Sunset in BA

Well, I must say that the view from my current apartment is pretty great.  You can see far into the huge city of Buenos Aires.  By the way, Buenos Aires is ranked as the 17th biggest city in the world (I suppose depending on where you search), with about 13 million people.  The city is HUGE.  Anyways, the views from the apartment are really cool, and the sunset is really quite amazing to watch!  The weather continues to be very warm, although some days are breezier than others, making it really comfortable and enjoyable.  I have gotten a better grip on the transportation here.  The Subte (underground) is really easy, and takes me close to my Spanish lessons.  The bus system, a little scary at first, is getting a lot easier.  Currently I am frequenting the 59 and the 10.  Basically, you get on the bus, and you tell the driver where you are going to get off the bus, and that determines how much you pay.  Each trip is about $1.10 pesos, which is about .30 cents.  Super cheap!  Although, you need to make sure you have monedas, or, coins.  The money system here is still hard to get a solid understanding of.  Monedas are like gold, everyone wants monedas.  And no one wants to give change.  There are fake 100's and 50's floating around everywhere (I haven't gotten one yet, at least that I know of).  The other day, I went to a Farmacity, which is basically like a Walgreens.  They turned me down to buy a Coke because I didn't have a smaller bill than a 20, and the Coke cost about $4 pesos - keep in mind $20 pesos is about 5 dollars.  So, literally, I could not buy the coke and had to walk out of the store.  It is hard to understand.  Also, most places do not accept credit cards, o 'tarjetas'.  Many people have their money in Uruguayan banks, American banks or just foreign banks in general.  If you have a little free time, google some history on the Argentine economy and you might find out why.

Needless to say, things have been interesting so far.  The actual semester begins around the second week of March.  My sisters are coming to visit, and arrive the end of February.  I think I am already losing sleep due to the excitement of their arrival.  Hope all is well wherever you are reading from!

Un Beso Grande

Visit to Estancia

Friday we made a trip to an Argentine Estancia.  An Estancia is the Spanish and Portuguese word for the North American term 'ranch'.  An Estancia is a large rural estate, most typically located in the southern South American grasslands, or the pampas.  The Estancia's have historically always been a livestock (cattle or sheep) estate, unlike a ranch in the US producing grain, coffee, vegetables, etc.  The Estancia's ranch worker on horseback, the gaucho, is an important national folklore in Argentina, much like the cowboy of North America.  

We left for the Estancia about 9:30 on Friday morning, after a rough night out the night before for my friend Joelle's birthday.  The bus ride was about 2 hours.  It was a nice break to get outside of the bustling city of Buenos Aires!  Once we arrived to the Estancia, we toured the house on the property.  Then I hopped on a bike with dangerously flat tires and cruised around the estate myself.  After we had an Argentine Asado - or barbeque.  Tons of meat, of all cuts and varieties (I haven't stopped eating since arriving in BsAs).  Then, some Argentine 'gauchos' and a few mujeres came in, gave us a traditional dance, and then made us dance with them as well (awkward pictures included above).

Afterwards, we wound up at the pool, baking in the 3 pm hot Argentine sun (I was obviously covered in 'proteccion', or sunscreen).  This reminds me of the other day when, I was minding my own business, having a quick cafe in the morning sun.  A woman came up to me and asked if she could give me some advice.  She started to go off about how I shouldn't be in the sun, asking if I am wearing sunscreen, blah blah blah.  Seriously, I know I'm pale - but c'mon lady!  I am smart about wearing sunscreen and never overdo my sun intake (don't worry ma).  

After some bathing in the sun for a couple hours, we had some tea, some desserts, and we returned to the big bad city.

Sushi Pop!

The Alaska Combo!

The other night while studying we ordered Sushi Pop.  They deliver many things here in BsAs, and sushi is one of them.  I have to say it was pretty tasty.  Although, I am no sushi expert.  In fact, I prefer to drench each bite in soy sauce, and I also like my rolls with cream cheese.  The sushi lover might cringe when they hear that.  The food was also fairly cheap.  I got all the sushi shown above for only about $10, ($39 pesos).  Conclusion: if you are too lazy to cook, there are options!

p.s. It is still weird to say "while studying".  Not quite sure it has hit me yet that I am indeed a student again!

I ordered the "Alaska" combo:

Alaska

Makis:
Philadelphia, New York con Philadelphia.
Rolls:
Philadelphia, New York, New York con Philadelphia.
Nigiris:
Salmón.

http://www.sushi-pop.com.ar/index.php?s=pedidos