Friday, January 2, 2009

Today, more first impressions and some of your questions answered...

Hello all. Well, this blog is gettin´some attention. Thanks mom! And you all have lots o´questions. Here are some answers:

Ah, but first, the day...

Today, I slept in until about 11am. Good sleep in my hostel room, which is 70 pesos per night (about 23 US dollars). It´s worth it. I´m two blocks from the beach, right in the middle of town, which includes lots of cafes, restaurants, bars, clubs, etc. I spent most of the day on the beach. Yesterday was a bit too chilly to really enjoy hangin´at the beach. Today was perfect!

Funny thing, I don´t really know what time it is here...ever. Since I´m not using my cell phone, I don´t usually have the time. I plan on getting a watch, but at moment, what´s the worry? Nothing. I have no plans and don´t need to know what time it is. But!, I did just ask, and it´s 9pm. Thing is, it´s still very bright out. It feels like summer time in NC, about 6pm. It´s that sunny still. It´s no wonder people don´t settle down for dinner and such until 10pm (or even later!!!).

Some of you know about my eating habits... so far it´s been hard to keep up with, mostly because I don´t understand the menu. I can´t really seek out the healthy places without being able to read Spanish. That´ll change soon though. I did however find a wonderful fruit and veggie stand right by my hostel, so tonight´s dinner was fruit, fruit, and veggies, veggies! Yummy. Fresh!!!! And lovely.

(Keep in mind that my observations thus far are very, very limited...the first day was barely spent in Buenos Aires aka BsAs, and for the last two days, I´ve been at the beach. We all know the culture difference in beach life verses ¨real¨ life in the states. Keep in mind.)

So..... still lots and lots of people smoke. I heard packs of cigs are only $1.25. Crazy talk. In Chicago, they´re like $8, I think. But even in places that post ¨no smoking¨ folks smoke. Lots. Yikes.

Pedestrians DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT AWAY!!!! Watch out! Motorists do not look or care. Here at the beach, there are lots of 4 wheelers. Mopeds and small motorcycles too.

Women´s bathing suit bottoms are TINY! Super, super tiny. I haven´t seen any women in one pieces. Men´s are the same as in the states, size-wise, unless you´re at Hollywood Beach in Chicago (they´re super tiny there too!).

I´ve had some of the best espresso here! I´ve had espresso twice at Havanna, so far always served with sparkling water and a sugar cookie. It is yummy. And speaking of water, it´s almost always sparkling unless you state otherwise.


Lots of brunettes here. Few, few blondes. Eyes are dark but often with tints of green, gold, or blue. Theý´re very pretty.

Many Spainards and Italians migrated here in the 1920s so that mix is abound. Julieta´s mother said I looked Italian. Hahaa!

Some questions answered:
...I think I´m three hours ahead of EST and four hours ahead of CST.
...There are loads of buses in BsAs, but I haven´t had to figured them out yet. It seems that ít´s going to be very confusing. But you just wait! I´ll figure it out.
...I´ve taken taxis so far. At least, when I´m by myself. (oh and about taxis and traffic... Stop signs seem to be OPTIONAL! hahaha! the same goes with stop lights! It´s pretty intense. I´m glad I´m not driving here.)
...I do have pictures to upload! And as soon as I get to either my computer or one that actually works okay, I´ll upload them. This computer at the hostel is pretty bad and very slow. I don´t think a single picture would ever even upload. I can´t wait to show some pix though.
...I have an acoustic bass guitar here in Argentina. It´s nice. It was my dad´s but I traded my bari sax for it.
...The sun has still not set mom!!! LATE! It´s actually very nice and soothing to have this glow still in the air at 9:20pm.

Hopefully that settled some curiousity for a bit. I´ll be back with more tomorrow, I hope. My plan is to head back to BsAs tomorrow sometime. But we´ll see. hahahahaa! I am trying to enroll in this langauge school that, I think, starts on Monday.

Ciao!

5 comments:

  1. You're off the hook for tonight,thanks....it sounds like you are settling in to the lifestyle, relaxed and enjoying.

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  2. Is taht how they say goodbye "Ciao"? thats Italian isn't it?

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  3. There´s lots of Italian influence here! And yes, ¨ciao¨ is Italian...

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  4. In argentina you said chau not "ciao"!!

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  5. Ahhhh see, I stand corrected.

    This isn´t the first time and it won´t be the last.

    I thought ¨mate¨ was spelled with two t´s. Nope. Only one.

    oops.

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living in Buenos Aires