New Year in Rosario

After four sleepless nights in Cordoba, it was time to visit our friend Mariana, whom we met in Santiago de Cuba in August. We took a bus to from Cordoba to Rosario and arrived at 4:30 pm. 

After a shower and a bit of relaxation in the hostel, we had sushi for dinner for the first time in 8 months. The challenge of travelling is that you don't always get to eat the food your like, however you get the taste lots of different cuisines. 

We were quite tired after long nights in Cordoba, hence decided to go to bed early. What a bliss to sleep without all that noise and party! However, about an hour later, we were woken up by little visitors, BED BUGS!!! NOOOOO! They were everywhere and had bitten us multiple times already. We moved into another room in the middle of the night. I was agitated and tired. I managed to fall asleep for a while but then woke up again with more bites on my legs. It was a total nightmare.

We checked out the first thing in the morning. The owner of the hostel was very upset and didn’t want to charge us. We paid him half of the price and started to look for another place. After half a day of search, we found a beautiful guest house run by an awesome lady, Luli. She had done an incredible job and turned this beautiful house into an authentic and warm guest house that anyone would enjoy. It is called Sikkim and I would highly recommend this Petit Hostel if you are finding it hard to sleep in Argentina. Many thanks to Luli for her hospitality and providing a clean and safe environment.

Lounge room at the Sikkim Guest House

After moving into our new place, we went out to meet Mariana and her Cuban husband Juan whom we met in Trinidad. It was great seeing them again. We had a couple of mojitos that were prepared by Juan who is a bartender. We met also Mariana’s sister, Carolina and had a beautiful night full of laughter.

The next day was the 31^st of December 2013. It was time to say goodbye to a magnificent year. A year of joy, adventure, challenge, gratitude, friendship, curiosity, bliss, transformation, flow, and fatigue. This year, we had met wonderful people, discovered incredible places, gained trust and self-confidence, healed our wounds, connected with our families, lived fully, saw old friends and made new ones, enriched our souls, passed hurdles in our relationship and most importantly broke the routine. It was very valuable to learn how restricting routine can be for our evolution. I feel very grateful for this opportunity to have these amazing experiences. Thank you UNIVERSE! Life is magical when you live it to the fullest without fear. 

Mariana kindly invited us to spend the New Year’s Eve with her family in San Nicholas which about an hour from Rosario. The guests started to arrive around 9:30 pm when the BBQ was already on. We were told that Argentineans buy half a kilo of meat per person for these occasions. And yes it is true that they have the best meat in the world. 

There were seventeen of us including Mariana’s grandfather, aunts, uncles, and cousins. After a fantastic dinner with lots of BBQ meat, we were invited to participate in one of their family traditions. Each person wrote down on a paper what they have achieved in 2013 and their goals and wishes for 2014. It was an ideal way to end a year and start the new one.

Some of Mariana’s friends started to arrive around 11 pm. Soon after we finished dinner, it was time to cheer for the New Year. We danced and celebrated the arrival of 2014. At 4:30 am, they decided to go to a club. We were surprised but didn’t say no. After many months of travelling we had learn to go with the flow. Around 6:30 am we decided to go back home due to exhaustion. A big thank you to Mariana, her family and the Argentinean people for their amazing hospitality, warm hearths and joyful friendships. It was a fantastic New Year’s Eve we won’t forget.

New Year Party (Argentinian Style)

We woke up quite late the next day and drove to Mariana’s uncles’ summer house. We finished the leftovers from the night before and drank some mate. Mate is a traditional herbal drink in South America, especially in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. It is made by an infusion of dried leaves of yerba mate. It is usually drunk with friends and family by using the same cup and drinking straw. Not a good idea if you have issues with germs! After some relaxing time in the pool, we said goodbye to those wonderful people and caught a bus back to Rosario for one last night. 

According to our experience, Argentineans are one of the friendliest nations in the world. They are very interested in meeting new people and learning about different cultures. I am very grateful to have spent the New Year with great friends in this beautiful country. We really loved it!

Thank you Mariana and to her whole family! Muchos Besos!