Argentina and Uruguay, Part 2

Old City of Monetvideo

Portal dividing the new city from the old.

Our group of mixed backgrounds.

After grabbing a quick nap, due to our extreme lack of sleep, we headed down to the bar that was in our hostel. There what was supposed to be a quick drink in order to get ready, turned out to be a several hour party downstairs with people from all over the world.

However, there is no doubt that the largest percentage of travelers at our hostel were Argentines on holiday. In general, I find the Argentines to be a very friendly people with whom I´ve never had a problem. However, in this case, I found the Argentines to be unfriendly, immature, and drugged out. As I may have indicated in the past, Chile does not always share the greatest relations with its neighbors. In fact, at most times in its history, Chile has had downright hostile relations with Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina. Recently, though, both Chile and Argentina have warmed up to each other considerably, as many Chileans vacation in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, while many Argentines head to Chile to spend their summers at the beach here. 

In any case, going back to my story, I was speaking with a group of the Argentines in Spanish when they noticed that although I was a gringo, I was also speaking in a Chilean accent. When I noted that I was half Chilean and that my friend and I lived in Santiago, they responded by saying that it wasn´t good to walk around saying you´re Chilean in Argentina or Uruguay, and that we were better off saying we were Americans. When I asked why they told me that they didn´t like Chileans very much and that they, in fact, looked down on them to a certain degree. This was shocking because not only had I just met these guys, but also I have rarely experienced xenophobia or a general dislike, least of all from being Chilean.

In any case, after a while my friend and I decided to head out and see what the night life was like in Montevideo. Though I knew the city was relatively small, I was surprised by how small and dense the bar area was. Walking not a block from the Plaza de Independencia, and extending in a half-block radius in two directions, the downtown bar area was a densely-packed district of pubs and discos. There we sat outside, joined by the most international group of people that I have ever drank with: three Swedes, two Colombians, two Chileans, and two Argentines, on top of my Canadian friend and I. We had a blast drinking Pilsen, the major Uruguayan beer, and talking about home, our travel experiences, and life in general.

After leaving the bar around 5 AM and heading back to the hostile, Chris and I woke up around 10 AM in order to make our 12 PM boat back to Buenos Aires. Being the Saturday before Easter and that Montevideo was so small, we easily traversed the city and made it to the port on time. After a relaxing and comfortable 3 hour ride across the Mar de Plata, we landed back in Buenos Aires. The rest of the day we spent shopping, considering that Buenos Aires has the best shopping and the best prices out of anywhere else in Latin America. Later on we took it easy and then went out for dinner to the best steak restaurant in Buenos Aires, located in Puerto Madero. There I dined on one of the best steaks I´ve ever eaten, what we call the "tomahawk" cut, which was the size of my upper torso.

After dinner, we returned to the hostel in Palermo where Chris and I met two Brits backpacking through South America. We became fast friends, drinking at the hostel. Later in the evening, around 2 AM, we headed out to the night life in Plaza Cerrano, also known as Palermo Hollywood (notice the constant fascination with all things American? There's also a part of Palermo, the fashion district, called Palermo SoHo!) Hanging out drinking beer with the Brits, I was able to ask all the questions I've ever wanted to of the Brits, ranging from the subject of Ginnies to learning to speak Cockney. 

After another boisterous evening out, we dragged our feet back to bed. We woke up lazily the next day, and headed back to the airport, hopping onto our plane back to Santiago. It was a busy trip full of travel, but I learned a lot. Best of all, I met tons of different and interesting people from all over the world. It's extremely cliche, but it made me realize how similar all humans are and how we all share common ground, no matter what.