Note to self: learn to take naps.

Friday, like many days, starts with a very tired Matthew. That’s me. Folks take naps here. It’s great, except that I haven’t totally gotten into that habit. Everyday at 1pm, after class, I think, “well, I’m really tired and could use a nap.” Next thought: “nah, I’ll just go to bed early tonight cause I know I’ll be ready for bed by 10pm.” Oh, wait. That didn’t work yesterday. Or the day before. Or the day before. And it’s not going to work today, deep down, I know it. So that’s the cycle. My cycle. Silly me.

It was another one of those days I found myself saying, “man, I’m really tired and should take a nap or I’m not going to last past 10pm.” And what happened? Did I nap? No. Oh well.

The plan: Noah and I would meet up with our new landlord at 9pm, pay some rent as a security for the place, and meet up with Andrea (friend from school, she’s from San Francisco) for a drink. Darcy (Chicago friend of a friend) invited us to hip-hop night at Club Araoz. “Meet us there at 1am.” Woah. Ha!, yeh right. There’s no way I’m going to make that. Noah agrees.

Ramiro, our new landlord, is really nice and relaxed. I’m really excited to rent from him. Noah digs the apartment; it’s the first time he’s seen it. I dig it even more after this visit. And Ramiro is recommending all his favorite spots in the neighborhood. He’s also recommending his favorite thing to do on Thursday nights: go to Club 69. He said that we really, really should go and hang with him. “Yeah, you should really make this! Meet up with me. I’ll be there at 2:30am.” WOAH! Hahahaaaaa! But he went on and on about this particular hang. I think Noah and I both were simultaneously thinking, “yeah, we should make this happen… impossible! But possible? Impossible.” Ramiro says, “guys, you gotta learn, take naps. I’m getting dinner then coming back here to take a nap. That’s what we all do.”

Ok, let’s make it possible. But without the nap.

Off to meet up with Andrea at (text) “the plaza.” Yes, I know the one. Of course. We meet a couple of her brand new friends; they’re hostel mates: Marie (from France) and Darcy (from Australia… and now, that there are two Darcy’s in this blog, this one will be Daussie. And he’s a he, the other Darcy is a she. She will be referred to as Darchi. “chi” as in Chi-cago, of course). These are good people. We chat for a while. Have some empanadas. Taste Andrea’s new favorite drink (I forget the name, Noah forgets too). Andrea, what’s the name of that drink? And what’s in it again? Sugar, limes and ???

I mention the hip-hop hang with Darchi and the 69 hang with Ramiro. Everyone’s into these ideas, but wow, that’s hours and hours away. And these folks, including myself, are on the descent. Dissension into sleepy-time. But, let’s do it! Pace, pace, pace.

Club Araoz… outside, out front, 1:15am. Again, woah. Ummm, nah. Let’s just head to Club 69 instead.

This Club 69 spot is just a few blocks from our new place, that’s cool. There are also lots of restaurants and bars around. We find 69. Why is there a huge, fat Argentinean transvestite dancing and singing out front? Wait, there are more inside. We can see this. Craziness. Ok. Well, lets grab a drink at that place across the street first, Carnival.

Carnival has a really nice roof top terrace. We all like it quite a lot. And now, it’s time for everyone to have some Red Bull. I think I’ve had two Red Bulls in my life, or maybe five, but I’m desperate for energy right now. Super desperate.

3am, mas o menos. Okay, lets do this. Lets go to Club 69. I think we’re ready.

After paying the cover, we were greeted by two dancing transvestites. They were very enthusiastic to see us. Along with everyone else that entered. Our ticket stub got us a shot of the worst tasting Tequila on the face of the earth. Again, I ask, Andrea, what's the name of that Tequila? I need to make sure it never ever touches these lips again.
This place is enormous! On stage, there are several shirtless young men break dancing. It’s like a break-dance-off. I was totally impressed with these guys. Bouncing up and down on one hand, doing flips and such.
This place is huge!
Packed with pounding music and hundreds and hundreds of folks dancing. And what’s up with the random robust and extravagant transvestites? Well, what are we to do? Well, what else is there to do other than dance? Not much. Though, one could spend a long time people watching, some people wouldn’t necessarily want to people watch here. Very, very eclectic.

Every so often the stage turned into a dance show of sorts with women (I'm pretty sure. No, they were women). It was quite an entertaining show. Very, very entertaining. Very entertaining. I can't emphasize this enough. But I'm trying to keep this clean. There are kids reading this blog.
Here's what another blogger says about Club 69: here. And like, Olivier, I suggest going to Club 69 on a Thursday night, if you haven't already.

So, we danced. We danced for a very long time. We finally decided to leave, but somehow ended up dancing more. Then we all decided to go home. It seemed as though we were the only ones that decided to go home. The place was still packed. This was around 6am!!!

Noah and I went on our journey to find our 15 "bonde" (the hip way to say "bus" or "colectivo"). But why is this random Argentinean girl following us? And why does she want to know who our favorite celebrity is? Jajajjajaaa!

We get home. And decide to check out the sun rise on our roof top. It's not too impressive because it's sort of cloudy and gray.

Now to sleep.

P.S. Dig some more pictures and videos from the night:
(still to come)