La Ultima Dia

So I'm sitting at the airport waiting ever-so patiently for my plane to Dallas that is 4 hours late. At least there's internet.

Last night, Martin held a birthday party for his friend at the hostel. Tons of Argentinians. This other guy staying at the hostel, Steve, and I decided to go out for drink for a bit and take a break from the festivities. When we returned it was only 1, so the party was still going strong - Michael Jackson was blasting and several people were pretty drunk. As there was no hope of sleeping through any of it we adopted the "if you can't beat them, join them" mentality. Right away we found ourselves talking about California with the dad of the birthday boy. Who then introduced this other guy to us, which then attracted the attention of a very drunk, Argentinian Irishman, who kept spitting when he spoke. Good times. We finally got to bed around 4.

Today I indulged myself one last time with the fabulous morning pastries and then later on, with a delivery of ice cream ( yum, dulce de leche), only because we cant get ice cream delivered in the U.S. I took some photos of my hostel and the friends I've made there. It feels strange that my Argentina month has already ended.

Next stop Oz. I'm just trying not to think too much about the fact that it will take me a little over 3 days to get there. So weird that I will have completely lost October 2nd.

Final reflections: I would definitely like to come back here someday. It's a rich culture with warm people and great food.

Listo

So I just uploaded my photos from Cordoba. They include our day trip to Alta Gracia where we saw Che´s house and also the really old Jesuit church which was beautiful. You can see that I learned a new camera trick from Dan. How to do color accents. Pretty nifty.
I actually left the hostel today! And am sitting at a nearby internet cafe researching hostels in Sydney. I think I might stay in one in the city center called Wake Up. Just for a few nights, and then take the train or bus up to Brisbane. I´m supposed to meet up with a French woman there who is also traveling alone. She found me through the helpx website we are both using to find workstays. So. We´ll see.
The other day, this guy who was staying at my hostel was chatting with me and we explained our travel histories. After learning my plans to travel around the world to random places, he asked if I was sad to be leaving BA soon. Nah, not really, I replied. You´re not very emotional are you?, he asked.
Strange thing to say I thought. Perhaps I do come off that way. Who knows? I tried to explain that it is hard to be sad about leaving one place when a new adventure awaits. Ok, he said. That makes sense.
After he left, I found myself wondering about different people´s travel philosophies and how they go about traveling. I think I am a little strange because not only have I chosen random countries across the world, but I´ve also left my months in each place completely open. I would be happy to do essentially not much of anything in each of these places. Just happy to be there I suppose. Don´t get me wrong, I´ve done my fair share of touristy outings here in BA. Especially when Jeni was here. But this last week....eh. Just walking around, finding a good cafe, taking some pictures, writing postcards, etc.
Speaking of which, its time to go and find some coffee.

Cordoba and Canada

Last Sunday I went to Cordoba and met up with the Canadian guy, Dan, who Jeni and I met when we went to Iguazu. I was there for four days and it was a nice little trip. Cordoba is a big city but there isn't a whole lot to do there. We took Spanish lessons at our hostel. Our teacher, Raul, was very nice and each day after our two hour lesson he would do an activity with us. He took us on a city tour, showed us an Argentinian film, and taught us how to make empanadas. They tasted SO good. I will definitely make them when I get home. One afternoon we took a bus to Alta Gracia where we saw the Che Guevara museum. Another day we went to the zoo. Everyday we ate amazing pastries and ice cream. Yes. I have gained some weight. But believe me. It's worth it.
Dan is an interesting guy. He is an artist and used to live in Australia for 3 years with his girlfriend. He even asked her if I could email her next week when I get to Australia, because she will also be there working at a linguistics conference. And on top of that, his brother lives in Thailand with his wife and said I could also contact him when I get there! So basically he was a very good friend to have made.

I got back to BA on Friday morning and have been fighting off a little cold ever since. Friday evening I had dinner with Teresa and another woman, Monica, who I just happened to start talking to right before Teresa arrived at my hostel. She is Argentinian and was staying at the hostel so she didn't have to wake up super early to attend a class in the morning that was three hours from her house. So we went out for Brazilian food and got ice cream. By the time we got back to the hostel it was 1 am. So we opened the bottle of wine Teresa had brought over, and took note of all of the best ice cream stores AND a restaurant that makes 1000 kinds of pancakes that Monica told us about. So of course Teresa and I went the very next day. We shared two different kinds - one that had dulce de leche and creme and strawberries, and another that had chocolate mousse, bananas, chocolate ice cream and coconut. Wow! I will miss the pastries, ice cream, desserts, and empanadas of Argentina...
Since that epic meal of sugar and more sugar I've been laying low. Hanging out with the guys who work here at the hostel, drinking tea, and watching tv.
It's raining again, so there's not much to motivate me to do much of anything. Especially since I don't have many clean clothes, because I sent them all to be washed. I will try to upload photos later.

Making Friends in Hostel Territory

My hostel/permanent address until the end of the month turned out to be a very good choice. Despite there not being many residents, everyone there is super nice. Its owned by a 29 year old guy named Martin who stops by occasionally and is always very peppy and friendly. Not surprisingly, he is a club promoter as well. His younger brother, Manuel, is 25 and pretty much the opposite of Martin personality-wise, much quieter and mellower, but equally as nice. I also enjoy their company because they speak English! Along with Manuel there are 3 other guys who work at the hostal, trading off 8 hour shifts. They are also all very nice and about 21 years old. Matias doesn´t speak too much English so conversations with him are pretty short, but he always smiles and tries to help. Ezequiel, usually does the graveyard shifts and speaks more English than Matias. Sebastian is usually pretty quiet, although he surprised me the other day when he started talking to me while I was cooking. We actually managed to have a fairly good conversation where he asked where I was from and wanted to know about California, so I explained the basic differences between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Then there are the other residents. First, there´s Gabriella (or Gabi for short). She´s 29, Argentinian, and from Rosario. She also speaks English and has currently been staying at the hostal for the last 4 months so she can work here in BA as an actress in soap operas. She has a 5 year old daughter who still lives in Rosario with her grandmother. On Thursday night we ended up going out to a club that Martin was promoting. It was really fun going out with her because clearly she spoke Spanish and knew the BA night scene a little better than I do. We both got hit on by ridiculous drunk Argentine men, and spent half the time running away from them. Haha. This weekend she went to Rosario to be with her daughter, but next Friday we´re supposed to go see a cabaret show together.

Apparently, there´s also a doctor living in our hostal. Gabi shares a room with him, but he is never there because he is always working. The last few days there has been a nice couple from San Diego staying there as well. They have been traveling around Argentina for the last 3 weeks and are supposed to go home tomorrow. They cook a lot so I often spend my evenings in the kitchen talking to them.

Friday and Saturday, I spent with my new friend Teresa. We norteamericanas like to get together for city exploring and then go out to dinner and drinks. It is really nice to have someone to go out with. Yesterday we went to La Boca. It was certainly an interesting afternoon. Between the over-the-top haranguing by cafe promoters lining the little cobbled street near Caminito to eat at their cafes, the homeless dogs following us around endlessly, and the very bizarre little wax history museum we stumbled upon, I´d say it was quite the little adventure. So. La Boca. Check. Then last night we attempted to go to a famous night club nearby called Niceto. It was drag queen night there. So we bided out time at a bar across the street until it was a decent hour to show up (we´re talking 3am, here people!), but then when we got there it was just another packed club playing techno and house music. I think we graced it with our presence for a whole 40 minutes before catching a cab home. BA night club. Check. haha.

Tonight, I take one of those awesome overnight buses to Cordoba. I´ll be there until Thursday night. Then its my last weekend in BA!

La lluvia

Well, so much for our hot spell here. Back to the rain.

Yesterday evening I went to an English-taught yoga class nearby to where I´m staying. The teacher was a young woman who used to live in Palo Alto! Afterwards, I made some dinner for myself and hung out with Manuel (brother of my hostel owner) and his American girlfriend, Jeannette. This made for an entire evening of English. I almost forgot where I was for a minute.

Then this morning, I tried to push my babyish Spanish skills to communicate with Yolanda, the house-keeper. She is very sweet, and sometimes her daughter, Natalia who is 21, comes to hang out with her while she cleans. I dragged out my phrase book for the both of us to thumb through our halting conversation. It was pretty fun actually, especially when we discovered that she knew a few French words because her father was French. By the end of our ¨chat¨we had pointed out most things in the kitchen (Sesame Street-style) and pronounced their French name. When she left she asked how to say hasta luego in French. A tout a l´heure, I told her and smiled.

Solo

Today begins my solo travels. Jeni left last night back to California. This morning I began taking Spanish lessons. My professora, Gladys, is very nice and helpful. I will start practicing my presentacion. (Introduction questions and answers)

The toughest question for me to answer is one of the most basic: Que haces? What do you do?
I always want to say, ¨Nothing.¨But today, Gladys and I devised a simple answer. ¨Soy psicologa,¨ because here, you are what you study, and then say, ¨Pero, trabajo en una O.N.G.¨(But I work at a non-governmental organization).

Another point that was clearly stressed by Gladys is that I cannot answer, Soy Americana, when asked where I am from. Duh. It IS a little gauche to say you are American when clearly there are many many types of American, not just US America. So now I say, Soy norteamericana. Or (and this is awesome), Soy estadonnidense. Which means I´m a United States-ian. Ha.

As for social life of a solo traveler, I´ve met a few really nice people. One woman, Theresa, who is here from New York to study Spanish and volunteer, has been a great person to hang out with. We actually met when Jeni and I were searching for a permanent apartment or hostel, and were looking at a place in San Telmo. We also met two very nice Canadians on our bus ride up to Iguazu, and one of them, Dan, invited me to meet him in Cordoba next week. I hear the weather is a little warmer farther west. Then again, that´s what everyone said about Iguazu and it was cold and rainy.

Great Expectations

¨Oh dear God. What were we thinking.¨

During the first week of our stay in Buenos Aires, this was the common phrase that Jeni and I found ourselves expressing. They say that expectations are synonomous with disappointment. Nothing horrible happened mind you, but the overall reality of bitter cold temperatures, rain, a room in a hostel that was on the roof (we had to go outside and climb down 2 flights of stairs just to pee), and to top it all off - hardly anyone spoke English.

During our 2 weeks together, we managed to see the sights, enjoy the food (lots of red meat), and settle into our daily routine of ¨tourist.¨ Really, there has been nothing about the BA culture to complain about. Weather and our inability to speak Spanish is definitely no fault of this urban city. After 6 nights in our roof room, we moved to a different hostel in the Palermo barrio (which has three interchangeable names: Palermo Viejo, Palermo Hollywood, and Palermo Soho). This is where I will be for the rest of my time here, located on Cabrera at Malabia.

Things seen so far:
All of the weekend street markets
Recoleta Cemetary (where Evita is buried, I took a ton of pictures)
Tango dinner show in the San Telmo barrio (it was fantastic, will try to get pictures from Jeni´s camera)
Iguazu Falls (16 hour bus ride each way. Totally worth it. See pictures)
Downtown area
Botanical gardens, Japanese gardens, and Zoo