Tigre

Columbus Day was yesterday, Monday, so I didn’t have school…party! The truth is---all the Porteños take this day extremely seriously…unlike the U.S. Some of us decided to go to Tigre on our day off. We boarded the train from Reitiro Station and headed towards Tigre. Check this out---Tigre is a city that’s an hour bus ride outside of Bs Ar…money reference: a roundtrip train fair was 2.50 pesos, that’s roughly 60 cents! (An hour bus ride from Manhattan to Long Island is anywhere between $12-16.) That’s crazy!!!

Ok, so while I was on the train, I was standing next to this Porteño woman. I asked her a question in Spanish and she immediately said, “Yo hablo Ingles.” Seriously, I don’t get it---was my accent that bad? Clearly it was! Anyways, I told her I only speak Castellano and not English. She was impressed and immediately loved me! We conversed mostly in Castellano but there was still some English spoken. She told me all about her family- her 2 brothers who live in America, one’s in love with his wife and the other doesn’t live with his wife (he only married her for papers…oyy). She’s a hardcore rower and was going to her rowing club in Tigre; she also told me all the places to see in Tigre. At the end of the bus ride we exchanged kisses (an Argentine custom) and told me my Spanish is better or around the same level as her kindergarteners…jajajaja!

Tigre is surrounded around the Rio de Tigre (Tigre River) and there are streams of latte colored waters that stem from the main river called the Delta River. We got off the train and decided to take a 30 minute boat ride to Tres Bocas. Tres Bocas is a little area where there are summer homes and restaurants for the Argentines. It is all along the Delta River and the only way to get around is by the lanchas (boats). It is really cool because you’ll see boats carrying drinks, food, and produce to the restaurants and houses along the river. While we were on the boat, we met some Columbians (they were from Bogota) and one of them had a crush on Shonjon! Yow-yow! The views from the boat were so picturesque. The boat ride along the river reminded me of a nicer version of Xochimilco (sorry Mom!). I honestly felt like I was in one of Monet’s paintings it was that beautiful. It was incredible to see families and friends kayaking and lounging in their backyards enjoying their day off. We got off the boat and started walking around the path that takes you all around Tres Bocas…another beauty. After that, we went to a restaurant along the river (the service was soooo slow). Oh yeah, that’s another negative thing about Argentina---the service in restaurants is so slow that you should go to a restaurant before you get hungry because by the time you get your food your stomache will be growling.

We took the boat back to Tigre and walked around the town. We walked to Puerto del Frutos which is a huge flea market…it was really beautiful seeing all the vendors selling their crafted artwork. Aside from that, we had the most magnificent and peaceful day ever! As soon as we got back to the house we went to a drum show…(this is for a different blog entry because the drum show was the most incredible experience of my life)!