Felices Fiestas

So, Nate and I spent Christmas at the beach. We took a Condor Estrella bus out of Buenos Aires to the lovely seaside town of Mar de Ajo. As we left the city, we also left behind almost all the Argentines, and we got our first real glimpse of the almost unpopulated campo. The population of the country is incredibly densely concentrated in Buenos Aires, leaving the pampas empty except for innumerable cattle. The quietness of the countryside was shocking after the intense activity of Buenos Aires. We rode for five hours along rough roads with unbroken expanses of grass on either side. The day was stormy, and the silent lightning flashing over the pampas made them even more beautiful.

We rode in the comfort of a semi-cama bus, with seats that were nearly fully reclining. Every seat was taken, but the bus didn't feel crowded. We passed our time sleeping and watching the Argentines across the aisle drink round after round of mate.

Carlos and Ana met us at the bus station in Mar de Ajo, looking tanned and happy. They took us on a brief tour of Mar de Ajo, which has the feel of a summer community in the off season. In fact, it feels like it has been in the off season for several years, and possibly it will never be in season again. While that sounds a little depressing, Nate and I liked it. On every street there are a few abandoned buildings or shuttered stores, some with faded signs announcing that a new maxikiosko or internet cafe is opening "soon."

Nate and I spent a pleasant Christmas here, which we decided to celebrate in Argentine fashion with an asado. After a refreshing Christmas morning swim in the Atlantic, we bought a pile of meat and carbon and rented a campsite with a parilla for the day. While I've discussed asado technique with Carlos on several occasions, I've never watched him very closely, and Nate and I found lighting the carbon to be quite the challenge. We torched half of a copy of La Nacion trying to get the damn carbon to light, but to no avail. It wasn't until Nate went back to the center of Mar de Ajo and scored a bottle of lighter fluid that we got an asado worthy fire going. After this rocky start, our Christmas asado proceeded quite merrily, and I think the steaks we cooked would have made any Argentine proud. -EMW