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Maria’s Homestay, San Fernando, Argentina

We stumbled upon Maria’s homestay on couchsurfing.org. After an exchange of emails, viewing Maria’s website (http://www.mariahomestay.com.ar/ ), and the promise of an Argentinian Asado, our minds were set. We were headed to Buenos Aires.

Nestled just north of Buenos Aires is the nautical capital of Argentina “San Fernando.” Maria’s homestay is a beautiful guesthouse seperated from the main house by a lush garden. Song birds, cats, and dogs all wander around happily in the warm Argentianian sun. Maria’s homestay is a sanctuary of sorts, all of the cats and dogs are strays Maria has taken into her home much like us =)

The first night in San Fernando, Maria’s son, Luicano prepared for us a traditional Argentinian Asado (BBQ). The meat sizzled on the barbie, while we chatted with Maria and her two sons, Mario and Luciano. Mario works teaching people how to use Apple computers. He absolutely loved coca-cola and Ireland. Mario and Luciano are very much into rock music. Maria brought out some of her home made pickles and an eggplant dish in oil and spices, both were delicious. We ate more meat than I thought humanly possible, before we headed inside for a night full of Argentinian wine, Fernet, and conversation. We spent nearly six hours chatting, eating and drinking.

The next day Maria gave us a tour of the River through San Fernando. She showed us all the plants and trees of the area. The river through San Fernando is polluted so the fish really should not be eaten. However, there were plenty of fisherman there ignoring that information. Leah held some of their catch.

The night we left, Maria prepared another meal for us! She also had some Dutch sailor friends visiting. We played rummikub with the Dutch couple and Maria. They have spent the last 11 years sailing around the world. They just came back from Ushria. Coined “the end of the world” Ushria is as far south as you can go in South America, and only a short boat trip from Antartica. Leah and I plan on going there, but maybe not this trip =) After games, Maria brought out another feast. We started the feast with some homemade hot pepper jam from Mia (The Dutch Lady). It was sweet, spicy and delicious. The food in Argentina is not very spicy, so it was good to finally get some spice. Maria brought out a platter of perfectly seasoned, baked chicken empadas! The empadas were amazing! We’ve had quite a few in restaurants and from street vendors. But all were put to shame by Maria. We could not have been any luckier. It was like having a home cooked meal from your own mother while in a forgien land. We chatted long into the night before heading to bed, it was our last night in San Fernando, and as always we were full of emotions when we went to bed.

Staying in Maria’s homestay was an amazing experience, the food was better than I could have ever imagined, the garden was tranquil, but the best experience of all was the loving home Maria provided for us! Thank you!

PS San Fernando is just south of Tigre, a town on the delta north of Buenos Aires. Many sailors frequent the area to get their boats fixed. The rates are much better than in Europe or America. Sailors will spend anywhere from a few weeks to months waiting for their boats to be repaired, or just relaxing in the warm Argentinian sun. Maria’s homestay provides them a place to stay.

 

Florianopolis, Brazil

What could make a beautiful city on an island covered with beaches, fresh fish, and oysters better?

Meet Paula, our couchsurfing host.

Paula has a heart much bigger than I could have ever imagined, she opened up her beautiful condo to Leah and me over the weekend. Couchsurfing has met a lot of opposition from friends and family. For those of you who don’t know what it is, http://www.couchsurfing.org is a online community of people who open up their homes for “strangers” to come and stay the night.

The idea of couchsurfing is much bigger than a free place to stay, its an open canvas of cultural exchange. The niceties are always interesting in travel (where you’ve been, where you’re going, cultural and linguistic differences, etc). But the real beauty of our stay with Paula was much deeper. Minutes after meeting Paula, we felt at home, and talking with her was like talking to an old friend. Paula showed us Lagoa da Conceição a very trendy section of Florianopolis, with restaurants, shops, and street markets to rival any hipster area in an US city. We shared a large bowl of Acai and hours of window shopping. It was an acleptic mix of Brazilians, from the fashion-concious middle class, to the jewerly making Rastafarian, to the old men playing dominos. After a long stroll in Lagoa da Conceição we picked out fresh ingredients and cooked a pizza together; sharing stories, pictures, and wine late into the night. Paula’s friend Eleanor joined us for pizza and stayed for the rest of the weekend. She is a lively, free-spirited british girl living in Paraguay. (well Paraguay this week, her country of residence seems to change faster than the weather). Eleanor was a godsend, with her experience as a tour guide in Boliva, and extensive South American travel, she helped us tremendously.

The next day Paula brought us to a delicious seafood restaurant in the San Antonio de Lisboa Beach section of the Florianopolis island. My mouth waters when I think about the meal of oysters, mashed yuca and shrimp that we all shared together. The views were splendid and the food to die for, all amist the best company this world has to offer. We shared a matte and watched the sunset on a bay sprinkled with fishing boats and osyter platforms.

Florianopolis was a success and couchsurfing provided us with a door into the vast culure in Florianoplois, and further examplifies how caring and giving people are everywhere in the world. Its a true catalyst to live-long friendships.

The mood is a bit somber as we leave this city we loved so much. Thanks again Paula and Elanor, best of luck in life and travels!

PS Paula wanted me to spread the word that all Brazilians don’t live in trees, and they don’t ride elephants.

Check out my photo album for more pictures of Florianoplois!

Vargem Grande

After 10 day of the constant rhythm of Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival, which like NYC, is truly a city that never sleeps or stops partying!  Ben and I looked forward to escaping the city to Brazil’s tropical countryside, where we could experience the country’s more rural side and maybe get some sleep! 😉

We were to be received as houseguests by fellow couch surfer, Cecilia, at her home in Vergem Grande, which is a barrio of Rio. This would be our first couch surfing experience of our world adventures and we were very excited to be spending time with another English speaker, there are not many in Rio.

Our journey to Vergem Grande gave us our first glimpses into the kindness of the Brazilian people, without them we’d still be stuck in Rio.  First we were unsure of our first transfer and after an hour of not see our bus go by we grew suspicious that we had gotten off at the wrong stop but the school kids at our bus stop assured us that our bus would come… eventually.

School kids reassuring us that we had the right stop. PS Brazilian girls are just as obsessed with Justin Bieber as America girls are.

Once on the second bus we asked a young woman in broken Portuguese what stop was Rio Water Planet, she told us and got off at our stop, but once she saw we were walking in the wrong direction, which is very typical of us, her and her friend ran after us politely pointing out the correct path to take.

Once we got to the first road we needed we were stopped by a gentleman who said “I think you are missing!” and ran to his car to get his car’s GPS. He insisted in broken English that we use it. He also did an excellent job explaining to us what chicken wings were, charade-style, because he caught us eyeing a restaurant menu.  It was definitely entertaining.  By this time it was very late and dark, and again some patient locals had to ran after us to point out the correct gate where Cecilia lived because we were walking past it after we had asked them for help.

Cecilia's House

We finally arrived at our host’s house and we were greeted us with open arms. Poor Cecilia worried that we were either lost or died and promptly served us delicious pizza, which we inhaled.  We also meet her two very cute and playfully puppies. Nina, the female and the youngest, was mild tempered and content to follow the lead of Freddie, the male, the oldest and the troublemaker! Lol.  They were like Cecilia’s shadows, constantly at her feet, bringing her joy and headaches in the same way small children bring to their parents.

Meet Nina, She seems sweet but she’s a little trickster. =)

The next day Cecilia’s mother arrived.  Cecilia’s mother was very charming and spoke no English. As her mother prepared us a traditional Brazilian desert made of sugar cookies and condensed milk, which tasted a lot like very sweet custard, we played a language game. She would point to an ingredient and say it in Portuguese then I would say the ingredient’s name in English if I knew what it was of course. 😉

That night Ben and I had our very first bowl of acai, which is a fruit that comes from Brazil’s tropical rain forests. They smash up the fruit and freeze it.  You eat it like you would ice cream.  It was amazing! And we have been addicted to it ever since.

The next day Cecilia took Ben, Freddie, and me to Grumari Beach, which is about 15 minutes from Vargem Grande by car.  You can tell by the pictures that there was cloud coverage but that didn’t stop Ben and I’s pale skin from getting burnt to a crisp. 😉 Oh well, it was beautiful!

Fisherman at Grumari Beach

Cecilia and Freddie at the beach

I couldn't resist not putting another picture of Grumari Beach in this post. It's just to pretty of a place.

The last night Ben and I tried out our cocoons, which are like sleeping bags made out of sheets to keep the bugs from biting us.  It was very hot and the windows needed to stay open.  As you can see they are quite the fashion statement. =)

Ben modeling the cocoon... priceless. I have more pictures upon request, hehe.