Week 23

After a week with the Porteños I have come to the educated conclusion that Buenos Aires is crazy, but it’s people are some of the friendliest in the world. I arrived in BA on Sunday evening, and decided to try some of the famed beef. Certain restaurants have specials that allow clients to pay a flat price for all the beef they want to eat, so I ordered a plate of mixed meats and went at it! Doing as my mom always advised, I tried everything first, before asking what it was. Turns out I had sampled (and didn’t like) both cow intestine as well as a weird-textured puree of meat and blood. Luckily there were other, more satisfying dishes, which I enjoyed immensely.

My original plan for Monday was to head to Uruguay and check out that country, but when I got to the docks it turned out the prices were three times what I expected (my guide book is out of date due to high inflation in Argentina), so instead I took time to get to know the city and it’s transport systems better.

Tuesday I signed up for a deal, in which I could hop on and off buses that traveled on a pre-destined route to all the main tourist attractions of the city. It was complete with audio commentary in 10 languages, so I was all set on that front!


Highlights included visiting the grave of Evita and the Jesuit church next to it, and going to the Boca Junior (soccer club) stadium and getting a tour while it was free of fans. That night I also went to see a Tango show, accompanied by dinner, and a (surprise) free wine tasting! The man leading the tasting was very informative, and now I officially know how to taste a fine wine in its greatest glory. The show itself was quite entertaining, and a great way to spend the evening.

Wednesday I met up with a fellow traveler I had met, a girl from Spain who lives in Brazil and does translations for a living. She invited me over to her hostel to eat tortilla Espanola with her and to share stories. It was a really nice time, and great because she spoke English and Spanish. That evening we went to a discotec together, and I got to experience Buenos Aires night life-people dress soooo nicely just to go out to dance, so I was terribly underdressed (due to the fact that in my opinion, jeans and a t-shirt is good for pretty much every occasion) but it was still a lot of fun.

Thursday I did some more touristy things, looking around Buenos Aires and seeing what there was to see. During the evening I tried to go to a concert I had heard about that was to take place in a local bookstore, but unfortunately it was canceled due to the weather and difficulty of transporting instruments. However, I relaxed and even tried an Argentine (actually Italian, but very popular in Argentina) drink called Fernet. Truth be told it tasted like toothpaste to me, but even so it was pretty tasty when mixed with Coca Cola and enough ice.

Friday I did a Tango lesson at a studio, which was a lot of fun and really, really hard. The techniques necessary for dancing smoothly are extremely difficult, as the form is very rigid and yet relaxed-it must take years for the professionals to perfect this form, but as for me, it was just fun to try for an afternoon!

Saturday I headed in bus to visit my friend/host sister Noe, who lives in Northern Argentina, in the region of Chaco, near Resistencia. The plan was to overnight on Friday and arrive Saturday morning, but due to a huge accident on the highways

I didn’t arrive until Saturday evening. However, having a nice, long bus ride to sleep turned out to be a good thing, as the two of us went to a birthday party that night! In true Argentine style, the party was a dance in one of the rooms of the friend’s house. It was a ton of fun, and all the other guests were super nice, even though I stood out like a sore thumb as the one gringa and stranger among fifty people who had grown up together!

Sunday I continued acting as the youth of Latin America do, and slept for the majority of the day. Granted, it was a portion of sleeping between 7:30am and 1pm and then lunch, and then a siesta until 6pm, but still, it was a lot of sleeping! Luckily it was worth it when I joined Noe and her friends for dinner the next evening, just sitting and chatting like we do in college.

 Sunday officially marked the “1 week left” point in my trip! While I’m excited to go back to my comfortable and predictable life in the US, I will certainly miss S. America, and thus plan to enjoy every last minute I have left here!!!