A wholesome weekend with cuddle puddles and pancakes!

Because of how exams and winter break works out, I have the entirety of the mouth of July off, so I'm doing as much traveling as possible because it's a little tricky to get out of my little home of Puerto Madryn. This past week, I went to Corrientes and Iguazú. Because I have a tendency to overshare, I'm splitting this adventure into two separate posts, starting with my trip to Corrientes.

Corrientes is in Northeast Argentina and has a subtropical climate, which came as a bit of a shock coming from cold, dry Patagonia.

I decided to visit Corrientes on my journey north because Leia (they/them) lives there! In case you don't remember, Leia is my ETA mentor. They were in my position back in 2019 and is now here to give us tips, tricks, and advice as well as to help us navigate the ups and downs of being a Fulbrighter. They are actually super cool and now live in Argentina with their fiancé, Rosario! I met Leia briefly in March and since then we've bonded over life and veganism and other things, so I wanted to actually go hangout with them in person. It felt like meeting an internet friend because we've only hung out briefly but have probably sent each other hours of voice messages lol.

Anyhoo, I woke up at the early hour of 5am last Friday to prep myself for the hour long transfer to the Trelew airport once again. We got to the airport so early, security wasn't even open yet, so I got to sit and wait in the lobby with everyone else on my flight. Good thing we got there early!

I decided to wait until I arrived in Buenos Aires to acquire my coffee. In fact, I actually acquired two coffees. Waking up at 5am is not really my thing.

When arriving in Corrientes, I was shocked to realize that it is, in fact, a tropical climate. While this may sound silly, I really hadn't thought about what that actually meant prior to arriving, but Corrientes literally felt like a different country. It was warm and humid and so green. The streets and vibe really just looked and felt different. I actually felt a bit of culture shock. Although I hadn't really experienced much of the actual culture of the north at this point, I was just in wild disbelief of how different it was.

From the plane:

From the airport:

As soon as I stepped out of the airplane, I instantly began sweating. Although I wasn't wearing my jacket, I also wasn't dressed for humid, 80-degree weather. I took a taxi to the center of town to Leia's apartment. They and Rosario live in a super cute little loft.

Area outside of their apartment:

Inside the apartment complex - it was like a maze. You had to go three three different doors before getting to their apartment.

Leia welcomed me home with a lunch of cheesy rice, broccoli, and a vegan milanesa. They are also vegan, so any food I talk about will be vegan. Leia prioritizes yummy foods and loves to cook, so we ate quite a lot of good food this weekend.

I had to eat kind of quickly, though, because we had a bit of a journey ahead of us. As Fulbrighters, we kind of are not in control of our future and plans, so if we are asked to go somewhere and do a presentation 2-3 days beforehand, we do. Just a few days before I made my way to Corrientes, Leia was asked to give a presentation at a small town outside of Corrientes the Friday I arrived and asked if I would like to join. I love a good adventure, so I, of course, agreed to go.

We were picked up by a teacher Leia had never met before and were driven to a town called Paso de la Patria about 45 minutes away from Corrientes. This gave me an excellent opportunity to see some of the landscape of Corrientes. It was flat and green and looked a bit marshy/wetlands like.

On the way, we made a bit of small talk with the complete stranger driving us and then stopped at a vegetable stand because it was the teacher's favorite place to buy avocados. Leia bought us some as well, and I was shocked to find out that these were no Haas avocados or any other type of avocado I've ever seen before. They were amazing.

We made it to Paso de la Patria right as the sun was setting. We picked up one of the tourism students who we were going to be presenting to and she gave us a small tour of the town where we were subjected to a few awkward photos that will not be leaving the photo vault. But here are some I took!

Just look at this!!!!

From what I understood, Paso de la Patria is a major fishing town. So much so that they have a fishing festival/competition every year!

After watching the sunset, we made our way back to the school. The teacher and student were telling us how anxious and excited the students were to meet us, since we were native English speakers. Imagine learning a language for x amount of years and then, one day, having to present in front of the very first native speaker you've ever met! Then, you learn that there won't be one but two native speakers! Then, you learn that the native speakers can't eat any of the food you brought nor the chipá you were presenting on because they're both vegan! The poor students! We're incredibly privileged in the U.S. that this experience isn't as intense for us because of the diverse backgrounds of the people in our schools and classrooms. I had a native Spanish speaker as my Spanish teacher when I was younger. Native English speakers as teachers aren't quite as common here, especially not in smaller towns.

So, this was kind of a big event. I, honestly, expected just rolling into a classroom with a few students and watching Leia present. However, the school and students had quite a few things in store for us. Unlike Leia, I haven't gone to smaller schools in my own province before, so I was completely overwhelmed with what the school and students had planned.

For starters:

Then, the students gave presentations about Paso de la Patria and how to make chipá, a dish common to northeast Argentina. While they laid out the steps for the recipe, they actually had someone making it in real life.

I died it was just so darn cute and fun. Then, some people danced three dances common to this area of Argentina.

Take a look at the little girl in the orange! So cute! And so good! Having lived in this part of Argentina for awhile, this wasn't incredibly new for Leia, but it was a lot of fun for me to discover and learn about this new place!! I was also just overwhelmed at how much was going on and how much they had done to prepare and show us.

Then Leia gave their presentation about Tennessee!

And then, they presented us with gifts. They presented each gift to us individually and insisted that we take photos with each individual gift. They gave us both two mates and a type of fruit common to the region.

This was followed by a few other pictures immediately after they offered me a tortilla to eat. Leia is hiding the half eaten tortilla in both of these pictures.

The tortilla is behind Leia in this picture of two vegans holding a fish.

As an aside, you may be giggling a little at how much happened at the school there when Leia and I just went to give a small presentation. To be fair, it was a lot. However, think about the fact that when on earth do you think students in a super small town in northeast Argentina ever meet native English speakers let alone native English speakers from the U.S. It's a pretty big deal. It's not like a touristy town in Europe. United Statesians don't even casually happen upon Corrientes, so an even more out of the way town is even more wild. Although it may not seem like much and it may seem really really crappy right now, as United Statesians we hold quite a deal of privilege even if it doesn't feel like it.

By the time it was time to leave, I think Leia and I were both in pain from smiling so much. The same teacher drove us back, and Leia made expert small talk with her as I pretended not to pay attention in the back because it's always awkward trying to take part in a conversation when you're sitting in the backseat. Leia was a champ, though, and asked the most random questions like "What was it like to have a baby during the pandemic?" It got a little awkward when we found out that when she got COVID she gave it to her dad who later died of COVID...

Anyhoo, Leia made us stir fry when we got back and we chatted until Rosario got home from an asado, talking about whatever things people talk about after 1am.

Saturday morning, we slept in and had breakfast in bed before a Fulbrighter who lives across the river, Annabelle, came over. Annabelle lives in Chaco, which is the province right across the river from Corrientes! She was coming with us to a ceramics class that Leia goes to! We took the bus to what appeared to be a random house on the side of the highway but was actually a super cute ceramics studio!

Look how cute!!!!

We set off to work on our individual pieces! We had three hours to create and paint. Leia, having gone to these classes for quite a bit now, was the annoying expert who showed us all up. You can see their concentration in this picture. They were like that the entire time. I, meanwhile, had literally no clue what I was doing. I really tried to get into the "patience" vibe but just kept getting frustrated, unshockingly.

They even gave us coffee while we were working!

(that's Annabelle on the left)

During the process, I quickly found that my patience dwindled....

I thought I took a picture of what I made but apparently not...I made a mug! I gave it a little purple paint and will somehow figure out how to get it from Leia at some point.

We were driven back to Leia's by one of the participants of the class who happened to be planning to move to Australia. Unfortunately, none of us could remember her name. We were welcomed back with vegan chipá made by Rosario! Chipá is a type of cheese bread. It was the first time I had it and it did not disappoint!! Peep the amaaaazing looking avocado!

We ate quite of bit of chipá before we all started the task of acquiring drinks and making pizza for dinner! I was put in charge of washing the dishes, chopping the vegetables, and shredding the cheese.

We ate pizza and sang ""karaoke" to end the night. Once Annabelle left, Rosario, Leia, and I watched old youtube videos and passed around a can of hard seltzer until we were basically zombies we were so tired.

On Sunday, we had another breakfast in bed (note - the lofted "bedroom" is also the dining room in the Greenchez household). I slept in a twin bed next to theirs, so it was kind of like a grown up sleepover!

Sunday was an exciting day because it was the day of lemon blueberry pancakes! Leia once told me that they made them, and I immediately knew that I needed them to make them for me! In Iowa City, I go to the farmer's market on Saturdays when it is open for the sole purpose of eating vegan lemon blueberry pancakes.

However, for these pancakes, we had to go on an adventure! We packed up our backpacks, and Leia, Rosario, and I made our way to Chaco to Annabelle's home! To get there, we took the bus, which was about 45 min/an hour

and had to go over this big bridge (I did not take this picture) to get to the province!

Annabelle lives in this cute apartment about 15 minutes from the bus stop. Here's a small look at her neighborhood.

At Annabelle's, Rosario and I let Leia and Annabelle do the cooking, so we hung out and Rosario made us some coffee.

Pancakes are those awkward types of foods that are hard to eat with multiple people because you end up having to make them individually or two at a time, so it takes forever for all of them to be ready at the same time. We ended up eating several individual pancakes, so that we could each have some while they were hot.

After eating, we made a "radio program." Leia had told Annabelle and I that a Sunday tradition they and Rosario have is asking each other silly questions to give Rosario an opportunity to practice English. Turns out, Annabelle and I were the special guests on only the second "radio program" ever "produced." As Rosario emceed, we asked each other questions like what we think happens after you die, what's your ideal way to spend the holidays, and what food you would eat for every single meal.

Sitting around asking each other silly questions, then playing Apples to Apples, while listening to U.S. current top pop songs, with our shoes off, speaking lots of English, and learning TikTok dances was, as Leia put it, the most United Statesian night one could experience. Honestly, they were right. It really felt like I could've stepped out of Annabelle's apartment into Iowa or Virginia or wherever. This is more so an observation then anything else. It was really just one of those wholesome nights that you wish you could have more of.

But, unfortunately, the night had to end because I had to catch my overnight bus at 12:30 am. Annabelle walked us back to the bus stop, and the two of us chatted about differences in our experiences and provinces and how nice it was to get to know each other beyond the trivial little conversations we had in March.

On our way back to the apartment, back in Corrientes, Leia, Rosario, and I stopped for ice cream where the ice cream guy gave Leia the wrong flavors not once but two times. I got chocolate and banana split (it had chocolate chunks and many of you may know how much I love chunks in ice cream)!

Then, I finished packing my things and actually got ready for the bus this time by brushing my teeth, washing my face, changing into comfy clothes, and filling up my water bottle. We walked to a plaza to find a taxi to take me to the bus station where I insisted on a picture with the Corrientes sign:

Having had an obscene amount of luck with buses and rides this weekend, real life finally hit us when looking for a taxi. I'd say it took about 20 minutes for us to find a free taxi. Fear began to creep up on me, but perhaps it was the ice cream or perhaps it was Rosario with major "I've got this" energy keeping me calm.

The two of them rode with me to the bus station and waited for my bus with me.

They were like little parents sending their child off to school. Leia insisted they check with the bus company to make sure we knew which platform the bus would arrive at and if it had arrived already.

Then, they stayed until I got on the bus. Here's sad Rosario watching me get on the bus.

Then I settled in for my ~9 hour bus ride to Iguazú. Although I had forgotten my neck pillow this trip, I felt more prepared to conquer this, shorter, bus ride. Once boarded, I took my dramamine and tried to get right to sleep. It mostly worked. While at first it was nice and warm on the bus, I swear it felt like they soon started blowing cold air making it a little uncomfy to sleep. What made things even more uncomfy was at around 3 or 4 in the am the bus driver walked around asking everyone where they were going. Me, having been asleep until about 15 seconds before he asked me, looked up in a daze at the man yelling something in Spanish about my destination. Stumbling over my words I somehow managed to get "Iguazú" out of my mouth loud enough for him to hear before quickly falling back to sleep. I'm not sure what that was all about, but I can confidently say that I did make it to Iguazú Monday morning!

Stay tuned for all the pretty pictures from Iguazú!!