plaza serrano, my second home....

the days pass so quickly here, i cant believe that it has almost been a week!!!!
Sunday we had intended to go to the fair in plaza francia, but by the time we got there, it was closing down.... no worries though, i will go next weekend... i did manage to see some beautiful things however- including some of the most attractive men.. this country is insane, i have not seen a cluster of more attractive men in my life.. they all live in buenos aires, all of them... wooooow.
leaving the fair we stopped by freddo... ahhh, a second home to me, a delicious ice cream shop. Eating the ice cream was infact life changing, as it always had been... cheesecake and dulce de leche... a winning combo every time! Romy had a great idea as we were indudging in the sweet treat... JOBS!!!

i know it doesn´t sound like a good idea..but JOBS is the name of a bar. a kick ass bar. over 24 pool tables, over 60 picnic tables, fooseball, archery, play station, darts, and all the free boardgames you can handle.. yes, it is a very smart idea.

we got there, and it was fairly empty- it was a sunday night... we went upstairs to play foosball... now, i am in love with this game... in complete love, and low and behold- the biggest table i had ever seen, i can now die happy... the table is made for 8 people to play... but, it was just me and romy and gutavo... of course girls vs. boy... and, well.. the score is not important... :)

we went and played some pool, and drank some quillimes.. the national beer here. It got to be around 11 and romy and gustavo had to wake up early, so they were wanting to leave... My friend Berni called and i told him to meet me there... he came, more beer, more pool... and then to plaza serrano- which is very close to berni´s house. we got stella to drink and honestly talked about trolls and fire breathing flying dragons for almost 2 hours... glorious. perhaps he is the first man i have talked to that believes trolls still exist and are infact the souls of dead children... creepy berni.....

it was getting late... around 4 or 5 so we left the bar and headed to the street for my bus back to romy´s house... the bus was taking too long and berni offered to get me a taxi, which i accepted :) palermo soho is kinda far from romy´s house, but this 4 to 1 conversion still makes this long taxi ride under 5 dollars....

it was a long day, and an awesome day.

it is strange, when i am in the united states i know that i have friends here, but they seem so distant, of course, but being here reminds me that they are in fact actual friends, friends who make an effort to hang out and who know me, know stories with me and know what i like and dislike and it is refreshing to be in a foreign place and feel known and loved... it almost is enough to move back. ?

monday monring was slow... i showered and got ready and headed into town by 11 to meet steph paula in the city for the day. i walked to the subte station, took the subway a retiro and planted myself at a small cafe right next to 9 de julio.. the widest street in the world! I watched the japan soccer game and drank a delicious cafe con leche.... the weather was crappy, overcast, rainy, cold, so different than thursday and friday....and then steph walked in... it was so wonderful to see her! and it felt so normal, seeing a great friend in a city thousands of miles from our home... we hugged and decided to eat some food!!!!

we walked around for a bit, going in some stores and just enjoying the rush of the city, something not availible in gainesville... we stopped at this cafe, 16 pesos for a lunch plate.. i got some awesome fish and mashed potatoes and steph got a whole slab of red meat with french fries.... all for about 4 dollars... i will leave this country very fat.

we left feeling full and wanting to explore some more.. we did alot of walking, down lavalle, florida, av. de mayo, and then decided to take the train to belgrano to meet up with her friend Andrew- who is from the US also.

we landed at a bar and berni met us there before he had to go to work. it was actually the same bar that i went to with seba! of course we were the only people in there...drinking doesn´t really get going until much later here! they had an amazing mixed drink menu... which we all took advantage of! it was so lovely having steph meet berni! they hit it off wonderful! we laughed alot and all of us knew how much fun we were having, there was nothing being taken for granted. berni had to go to work at 11 so he left at 1o and Romy and Gustavo were only 3 blocks away having dinner... we crashed their date and joined them in a awesome meal! everything was so tasty.. it was a traditional spanish restaurent... and i got rice and salmon and of coure wine.... we chatted and it was wonderful... the converation was mostly in spanish, which i can understand, but seldom take part in, by the time i think of what to say, the conversation has changed.. but to be honest, i don´t mind..it is good to listen, it is good to be passive sometimes, and i enjoy following the conversations, and taking part in a non verbal way... it is refreshing.

Romy and Gustavo went to a movie and Steph Andrew and I hopped a bus to plaza serrano to meet juan. we found the most open bar and i ordered a quillimes bock... ummm yummy. I had made juan get out of bed to meet my friends... he was a great sport, he had to work at 7 in the morning... but, he came anyway.. what a pal! the night for me was coming to a close and juan and i left andrew and steph in plaza serrano. i took the 5 dollar taxi back to romy´s and then had a battle with the keys in the door... it is near impossible!

sleeping on the couch never felt so wonderful!

yesterday i woke up to go to the brazilian embassy- i need to get my visa before i head up to iguazu... however, i did not know that i needed to be there at 9 am sharp. i arrived at 11 and found that they were no longer accepting visa applications... so, i filled out all the paperwork i needed to do, and i will come back on next tuesday-

i had some time... i called romy and she said she would meet me in the city.. but until then i had to occupy myself.. easy... i called guille for some lunch. he toke the subway and we ate a wonderful little meal off a side street of plaza san martin...guille is the only one that i really speak spanish to, perhaps because he doesn´t speak english. he is very patient with me, and although the conversations are slow and often contorted- i enjoy them almost more than anything, exept ice cream perhaps....

after lunch, we met steph and andrew for a short time and watched a little of the brazilian soccer match on the huge screen in plaza san martin. the weather is perfect today- just perfect. romy calls and i leave the gang to meet her to do some shopping before i meet berni in abasto for a concert. we go to this place called 5th ave. it is a gallery full of vintage clothing, leater jackes for only 20 bucks, old sweaters, and dresses and it is wonderful, i want to buy some boots.. they are beautiful.. we will see if the money jumps out of my pocket next time i walk by them....

it turns out that the concert was not really a concert so when berni and i meet in abasto, we decided to walk to his house in palermo.. a good 30 blocks away... it was a nice walk, on a beautiful day, so i didn´t mind. he showed me this blind theater and restaurant.. where inside it is pitch black, and you have to rely on all your other senses to be a part of the scene.. eating dinner in pitch darkness... it is kinda a weird idea.. but i hope to try it before i leave. Berni works at a hotel and he told me that he can get free tango show tickets.. costing 450 pesos! that is over 100 bucks! and that we can go next tuesday.. so taht is awesome, it is all you can eat dinner and wine and tango show.. i am pretty excited!

we walk to his house and then drink mate with his roommate sergio for a bit.. the mate is out of this huge cow hoof.. it is kinda gross drinking from a foot, but i love mate, so i dont mind too much. there is this bar close to his house, it is a brewery, and they make 10 or so beers... i call steph and it turns out taht she is in the area with andrew and his cousin and some of her family, we tell her to meet us there.. before they get there, berni orders me a drink, and well, it was actually 10 drinks.. it was a sampler of all the brews. it was amazing, the porter was my favorite. I took my time drinking all of them, deciding which is best, and ranking them from mot tasty to i would never order... steph and andrew came with andrews cousin paul. then... all of a sudden, andres was there! berni went out for a smoke and found andres in the street! i hadnt seen him in over 2 year! it was great to chat again, and i had a good time. berni had to go to work and andres left also... i talked to andrew for awhile and then we decided to go to a new bar.. so back to plaza serrano, steph, paul, me and andrew... we went to cronico... and i had a quillimes bock, of course.

there, it was loud, and full of people, and felt like something was going to happen, but i didnt know what.. then, something did happen... there was this man at a table near by was standing up getting ready to leave.. and andrew shoved his elbow into my side to get my attention... a huge cockroach was crawling on thi guys back.. i mean i am talking huge!!!! up his back he crawled, i was frozen, it was disgustingly captivating... up to his collar, inside his collar! then, he scratched his neck... the roach started to crawl on his shoulder, down his arm, and took up residency on his elbow... people at his table spotted the bug.. screams, and pointing fingers filled the air.. he managed to brush him off and then paul came in with a swift movement and stomped the little guy... it was intense... and also my cue... i said my goodbyes and hailed a taxi to romys.

today romy and i are going to tandil, a city 5 hours south of buenos aires. it is known for being an outdoors town with many things to do in nature! and it is supposed to have a great night life too. we are leaving here at 2 and going to stay until saturday morning.. so it should be wonderful!!! and then on saturday, well, we will of course go to the club él living´the place where i met romy and the place that romy met gustavo.. many memories there...

well, off to shower and pack for tantil!!!

the plan