ARGENTINA. Why not? That´s right. The one and only. It´s not a dream. Here is where it´s starts. It´s not fake news. Yes, Argentina! “What an introduction, my mind is blown!” You are damn right kiddo. This second “blog book” is released with it´s very first, premiere-style chapter 1a: Misiones. Chapter 1b will be about Buenos Aires. A chapter 1c won´t be existing unless something crazy happens…
Let it begin…
On the 12th of June 2019, finally after 2 weeks of “waiting,” my drive arrived! In the evening I went to El Dorado airport where Kata and Don Remco waved at me, while I was walking towards security: Vincent is here to make promised come true. Yes that is correct. Because, 3.5 years ago I made some Latin American friends the promise to visit them within 3 years. “But Vicente, you fucked up the promise now, because you are half a year late…!” Yet again: you are damn right kiddo (promises are here to break, sometimes). Even though I am a half a year late, I still combined my exchange with the opportunity of visiting my friends. Till now, I don´t regret the visit at all, and here´s why: José.
“Who the …. is José and why is this chapter called Misiones?”
Well, thanks for asking, that’s an easy question to answer (because I know the answer, duh). José a.k.a. 1 of 4 motherfuckers, is a friend from my time in New Zealand, he lives in Argentina, in the province of Misiones to be precise. So, that’s José and his area.
Why one of the 4 motherfuckers, you ask? Well first of all, we are inglorious bastards, and we were with 4 of dem bastards. That´s why “1 of 4.” The other 3 were Stefan (representing Switzerland), Nils (representing Germany), and me (representing the Netherlands).
Back to Argentina. After a long trip, I finally arrived of the small and comunal airport of Posadas. José hopefully waited for me, as he was already waiting for 3+ hours (“he crazy.” Nah my flight was delayed by the Argentian weather). The feeling of excitement and weirdness to see him as a more matured motherfucker, is a memorable moment (you should understand by now that motherfucker is a nickname and a joke, pls don´t call the police or so, because of repetitive online insultment (“is that even a legal offense? Someone knows?”)).
There are many activities and moments to share, but also to make this story bearable for you , the reader, I would like to highlight the most funny, crazy, beautiful ones (as you will crave to visit Misiones as well, trust me). I will take you for Misiones cultural habits, Oberá, to both sides of the Iguazú Falls, Brazil, a real Argentinian Asado and more!
First things first, Argentinian Spanish is different than Colombian Spanish. Instead of vamos (with stress on the s), they say vamo, or like Spanish – Spanih. It could be the same with English: Sweet – Weet. Another difference is their culture, at least the culture of Misiones. Whereas mostly famous in Spain, Misiones has the same in play. Guess, what is very common in the culture in Spain what isn´t common in the Latin American cultures (as far as I know, trust me, I don´t know a lot whaha)? I will tell you the answer at the end of the blog, don´t cheat now by scrolling to the end, you motherfucker (again, calm your tits if you are offended, it’s a joke).
After the arrival José and I directly went into a cultural deep dive (well, not for him, rather for me). Whereas the Spaniards were inglorious bastards as well (we could call them that nowadays), as they rather slaughtered, killed, made slave, religie veranderen, or at least smoked the peace pipe. However, luckily, nowhere but in Misiones, some wise people decided to instead of spreading catholism by slaughter, they lived in harmony with the indigenous people. 10 points to Argentina! We visited the ruin, as you can see on the pictures.
“Copada* that you are going to the north of Argentina to visit your friend, but what´s up there? Nothing?” Partly you are right. If you compare the town with big cities, of course the town seems like ´´dead.´´ But you can´t compare a city like Bogota with minimal 8 million people with a town like Obera with 60K. That´s like going to a hooker for a hug, nobody does that. Would be an expensive hug, and you would be like McLovin from the movie “Super Bad”
What makes Obera are the people. It is so relaxed. We were driving through town and Jose knows about different friends and people owning different shops or working at different companies. It´s like this society on it´s own. That´s one reason I like my own hometown, Naaldwijk, as well. When cycling through the city, you will always see someone you know or bump into a friend.
With Argentina comes the Argentinian Asado and the Argintinian Malbec (According to the Argentinians, the best Asado and Malbec in the world). Asado means bbq, and Malbec is a type of wine. What was explained to my why they drink wine instead of beer was very interesting (as in the Netherlands, at least for me, drink beer with my bbq). And when you think of it, it could make sense. The reason that Argentinians drink wine instead of beer is the carbonic acid (= are the bubbles in your beer, everyone should know that!). These bubbles fill your belly up, so you can’t eat a lot of asado. 1+1=2: drink wine, eat more asado. We can still learn a lot from Argentina, guys..
Let’s take a break
Now we come to the part that you (yes, you) are probably hungry or thirsty. If you need, take a break, take a Kit Kat (this is not an ad, I am not that well known yet… Something else is okay with me as well).
Because now comes the best part: the Iguazú Fall or Foz de Iguaçú. I won´t upload a lot of pictures here, but I will do in my photo album on my website. So if you open the photo album in another tab you can easily switch between the story and photos. However, for now check José’s photos on his website: www.thepearco.com/iguazu
Iguazú falls/foz de Iguaçu
With the Yerba Mate ready, Jose and I started our road trip of 3.5 hours to the Iguazú falls. As to see on the map, it´s only a little drive. But, for the non-Dutch readers (which will probably around 2 people whahaha! Let me know in the comments where you are from! It can be done anonymously I think), so for the non-Dutch readers, 3.5 hours of drive and you have seen it all in the Netherlands; THAT is how small my country is.
On day 1, we visited the puerto de Iguazú, the Argentinian side. On the second day we saw the same falls, but from the Brazilian side: Foz de Iguaçú. These falls are litterally breathtaking. No wonder why these are part of the 8 natural world wonders! Whatever you do in this world, make sure to visit the Iguazú falls! On the Brazilian side we were accompanied by Jose´s family, and together we took pictures and experienced the magic of the falls. Open José’s photobook and get yourself excited for your next trip to the falls!
Back to reality, and back to Obera for a final “blog-worthy” story (not everything what we have done should be mentioned in a blog guys. I mean, if you want I can write about how José and I watched television and edited photos, but you probably won’t like that, eh?).
“What, why you keep me surprising Vincent? Tea from Japan in Argentina? No entiendo!” Tranquilooooo/aaaaa, let me explain!
Let’s talk tea (From Japan, in Argentina)
Jose has a friend, Taro, who has ascendents of Japan. And the Japanese are master in making tea. So Taro is continiouing a family tradition! He explained my about tea and how to prepare it. I was even set to work as well!
I hope you are reading this, as it means you made it to the end of this chapter. As reward, and you might have guessed it, the cultural habit of Misiones, which is similar of the Spanish one, is the siesta! Nothing happens between 1 and 4PM. Glory and life-long honours to you if you guessed it right!
Next chapter: Buenos Aires and why it’s better than Bogotá (the city I live in, I would like to move to Buenos Aires)!