i finally have some quiet time to get some words out. hopefully i have the focus and brain cells to do it. normally i hate when people cancel dinner plans as happened tonight, but right now it's bueno...
so my first full weekend was great. friday night i got out of wine class pretty late (10ish) and headed over to my British roommate Tuhina's American friends' apartment, as it was their last weekend and were having a going away party for themselves. 3 guys who grew up together in LA and moved down here in September. 2 out of the 3 left yesterday, the 3rd is planning on staying a while as he got a job tutoring math in english to an 8 year old, or something. one was a personal chef in LA for a year and he banged out a great meal to feed all 15 or so of us. we then went to Crobar, a club that is also in Miami as well as who knows where else. as i said before, it was my first real clubbing experience in quite some time and was actually pretty fun. definitely stayed up to see the sun rise, then headed to El Tigre bright and early Saturday morning (on 2 hours of sleep) with the roomies and our program/school.
El Tigre is a nearby town, about 45 minute train ride, where you can ride a ferry and look at all these mini islands in the middle of brown muddy river and Argentines bathing in it. i guess it's where they "summer" as there were lots of houses and docks dotted throughout the river. we also went to a local parilla (steakhouse) where i of course had an omelette, but i did try bits of the meat. the sweetbreads were delish. i posted a few pics so you get an idea, but i really don't think it would be a "must-see" for future visitors, in case you were wondering.
we were back at the apartment by 6pm, crashed for another 2 hours, then got ready to go to an asada, or Argentina BBQ/ house party, also at Tuhina's friend's place, but this time an Italian aspiring director who is friends with a French guy Tuhina goes to school with. but this deserves some more detail. it was in Palermo, which is the fun, trendy neighborhood here (there's a Palermo SoHo and a Palermo Hollywood if that gives you any idea). it was a mansion, owned by the Italian guy's cousin, who was on vacation with his wife and kids for a month. 3 stories, back yard with pool, huge walls with ivy for privacy. just a really great place. i couldn't fit my camera in my tiny going out bag, but hopefully Maggie (new roommate from Minnesota, dontyaknow) will post her pics on FB soon. we each paid about 40 pesos ($10) for the food (grilled steak, of course) and had lots of vino and then the traditional Argentine liquor... Fernet, which is usually mixed with Coke. it's pretty bitter, but i actually like it, which is rare since i don't go for the brown liquors. the party was a mix of frenchies, argentines, the italian, 2 Koreans, a Venezuelan, and us. by 2am we were ready to hit the clubs again, this time it was a local, non-chain club and not as fun as Crobar, but different enough. again, home around 6, then up at noon. Maggie and i had planned on checking out the Recoleta Cemetary where Evita is buried, but the skies opened up to a torrential downpour while we were eating brunch (massive salads and detoxifying juice drinks) around the corner. we ended up talking for about 2 or 3 hours, about our lives back in the states and what made us come here. she too studied in Spain and knew as soon as she left she would live abroad again. it's just a feeling we both couldn't shake. she's here for a year and getting her MBA. the rain finally let up a little and we headed home, where we watched a bit of Titanic (english with subtitles) and Footloose (dubbed in Spanish) with Chris, the Frenchie who had bought us 2 tubs of gelato (can't even start on how good the dulce de leche is).
after some homework and studying, we had a roommate dinner at a resturant around the corner known for it's Argentine comfort foods. best empanadas i've had thus far, but the stew was only meh. and it's giving me one hell of a stomachache today, so i may only go back for the empanadas. also randomly saw a couple that was on my flight down from NYC. i went over and said hi to them. they were just down visiting for a week or 2. yes, i have a weird memory for faces.
that brings me to today... got my hair Brazilian straightened, something i've wanted to do for a while now. only cost the equivalent of $100, and should last 3 months. the girl who did it spoke no English so hopefully nothing was lost in translation and i wake up with a full head of hair tomorrow. fingers crossed!
oh, i'm going to start a word of the day. today's word is: GOOGLEAR. yep, it means to google! how fun is that?
another fun fact: almost (or all) newly created verbs end in AR. so basically anything technology related will end in AR. good to know!
You got your hair straightened!!! Cooool!
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