Sept 29.... Polo

Gosh lots to tell!  So Friday I was exhausted in class, but that was okay...Martin was great!  Afterwards, Sean and I took Aida to the vegetarian place for lunch.  It was still just as good - no meat involved!  And I spent the rest of the day trying to catch up on life.  I went for a walk in the evening, like Sean and I had done on Thursday, around the lake at the park in Palermo - around Infanta Isabel and Avenida Montt - it was beautiful - so many people rollerblading, biking and running or walking.  I saw baby geese!!!  They were yellow and fluffy and the flock came right near me! So cute! I walked around for a good hour, then had to walk to a bank-which was another bit of a walk...when I got back, I met another person off the BAexpats website who is Argentinian/italian and his parents live in California.  He works with importing/exporting for a Denver company.  He bought like 12 boxes of alfahores so he could ship them to someone who requested them.  He works long hours - like 9am-8pm - geez!  But he likes what he does! We had a coffee on Avenida Santa Fe - he had an americano, and I noticed, put 5 packets of sugar in it! (keep in mind, here, one packet of sugar is a tablespoon).  Rafael picked me up and we had a late dinner at an Indian place called Katmandu...it was pretty expensive and I was disappointed at the lack of spice and the weakness of the tandoori (Argentinians dont use a ton of spice) - wont be recommending that to the parents. 
Saturday was POLO day!!!!
I met expat-connection at the Starbucks in Palermo - there were about 15 of us.  We went in a giant van to the town of Pilar - took about an hour to get there.  I sat in the back with these 2 hot American guys who were hungover but one didn't mind talking to me.  The seats in the middle were facing each other, so the group of girls sitting there developed a clique really fast.  And it was hard when you know, you find out once again, that everyone is American and when you say your Canadian, they're like "oh...".  Then, they start talking about American college football, or a city or something...and I just can't relate.  The country was beautiful...the cutest lttle kid opened the gate for us and we were on an Estancia called El Retiro (the retirement).  When we got out, we were immediately given wine and taken on a tour.  They have about 55 horses that belong to them and then about another 50 kept there by others.  Apparently, horses are stolen often - so much so that horses being bought could have very easily been stolen elsewhere.  We saw the stables and the tack room and were shown buildings for the groomsman's quarters.  We had a huge asado! We ate for like 2.5 hours-lots of wine and various cuts of meat-chorizo, sausage, blood sausage, chicken, kidney, intestine, lomo, vaseo...not to mention, regular salad, potato salad, bread and fruit salad for dessert - oh and grilled veggies and more potatoes!  Stuffed and full of wine we watched a polo game..Rules to follow hopefully.....
After polo, we had coffee and then got to learn how to hold the polo sticks!  Then they gave us horses and said "reign left and right to turn them, reign taught for them to stop".  I didn't like having to kick the horse to make her go - and I'm definitely not coordinated enough to hold the horse reign in one han and try to hit the ball with the stick in the other hand!  But it was fun!  Fell asleep on the way back...no real connections made oh well.  That night was our first sat night out.  It didn't go according to plan though...We went rather late - met up at 2am and by the time Alexis found parking it was 230am.  We went to a club here in Palermo Soho, Araoz.  And because we were later, men were 35 pesos with a drink and women 45 wth a drink!  Doesn't that seem kinda backwards?  Usually women are cheaper, if not free!  We were thinking "what the hell..." so we tried another place called Liquid which was around the corner on Santa Fe.  The line was the longest line I've ever been in!  We waited about a half hour only to find out that for some reason they weren't letting anyone in! Ahhhh! So we went back to the car, to Plaza Serrano, found a bar with empty seats and ordered a drink and a plate of meat and cheese to share (para compartir).  We talked til around quarter to five until they told us to go.  The stupid waiter (mozo/moza) didn't want to give us change for our 100 pesos even though he had people giving him tips all night!  5am saw us heading our separate ways.

Sept. 24...Ladies Night

Went to class - have lots of homework which is good!  Afterwards, the language studio went out for lunch again - and we went to Sean's favourite place - El Federal.  I was being repetitive and had pastel de papas again - the homemade shepherd's pie in a bowl with black olives and tons of veggies.  So good...I think next time I'm going to get that homemade tomato soup.  They make focaccia bread from scratch but I probably said that before.  We met (Sean and I) this new couple from Norway who had been living in England the past few years.  They just got here and are pretty much doing the same thing we are all doig.  At night, Aida and I went to a "Ladies Night" held by a girl from BA expats.  It was funny because when we were walking there, we had no idea who we were meeting of what they looked like!  We were thinking "okay, we have to find a group ofgirls who are speaking English".  Sure enough, 4 girls were sitting there and of course they all had to introduce themselves again...oops.  They are all pretty much from the States, but a good group.  One is married and knows like zero Spanish, another lived in China for awhile, another moved here with ther bf from the States an the other volunteers at the same organization as Aida.  We had a couple of bottles of wine and great conversation.  After that, I met up with a local porteno and his friend and we went to another local parrilla and had more wine and good conversatio.  They seem like very nice people and their English was pretty good - even though I need to practic my Castellano (Spanish).  I was a little bit intoxicated...but a great night...

Sept 23 - Evita Museum

Yesterday was a shitty day.  It was cold and rainy again.  I went to class and then spent the rest of the day trying to upload pictures but it wouldn't work!  I had a jacuzzi bath, but my bathwater was only lukewarm, so I was just as cold when I was in it.  Ugh que desastre! 
Today I went to class - oh I didn't mention this place right around the corner that has cafe con leche to go - so at least that's been 2 days in a row that I get to have a delicious coffee while sitting in class.  Class was great today - I find it helpful.  After, Sean and Aida and I went to the Evita museum.  We had lunch in the restaurant first....and wow.  Aida and I had these crepes - hers had sausage in it, and mine had brie.  And I also had a wicked empanada.  Thank goodness, because the last 2 empanadas I had were so disappointing.  The Evita museum was unbelievable.  It chronicled her whole life - she really was a woman for the people of Argentina, but I had no idea as to the extent of that.  And all before she died at the age of 33.  She was an unbelievable social worker who created a constitution for workers rights; she established the first school for nurses; created a "Children's City" for orphans and abandoned children for Argentina - every Xmas, she and Peron would go and give presents to the children of the city; she and Peron would act as godparents so children could be baptized; she advocated for women's rights so they could vote (the museum itself was actually in a building once used that she created for women who needed shelter); she also was an ambassador, strengthening ties with Spain to help increase exports and strengthened ties with may European countries.  When she died, part of the world died with her...not just Argentina.  I felt it when I was in the museum - the whole place smelled like rosewater - that must have been her perfume or something.  But I cant believe how overwhelmed I was...my heart actually ached when I left.  And now, here I sit writing...should probably get to that homework. :)

Mon Sept. 21 Dia de la Primavera

Well, a few days to catch up...Friday I got up at 9am and dragged my tired self to a cafe to do my homework and so I didn't have to get i the way of the lady cleaning the apartment.  It was just around the corner from me and I had a tostada, cafe, jugo de naranja, agua mineral - all for about 10 bucks.  Then, I went to class.  I was going to take a nap when I forgot Sean and Aida wanted to go to the vegetarian place.  So off we went...still just as good as I remembered.  After a huge lunch, we all basically lounged in our apartments for te rest of the day.  I caught up on my blog a bit (feels like I'll never finish it) and watched a couple of movies...I had a bit of a nap bu it was interrupted by Pablo calling me and wanting to see me that night...and he did.  We went downtown and walked for a bit down Lavalle, which is very pedestrian, like Florida and within about 2 blocks or 3 there must have been like 5 movie theatres!  We had empanadas somewhere quick - mine was chicken with egg in it - I didn't know there would be egg in it...but apparently they do that.  We took the colectivo (oh how i dislike it) back to Palermo.  At my place, we watched a bit of the movie "Panic Room" because there were Spanish subtitles even though it was in English!  Fits both worlds.
Saturday, Sean and Aida and I went to Recoleta Cemetery.  I was going to go to the Evita museum, but when they said they wanted to see the cemetery, I was like Vamos!  We walked there down Avenida Las Heras and wandered into the Botanical Gardens first - it's right near us.  They were beautiful...and will be more beautiful when the flowers come out.  There are trees I've never seen before...and huge aloes!  I got a few pictures - oh, and lo and behold, tons of cats...yay!!!  I love cats.  Anyway we probably walked for about over an hur to get to the Recoleta cemetery.  It still takes my breath away everytime I walk in.  Poor Aida decided to stick her head in a mausoleum with a busted door and got a huge whiff of mould that her mind combined with rotting corpse and thank goodness she didn't get sick....We wandered around in there for over an hour...some mausoleums are very well kept - fresh plants and flowers - we found one with pictures of every member of he family, including the dog who was in a coffin and had died 3 months ago.  Some mausoleums (that I hadn't seen before) had a big door, like a cellar, that lead down into an enormous room in the ground - like an Egyptian tomb.  A cat walked close to me and was sniffing a water tap and I turned it on a bit for him...so he climbs ontop and tarts drinking it upside down.  Poor thing was thirsty and people passing by took pictures...it was pretty cute.  We had coffee at a "Delicity" nearby with medialunas and tostadas (I have to stop eating those) then walked back.  That night we went for steak at "Estancia" in Las Canitas...the barrio next to Palermo which is pretty residential with quite a few bars on the main drag.  I had sweet potato friest (batatas fritas) and steak (lomo) in a mustard pepper sauce (mostaza con pimiento) - paid less than 30 buck including alcohol and dessert!  Did I ever sleep like a baby that night...
Sunday, the 3 of us met up with Pablo again and we had medialunas and cafe at Delicity near Sean and Aida's place.  Then, we took the colectivo to Puerto Madero and near it is the Reserva Ecologia which is a huge reserve with the river at one end - and honestly, there is now ay yu can see Uruguay on the other side.  We had just started to drink mate when the park patrol came along and told everyone to leave because the park was closing.  So we drank mate as we were walking.  Seeing as Pablo was telling us that the park outside the Reserve was known for cakes, Aida was itching for cake.  We had already had so muc sugar - we wonder what the incidence of diabetes is here.  We waited in line for tortas (cakes), probably for like 20 min. or so.  I had a ricotta cheesecake with dulce de leche.  But now we know why Argentinians are so hyper -because of all the sugar.  By the time we got back on the colectivo, we were all pretty burnt out from all the sugar.  The four of us had dinner in - Sean made a freakin' delicious chicken alfredo - the alfredo being from scratch, mind you.  It was so rich!  And of course, being the salad queen that I am, I made an enormous salad that took me as long as it took Sean to make the alfredo.  But nothing but compliments to both chefs :)
Today, Monday, is the first day of Spring.  The flowers are everywhere..guess Im in the right place...ha!  Young lovers are all over the place with flowers - I decided to buy myself some daisies.  They are absolutely beautiful - and smile at me as I'm sitting here.  I went to a cafe after class - the food was terrible!  I think the place was called Kentucky on the corner of Santa Fe and 2 blocks from where my street hits Santa Fe.  My tostada wasn't toasted (ew) - it was basically just whit bread with no crusts and ham and cheese in the middle - even mustard didn't help.  So I got an empanada and it was cold! Arg!  I wont be going there again.  I had a job interview with Capacitacion en Ingles-they're doing a new pilot program completely in English that would basically be an English immersion program for companies who need their employees to learn English whether for business or travel.  I'm slightly concerned because the interview was only 5 mintues.  I realized after the fact that may not be a good sign.  I met up with Aida after and took the deposit for Larry's rental in Feb. to the guy for the apartment.  It was he that told me that I may have been discriminated against within that short period of time.  It never occurred to me to take them out (piercings).  Ian advised me to take them out if I have an interview for anything else.  That aside, Aida and I went to take the deposit and then went to "Jumbo" searching for measuring cups for Aida and scissors for me.  Well, we found a cheap measuring bowl - and the scissors were too damn expensive.  But this was huge...bigger than Carrefour maybe.  Plants and outdoor stuff on the bottom - oh, after you go through a mini mall - and then uptairs is food and home decor - furniture too, I think.  We wandered around there for awhile.  I bought herbs that I can grow in my kitchen and candle holders for the tealights Dad and Larry bought me.  Afterwards, wehad dinner at their house again - mmmm more alfredo - but the salad, alas, was in my fridge.  We had some great chorizo - it's better than salami and you put it on crackers with cheese spread we bought - it as camembert.  Mmmm so good - and we locked at clubs to go to this Saturday...super stoked.

Sept 17 - Spring veggie place and wine-tasting

Well here we are getting on into Sept...been gone from Hali almost 3 weeks now - cant believe it!  Time will fly...I have a job interview Monday for an English immersion program.  I'm excited!  Tuesday I had a different teacher...Martin...he's very dynamic and very good.  The language studio was having a lunch day and we went to this Asian vegetarian place called Spring...I had no idea you could fake meat the way they did in all the Asian dishes...Sean and I ate a ton!  So, for about 30 pesos (10 bucks) you can get a drink and all you can eat!  The family definitely has to go - somewhere I'm definitely going to suggest when they get here in Feb.  I went to the wine-tasting that night at 0800-Vino held by Nigel who is the owner.  We had muchos vinos y queso in his wine cellar.  I took lots of picture so I'd remember which wines I had and to show Papa.  I learned quite a bit:  people swish wine around in their mouths so it heats up and evaporates and hits the olfactory bulb in your head.  Nigel passed around a number of little bottles that had concentrated scents in it that you were supposed to smell hints of in the wine.  Apparently, the deeper and more orangey-red a red wine is, the older it is.  And of course I didn't know that, por ejemplo, pinot grigio is the type of grape used.  There were about 8 of us there and we had good convo...I think a few of them are going to the polo tour.  After muchos vinos, I hopped in a cab to Sean and Aida's place because I havent seen it yet.  I love the decor - its very modern and red and black...makes my decor look pretty girly.  They live on the other side of Santa Fe...the big street near both of us.  We had a glass of wine and chatted and then they were nice enough to walk me home.  It was funny when I got there because my phone ran out of minutes and I had to show the guard which apartment I had to go o...and he said "are you North American?"...haha!  Wednesday, I had Spanish class and after, Sean and Aida and I went to Sean's fav. place to eat called El Federal - another recommendation for the family - and no wonder he likes it so much...Everything is homemade, even the bread...the focaccia is to die for.  I hada traditional Argentinian dish called pastel de papas and it was similar to a shepherd's pie stew and it was the heartiest, yummiest thing I've had here yet!  Soooooo full!  I spent the rest of the afternoon typing up some of my blog.  Rafael picked me up last night and we went to a Colombian restobar called "Gabo"...I had this fish with coconut sauce and spcies with coconut rice and salad - gosh it was to die for and we had some good conversation.  I slept like a baby considering I didn't sleepat all the night before!
Today, I had class with Martin...he's going to teach me some bad words for fun...yay!  I went and dropped off my deposit for the polo trip Saturday and seeing as it's pouring rain, I've been sitting here writing this entry in Cafe Orso at Paraguay y Uriarte...cute place...my new hangout.  B.A. really is a cafe city.  I went to a gym...60 bucks a month....no thank you!  Dropped laundry off...9 pesos...not too bad...cheaper than doing our own laundry in Canada.  Suppose I should finally go to the grocery store.  Frederico says he's taking me to Club 69 tonight...let's see if he shows up...haha!
So Sean and Aida invited me over for dinner.  And while Sean was cooking, I read over Aida's report she had spent all day typing up...t'was a crappy rainy day so not great for exploring - we had pasta with sausage and broccoli...mmmm...kinda felt like home.  We drank some wine and met Frederico at my place!  We went to Club 69.  What can I say about the club, except that it was off the hook!  The drinks were pretty expensive - 20 pesos - that's like 7 dollar drinks...makes me miss those 2.50 drinks in Hali.  But, a mojito is a real mojito!  Tall glass, lots of real mint and actually crushed....nothing fake about it.  There were paid dancers, men and women in scantily clad outfits - similar to cowboys - with their asses hanging out ...this one cowboy was so hot- I touched his chest at one point and thought I was going to pass out...I think he swings the other way though...haha.  They did a little number on stage dancing and singing to a song and performing a little act - and there were some men dressed as women and this big guy was pretending to be a woman going after the cowboys and it was funny because he was a big woman and when they were playfully trying to lift him, he would playfully try to scare them.  The outfits were amazing!  That's what Karrie and I need for evolve next year!  There was also this pole on a moveable platform that kept being moved all over the dance floor so you had to watch out when they moved it.  Many people don't go crazy dancing like back home, they're too busy watching the dancers.  The music was great!  Back home I remember times when  I was constantly disappointed due to shitty music...but here, no way!  There is a bigger club scene here!  We left at 230am and it was just getting good.  It was raining cats and dogs (or frogs and snakes as they say here) - streets flooding - never seen anything like it!  The end of a late night though will be met with an early morning...cleaning lady comes at 930 am :(

from sept 14 - ahhh so behind!

Let me start off by saying that I have these huge metal blinds for all three of my windows overlooking the street and at night, you lower them so they encapsulate you in your dwelling - I just thought it was odd that at night everything looked more...abandoned, but that's why...everyone has these metal blinds.  Apparently Rafael told me it's because of "Spiderman"...someone who could climb your balcony and get into your apartment at night...comforting, eh?  We dont seem to have this concern in North America.  Anyway, yesterday "Sunday" I had a great day!  Pablo and I met Sean and Aida (Jersey...wooo) in San Telmo where we were quite hungry - so we went to a Parilla and had Bife de Chorizo (the cut of beef with fat on it but it's quite tender).  They made fun of me because I wanted a coffee with my beef - haha!  After we ate, we went through San Telmo on a mission for hot water to drink the Yerba mate and wandered through some of the antique market.  Some of the antiques are so beautiful, I really hope people buy those things.  Pablo was explaining the different mate, the round bowls they use because some are made from wood and others are carved out of the fruit.  I need more info - but this woman came and yelled at us because Pablo was explaining it to us and not her!  What a crazy ol' bat!  We got hot water at a house where a woman charges one peso for hot water because it is right near the park - what a great idea!  I imagine lots of people would drink it longer if they dont run out of water and she probably makes quite a bit of cash!  We sat down on the grass and Pablo started preparing the mate.  You put the yerba in the mate and there's a long metal stick (bombilla) with holes at the end so the yerba doesn't get sucked into it.  You put sugar in with the yerba to sweeten it, then pass it back to the maker.  There are etiquette rules too i.e. making sure you pass it back to the person making it so they can make a new one for the next person.  Everyone walks around drinking it, even the police!  We all really liked it!  It was so relaxing to sit in the park - it seems to be a big social thing too - people sit around with friends and drink mate...I finally didn't feel so much like a tourist!  When we were done, we walked back through San Telmo and ran into 2 drum groups in the streets and we danced in the street following the procession...what sound!  Later that night, Rafael and I went for a super latedinner - like midnight!  It was nice to be able to talk to someone completely.  Today, (Monday), ...I had my first Spanish class.  I didn't do too bad, but when the text was thrown in front of me, there were many words that I didn't know.  We went over the text and she gave me some homework...I've missed homework!  After class, Sean, Aida and I went to the museum of natural science.  It was a lovely day and we had lunch in our neighbourhood before we went...my chicken wasn't cooked...but I got that fixed.  We walked to the museum...at least we found out where all the cats went in this city...they own the Parque Centenario...there were dozens of cats outside the museum!  I was thrilled!  There are so many dogs in this city that I was beginning to wonder where all the cats went!  The museum only cost us about 3 pesos - and I was surprised at how similar it was to the ROM, but smaller of course.  There was a section on mollusks and shellfish, dinosaurs, frogs and snakes, history of Argentina, reptiles, etc. all not necessarily specific to Argentina...but it was interesting to see that their dinosaurs discovered in South America are very different  than what we learned growing up in North America; except for T-Rex...he was definitely in both places!  Did I mention we walked to the museum and also walked back...prob about 4km distance in total.  We were pretty tired.  We walked around more looking for a place for dinner but the other two only had visa, so it was even harder looking for a place that would take visa!  After much searching, we found a place - I had a really good tuna sandwich - they called it Mediterraneo (even though a tuna sandwich is not Mediterranean) and the other two had cheese pizzas...so much cheese!  We paid about 17 pesos each which includes a drink.  But we had a dessert and it was panqueque dulce de leche....like a caramel crepe...que rico!!  It was soooo good...I found a little piece of heaven again.