But I know, I know, you want to hear about the last week or so in Buenos Aires before I get into the reflective mode.
I finally made it to Liquid, the bar my family talks about all the time- and now I wish I would have found it earlier! It actually had more of a club scene than a bar, and I was perfectly happy with that, especially when they played a Will Smith song. Yes, thats right friends, Will Smith. Also on the DJ's list was Shania Twain (I wasn't aware she made it to South America), The Beatles, a wide selection of 80s pop music, and eventually the DJ settled on popular Argentine music (which made sense as this was definitely not a tourist bar). Although Liquid may have appeared to be a little confused in its music selection, I'd prefer to say that it was original, and definitely one of my favorite bar/clubs in Buenos Aires. Oh, I was also given a couple dance lessons in traditional Argentine moves, which were once again unsuccessful.
On Friday, although I didn't know it then, we went over to Ila, David and Karin's for the last time. Sally and Stephanie had gone to an asado earlier that day and brought back a ton of leftover meat to share for dinner. It was really nice to just relax and enjoy one another's company without the noise of a party, like many of the times we go over there. On the way home, Stephanie and I, who were both craving an alfajore, stopped by a kiosk to satisfy that craving. I asked the guy for the best alfajore he had in stock, and he surely did not disappoint. So, in case anyone is wondering, Cachafaz is the best brand of alfajore out there- forget about Havanna (they're the same price anyway).
Saturday and Sunday were filled with family activities, and I wouldn't have had it any other way on my final weekend. Mary and I lounged around Saturday morning, drinking maté and chatting for a bit before I headed down for a final visit to the Recoleta market. I didn't stay gone for too long though, as I had been appointed chef for the evening. We were hosting another empanada party, and this time Nacho let me try my hand at his recipe. Apart from bawling my eyes out from cutting the onions, it is a pretty easy recipe to make and I am excited to share it with everyone :) I think in total, I cooked up about 120 empanadas.
May 25th is Argentina's Independence Day, so Mary had asked if everyone would wear an Argentine emblem to the party. Not very many actually did, but Stephanie actually showed up with a party hat with an Argentine flag. Major props go to her! A couple of Mary and Nacho's friends brought guitars, so as the night dragged on, the guests began singing, off-key with both guitar and voice- but that really didn't matter here, everyone was having a great time. Annnd eventually the guitar was passed to my hands, so I dusted off a few pieces to share. A melodious time was had by all!
On Sunday, Lean invited everyone over to his house for parilla style pizzas. He mentioned several times that he wanted me to see his house before I left, and I'm very glad I got the opportunity to do so. Lean lives a little bit outside of the greater Buenos Aires area, in what I think would be considered Chacarita. I was incredibly impressed by how neat, orderly, and very cleverly decorated his house was. It actually reminded me a lot of my grandpa's house in Arizona. His house was very spacious, although only two bedrooms, and was decorated with an indigenous theme. Scattered around the house were various percussion instruments from different countries, including a didgeridoo from Australia. The most impressive part was the terrace. After outside to the patio and up a tiny staircase, you emerged in to this incredible open-air space, complete with a parilla. The terrace was decorated with tons of plants, all potted in unique pots, such as an old cement block or a hubcap or basically anything that one might find in a junkyard or antique garage. Lean and his uncle constructed a bamboo roof that covered a part of the seating area. Really, this place was great, and I totally did not expect that from him!
Mary made homemade pizza dough and then adorned the pizzas to be placed on the parilla on the terrace. If that doesn't sound good to you, I don't know what would. Definitely some of the best pizza I've had in my life. The night was absolutely lovely, spent eating and talking with my family for one of the final moments. Beautiful.
The rest of the week was filled with checking last minute things off of my bucket list, oh, and taking my Spanish exam.
The park close to my school became the site for a tower of books display, inspired by the Tower of Babel and Buenos Aires' title of being the book capital of the world. The spiraling tower was built completely of books from all different countries, donated by the various embassies in Buenos Aires. As Mary told me, soon the city is going to start building a library filled with books from all languages. Very impressive.
I finally found a frozen yogurt place- better late than never, I suppose! But unfortunately, it is an affiliate of a Sweet CeCe's competitor, PinkBerry. In South America they go by PinkFrost, but they're little sneaky name changing ways didn't throw me off! It was a good experience, not self-serve, and they didn't have honey for a topping, but at least they have frozen yogurt!
I should be ashamed to say, that even though I lived in the neighborhood, it took me to my last week in Buenos Aires to visit the famous Recoleta Cemetery. This place is the final resting place to many of Argentina's elite, including former president Sarmiento, and Eva Perón. I wandered around for a good hour, but never actually found Eva's grave. The place was actually pretty eerie, and I don't understand the point of creating huge mausoleums for dead people. I'm sure they did great things, but really? I'm pretty sure that money could've been spent on a lot better things around the city. That being said, when my time comes, I would like to be cremated- and if anyone is up to it, I'd like my ashes to be scattered all over the world, to provide incentive for someone to travel. But enough of that talk.
I decided to play chef one more time for my host family this week, and cooked up a Mexican dish to share with them. They all know how much I love Mexican food, and I was very excited to share it. I found a new recipe for black bean burritos, which means I actually found black beans (something that is hard to come by in Buenos Aires)! I also whipped up some guacamole, which was eaten very quickly. Nacho did criticize me for having to look at a recipe for the dish- apparently I had him fooled that I was making something I make all the time. Therefore, he said I wasn't a real cook...but whatever. You gotta try new stuff sometimes! And I know he said it all out of teasing love haha.
CEA hosted a farewell lunch for us at Siga La Vaca, which is a very nice, all-you-can-eat parilla. After the meal, a couple of prize drawings were held for students that completed the end of year survey. Lucky me, I won a HardRock Buenos Aires t-shirt! Woo!
After lunch, Melanie and I took crossed another thing off of my bucket list by visiting the ecological reserve in Puerto Madero. Hidden behind the largest population of trees in the city was a peaceful pathway that led to the mouth of the Rio de la Plata. Bikers, runners, and causal walkers accompanied Melanie and I as we toured the park, but we definitely stuck out like sore thumbs; having come from our farewell lunch, we were fairly overdressed for this outdoor occasion.
I finally began packing Friday evening. It was a lot easier packing to go home than packing to come down to Buenos Aires simply because everything had to go back. I wish it were always that easy! I took great care in wrapping the wine bottles and other souvenirs, as we all know how great of care the airline people take with luggage!
My last evening in Buenos Aires was spent eating dinner with Mary and then going out one more time in Plaza Serrano with Sara and Melanie. We got a couple of drinks there, laughed at the odd sites (a party bus, followed by a bus with an entire band playing inside) and recapped on an incredible semester.
Loli and Lean took me to the airport around six on Saturday, which was so kind of them to do, and I'm so grateful for that. Although no tears actually fell, they did sit in the bottom of my eyes for a while.
And just like that, I got through security and immigration and shortly after, boarded my flight for the USofA. May surely came quickly.
I plan on writing one more update in a little bit to give a little more closure on my semester abroad. For those of you who have kept up with me, thank you. You've encouraged me to keep writing which has now become a great passion of mine. Thank you for your support, whether you realized it or not.
Thank you.
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