Hair

Went to get my haircut yesterday. I went with some friends from Argentina I met here to be safe. At first I was all set for some hardcore layers and a little more of the side bangs thatare easily brushed away if I needed. Well halfway through I was talked in to getting the Argentine bangs.
I must tell you that at first all I could say was no, no, no. I hated it, because I looked aboslutely different. I can safely say that right now I am completely content with having this new haircut. See if you recognize me.

Goal de Boca

I went to my first Boca Juniors game yesterday. Unreal. They played Los Estudiantes, and won. Estudiantes had 2 red cards. Next time I need to know all of the Boca songs before go.

The craziest part was the fan section for Boca. Not only was it freezing and a few of them had not shirts on, but at the end of the game the police had to escort out the Estudiantes fans out of the neighborhood before Boca fans could leave the stadium. The police actually guarded the Boca fans too on the field. Those kids are crazy.

Mate culture

Here everyone shares. The "Mate Culture". When you are at a disco, when someone buys a drink they pass it around to everyone first. The same with food.
Speaking of mate, I bought my first mate bombilla and gord.

I also bought probably the most important purchase this week. Tango shoes.

If this gets to Emily, EmFace I took this picture for you mi querida. It reminded me of you for some reason, enjoy!

And for Prof Paciulli, I went to the zoo!

Heres the last pic of the post, a disco I went to last Saturday named Pacha. It was great times.

Hasta luego!

Let's Dance

Just so happens to be the 4th World Tango Championship this month in Buenos Aires. My friends and I checked it out last night. It was free, which was awesome, and pretty much the best dancing I have ever seen. There were couples from BA, Chile, Colombia, Paris, Japan, and Taiwan. The couples from Argentina pretty much showed everyone what was up with Argentinean Tango, of course.

Mendoza

For the first holiday weekend I went to Mendoza with Annie and Katelyn. We bought a package trip with Hostelling International. We stayed in an awesome hostel called Campo Base. It included the bus roundtrip, lodginf in the hostel for 3 nights, a tour of wineries, a high mountain tour where we got pretty close to Cerro Anconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, a hot springs trip, repelling down a mountain, and an asado dinner (typical Argentinean beef fest barbaque). Mendoza was is beautiful. It was a great escape from the busy city, but it was very nice to return to Buenos Aires after 4 days. It already feels like home.

Pictures:

The have great shopping in the parks there. They are called "ferias" which translates to fairs I think. This guy had some great handmade instruments.

We went horseback riding our first day in the foothills of the Andes.

The wine tasting was awesome. I walked out with four bottles.

This is what the asado looks like. My meat-o-meter was off the charts.

We met this awesome chick from Israel named Hadas. She was travelling central and south america for 5 weeks. (Left to right: Hadas, Annie, Katelyn.) This was during our high mountain tour, this lake was the beginning of it, I can't remember the name.

This is when we got further into the Andes. The summit of Aconcagua is to the left of me in the picture (my right).

Repelling down the rock. Thats the tour guide Maxi laughing at me because I probably repelled funny.

From the top.

View of the mountains. We were lucky that even in the mountains the weather was great.

It turned out small, but this is Los Penitentes, the ski mountain in the area. The snow was powder perfect. If we had more time we would have gone skiing.

This picture was in the hostel with Pepe, the guy who drove the van for us to most of the tours. He was awesome. Also in the picture is Mie, the girl who stayed in our hostel room with us. Shes from Denmark and was travelling for a while central and south america. She was on her last week after about 2 or 3 months. (From the front left: Katelyn, Pepe, Annie, Me, Mie.)

Until later, chau.

Beginnings

I wrote this about two weeks after I arrived in the BA. Since I wrote it I have been so busy with class and traveling.


****

Location:

City, Buenos Aires, Argentina < groceries, pharmacies, kioscos (a mini store with candy, drinks, and snacks), a locutorio (phone and internet place), laundry place (where they wash, dry and fold your clothes FOR YOU), a bank, a gym, and if that's not enough, there's more...and when you want some variety, walk another block and you get the same thing.

My apartment is nice. I have my own room, nice closet, full mirror, desk, and shelves.…I will post pictures later.

People:

My homestay is with an older couple. My mom is a widow and then remarried within the last 5 years I think. She's a psychologist who works out of her house, there's patients in and out. She has two kids, both grown and out of the house. Her husband I believe is an electronics or computer guy. He's cool too, but not at the apartment as much.

Food:

Cafes everywhere. And things are pretty cheap here. Exchange is 3:1 here so I get 3 pesos for each dollar. Every cafe has the same menu it seems as well. Its hard to explain the food, but is awesome. Maybe in another episode I will go over it. I am drinking a cafe con crema and eating a medialuna (croissant, argentina style) in the cafe I am at right now. But an interesting thing about meals is they have dinner around 9 or 10 here. Takes some getting used to but its kind of cool now.

Locutorios (I just took this passage from an old email I wrote):

"So last night I tried to write this email. Well I did write the email, twice. First time some shield closed my window half way through, second time I sent it but it had an error on the page. Ridiculous. I was so pissed.
*Dude, pass me a cigarette...*puff inhale puff puff exhale*...thanks man.)
The only drawback is you can smoke anywhere here, and people love to smoke and surf the net at the same time. So I can't stay in them too long. Everyone here smokes, even in the airport. Its ridiculous. Don't worry I haven't yet, but I have propably smoked the equivalent of a pack from second hand smoke alone. I miss the laws in Maine."

Fashion:

So I will start off with I just bought a pair of high top converse all stars so I could fit-in in Buenos Aires. And it's the end of winter so all the shoes are on sale. Oh, and leather is a specialty here. I'd say I picked the right study abroad country. I am going to buy some tapered "skinny" jeans and some boots this weekend.


Right now I just got back from seeing Dai and her fam. We went for ice cream. The other night we all went to dinner too. I am hoping that Dai and I can go out to the bars and the boliches (clubs) this weekend. I hear they are a blast here, but aren't open until 2 and last until like 6 or 7. They are crazy here. Tomorrow I get to find out which classes I take so I am excited. I think its going to be an art class, a tango class, and an Argentinean environment class. Bueno.

This picture is me in front of the Casa Rosada.