CROSSING OFF THE B.A. BUCKET LIST

This is my last week in buenos aires. my roommate, Rachel, and I are traveling with 3 others (Alice, Bennett, and Matt) on Thursday. We start out in Mendoza for some wine-tasting and horseback riding, then head over to Santiago, Chile, then to the biggest manmade pool in the world (near Santiago). From Chile we head to Bariloche for paragliding and hiking, then to Calafate to climb inside a giant glaciar. It's very possible that our plans will change, but these are it for now.

I will be taking a flight to Minnesota May 12 to look for a job. Nick and I will drive to Michigan to say hello to everyone May 20 - right before Omer.

Last night I was able to cross off two of the top things I wanted to do in Buenos Aires (aside from becoming fluent in Spanish). I went to an "asado" (which is an Argentine roast) They cook A TON of meat out on a grill, and it is normally a big gathering every Sunday. I can't believe this was my first one! We had potatoes, corn, ice cream, salad..... and the best cuts of meat I've had since I arrived inB.A. I spoke in Castellano most of the time. To top off the night, Rachel's "amagovio" (friend/boyfriend) just bought a motorcycle, so I got to ride on the back. Cruising through B.A. on a moto was awesome!

ARGENTINES CROSS THE LINE

Every Sunday, we promote the Pub Crawl in the biggest tourist area in downtown Buenos Aires, the San Telmo Sunday Market. You can hear English being spoken all around you. We hand out flyers and try to capture peoples' interest. Today, I think I had the greatest success because I promoted myself to an iced coffee vendor. He told me to come out and sell cookies next Sunday with he and his partner! He said two girls from the Pub Crawl did it awhile ago, selling each cookie for 2 pesos and made a huge profit (because portenos can't resist baked goods with coffee).

I took a long stroll down a main avenue, Corrientes. This street, for about 10 blocks, is book/music/cafe heaven! It was great.... probably my new favorite street.

I had a late dinner tonight, making the mistake of eating outside. There was a soccer game tonight on TV, and all the old portenos inside were getting drunk, and one assumed that because he had the waitress bring me a drink that he had the right to sit with me for the rest of my dinner. After I finally caught the waitress' eye and she dragged him away from my table, a kid beggar got mad at me for not coughing up some free pesos, and threw a dirty napkin at me. Never know what you're gonna get in good ol' B.A.

THE FAM COMES TO VISIT

The fam just left - and they fit a lot into just one week. We jammed out to music and ate a ton of pasta with a kickoff welcome terrace party on my rooftop the first night, toured downtown B.A., saw the Buddy Bears of The World (pictures to follow), drank heavily at the Pub Crawl (didn't quite make it to the club), flew to Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina (one of the most beautiful places in the world) for 3 days, the fam went to Colonia, Uruguay by boat (but I had already been, so I stayed behind), used Evan's guidebook to discover Cafe Tortoni, where we went into the basement of the cafe for a candlelight dinner and tango show with live tango music, and Lindsay and I got our hair done for cheap while the men went to the big mall (Alto Palermo) nearby.

Not the most relaxing of vacations for these guys, but they definitely saw a lot of things! I realized that Buenos Aires can be seen in just a few days if you have the right tour guide, and the noise and dirty air (dad and Lindsay weren't sure why it's called "Buenos" Aires??) can be a turn-off for a lot of tourists. I think everyone had had enough of B.A. after a few days, but they definitely loved the weather of Argentina.

Thanks to Evan, I've got the travel bug. I started planning a trip to Bariloche with stops down to Calafate and maybe Ushuaia last night. I'll do this trip in early May. Today I move in with my Argentine family. Wish me luck!

DEATH OF EX-PREZ

I found a place to live! I'll be living with an Argentine family 6 blocks from work in Barrio Norte (not the nicest neighborhood, but it's safe). I have a 26-year-old "sister", Eugenia, and parents, Marta and Ramon. They're all really nice people. They talk slow, which is great for me, and the dad is a professor of Physics, Math, and Chemistry (we probably won't be on the same page for a lot of things haha). I'm excited to move in.

Today, I spotted a cockroach making its way across my bedroom floor, and I screamed like a little girl. Joe couldn't get to it fast enough, so now it's in the crack of the wall just waiting for me to go to sleep and crawl up next to me in bed. Yuck.

Argentina's ex-president Alfonsin Raul died 2 days ago. He was president from '83 to '89, after the "Dirty War". He's considered the father of Argentina's current democracy. He was actually buried in the Recoleta Cemetery (along with Eva Peron and other heroes of Argentina). He was a hero because he placed military leaders on trial for murder crimes. Today, there were thousands of people outside of the cemetery for his funeral.

PUB CRAWL STORIES

Last night I had a particularly good pub crawl. It was 2 argentine girls' birthdays, so it was a big one. I was the bartender last night for the first time (movin' on up in the STAFF status). I met some amazing people with really good travel stories about Chile and Peru. I met a young couple that fell in love in two weeks after meeting here in Buenos Aires. At one of the bars, an ex-ballet teacher taught me a dance move. She made fun of me quite a bit, but I finally got the steps down.

A girl from Cali told me her parents used to own a chain of successful carwashes, but just last week they called and told her they went bankcrupt. They lost everything because their other daughter has disabilities that insurance will no longer cover. Now, the girl tells me, her dad can't even get a job at Home Depot. This confirms the wildfire effects of the economy. This is obviously the best time to travel -- I'll stay wayward until the economy is stable again :)

A CHANGE IN B.A. LIFESTYLE

The Spanish family I babysat for went back to Spain, so that job is over. Also, I will only be working three nights a week for the Pub Crawl rather than four since they are hiring new people (which will be better for my body, anyway). To fill the rest of my time, I met a guy yesterday that's going to be teaching me castellano (the Argentine dialect). Today, he spent three free hours with me while we drank mate, and I filled a page-worth of notes on new phrases I learned. I'm extremely excited about this new schedule - I would rather be learning more Spanish than earning money... it's what I came here to do!

Unfortunately, my roommates are dropping like flies (even though I just moved in with them to the Palermo neighborhood). In less than 3 weeks, I have to find yet ANOTHER place to live because they either can't find jobs or they can't afford to stay in this apartment. Even though I despise the move-out process and looking for a new place, it will give me another opportunity to find Argentines to live with.

I am tired of getting stood up by my students. I can't tell you how many classes I go to where they just never show up. And it's just their lifestyle -- it's acceptable for them not to give any forewarning. And it's obnoxious.

There is a street called Libertad on which, for about 10 blocks, you will find only gold and jewelry vendors. Doesn't this make it difficult to make sales if you're entirely surrounded by your competition for 10 blocks?

PICK ME A WINNER!

I've been asking everyone about the crisis. They say it's not that big of a deal because Argentina has been in numerous crises. I asked people what they think would happen if Argentina was interdependent, cutting all ties to the outside world. They seem to think Argentina has everything it needs, and would survive just fine.

I've been reading the newspaper everyday and using my dictionary to figure out words I don't know. Then I ask my students to explain words I can't find in the dictionary. It's been a really good way to remember commonly used words here.

Now that all the Argentines are back from vacation, the subway is insane. It's a good thing I'm at a different altitude than most of them -- I can at least breathe a LITTLE bit of my own air. Recently a lot of locals look at how tall I am, and out of my peripheral I see them look down to my feet to see if I'm wearing eight inch stilettos.

People are very comfortable in public. Not only is there a lot of PDA, but people will dig for boogies right out in broad daylight, even if they see you looking at them. I also saw a guy peeing on a tree during the day right on the sidewalk.