Hello everyone! Sorry it took me such a long time to update my blog, but at least I am now, right? Just a heads up, this is going to be a loooong entry so just sit back, relax and let the reading commence!
So where to begin…I guess we will start with Monday, the 4th! On Monday my friend Fabri, who lives in Formosa, came to visit Buenos Aires and stayed with our friend Ulises until that Thursday. I didn’t have class until 3 in the afternoon that day so Fabri and Ulises took me out to lunch at a café near to my university. It was so nice to see Fabri after not having seen him for 4 years! It was also really nice to finally meet the famous Ulises who I had heard so much about! After lunch they walked me to school and later when I was done with classes the three of us went out to dinner. We went to the most amazing pizza place in the world (there are a lot of Italians in Argentina so pizza here is amazing) and they even had a dessert on the menu called the “Charlotte” so of course I had to try it! It was vanilla ice cream with peanuts on top and the whole thing was smothered in chocolate sauce. It was absolutely delicious and clearly the perfect dessert for me.
The next night I was invited to dinner at Ulises’ apartment where we ate empañadas and listened to some music. On Wednesday I was unfortunately not feeling too well and not only missed out on a trip to the zoo with Fabri, but also on tango lessons that I was supposed to have that night. So, sorry everyone, looks like I won’t be able to show you any moves. Thursday we had midterms at school, which went splendidly of course, and that night I left Buenos Aires to go to Formosa with Fabri! The bus ride took about 16 hours I think, but was surprisingly much more comfortable than an airplane ride and even the food was better too!
We finally arrived in Formosa at around noon on Friday and went straight to Fabri’s house. The weather was perfect- sunny and warm- nothing compared to what I had left behind in Buenos Aires. Fabri’s sister, brother-in-law and grandma arrived soon after we got to his house and joined us and Fabri’s parents for lunch. Everyone was so sweet and made sure to speak very slowly and clearly for me so that I could understand what they were saying to me. Of course, there were still many times that I could not understand them, but luckily I had Fabri to translate for me when that happened. After lunch we got cleaned up a bit and then Fabri’s friend Enzo, who I have been dying to meet for so many years, came to join us.
After drinking some mate at Fabri’s house the boys decided to take me on a tour of Formosa which included a trip to the Formosa Museum where I saw a picture of Fabri’s grandpa who was the governor at one time. Following the tour we returned home for dinner and Enzo taught me some cumbia moves (cumbia is a popular style of dancing here that I much prefer to the dancing that is done in the states). Finally we called it a night and got some much needed sleep. The next morning we headed over to the Gorleri’s farm, which was absolutely beautiful. Activities there included riding horses, holding a baby sheep, learning a new way to eat grapefruit (“pomelo” in Spanish), eating traditional asado (Argentina’s version of barbeque) and learning how to drive stick shift!! Around evening time we headed back to the city and got cleaned up for dinner, which we would have at Fabri’s brother-in-law’s sister’s hotel. I had the most amazing gnocchi followed by a chocolate volcano dessert filled with dulce de leche (Argentina’s version of caramel- it is EVERYWHERE and I mean everywhere).
During dinner it started thunderstorming, which we thought would put a damper on our plans for the rest of the night, but luckily everything worked out and we ended up going out to a disco with Fabri’s friends until about 6 in the morning! It was absolute craziness, but I had such an amazing time with his friends and would like to give them a shout-out for being so kind to me and showing me such a good time! I loved meeting you all!
The next day, Sunday, I unfortunately had to get on the bus back to Buenos Aires and leave Formosa behind. It was so hard saying goodbye, but I am just so grateful I was even lucky enough to go in the first place. Maybe someday I will be able to go back….
P.S. More to come soon! Sorry it took so long!
