Cycling the streets of Buenos Aires sometimes makes me feel like a bike courier in New York as I weave between cars, taxis, buses and pedestrians. At other times I feel I am on the only person alive after a nuclear explosion with no traffic and no people to be seen or heard.

My courier days are within the microcentro, the dense small one way streets that make up the central business district. I am often bemused how I survive these journeys, with the roads barely large enough for one vehicle let alone a bus, a motorbike, a parked car and a cyclist. The pure bulk of the speeding buses gives them right of way regardless of traffic rules. There are nods, waves maybe a horn or two but very little road rage or nasty words, well not from the drivers at least. I tend to be rather vocal as I pedal along. I give driving advice to slow moving taxis, fashion tips to dawdling pedestrians and parking commands to stationary cars. All in what would be suitably termed as colourful language.

Of course Buenos Aires boasts numerous places for peaceful non life threatening cycling. The parks of Palermo, the tracks in the Costanera Sur or the public transport free area of Puerto Madero. The roads are flat, the pace can be slow and it is the perfect way to enjoy the city from a new perspective.

So if you want some adrenalin pumping sensory overload routes head into the city on a weekday, or if you want to cycle these same streets without practising some Argentine lunfardo wait just until the weekend. No pedestrians, no taxis and no cars. Just you and the road and quite possibly me, commenting on your choice or cycling attire. 

Sr. Viernes

Colapsé. se me junto todo y colapsé. Ayer no tuve ni tiempo de escribir acá.

Me levante a las 5 de la mañana y me puse a escribir un guión para el video de una marca que tenía que entregar al mediodía. Después fui a lo del diseñador de la revista que edito, y en el camino me comí un alfajor Capitán del espacio (que ricos son) que además tienen mística porque son el anti marketing, Los invito a buscarlo en Google, o a googlearlo, como dicen los pelotudos. En la boludosfera, que ya da para todo y de la que soy miembro activo, se van a encontrar con posteos y posteos dedicados a este “fenomeno”. Pero lo que más me llamó la atención es la página de facebook que cuenta con mas de 34000 fans. Aquí mi humilde aporte.

después me cruce gratamente con la revista Barcelona, cuya tapa los pongo acá

Después meclave un sanguche que le compre a uno de los 250mil vendesanguches que se paran en las esquinas del microcentro de Buenos Aires a vender su mercadería a precios bajísimos en busca de captar el mercado de motoqueros, cadetes, empleados de limpieza y todo tipo de esclavo cuya vida no vale más que lo que está pagando por ese sanguche que finalmente me cayó como el orto.

Después de hacer trámites de esclavo, me volví a sentar frente a la pantalla a seguir cagandome los ojos con la pantalla, el sistema digestivo con el mate y las piernas con las varices. Tengo 33 años. Tengo varices. El medico dice que es genético. La puta madre que me parió.

Ah, me olvidaba, en el subte se me paró adelante una chica con mal gusto. Aquí sus jeans con parches de corazón:

Our third day in Buenos Aires we went to the Museo de Bellas Artes in the morning, walked around the downtown area in the afternoon and went to Café Tortoni for dinner and a tango show at night. At the museum we sat down and sketched a painting that was much harder than we thought it would be. After the museum we joined my dad and walked to Microcentro, the downtown area of Buenos Aires. We saw the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosa, which is the prime minister’s house. Then we walked back to our hotel and later went back out to the downtown area for dinner at Café Tortoni. Café Tortoni is a very good restaurant with tango shows at night. We ate dinner there and about an hour later went downstairs for the show. The tango show was amazing! Since I love to dance and have been taking dance classes since I was 5, I loved the show and found it so interesting! The dancers didn’t just dance, there was also a bit of a storyline and a history of the tango being acted out. We were completely blown away!

Today was the day for our first tour of the city.  We only got off the bus to see places attainable only by foot.

The first stop was at “Plaza de Mayo,” the general center of the city and largest tourist attraction in the Country. Pictured: La Casa Rosada. This is the seat of the Argentine government’s executive branch, and home of the President. If it looks funky, that’s because it is. Because it is actually two buildings built into each other, it has absolutely no symmetry. Not Pictured: Madonna singing “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina”

Next to The Casa Rosada is the city hall. Pictured: La Municipalidad. This one isn’t as fancy looking, but has much more feng shui than it’s pink friend across the square.

Pictured: El Torre Memorial. This is what’s called the “Memorial Tower.” From what I could distinguish, it was the central point of the “Retiro” neighborhood, aptly named because it was all originally some rich guy’s retirement lot. The tower itself was given to Argentina by the British Government and the Argentinean British Community in 1910 to celebrate the centennial of their revolution. The original name of the tower was the “La Torre de los Ingleses,” or “The English Tower,” however the name was changed out of spite following Argentina getting their asses handed to them by the British in the Falklands war, “La Guerra de los Malvines.”

And because no travel is complete until you’ve seen something famous in scaffolding, I give you…

Pictured: El Correo Central, “The Central Post Office.” These people take their scaffolding seriously. Upon closer review…

Pictured: too much scaffolding.

We then went to “La Boca.” Most of you have probably seen pictures of La Boca for one reason or another. Undoubtedly, what you saw was the multi-colored houses that look something like this.

We only got a quick jaunt through one of the little avenues, but it was pretty interesting to see. It was chock-full artists selling their work and street theater, kind of like an Argentinean Hawthorne district.

We sorta just walked through, admired all the stuff and left. Our tour guide did buy us “alfajores” which are essentially moon pies, but fancy.

It wasn’t as in depth as I would’ve liked, but hey, it was a good start.

Para más información al 4807-1986 o E-mail: info@garciapineiro.com

Lindisimo y reciclado 2 ambientes ubicado en la zona de la Recoleta. Cuenta con un balcón aterrazado muy amplio con vista a la Avenida Santa Fé y también con vista a la Avenida 9 de Julio. Mucha luz y sol hacen de este departamento un lugar muy agradable. Baño equipado con jacuzzi y cocina con espacio para lavarropas. Todos los medios de transporte. No deje de visitarlo.

Para más información al 4807-1986 o E-mail: info@garciapineiro.com

Web: www.garciapineiro.com

Buenos Aires is one of those hub cities where people often find themselves between flights. What can you do with a few hours in Buenos Aires? Here are 10 of the most popular neighbourhoods to kick around in:

1. Ride a bike in Palermo

Palermo rose gardens

“Buenos Aires is generally a very beautiful city, with its wide, well designed streets & little parks & squares dotted everywhere but Palermo is particularly fabulous.”- Nlbrtw

2. Have lunch at Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires

“The new port, Puerto Madero, is much more up to date, and is in Retiro, the centre of the city. This waterfront is a really happening spot in Buenos Aires, full of restaurants and shops.”- Segacs

3. Watch a soccer game in La Boca

Flyingtiti at a soccer game in La Boca

“Seeing a game of Boca is always fun for the great atmosphere inside this historic stadium.”- Flyingtiti

4. Take a stroll around San Telmo

One of the many mansions in San Telmo

“It’s one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city, and was the home of the rich colonials until they discovered that yellow fever was worse nearer the river and they moved on.  It has lovely old buildings with character, no skyscrapers and less traffic. And cute shops.” – Beglisc

5. Try to cross the world’s largest avenue in Microcentro

The obelisk in Microcentro

Av 9 de Julio is super broad with 8 lanes on wither side of the road circling around the phallic Obelisco, a major symbol of BA.” – Vine_hooligans

6. Attend a political rally at the Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires

“Different political groups and social organizations gathered with signs and drums and flags and took over the streets singing, shouting, celebrating, mourning.  It was incredible to see the amount of passion and energy the people had, just being there rejuvenated me.” – Larkinrose

7. Peruse the gravestones in Recoleta

Lorna amongst the tombs in Recoleta

“We then arrived at Recoleta Cemetery to look round all the rich families tombs. A small town full of coffins, shrines & death – interesting.” – Vickersontour

8. Visit the centre of government at the Palacio del Congreso

Palacio del Congreso in Buenos Aires

In the City, we walked around the Palacio del Congreso. This was modelled on Capitol Hill in Washington DC and built in 1906. The Palacio stands tall and proud facing a small plaza where stands Monumento a los Dos Congresos. – Mrsdp

9. Have some BBQ in Belgrano

Chowing down at la parilla

“We ended up at a Parrilla called “Jackie O”. So, a “Parrilla” is like an Argentine barbeque… This is where they bring out a TON of meat.  All parts of the cow.  All parts.  I don’t even know what parts.  But it was a lot.” – Sedebrouillier

10. Spend an afternoon hiking in the Tigre delta

Hiking in le Tigre

“It was a pretty overgrown trail and as a result, mosquitoes were feasting on us.  The lady was quite knowledgeable, but I really wish that she wouldn’t have paused so often in places that had the most mosquitoes!” – Pwong

No Matter What. Buenos Aires 2009.

El termino somático fue acuñado en los años ´70 por Thomas Hanna, quien definió soma como “el cuerpo percibido desde adentro”. La vivencia del cuerpo, para diferenciarlo del cuerpo objetivado. desde este enfoque, el cuerpo y la mente no son entes separados, sino que se perciben como parte de un todo.
Las ayudas de terapia somática se dirigen a la salud física y emocional haciendo al paciente intensamente consciente de sensaciones corporales así como emociones, imágenes y comportamiento. El paciente se hace más consciente del aliento, movimiento, hablar, y donde los sentimientos y las memorias viven en los cuerpos. La terapia somática da una voz a un cuerpo como un modo de curarse de problemas de salud agudos o crónicos.

Técnicas Kinésicas Osteopáticas.
Rehabilitación Postural.
Rehabilitación General.

Tratamientos para CERVICALGIAS, DORSALGIAS, LUMBALGIAS, HERNIAS DISCALES, OMALGIAS, COXALGIAS, ARTROSIS, TRASTORNOS POSTURALES, ESCOLIOSIS, CONTRACTURAS MUSCULARES

Consultorio: Sarmiento y Maipu, Microcentro. Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires.
Atención a Domicilio.
Cel: (15) 6105-9179
Mail: lic.ferrin@yahoo.com.ar

The facade to the historic cafe was wholly unassuming.  White stone covered the front down to its simple steps.  A few plaques hung on the wall announcing the age of the one hundred and fifty year old establishment and its distinction as a Cafe Notable.  There was no large awning nor outdoor seating.  The curtains were drawn on all the windows and it looked closed.  I tried the door.  It pushed in slowly and with each centimeter revealed an other worldly place.  The woodwork along the walls, the brass fixtures, and the Corinthian columns led one to expect a scene full of suits and dresses. 

It was only once the enchantment of the long cafe settled in my mind that I noticed all the tank tops and cameras and a table of pursed lipped girls who must have been Americans.  It saddened me to see such a wondrous be overtly exploited by tourists (myself included).  Then I saw an ancient old man and his decked out, foxy, younger wife.  I imagined the couple had been coming there since they met when she was a singer in the back stage salon.  He was a divorced business man going on forty.  She was an Italian who fled an oppressive house at the start of the war.  She stole two dresses and a small box of jewelery from her mother.  She sold or bartered all the gold and gems but kept the pearl earrings she wore today.  She absconded for Buenos Aires and used her classical training to sing in small time operas.  Soon she found the milonga and learned to sing tango, like any young artist did.  Years later, once she had regular shows and filled out, her mother’s dresses fit.  The two fine gowns bought her ticket from a bohemian life into the aristocratic walls of the Cafe Tortoni, just blocks from the capital building.

Yes, there's a burger under there.

We ordered.  Short Cut asked for her hamburguesa completa without the bun–she was doing the low carb thing–and I had a steak sandwich.  We shared a salad.  I noticed something peculiar about the waiter’s dealings with us.  He was definitely no-nonsense like other waitstaff in the city, but I couldn’t place what was different until he brought our check while we were eating.  Short Cut picked it up and called for his attention.  He made a simple motion, stretching out his hand, as if to say Don’t worry about it.  She persisted, explaining that we’ll be ordering more.  He motioned again, That’s okay.  After she kept talking the waiter seemed compelled to finally speak.  It was as though she finally proved her fluency.  I filtered through the din, homing in on as many conversations as I could pick up.  I heard French, Portuguese, Italian, English, and a couple languages that sounded like German.  There were about ten tables from which I could distinguish words and the only Spanish I heard was when someone ordered.  The waitstaff must have developed an indifference to language and settled on ways to communicate with everyone.  So they point and motion and nod.  It serves their every purpose; they don’t need to chat with their clients.  After our meal I got up in search of the bathroom.  I quickly asked another waiter where it was.  He pointed toward the end of the bar and motioned around the corner in two thrusts of his hand.  Down around the corner of the bar, second door.  I verified with him, Down to the right?  He signaled again.  On my way I saw one of the pursed lipped girls with the waiter.  She pinched the ticket in one hand and a crisp green twenty dollar bill in the other.  She dramatically joined them in one hand and thrust them toward the waiter.  They exchanged a thumbs up.  Not a word was said.  And I was right.

… It´s up to you, “biiii ei, biiii eeeeiiiii …” ….

.. seran mis ganas truncadas de viajar este año y esa fascinacion que me produce ese edificio a escasas cuadras del laburo, que hay algo en esta porteña edificacion de un feel yanqui …

Buen lunes, buenas semana y che, ahora que me sume no se bajen de los 365 ….
Abrazos =P)

Buenos Aires Anti-social Club – Kevin Johansen

Sàbado 20 de Diciembre de 2008

de 11:00 a 18:00hs

Galerias Larreta    Florida 971 hall central

Te esperamos en la ùnica feria de Diseño y Artesanìas  que se realiza en Microcentro Frente a Plaza San Martìn-

Directamente, sin revendedores, podràs tener contacto con los diseñadores de indumentaria, calzados y decoraciòn del momento.

Entrada libre y gratuita.

Tambièn podes pagar con tarjetas de credito y debito.

Hay cupones de descuento y sorteos cada media hora.

Contamos con servicio de gastronomìa.

Es muy importante  que nos dejes tus comentarios y dudas para mejorar nuestra calidad de servicio.

Diseñadores que nos acompañan:

• Millai Sumaj

• Reche diseño de autor

• Tiendas kubera

• Pietro indumentaria

• Susana Colletti
  

• Suma y Sigue de Clara Buela

We went to the feria in Recoleta today! Yay! It was a pretty nice day out in the morning. Jack and I left after we had some breakfast. We went to the cemetery again, and this time I found Evita’s gravesite. It had flowers all over it. So one thing I noticed about this place…there are cats everywhere!!!!! Strange.

So Jack and I walked all around the feria. I bought some little things for $5 as a present for something (I don’t want to ruin the surprised in case that person reads this…), and I bought two rings as well, as presents. If nobody wants them, I’ll keep them. =) Jack bought this coin purse thing for his sister. I talked to this guy kind of in Spanish at the art displays at the feria. It was nice stuff. I wanted to buy something, but I’m scared I’ll have no room. Maybe I’ll go next Saturday. Afterwards, we walked all the way through Recoleta onto 9 de Julio and walked along that street all the way to the Obelisco. We left I think at around 4pm because we were all walked out and very very hungry. We ended up making chorizo pasta, and had alfajores for dessert. The alfajores were from the bakery next to my place; they cost $5.40 (I think) for 6 alfajores. They were REALLY tasty. YUM.

I got charged $6.65USD per transaction with BNP Paribus. Not too bad. Better than the Banco Nacional, which charges $7.99USD!!

Today was a long, but exercised filled day. After class, I met up with the twins to go to the Microcentro to finally buy TANGO SHOES!!!

We took the subte to Microcentro, and immediately found a street with about four tango shoe stores. Went to all of them, and they pretty much sucked except for one…omg I found my tango shoes. TWO PAIRS. They were beautiful. One was black, the other was black with white polka dots. I was going to get them until I found out that all the tango shoes there were….$350ARG!!!! No freaking way! Annabelle and I found these really cool tango pants, and we each got a pair for $80ARG. They’re SOOO COMFORTABLE!!!

We ended up getting empanadas as a snack for $2.50ARG instead. Then we decided to go to this other tango shoe store, which was “a few blocks away.” We ended up walking all the way down Corrientes and turned left on some street. We basically walked all the way to Congreso, another barrio. Finally, we found this shoe store, which was in a multi-leveled building on floor 10. The shady elevator that we went up in was old and shabby, and we all were scared (especially after Nadine started flipping out) that the elevator would fall and we’d all die. So we were all crossing our fingers that this tango shoe store was worth the, about hour walk, especially because Ariel recommended this place…this place was the size of a tiny room and had all tango shoes that were like sneakers with heels. UGLY!!! Nadine had to turn away from the sales person to keep from laughing out loud. Annabelle was trying to keep herself from laughing too. But just to make us look kind of normal, she tried on some pink laced shoes. Man they were not that great.

We ended up taking Line A to Line D. Line A is like a total dungeon. It’s the oldest line on the subte, and the trains are old too. The lights are dark, and when you’re inside it feels like you’re in the 1930s.

We got back to the twins’ at 4pm, so we were out for three hours. TIRING. Oh, I got a super pancho again for $2.50 ARG. Nadine and I went to BNP Paribus so I could take out money; for some reason I could take out $1,500 ARG today! Strange how these limits work, but whatever. We stopped by Coto to buy mozzarella, meat, salami, herbs, and tomatoes for our homemade pizza. Oh, also stopped by a different bakery to get a pizza crust with onions ($4.20 ARG). We later got a flan for each of us for $5 ARG each. Our pizza was DELICIOUS!!! Seriously. It was one of the best pizzas I’ve ever eaten in my life. Basically, we ended up paying $9.74 ARG ($3.22 USD) for two big slices of homemade pizza each. Oh, and the biggest cup of flan I’ve ever eaten in one sitting for $1.66 USD. We were sooo fullll.

We ended up not going to tango, which made me kind of sad and disappointed, but Annabelle had to finish her essay for her Marketing class, and Nadine doesn’t like tango. =( I didn’t want to take a taxi there and back by myself.

After hanging out for a bit, we got ready and left the apartment at around 12:30am to go to this bar called Mute. Unfortunately, it was “invitation only”!!!! So we walked around a bit, were going to go to Jackie O’s but didn’t want to pay cover charge, and ended up going to this bar literally at the end of the twins’ apartment’s block. I had a Mellon Ball (vodka, licor de melon, y jugo de naranja), Anna had a Calypso, and Nad had…I forget, but something tasty. These drinks weren’t strong at all, and they only cost $15ARG each! Cool! We ended up staying out til 1:45am, which was 15 minutes later than last week! Yay! We’re slowing easing into the nightlife in BsAs. =)

Not sure what we’re doing tomorrow, but I have to pack because I’m moving out of my hostel on Sunday. The twins wanted to go clubbing. We’ll see how that turns out. We want to make more pizza because it’s so darn cheap and delicious!

BTW, even old Argentine men hit on you here. Creepy.

Oh, and if I don’t find any tango shoes, I might have to go back and splurge on those polka dot ones. They’re just too pretty, and I want to tango when I get back to the States.

with the feria in San Telmo!

The twins couldn´t make it today, so I decided to have a little adventure of my own. Sometimes it´s nice and very refreshing to explore by myself. I actually like doing it a lot. The only drawback is that I can´t immediately share something cool with somebody.

I left my hostel at around 1pm and took Line D all the way to Catedral. Took a slow walk down Bolivar to San Telmo, which was about 10-15 blocks away from the city center. I really absolutely love the architecture here. I couldn´t get enough of it! I went inside this building, which looked like a small feria of antique stuff. It had a bunch of stands everywhere in this little building. Before I turned the street to get onto Defensa (which is parallel to Bolivar), I found La Brigada! This parrilla that I´ve been wanting to go to! I´ll go some Sunday before I leave.

Anyway, I finally turned onto Defensa, and WOW. SO MANY PEOPLE! Stands EVERYWHERE! There were even people doing fun stuff on the street for money (kind of like the silver man in SF and stuff). People playing music–mainly really cool jazz–everywhere. I saw some tango. There was a small feria of cool art. Ferias of other stuff. I saw so many matè gourds, but unfortunately I didn´t fall in love with any of them. They were pretty, but they were all really light. I want one that´s heavy and better quality. These gourds were only about $5 USD. I got hit on by a man who was about 80 years old, which I thought was funny. I bought three rings. One from this lady, and the ring ($20ARG) was made in La Plata. The other two ($30 ARG total) from this guy who made them himself. There is so much jewelry here, it´s ridiculous. I´m so in love with this feria! I think I´ll probably be doing most of my shopping here, and I´m now planning to come every Sunday, if not, every other Sunday! I ended up walking around until about 4:30pm. There was just so much to see. I wish everybody I know could experience and see this feria. It just blew my mind.

After I got back to the city center, I took a slow walk down Av. de Mayo again just to enjoy the architecture some more. I crossed 9 de Julio! There are two big islands that separate the entire crossroad. I also saw the Obelisco in the distance. Afterwards, I took Line A and transferred to Line D to come back to Palermo Viejo.

While I was on Line A, I think I finally saw for the first time something that completely broke my heart. There was this girl who was probably around 9 years old. She had two little sisters who were probably around 3 and 5. All of them had very dirty, bare feet and dirty old clothes. Their hair was messy and it was obvious they didn´t have an adult with them. The older sister was carrying the youngest girl while the youngest girl was crying her eyes out. It made me really sad to see. And it made me more sad that I couldn´t really do anything for them at that moment that would permanently improve their lives.

Okay, well I´m officially starving at this moment. I think I´m going over to the twins tonight to hang out with Nadine. I´ll probably suggest getting Chinese delivery. =)

Btw, I think I´m finally falling in love with BsAs. I even love the subte, for all its dirtiness and crowdedness. There´s something about walking down a street, stepping over dog crap everywhere, crossing four-way streets with not lights or stop signs, seeing pretty architecture, and enjoying the tall trees lining the sidewalk that feels so liberating. I´m not sure if that makes sense. But I´m so happy to be here to have this experience and remember it for the rest of my life. =) Oh, and I´m definitely coming back to Argentina sometime in my life to visit.

Yesterday was one of my favorite days in Argentina! Main theme: TANGO.

Class was all about tango today. We talked about the current BsAs Tango Festival and read the introduction in the official tango schedule agenda, which talked about creating tango as the symbol and brand of Argentina. It mentioned the potential for tango to create economic and social opportunities for Argentines, and emphasized the need for Argentina to be the leader in this big tango movement, which is becoming more popular internationally. Quite interesting. We ended up talking about capitalism; mass consumption; the contradiction between creating an identity for Argentina (tango) and losing its cultural identity because tango would become a commodity; and some other issues or worries that may arise if tango becomes a big industry for Argentina.

After our little political, social, and economic discussion (all in Spanish by the way!), we went through the lyrics of old tango songs to learn about its history and the meaning of tango. So, a brief lesson on the tango in a few ideas: It originated from the poor population of Argentina. Tango is about passion, grief, and pain. Women left their poor boyfriends for richer guys. It’s a way for men to express their complaints in life. It’s like vertical sex. It’s like a dance of sin and pleasure. There. That’s your lesson. There’s more in my notes, but I don’t have my notes with me. It was fascinating though, and I really enjoyed the discussion on capitalism and tango. I wish I could express myself better in Spanish though, to really get into a good discussion about it. Oh, and there’s this guy Carlos Gardel, who basically made tango famous. He has an awesome voice. Look him up.

After class, Annabelle, Ariel, Emma, a new student Sulvie (sp?), and I headed to Calle Florida for the tango festival. Nadine couldn’t go because she works at Univ. of BsAs on Fridays. The subte was crowded, as usual. We had to switch lines to Line A, and it was a much older line (it’s supposed to actually be a tourist line. People say that you should ride the whole line at least once because there’s lots to see or something like that). The subte was older, and much more rocky than Line D. When we got to Microcentro, we went into this huge building called Harrods. That’s where the tango thing was. It reminded me of MacWorld again, but like 1/5 of the size. There were stands set up that were selling tango shoes and clothes, artwork, etc. Not that many people when we went. It was interesting. There were two dancefloors where people were tangoing. There were some people that were pretty good, but all were just dressed in normal clothing. Anna and I looked at tango shoes, but they were all over $300ARG!!!!! Way too expensive, at least for me.

So we met two girls yesterday. Sulvie is from Finland and is 22. Her Spanish was really good. Henrique (sp?) is from Germany. She was super super shy, but really friendly. Not sure how old she is, but she’s leaving for Northern Argentina next Friday to do volunteer work for a health organization, I think.

After the Microcentro, Anna and I went back to Las Canitas and went grocery shopping at Coto! We decided to make pizza for dinner! =D Groceries cost $41.45 ARG ($13.73 USD). We got ham, mozzarella, tomatoes, spinach, pizza herbs/spices, tomato sauce, bocconcini cheese, and mushrooms.

Okay, so this was the huge highlight of my night. I went to tango lessons at 8:30 with Anna and Emma!!! Ariel teaches free tango lessons on Fridays. We got there by a taxi, and we started around 8:45. Since there were 5 girls and two guys, Ariel just taught us girls the basic tango steps for a girl. I was kind of nervous when we first started, but once we started practicing, it was lots of fun! We had to pair up to practice moving across the tiny dancefloor. It was a little hard because I was wearing sneakers that kept gripping to the floor. When the girl dances, she has to kind of lean into the guy, and not having heels made a little bit hard. Another tango dancer (she teaches also) arrived later on and taught us as well. When I danced with her, she said I was really good and asked if I had danced before. I told her I danced like 15 years ago, ballet and Chinese dancing, and she seemed pretty satisfied with the answer. But I really don’t think ballet and Chinese folk dancing from 15 years ago would help me in tango now. I am a terrible dancer usually. But I guess I was okay at the tango? Anyway, to sum this evening up (we ended at 10pm), I had a blast dancing, and I am officially IN LOVE WITH TANGO! Anna and I are going to go on Wednesday and Friday nights now! Yay!!! We’re going to buy tango shoes next week. Man I’m SO EXCITED!!!! I never would’ve imagined that I would like tango. Seriously. But it’s awesome. I’m thinking about taking tango lessons with I get to the States!!!

We took a cab back to Las Canitas to make pizzas!!!! We had kind of a super Argentine night. Tango dancing, eating dinner at 11pm, eating pizza, watching tv in Spanish. Wow the pizzas were delicious. And basically for four good-sized slices for the each of us, we each played $14 ARG ($4.64 USD). Then for dinner, we ordered (yes, we ORDERED) ice cream from Un Altra Volta! We got three flavors for $27 ARG–swiss cream (american cream with strawberries pochée), creamy strawberry, and chocolate mousse. Delivery took about an hour (it came at around 1am), but it was worth it. SO DELICIOUS. AND WE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO LEAVE THE COMFORT OF THE APARTMENT! Sweet. BTW, you can get almost any kind of food here by delivery. They should have this in the States.

Random thoughts:

• I get charged 3% per transaction using my debit card. Lame.
• We’ve noticed that if you speak English in a taxi cab, they will take you for a ride to take advantage or your crappy Spanish and unfamiliarity with the city. It sucks. But then again, if you don’t speak anything, they know you’re not from BsAs, especially if you are an Asian person and a Mauritius person together.
• Anna and I concluded that Argentine men really like to sing, specifically serenade to women. We’ve also noticed that the dog crap on the street are HUGE. We saw one yesterday that was the biggest piece of crap we’ve ever seen in our lives. I thought maybe people just poop on the streets? I can’t imagine dogs taking such big craps!

BTW my skin is SO DRY here!!!

We’ve had a lazy bum day today (oh, I stayed over at the twins again). I searched for apartments and contacted the rental people. A lot of the apartments in Palermo Viejo here are beautiful! I hope I get the one I want. It’s so pretty. And sort of reasonably priced. We decided not to go shopping today because we’re lazy. But tonight we have reservations at Bar 6 at 10:00pm. Emma’s joining us. We’re going to the bars afterwards (if we don’t get too lame and tired by 12am). WOOOOOOOO!