País de Benedetti y Zitarrosa

Hola todos,

I went to Colonia, Uruguay again to renew my visa to stay in Argentina. My trips to Colonia are always dreamlike, oníricos. The first time I went, it felt so romantic to step off a boat and into another país (country). I saw a grandpa and grandson painting a door, and the grandpa said "Look who's looking at you!" and chatted with me about Colonia, which stuck in my mind. The second time I went it felt surreal to be back. I hadn't thought I'd ever come back, and there I was, and everything was familiar even though so much had changed in between. I thought to myself on the boat that it would be nice to meet some artisans and see a candombe (a traditional Uruguayan dance) — more as a daydream than something I actually thought would happen — and ended up meeting an artisan who was a member of the candombe, seeing the show, meeting lots of Colonienses, and even extending my stay. This time it was dreamlike because I hadn't slept enough the night before, and actually spent most of the three-hour boat trip dreaming, with the radio interference of a documentary playing on a boat (with phrases like "during the dry season, the women dance to...", "one in six people in the world live in poverty", etc.) incorporated into my dream; because when I wasn't sleeping I was eating delicious "three dreams" chocolate; because Jorge and I talked about art all day and met some nice Mexican artisans who had been traveling South America; because the drivers were excessively courteous to pedestrians, and when we bought mate tea at a little supermarket, the cashier didn't even count the money, he just took it and trusted us; and because a little restaurant I saw had the flags of the four top countries on my mind: America (because I miss it!), Brazil (because that's where Tiago, my current love-interest is from), Uruguay (because there we were), and Argentina (my current home, and Jorge's país).

Here are some pictures of the trip! Hope you enjoy!

 Early morning outside the Buquebus ferry terminal. I am positive that the man rushing to the terminal on the crosswalk is Uruguayan, because he is holding a mate in his hand and has a thermos full of hot water for more tea tucked under his arm (I've seen about 30 Uruguayans and 0 Argentineans doing the same). Uruguayans drink mate constantly! I don't blame them: I also love it, and their yerba mate is more delicious! I stocked up on a big pack of Canarias mate when I went.

 

 El mar, the sea.

  

There aren't many cacti here at all, even though the climate is right for them. I love them!

 Jorge's dramatic picture of me. Adventuring and planning my next trip!

Jorge Redemptor, haha.

 The flowers and trees in Colonia are beautiful! It is almost winter here, and still it looks like this!

 A romantic doorway. Jorge thinks Colonia would be the perfect place to stay and write a novel.

 

  

La calle de los suspiros, The Street of Sighs, is famous in Colonia. It is beautiful!

Trees, shadows, painted houses, small-town people: those, plus all the artisans, musicians, and other arts, are my favorite things about Colonia. 

 Stew, omellets, empanadas, desserts, and good vibes (buena onda)! The buena onda is the most important part. =)

 After our ferry trip and a few hours of walking around we got pretty hungry. I looked for a Tex-Mex restaurant I said seen last time (I miss that food so much!). Since we couldn't find it, we went to a restaurant called the Pink House, and I ate chivito: filet mignon typical of Uruguay. I was pretty surprised when they brought this out: I was expecting something smaller and less fancy. But it was really, really good. The eggs and milk in Uruguay are delicious because they feed the animals all-natural food. The light yellow vegetables on the side are palm hearts. I'd never had them before this week, and love them, but feel guilty eating them because when I went to the Iguazu rainforest, I saw the trees, and learned that an entire tree needs to be cut down to make one salad. Those kinds of revelations are pretty incredible.

A blog about the rest of my week coming soon!

Love! <3
Kaeli