On my third day in Argentina, Alaine and I signed up for a field program that went to a gaucho ranch. We traveled from Buenos Aires to the countryside outside the city limits. We traveled around an hour and a half northwest from the city to the ranch, Santa Susana.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a gaucho kissing both of our cheeks, empanadas, and wine. Empanadas can be filled with many different ingredients. The most common, which is what we were given, have beef, egg, and some kind of vegetable. There are dessert empanadas as well. As far as wine, Argentina is very famous for it; it is the fifth largest wine producer in the world!
After we the initial greetings, I went in line to go horseback riding. There were a few dozen horses for us to ride. There were also a half a dozen horses that were separate, and they are used for the ranch owner’s son, who is a polo champion. These horses have quite a different lifestyle. When it was my turn to get on the horse, I was given a white one. It was much scarier to be on one, because I never realized how easy it was to fall off a horse before. After a few minutes though, I got accustomed to riding my horse. He really liked when I pet him.
The two gauchos led our group of horses around to make sure that our horses behaved. It was very fun to finally go horseback riding! It was very amazing!
After we finished with our ride, I went on a carriage ride pulled by two horses. This was very relaxing, and surprisingly not bumpy!
After this, Alaine and I went to the museum that they had on the ranch. This museum was split between two buildings. The first building had all of the rooms set up with original gaucho furniture, and dolls as well. It was rather interesting to see how they would live. The second building was the chapel, where gauchos would get married on the premises.
After these three activities, we sat down for a traditional asado (barbeque) meal. We were first served bread with chimichurry, which is oil and spices. We were then given an assortment of vegetables for salad. Our first meat was chorizo, which is a sausage. Next was a blood sausage, then beef, and chicken. All of the food was amazing! We were given a sticky dough with a piece of an apple in the center for dessert; it was so tasty! During our dessert and following our meal, we watched a tango show. I danced with one of the gauchos, which was very interesting!
Following this show, we went back outside and watched a horse show. Once the show was complete, I rode on the back of a horse with a gaucho, who made the horse run. It was thrilling to ride on the back of a running horse!
No comments:
Post a Comment