Buenos Aires

Ok first of all, in response to some recent public criticism by my sister on Facebook, I would like to invite everyone that reads this to make suggestions on ways to make the blog more entertaining.

So I’m in Buenos Aires now and have for the most part gotten settled in. Getting out of Rio turned out to be tricky. After packing up all of my stuff and leaving my hostel, I headed to the airport last Friday to find out that my flight to Buenos Aires had been cancelled thanks to ash from the volcano in Chile. After I waited in line forever, the fine folks at TAM Airlines told me that I was confirmed for the soonest flight out, on Monday. I ended up spending the night in a low-grade “hotel” in the basement of the airport and waking up at 4 AM to put my name on the waitlist for a flight that morning, which turned out to be full. Having once again been told that I was confirmed to leave Monday, I headed back into Rio to stay at another hostel. When I arrived there, I got an urgent email from Expedia saying that I was confirmed for a flight out that night. So I headed back to the airport in Rio, enjoyed an hour delay and eventually landed in Buenos Aires around 1:30 AM and got to a hostel an hour after that.

It has been really, really cold here in Buenos Aires. The hostel didn’t really have heat so I was miserable that night and slept very little. I spent the next day watching the Wimbledon final and checking out a couple of rooms to rent for the month. Both were initially very disappointing, but the second was obviously the better choice so I moved in there that night. All of that was less than ideal, but this trip isn’t an easy-going vacation. Dealing with some difficult and often uncomfortable situations is part of the experience and is definitely helping me learn more about myself.

I’m living in a piso compartido. It’s kind of like a dorm in that I have my own room with a bed and furniture, but I share a kitchen and bathroom with everyone else. The problem is that the kitchen and bathroom are outside, and like I said, it’s been freezing. I’m getting used to it though. It’s a new place, and I currently share it with Andrés, a Venezuelan law student, and Sebastien, a French engineer. The location of the apartment is fantastic. For those of you who are familiar with the city, I’m in Palermo Soho on Armenia and Cabrera, a few blocks from the Plaza Serrano. I’m actually overwhelmed by the number of cool cafes, restaurants, bars, and stores in the neighborhood. It took me a few days to get my Spanish back and to stop speaking Portuñol but I’m speaking it pretty well now.

Living in Buenos Aires again for a month, I have a few simple goals:
1) improve my Spanish
2) eat a lot of delicious food
3) exercise a lot to make up for #2
4) try new things

I joined a gym a few blocks away and have been keeping up the P90X (see #3) in addition to doing some yoga classes in Spanish (#4), trying to make up for the large quantity of delicious food and beverage that I am consuming. My diet here consists mostly of steak, empanadas, choripan (a sausage sandwich more or less), beer, and wine (#2). I did find some oatmeal and after a long search some peanut butter so maybe I’ll start eating more healthy foods soon, but I doubt it. Everything here is delicious and incredibly cheap compared to the US. A good filet mignon would be anywhere from $8-25 here, with the $25 variety being of the highest quality.

I’ve stayed surprisingly busy so far. In addition to going to the gym, I’ve been branching out and taking dance lessons (#4) at a famous Tango place a block from my apartment. So far, I’ve been two nights, taking classes in Tango, Salsa, and Swing. It’s actually been a lot of fun, but I am not very good.

Monday night, I celebrated the 4th of July with an American friend, Catherine, who I met at the Tuck Business Bridge Program at Dartmouth I did a couple of years ago. I also visited her in Istanbul, where she lived for a year, back when I was studying abroad in Madrid. We ate dinner at a fancy American restaurant called Kansas. It kind of reminds me of Houston’s. I had their specialty, barbecue baby back ribs. They were tasty.

Since then, I’ve been enjoying life here, going out with different friends every night. Today I got lunch with my old boss and coworkers at the place that I did my internship last year and it was great to see all of them again. This evening I did a wine tasting, learning a little more about Argentine wines, including the Torrontes and Malbecs.

Despite some struggles at first, life is now great and plus, it seems to be getting warmer.