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Two weeks out...

I could sit here and write about Colombia but at this point it all seems like a dream. Yes, it was great to be with my friends. Yes, you should go on the Pablo Escobar tour in Medellin and Guatape to see the lakes. You should also stay in Medellin for a full week, or month, as it deserves. Cartagena is the star of the show if you like beaches, but Medellin should never be treated like a backup act.

However, instead of sitting here and telling you wear to eat, drink, party and tan (yes, I can make a guide- don’t worry) I would rather finish where I started.

Two weeks out…

If you don’t remember my first blog post I wrote about how anxious I was be leaving for remote year. I wanted to be settled. I didn’t want to answer any more questions about what I was doing, what remote year was or how I got it approved by work. Now, two weeks out I don’t want to get further away from my trip as I don’t want to ever have to stop talking about it. I am going to be like the 40-year-old who still talks about his or her glory days in college (lets be real, I will probably be that 40-year-old).

Three pictures of me being a “digital douchebag” as they call it, aka working from anywhere. Sorry mom and dad, I didn’t make up the name. But somehow, I was able to exceed sales goals from places like this...

And this...

And even Igazu falls in the middle of the jungle #HOTSPOTFORTHEWIN

I have reentered NYC society and to be completely honest, it hasn’t been easy. I don’t know whats going on with pop culture (ok, lets be honest, I am not #woke and never knew what was going on with pop culture) and I feel like I have regressed a bit. WHAT DO THESE NEW YORKERS TALK ABOUT? THE KARDASHIANS? THEIR JOBS? I remember distinctly having a freak out at a boy (yes boy, not a man) at a pregame right after I was fired from Yelp when he asked me where I worked. I screamed back at him, “can’t you ask me what music I like or what I do in my free time, why does it matter where I work?” Although I don’t feel as aggressively now and I am secure in my job, I still think it is annoying that New Yorkers measure status on your job and talk about this so often. Ok, end rant.

Anyway, besides for only wanting to talk about Remote Year and forgetting how to talk about anything else I have noticed some other things that I love and hate about New York. So while these ideas are fresh, I figured I’d jot them down.

Before I left in the fall everything was magical. It was almost like springtime everyday (not weather wise, metaphorically). I noticed the trimming on the sides of brownstones, the parking man who always said good morning to me and the birds chirping in Gramercy Park. I know this sounds romanticized, but its true. Upon return my first week was grey and dull. Literally, yes…the weather sucks here. But figuratively as well. Why is my only activity going to Equinox on Saturday? Why am I not horseback riding in the foothills of the mountainside in Argentina, mountain biking with the guys or jetting off to Mendoza, Machu Picchu, Igazu Falls or any of the other places I had the pleasure of going to?

Me and my friend Arielle, doing an adventure in NYC (taking a walking tour of downtown and seeing the new Ground Zero area...)

Why are people in such a rush all of the time? I swear a New Yorker would upstream an old couple to get a cab they needed. I used to hate how slow South America was (and still do hate that it takes approximately 10 minutes to get water at any restaurant there) but maybe we can take a page out of their book and look around and slow down.

I also got a lot of comments upon my return home about how refreshed I looked and how calm I was. I think everyone here truly needs a month vacation. It was sad for me to see people looking miserable, pale and tired on the commute in my first few days back.

Inevitably, life after a trip goes back to normal. You begin to appreciate routine, your health (way better 2 weeks out), the friends and family that you so dearly missed and wished to share the experience with, and even maybe the New Yorker attitude that you somewhat lost. It is the thing or two that you take from the trip and remember that makes you a better person. So what have I taken away from all this?

A few larger lessons:

Nothing is permanent- don’t let a lease confine you to a space. You can always travel or move if you wish

America is doing it wrong- everyone else in the world values travel, and encourages it. Why do I only have 12 days of PTO a year while my Australian, German and British friends get nearly a month and are told to travel after uni?

Live like a local- My favorite memories are from the places I actually lived in for a full month, not those places I just went to for a few days (Below are a few pictures from my last days living in Peru)

Smaller lessons:

Don’t rush- if you don’t make the subway is coming there is no need to push an old lady over just to make it. A next one is always around the corner

Work shouldn’t be the only measurement of status- have interesting conversations when meeting new people

I don’t like seasons- if I never saw snow again I wouldn’t be sad, at all. Summer is good enough for me and I am a happier person with vit D in my life.

So for all my friends who are even thinking about traveling or going on remote year, please don’t let this somewhat depressing post stop you (#allthefeels). For a wise man once said, “nothing that made you smile should ever make you cry.” If i didn’t change, grow and appreciate all of this, including coming back, it wouldn’t have been worth the ride.

Remote Year Kubali at our farewell weekend:

A bad quality pic, with a nice quote. Me working, yes I did work, in the Santiago workspace:

Finally, thanks Yext for allowing me to embark on this adventure. And thanks to my parents for always teaching me to advocate for myself to allow me to get what I want. You never know until you ask...and hey, you may just end up on the trip of a life time :)

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Anti-Filets: Top 10 things I would do to stay on Remote Year for four more months

An issue with social media is the “instagram effect.” No one puts pictures of swollen bug bites, sick days, cockroaches or just overall bad days. So alas, I present with you some not so fun abroad problems that I would gladly repeat if it meant going on Remote Year again.

1. Live in Cordoba for another month- Yep, I said it. I would easily live in this horrible city again if it meant more time on Remote Year

2. Speak broken Spanish on the phone with Domino’s for a half hour in order to get a mediocre pizza while hungover (currently happening)

3. Get 1000 bug bites all over my legs 

4. Have a cold shower for a month straight (#LIMAPROBLEMS)

5. Wait 30 minutes each day in line for the ATM just to simply get 120 USD (that was the max in Argentina)

6. Have cockroaches in my bathroom (this also happened, in Cordoba)

7. Have 6 am flights, 10 hour bus rides and other long travel days 

8. Empty my bank account (legit, this REALLY happened)

9. Get randomly assigned roommates with any of the Kubs on my trip

10. Food poisoning- enough said.

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Two weeks left

 When I originally was leaving for Remote Year I kept telling people that I was excited but just wanted to be two weeks into the program because I was nervous. Now, I will give my right arm to go back to two weeks into BA. 

A Lima sunset, 11 of these left: photo cred @JayDred. You should all follow him on instagram.

For all of my devoted fans (aka my mom, dad, aunts, uncles and like three friends) this may be one of my last posts. Don’t worry I will post pictures from Central - a top 50 restaurant in the world that I am going to casually tomorrow night. But I am having a bit of writers block sitting here and frankly don’t want to waste any time during these last two weeks writing when I can be doing. Even I am feeling some (limited but some) emotion about leaving. JK I HAVE A LOT OF EMOTIONS I FEEL LIKE IM BACK AT SUMMER CAMP WRITING BUS NOTES CRYING IN THE CAR. PSA TO ALL: give me a few weeks to only talk about Remote Year when I am back and I apologize in advance if I weirdly cry or am bitchy. It’s not you, its me.

Over the last week since Cusco we’ve been soaking in every day and living it up. In camp our director (infamous Stan the man) used to say: a second is a minute, a minute is a day, a day is a month, a month is a year, and a year is a lifetime and that holds true to remote year. Each day we have been doing all the activities, work, drinking all the drinks and eating all the food (aka rotisserie chickens we are obsessed with from the grocery store.)

The highlight or filet of the week was Lizzie’s booze cruise boat party where I made myself the hype girl and made sure everyone was having fun. It was the perfect day of sailing, drinking rose, jumping into the water and just being together. It was basically a college football game day but in the sun (aka I could get tan) and I didn’t break my camera or cellphone (@andi @myla). AKA a huge success.

Other highlights from the week included an impromptu Wednesday night out (whats my age again?!), another pool party (gotta take advantage of the sun, what can I say), a surfing lesson where I successfully got up, a 7.4 mag earthquake I slept through, a final moth and just good times and vibes. 

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Machu Picchu...or a better title: Erica goes camping!

I was told by all of my journalism professors back in the day that if it bleeds it leads. So I will start with that, and a spoiler alert to all of you non history buffs. Breaking news (from 1500): the Spanish killed the Incan’s but couldn’t find Machu Picchu, hence why it is still preserved. 

Anyway, I won’t bore my fans with all of this history information, especially since the only thing I remember from Miss Poyers class is that the Incan’s were famous for Terrace Farming (see my instagram for a close up). So instead, I will give the people what they want and tell you about me surviving a two day hike, a real camping experience, and buying copious amounts of scrunchies and weird alpaca sweaters in Cusco.

Before moving to Lima I was told by many that it is just a stop over city to Cusco. Although I still don’t agree with this statement I do agree with one thing: Cusco is f****** awesome. It deserves a week on its own and has a lot more to do than Machu Picchu. 

We arrived on Friday to our Air B and B outside the city. Since we were terrified of getting altitude sickness we didn’t drink for a full four days before the hike (this is more challenging than you may think and an accomplishment in itself!) We immediately started chewing on coca leaves at the Cusco airport and popping our pills (altitude pills that is...don’t worry mom). When we were driving to the Air B and B I was shocked at the third world feel of the city and confused to how it was so underdeveloped as a tour destination. 

Once we arrived to the market my opinion immediately changed. The city center and Plaza de Armas had an old European feel. We ended up at a cute hipster looking lunch spot with greenery inside. After we went to the market where we shopped till we dropped. Okay, my friends shopped until they dropped. I was in the food isle sampling every cheese, nut and fruit I could get my baby hands on. 

On Saturday we went on a a salt mine tour. But it was much more than that. We visited a bunch of sacred Incan sites, a village, a place to meditate (yes I now meditate, it was my New Years resolution), and also shopped some more to support the locals. We then got back to the Air B and B early because we had to wake up at 3 am to start our big day.

Sunday we had a 3 am wake up, followed by a bus ride, train ride and walk to start the hike. We finally got to base camp at 7 am where we had a luxurious breakfast (we were on the best and highest rated tour in Cusco) and then we were off. We hiked for 4 hours before lunch, stopping at various sites the Incan’s built along the way. These four hours were sunny and the weather was holding up. Finally at lunch time the sun gods gave way and the rain took over. We then hiked in the rain all the way to Machu Picchu for the remaining three hours. Although I would usually complain about this, it really wasn’t that bad as I was with 35 other remotes the whole way. 

We then got to Machu Picchu where we saw this: 

And honestly there are no words to describe it or pictures to do it justice. 

After getting yelled at by security guards for various things (jumping for pictures, sitting on rocks, breathing) we went back to base camp for the night. Although I was dreading this a little bit (I’m not one from the campers) it was a ton of fun. I had a hot shower which was LIFE CHANGING, changed into PJs and we all sat around the camp fire drinking wine (FINALLY!) and hanging out. We then had another great meal and had a 10 pm curfew because of another early morning wakeup. 

Monday was Huayna Picchu aka the stairs of death. I was a little bit scared of this hike after watching one to many youtube videos. We first learned about the Incan empire and toured Machu Picchu for a hour before the hike. Then we were off for the hour all uphill hike. This was way harder than the previous day’s 7 hours. The views at the top were amazing even with the fog. 

We then took more trains, planes and automobiles (exaggerated but true) back to Cusco and stayed at the JW Marriott for the night because if Risa taught me anything in life: sometimes you just need a good shower and a robe (and turn down service). So I treated myself...what else is a 25-year-old on a four month vacation, I mean remote job, to do?

Anyway, to sum it all up: Cusco and Machu Picchu should be at the TOP of everyone’s bucket list. If you can’t climb, take the train, no judgement. But go go go. Oh, and if you want to or even are thinking about going on Remote Year- GO! Obviously...

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Loving Lima

Before I came to Lima I was a little skeptical. I was told Lima is a “layover city” and nothing special. Well, I am happy that Lima has proved these people wrong. It is not Santiago, but its still got it going on. 

Riding into 2018 like..... 

First off, my apartment is bogey AF. We were greeted by our elevator opening to our own floor. Even if I make over a million before 30 in NYC (not probable but still hopeful, a great can dream...or continue buying scratch offs- s/o @danna) I will not ever have an apartment that opens up from the elevator. Every room also has a bathroom on suite and we even have two extra bathrooms for fun. There is also a WASHER DRIER IN UNIT! This is my dreammmm and I think I would honestly kill someone to have this in my NYC apartment. Not to mention we have beach views with an amazing sunset stealing the show each night. Oh, and I am living with some pretty cool people as well (hey @zoe @lizzie). PS @zoe teach me how to tag so we can link this to your more blossoming blog. 

Lima is pretty gray most days but its okay because it is perfect jeans and a t-shirt weather and the sunsets are amazing. I was told there is some Spanish word people use in Peru for getting tan through the clouds so I’m banking on that happening so I can look good upon my return to the tundra (aka NYC these days- ugh). 

We also live on the ocean (ok a few blocks away but better than the East River). I have found amazing running paths and also a nice ass gym which I am paying more money for than I’d like to admit. But hey, it goes with the luxurious apartment- am I right? 

Here is us on a bike tour by the ocean:

View from my morning run:

Lima also has a TON of parks and outdoor malls. It is basically the California of South America, which I don’t hate. Lima also has a ton of Michelin star restaurants which I plan to hit up #emptymybankaccount

Moral of this post: anyone who gets those Scott Cheap Flight’s emails saying Lima is cheap from the US (it is!) you should go! This isn’t an open invite to visit me because to be honest I am not accepting any visitors during my last month on remote year but I encourage you to check it out on your own. Maybe I’ll even come back with you and be your tour guide...if you want to pay for my next trip as well ;)

Off to Cusco this weekend. Get ready from llama jokes and altitude sickness snaps. Wish me bueno suerte (good luck!)

Happy New Years from Lima! Me and my friend Nick in our best gringo Spanish attire for the occasion: 

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Remix your year #filetsoftheyear

It’s December 31st 2017 and I am sitting on my couch in my luxurious Lima apartment reflecting on what a whirlwind of a year its been (cliche but true). I decided the only way to sum it up best would to be with a list of the 12 best things that happened this year (one from each month...because why not have a list like every other magazine article, radio station and internet blogger, right?!) Although it would be easy just to do a list of #filets from remote year my roommate and current couch mate Zoe said it best, “You can’t just do filets from Remote Year, it was only four months. Plus, how about Fire Island?” I knew I was friends with this New Yorker for a reason. So without further adieu, here are the filets of 2017. 

January: ringing in the New Year in Sienna, Italy. It is always amazing to bookend a year with trips on each side.

February: hmmmm this is a hard one because February is always my least favorite month (and this year it’ll be even worse as I touch down in NYC). I guess I will go with my friend Andi’s birthday. We had a great weekend for her birthday. The day included a brunch uptown at her parent’s apartment (with an AWESOME bloody mary bar), a walk through central park across town on an unseasonably warm day, a trip one of our favorite beer gardens in NYC with a lot of friends, and a great drunken Chinese food dinner. Solid times.

March: Mexico with mi amigas! Shout out to the Gardiner’s for their condo

April: My 25th birthday. Quarter life crisis that eventually lead me to Remote Year. But in all seriousness, a great day surrounded by friends at an outdoor bar in the East Village. Even a special appearance from my mom (but appearance I mean I obviously invited her). 

May: Deciding to officially go on Remote Year! Oh, and I guess my second half marathon

June: Today someone asked me my rose and thorn of the year. My rose was easy: Remote Year. My thorn, harder. I feel incredibly lucky that I had a great year but June was hard, it was the end of my chapter of living with my roommate in the East Village for 3 years. The best part of June was our trip to LBI where some of my New York friends met my DC friends at Gardiner’s house (do you see the theme here and why I keep this friend around) at LBI for one of Myla’s last weekends. The beach was great, but trips to WAWA were even better. Kidding...kind of. Also, honorable mention to discovering the olive oil cake at L’Artsui this month.

July: Summer trips including: Alexis’s bachelorette party where we really #broughdownthehouse, Montauk, a trip to Chicago for my first Cubs game, pitstop in Madison and of course “The Country”

August: Summer trips continued. The star being...Fire Island. DUH. (and Maine, The Hamptons and all around the eastern seaboard)

September: Alexis and Zack’s wedding. Need I say any more?

October: Buenos Aires. But more specifically, my trip to Igazu Falls which was one of the most breathtaking views I’ve ever seen

November: Although I bitched and moaned about living in Cordoba, Thanksgiving with Kublai was pretty magical. Followed by a liquid Thanksgiving in Cordoba

December: Santiago, Chile. Everything about it. Between Myla visiting, time with my family in Patagonia and side trips to the beach this month was pretty magical. But Santiago really stole the show and my heart.

So, thats a wrap. 2017, you were really a mashup (#remixyouryear). If anyone is reading this and continplating big changes for 2018 or travel advice please HMU. 2018, lets see what you got. We are starting with a beach party tonight in Lima and a trek to Machu Picchu later this week so things are looking up (literally). Cheers...

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Picture Perfect Patagonia

As the expression goes “a picture says 1000 words.” Partly due to laziness and partly due to the fact that Patagonia is indescribable, this blog post is going to be short and sweet.  

But first, I leave you with your first picture. You thought it was going to be a view right!? Well you know the saying expectation verses reality. Here is how cold it actually was and Jake enjoying the glacier…guess his frat sweatshirt didn’t cut it.

Patagonia is definitely a place I suggest spending a month, busing around with no plan. Two to three days in each place with a ridged schedule was not enough time to simply enjoy the beauty and take it all in. However, my family only had a few days in each.

We started in Bariloche, with its breathtaking mountains and waterfront view. The Llao Llao hotel was a dream with picturesque views and a ski lodge like feel and panoramic views of the lake.

The hotel had hikes, workout classes, archery and many outdoor activities. It was the perfect place to relax.

This was especially perfect as my family was a little in mobile in Bariloche after consuming a little too much (and undercooked) meat in Argentina. I guess we took #meatsweats to a whole new level. I am deeply saddened and regret to inform you that Steven is now officially going to be a pescatarian again starting in 2018. Who would have thought that going to Argentina could turn someone off to meat?! (not I!) I don’t support this decision and hope I can tempt him with some salami or meat once BBQ season rolls around…

Calfate wasn’t as relaxing as Bariloche but it had the most unique natural wonders I have ever seen. In honor of the anniversary of the Titanic, we decided to see some icebergs (jk that was a coincident!) We also went to two glaciers; Puerto Moreno and Upsala. Puerto Moreno is growing but Upsala (and most of the others) are dramatically shrinking due to Global Warming (wait…is that #fakenews?) The Upsala glacier is near an isolated island where only 10 people live in the winter- 3 hours from the closest town. Talk about remote. Jake and I have many ideas of what they possible do to fill their free time…

The tours of both and ice trekking were definitely two major highlights of remote year. Coming into 2018, it is scary to think that these may not exist soon…

Besides for the natural wonders, Calafate is also a really cute tourist town. Although we fell into some tourist traps that I will not name (i.e. expensive drinks but please consult my dad for the story…and maybe he will tell you, maybe) the town was quaint. We had dinner at 10 pm every night when it got dark and of course, in typical Sperber fashion, found the best ice cream which Steven was able to eat even on a weak stomach.

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10 Reasons Santiago should be your next South American vacation

...since I’ve always wanted to write the New York Times article “36 hours in...XYZ” I figured this list would be my second best bet

1. The Proximity- Santiago is about a 11 hour flight (directly from New York). There are also daily flights from Miami and other major US hubs. Even though the flight is a bit long there is a limited time difference once you land in Santiago so jet lag won’t be an issue. The airport is also just 20 minutes from the city with Ubers awaiting your arrival so you can jump right into activities upon arrival

2. The Beach-Chile did it right. Imagine having a country with no flyover areas. America can easily ditch the red states at a moment like this, just leaving us with beautiful coast. Chile is almost all coast. Fromn Valpo (an artsy port town), Vina Del Mar, surf town Con Con and more there are hundreds of beaches just a hours ride from city center.

3. The Mountains- An hour in the opposite direction is wine country and the Andes mountains, the highest peaks in South America. Even during the summer you can hike the snow covered peaks that loom in the distance. These mountains also keep the weather in the city perfect. 80s during the day, 60s at night.

4.The Desert- The Atacama desert was rated the #1 place to go by the New York Times in 2017. I know my blog is obviously a more reputable publication but I’ve gotta agree with them on this one...

5. The Street Art-Santiago and Valparaiso are famous for their colorful streets curated by famous graffiti artists. The arts depict the history or themes in Chilean society. Art tours are offered around each of these cities...

6. The fish-The fish in Santiago is delivered directly once a day from a port town on the Pacific. This makes it fresh as f***. The ceviche, salmon, hake and other catches of the day cannot be missed. 

7. The piscos- Chile and Peru have a healthy competition in regards to who has the best Piscos. And we all know how I feel about a good competition (hint: the reason I am in sales). I will be the judge and get back to all my fans after my month trying all the piscos in Lima. All I can say for now is: so far, so good. This is healthy conflict that I support.

8. The people-Minus the occasional ploy to try to rob your friends at a market (a story for a another time) the people in Chile are pretty friendly and Santiago is pretty safe. It feels safer than Buenos Aires, there is less petty crime, and locals are willing to help. 

9. The pools- While we are on a “P” theme (piscos, people etc) I guess it would be a good time to brag about the amount of hotel rooftop pools I have snuck into. My moms Brooklyn attitude has really rubbed off on me and I have reaped the benefits...

10. The markets- Lets just say my earring collection has grown by about 145%

11. The ease- Ubers, Walmart sized Supermarkets and acceptance of Credit Cards go a long way after two months in Argentina

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It’s the simple things...

Leaving Argentina I had mixed emotions. I was THRILLED to be leaving Cordoba. But sad to be leaving the culture, Alfajores, Malbec and asado (bbq done right). 

From the moment I touched down in Chile I knew I was going to like this spicy country. 

First things first, our late touchdown put us in the perfect time frame to go out at the local hour (1 am). We went out to a hybrid bar/club and I immediately felt like I was in a cool 80s basement party, or what some may call Brooklyn, NY. The rap, hip hop and even “Jump Around” was blasting and I was loving it. If you were lucky enough to be invited to @Myla’s birthday last year at No Malice Palace on Avenue B it kind of felt like that.

On Sunday we Carpe Diemed hard. We went to a brunch with delicious food that only took 40 minutes. THIS IS HUGE. In Argentina you couldn’t get a f****** coffee in 40 minutes. Also, there was salad on the menu. Equally as YUGE.

After that we went to a art market where we did some damage. I got another pair of earrings to support my new collection and we found a lot of good alpaca goods that we will definitely be heading back for.

We then went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city where we learned the dark, deep and scary history of Chile along with a lot about the current culture. 

But, the icing on the cake of the day were two things. 

1. A top 25 best ice cream place in the world is next to my apartment (@danna and @dad you picked the wrong countries to visit)

Here is a small line outside. It was obviously way longer when we tried to go later:

2. THERE IS A TARGET SIZED NORMAL SUPERMARKET UNDER MY APARTMENT. 

I don’t think anyone understands what this means. But after 2 months of small corner shops, bad groceries, no normal brands and fruit stands this makes me so happy. In this shop they even have ATMs with NO LINES. AKA I can save 2 hours of my life by quickly grocery shopping and getting money at the same time in under 30 minutes. 

I went to bed with a smile on my face as I enjoyed my mini American Ice cream bar thinking about how sometimes it really just is the simple things in life that really go along way. If only the supermarket had A&P sandwiches as well...

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Find yourself a guy who cooks...

My filet of the month in Cordoba was not the Asado but the chicken guy. Side note: whenever I reference the chicken guy I weirdly think of the ugly naked guy in friends. Just because we have a name from him and he is our neighbor. Anyway, this chicken guy was probably the best thing about Cordoba. Although this doesn’t say much since Cordoba didn’t have a lot going on I am dedicating a whole blog post to him so my love for this man and his chicken is real. I can boldly say I would eat this chicken every night in NYC if he had a stand across from my apartment. For $5 (100 pesos) I could get a half of chicken with salad for dinner. This is better than a happy meal, dollar slice, $7 dumpling dinners (hey @andi) or any other steal I have found. Moral of this post: if you go to Cordoba (don’t bother, though) go to the street Velez Sarsfield and find this chicken guy. He will rock your world.

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Grateful for Wine...

No turkey, no problem. If you’ve heard me speak about anything this month it is my love for the rotisserie chicken man who conveniently cooks me all my dinners (aka I buy all my dinners from him) since his shop is across the street. For Thanskgiving we got 20 full chickens from him along with the army of food the girls (and guys, kind of) cooked for the holiday. Thanks to Danna’s visit, my chili and mac and cheese were both hits. 

After Thanksgiving we jetted off to Mendoza, wine country. There seems to be a common theme in Argentina. It’s natural numbers make Americas look like shit. Excuse my french. 

Seriously though, Napa’s got NOTHING on Mendoza. The backdrop of the Andes mountains looked fake. If I put a filter on my instagram photos they would have looked photoshopped. 

In Mendoza we went on a full day wine tour the first day with a Monty crew. It was Danna, Zoe, Lizzie (my two remote year friends) along with an ambassador Jenny, a couple from Texas and vanilla couple from Florida. Jenny, the ambassador soon became our best friends when she started drinking. Our favorite question she asked on the tour was “what’s the deal with rose these days?”  Ugh, poor lady has spent too much time south of the border and needs a weekend in the Hamtpons...

The second day we went to the nicest hotel I’ve ever seen to have wine tastings and lunch. It was honeymoon heaven. In fact, I would gladly go back for my honeymoon if anyone wants to take me. We had a delicious lunch, with what else? Meat.

Also, I got to have two other friends join me as Sabrina and her boyfriend Ben were coincidentally in town. After the tour we ditched our hostel and stayed at the Hyatt. This felt like complete luxury and I have officially sworn off hostels. Somtimes you just need a robe and room service after a really stressful weekend....

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Dia De Gratitude (aka pics from Thanksgiving...)

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Getting Cool with Cordoba

I cannot believe it has been 15 days since I have been in Cordoba. There have been many #filets and great parts, and also some #antifilets. Unlike people who just post about their perfect lives and special occasions (#engaged #vacation #roseallday #LML whatever…) I will post the good, the bad, the ugly.

The Good:

Road into Cordoba in STYLE. I mean real style. Has anyone been on a 10 hour bus ride with reclining chairs. Its my new favorite mode of transportation and a great way to see a country. Plus, no baggage fees.

Tracks! Since there isn’t a TON to do inside the city of Cordoba I went outside to the foothills of the Sierra’s and saw what the region had to offer. Turns out, it has a lot. Through Remote Year we get to go on free tracks to see different parts of the city. I went out of my comfort zone. In the past two weeks I have been horseback riding (S/O @DaniMor @AlexRachlin), mountain biking, hiking, to a hippie retreat where they only had vegan food (this part belongs in the ugly section- me being a vegan is not pretty as I get mooooody especially after only eating bird, I mean vegan food, and then having a 4 hour traffic filled bus ride back to Cordoba), and to a delicious Asado (BBQ) with the most amazing meat and potatoes I have ever had at a families home.

The workspace and distance to everything- Cordoba is WAY more walkable than BA and everything is super close. Our workspace is beautiful and over looking a plaza with a Italian style church-no complaints here. Also, since Cordoba doesn’t have the most to do I have gotten a TON of work done this month. Below is me in the workspace getting a massage from my friend on the program…he is a trained masseuse  

Futbol- went to my first South American soccer game. A total must! The student section is comparable to Wisconsin during Jump Around and the patrons shout chants including “your mom is a _____.” I will let you imagine the rest. Really a crazy thing to see…

The Weather- Summer is officially here :)

The flee market- can you say 6 dollars for new cool earrings!?

The Bad:

A broken AC in my apartment when it is 100+ degrees. Good thing it cools down to the 60s at night.

The food. Yep, sad to report this. Bad for my taste buds but good for my waistline and wallet. I became domestic in Cordoba! AKA this month I have been packing lunch and not burning a hole in my wallet from Steak alone. Although, I have found an amazing rotisserie chicken dinner place (conveniently across the street from my new luxury (loose term) apartment. I eat a whole chicken for dinner for 10 dollars way too often. I also found a make your own salad place for lunch and a few cute dinner/brunch/cocktail spots. Below is a picture of me chowing down on a good steak I finally found. You get desperate after 3 weeks without one…(S/O @AuntSunny)

The 30 minute ATM lines also belong in the bad. But those have gotten better…or I have just gotten used to them?

The Ugly:

My old apartment that I had to move out of. Roaches (I didn’t see any but my roommate did). A broken elevator while living on the 14th floor- yep, East Village had NOTHING on this. Old musty 50s bathroom….

That’s it. Even though Cordoba is no BA it is really cool to see how other more local provinces in Argentina live.

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A Plug for Palestra Fitness

I am going to have to take a break from my normal blog posts about the city to tell everyone about my new gym because I simply cannot get over it. 

What does $35 dollars in the US get you? Almost a full boutique fitness class (before shoes and water of course), 1/5th of a month at Equinox, 3 starter classes at Chaise (my personal fav), 2 rumble classes? 

Well, in Cordoba Argentina it gives you 12 passes to Palestra Fitness aka my new gym. This gym is rated 4.4 on Google. Reviews rave “Excellent attention from staff, fun and dynamic environment for training devices are in good condition, not usually crowded, big time availability and variety of classes not yet started? Today is your day!”

Nope, today is not my day. it may be my day to get a staph infection though. In NYC this gym would be out of business after it was verbally abused by Yelpers. However, I swear to you all I have never been so sore in my life. 

Who knew that a simple (I mean 100 simple) jump squats and 80s dance moves are the key to a burn. Why do I pay $100+ dollars in NYC when a ghetto 80s gym class can achieve more!? The moves are those of Richard Simmon’s (#tbt, where is he now?) and the smell of sour milk every time I enter the gym helps me work out efficiently and quickly as I know I cannot spend more than a hour in the place without getting a disease. Who needs to go to soul cycle, where they pump the heat from dramatic effect so you burn 800 calories? Come to Palestra Fitness! Where it is 100+ degrees in Cordoba and the fans do not work. AC?! Forget it! Who needs an inspirational class quote? Come to Palestra Fitness! You can interpret any quote as you wish, for you won’t be able to understand the Spanish instructor!

Here are some pictures of the lovely accommodations so you too can get motivated to work out!

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Don’t cry for me Argentina.

Wow, I cannot believe I haven’t written in over two weeks. I guess this would be a #happyproblem (as my mom calls them) because I have just been having too much fun. Argentina won’t be crying for me, but I will definitely be very sad (but not crying, since I don’t cry) when I leave BA.

The only way to describe remote year is like summer camp. At camp the saying goes a minute is like a hour, a hour like a day, a day is like a week, and a week is like a year. So I guess I can say I avoided writing because it takes me hours (jk a few minutes) and it has been years.

Everyday/night i have a remote year planned activity (officially or unofficially). I have lived more in the last two weeks than probably all of last winter in NY. I can’t even remember everything I have done, or more importantly eaten. 

From a moth on halloween, going to shop for leather goods, going to a famous restaurant called Peron Peron and learning Argentian history (scary!), ladies night with a personal chef at a mansion (where they film Playboy!!!), going to a modern art museum (weird) I have been so busy that I have even forgotten to take a simple picture each day as I promised myself. 

The highlight of the past two weeks have been two things. The first is simply falling head over heals in love with BA. This city is totally awesome and I would even recommend that my worst enemy comes and visits. There is something for everyone- even you sad vegetarians. Side note: there are actually a lot of good vegan restaurants that I had to admit I have tried. Sometimes you just need a salad post meat sweats. But I still obviously ate the most meat- see below:

The other highlight was Igazu falls. We booked a side trip here two weeks ago and the natural beauty blew my mind. I was a little skeptical about going first because it is the next biggest falls after Niagra. So I thought: how much more impressive can this get? Welp, let me tell you. Niagra falls is a kiddie pool. 

We took a all day tour and went on a cigarette boat under the falls which was scary. There are so many falls and so many different angles to see them at. Although the weather called for rain the gods were on our side and we had a beautiful day exploring. The moment we left, the skies opened up and it began to pour. 

We also got to stay at a 5 star luxury hotel for dirt cheap. So that was pretty cool. I caught up on sleep and felt like a new women when I came back to BA. It was definitely a good and easy side trip to do. See the hotel pool below...

Tomorrow I am off to Cordoba. Which I minimal expectations for, so they will for sure be exceeded. I know that my tracks entail horseback riding and a cooking class so things are bound to get interesting....

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Things that suck in South America

So most of the time when people post on social media they put pictures to make their lives look perfect. These last 2 weeks have been truly nearly perfect but I do want to post a few things that are different/hard for a New Yorker to adjust to. I guess I will call this section over cooked filets? (Get it...? like a burnt gross piece of steak that you would rather not have. Going a little too hard on my #filetoftheday theme here)

1. Pace of life- this is a double edged sword. I am SO much calmer down here and have 0 anxiety about anything. However, everything is so slow. Like crawling slowing. I went to get a quick mani pedi and it took 2 hours, no joke. I eventually gave up on the mani part and asked for just a polish change because I couldn’t sit their any longer

2. It’s not THAT cheap. It’s like Chicago prices down here. This is great coming from New York but it is still not THAT great compared to the rest of the world and places where remote year travels

3. Calling you Trader Joe’s! Please expand to South America. I have nowhere to grocery shop besides for the bodgeas. I am getting sick of having empanadas for dinner just because I cannot cook in my tiny ktichen and cannot find a decent frozen meal anywhere

4. You have to watch your phone when you walk. I don’t feel nervous but people will try to snatch them, even in nicer areas

5. The ATMS run out of money here and it is a cash economy. Yep, this is a real thing...

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Two Weeks In...

Before I left for remote year, everyone kept asking if I was excited, nervous etc. My answer was always “I want to be in week two.” Which simply meant, I want to just be there so I can stop answering all of these questions. Well, now that I’m here I couldn’t be happier. I don’t even have time to write because I am having too much fun (or as they call it here on remote year #level3fun). I feel like I am on an AT & T commercial where I have free nights and weekends!

Yes, I do go to work everyday. 

No, I am not traveling all of South America- I actually live here. 

This week I have had a few filets:

1. Going to Bomba De TIempo- a huge drum/dancing event on Monday night. It is a must do here- http://www.labombadetiempo.com/en

2. Ate at Tegui for a 10 course tasting menu (pics below). A little out of budget but I guess thats why the kids say #YOLO

 https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g312741-d1718694-Reviews-Tegui-Buenos_Aires_Capital_Federal_District.html

3. Had a dinner with the locals - aka people who got invited from our workspace to interact with remote year

4. Bike tour around the entire city! This was awesome- we stopped for street empanadas #streetmeat. These were debatably better than my Nonah’s bureka’s (please noone read her this post). We also drank mate (Argentina tea), fernet (Argentina alcohol) and stopped for lunch.

5. Went for a Sunday Asado which is a BBQ at this wife and husbands house on the delta

6. Went to a mate making class to learn about the tea and how to drink it properly. By the way numbers 3-6 are all free events that Remote Year put on!

7. Had some wine with friends on our roof (reoccurring theme...Malbec is cheaper than water!)

8. Going to simach torah with a Jewish family I was connected to down here. It was so cool to be 1000+ miles away from my family and still feel so welcome and connected to my people. It was even cooler than I knew my Nonah was doing the same thing at the same time in Queens New York. The traditions are similar all over the world and as a Jew it is so special knowing I will always have people to take care of me. (Mom- you now can read this part of the blog to Nonah!)

9. Ate this steak!!! Which is at a restaurant next to my apartment. Danger!!

10. Went out with my new friends to different bars/clubs around the city

Sorry for the lack of description, I will add more stories and details later