When I landed here a month ago, I was not thrilled with this country. The scenery from the airport to the Buenos Aires city center was very drab and I wondered how I would adjust to the language barrier and if I would even make friends. As I've ventured out and walked for many miles on many sidewalks, I've realized the beauty that Buenos Aires has, and it's a beauty that can only be seen and truly appreciated from the inside. The people are some of the friendliest I have met, and the non-spicy cuisine is right up my alley. My first assumptions have been drastically changed, and I look forward to the coming months I get to spend here.
Let me fill you in on the nightlife here. To sum it up, it simply never ends. My friend had a party at her apartment a few weekends ago, so we headed out to that around 11:30 (after I finished dinner at 11). I absolutely love her apartment- she lives with an Italian, Argentine, German and one other American so the party was a wonderful infusion of people from all over. I had a blast talking in Spanish and attempting to learn how to Salsa (which I failed miserably at).
We left the party around 2:30am and headed to a "boliche" called Crobar. I think this is a relatively new club, and its filled with more tourists than locals, but nevertheless, they were tourists from all over the world. It still blows my mind that Argentina BEGINS to party when America is closing down shop. Unlike the American clubs, people don't grind here, and I am so thankful for that! You can basically dance however you want and get away with it- perfect for my moves. We danced until about 6:30am and then walked outside to see the sun already up. When we left, there was still plenty of people inside, and as I walked home that morning, I could hear a ton of other clubs still going. Oh, and clubbing isn't just reserved for Friday and Saturday nights. People typically start going out on Wednesdays and continue on through the week. I can't say I've lived up to their standards yet...
Earlier this week, I said goodbye to a new friend who was only studying in Buenos Aires for a month. We celebrated at a fantastic Parilla restaurant, very typical of Argentina. Parilla is basically like BBQ in that it's cooked on a grill. Between eight of us, we ordered two mixed platters of meat and a couple bottles of red wine- the only way to go in Argentina. The meat was absolutely delicious! I loved the beef I had, but stayed far away from the mansilla that showed up. I've learned my lesson with that delicacy! It was so much fun to share a table with people from Sweden, Italy, Germany, Argentina and the United States, but so sad to be saying bye so early to my friend.
On Friday, we celebrated our graduation from our month-long intensive Spanish course with none other than a hamburger party. A hamburger here is hard to find, and if you are lucky enough to find one, you'll find it wrapped in pita bread. Four of us spent the day grocery shopping for enough food to feed an army, although we only needed to feed six, so needless to say, there were plenty of leftovers. But, I made my first "Argentine" cake!! Vanilla cake with a dulce de leche icing sprinkled with powdered sugar. I initially hated the dulce de leche flavor, but I'm quickly becoming it's number one fan!
Saturday, a few of us took a bus to San Antonio de Areco, which is about a two hour drive from Buenos Aires. San Antonio is supposed to be an example of a classic Argentine town, but due to the fact that we arrived during siesta hour, I'm not sure I grasped the whole of it, but it was a small town and definitely what I needed this weekend. The kids here are still on summer break, so when we entered the town square, we saw several groups of kids having water balloon fights. We thought it would be fun to join them, but I felt like we needed to be invited before engaging in the war. Well, a group of boys tossed a balloon in our direction so it was decided that buying our own ammunition was needed.
The city has several water faucets on the sides of buildings so my friends filled up their balloons there. I think most of them popped before we could do anything with them, and we ventured in to the battle field with only one, very tiny balloon in hand. We had gotten away from the touristy area and now both sides of the street were lined with 10 year old boys waiting for victims to pelt with water balloons. The four of us were targeted, and almost on the count of three, we were charged at. We were soon soaking wet (a welcome change to the disgusting heat we had been walking around in). Once the boys ran out of ammunition, they tried to talk with us for a little bit, but I have only a small idea of what went on in the conversation we had. They were very interested in meeting some Americans, American girls, rather. We decided it'd be a better idea to continue on in our touring than to engage in further battles, and as we walked away, we had a following of about 20 boys for a block or so.
My friend and I had both read a blog about San Antonio from someone who had travelled there before, and he wrote about this small chocolate shop that was supposedly incredible. So we set off to find it, and we were definitely not let down. As soon as we walked in, my nose was filled with the aromas of fresh, homemade chocolate. We were immediately offered a sample and I immediately fell in love. We took a seat at the small wooden table and ordered a couple of chocolate drinks, and let me just say that the fresh chocolate milk that I ordered is unlike anything I've ever had. If I could bottle up the freshness and all and send it to each of you, I would. I also had a fresh alfajore, and as expected, it was absolutely delectable. Ahhh, I want more!
After the chocolate shop, we wandered around the town for a little bit and wound up at the river where a lot of the locals were hanging out. It was a very contaminated river so there was no way anyone could swim in it, but lots of picnicking surrounding it. After sitting for a while, we walked across the bridge and wandered around the neighborhoods and somehow attracted a following of dogs- one in particular stayed with us. We tried to go to a museum that showcased a typical home and lifestyle for the San Antonio area, but we were an hour too late. We moseyed back to the center of town and ordered some empanadas and pizza for a little snack before we headed back to the bus station to go back to Buenos Aires. I loved San Antonio for it's peacefulness and open air. It was a much needed break from the concrete city that is Buenos Aires.
Today, I started classes at CEA's global campus. I'm excited because I no longer have to take the subway, but it's about a 35-40 minute walk to school every morning. I think this will give me time to wake up though- and of course, great exercise! I think I'm going to be taking 5 classes at the global campus, but will only be receiving credit for 3 of them. I'm taking a food and wine class for pure enjoyment and knowledge of the Argentine culture (but Belmont won't give me any credit for it). I placed in to intermediate Spanish II, but due to a scheduling conflict, I have to take advanced Spanish (again, I don't think I'm getting credit for this one). This is definitely going to push me to learn the language! I signed up for a class on culture and civilization of Argentina, but found out they are offering the course in Spanish, so I think I'm going to try that out instead of in English. On top of that, I have two other business classes and my online English writing class. I'm really hoping I'll be able to balance everything out, but I can already feel my brain beginning to expand at a rapid pace.
It's a rainy Monday here, and Bomba del Tiempo is in a hour so hopefully it will let up for that. To those that keep up with my blog, thank you! I hope you're enjoying it!
Until later adventures...
Besos,
Courtney
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