Eating Mexican food with Chileans in Argentina

Monday, March 5^th, 2012

Today, we had high hopes of going to a legendary breakfast place called The Map Room (as a geography major, my heart fluttered a little). Unfortunately, The Map Room is now room for rent, as it is no longer open. Oh. So we had lunch at Friends’ Café instead. Fitting, no?

But really eating that breakfast was just an excuse to make us look like we weren’t having ice cream for breakfast, and that’s really what we were after. We went back to Del Tourista for more ice cream and I caved to chocolate almond and white chocolate. What a divine combination. While Gus and Angela pondered their choices, I was sitting with Ryan and he noticed there was a Chilean guy he had met on the bus (you know, when it was filled with 100 people…) standing by the chocolate counter so he waved and said hi. Alejandro and his wife Carolina walked over and we started a cheery conversation about Bariloche, Chile and the basic “get to know you” kinds of things. They were perhaps the most congenial couple I’ve ever met and Ryan boldly asked them what they were doing for dinner that night so that we could all spend more time together. They accepted the invitation and we planned to meet in the plaza at 8. We practically left the chocolate store skipping and giggling like children because we were so excited to have met such wonderful people.

And that’s just the kind of place Bariloche is. While it completely plays up the fact that it’s a tourist destination, it’s the kind of place where it’s OK to be a tourist. You have so many opportunities to meet people from anywhere in the world that are happy to meet you too. It’s the bigger, international version of McCall, Sun Valley and some places in BC, Canada. Sure, you shouldn’t go talking to strangers and sometimes it’s the exact people that you should stay away from that try and entice you more, but this isn’t the movie Taken. It’s a small town known for its outdoor activities and kind people that are down for a conversation anytime. If you’ve been keeping up, you know this is the polar opposite of Buenos Aires which is one of the world’s largest cities filled with questionable people and thieves galore in addition to little tolerance for anyone who’s not a Porteño. The scenery and attitude reminded me so much of the West Coast that I got incredibly homesick every time I breathed in or opened my eyes (i/e every second). There’s a lot to be said for the cosmopolitan metropolises like Buenos Aires, but I immediately felt a sense of comfort and relief in Bariloche and almost wished I was studying abroad there instead. I always thought I was an urban girl, and I am…but I’m also from a friendly-sized city chock full o’ mountains, rivers, lakes and greenery where the air is clean no matter where you’re standing—and I’m realizing that I don’t think I can ever compromise these things in the long term wherever I choose to live—despite the fact that I always made fun of people who said exactly that.

8 o’clock rolled around and we were greeted once again by our Chilean friends. We deliberated for several minutes about whether or not we should return to the parilla or try the Mexican restaurant we’d seen earlier in the day. We decided on Mexican because we couldn’t say no to the idea of eating a burrito…something I’ve been longing for ever since I got here. When I get back to the US, I’m seriously going to eat beans and rice every day. We practically owned the downstairs as there was nobody else eating there.

While I can’t necessarily name specific things we talked, we grazed over politics, the economy, Chile vs. Argentina, significant others (Alejandro was always in love with Carolina [and they knew each other from childhood], but she always went for guys with darker skin until one day she realized she loved him too and they’ve been married for 11 years J). These are the kinds of conversations I live for. When we were finished with dinner and the sobremesa afterwards, we took photos in hopes that they would capture the moment and how we all felt, and maybe they did. We swapped contact info and then parted ways outside the restaurant and it felt like saying goodbye to family. That, to me, seems like the real Latin America and I hope I can find more of it. Carolina and Alejandro, you are by far one of the best memories I will have in Bariloche.