Giants Win, My First Asado, and Class Begins

Goooooo Giants!!!!! Yes yes I know I am in Buenos Aires, but I can’t help but admitting that the Giants winning the pennant is by far the highlight of the week! I love reading all these articles coming out about the Giants style of play which is exactly what I have enjoyed all season.  They have only won ONE game this postseason by more than one run…needless to say they thrive under pressure.  I can’t wait for the World Series, they will once again be considered under dogs and will prove everyone wrong one last time! Side note: Bumgarner has INCREDIBLE mental strength for a 21 year old, couldn’t be prouder to call him a Giant.  Johnny Sanchez on the other hand, has little to no mental strength currently, and if he can’t change that, we need to bring in Barry Zito to win it all.  But ok, enough about the Giants…for now.

Last Saturday I attended my first asado, which is an Argentinean barbecue.  Similar to the United States, grilling is an art-form and a passion in Argentina which they have mastered.  They build these massive grills inside their kitchens with a chimney attached to allow for grilling during any and all weather conditions.  They are truly works of art.  The asado I was attending was a birthday celebration for a friend of some girls I know, Pato.  He was having the fiesta in his parents’ summer house outside the city, and thus I had my first experience leaving the city limits of Buenos Aires.  Pato and his friends provided rides for us to the house and everyone was extremely welcoming to us foreigners. (I must admit, I only attended this asado on Saturday night expecting that the Giants game would be on ESPN in Argentina.  Being the passionate fan that I am, I introduced myself to Pato and asked if he would mind if I put the game on, to which he responded with the worst news of the night: He only had local/basic channels at his house.  I assume this is because the house had just been remodeled and was not fully equipped yet, but either way I was devastated.  Luckily we all now know that the Giants won that night and went on to win the series, so all is well.)  Pato grilled up a few massive pieces of meat, a ton of chorizo sausage links, onions and red bell peppers.  

Doesn't this look amazing? It was!

Everything was amazing and I made sure to thank him multiple times. Of course, what kind of fiesta would it be without alcohol, and he had provided plenty of this as well.  The favorite drink of the Argentines is Fernet y Cola.  Fernet has a very unique after taste that takes a few sips to get used to, but I like it.  After a few drinks, my Spanish always seems to improve (or so I think…) and I got to meeting some of his friends.  There was a group of some very nice guys who all played in a band together and I chatted with them about AC/DC and the Rolling Stones for a while.  One mistake I continued to make was calling everyone “Senor.”  It is similar to saying “sir” in the U.S. which is very polite, but also generally reserved for an older gentlemen or a more business like setting.  They were ALL quick to correct me, and of course insisted that I call them by their first names.  This was very friendly and all…but the more I drank and the more people I met… the harder it was to remember their names!  I ended up calling the majority of them “amigo” except for the few who truly insisted I only use their first names.  Unfortunately the night ended a bit abruptly. When we first got there, I noticed something a little weird, there were no girls there other than the American girls we had brought, and the two or three other girl-friends of a few of the guys.  By the end of the night I knew why.  It was not news to me (or anyone else) that in Argentina, the men are VERY aggressive towards women.  If a female shows any signs of interest they will assume this means you want to be with them and make a move.  As you can probably guess, as the guys drank more and more they became a bit aggressive towards the girls we came with, and eventually pushed them to the point that the girls wanted to leave.  Overall, it was a wonderful experience for my first asado and I hope to be invited to many more while I am here in Argentina!

Sunday was a recovery day and a preparation day.  Niners won their first game of the season and Giants lost.

Nadine and I decided to take the bus to school for the first day.  We left 45 minutes prior to class (at 10am) and still ended up getting there about 2-3 minutes late.  Since nothing in BA is open prior to 10am, everyone else is also on their morning commute at that time.  Of course this means traffic, which is why what would be a 15 minute ride takes 45 minutes.  There were six students signed up for the course, however, one student had a VERY unexpected emergency to ‘care’ for and had to drop out.  Her emergency: she found out the Saturday before the course that she was pregnant, after having already flown to BA, she immediately left to go home. Yikes!  So now there are five.  It’s a small group but this will only allow for more hands on and one-on-one work with teachers.  There is one couple from Bristol (Lucy and Joe), England; a girl from Massachusetts (Kaylee) and my flat-mate, Nadine.  The building where the course is headquartered is absolutely beautiful as it is the former home of an Argentinean President.  The first floor, which is where the course is located, used to be the quarters for the servants along with the laundry room.  In the middle there is a very pleasant courtyard which we have access to and the second and third floors are lined with balconies.  I can only imagine what a wonderful place it must have been to live in.

Class is not too awful…they keep us very involved and rather than telling us all of the potential teaching techniques we can use, they show us and incorporate us.  My favorite part of the course so far were the three foreign language inputs they put us through.  My initial reaction to hearing that we would be learning Gaelic was not excitement.  I was already in the process of working on my Spanish, the last thing I needed was to throw another language in the mix.  After completing the three days I now understand why it was so necessary.  First of all, Gaelic is a ridiculously hard language to understand and the instructors know this.  The frustration and embarrassment that came with trying to learn Gaelic were exactly the feelings that they wanted each student to go through.  It really gave a solid foundation for understanding the mind-set a new foreign language learner has.  Not to mention, that on the last day of the Gaelic inputs, we were taught an Irish step dance which was quite fun as well. 

Not too much excitement during the week.  Had a bit of homework here and there and David cooked some dinner for us one night.  Of course I looked forward to watching the Giants game most nights, so I really had no desire to go out.  I don’t imagine I will be going out too much during the next three weeks as the course will pick up in intensity exponentially.  By this coming Friday I will present my first lesson in front of my peers and the following week will have multiple lessons to present to actual classes.  I did, however, enjoy my first workout while in Buenos Aires.  There is a lovely park about eight blocks up the road from us which I jogged to and created a very make-shift work out routine for myself.  It consists of doing pull-ups on soccer goals, push-ups and sit-ups in the grass, some shoulder work by doing hand stands against trees and another few interesting exercises.  I have gone three times now and very much enjoy it!

On Friday, our instructor had suggested that we all go out for a drink after class. There is a microbrewery just down the road from the course which we checked out.  They had some delicious beers (Dry Stout, Honey Beer, Hefeweizen, India Pale Ale, Light Lager, and Oktoberfest) and we all hung around and got to know each other a little better for a while.  I had a particularly nice discussion with the couple that runs the course. They are from South Africa and the husband used to run his own restaurant prior to a car accident in which he broke both his knees.  He has an incredible passion for cooking and he is currently in the process of renovating the old kitchen at the course headquarters.  I only mention this because I let him know that I also enjoy cooking quite a bit and if he ever needs any assistance in the building to let me know.  He seemed happy to hear it, so I am excited to hopefully have a chance to learn some new recipes and techniques from him while I am down here!  After having a few beers, we all departed and the couple from England, along with Nadine, David and I all made our way back to our apartment for some more drinks.  It was an early night for life in Buenos Aires as everyone was finished drinking by around 2:30.

Up to this point, I had still failed purchase a cell phone for myself.  I could not tell you the last time I went two weeks without a cell phone, but it really is liberating.  Though at times it was a bit frustrating and difficult to get around, it was nice being able to make plans ahead of time and sticking to them.  Anyways, on Saturday I made it my goal to get a cell phone.  Regardless of how liberating it was not to have one, it really is necessary especially when meeting new people and trying to make new friends.  They say good things come to those who wait…and this is a testament to that.  Having waited two weeks, by Friday my classmates knew that I was without a cell phone and Lucy mentioned that she had an old crappy Nokia that she did not need.  The reason I could not simply use my phone is because Verizon phones do not use sim cards like most other phone companies.  In Argentina, once you have a phone, it is pretty easy to buy a sim card on the streets which is exactly what I did.  So by waiting two weeks to get a phone, rather than spending close to 200 pesos, I ended up spending nothing for the phone, 10 pesos for a sim card and 12 pesos for a phone charger.  The only phones foreigners can get in BA are phones that work with pre-paid cards, which means you simply buy the minutes you want, available at any local kiosk, and add the minutes to your phone. Very simple. Of course, sometimes you have to learn things the hard way, and I found out the hard way that when buying the minutes, it is smart to have the individual working at the kiosk make the call for you.  The first 20peso card I purchased was invalid and I was forced to go to another kiosk and pay for a new card.  Live and learn. 

Based on what I started this post with…we all now know that Saturday was a night for celebrating! So after the Giants won the pennant, I met up with some friends and checked out this really neat club called Terraza.  Of course, my favorite part of the night, once again, was being outside at the club watching the sun rise at 6 in the morning.  Sunday was a another day for rest (and embarrassment for the 49ers, who lost to the previously DEFEATED, Panthers. Yes the Panthers were 0-5 prior to today).  Guess not every San Fran team will be winning taking home the championship this year.

That’s all for now.  Much love from South America.

Some pictures from the past two weeks...

This little feller was cruisin around the Zoo...there were probably close to 

25 or 30 of these things just roaming around the park.

The giraffe and ostrich live in the same cage...

and apparently like to play walking-only tag as seen above.

This white tiger was awesome...he was running around playing with this ball 

and would walk up to where you were standing at the window to say hi.

 

Entrance to the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron was buried.

They are in the process of renovating this entrance so it is not currently in use.

With Kate at the Cemetery!

 

One of the hundreds of alleyways we walked down in the Cemetery.

For some reason I can't upload anymore right now...but pictures of the apartment are coming soon! Follow this link to check out some pictures of the very unique apartment we are staying Pics of San Telmo Apt

New Roommates and the sun also Rises

WARNING: This entry is quite long. Perfect for someone: bored in class, bored at work, or who REALLY wants to hear about my trip! With that in mind…

At the request of my sister, I am posting a new blog. No just kidding Nicki you’re not thaaaaat special…I’ve been meaning to for a few days now!  A (very, very) brief update … since I last wrote, Kate has left to go back to school, I have moved apartments and started class, and two VERY special people have celebrated their birthdays!!! HAPPY (Belated) BIRTHDAY Dad and Nicole from BA.

As planned Kate and I made our way to the Buenos Aires Zoo on Tuesday which costs 22 pesos per person INCLUDING the cost of all the rides/attractions they have available.  For those who don’t know it costs about $35-$40 (110 pesos) to do so at the “World Famous” San Diego Zoo…but admittedly the San Diego Zoo is much more impressive than this zoo.  Entering the park was quite easy, we intentionally went on a Tuesday so it wouldn’t be too crowded (though after going I am not sure if it is ever “too crowded”).  I figured the safe bet to enjoy the park most was to get a map and follow that around…unfortunately they do not have maps available EVER at this zoo.  This seemed very funny at first but we soon realized that we didn’t really need a map on us at all times as the zoo was not very big. (There were larger maps scattered here and there throughout the park to assist).  As Kate and I began walking through the park, we noticed a beaver looking thing walking around.  (Side note: prior to visiting the zoo a few friends we had met mentioned that this zoo would be a little different than those in the states.  They told us the zoo keepers are very laid back and do not care much about what the animals do…which included the fact that some may not be in their cages!) Even with this warning, we were shocked to see an animal walking around in front of us and were inclined to take pictures.  We soon came to understand that this was nothing special…though we did take quite a few more pictures when we saw animals out of their cage because it was mind-blowing to us!  Not to say that they allowed the Lions, Tigers, Bears etc… out of their cages.  There were really only about three or four rodent-looking animals wandering the park.  Still very interesting to see.  I don’t think we saw more than 2 or 3 zoo keepers the whole day, only people seated at the entrances to smaller attractions within the park to collect money (if you hadn’t bought the all access pass).  It only took us about 2-3 hours to walk around the whole park, see all the animals, and check out all the added attractions.  There were no loud buses driving around the park or vendors at every turn trying to sell you something.  It was actually very relaxing and neat to experience!

Since I was expecting to be at the zoo for about four or five hours, I had scheduled an appointment to see an apartment just down the road from the zoo at 6:15pm.  We were done at the zoo by 4:30.  We checked out Avenida Santa Fe (one of the larger roads that run through the city) for about 45 minutes then took a short nap in a nearby park.  The apartment was pretty nice, but the room was small and the two gentlemen renting out the other rooms were also from the U.S. (definitely NOT my preference…that’s why I left there!!!)  We made our way back to the pad and stayed in for the night, ordering Chinese food for dinner! You may be surprised to know that it was absolutely delicious!

On Wednesday we had plans to meet with two more landlords…I had to leave the apartment I was currently in on Friday so I needed to find a place! These two places were in Recoleta, the same barrio that my TEFL course was being held, so I was pretty excited to see how they were.  The first place turned out to be more of a home-stay with a very sweet lady (who later that day emailed me to offer to cook for me and help with laundry because according to her I was a young boy who could use the help if I chose to stay with her!!!) and was very nice, but a bit further from my course than I had hoped for.  We had planned out the day pretty well and after checking out the first place Kate and I walked to the TEFL International location to check it out.  The building was extremely nice and everyone there was very friendly.  I met some students who were only a few days away from completing the course and they had some very encouraging words.  They also recommended that we check out the Recoleta Cemetery, a famous spot for tourists and locals alike to check out.  Our next destination was the other apartment, I was hopeful it would be nice and not too expensive because it was less than a block away from the course.  To my delight, it was very nice AND not outrageously expensive.  Unfortunately there were three issues, (1) it was not available for two weeks (2) it had a minimum of one month stay and (3) the couple I had been in contact with about sharing an apartment planned on leaving very soon after the course was completed.  I told the landlord I would get back to her about living there.

From there Kate and I walked about 3-4 blocks to the Cemetery which was absolutely amazing!! The graves were built both above and below ground and looked almost like very very small living quarters.  Of course the size varied based on how wealthy a family was, but all of them were incredibly gorgeous.  This is where Eva Peron was buried along with many other famous figures from Argentina. 

For Kate’s last night, I had read about a nice restaurant that had been ranked in the top 50 in the world for best hamburgers.  Surprisingly, there was only one from Argentina as they are known for having some of the highest quality beef worldwide.  The place is called Kansas and Kate and I headed to dinner around 7 in hopes that we would go out afterwards.  We arrived to an almost empty restaurant, at the time I thought a sign of the poor economy.  I was wrong.  It was a bit of a shock to see that the only hamburger on the menu was a cheeseburger.  We decided to split one and also try something else which was a wonderful decision.  The burger, which I ordered with bacon, was delicious though I am not sure if I’d rank it top 50 in the world.  As we were finishing our meal I realized why the place was empty when we got there.  No one goes out to dinner until 9 or 10 in BA.  As we left the place ALL tables were filled (close to 100) and there was a wait to get a table for people just arriving! Good for them!  Unfortunately it was also raining outside. We hopped in a cab and headed home for the night.

For Kate’s last day in BA, we wanted to check out Caminito.  A very small street which was famous for its lively atmosphere with Tango in the streets, murals covering the walls and a very Argentinean atmosphere throughout in a small barrio known as Boca.  The weather had other ideas.  It was still cloudy and overcast and as we sat down to eat breakfast, it began to rain.  We decided not to journey to the other side of the city and just hang out.  I was pretty bummed that Kate didn’t get to see it, but hopefully when I get a chance to visit pictures will do it justice.

After a long night of partying on Thursday “night” I had to be up by 10am to leave the apartment I was in.  I am quite proud of myself as I packed the night before, knowing I would be out late and hung-over (or still drunk) at 10 in the morning! I had contacted the landlady at the first place I looked at in San Telmo and asked if I could do just two weeks there for now.  She had no problem with that so after getting my deposit by, I hopped in a cab to my new residence.  The landlady is very nice and I talked with her for about an hour…she speaks a bit of English…I speak a bit of Spanish…makes for interesting conversation! But to be honest I was exhausted and passed out for a few hours after she left.  I barely remembered leaving the first apartment as I think I was basically still asleep through the whole process…but I made it successfully to my new place!  Unfortunately, San Telmo is not where the clubs/popular areas for kids my age to go out.  Hasn’t been a problem yet, but I imagine I will move back to Palermo or Recoleta area after the course is over.  Anyways, after sleeping and unpacking a bit during the day it was time to go out again.  I made it over to a buddies place by around midnight to start the pregame.  We checked out a couple of clubs/bars…none of which I was a big fan of.  Then the real adventure of the night began for me.  After saying bye to friends I hopped in a cab to head back to San Telmo.  Being a bit drunk I must not have noticed that he DEFINITELY took me an alternate route to run up the tab.  Since I had just moved to this new apartment I didn’t know the streets well enough to really say anything…and more importantly I only had 25 pesos on me.  This should have been enough to get back home…or very close. But this was not the case.  Luckily I knew a cross street nearby and began the trek…jogging a bit of the way as well, I like to call it making good out of a bad situation.  I was actually more awake than I would have expected (at 6 in the morning) and didn’t much mind the journey, other than being upset that the driver had ripped me off…and thus discovering that the sun also RISES.

For those of you not lucky enough to experience a sunset in San Diego, it is truly one of the most breath-taking scenes I have ever laid eyes on.  It is hands down my favorite part about living in San Diego and being so close to the beach.  Well on this night, I got to watch the sun rise in the city of Buenos Aires.  Though not as breath-takingly gorgeous as a sunset…it was something that put a smile on my face at a time when I could have been in a terrible mood.  Thus the title: the sun also rises!

Of course to make things a bit more difficult…why make anything easy right? I forgot an alarm clock.  Why does this make things difficult you ask yourselves? Other than the obvious…on Saturday morning my “flat mates” as they would say, arrived.  As they stayed in a hostel the night before, they had to leave by 10am and guess where there next destination was! Here! So after sleeping for maybe 3 hours I woke up to my computer alarm until they arrived.  David and Nadine are there names, Nadine is doing the TEFL course with me and they are both wonderful people. They are from Glasgow, Scotland and have been travelling the world for the past 18 months.  China, Australia, New Zealand, other countries throughout Asia…really really cool. I have been picking their brains about quite a bit…but I am sure I will hear many more stories over the next month.

***I do not have time to finish writing all this as I need to get some rest for class tomorrow! Kate’s advice was to post this now and finish tomorrow…which I thought was brilliant…so here it is. The rest soon to come!***

Empanadas, Mate y Gigantes

So I started to write this blog four hours ago...then stopped, realizing that the last time I wrote my blog was right before the Giants played. And they LOST. Being quite superstitious when it comes to sports I of course could not jinx them again.  Well as everyone now knows..thanks to me (haha) it worked!!!! Giants are headed to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2002 to take on those Phillies.  Cali vs. Philly.  Love it!!!

Anyways...the weather here has been absolutely incredible.  70's and sunny everyday...feels like I'm back home!  Buenos Aires has absolutely no hills which makes it easy to walk almost ANYWHERE which is exactly what Kate and I have been doing.  Saturday morning we checked out the Palermo district a bit more.  Went to breakfast at a nice little spot a few blocks away from our apartment and enjoyed a delicious breakfast outside.  Later we decided to take a walk to a gorgeous park about 25 minutes away.  Everyone here is so peaceful and friendly.  The parks are all extremely crowded on the weekends yet there seems to be space for everyone to fit.  Kate and I found out quickly that while walking it is safest to always look DOWN as people do not pick up after their pets...enough said haha.  The parque was pretty big and on the outside of the park it was lined with what resembled a farmers market with hundreds of booths set up with people selling...well basically anything you could possibly imagine that fits in a shoe box!  Kate got a neat little bracelet and I picked up a pocket knife.  There were a few pick up soccer games going on and stray dogs running around that provided some entertainment until we headed back for the night.  On the way back we experienced our first of what I expect to be many encounters with empanadas.  They are everywhere around here and we got one chicken and two meat...delicious.

I was able to get in contact with some friends of friends here in BA and we had made plans to go out with them at night.  Going out at night in BA pretty much starts at two o clock in the morning...and that is considered early.  To try and prepare for this we took naps from 8-10...it didn't help!  We got to our new friend Michelle's apartment at around midnight after a late dinner and started the pregame festivities.  Her roommates were very very nice and after drinking a bit we headed out at around 2ish.  We were going out "early" tonight because we had to be at this club before 2:30 to get in free (even though it ended up costing guys 30 pesos).  The "club" was definitely just an old warehouse with portable bars brought in but it was still a great time.  Kate and I only lasted til like four (and most people hadn't even began to dance) but we made the trek back to our apartment and called it a night.

Sunday was an interesting/adventurous/awesome day.  Michelle and her roommates are quite good friends with a local rugby team (Michelle dates one) and they had a quarterfinal game today!  As ya'll may expect, after going out til 4 in the morning we weren't up too early today.  By the time we got moving it was time to meet up with the girls to head to the game.  **Side note: Second experience with empanadas.  Michelle has a little pastry shop down the street from her that makes empanadas that are "to-die-for". We got two meat, one chicken and one ham n cheese...oh and a few incredible breakfast pastries as well.**  Then the adventure began.  The game was about a ten minute cab ride (40min walk) from the pastry shop...but apparently the cab driver didn't know where it was.  He dropped us off no where near the fields.  So we started walking in the direction of the field and as we went asked people for directions along the way.  The first person we asked said it was about a five minute walk...not too bad. Off we went. After about five minutes of walking (and no field in sight) we asked another individual.  This time the field was "very far away" and suggested possibly taking a cab.  For some reason this is the only person we didn't trust (and the only person who was right) so we continued walking.  After about five more minutes and still no field in sight we asked a couple guys working at a street vendor.  They said the field was about a three minute walk away just across the park...thank goodness! At this point were about 15 minutes late for the game. They were wrong.  After walking for about 20 more minutes we FINALLY found the field and made it just in time for the end of the first half.  I love that every person seemed to know exactly where the field was...yet no one had any idea how far away it was.

The game was incredible.  The rugby was top notch and the players were much bigger, stronger and faster than I expected.  The club we were cheering for was St. Brendan's and they were up against Club Geba.  The game was close the entire time and after the full 80 minutes they were tied 13-13.  (This after both teams missed multiple kick attempts during regulation that would have won the game.)  In overtime St. Brendan's had a chance to win it with a 25 yard penalty kick that their kicker sent wide right.  About 5 minutes later Geba capitalized on this miss by making a similar kick to win the game (sudden death OT).  I chose NOT to go introduce myself to the team after this loss as I would have no desire to meet a poor Spanish speaking American after such a devastating loss to end the season.  I have since contacted a player on the team and plan to attend sevens practice next week with them!!! I am very excited and a bit nervous as they are highly skilled and I am definitely not in proper shape to play.  I do think they get paid to play tho...which would be freakin awesome!!!

So after the game the girls we went with were staying to hang with the rugby guys and Kate and I decided to leave.  Poor decision.  I had very few pesos on me at the time as I had not found a currency exchange place yet (and none were open on weekends anyways).  So we began to walk back hoping to find an ATM somewhere along the way.  The beginning of the walk was incredible as we walked through some beautiful parks the along the way.  One park in particular was a bit different from the rest.  As we were walking Kate noticed a few...used condoms on the ground.  Wow. Were there more than a few.  It wasn't enough that we had to keep our eyes peeled for landmines covering the ground from dogs...we now had to watch our step for wrappers scattering the field.  There were literally hundreds littering this OPEN field.  I guess people in Buenos Aires aren't shy about there sexual activities.  Thank goodness this was only the case in one of the smaller parks.  We continued our walk and were thankful it was still light out because we were definitely walking through some pretty sketchy areas of the city.  We finally found a mall with a Jumbo (basically a Argentine Wal-Mart) and they accepted US Dollars.  I got change in Pesos and we took a cab home.  We were exhausted and stayed in for the night after that.

So we have quickly discovered that Argentines will celebrate ANYTHING to get a holiday.  As this Monday was Columbus day in the US...well it was Columbus day here as well and everyone had the day off  (hahaha)!! And apparently all schools were closed on the first day of spring to celebrate that as well!! As expected, Monday was another incredibly gorgeous day.  I had contacted some people through craigslist regarding potential apartments for the following month and was meeting with someone at 13:00 in San Telmo.  Our first time using the subway! They are extremely cheap, 1.10 Pesos (25cents) per ride.  Of course we got talking to a gentlemen who spoke good English and had traveled all over the world...and informed us to get off at the wrong stop.  We hopped in a cab and got to the apartment in about 5 minutes, right on time by the way.  The apartment was very neat and the landlord was sweet. It is in a very safe area due to high tourist traffic and is surrounded by shops. Going to continue the search though in case there is something better.  San Telmo is a really cool little town and Kate and I grabbed lunch outside where there were Tango dancers performing.  Kate bought a few gifts for her family at more street vendors.  One of the more incredible things we got to do today was ride Subte A.  This is the longest running subway in the entire WORLD (a tid-bit we learned from the English speaking gentlemen on the first subway ride).  It is made of wood and the inside feels like the inside of a small boutique or restaurant.  Incredible that it has been running since 1913!

Before we made our way back home we made one more purchase.  We noticed a unique item at a lot of shops that we had never seen before.  I asked one of the vendors what they were used for and he told me it is an Argentine tradition to drink this tea called Mate.  We purchased some and tried it...not a fan but I'm hoping it will grow on me because we had to buy quite a bit of the tea leaves.

Having an incredible time and we are planning on going to the Zoo tomorrow which is only about 15 blocks North of us!!! Pictures soon to come!!

Arrival

It only took 15 hours in the air but we are finally here! Met up with Kate in DC and only ran into one speed bump...I left my sweatshirt (the only one I brought) on the plane from LA to DC.  After sprinting back to get it and working up a solid sweat, we were the last two to enter the plane and away we went.  Flight was looooong but fine.  Definitely helps having a travel partner! Thanks Kate : )

Got through customs without issue (and after paying $140/person to enter the country...) and found the car which we ordered without a problem.  We are staying in Palermo which is about an hour from the airport.  We got to the apartment a little early so we walked around and checked out the neighborhood a little.  Seems like a cool area but not too many bars around...might be a problem.

The landlord showed up about twenty minutes late but we talked to the owners of the place for a while...sort of. They spoke Catalan, a version of Espanol I am not quite familiar with.  The place is very neat.  We have our own balcony and a "full" kitchen with stove, oven, fridge etc... but it is quite small.  We slept a little on the plane but not enough so after checking out the neigborhhod a bit we took a nice nap.

About to hop in the shower and get movin for the night! Oh and for those interested...my Slingbox works internationally so I WILL be watching those Giants tonight!! Wooooo Timmy last night and lets goooo Matty tonight.

Adios from BA  --  Ryan and Kate