Lauren Penny and Britney Fitzgerald here. It is our last day in the beautiful Buenos Aires and today the whole group went to Estancia Don Silvano, located in La Pampas. This is a traditional ranch where we had a fiesta gaucho experience (gaucho party-gauchos are like cowboys that are residents of the Argentinian plains). When we arrived we were welcomed with a breakfast of empanadas and beverages (they were delicious). We then either went on a horseback ride or horse carriage ride through the countryside. Throughout the ride we saw lots of animals including peacocks, birds, nandus', pigs and more. After this, we all relaxed by the pool for a while and some attended a mate tea lesson. Some things that we took from this lesson included :
-The water should never be cold. (It should be between 70 and 90 degrees)
-You should heat the water until it starts to bubble. It should not be completely boiled.
-It is very hot however, this drink itself is not hot the straw is what feels hot.
-The silver straw used is antiseptic. For years and years they have been drinking from the same straw and no one has ever died because of it.
-If you clean the straw it is breaking the sign of friendship.
-The mate gives people energy and keeps them alert. It also has a lot of healthy properties.
And lastly:
-Do not say gracias when you are handed the mate- say it when you are done as it means that you do not want any more.
Next we had another Argentinian barbecue experience which included sausages, chicken, ribs, fries, salads etc.. lots of food! And while we ate we were entertained by a folkloric song and dance show with traditional Argentine dances(samba and tango). It was awesome! At one point our whole group was singing “can’t help falling in love with you”. They then had an open mic portion where our very own CBU professor, Angela Macdonald sang and played guitar. She was AMAZING!!! The staff then got people up dancing and some from our group showed off their moves. After our meal we went back to the pool to cool off and relax and were even joined by a few new friends (3 frogs- haha). Lauren MacDonald taught water aerobics and Belinda got revenge on Alicia for splashing her in the pool earlier. Before we headed out we had sweet cakes with quince jelly and tea. We then drove back to our hostel to pack and get ready to leave early in the morning. It’s safe to say we ended our trip on a high note. Saying farewell to Buenos Aires will be hard tomorrow as we have had an awesome time here. Thank you to anyone who is reading this that has made our time here all it has been. Ciao everyone!
-Lauren & Brittney
No comments:
Post a Comment