In Chile, a “completo” is a hotdog; complete with avocado and tomato and drowning in mayonnaise. Completos are fatty, cheap and, although they look rather disgusting to me, an undeniable staple of Chilean cuisine.
However, when a hostel worker in San Martin de Los Andes,
Argentina tells you, “Estoy completo”, it doesn’t mean “I’m a big greasy
Chilean hotdog”. In fact, it not only means,
“I’m complete (aka, full).” but also, “Every hostel in this town has been booked
for weeks.” and simultaneously, “If you think you’re
just going to waltz in here and find something on the spot, you’re straight
trippin’ home girl.” That’s a rough translation, of course, but you get the idea.
After being told “Estoy completo” for the sixth time, I was
starting to get the picture. I wasn’t
going to find a place to stay for the night.
That wouldn’t have been an issue if my initial plan had
worked out. I would have left Pucón in the morning, arrived in San Martin in the afternoon and
headed back that evening with a 160-dollar Argentina stamp in my passport and
a shiny new visa good for another 90 days in Chile.
This dream plan was shattered when, upon my arrival to SM, I
was informed that the only daily bus to Chile left at 6 each morning. I wasn’t shocked. I half expected this to be the case. What I didn’t expect was that, when my
hostelworld search returned no results, it was because there was literally not a
single empty bed left in the whole town.
So that’s how my “afternoon” in Argentina turned into a
27-hour ordeal; how I ended up having speed for dinner (see below), staying up all night in the bus
station to wait for the morning bus and munching
on sweaty (though still delicious) artesanal cheeses at an hour that can not
be rightfully called dinner nor breakfast.
Despite all of the hassle with the bus, I must say, I really enjoyed San Martin. It's very similar to Pucón in appearance but the city seems somehow more lively. During the day, there were literally people drinking mate e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. (way to be an Argentinian stereotype guys) and I found some pretty cool gords and bombillas (like these) around town.
At night, there seemed to be live music on every corner with a great variety of styles. I witnessed some folkloric dancing as well as some tango in the park. Every performer that I saw had a big group of people surrounding them; cheering and tossing some monedas their way. Nice supporting of the arts there Argentina.
Even when things weren't going ideally, I was kept in good spirits by lovely landscapes, tasty food, the rush of being in a new country and the silly sounds of the Argentinian accident; the latter of which continued to keep my giggling all day. Every time I overheard someone talking about the see-sha (silla), the pla-sha (plaza) or the ply-sha (playa), it put a smile on my face.
Although for the same amount of money and half of the time, I could have flown comfortably to Brazil and been happily sipping a caipirinha and stuffing my face with pão de queijo, I'm glad I finally made it to Argentina. I've just scratched the surface and I'm ready to get some use out of my ten-year visa. In the meantime, I'm happy to be back in Chile; the land of "po", "weon", ample available sleeping spaces and the original completo. Until we meet again Argentina, until we meet again.
View from the bus.
Argentinian cookie
The plaza (aka, the pla-sha)
The Lake
Tango in the Park
- If you want more information on the new visa fee for Argentina, click here.
- If you want to pay the fee online, you can create an account here.
- If you want to put your head through a wall (or have a good laugh, depending on how badly you need a need an Argentine visa at this particular moment), click here to view the website's tutorial on how to pay the fee, which looks like it's been created using a combination of Google translate and paint.
