You know me. I very rarely follow guide books since I think theyre shit and the recommendations just go to the highest bidder. Well, I went against my own recomendation and cruised around with Frommer today. What a shitty travel buddy. He led us on a bus to some dog park in Recoleta which was supposed to magically morph into Evita Peróns tomb. 14 blocks later, there was the weirdest/boringest tourist site ever. Millions of creepy tombs filled with important people I know nothing about....... yeah, that was worth the 3 hours it took to get there. Dont hate me if Im wrong but wasnt Evita a prostitute to begin with?

Shopping in Palermo was nothing to write home about so I wont bore you with it. But I did get some overpriced black slacks from Zara. I bought them mainly because I always feel like I should buy something at Zara because its a classy store. No H&M which makes me sad.

I should have learned from Frommers "great" tip to visit  a cemetary that he cannot be trusted with my time. Yet, Julia and I headed on the Subtu to Palermo to find the "best Mediterranean restaurant in Buenos Aires." Too bad we walked for half an hour only to ask the policia where it was and learn that it closed down over a year ago. Must not have been so good, huh? Went to a restaurant called Miranda, which no doubt took over the spot of our originally desired eatery, and had one of the best meals Ive had in Argentina. Hands down, best salad ever in my life. Julia and I ordered a whole bottle of Malbec Santa Julia but sadly, walked away from at least another glass because we were too full and starting to get our buzz on. The waiters loved us and demanded we give them our facebooks. Subtu was closed and had to take a taxi. Good thing theyre so cheap here.

Tomorrow we arent sure what we are going to do. Probably go back to Palermo to hang at the zoo and botanical gardens. Its funny because I remember being in Amsterdam for a whole week and running out of things to do besdies the zoo and gardens. Always a good choice. Tomorrow night we hop on a bus to Mendoza aka wine country. Three days two nights of winery tours, hiking, and paragliding. Cant wait.

See, I told you there was still hope for this trip.

Nos vemos.

Finally! Its just Julia and I on this god forsaken trip. Everyone left last night and Im happy. It would have been fun to have Dad around but I understand that life gets in the way and plans must change. So Julia and I are staying another night in Obelisco Hostel which is cool because theyre really helpful here but Im sad that I wont get to see Demian again. Alas, another one bites the dust.

Last night, Julia and I went to an amazing tango show, La Ventana. Basically, tango is a totally beautiful artform and Im so so so jealous that I cant do it. Before the show started and while we were eating the best meal Ive had so far, one of the dancers brought me on stage to learn to tango. Needless to say, I totally blew and made an ass out of myself. But guess what......... thats something on my list of 101 Things to Do Before I Die (see previous entry in this blog)!!!!! So far on this trip, Ive done two things; snowboard in Argentina and tango in Buenos Aires. Now, I dont know if I rightfully should say that I tangoed last night since I basically stumbled my way along the stage but whatever, Im counting it. Yay for me.

Well, I must say adios because Im watching The Game; Argentina vs. Brazil. We are also going to Evitas grave in Recoleta and shopping in Palermo. Okay, nos vemos.

Besos. Lana

Hola. Well, like I wrote last night, Im back in BA. Julia and I are here till next Sunday night and we`re kinda freaking out that we will run out of things to do. Neither of us are really enthralled with city life so hopefully we have a fun time. Aileens amiga Julia wants to hang out this weekend sometime I bet that will be fun. Dad, Rebecca, and Blue are leaving tonight back to California. Honestly, Im so happy. Rebecca has done nothing but complain this entire trip........ like literally about everything. Shes sick now so its even worse. Whatever though, Dad has been fun to travel with.

So we just got back to our hostel on Corrientes Ave and Esmeralda. Its an Hosteling International place so it lacks character a bit but at least they speak english and the beds are comfy. Tomorrow night, Julia and I are moving back into Hostel Estoril in El Congreso. I cant wait considering Im totally in love with Demian, the hottie receptionist/manager. Hah. That place was really cool looking, quiter neighborhood, and they have beer and sausages on the roof at night. Delightful. :)

We took a remise (cab) to el barrio de La Boca this morning. Ya know, its the neighborhood thats famous for all the buildings being painted really bright and colorful? Anyway, got acosted by people trying to get me to eat at their restaurant, old pervert men whispering "gringa hermosa," and bought a bunch of tourist shit I really dont want or need. Thats pretty normal though right? Haha.

I kinda wish I was going back to Salt Lake tonight however. Im flying in next Monday the 25th, missing the first day of classes, having to move into my new house, and starting school the very next morning at 9:45 am. Its gonna be so stressful no doubt. Oh, and then theres the Dave Matthews Band concert with Jordan which will be way fun but so much so soon. It will all work out Im sure.

Nos vemos. Lana

Keepin it short; back in Buenos Aires for a week. Cant wait to be back in Hostel Estoril to hang out with hottie Demian! Woo Hoo. Hope to hang out with Aileens friend Julia sometime this week.

Besos

Finally, we all went to Cerro Catedral together to ride....... well everyone but Wes because he went home two weeks early. I cant understand it but whatever. Anyway, after some floundering around, we made it over to the side of the mountain with decent snow and a bit less people. Kinda bumpy and the light was flat but overall, the best turns Ive made in Argentina yet. It was funny though because heading down towards the bottom of the mountain there was almost no snow. It reminded me of that computer game "Free Ski" that used to be on all the old computers........ or I dunno, some kinda video game. Its awesome to be sore in the quads and have a wind burned face again.

We are thinking we might just stay in Bariloche for the remainder of our time here. Probably tomorrow we will move to a different place though (not everyone is pleased with the hostel situation even though we have our own rooms and bathrooms and the people have been nothing but great to us). Who knows though, we might head south to El Bolson or up north to Villa la Angostura as planned.

Anyway, today was a good day and Im hoping that the rest are fun too.

Besos.

this is a nice place to have diner. When i was in ushuaia this was the place where i had almost every meal. It is also a nice bar to have just a drink.

You know how I said we would be moving into an actual house yesterday? Well, after standing in the snow on the road for several hours, we realized that our rental car was WAY too small for all of us so we turned it down. Then we turned down the house because apparently if the car was too small, the house would be the same. Humiliated, we walked back into Patanuk Hostel and got our rooms back. Julia and Wes ended up going across the street to a hotel and paying more for a very similar room as here. Wes is leaving tomorrow, nearly two weeks early.

Despite all that, Blue, Rebecca, Dad, and I headed up to Cerro Catedral, finally! The mountain could have used some more snow but hey, Im sliding in August. Towards the bottom of the runs it felt a bit like a video game, dodging people, moguls, and bare spots, but for the most part the snow was soft and it felt awesome to ride. I spent a few hours by myself, riding up the chair lifts with local Argentinians. Most of them spoke no english so I took it as an opportunity to practice my bad spanish. I talked with a guy from Buenos Aires who was on holiday for nearly fifteen minutes, all in spanish, and understood everything! I asked if my spanish was good and he said that I had an american accent but that Im "totally bien." I spent the rest of the day stoked as you can imagine.

Once we got back to the hostel we met up with Julia and Wes and went back to Dias de Zapata, this awesome little mexican restaurant that serves the best food and best margaritas ever! We spent the rest of the night in the hostel chatting up the Aussies, Steve and Kelly, drinking beer called Quilmes, and convincing them that they are really welcomed to stay with us in Utah and ride anytime they want. It was the best day so far.

It looks like Julia and I will be the only ones who stay in Argentina till the original 24th. We plan on returning to Buenos Aires with the rest of the group and spending time there. Kelly made us a list of a ton of things to do while we are there including; a visit to Montevideo, Uruguay, visit La Boca (the neighborhood with all the colors), shopping/eating in Palermo, go to a football match, etc. I think there is hope still yet for this trip.

Besos.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, while the guys are okay in Bariloche they are absolutly stunning in Buenos Aires. :)

Sorry I havent written basically at all. Its been one thing after the next that has kept me away from a computer. Anyway, Im in Bariloche and its beautiful. Unfortunatly, there hasnt been much snow so I havent even gone riding yet which has been a DRAG. On top of it, my sister and her boyfriend are considering themselves too good to be happy in the accomodations we have. Were staying in a hostel which in my opinion is just fine; its good to meet interesting people, which we have, and its great to be within walking distance of town. However, the both of them have been bitching about this trip since before we even got on the plane. Because of their antics were all lumped together to be the "pinche gringos." Im about ready to kick some jaws in.

My dad has to go back to the states a week early so Rebecca and Blue are planning on leaving then. Wes is leaving wednesday, which quite frankly, since he has been a negative energy Im very happy about. But now Julia wants to leave with the rest of the group which puts me alone. Generally speaking, I would be fine with that. But traveling alone with a snowboard bag and backpack in a country where it is very difficult to get around does not really appeal to me. So, Im almost forced to leave early too. Now I remember why I travel alone.

Anyway, were moving into a new place which I hope will be nice. Im so easy to please that I cant stand all this bull.

However, great news is its DUMPING!! I cant wait to snowboard today!!!! Yaya! Wish me luck that the rest of this trip is fun, even if its only for a week.

This retaurant was recommended to us by an English woman living in Mare de la Plata. You would have to go early or make a reservation, as it filled up quickly with neighbourhood locals and became very lively. We were the only tourists. The portions are massive and the waiters will recommend that you share dishes.They were friendly and polite, tolerated our poor spanish and gave us good service. The food was great value and the prawns in garlic were superb. We couldn´t finish any of the courses. Ask for a "lemonchello" after your desert.

Bueno, so this is going to be a post date entry, sooner or later. But right now I'm waiting for my bus back to Buenos Aires and decided I'd go ahead and type up a little bit more of my trip, I do believe it is about time I did that ha!

Anyhow, Bariloche was absolutely amazing. I went there with Alyssa and Erica. We planned the whole thing in roughly 4 hours and bought the tickets roughly 3 hours before our departure and went and then we were off. First off, let me tell you that this was my first omnibus experience and sweet lord it was AMAZING! So much better than airplanes, even if it was a 22 hour bus ridee :/. Ha, oh well. We got to Bariloche in the later afternoon and decided since it was a nice day out that we'd go ahead and head down to the lake shore and relax there for a few hours. The lake was maybe a 10 minute walk from our hostel and was absolutely amazing, my goodness! I don't understand how the water was that blue, it looked as if it had been dyed and it was just so pristine. I am absolutely inlove with the entire place, and will one day go back there. Basically, our entire day was encompassed in going to the beach and then walking back to the Hostel to go to a super market and then take a nap. After dinner we hung out with one of the Hostel works at the bar in the hostel, named Martin --who was gorgeous by the way-- and he made us delicious, and strong drinks which we sat and drank until about 1230pm. Then headed out the the Kilkeny with some of the Isralies who were there. That was an interesting night because, well Erica a) doesn't remember anything from it and b) we accidently left Alyssa at the hostel ...but she ended up at the bar eventually.

Bueno, the next day we woke up kinda late and went for a hike on Cerro Campanario. Before getting there we had no idea what to expect, where we were going, or really how to get there. But, we just jumped on a bus and went. It's almost better that we didn't know where we were going because when we got to the top it was absolutely breathtaking. More than breathtaking, pictures and words don't even do it justice. ¡the whole trek was definitely vale la pena! We had a view of the entire area surrounding Bariloche, it was a 360 view of the mountains and lakes and it was absolutely captivating. We returned to the hostel and took naps AGAIN! And then decided to eat at the Asado and folk music show they were having at the hostel. It was so much fun, we met South Africa, London, Liverpool, Holland, Denmark, Mexico, Canda, Emily and Sam they were both from San Fran. It was alot of fun, we pretty much spent the entire night at the hostel singing drinking and eventually our other roommate, Majo (who i kind of a mess at life, and very strange), made us start a congo line. After that we just all sort of stayed around talking and doing nothing really with life.

After our nice, chill night, I think that friday we went horseback riding on Cerro Otto, but the weather, unfortunately, was not as nice as it had been previously. Oh well, the views were still amazing! And we actually woke up at a reasonable time, which is alot of say for us. After that we walked through the town a little bit more but didn't really do too much until the evening. During that night, after we made a dinner of pico de gallo, eggs, and sausage, we went out first to the pub kilkenny again, where we met up with a all the aforemention people (countires) above. From there we went down to a boliche, which was pretty much all highschoolers getting wasted. I felt awkward...but what can you do? That night was fun, but alittle ridiculous.

On Saturday, the only thing we really did was walk around town doing nothing but being fat kids...aka eating ice cream and chocolate, and buying souveniers. They had an artesan fair that we went to, too! OH, and a chocolate museum. That was really cool, because it made me feel like I was on the food network. It was super interesting, because we learned about the history of chocolate, and the history of chocolate locally in Bariloche, and that Americans are the number one consumers of chocolate in the world. Now guys, come on, really? Oh well! That night was our last night there so we stayed at the hostel for dinner and karaoke night. It was so funny and fun to see people get up and sing. I ended up singing with Holland to a song that neither of us knew, and I really wanted to sing to Ricky Martin...but the thing ended before I had time, it was a real bummer...oh well! At least I sang once. I was also given a "Rock Star Card" now, I do not exactly know what that means, but the guy who gave it to me was like 50 something, and traveling the world on his bike with his wife. He also mistook me for Sam's fiancee...which was flattering but awkward at the same time, because Sam's fiancee was upstairs because she was sick, and I really liked his fiancee, ha! That was really all we did that night, talk alot, drink beer, and sing.

On Sunday we hopped on our bus at 130pm, however we did have a little difficlutly doing that because apparently while we were in Bariloche, Argentina went through a time change...which we did not know about. So we were really confused. Oh well, all things workout well and we made it to our bus...and back to BsAs on Monday to go out for St. Patricks Day. Also, after we got back...maybe that wednesday Alyssa, Erica and I decided we'd join the "Montevideo for Semana Santa" Group, we then bought our tickets and peaced out the next day really early in the morning for Montevideo. And that will be another entry, hopefully to come soon!

Let's see, I moved in to the residence on the 4th, and it is now the what 19th. Well I have done alot in that time, mainly a lot of drinking...but it was all necessary to do. I have a wonderful roommate, her name is Elise and she's from Tennessee...actually there are quite a few people from my program from the South, it's very interesting. But sometimes I get confused as to the things they talk about because we don't have that over in San Diego. Oh well though!

Okay then, the 4th I moved in then Lalo and I hung out for a little bit and decided to go to dinner with his new roommate, Matt R (or Frat Matt) from N. Carolina (I believe) and after that we went out for some drinks and just talked. Then there was orientation on the 5th and 6th. I hate orientations in general, but I mean orientations in Castillano are so much more difficult! Oh well, I got through it and now have to crash a million classes when school starts, legit right? But oh well! It was pointed out to me that whenever anyone from California introduced themselves in the Orientation we all said something along the lines of "Hola, me llamo Kendal, y yo soy de California" never did a Californian say "soy de Los Estados Unidos." Apparently, we are our own country...which is kinda true, if you think about it! The night of the 5th Lalo, Matt W., and I went out to a bar, then to a club. But I got tired around 330AM and decided it would be a good idea to walk home from Palermo...it was not a good idea. And I will never do that again! But, I will say I am officially the owner of a cell phone here in Argentina with a ridiculously long phone number! Ha! On the 6th we had small group orientations and that was kinda cool, except for the part where I was exhausted. But, it was chill because we met with more international students and then like a ridiculous amount of us all went out from our program it was myself, Erica, Sarah, Alyssa, Elise, Craig, Matt W., Matt R., and Chris. However, we ended up taking the wrong bus and had to catch a cab, so what should have taken us no more that 30 minutes took like an hour and then some. But when we got there, it was so much fun! We walked from Plaza Italia to Plaza Serrano and ended up at a bar called Tazz, where I swear it was like the UN we were sitting around a triangle type table...and there were people from all around Europe, the States, Latin America and the such! It was so wonderful! And the only language we all really had in common was Spanish, so that is what we decided to speak in...and let me tell you it was an amazing night. After awhile the group headed over to a night club but Sarah and I grabbed a cab back to the residence because I had my interview in the morning and she was just tired. Her and I talked about being in BsAs before everyone else and what we did and our random adventures!

The next day was not terribly exciting, I actually did nothing. But, around 8pm Lalo and I rolled over to a sweet Korean restaurant which was legit. FINALLY something spicy! It was so delicious and completely hit the spot. Then it was over to Erica and Alyssa's room for some more pre-gaming and after that we headed out to a roof party in San Telmo...it took us awhile to get there and then even more time to get some beer, but let me tell you it was completely worth it. I wish I could go to roof parties ALL THE TIME! Like seriously, it was amazing! I met such interesting people even two people from San Diego who know and are in Sam and Matt's frat! RIDICULOUS, right?! I also met a pretty chill Argentine named Pablo who speaks amazing english, and is also a french tutor...WHAT?! But, so yes he was cool, and got my number and invites me to parties every now and then...but, I seem to always not be able to do it because I'm not in the city! The other Argentine I met was...well, a little far off from what I wanted. He ended up hitting on me and getting my phone number, now he just sends me weird creepy text messages, which I proceed to ignore...healthy, right? I hope he gets the message soon!

On the 8th Alyssa and I decided to go over to La Boca. OH MY GOSH! I loved it! So colorful with tango music in the air constantly! We walked around took some pictures then split a Quilmes while watching a tango show. And after the dancers went off the musician and singer kept playing and so a man who must have been in his 70's asked if one of us wanted to dance...and of course me, being me, said yes! So i got to do the waltz in La Boca with the most wonderful old man, I absolutely loved, loved, loved, LOVED it! After that we went to Bellas Artes de La Boca and the best part of it was definitely the roof top that over looked all of La Boca, and had some pretty chill statues. Then Alyssa and I headed back to the ressy, or at least that's what we thought we were doing. That actually did not happen. We sat on a bus for 2 hours and rode it all the way to the end of the line because our stop wasn't on the buses route...but only going one way. It was confusing and the bus drivers took pity on our lack of knowledge and didn't make us pay for the fare on the return trip. But, at least I found China town on that bus ride. P.s. I really hate city buses. Anyhow! We finally got back and I tried to nap, nope did not happen. But, that's okay because that's how I found out we were going to pasta dinner that night. A group of 11 of us went, myself, Lalo, Matt R., Matt W., Sarah, Craig, Erica, Alyssa, Elise, Jessi, and Chris. the food was AMAZING and after about 7 or 8 bottles of house wine between the all of us we decided we wanted to keep the night rolling, so we found a bar near the Abasto and just kept going, ordering lots and lots of beer and listening to some really awesome live music. OH! And I played soccer with some little kids on the street! Then around 2AM we left from there and still didn't want to go back to the ressy so we walked down to Puyerredon thinking we'd find a bar. Well, Matt W. walked into a place that was blasting music and really loud thinking it was a bar and so we all followed him. Only to have stumbled upon a Peruvian birthday party! And they invited us to say so we did and drank along with all of them and dance and it was just so ridiculous! They were so inviting and I need to email one of them back because I have to send them pictures! Anyhow, then around 4AM we headed back, but not before discovering a 24 hour eatery on our way back! so we stopped and had some delicious food, well it probably wasn't that good...but we couldn't tell the difference.

on the 9th, I didn't do much. I tried to call my dad, but he did not answer so I took a nap and then headed over to Palermo around 5 to meet Sarah, Carly's friend. She was super sweet and we just had a wonderful lazy day of mulling through shops and street fair stands to buy stuff! By the time I got back to the ressy I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go to sleep, and I did...by 10pm. I'm cool, okay?!

Then came the 10th! I had my Oral exam at OPII and then tried to get immigration stuff done. Stuff like that gives me a headache and sucks in English...now, imagine it in Spanish for like 2.5. yeah. No fun. It did not actually end up getting done that day, but oh well. I met up with Alyssa and Erica and we attempted to plan a trip to El Calafate, but there were no buses or flights down so we had to make a really quick change in plans. We found bus tickets to Bariloche and since we didn't have a printer at the ressy made plans to meet up the following day at 9AM to go buy and print out our tickets and to get immigration stuff done and to turn in forms for traveling to OPII. Well the 11th every thing went down smoothly! We got our immigration stuff in, and then turned in our papers to OPII, got our tickets, booked a hostel. And headed over to the bus station at 5 to pick up our tickets and we were on our bus by 7pm! It was absurdly last minute, but it went off without a hitch! However, you'll have to wait for an update about Bariloche because there is just too much to say about it!

Since everyone else went to El Calafate, the Taters, Alyssa, and I went to Iguazu Falls! It was a little hectic getting to the bus station becase I had class until 20:00 and our bus left at 20:45. On top of that, I had no minutes on my phone or any time to buy minutes so they were calling and texting me like mad and I couldn't respond, and it was kinda freaking me out! I felt so panicked because I was standing on Callao one of the busiest streets in the city and EVERY SINGLE CAB WAS OCCUPIED! That like NEVER happens, honestly. I always see free cabs in this city ALWAYS! But not that night, nope, not for me! Well I mean, finally I found one, but not after a long grueling process of trying to find one and half wanting to throw up because I wasn't sure if I'd make it intime or not! But, thankfully I got to Retiro and bee-lined for the part of the terminal where Alyssa and I had sat while waiting to go to Bariloche and sure enough I fould Wallyworld and Alyssa but Roden was off somewhere trying to find me. Anyhow, got on and started with some booze and then played cardeds and then fell asleep. Woke up, still on the bus. Played more cards, napped. Woke up, still on the bus. It was an 18 hour bus ride, but finally we got in to Puerto Iguazu and sprinted to the city bus that would take us to the hostel we were staying at, Hostel Inn Puerto Iguazu. They had messed up our reservation so lucky us we got a private room for the first night!

After we got settled intou our room, and showered, we headed into town to the only mercado there was. It had an okay selection of stuff, but still pretty much on the basic side, I'm not sure if that was due to the strikes or just to the location of the city. That night we had beef stir fry or at least our version of it. As with any hostelling international hostel I've been to, this hostel had a bar on the premisses so we decided to go there and see if we couldn't mingle a little bit. It was, however, a bit difficult to do so because we were a group of four with two guys and two girls...and some people take that as "Stay away from us, we're already set!", which really wasn't the case. After we had our fill at the bar, we went over to the foosball table, there we had a little bit of better luck meeting new people, but no really key friendships were formed. Afterwards, we all headed back down to the room to go to sleep because the next day we were hitting the park early in the morning because we'd used one of those hostel offered services to take a "bus" there and back.

The next morning rolls along, and our bus actually turned out to be a taxi. It would have been so much less expensive had we taken then city bus, but they didn't explain that option to us very well, unfortunately...but i mean, at least we got a bagged lunch included. Anyhow, admission to the park is 40 pesos, however if you have residency it's only 14 pesos...now we all had our residency, but had forgotten to bring it except for Roden. That was a HUGE bummer! But, anyhow, we went into the park and did all but two things that day! It was UNREAL! That place was gorgeous, the waterfalls are massive, MASSIVE! I agree with Nancy Reagan, "Poor Niagra Falls" that place has absolutely nothing on Iguazu! There are just so many waterfalls, everywhere, and so many different angles to observe them from. The sheer power of the water is astounding. And of course it's always fun to be in the rainforest/jungle. While we were there, we ran into some other people from our program a few of the Germans and Mexicans had come together and they invited us to go out with them to Cuba Libre that evening, and we said of course we'd go. After that we headed over to the island and walked around that and got a few glimpses of El Garganta del Diablo.

This vacay was definitely on a whim, all we wanted was a relaxing weekend away from the city. That is definitely what we got, because it was off season by the sea. Chase and I got in late on Friday night, and so on Saturday I went walking with the girls along the sea side to a day spa to book massages. Th walk was beautiful, especially because I hadn't been by an ocean in ages and the air was a so fresh and the ocean was so blue. So wonderful, very few people were around so we basically had the entire city to ourselves.

The masages left something to be desired, however it was nice to relax for a few hours. Later when we got back to the hostel we went searching for an open mercado, however there were none. So we ended up just finding an ATM and eatting at a decent mexican restaurant off one of the main streets. That night, we didn't do anything but sit around in the hostel with all the other people there playing guitar and chatting it up.

Sunday was our last day in Mar del Plata, hence it was a "viajecito." We walked down to the pedestriant street just to see what they had because everything else was closed. It was chilly out, but still nice to walk around and see the city because it was off season it was very mellow really only a few visitors and the rest of the people on the streets were city inhabitants. After we had seen that, we took the city bus to the dock area for some lunch. (If you plan on using the city buses in Mar del, you have to buy a plastic card from a kiosco and put money on it to be able to get on the bus). After lunch we started to head over to the ship grave yard, because Erica wanted to see the sea lions. On our way there it started raining, so Marie and I let Angel and Erica go on their merry way because we have seen plenty of sea lions in our time. When they got back, we hopped on to the bus again and were dropped off in the centro and after that we walked back to the hostel where we checked out and then hailed a cab to take us to the bus station and back to BsAs! All in all it was a very relaxing weekend, just what we had needed it to be, I can imagine that it would be a completely different story if it was tourist season though!

Well, finally, after two days of mind numbing, flight delayed travel, I flew into Buenos Aires this morning. Stressful, yes indeed. It seems that the rest of my group has assigned me with every task and responsibility simply because I can speak bad spanish. There was much bitching about our accomodations, although once we arrived to our beautiful, clean, private, well staffed (hottie) hostel there were few complaints but no apologies.

Anyway, once we settled in we went out to a nice lunch of pasta, thick cream sauce, bread, wine, sherry, and limoncello. After speaking with the gorgeous staff at the hostel, Damian (although I believe it is spelled differently here), we went on a mission on the Subtu (got groped as to be expected) to the neighborhood of Belgrano to visit my future school. Unfortunately, La Universidad de Belgrano was not like The U because it lacked an actual campus. The barrio was very beautiful but the school consisted of one enormous buisness looking building. I spoke with the international advisor (all in Spanish, and yes, I was sweating profusely) and learned nothing different from what I knew before. However, it was good that I saw the setting.

Buenos Aires is a massive freaking city and I am completely overwhelmed. 10 million people is alot to deal with and I could not help feeling like I was putting myself in a situation way beyond my capabilities. I dont know what to do as of now but Im sure I can figure it out soon enough.

So I went upstairs to the roof of the hostel and talked to a number of dashing young men; australian, argentinian, brasilian, irish, etc and drank a few beers and had a few pieces of meat. We went for some late minute pizza and now Im going to sleep. Good day in my future home but I cant wait to go to Bariloche tomorrow!

Besos.

I just got back from Buenos Aires and I simply wanted to share the wonderful experience I had by visitng the "Paris of the South".- Everything nice you hear about this unique city is true and my experience couldn´t have been nearly this wonderful If had not contacted the 2Portenios and join their activities. These two guys offer a superb service giving tourists a unioque point of view, making you feel comfortable all the time and safe. I went there alone and came back with 2 friends for life! Thank you.