New Blog!!!

Here it is folks! I am currently in Dublin, Ireland, and have been for four days. I love it so far!

Keep up with my tall tales HERE and enjoy! Thanks!

- Meg Kilkenny

Hello all!

I have been back in the United States for over two weeks now. The day after I came home, still tired from all my travels (I had a safe arrival home with ALL of my things! what luck!) I had a tonsillectomy, and am still in stages of recovery, albeit the time has come where I can finally eat real food with not much pain, oh the excitement!

Thus, here I am, relaxing and taking it easy during this beautiful Wisconsin summer, recovering both from surgery and from my experience abroad; adjusting back to the way in the USA was an interesting transition, both comforting and eye-opening. The cultural differences I became so accustomed to in Buenos Aires have truly shown once back in my original environment.

And these differences will continue to show and my wanderlust will continue to thrive.

I leave for two months in Dublin, Ireland in six days. Perhaps a new blog will have to begin, tales of new adventures. Sorry to see this one close on such a delayed note / feeling of incompleteness, but I hope you have all enjoyed what was written. And I hope you enjoy what is to come! I will be sure to send a link to any of my other writings on this blog. Hope to be writing more again soon.

Thanks to everyone,
Meg

All Apologies

... that I have not been keeping up with my writing here and that I have not done some of the posts I promised. There's a chance I might have to save them for my return to the states. I leave on June 2nd, and arrive home on June 3rd. Currently I am bogged down with way too much humanly possible work on my plate and a gastrointestinal virus (fever included) that has had me bedridden for what is now the fourth day. I just want all my school duties to be over (it's honestly way too much stress), but I do not want to also have to think about leaving this city. I have too many things I need to do, and have not been able to do because I am physically incapable at the moment.

But sometimes we all get stuck with moments of horrible timing.

It's official!

The number has been broken -- I'm at over 1,000 blog views! Thanks for all you have stopped by to read my ramblings and for those (shout out to friends and family) who keep coming back! More to come... les prometo!! :D

UNAS FOTOS! Buenos Aires through my lens

Although I am not cool enough to play with the big kids to have a DSLR camera like everyone else, I still very much enjoy taking pictures, and, am MORE than satisfied with my camera: a Canon PowerShot G11. It has a really nice LCD viewing screen so I more than often don't even have to look through the viewfinder. I know people who can talk up all the other technical stuff for days, and I know more or less about it, but I also just like the simplicity of point-and-shoot ability to get great shots. Granted, the following pictures I am about to show you have also been edited using Photoshop CS5 because I like to edit my photos before putting them up anywhere (Facebook, etc), mostly to resize them to a smaller size so that the act of uploading does not take as long. Most of my friends and family keep up with my pictures via Facebook, but I would also like to put some here for any others who might be interested. The following pictures were all taken in Buenos Aires and represent either iconic scenes / monuments of the city, my favorite places, my favorite moments, or, in general, shots I just happen to really like ascetically:

PS - Sorry for the extremely long, scroll-bar setup of this post. I'm not sure how to make a better photoset within a post on blogspot. Can anyone help with this? I hope you enjoy anyways! I know clicking on the picture to see it in full size will let you click 'next' all the way through all the photos, so I hope that works just the same.

PPS - I have to continue writing about the trips I have been on (now that I have written about Chile and Uruguay, I still have my short visit to parts of Patagonia and Mendoza left), and will include their respective photos there. I also am very interested in film photography, and have taken a couple of rolls of film and got the pictures developed, that I will potentially also show on a post here. Enjoy!

Recounting an Old Trip: What will I find to be the most memorable about Uruguay?

School is coming to a close, with presentations and final papers (including a 10-15 page paper in Spanish for my Art History class) and assignments and, after all of that, exam week. I have an insane amount on my plate... it is quite overwhelming, especially when I also have to think of the fact that these are my last two weeks in Buenos Aires. How will I fit in all the things I still have not yet done? See all the friends I want to see? Get gifts for all the people I still have not purchased gifts for? PACK?? And the lists of things constantly running through my mind goes on and on...

So, right now, I am taking a homework break (wrote one of my two essays due tomorrow for Spanish, the latter has to be based off a book we're supposed to read by Argentine author Adolfo Bioy Casares [La invención de Morel], which, of course, I have not read yet; among other things due for only tomorrow). A much needed break this is, where I can write in my native language. Because as much as I love the look, the sound, and the speech of Spanish, sometimes I just need a break. Being all encompassed in a second language can be overwhelming, especially when the brain is worrying about so many other things... but I sure as hell know I am going to miss speaking Spanish when I'm gone. This means frequent visits to my high school to chat with my favourite (and dearly missed) teacher, and phone calls to my roommate where we have already promised to only speak to each other in our now (somewhat) developed castellano so as not to lose it.

And now to answer the question I ask in the title of this post: my roommate and I traveled to Uruguay for a weekend, April 20-22, exactly a month ago today. So what images and memories linger about the country that is just another stamp on my passport? And the answer truly is... a lot.

My host mother is originally from Uruguay, born in Montevideo and everything. She has one of the biggest souls I have ever met in a person, and a very relaxed spirit. This more or less reflects the way of life in Uruguay, extremely relaxed and a slower pace... and I thought porteños took it easy!!

First, we took the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento (from Buenos Aires to Colonia is the ferry route, so we made it our first stop). The historical district in Colonia makes it a World Heritage Site, adding another one to the list of those I have seen! It's located on the Río de la Plata, and has that characteristic brown water that treks all the way to Buenos Aires as well. Uruguay is generally the place people go to experience real beaches; I have been told that the Mar de la Plata (about four hours from Buenos Aires) isn't up to par with something like Punta del Este, for example. The clean water is the attractive force. This still does not exist in Colonia, but there aren't 'beaches' exactly, as much as there are little pockets of sand here and there mixed amongst the forests that dip into the water, which I may actually enjoy more than commercial beaches of any sort. To exemplify:

View from our hostel window in Colonia

Taken by Susannah - me by a 'beach' in Colonia

Our hostel was away from the city center, which we were skeptical about at first because of the hike, but it ended up being for the better to get a peek into residential life in Colonia. Relaxed, and immersed into beautiful and abundant amounts of nature.

There's not much to do in the city center but shop and eat, but the EATING is just as godly as Chile's chorrillana... the traditional meal of Uruguay is called chivito (more or less a combination of chorrillana and the simplicity of Argentine food), also a common platter for sharing.

Our first chivito (al pan, para dos) at La Pasiva, a chain restaurant in Uruguay our host mom recommended to us

Meat, roasted peppers, caramelized onions, lettuce, tomato, ham, cheese, fried egg, mayo, and sometimes more on a giant sandwich. When it is not al pan, it is served just like this, no bread, with fries on the side. We made sure to get our fill of chivito, after falling in love right away, before leaving.

Beyond the city center is the historic district, which you can learn more about by visiting the above highlighted World Heritage Site link. It is an incredibly pleasant area with rich history and few people walking around, save some tourists (who are usually coming from somewhere around South America, or even just Uruguay).  Colonia is a nice town to walk around on a sunny day and have some maté with friends, but I'm not sure if spending more than a day or two there would have been entirely worth it.

Our next stop was just a two hour bus ride to the west to Montevideo. Suddenly, we were back in a big city, and in a hectic part of town: Tres Cruces (where the bus station is). We get a cab and head to our hostel which was located on a pedestrian street, just a few blocks away from Plaza Independencia downtown. It was hard to say just what part of the city it was compared to Buenos Aires, but it definitely gave off vibes of microcentro and the pedestrian street of Reconquista, save the stretch of bars like The Kilkenny and add more living complexes, but keep all the kids drinking their beers sitting on the benches in the middle of the cobbled street until the wee hours of the morning.

We were also very close to the water, which on our first day there (after the night we arrived) we discovered was a gorgeous blue!! I took the following picture just a couple of blocks away from our hostel:

The night before we explored a lot of what was up and down on Avenida 18 de Julio (essentially the equivalent of Avenida 9 de Julio en Buenos Aires), so this day we decided to see the water and go to some beaches. That blue water was truly mesmerizing. Our host mother recommended Playa Pocitos, which holds all of what was in my preemptive images of Montevideo: a mix of lovely sand and water with the city in the background, kind of like Miami, but cleaner and prettier.

A quick shot I took of Susannah on Playa Pocitos

Even though it was fall and cooler, it was still warm and sunny enough to be able to walk barefoot and dip our feet in the water, something I had craved since coming to South America, and Montevideo gave me my fix. Also it being out of 'beach season' it was fairly empty, which was even more pleasant to me, since I'm not much of a crowded beach goer.

After this, we headed back towards downtown after seeing some of the barrio of Pocitos. We ended up arriving at a market on 18 de Julio that was a mix of my Latin American experiences so far: artisan objects like that of the fairs in Buenos Aires, but then also boxes of baby chickens and ducklings like that in Guatemala. I of course, was sucked into all the little baby animals of which I spent more than enough time with. Susannah had trouble dragging me away. But seriously, HOW COULD YOU WALK AWAY FROM THIS?? :

Little baby bunnies, a box of puppies, a cage of kitties, and of course, my friend I made for the day: a little puppy who looked exactly like my puppy Richie Rich (may he rest in peace) who I picked up and fell in love with especially after he decided to be my friend, too and snuggle up into me. I still miss him!! And to prove he is a Richie Rich, Jr., here is a picture of my wonderful dog I had throughout all of my childhood, and until I was 18 (he passed away when he was 15 years old, what a feat!) :

Jumping into nostalgia's arms: high school graduation, and my belated puppy dog. Love you and miss you still.

So, overall, Uruguay was an amazing experience. I would say that I liked Montevideo more than Colonia, however, but the two cities are still very unique in their own respect. Also something I love about that country: MATE. I thought people drank mate here pretty frequently. Well, I was incredibly mistaken. In the big city of Montevideo you couldn't walk down the sidewalks or through the parks without seeing every other person with a thermos around their shoulder and a gourd in their hand. It was such a beautiful thing. And, as my host mother explained to me, it is for all classes. You see the wealthy and the poor and the old and the young always drinking mate. I found that to be a very honest and lovely statement about the culture of the infused drink. And because it is so widespread, Uruguay is where you go to get the GOOD STUFF. Susannah and I came home both with new gourds and a giant bag of Canarias, the best of the best brands of yerba mate in South America. I have got to bring this stuff home (I'm having some right now, it is insanely delicious) to the states. Thank you, Uruguay, for all these experiences and for your delicious mate!

The Art of Writing about Travel: Rewards of travel blogging, and closure that need be made

(The Art of Travel, post 15, Farewells

this is my final post for my blogging course!)

I still have four full weeks until I return home to the States, meaning the end is looming near, but I still have several days to explore and participate in activities on my list of things I want to do with my time here. Then, inevitably, and as is the case for most NYU students right now, school will take over with final papers, projects and presentations. I’m trying not to think about all of that right now, however, and enjoy my last month here in Buenos Aires.

By semester’s completion, I will be able to say I’ve been to two cities in Chile, two in Uruguay, and three different provinces (many visited cities within them) of Argentina.  Although these destinations may not be as extensive a list as others’, I’m still pretty impressed and more than pleased to have those passport stamps and stories to tell.  I’m seriously going to miss everything that is South America, everything that will become my memories of South America (preemptively making memories is such a silly game I play, or perhaps, a terrible habit I have).  The somewhat embarrassing self-picture I have posted here is from the trip I took by myself to San Carlos de Bariloche in Patagonia.

And throughout it all, I have been incredibly thankful to be in this course.  I haven’t been enrolled in a writing course since freshman year, and am pretty horrible at keeping up with personal writing if I’m not forced to do so.  And although I have not been all that great about the regularity of my posts (as is something to be learned about the ‘art’, per se, of blogging), I always find the time I take to sit down and write them enjoyable.  And in this last post, I find the time I have taken to look back on my old posts even more enjoyable, if not a shock, combined with humble moments of reminiscing.  I find it a fair generalization to say that all of us have certainly changed throughout this semester because of our experiences, and are able to notice these changes based on our recorded first memories and our knowledge now.  Is not that the point of a journal, or the public version, a blog?  Tracking these changes and these experiences has been, I think, essential, and that is why I am, as I will reiterate, thankful for this course.

Beyond this blog, I also have a more personal blog, conducted through blogspot, where I repost these pieces along with adding some other ones every now and then (when I can, and when I feel the need to – you can read these other posts here [this was originally a link to THIS blog!]).  And if I didn’t have this course to be a starter’s guide or a source of things to post on that other site, I would not have been quite as ambitious.  Another reason to be thankful.

Now here comes the hardest part of all: having to end both of these sources of public writing, having to end my adventures abroad, having to say goodbye to a city I have come to know and love.  As already mentioned, however, I still have time to make my farewells, but am most certainly not looking forward to it, no matter how much I want to see my friends and family at home.

I am more than happy that I decided to take a semester abroad, however.  It is something that is much more widely advertised for college students in our generation, just as it should be.  The encouragement comes with good reason.  I was scared to go at first, almost reluctant.  And now I think it crazy that I ever doubted coming to Buenos Aires.  The stories I have, the things I’ve seen, the new ways of living I plan to carry with me for the rest of my life, will be with me forever (I feel that goes without saying).  And I know, above all, that I will, one day, be back.  So perhaps this farewell is more of a “goodbye for now” type deal, because I find it inevitable that one day, I will return.

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Dear Ensueños readers:

Now I have posted all of my blog posts that I had to write for my 2-credit course called The Art of Travel. You can read them all here on this blog, with the tags of 'the art of travel', or you can go to the actual course's website and see my posts here. When pursuing the second link, I very much recommend checking out the other students' blogs (you will see a sidebar on the left called "Blogroll Spring 2012 -- make sure you are on the Art of Travel tab) where you can read about students' adventures, realizations, and tall tales from Florence, Paris, Berlin, Abu Dhabi, other students in Buenos Aires, and my favourite posts to read each week: the students in Accra, Ghana. It's been a semester of work, so please check them all out! I hope you've enjoyed the guided themed posts and everything. This last post expresses my gratitude for having this writing course this semester. And although the class is over, I do plan on continuing to write my own personal posts and keep up with the blog, until, of course, it comes time to leave this wonderful city.

Thank you all, muchísimas gracias :)