After Buenos Aires we traveled up North to the Bolivian boarder. During our way up we stopped in several places and got the chance to get to know Argentina and its way of life a little bit better.
First stop was Cordoba, the second largest city of Argentina. Since the most tourist attractions are located in the center, you would never guess that it is actually pretty big. Luckily some guests in the hostel organized a little Christmas party we could join. I helped to prepare some typical, festive Argentinean dishes so that we did not only have dinner but also a cocking and Spanish class. For some reasons they love eggs. Never in my life have I eaten so many eggs. They are everywhere; in salads, stuffing, sandwiches and all other places you can or cannot imagine.
Christmas eve was very nice; we had a huge buffet and an international crowd. In Argentina they are not very into Christmas decoration, compared to the other South American countries we went before. Nevertheless, the lack of decoration and the heat made it a special holiday. At midnight firework were launched and people started hugging, toasting and wishing each other a nice Christmas. We found it a little awkward but the girls from Argentina, Ecuador and Brazil assured us that this is the habit in South America.
Another thing we learned is that Argentineans are very proud and sometimes have their own understanding of hospitality. Before we went to Salta we wanted to eat something in the bus station’s restaurant. It always takes a while for the waiter to arrive, no matter how busy the restaurant is. Here our friendly Spanish conversation:
“Could we have the menu please?”
“No, we do not have a menu.” Silence.
“But yesterday you had a menu.” We ate there after buying the tickets.
Silence. “Well they are updating the menu right now.” Silence.
Since he did not seem willing to make some suggestions we ordered the same as the day before and miraculously it did also cost the same.
Kommentar schreiben