as i'm writing tonight from a cafe around the corner from my hostel in Recoleta, i'm sipping a glass of vino tinto and desperately hoping I can recall every minute detail about this amazing city I am quickly falling in love with. From the second I arrived I felt at home: late as it was, I strolled through the streets to my friend Kelly's apartment and didn't feel an ounce threatened or afraid. At Kelly's place, we had some wine while she and Meredith gave me the lowdown on Buenos Aires and caught up on life. When i finally dragged myself home at 3:30, exhausted form traveling all day, I slept more soundly in my temporary bed than I had in months.
I awoke the next day and decided to go for a run before my meeting with Mariana, the women that helped arrange my internship at the Argentimes. I ran all along Montevideo, up to Corrientes Avenue, back down to Plaza Larrea and finally home. The streets of Buenos Aires are relatively easy to learn and after 2 full days here, I feel like I know my way around like a native. After my run, I met with Mariana at a cafe downstairs and we discussed my internship and stay in Buenos Aires. Then began the apartment hunting: I went to see three places, and got incredibly lost on a collectivo, or what they call the buses here. I rode it so far I almost left the city! The buses are far more difficult to understand here than the subway or even walking. None of the bus stops have a name or anything, so you sort of just have to know where you are or where you need to get off in order to get to where you're going. The Guia "T" is the grid system that gives you a map of the bus lines and stops, etc. It's kind of daunting but I'm sure once I'm more settled in, I'll be using the collectivos freely.
That night, I arrived back to the hostel at an impossibly late hour, but some of the guys staying there were just hanging out in the living area, eating dinner and watching tv. I plopped down next to Manuel and William, two impossibly adorable brothers from Colombia, who were joined by Juan, this crazy Argentine ballerina who I swear is the spitting image of my schizophrenic brother, with a personality to match. (Side note: while I've been here, I have met so many people that resemble faces from home. I wonder why that is?)
Just sitting around with these guys, I realized how impossibly happy I am to be in such a different culture. Everyone speaking spanish, dancing bachata, talking shit. I was surprised at how well I could keep up with the witty banter, and I have to say that so far no one thinks I'm anything but Argetinian and I have gotten many compliments on my spanish.
Something I've noticed about this place is that the people are insanely courteous, genuine and friendly. For example, its custom to give up your seat to an elderly person or a woman with a child. I've seen this happen more than 5 times in the two days I've been riding the subways and buses (I can't think of ANYWHERE in the US where you see this happen.) Also, I have spent literally NO money since I've been here: before I left, I changed 300 dollars into pesos. I spent 131 american dollars on my tariff to enter the country, and in the last 2 days I have eaten out for every meal, drank alcohol, taken taxis, subways and buses, bought a hair dryer (I blew my supposed universal blow dryer out within 10 minutes of being here) a couple of adapters, took a pilates class, and went grocery shopping and I still haven't needed to visit an ATM. I bought the MOST delicious pear I have ever eaten and it cost me but 10 cents. The empanadas which are bar none the best I've ever had cost about 40 cents. And the wine runs at about $3 a glass. I haven't done anything but window shop but the prices on clothes are also inexpensive: there are a million things I want, none of which costs over $50, and that includes coats, jackets and shoes.
THE MEN: even the bums are attractive. I'm falling in love around every corner. I was warned before I came that they would be aggressive, and they sure as hell are- and then some. I have never been stared at, cat called, or whistled at so much in my entire life. Sometimes it's absolutely obnoxious, but when it's this beautiful man with wavy hair, light eyes and a sharp suit, I welcome it. At any rate, it still intimidates me and I find myself looking away even when I would otherwise be interested. I have met soo many men in the short time that I've been here, but at this point all I really care to do is experience this city alone and find myself in some thing before I find myself with some one.
Yesterday I decided to continue my apartment hunting and took the subte down to Palermo, where I encountered Plaza Serrano, which is this awesome round-a-bout filled with bars, restaurants, and bo-ho chic clothing stores-aka, my heaven. I arrived at Cordoba 4944, rang the bell, and walked into my future home. It's an older 5-bedroom house, with an open upstairs terrace and an incredible view of the city from the roof. the bedroom was huge, lined up and down with windows that fill the room with natural light and a cool breeze, and leads out to the terraza that's lined with plants and fresh herbs for cooking.
A guy named Ramsey owns the place, a twenty-something from DC who bought it a couple years ago and is currently living in the bedroom that's to be mine. He's spent the last 10 or so years traveling the world, living in Argentina, Germany and Syria. In the house lives Jessica from Los Angeles, Yasmin from Australia, Alex from France, and Sebastian from Chile, and the combination of the spectacularity of the place plus the buena onda that I get from these people made me realize this was home. Let's just put it this way: I went to see the place at 3:00 pm, and wound up staying the whole night, drinking yerba mate, cooking lentils and vegetables with some of the fresh herbs grown in the terrace, and going out to Club 69 with Jessica and Ramsey for a drag show and dancing until 6:30 am. I love the fact that they are all here to do the same thing I am, that we're all from such different backgrounds and that we are all immersing ourselves in Argentine culture. I wish you all could see this place too! (photos to come soon) It's exactly what I wanted and for $450 bones a month. It's so rustic and open and very Buenos Aires. It's nearby a gym, yoga studio, organic market, amazing restaurants, bars and shopping, and even a dance studio. As soon as I move in, I'm starting tango lessons and Alex and I are doing an "exchange," something thats very common here. All it means is that I will help Alex with spanish in exchange for her helping me with French-and this can be done with anything and everything. For example, Ramsey has an exchange with a guy who teaches him guitar in exchange for helping him with english.
That's another thing I absolutely love about this city: classes and exchanges are plentiful and extremely inexpensive. I can more than afford tango lessons, photography classes, yoga, pilates, language classes, you name it. Between the classes, the amazing produce markets, the bustling nightlife, the customs and the extraordinary people, I am feeling so happy and alive I can hardly stand it.
Today I woke up veryyy late for me: 1:30 pm. That's the lifestyle here, everyone wakes up late and I can't say I mind it. I dressed and had a milanesa napolitana, a fried steak sandwich with ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato. Then I decided enough was enough and did some grocery shopping and headed back to the hostel to pick up my camera and drop off my food. I spent the afternoon roaming the city and taking photos, and encountered Gardelito, a quasi-famous guitarist from Buenos Aires who insisted on showing me his mounds of newspaper clippings and strummed me a tango on his guitar. Tonight I'm meeting Rocio, the Argentine girl whose apt I initially went to see (though this other place turned out a better deal, me and Rocio really hit it off!) and we are joining some of her friends for drinks in Plaza Serrano.
A few other tidbits: yerba mate is a grassy tea that everyone drinks here and its such a unique thing. You have this one steel cup with a steel straw, and in the cup is this bitter tea that has grass (literally, yerba means grass) floating in it. You fill a separate thermos with hot water and one person (and only one, thats part of the custom) fills the cup with the hot water, drinks the whole cup, fills it again and passes it to the next person. The tea gives you energy and it's supposed to be a social thing. Speaking of energy, the energy of challenging authority and government here in BsAs is another thing I love. Yesterday there was a protest on Avenida Sante Fe, a major street here and people were chanting and carrying signs with pictures of Che Guevara. Also, the pastries here are absolutely divine. I resisted until today, when I had an alfajore, a powered sugar cookie sandwich with a dulce de leche filling. And of course, the meat is the best I've eaten, tender and delicious and inexpensive. Also, I love the fact that there's no one-stop shop for anything, and that I'm not married to my phone. Not having accessible internet, email and Facebook makes me realize how much life you miss when you're constantly checking your messages. The only thing that's disappointed me thus far is the fact that Buenos Aires is surprisingly humid, even in winter. Will I ever escape bad hair days?!
I am so unbelievable happy to be here and will write again soon. This weekend, and carrying on into Tuesday is the bicentenario, or the 200th anniversary of Revolution Day which completely changed Argentine government. Parades, music, parties galore. Then on Wednesday, I start work at the Argentimes (interestingly enough, me new roommate Jessica was treated to a free dinner because a friend of hers that works for the Argentimes got a meal comped because she was writing a food review-yes this is what I get to do!!) I feel so at home and so far everyone has been wonderful and welcoming, and I looove espeking the espanish. Love to you all from BsAs! <3
