You Say Goodbye, and I say Hello

People come and go so quickly here. Just within the past week, I have said one too many goodbyes to new friends. My sadness is shortlived, however, as each day I meet someone new who is here for adventure and ready to explore the wonderful culture of Buenos Aires. The past couple days can easily be described as un gran quilombo--a huge mess. The SAE clubhouse made its big move to the new place two blocks down the street on Wednesday, and now that we are there it is temporarily closed due to ongoing construction. And that's just the beginning! I would continue to divulge the gory details of work-related stress, but there are too many other great things going on, so instead I will focus on the positive. Amidst the big SAE clubhouse move I also had to find a new place to live--within 24 hours. After filtering through various craigslist posts and emails, I had it down to three places within the San Telmo area to go and see. Potential apartment #1: very nice & modern, cool roommates and cute dogs, a definite possibility but a little beyond my budget. Potential apartment #2: waaaaay too long of a walk into the Barracas area, very affordable, cross-eyed landlady. Potential apartment #3: they say third times a charm, right??

My new home on Uspallata sits on a quiet street near Parque Lezama and only a twenty minute walk from work. I have 4 very awesome roommates who come from Peru to Australia and we all speak spanish to eachother. It's a pretty spacious place with a comfortable living room and three terraces. Yes people, 3. And at the top of the third sits a lovely parilla all ready for asados. And you can't live in Argentina without having an asado, which is exactly why we had one last night! This is no ordinary cookout, my friends. The asado process takes various hours of preparing los carbones (coals) and getting them just right for the meat. And the only way to achieve the perfect asado is through the help of porteno experts, which is exactly why we invited our neighbors-Yogi and his roommate. After a few rounds of meat, sausage, and bread, our bellies were full and mostly everyone in a sedentary state. But those of you who know me very well know that my night is not complete without a little something more. So what was there left to do?? Salsa dance, of course!

Now I have to say that my favorite part of the evening (or morning) would have to be when two of my new roommates, Paola and Kira, joined me in dancing and singing our hearts out to my absolute favorite salsa song of all time, "Lloraras" by Oscar de Leon.

Life is good.

Ferias & Cemetaries

Saludos amigos!

So I have actually decided to do a second entry for my blog. This place is THAT cool. My past week has been filled with birthday celebrations and more explorations of the city around me. My birthday went well, hung out with new friends, and danced the night and early morning away. And of course I can't forget my favorite part: a trip to the parilla to get a choripan. Parillas here are hole in the wall joints with huge grills piled high with chicken, steak, and chorizo (sausage) and of course, showing the latest soccer game on tv. Now, I am not a huge fan of sausage but a choripan is a little slice of heaven. All you have to do is slice a chorizo in half, put some chimichurri sauce on it and stick it in warm loaf of pan. Mmmm que rico!

On Sunday afternoon, San Telmo hosts an excellent feria (flea market) that brings street vendors from all over showcasing jewelry, clothes, leather, antiques, etc. Not to mention street musicians performing anything from funk to rock and roll. People crowd the streets and at La Plaza Derrago there is a tango performance that goes on all day.

After walking around the streets of San Telmo on Sunday, my friends and I ventured on to Parque Lezama where we encountered the coolest thing I have ever seen. In the lower end of the park there was a live tango chess performance. Sounds odd, right? Well let me explain... On one side of a basketball court there is a chess board painted on the ground large enough for people to stand upon. On this board there are the teams dressed in proper black or white chess piece attire. To the side of the board there are two people playing the actual game. As each move is made, a lovely male or female dressed in gray goes out to the appropriate piece and tango-moves them to their designated spot. Think Harry Potter chess game tango style. If this doesn't make sense to you, you are in for a treat because I have it recorded on a video below. Yay!
Monday was a holiday--celebration of the Immaculate Conception- so there were more people out and about and my wonderful roommates, Trevor & Alicia, and I decided to venture out to Recoleta. Recoleta is probably the wealthiest area of Buenos Aires, as its streets are filled with designer boutiques such as Louis Vuitton and Cartier. For us po' folks...booooring. However, Recoleta is best known for its famous cemetary, hosting various generals and Senorita Evita Peron. Cool statues and mausoleums are abundant, not to mention creepy mean-looking cats everywhere.





As for work at the wonderful SAE clubhouse, it has actually been quite an adventure. Today we were supposed to move to our new location two blocks down the street. Boxes are packed, walls are empty, and we are ready to go! But seeing as how we are in latin time, the new place won't be ready til the end of this week. Which means, in latin time, some time next week :) Welcome to Argentina, baby.

Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

Hola mi gente!

For my non-spanish speakers...hello, my people! For all of you who said that I might not return to the United States--you were right. I have discovered an amazing place with such a diverse culture and very cool people that I think that the only way you guys are ever going to see my face is if you visit me here. And I promise you won't regret it. The city of Buenos Aires is just the beginning. I have only been here for three days and have already discovered some pretty cool places only a few cuadras from where I live/work.
Just so you know what I am doing here, in case I haven't told you, I am currently doing an internship for the South American Explorers clubhouse, which is a travelers' resource center located in the heart of San Telmo, BA. I will be doing a few PR and marketing projects during my fews months here and interacting with local businesses trying to promote SAE and recruit new members.
Now we get to the cool stuff (with pictures!). Buenos Aires is a very large city composed of various barrios, each unique in their own way. Yesterday I made new friends--Sarah and Nate--at the clubhouse and we walked around Puerto Madero after I got off of work. Nate is from Montgomery, Alabama and an Auburn fan. Can we say War Eagle in espanol? Anywho, Puerto Madero is the wealthy part of town filled with gorgeous parks, highrise buildings, a tgi fridays and hooters.








The diques are water reservoires from the river that separate Puerto Madero from Buenos Aires. You can go canoeing in them if you like!








This is probably one of the nicest Hooters I have ever seen...the uniforms are still the same, however. :)















La Casa Rosada (The Pink House) is where the President's offices are, where Evita Peron spoke to the people, and where Madonna--who is back in town this weekend--turned Evita into a musical.



And this is just the beginning! The lifestyle here of cafes, siestas, and fiestas will take some adjusting, but I think I'll be able to handle it.