summa summa summa tiiiime

When I think of summer, I think of the beach. I don't know how the people in middle America (or the middle of any country) do it, but I have never lived more than 30 minutes from the beach (born in Venice, grew up in Mission Viejo, studied in Barcelona, and lived in Westwood although sometimes that took an hour in traffic). So when I semi-arbitrarily chose to move to Buenos Aires, I obviously assumed there would be a beach close by considering the city is right on the coast. BOY WAS I WRONG. Buenos Aires is located along the Rio de la Plata as it opens up to the Atlantic Ocean. Yes, there is water... yes there are ports... but THERE IS NO BEACH! Plus, the weather in the summer here is 90+ degrees and humid as all hell. Needless to say, I spent the last 2 months going to and from work in the sweaty subway, seeking out air conditioning wherever I went, and getting out of the city as much as humanly possible.

Obviously all the locals knew what was coming because they all got vacation time and took half or the whole month of Juanuary off! The first week, I didn't understand why all my favorite restaurants and bars had signs saying they were closed and would reopen in February... until the heat wave finally arrived and I was the fool still in the city!

So in order to further immerse myself in the porteño culture, I did as the porteños do and I took trips every weekend out of the city!

San Bernardo
One of the closest beaches to Capital Federal (the main city part of Buenos Aires, as opposed to the province) is San Bernardo which is a whopping FIVE hours away by bus. One Friday night my roommate Caro asked if I wanted to hop on a bus to go to the beach with her and her friend Nolo, and of course I said "claro que si!" We hurried to the bus station and asked for the next bus ticket to any beach... and we ended up in San Bernardo at 2 am, sans accommodation, plans, or a return ticket. In the end, our accommodation ended up being the sand for only a couple hours before the sun started burning us, our plans ended up being drinking liters and liters of beer on a bench in the middle of the street, and luckily I ended up back to the city in time to make it to work on Monday.

Here is a picture of the beach at 7 am Saturday morning when we decided to retire from the bar and post up on the sand for some shut eye:


And here is the same beach at 3 pm:


Olavarría
The next weekend I went home with my other roommate Lucía to a town about 4 hours away called Olavarría. It was supposed to be a relaxing weekend laying out at the pool and having asados (bbq's with the best steak you've ever had). Unfortunately it ended up being rainy but it was definitely a great getaway. The town is small, simple, and beautifully green. We drove around the hillsides drinking 'mate' and looking at the beautiful countryside, walked around the parks and the arroyo, and still had asados. Her family was incredibly gracious and probably fed me an entire cow while I was there for 2 days. They were all really curious about the US because they have never been there... they asked me questions about what we eat, what we wear, how much money things cost, and how we think. Oh p.s. none of them spoke a word of English. So imagine me trying to explain these things on behalf of the whole country... in Spanish! Lucía's grandma even asked me if we have ants in the US. Yes, ants as in the insect...


Colonia, Uruguay
I have been SO lucky to have had so many friends be able to visit me... my most recent house guest was my UCLA roommate Kacy. One of the first things we did when Kacy arrived was hop on the 1 hour ferry to Colonia, Uruguay for various reasons including exploring the town, experiencing another country, and getting around Argentinean bureaucracy regarding 90 day tourist visas. Colonia ended up being an adorable, quaint little town full of historical buildings from Portuguese colonial times, cobblestones, and greenery.










We took our time wandering the streets and then went walking along the coast of the opposite river bank of the Rio Plata. We found a little jungle trail, relaxed on the sand of the 'river beach,' read our books... and STILL had about 4 hours to kill until our 11:30 pm ferry headed back to Buenos Aires. We decided the best way to pass the time by getting acquainted with Uruguayan beer, and I think we succeeded! After naps on the ferry ride, we were recharged and even went out to a club when we got back to BA because by that time it was 2 am a.k.a. the perfect time to start going out!

A couple days later, my other UCLA semi-roommate Lauren and her boyfriend Evan arrived to begin their 2 month journey through South America. I had so much fun showing everyone around and I love that they really understand where I have been living. I miss them already! <3