio de Lisboa Beach section of the Florianopolis island. My mouth waters when I think about the meal of oysters, mashed yuca and shrimp that we all shared together. The views were splendid and the food to die for, all amist the best company this world has to offer. We shared a matte and watched the sunset on a bay sprinkled with fishing boats and osyter platforms. Florianopolis was a success and couchsurfing provided us with a door into the vast culure in Florianoplois, and further examplifies how caring and giving people are everywhere in the world. Its a true catalyst to live-long friendships. The mood is a bit somber as we leave this city we loved so much. Thanks again Paula and Elanor, best of luck in life and travels! PS Paula wanted me to spread the word that all Brazilians don’t live in trees, and they don’t ride elephants. Check out my photo album for more pictures of...
Read MoreOddities
Overall, Brazil is a lot more westernized than we expected. Of course we’ve been only in the south, and this is supposed to be the most westernized part. So everything is as it should be =) nonetheless, I’ve witnessed a view things a bit strange. This post is a collection of oddities, so hopefully its possible to follow my train of thought. I did a post on buses already, and how exciting city ones can be. One I thing I noticed is, the buses don’t always stop at the bus stop. They only stop when a passenger on the bus requests a stop, or if someone at a bus stop flags the bus down. Sometimes, even flagging the bus won’t make it stop. I watched a guy flag 4 separate buses before one stopped to let him on. Also, you have a limited window to exit the bus. I saw one elderly lady trying to exit the bus, and the driver started to take off, luckily everyone shouted and the bus driver gave her more time to exit. The showers here are nice. Everyone has in-line hot water. Which means, no cold showers in hostels! Something you aren’t always guaranteed when traveling, especially if you like to shower at peak times (mornings or nights). However, the in-line hot water is electrically heated, so basically there is a live circuit on the shower head, with exposed wires. Not a big deal, except to change the temperature means you adjust a knob on the top of the shower head. I adjusted it a little to far and received a pretty nice zap. No flushing tp. Despite the heat and humidity, the bathrooms don’t smell bad. Rains a lot! And Leah misses dryers to dry her clothes. Hanging clothes to dry can be difficult when you are in the rainforest. Some things are expensive! And some are cheap…. Meat…Cheap ($1 for a nice slab of beef) Mouthwash..Expensive ($8 for a small bottle) Fruit…Cheap Fruit Juice.. Expensive (weird) Cheese… Expensive And the last oddity… Bacon flavored popcorn?!? what? Yes, it is true, my life is now complete, I’ve found the holy grail of food. Some inventions are so obvious you kick yourself for not thinking of it...
Read MoreParadise Found!
I’d like to say we spent a lot of time reading our Brazil travel guide, or maybe we asked some locals, or surfed the internet and found it, but those would all be lies. Truth is, I looked at google maps and saw a town a good distance south (about 6 hours by bus) of Rio. It was named Ubatuba! sold. With a name like that how could it not be amazing. So we booked overnight bus tickets and left Rio around 11pm. After a 6 hour bus ride in the dark, through jungles, we arrived in Ubatuba at 5am. yep 5am. We hopped on the city bus and rode it to our hostel, the sun rose behind the jungle covered mountains as we approached our new home. With the peak season of Carnaval behind us, the prices for lodging have dropped significantly… we’ve moved into the off season for travel in Brazil. Yes! =) Our hostel is nestled on a remote beach 14km out of the small town of Ubatuba. The rooms are clean, the common area is huge, internet is fast, and the beach is all ours....
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