Adios Buenos Aires

''Of all the gin joints in all the world.''


If you have never seen Casablanca, go rent it. Tonight! My time in Buenos Aires has sadly come to an end. It is time for me to spread my wings and get some more stamps on my passport. Tonight Natalie and I are taking a 12 hour bus ride across the country to Mendoza. I am really excited to begin the traveling part of my trip but am sad to leave Buenos Aires.

Mendoza is supposed to be very beautiful and is world-reknowned for its wine. Next week is a wine festival so the city should be pretty happening. I am going to look into taking a wine-tasting class so I can move up from caveman status on my wine knowledge. I met a really cool guy here who is a wine sommlier and is only 28. He was in charge of the wine for 10 restaurants in NYC but quit to start his own wine company. B-A-L-L-E-R.
So he has inspired me to learn more about wine. I think Natalie and I will be up to the challenge. I have some friends that I met here that will be in Mendoza at the same time so it should be a lot of fun. I also am going to look into hangliding.

I have become an awesome jaywalker in BsAs, a skill I look to perfect in NYC. If there were a jaywalking olympics I would be the odds on favorite to bring home the gold. I am going to miss the pizza guy who always waves to me when I walk by (if you are ever down here, order the Calaprese pizza from Almacen de Pizzas, it'll change your life) and the haircut guy who takes time to talk to me when I walk by (and also gave me hilarious looking sideburns today, but that is a different story). I am not even sure what I am rambling on about anymore. I loved my time here and highly recommend visiting. Way cheaper than Europe and the people are much nicer.

New Photos

Iguazu Falls

Everything is going great down here, my tan is coming along nicely.

Valentine´s day was really nice, Natalie and I got some wine, some pizza, and went to a park and had a nice picnic. The pizza place by my apartment is insanely good. Like top 3 pizza I have had in my life.

So this last weekend I went to Iguazu Falls with Natalie.

There really are no words to describe how amazing the falls are. 2.5 km wide with over 260 different waterfalls. Talie took some awesome pictures that should be up soon. I would have taken some pictures except that my camera was stolen out of my pocket on the subway on the way to the bus station. It was crazy how deftly it was taken, especially considering how closely I watch my stuff. Hopefully the thief gets Schiavoed.

The best part of the trip was taking a jet boat that drove into one of the waterfalls and absolutely soaked us. It was insane. We also saw some monkeys eating in trees, and a lot of other animals they don´t have in the states. Natalie and I hiked 2 miles into the jungle to discover a waterfall that dropped into a pool. After hiking down we were ale to stand under the waterfall (over a 100 foot drop) and we got some awesome pictures. She is 1000x the model than me. I am like Zoolander in that I only have one look (not to mention I also am an ambi-turner). Anyway, I would really recommend making a trip to the falls at least once in your life. I am definitley returning.

Another highlight of my trip was my 30 minute conversation in Spanish with a 7 year old. Although I did not understand everything she said, I got most of it. Hooray! I am now able to communicate at a 2nd grade level!

This week I moved out of my apartmet early and back into hostel estoril. My roommate was wayyyy too anal about everything and I wasn´t meeting anybody. I didnt come to Buenos Aires to live the life of a 58 year old librarian. Eat a bag Nicolas. I love it back in the hostel, yesterday we had a Liverpool game watching party. Go Reds! I tried to organize a pickup futbol match but everyboy was being hungover and lame. I was planning on trying to join a game but my friend who works at the hostel said that it is a good possibility they will try to injure me because I am a foriegner. What a dump.

I have been hanging out wit a really cool guy named Joe from Michigan. Last night we went to a brewery in Palermo and finally had some chopp (draught) beer. I am so tired of Quilmes, it really is a terrible beer. We had a sampler tray with 8 different beers. The bartender talke to us for awhile and I actually understood a good amount of what he was saying, which was pretty sweet.

Here is a picture of us when we had dinner with his roommate (who is the exact opposite of Nicolas).

This is my last week in BsAs. Even though I love the city, it is some for me to move on and explore more of the great outdoors that South America has to offer. The tenative plan is to go to Cordoba for a few days and visit some friends I made in BsAs. After that I am going to to go to Mendoza and take a wine tasting class for 5-7 days. I will also probably take more Spanish lessons there. Then I will head to Salta and the salt flats, which I heard are amazing. Then I will make my way up through Bolivia to meet my dad, brother, and his roommate in Cuzco, Peru to hike the Incan Trail. How tits is that going to be?

Hope everyone is doing well, and don't stress out too much with school, life is too short.

Adios,

Kyle

1 month in

So I have almost been here for 4 weeks, and am having an allsome time.



I have a novia (girlfriend) here in BsAs. I met her at hostel estoril the 1st week I was here. We have been dating for about two weeks and are going to Iguazu Falls this weekend so that should be fun. Her name is Natalie, she is 25, and is from California. She does modeling and tutoring in Chicago and is way cute. Her goal is to try every flavor of gelato in Buenos Aires and I am doing my part to help her reach her goal.





Sorry I don't have any pictures of the two of us.

In other news, I am starting my 3rd week of Spanish classes tomorrow, and am sloooooooooowly improving my Spanish. I met a really cool guy from my Spanish school who has the exact same favorite c.d. as me, so that is pretty insane. We went out to some bars last night and had a good time. It´s pretty funny to think that I leave to go out to clubs/bars at the same time that the bars in Austin close. I think I am going to go back to the drum circle tomorrow night, it was one of the best things I have done since I have been here.

I also might take a wine tasting course here or in Mendoza. There are great wines available for about $3usd, and I am tired of Quilmes. Hopefully I come back with a little knowledge of Argentinian Malbecs. If anyone has any questions about what I am doing or what Buenos Aires is like leave them in the comments section and I will respond to them the next time I post.

Anyway, I can't really think of anything else to say except adios!

My New Haircut

1st update: My grandpa died last week, so I just want him to know that I love him and he will be missed.

R.I.P. Grandpa Ray

Now for a Buenos Aires update:

I got a new haircut today, and am currently one of 10 people in BsAs without a mullet, gotta love the porteño style. The guy at the haircut place spent about 30 minutes and made sure he got every hair right. The total cost was 20 pesos. For $17usd at pro cuts in the states I can get a 42 year old grandmother of 8 butchering my hair, itching the track marks on her arm, and accidently dropping a cigarette butt onto my lap, all in under 15 minutes! Hooray!

the word of the day is: Porteño

A porteño is a person native to Buenos Aires, and much like a Texan, they are proud to let you know about it.

The way they live their lives is the way I want to live mine. Porteños don't own watches, if they say they will be somewhere at 7, they will be there at 8. At a restaurant it takes 30 minutes to get your drinks and over 2 hours to get in and out, and everybody is cool with it. America can learn from this. They also take vacationing very seriously here. Pretty much everyone takes a month off during either in January or February. My roommate is a lawyer, and he goes into the office at noon, holla! Dinner doesn`t begin until well after 9, and the bars dont close until 8am. However, people dont get housed here like they do in the states, because porteños aren`t racing to beat the 2am last call, and getting borracho (drunk) is not becoming of a porteño, that is for the touristas. Here a drink is communal and meant to be enjoyed, not pounded. Porteños also drink mate, which if you stay tuned, will be the next word of the day.

I started back at school yesterday and it is going well. I am building my vocabulary, so I hopefully soon I will be able to communicate with my roommate at a level slightly higher than Helen Keller. I went to a drum circle last night that was unreal. 15 drummers are lead by 1 maestro who through a series of hand signs he invented are able to improvise amazing beats. I have some cool pictures from it that I will post the next chance I get.

Tomorrow I am going with my friends to Museum, an after-work club in San Telmo, I went last week and had a great time.

Dancing to some disco at Museum

Waving the white flag afte I was unable to finish a 2 pound steak at La Cabrera

Until next time,

Kyle