Mi Casita

So, for those of you who would like to see where I live, here's a little video of my new apartment:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k6RjqhNikM

Please watch it, 'cause it's one of the few semi-productive things I did today. Pardon my bad camera skills. Chao.

Palermo Hollywood

Tonight, I spend my first night in my apartment in Palermo Hollywood (yeah, that's right-- sounds pretty ritzy, eh?).

I'll get back to that...

I need to get to sleep. I'll try and make this quick.

I'm a bit behind on my photos. I also forgot my battery charger for my camera on the last trip (I left a few things with a friend), so I only got photos of San Isidro. The pictures here are of Daniel, some of his friends, and El Rio de la Plata.

After staying with Daniel, I went a little farther north where I stayed with a girl named María Eugenia and her mom and brother, Rodrigo. I felt like I was visiting family, staying with them. They treated me re bien (in Bs.As. "re" means "very"). María is studying tourism and actually has classes with Daniel, the couch surfer I stayed with in San Isidro. She took me on a bit of a tour of Tigre, and the Rio de la Plata Delta. We took a boat out into the Delta and went for a walk on one of the islands. It was really great. María said that she would love to show me around Buenos Aires sometimes, as she loves the history of her country.

I had a great time with them and intend to keep in touch.

Then on Sunday, I went and met David, a Couch Surfer from Nueva York. We went to a couch surfing party and had lots of fun (even though I lost my voice and had difficulty talking). We talked a lot about the way the porteños (people from Bs.As.) speak. It's really interesting, I'll probably post about it at another time. I stayed at David's place in Recoleta, and then made my way to my new apartment this afternoon.

I'm now sharing an apartment with the girl from Norway that I met on the bus coming to Bs.As. from the airport. Her name is Eline, but here she goes by Elena 'cause it's easier. She made Norwegian Pancakes (panqueques noruegos) for lunch, and also made me some tea with honey for throat. She's great, and is gonna pretty much be an awesome roommate. She even insisted on paying for me when we went out for dinner tonight. I'll take some pictures of the place an post them at a later date. I have my own room and bathroom. We have a nice kitchen and living room with a balcony, and there's a pool on the roof. And we live in a neighborhood called Palermo, which is really nice, and more specifically in the Hollywood section. It's located basically in the place where Palermo meets Colegiales, Belgrano, y las Cañitas, for the few of you that are from here.

What more... I have an interview on Thursday for an English teaching position... Yeah, and I think that's it for now.

Stay tuned...

¿Dónde están las monedas?

Everything’s going great in Buenos Aires… a bit of an update:



Domingo: Primer Día

I went and met my host, Gaspar, after I ate breakfast. Gaspar is an awesome guy, and I am so glad I have met him. We have similar taste in music and shared various artists that we like, and then we went out for some gnocchi for lunch. I’ll be staying with him one more night, and then I really hope we keep in touch.

After eating, I called my new friend from Norway, Elena and told her that Gaspar and I were thinking about going to the Andrés Calamaro concert with her. (It’s a strange coincidence that Calamaro was playing on my first night in Buenos Aires and that someone randomly invited me to go, ‘cause a little over a year ago the exact same thing happened when I arrived in Barcelona, Spain.) Gaspar and I hung out with Elena a bit, and then I went with Elena to the concert (Gaspar had to get up early in the morning).

O, and I discovered something about Buenos Aires—They don’t have coins. And the buses only accept coins. Coins are difficult enough to find that if you want to get 90 cents to take the bus somewhere, you might have to buy a stick of gum in two different stores in order to get enough change to get on the bus. I bet I could sell a 1 peso coin for two pesos. Easily. It’s really a strange situation.

I’ve been speaking in Spanish so much, I can’t stop wanting to write in Spanish now.

Lunes: En la ciudad

On Monday, I began to get a feel for the city. I went and checked out an apartment that I was thinking about renting a room in (I decided not to rent it because it seems I am allergic to the cat).

Then I went for a walk around the historic part of Buenos Aires.

Later I caught up with one of my friends from Atlanta, Rachel (see picture), who also went with me to Spain a year ago. We went to a restaurant to share some mate (type of tea characteristic of Argentina, I actually tried it for the first time on Sunday with Gaspar). It was great to see Rachel, and she explained some things that would help me get around and understand people in Buenos Aires.

Then I hung out with Gaspar and had a great time eating, sharing music, and talking about all kinds of profound subjects.

Martes: A San Isidro

I left the house of Gaspar, sad to already be leaving. I will be seeing him again though. I went and had lunch with Elena (she cooked actually, and it was delicious), and decided to rent a room in her apartment for the next couple of months.

Then, I took the train to San Isidro where I am now staying with an awesome guy from CouchSurfing, Daniel. This guy is incredible. He is a tour guide and a photographer. He spent 7 months in India and Nepal, and has some breathtaking photos from his trip. He’s a truly unique individual, remarkably generous and with great insights. He picked me up from the train station on his motorcycle and it was the first time that I ever rode one.

Tonight, Daniel took me to a restaurant, or actually una “Parilla” and we ate all kinds of things that come from a cow: intestines, liver, ribs, and whatnot. Then we had some flan with dulce de leche. ¡Delicioso!

We finished the night, hanging out with two of Daniels friends from Argentina, and one from Barcelona.

I’m having the time of my life.

¡Buenos Días Buenos Aires!

Acabo de llegar en Buenos Aires, y a mi me encanta...

Oh, wait, most of my readers don't know Spanish. But my mind is definitely switching over already, after a few days in Miami now I'm in Argentina and it's not like Europe was. So far nobody speaks English, or at least they don't let on. In Spain when I was at say, the information desk in an airport, and spoke in Spanish with my American accent, they would talk to me in English. Here, there's none of that.

The plane ride was okay but long. We were supposed to leave at 6pm, and we boarded at 5pm. Then there was something wrong, so we didn't leave until 7pm. 11 hours in that plane!

When I took the bus from the airport to the main part of the city, a girl from Norway introduced herself and helped me find my bearings. She's been living here since last June and has learned the ropes of being a foreigner here. She was really cool. It's funny to think that we are both communicating in a language that is not our native tongue.

It was a lot colder than I had expected. One of these days I'm going to figure out this whole Celsius thing,

Well, for now I need to get going. I'm attaching a picture of me in this café on the Avenida Santa Fé. It's called, Talón. Maybe I should make a collection of pictures of me in cafés around the world or something...

Hasta luego.

South Florida

I haven't ever spent much time in South Florida, so I decided to check it out on my way to Argentina.

After my arrival at Miami International Airport, I rented a car and drove up to West Palm Beach. I had never rented a car, so that was a fun experience for me. One of the perks of being 25 is that I can rent cars for cheap! I got a silver 2008 Chevy Cobalt. Mostly I just love the sunroof.

In West Palm Beach, I stayed with a guy from Couch Surfing named Brian, who is working toward his doctorate at Florida Atlantic University. He was an awesome host, and introduced me to many cool friends of his in the evening I spent with him. The next morning, I met my cousin Marissa and we hung out until the afternoon. She's awesome and it's always good to spend time with her. She showed me around Palm Beach Atlantic University and we went for a walk by the beach and the intracoastal waterway.

Later, when she went off to coach some cheerleaders, I headed down to Delray Beach.

In Delray I am staying with another Couch Surfer, Erica, and her roommate, Ashley. Their apartment is no more than 150 yards from the beach and it's really beautiful here. Erica and I hung out with some of her friends, had dinner, caught the VP debate (which was far more interesting than the presidential debate), and went out to a bar. Today, I slept in and then went to a café downtown for lunch (see photo). This afternoon, I went for a walk on the beach with Ashley and I'm not sure what I'll be up to tonight.

Tomorrow, I'm driving to Miami, having lunch with my friend Thiago, and then I leave for Buenos Aires around 6:30.

Oh, and did I mention that I am not checking any luggage? I am traveling with a backpacking backpack and my computer bag. Call me a minimalist.