DU Abroad

This weekend, my exchange program IFSA (Institute for Study Abroad) brought its students to Uribelarrea, a little farming town two hours southwest of Buenos Aires. It was a wonderful way to get out of the city for a day and eat a lot of delicious food on someone else’s dime. Here was everything we did in Uribelarrea!

6:45 am: up & at ‘em

It was extremely painful to get up at this hour, especially considering I have been sleeping in as much as humanly possible while here. I can’t believe I ever regularly woke up this early.

7:45 am: Subte ride to Plaza Houssay

I enjoy the Subte (the subway system in Buenos Aires) on the weekends. Commuters aren’t packed together like fish in a tin. My housemate and I napped for the twenty-minute ride to our meeting point at Plaza Houssay, a little park in the center of the city.

8:15 am: depart for Uribelarrea

I wish I had something exciting to say about this two-hour bus ride, but I slept through most of it. When I did finally wake up towards the end, I gazed out the window at all the cows dotting the countryside. It’s a really lovely area: just farmland for miles.

10:15 am: arrive in Uribelarrea

We were greeted by a local guide, who walked us through the main plaza and explained the town’s history. It was founded in 1890 by a landowner named Uribelarrea (duh) who decided he wanted to establish his own little community in the pampa. It remained small; these days, the population is only about 3,000 habitants. As our guide spoke, a little old man sitting in the plaza came up to us and began interjecting with his own anecdotes.

Our guide showed us to the church adjacent to the town plaza. From there we walked to the train station, which was established to transport dairy. We were met by three dogs who, like our elderly man, began following us around through Uribelarrea. Finally, the guide showed us the agricultural school, which she said had once been a boarding school for unruly boys. After a short but thorough tour of the town (it is tiny, after all), we departed for a farm nearby.

10:45 am: ADN Hidroponia

The farm, run by a middle-aged couple and their sons, was totally hydroponic. This is an agricultural method that doesn’t require soil, so the plants receive their nutrients from a fortified water mixture. The family showed us one of their greenhouses, where they were growing lettuces, spinach, arugula, and other leafy greens. It was easy to see how passionate they were about their craft and its benefits to the community and the environment. As we left, they gave each of us a head of lettuce, which were not only perfect in appearance but also very very tasty.

11:45 am: charcuterie at Pueblo Escondido

After the hydroponics farm, our IFSA coordinators brought us to a local fiambrería, which is like an Argentine deli selling meats, cheeses, and other finger foods. The owner gave us a tasting of a selection of embutidos, all of which were handmade in-house. Like the lettuce, you could literally taste the love that had been put into the food.

12:45 pm: lunch at El Retoño

We then took a short bus ride to El Retoño, a local restaurant. It was housed in an ancient country home with a super cozy ambience and two twin cats who watched us from atop an old record player as we ate. We were fed a three-course meal consisting of an empanada, a plate of chicken and vegetables, and flan with dulce de leche, plus lots and lots of bread for the table. After lunch, we toured the garden out back and took a look inside the outdoor stone oven. The whole place was just so cozy.

15:15 pm: artisanal market

On the way back from lunch, we stopped at a small outdoor market. We walked through a few rows of tents peddling handmade jewelry, knives, leather belts and wallets, children’s toys, and more. I bought a little lion puppet and a bag of dried tea leaves for about $2 USD.

16:00 pm: goat farm Valle de Gañi

The highlight of my day, and maybe my month: a visit to a dairy goat farm! In the main barn, we met the owner of Valle de Gañi, who gave a brief talk about their history and ethos. Several hungry goats tried to eat her shoes as she talked. She then showed us their baby goats, all of whom were about a week old. They were utterly adorable. We spent a while walking through the stalls getting to know the goats and dodging their attempts to eat our pants.

17:00 pm: snacktime

After, we were ushered into the farm shop, where we were served a lovely merienda. We drank coffee and ate dainty pastries and pungent goat cheeses as we recapped the day. Finally, very full and very content, we said our goodbyes to the farm staff and departed Uribelarrea.

It was a long day but it was refreshing to spend time outside of the city. Everyone in Uribelarrea was so kind and so willing to share their pride for their community. Plus, I have always loved goats so I was basically on top of the world. If you’re ever in Argentina, I definitely recommend visiting the town of Uribelarrea!

Figuring out the streets and public transport in a new city is never easy, especially in one where you haven’t learned the language yet. Everyone seems to exactly where they are going at all times, no Apple or Google Maps are needed. Maybe they are just akin to the routines that take them along the same routes, or maybe the city is just easy to navigate when you’ve spent your whole life exploring it. All of the natives seem so comfortable in their surroundings, as they should be, but within my time at DU, I still find myself getting lost in Denver.

My main issue is I don’t know where the hell I am when I’m walking around Brno or boarding any bus or tram. I failed to get an International plan on my phone, so anytime I leave the dorms or campus square I have no access to maps. I will say, screw AT&T for their outrageous fees of 10$ a day, and for having my phone locked so I can’t even switch my SIM card to the free one gifted to me by the student network at Masaryk. Following around other students or staying in groups has been my best bet the past week, but when I had my first class I had to take screenshots of Apple Maps before leaving the dorm, and hope to god that the bus didn’t switch up the route on me while making my journey.

Walking to cafe MOMENTA in Brno — Walking in the City Centre of Brno to Cafe MOMENTA.

For any trips outside of Brno, & within the city I am trying to have a travel buddy because of my service and data issues, but I do wish I could explore independently like the people around me. I feel pretty safe and secure walking around when I am a bit lost though, there really isn’t that eerie feeling I get in the U.S. as a woman walking alone at night. The Czech Republic is actually the 6th safest country in the world, & Brno definitely proves it’s a safe environment. The girls I’ve been going to most places with have pointed that out as well, especially when we see a woman walking down the city center with 3 or 4 children by themselves. I really can’t imagine that in most places in the U.S., besides maybe a public park or playground but I feel like those are even spots where predators hang around.

Bratislava day trip! — Britt, Maria, Marta, and I in front of the President’s building in Bratislava, Slovakia.

I visited Bratislava, Slovakia for a day trip on Monday, September 18th. Although I hadn’t met anyone that had visited Slovakia before it had a very similar feeling of safety. I wasn’t as physically lost because I was with 3 other exchange students, Marta & Maria from Spain and Britt from Belgium. I’m proud of myself for not just sticking with the other Americans and being willing to take a trip with people I had just met days prior. The whole day we walked around, talking and comparing our home countries, universities, and families to each other. Bratislava is gorgeous and has such an immense history that I had not really thought about before. I feel like America is so young and we often forget about that, but when you see and visit statues and castles from the 9th century it really does open your eyes to the U.S.’s youth.

Overall, even though I don’t necessarily know where I am going most of the time, I feel safe and filled with more curiosity rather than worry.

A Day in El Campo

Lost in Brno