Córdoba, tierra de cantantes

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to get to know another part of Argentina! Thursday, May 1st was Labor Day and BAICA hopped on board with the country's declaration of Friday as a bridge holiday to promote travel.

So travel I did.



With my friend Alyssa, we semi-cama-ejecutivo'd it on over to Córdoba.



The Travel-Buddy:
This was my first trip with Alyssa and it worked perfectly. What I lacked, she had. We shared the planning and decision-making very evenly and it was just the kind of company I needed.






The Overview:
beige colored buildings
bluer than blue skies
churches and cathedrals around every corner
pretty place but it's the people who make it.

It was a trip of buses, five towns (Capital, St. Rosa, Villa Gen. Belgrano, La Cumbre, Villa Giardino) in two days
a trip of meeting people, accepting hospitality, saying yes to a despedida, to dinner, to being taxied
we slept on overnight buses after whisky night caps, against windows on windy roads
we shared the bed of a stranger who worked in Cirque du Soleil
we stayed in a mom and pop hostel named accordingly in Quechua "Mamacha Tatai."





The Highlights: 
Though Cordoba was beautiful, I was more impressed with the people we met. Our couchsurfing host not only gave us a place to drop our stuff and crash for the night, but he integrated us into his group of friends. We went to an asado despedida party for a French girl who'd been living with him for over 2 months. All together we danced, ate, jumped rope, and made music.





The hostel in Villa Giardino immediately felt like home. The owners, the mom and dad, the Mamacha and Tatai stay true to their Interior Argentina Provincia de Santa Fe roots. After greeting us warmly and giving us a tour, they immediately sat us down with some mate. Then they got to know us. Their warmth and sincere interest blew us away. That night, we came back to a family dinner that they cooked for us. On our last day, the father took his car out to get in some final sight-seeing, and when it was time to leave, both got in the car to see us off. They left the hostel in the hands of the other two families staying there and drove us to the bus station where they waited with us. Kind doesn't cover it.



Another highlight was this dog that found us. On our last day after the mini tour by our "Dad," we walked from Villa Giardino to la Cumbre, lunched there, then took the bus back. We wanted to make it to the water that we saw on the tourist map before heading back to Cordoba Capital, so we went exploring. All we found were more dirt roads after more dirt roads, farms, and strangers staring at the obvious out-of-towners. But then a dog showed up. I don't know how to explain it because even in the moment we were incredulous, but this dog could understand us. He led us for about 45 minutes in total, to the water and back by shortcut. It was bizarre. And once we made it back to where we knew how to get to the main road, just as fluidly as he became our guide, he left our side without any goodbye.



My Dos and Don'ts of Cordoba:
Don't forget shoes when you go to the bathroom on the bus
Do take off your socks immediately
Do couchsurf
Do go to the party
Do talk until they understand
Don't trust tourist reviews
Do sleep sitting up
Do wear layers
Do follow dogs instead of people
Do use coats as covers
Do take advantage of the Mexican food
Don't take someone else's word for it

 

The Wrap-Up:
A hug good-bye at the bus station
We came to see streams and mountains, to get away from the crowds and bluster. In the end we rode buses, we slept with half our bodies hanging off half a twin bed, we gently decided not to wash with hair-covered soap in houses that were named our homes by a circus worker with two starving cats, a bucket full of locro with a French girl on his floor and seven South American dwarves;
by a silky bearded man with sharp eyes and a glowing fire face-- a modern viking Agnostic tamed by a pony-tailed woman with ulcers behind her eyes and heart full of honey, by two black dogs forgotten how to bark, sleep twitching their paws and tails lazy as the tie of a grandfather clock.
We looked for Christ standing grand and white, arms spread high above the city. We found him in a dog who led us through prickers to running water and back. We came to buy chocolate and left with a sweetness that lingers long after.



Thanks to Andrew for information, to Katy for the couchsurfing contact, to Gaby for being a great host, to Adriana and Bene for treating us like daughters, and to everyone back home for the prayers!