Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Kitesurfing pictures!


Kitesurfing was everything I thought it would be and more. I think I'm just going to post a link to my web album for you guys to look at pictures. I'm so sad to say that my dang camera battery died way before I was ready to stop taking pictures, so I wish I had more for you. However, this is enough to give you just a taste of it.

Enjoy....

First of all, I must tell you that I was very, very nervous about going. Let me be real with you here. I don't speak enough Spanish to hang with a solo Spanish speaking crowd. That was my number one concern. Number two concern, I'm not exactly a resilient spring chicken anymore, if I ever was. Gone are the days when I can get away with doing just about anything physical without consequence. Yes, I suffer now, I suffer crippling muscle pain that makes me painfully aware of the muscles I had forgotten I had. Being embarrassingly out of shape, yes, a major concern. I've also never water skied before, which I thought would be helpful experience to have had. The closest I came was knee boarding, which actually I was very good at so I was hopeful that maybe that experience would carry me through. So, as a result of all these worries, and my annoying little illness, I toyed with the idea of not going, I was very close to oversleeping on purpose. However, as some of you know, one of my better qualities is that I often make myself do things I don't really want to do. Sometimes this turns out to be a blessing, sometimes a curse. In this case, a blessing indeed.

The plan was to meet at 6 am. There were two predetermined locations for pickup. I got there around 6, it was still dark out, I was looking for the girls that should be waiting on the corner. (No, not those kinds of girls.) I find them easily since no one else is awake on a Saturday morning at that very early hour. After about ten minutes the rest of the girls begin to arrive and our van shortly thereafter. Lu, the girl running the girls camp, was as adorable as I had guessed she was from our correspondence and her kitesurf blogs. She jumps out of the van with her sun-bleached, salt-watered hair, and colorful skate shoes, unmistakable surfer girl to the max. Lu Alexandre Dupey is my new hero. She travels around the world teaching people how to kitesurf and she has been to some of the most beautiful beaches I have never seen. This might be my new career change here people. Anyway, after kisses on the cheek and brief introductions we caravan with another van full of girls to Punta Rasa.

A couple of hours pass with sleeping and chatting and bathroom breaks. These girls can talk like you wouldn't believe. There were about 12 girls in a van that had previously never met each other acting as if they're the best of buds. I've noticed the people of Buenos Aires make friends fast. The kiss on the cheek seems to break the ice and from that point on, everyone is friends. Another example of one of the many differences of our cultures.

We arrive in Punta Rasa and take a long and bumpy dirt road through the ecological reserves, destination beach. The road finally opens up to the water. On the left you have the Rio de la Plata and to the right you have the Atlantic Ocean. There is quite literally a small corner bank of sand that divides the two bodies of water. The river has warm, calm waters, and the ocean is comparatively choppy and cool. Truly an incredibly beautiful place.

This event was sponsored by a bunch of big companies whose presence was much more obvious than I had expected. After the water, the second thing that caught my eye was the giant blue eyesore of a Red Bull tent. After I realized we had an endless supply of Red Bulls I reevaluated my initial instinct to complain. I actually became quite grateful of the presence of sponsors when we had our gift giveaway on the second day. I scored some funky Mormaii sunglasses, an Isabel la Católica t-shirt, and a goody bag full of Nivea products. I love free stuff! There were even several drawings for cute shoes, more t-shirts, and a kitesurfing board, none of which I won. Of course.

So, day one continued. We load up on sunscreen, and sit on the sand for our lesson in how to kite surf. Lu had printed out a translated kitesurfing how-to manual prior to departure so I could read it on the trip. I must say this kind of increased my fear factor. They talk a lot about kitesurfing being a extreme sport and as a result quite dangerous. They put the fear of the kite into you.

After our little lecture about wind, kite positioning, safetly, and control, none of which I understood but one of the girls translated the important parts, we started with the practice kites. Small kites, but even with the small ones you could feel the power! It was amazing, wind is amazing! If you get that kite in the "power zone" it just takes you! Turns out, I'm kind of a natural, and had no reason to worry. This is one of my super powers, being good at most things the first couple of times I try them. After that it either goes one way or the other. I think I may truly have a knack for this kitesurfing though. Especially after seeing that the majority of these ladies had problems even keeping the kite in the air, let alone controlling it while it was up there.

By the end of day one I was in harness and strapped to my first real kite! Unfortunately it's kind of a slow learning process. Especially in this type of group setting. In order to be safe you have to go through the motions of practice kite on the beach, to supervised body drags in the water. Only after you prove your worth in those areas do you get to make an attempt with the board. By the end of the first day, I'd gotten about half way there. I was hopeful for the next day, and very excited.

The sun went down, the beach got cold, and we got hungry, so we made our way into town. In order of importance; we swam in the heated pool, we showered, we ate, we slept. I bunked with three awesome gals. Chelu, Juliana, and Lu were kind enough to take me under their wings. They'd even speak to me in English every once in awhile! After dinner everyone was tired and sunburned so went to our respective rooms and rested up for the next morning. I was so pleased to sleep in a queen bed after spending the last few months on a twin. I'm so spoiled!

Day two, unfortunately, was not full of kitesurfing excitement. The problem with kitesurfing, as with any other hobby/sport that depends on the wind, is sometimes there just isn't any. Day two was one of those days. So after our present distribution at the hotel, we spent a relaxing day on the beach. We ate empanadas, we went for walks, we took pictures, we talked, we napped, we tried to keep practice kites in the air, we swam, we waited for the wind, we just couldn't kitesurf. But of course, at about 8 or 9 pm, just as we began to pack up the vans, in came the wind. With the arrival of the wind, Lu hit the water, along with a couple of other die-hard kitesurfers. We had the pleasure of watching some really awesome kitesurfing with a beautiful sunset in the backdrop.

Moral of this story is, if you ever get the chance, definitely go kitesurfing. And if you're looking for me this summer back in Ohio, I'll be the one kitesurfing on Lake Erie.

Pictures!!!!
View it as a slide show, it looks much better!

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Kitesurfing in Punta Rasa

Hello dear friends and readers! I know it has been too long! So much is going on I don't even know where to begin.

First of all, I have gone and gotten sick again. This time I have a cold. So far nothing major but it's so frustrating that I can't manage to stay healthy here! I feel pretty well adjusted to the lifestyle, not particularly stressed out or anything. I wonder what is making me so susceptible to illness? My best guess is different bugs, lots of people, and lots of bad air in the city.

Anyway, I've had this weekend trip planned that has been postponed twice already. Of course, it is looking like this Saturday is the day this trip will finally be happening and I am sick. I am still going, I'll take a bunch of dayquil and suffer through! The trip is an all girls kitesurfing camp in Punta Rasa.
I have stolen this picture off of the internet to show you what kite surfing is, and to make you a little jealous. Looks fun doesn't it?

So it's a decent sized group of ladies going to kitsurf in Punta Rasa. The girl that's running the camp, Lu, seems really lively and it sounds like this is going to be a lot of fun. As well as a good opportunity to speak some Spanish, which is always good. We will leave early Saturday morning for Punta Rasa, which is located at the southern tip of the Bay Samborombón and the northern tip of Cape San Antonio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is the outer boundary of the Rio de La Plata, the exact point where the water mixes with the Atlantic Ocean. I haven't seen the ocean yet since I've been here so I'm excited just for that reason! Buenos Aires sits inside a little nook of the Rio de la Plata, so that's all you see here from the city.

All I really know about this camp is that we have a heated pool at the hotel, food, equipment, and lodging are provided, and by the time I come home on Sunday I will be able to say that I have been kitesurfing.

I will take lots of pictures and let you know how this little adventure turns out.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Our final excursion is all said and done, I'm sad to say. There are so many things to see and just not enough time to see them! Now I can scratch Colonia, Uruguay off my list. Although I loved it so much I think I might have to go back for a weekend before I come home.

The excursion itinerary: take the Buquebus to Colonia for a day of shopping, swimming, laying in the sun, and eating.

Luli, our lovely little friend, who is now our "Panrimo Coordinator" since Tony has gone back to the US, was our designated tour guide. We met Luli at 9am and made our way to the port. To go to Uruguay from Argentina you take a ferry boat. You can take the slow boat, which gets you across the Rio de la Plata in about 3 hours. Or, you can take the fast boat, which is more expensive, but it gets you to Uruguay in about an hour. Thankfully we took the fast boat, and it was pretty fast. The boat is equipped with airplane style seating and its very own duty-free store. You should have seen these people go crazy over perfume and candy. I've never seen such a shopping frenzy.
By 12:30pm we were in Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. Walking from the port to the town it was easy to see that we weren't in the city anymore. Colonia is the oldest town in Uruguay and it is full of history. The Barrio Histórico is actually a very popular destination for tourists. Colonia was founded by Portugal in 1680 but rule over this territory was in almost constant dispute with Spain until its independence in 1928. It went back and forth between the Spanish and Portuguese by conquer or treaty. It was even taken over by Brazil for about 7 years. Needless to say, its development has had the unique influence of both countries.

So enough with the history right? On to the crazy adventures!

Well we didn't actually have any CRAZY adventures. We did rent a golf cart type vehicle (only better) built for four, which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. It turns out the good/clean beaches are a couple of miles outside of the historical neighborhood. So we got some food, got on the cart, and headed to the beach with me at the wheel and Bennett in the passenger seat telling me what to do. As soon as we made it up the hill outside of the city blocks we got our first view of the beaches. It was beautiful! We found a good spot and we got in the water.

While we were in the water the clouds started to roll in. We made our way to the bar on the beach and as soon as we hit the door the winds picked up. The storms here are incredible. They start with these intense winds that seem to come out of nowhere, the rain follows soon after and none of it seems to last very long. The wind was tearing through this little bar patio but it was incredible to watch. The entire storm lasted maybe an hour and then the sun was shining again.

The rest of our evening consisted of shopping and dinner. One dollar is about 25 Uruguayos so shopping required some math. We were dealing with dollars, Argentine pesos, and Uruguayos. It was very confusing.

We got a wonderful recommendation for dinner that evening so we wined and dined. The food was delicious. I had steak medallions with mashed pumpkins. I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of this meal, it was truly a site to behold.

After dinner we had to power walk back to the Buquebus to make our 10:30 departure. We almost didn't get on the boat on time because Bennett was receiving a bit of harassment from the guys at the little customs desk. Unfortunately for Bennett he is unmistakably American. At 6 foot something he is probably one of the tallest guys they've ever seen here (is second toe is as long as my pinkie finger.)and he has a Minnesota t-shirt for every day of the week. Anyway, they were claiming he didn't have a stamp on his passport from Argentina, which was not true, we figured out afterwards that he was probably just wanting some money. I've decided the best way to deal with this kind of situation is to stand up for yourself and don't give anybody anything, ever. Every time I've felt like I was getting ripped off in some way, the second I spoke up about it they resolved the situation. I think they just kind of hope you'll become flustered and do something stupid.

So that's all she wrote. It was not nearly enough time to get spend in Colonia. If I were going again I would go for a weekend or take an earlier boat in the morning. It's a beautiful place that deserves more than just a few hours of exploration.