When Two Worlds Collide

As I have mentioned in my past two blog posts, MY MOM IS HERE! Well, was.

I went to the airport early Monday morning to surprise her. With Amy’s help, we were able to pull it off, she had no idea.

From the airport, we went directly to Buquebus to check in for our ferry to Uruguay. Once we were all checked in, we headed to Starbucks for a quick treat (nothing like introducing them to South America by taking them to an American place). Not long after, we were on the boat, heading over to Colonia, our first stop.

I have never felt so adult around my mom. Everyone was looking for and relaying on me for direction, information and action.

We made it there smoothly, found our hotel and got settled in. The first order of business was a nap, the girls had been traveling for over 30 hours and I hadn’t slept in 72. 

The stash of food my mom brought me!

After the nap, we wandered around the city a bit and found a place to eat.

When we made it back to the hotel, we played some Banana grams and then hit the sack. We were up early the next day and disappointed to see the rain out the window. Even with the storms, we went out and walked around, marveling at the historic beauty of the city. Unfortunately, due to the rain, we weren’t able to fully appreciate or visit everything but we did the best we could.

At noon, we boarded a bus to go to Montevideo. Once there we got my mom and Amy settled into their hostel (a place 3 blocks from my house and a little on the sketchy side) and then walked to my house to drop off Julia’s things and to show them around.

It was a weird feeling, having my mom in the house of my host mom’s. My two families coming together and my two very very separate and different pieces of my life meeting.

With the weather still bad, we went to take a tour of a castle really close to my house. It was gorgeous (I don’t have very many pictures because we weren’t allowed to take any from the inside) and very interesting.

After that, we booked a Tango/ Candombe/ Gaucho dance show for the night. We bought frozen pizzas for dinner and soon it was time to go.

The show was a blast and I was really glad that it showed all three types of dances because all three have their importance in the Uruguayan culture and history.

The next morning, we rented bikes and road around the Rambla. Thankfully the weather was finally nicer.

We also stopped at the local fruit market 

For lunch, we met up with Santiago. I was really happy my mom could finally meet him because he was such an important part of my experience in Uruguay and such a great friend. After lunch, I said my goodbyes to Santiago, my hardest good bye to date.

From lunch, we hopped on a bus to Cuidad Vieja. We saw the tomb of Artigas, the national hero of Uruguay, some of the old, important buildings and did a little shopping.

Around 4:45 we got word that all of my friends were going to watch the sunset from the best spot in Montevideo (which also happened to be the opposite end of the city). We tried taking a bus but after it didn’t show up, we rushed into a taxi. We barely made it in time but it was so worth it. You could see my entire neighborhood, Pocitios, in the distance as the sun fell, leaving a brilliant display of colors behind.

Like I mentioned earlier, it felt like a movie. Me and all of my friends laughing and joking as the sun fell behind us.

I’m really glad my mom got to be there, not only for the views but to meet all of my friends that hadn’t left yet.

After the sunset, we walked to a local bakery to get some goodies for the bus ride back.

Once we made it back home, Mom and Amy went to the grocery store and the hostel to get ready for the family dinner that night. Laura so graciously offered to have them over to eat.

The dinner was great. I always loved family dinners around that table and it was surreal to have both my families there to eat. Afterwards, we celebrated a belated Uruguayan Father’s Day for Eduardo (Feliz Día del Doo Doo).

After Amy and my mom left, we got ready to go to Con Tutti one last time for the going away party for Jonas. Julia decided to stay home because she wasn’t felling the greatest.

We had a great night, just hanging out with friends and got home around 2:30.

Up at 9 the next morning, we headed back to Cuidad Vieja to go to the MAPI museum, the museum of pre-Colombian and indigenous art. Julia stayed back because she was still feeling under the weather. It took us a while to find the museum but it was worth the searching.

After exploring the museum, we went to Marcado del Puerto and did some more shopping. We made it back to the house around 2:30. Amy and my mom spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and reading while I studied for my last final exam.

At 6, Maya, Meli and I took our last journey to the University to take our test. By the time we got back it was already 8:30 and our unadjusted to the Uruguayan meal times guests were quite hungry. 

They ran to the grocery store to pick up ingredients and we made dinner. (Spaghetti and stir fry) it was fun to all cook in the kitchen together.

After dinner, Amy and my mom headed to the hostel to get some rest and I brought all of my things downstairs to start packing. Sweeney came over, and the four of us (Sweeney, Meli, Maya and I), spent the evening laughing and packing. I couldn’t imagine a better way to spend my last night in Uruguay, with the people who matter the most to me, just hanging out and enjoying their lovely company.

The next morning, my mom and Amy came to the house to get ready to leave. After a few last minute details, I said my good byes and walked out of Carlos M Maeso for the last time. We had some much luggage that Eduardo had to drive Amy and Julia and my mom and I took a taxi. 

When we finally got to the bus terminal with only 15 minutes to spare, Eduardo got a phone call that my passport had fallen out of my pocket. He took off running to go back and get it.

I got everyone else checked in and sent them off to the bus but had to wait for my passport before I could do anything. The minutes were ticking away and I was getting more and more anxious. Finally, Maya came running through the terminal with her pjs on to give me my passport just in the nick of time.

I checked in rapidly and hoped on the bus and we were off, driving away from the city I had called home for the last time.

We arrived in Buenos Aires without any hiccups. We got checked into our amazing hotel and found a place to eat. We spent the rest of the night relaxing.

The next morning, we got up early for our city tour. 

A guacho dance show while we ate lunch

We went to all of the most famous sites in the city and my mom even got to try Mate (which she hated).

For the rest of the afternoon, we walked around the city, got some ice cream and just enjoyed the nice day. We had left over pizza for dinner and headed to bed early.

The next morning, we went to the airport board our plane to Iguazu Falls (a bigger version of Niagara Falls). 

Soon, we landed and were off to another amazing hotel After traveling as a backpacker (looking for the cheapest hostel possible which usually means a bunk bed in a room with 8 other people), I felt like royalty in these places). Our taxi driver asked us if we would be visiting the Brazilian side. We told him no because we didn’t want to pay $160 for the visa. He offered to take us across the border illegally for $50 a person. I laughed but them realized he was serious and gave us his card.

By the time we got settled in, there wasn’t much time to explore so we just walked into town to pick up some groceries.

The next morning, we got a taxi to go to the falls. On the way, this driver also asked us if we planned on going to the Brazil side. We said no and he offered to take us over for just the cost of the taxi. (I was so in favor of trying this but in the end we never tried).

We entered the falls and started exploring the different trails. The views were absolutely breath taking. 

We took a boat ride underneath the falls which was amazingly fun but the water was so strong we couldn’t really see anything.

For lunch, we stopped at a little rest spot. There were these little animals called Coatis running around everywhere. At first we thought they were cute but then we realized they had no fear of humans or getting close. I set my bag down for a second and when I wasn’t looking, one of them snuck into my back and grabbed plastic bag with the sandwhcih of my mom and I.  We chased after it but it got away.

We spent the rest of day just walking around enjoying the amazing weather and the unbelievable sites.

On the taxi ride back, our driver took a special detour so that we could see a toucan.

That night we just ate at the hotel and played a few games.

We had a laid back morning the next day. We walked around the town and found a great exchange rate on the street. We came back and had a lunch of PB&J’s and got ready for our next adventure. We were going zip lining and repelling. We got picked up in a huge truck and road through the country side to the spot of the activities. The ride through the country side was amazing because it gave us a real look at the city. Iguazu is a huge tourist destination and so the city itself is really modern.

The country side was red dirt roads, houses made out of various materials, broken down cars and very evident poverty. I liked getting a real glimpse of the city.

The activities went well. They were really fun and fun to do together. Kodos to Amy for doing them without missing a beat even though she has a fear of heights.

We ended up just eating at the hotel again.

The next morning, we woke up to trenchal down pouring and stayed inside for most of the morning. When there finally was a break in the weather we took walk to the point where you can see Paraguay and Brazil. It was hard to imagine that just by crossing the river we could be in 2 different countries.

When we got back, it started raining again so we just played some games and relaxed. It was nice just to spend time together.

The next morning we boarded the plan once more and headed back to Buenos Aires. We were able to make it back in time to catch the tail end of the “Grandmothers March for the Disappeared”. Every Thursday, love ones of those who disappeared in the Artineanean dictatorship march in the main plaza in front of the government building.

After that, we got settled in for the night and went to dinner with Maru, a friend who had been helping us out immensely in the city.

We spend the next morning in the Boca, strolling the streets and browsing the shops. All too soon, it was my turn to depart my mom to head on my next set of travels.

Although it was hard to say goodbye it was much easier than the last time because this goodbye was for less than three weeks instead of 6 months.

Overall, her visit still feels surreal. It was really cool being able to finally show in person to her what I had been talking about in Skype for months. It was funny when she would say something like, “Wow, this sidewalks are awful” and I would say, I know, I’ve told you that 50 times. Not that she didn’t believe me but to finally be able to experience for herself is something completely different.