1) the shorter the name of the club–or more seemingly-irrelevant the name with the state of the bar–the better.

2) GUARD YOUR MONEY/PURSES WITH YOUR LIFE. or put some sort of security device on it, like a clip or a guy.

3) Dancing like a (confident) fool WILL bring the boys to your yard, no matter how off you move to the music.

4) Israelis are hot, and interesting. Especially those with blue eyes.

5) Parents love treating children + friends to dinner and talking about how cool their lives are. Which is cool, when they’re lives are so freaking cool.

All in all, great night. Minus Emma getting her money stolen, AGAIN. For the second time this week. I’m so freaked out, I almost don’t want to bring anything anywhere anymore. (lots of Any’s…)

SUPERCLÁSICO TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!! Expect lots of pictures and details and an awesomely extensive post about it– provided I don’t lose my camera/ get trampled by Boca fans and die.

——————-

0.5) I was supposed to hang out with someone tomorrow, and got a little excited for it…then it got postponed. Not a fan of postponements. Also, NOT A FAN OF THE GAME. (I’ll save that for a later post.)

1) I left my house at 1:30am to go out (standard time to start the evening here, but still), even though I was comfortable staying at home in my jammies talking to beloved friends online, like Sofia, Joe, Layla, Robin, blah blah blah.

2) Cabbed it to a posh, expensive bar (Milión) and didn’t get a single drink (was around 30 pesos, and I’m used to my comfortable 2-for-20-peso Alamo drinks), thus did not get drunk like I wanted/hoped to.

3) Left said-posh bar with a random group of people + Kaarin and Layla to a far -out club by the river in a cab squished in with 5 people. Urgh.

4) Ended up at an even MORE posh, expensive club (called CAIX?!) in which you need an ID to enter. For one, I hate carrying purses, so I try to carry only essentials that will fit in my pockets. For two, I didn’t bring anything except money/key/phone/pepper-spray in fear of being robbed of my wallet like everyone else was last weekend.

5) Cab driver nearly bit our heads off because he demanded we pay 10 extra pesos for putting 5 people in a cab, versus the allowed 4. We argued for longer than necessary about this and then just let him have his way. Damn him and his loud, angry castellano.

6) Didn’t get into said-posh club due to said-paranoia of being robbed, while the rest of our group went on in, thus we were stuck in a place we didn’t want to be with few modes of transportation/alternate things to do. And Mahalet really REALLY had to pee.

6.25) Kaarin decided to go in the club with everyone else, which is cool, since I wasn’ t enjoying their company (or one in particular…), leaving just me, Layla, and Mahalet the sad little people that didn’t bring government-official documentation or whatev.

7) Took another freakin’ cab back to around the area we were originally at…to a 24-hour MCDONALD’S. Because we really had nowhere else to go.

8 ) Waited in line for what seemed like 30 minutes to order my TRIPLE MAC McCOMBO. then waited another 10 minutes for my order. wtf. Oh, it was 4:30am by this point.

9) Got invited to sit with three 17-yr-old girls who REALLY REALLY love American accents– WHO LOVES AMERICAN ACCENTS?! But at least we got to practice castellano.

10) I got a booty call from a guy I met at the Alamo last week, Federico. Needless to say, I didn’t approve of said-booty call and denied him. HOW DO YOU LIKE THE GAME NOW, SUCKA?!

11) Took another cab home. Alone. At 5:30am.

And on a semi-optimistic note, 4 semi-good things that came out of tonight’s events:

1) “Hey, wanna go see the garden?”

2) Layla and I, having been to the Alamo much too often in a three week span, definitively decided NOT to go tonight. And regretted it a bit (at least, I did). Somehow the conversation went…elsewhere. Me: “Everybody died in the Alamo. They were all killed by Mexicans.” Layla’s overactive imagination: Cue the Mariachi bandmembers swarming the Alamo, playing their mariachi music on guitars which also double as guns. Kekekekekeke.

3) TRIPLE MAC COMBO. ‘Nuff said.

4) The played becomes the PLAYER. Bruhaha. Back in THE GAME, I think.

Don’t get me wrong: experiences are experiences. I just would rather have saved my pesos and stayed home and chatted/watched Lost season 3.

And on an irrelevant, amusing note:

HALLO!

Mysterious? No, just Layla and Phoebe being children.

P.S.– my “T” key is broken, which really pisses me off. The latches that attach the key to the actual button somehow broke (?!?!) so if any words are missing T’s….sorry.

But first I’m going to rant. About Lady Gaga haters.

"Telephone" video

So, unless you live under a rock or sans technology, you know she released her \”Telephone\” music video with Beyonce this weekend. And it’s awesome in so many senses. Over-the-top? Yes of course. Creative? Hells yes. Pushes buttons? It’s Gaga. Someone who shall not be named (and several thousand others) are oh-so-pissed about the product placement (Virgin Mobile and Miracle Whip come to mind). They were pretty much saying that she’s not to be respected because she used such tactics. Okay, and?! First off– she’s Lady Gaga and can do what she wants with her videos, which are always works of art and innovation. No one can deny that she has a fresh way with her style, and hate it or adore it, you can’t help but talk about it. AND THAT IS THE POINT. She knows how to work the masses and she’s doing quite a damn good job. So her music makes no sense– look at her as an artist. Who in the industry wears anything near as funky/odd/creepy/astounding? I hear Karen O does, but meh– she’s no NYU-semi-alum. Why does she not go by Stefani Germanotta, but Lady Gaga? Because in the words of Shakespeare, all the world’s a stage, and Lady Gaga is a dominating character right now. She has created a strange and amazing image and it has captivated everyone, even in some negative senses. So what? Her videos, again, are so visually…I don’t even know an appropriate adjective to justify their amazingness. Gagalicious? And the product placement? She’s a BIG FREAKIN DEAL, so of course random brands want to jump on that and cash in on her success. And why shouldn’t she have some fun with it? Miracle Whip– COME ON. It’s all fun and games and maybe some cash to Gaga, don’t get your panties in a wad over it. Anyone that is fully aware of his or her power over the masses and wields it intelligently seems like someone that should get a lot of respect, in my opinion. She’s smart with her pop-star persona. She knows exactly what she’s doing with herself and her image. Oh and enough about her being “talentless.” She went to NYU, and yeah, she dropped out with purpose sophomore year. But you need a wad of talent (or awesome connections) to audition and be accepted into Tisch in the first place. And her much-viewed performance at Ultra Violet Live proves that she’s not another MTV wannabe– her singing, and musical ability in general, is raw and real and it’s incredibly dense to think otherwise. I fully respect and adore and love her music, and know that it isn’t the BEST out there, but it’s something new and refreshing in a bland, repetitive industry. She is truly a musical artist, showcasing talent in her songs, performances, videos, image, and so on! Hate on her or drool all over her– at least show some respect. She’s doing infinitely better than any of us will probably do at age 23, and she’s a genius in every way. (And nameless haters– get a move on your own lives and stop moaning and groaning about Lady Gaga. Just sayin’.)

—-

OSCARS

Anyway. I watched the Oscars streaming online (thank god for technology), and was shocked by how many The Hurt Locker won and how few Avatar did. But that’s okay– Avatar was great visually…anything else was eh. Can’t wait to watch THL when I get back. And El secreto de sus ojos won Best Foreign Film, which is cool because 1) it’s an Argentine film, 2) it was rereleased here in theatres because of the nomination, 3) it’s good.

Best Foreign Film. Argentina REPRESENT!

NYU hosted a showing of it on Wednesday and it was a lot better than I was expecting. The plot is so this way and that and overall…awesome. Just go see it and watch with subtitles, because their castellano is intense and quick and mumbly.

LA BOMBA

La Bomba is a big deal here on Monday nights, so I went this week with Layla, Ben, Robin, Briana, and Courtney. I found it a little overrated, but everyone in the crowd seemed to enjoy it, albeit they were enjoying it with blunts and alcohol. It was actually amusing– they sold weed brownies and desserts to those queuing to get in. And everyone was rolling blunts inside. woah man. Well, we didn’t watch the actual drum performance so much as danced to the music, which made it infinitely more fun. We just danced like hooligans and it was very liberating and silly and intense.

Getting jiggy.

REGGAE CONCERT

Yeah. (No pics…SORRY!) So I went with Emma, Ben, Courtney, and Briana and it was very…Argentine. I don’t listen to much reggaeton, but I might reconsider that now. It was amusing, particularly with all the blunts in the crowd again and the moshing and jumping to the music. Seriously, if you didn’t jump along with the crowd, your poor feet were going to be sorry. Ben got Emma and I all the way to the front and it was even crazier there. But I enjoyed it– reminiscent of Warped Tour . Afterwards, we walked by a bar/parrilla/something or other, and listened to the live guitarist and sax player as we munched on Choripan (sausage burger, basically) and guzzled Quilmes. Mmmmmm. We met up with Kaarin and Arielle at a terrace bar on Thames soon after. Emma and I kept making eye contact with these four guys across the terrace, and as the night wound down, we finally went and sat with them and talked. It was amusing conversation– they apparently loved Hey Arnold and Chuck Norris (and were excited when I said I was from Texas, the Lone Ranger’s land) and Independiente/Diablos Rojos (aka the #1 argentine soccer team at the moment, but not nearly as cool as Boca Jrs.) and such. We tried going to a bar party of their friends’, but bars don’t let you in after 4am. So Emma and I went to bed instead!

Oh, and they were constantly making fun of me for not being able to roll my R’s. It’s a major hindrance in my desire to speak perfect castellano,  I know. I honestly think I am physically incapable of rolling any sort of R’s, which they found to be hilarious and I found to be demeaning a bit. If there is some YouTube video or trick anyone knows from which I can learn… dámelo!

Reporting Class

Munu

So in my Reporting class we’re covering human rights, focusing particularly on the Dirty War and the Desaparecidos. We had Munú (above), who was kidnapped and held in the ESMA (see post before last) for 8 months, enduring awful physical and mental tortures. For instance, she and a few women were taken out to dinners in BA’s fancy restaurants with the officers, who sometimes had just finished torturing them, and then take them back to the ESMA. It’s a lot more awful sounding as described in the book she and a few survivors wrote about their experiences in the ESMA, Ese Inferno (That Hell). We read excerpts in English, and had her speak to our class in castellano since she doesn’t know English. It’s pretty hard  to take notes as she spoke castellano, so Professor Artusa kindly translated everything she said into English (we still wrote our notes in Spanish). But honestly, reading her book the week before… I had expected someone more..Mexican-looking, for lack of better words. Someone with dark hair and dark eyes. And here she was with blonde/gray hair and striking blue eyes. Wow. And she’s authentically Argentine.

It’s an intriguing thing to think about appearance here. Prior to coming here, I had expectations of everyone looking like the Latinos we commonly see in the U.S. –dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Then here I am, and EVERYONE seems to have light green or blue eyes and super tan skin, and really great hair. Italian, Spanish, and other European traits are very obvious among the Argentines and Porteños, which is pretty cool. They all talk like Italians (with their hands vigorously), btw. That’s why the aesthetics here (aka beauty of the people) are so pleasing here! The only case of traditional (in my head) latin looks that have exceeded expectations are those of Mariano, my professor…

MARIANO

So, he is my La Lengua teacher that EVERYONE is gaga over (though Layla trumps them all). Being the master creep that I am, I managed to sneak a picture so you guys back home can bask in his glorious gorgeousness from afar.

Oh but don’t get your hopes up, ladies. Yes, he’s great looking, Argentine, working on his dissertation, knows a lot about fashion and music, and co-authors books. Like this one:

Yep.

Well, we went to El Fulgor Argentino, a play in La Boca last night with our La Lengua class and it was awesome. We ate some great choripan and other delicious comida and watched locals perform in an astounding play. What was it about? Not too sure, since it was all in castellano, but it was still cool.

CHORIPAN YUMMM

UNICEF CARRERA

Layla and I felt like being good humans and walking for a cause, so we participated in the UNICEF walk today. Woke up rather early at 8:30am– in comparison to going to bed at 5am– and walked around a bit. We somehow missed the start, so we just found some walkers and followed them to the finish line, jaja. At least we got some sweet shirts out of it.

In miscellaneous news, I got my roots touched up, as well as my highlights. It was freaky at first, being so orangey again.. but it’s grown on me. I paid $45-ish USD, which isn’t so bad for doing both processes. Though they charged 10 pesos for washing my hair and 15 pesos for drying…uh wtf?

Oh, and I’ve had helado 5 times in four days. Uhhhh….no excuses here. It’s SO good and SO cheap! Best ice cream ever. ME ENCANTA HELADO!

Not sure of what else to say. Need to stop throwing down all the pesos like monopoly moneys… I’m nearly out of the 3300 pesos I brought with me, crap. It’s not even like I’ve been shopping. I just eat..and drink..and eat…and drink more…and go out. Eeeep.

Spring Break is coming up in three weeks! (Patagonia/Tierra del Fuego BOUND.) AND THE SUPERCLÁSICO IS NEXT SUNDAY YAYAYAYAY! AND I AM GOING!!

What I hope to experience at the Superclasico.

Can’t freakin’ wait. My face will be yellow and blue and my voice will be sore, and hopefully I won’t be crushed under the monster stampede that is Boca Jr. fans. EEEEEP!!

Chau.

Gnarly.

Punta del Este

WOW SO MUCH FUN. But alas, it was last weekend, so I’ll sum it up in a paragraph, mas o menos. We all (around 30 of us NYU kiddies) met up at the Buquebus ferry, which is the modern-day Titanic, no joke. It was the HUGEST, most luxurious ferry I’ve ever known of. And a few of us were totally smart and decided to sit on the deck…despite the river winds being immensely strong and cold and us being totally cold. And then the wind knocked Layla’s wine out of her hand and onto my clothes…bummer. So I borrowed Akshay’s pants–which was great, since I didn’t pack any– and one of my v-necks, and bundled up with Kaarin in my towel. Yeah, silly I know. Anyway, please note that security IS A JOKE in these here parts. As we put our stuff on the conveyor belt through security, the guy was just talking to us and not even looking. And when we got through the ferry terminal to the buses, they “checked” everyone’s bags. AKA motioned us cute girls and large groups of people along like it was nothing. And I’d like to say that Kyla and Layla brought a bottle of wine and Kaarin had a knife in her bag– to cut sandwiches and fruit, mind you– and the security dudes didn’t even notice/care. WOW. Got on the bus and got to Punta del Este in the morning. The next two and a half days consisted basically of tanning all day and partying all night. Quite the life, right? The beaches there were very liiiinda, at least compared to what I’ve seen in the U.S. And surprisingly a lot of Europeans and Americans vacation there, thus most places accepted dollars, and there were casas de cambio on every corner that exchanged dollars, euros, and Argentine/Brazilian pesos. Layla and I ate more than enough fish and ice cream to satisfy our carne-craving palates. (That doesn’t make sense, but go with me)

only $8 and super fresh!

four scoops, plus infinite toppings--yum.

Anyway, food was good and cheap, especially when you cared enough economically to find it. Now I must say: Uruguayans are HOT. In general. And the beach is fun. Jaja. Anyway, Kyla had been here last weekend and met a cute barman named Martín, and she came with us again this weekend to see him again. He had a cute little friend named Sebastian, who somehow took an immediate liking to me. So that was fun.

Yeah, this is more or less the norm in Uruguay and Argentina.

Sebastian, mi hombre de Uruguay

OH YEAH. They celebrated Carnaval– the neverending festivity, apparently!!– and we watched the parade. And had foam-spray wars with everyone on the streets. Super fun, especially whenever there were creepers that cat-called to us. We just sprayed them and ran off, YAY.

PWNED by FOAM jajajaja

And I’d like to also say I am now embracing my inner African sista and have become just that dark. No joke. Check us out:

WE SO TAN YAAAY

Okay well it was a superb weekend. A vacation away from our vacation, of sorts. I love my life.

STEVE MCCURRY

Nearly forgot. He’s a BIG DEAL in the photojournalism/National Geographic world, so of course I’d never heard of him. And if you haven’t either, maybe you know the Afghan girl picture he’s infamous for?

Yeah. So we went to his exhibit, which was so visually stunning. I realized that I’m honestly a little apathetic towards art–thus explaining my immense boredom whenever I go to the MET or any art museum, no matter how hard I try (pretend) to be interested in it– BUT photographs will always get me feeling something artsy and emotional. His pictures are beyond beautiful. I truly got chills looking at them. Oh but the fun part of the night– other than trying to grab all the hor d’oeuvres from the speedy waiters–was actually meeting Steve McCurry. Please note: Argentines are pushy beyond all reason. If they want something, be it food or a photo, damned straight they’re going to get it. Sarah and I are luckily just as pushy, and made our way to him. Unfortunately, my camera is abnormally slow, thus the awkward/hilarious photo:

Sup Steve.

Can I say that life here is amazing? I met a world-famous photographer AND traveled to another country for the weekend with my pals. Way cool.

Sidewalks and other forms of lethal walkways

Is it just me, or is death lurking in the streets of Buenos Aires with every step? It might just be me, judging from the smirks I get whenever I step off the escalator to the Subte platform and slip every single time, no matter which sandals I wear. As cute and versatile as my Forever 21 strappy sandals are, they will be the death of me. It’s like I bring my own personal slip-n-slide with me wherever I go, which is totally not cool. I went to Alto Palermo, the nearby mall, and had enough of this whole skating along pavement and any sort of ground, and bought some more substantial sandals. Alas, I still slip around, and still get laughed at. Urgh.

COMIDA COMIDA COMIDA

It’s too good for words here. To make your palates water and your stomachs grumble..

Bondiola from Lo de Bebe (my fave parrilla). Entire meal? $8

Mexican Platter from Arte x 3. DELICIOSA.

Fro-Yo from Freddo. only 8 pesos, aka about $2.

Explorations

Went to the Japanese Gardens last week. Not so very Japanese but it was a pleasant experience on my own. Plus afterwards, I stumbled upon the Buenos Aires Fashion Week expo.

They had outfits inspired by the movie there.

Heeepsters!

Went to do homework in the Botanical Gardens. Super peaceful and neat, except there were tons of cats. And since I’m allergic to felines…it was a little awful. But at least pretty.

Awesome looking greenery @ the Botanical Gardens.

Finally, today my Reporting class took a field trip to the ESMA, which was an illegal detention center in which they kept the “desaparecidos” of the 1976-1983 years in BA. It was quite an eye-opening experience, particularly because the acts committed here are on the same par as those of the Holocaust, but it was only THIRTY years ago. People alive today, that I even talk to on the streets, had experienced the Dirty War in some sense. It’s so crazy to think about, and so unfortunate–surely– for the survivors to see the ESMA and remember what they had gone through there.

ESMA

Friendly Argentines

I FINALLY made friends with an Argentine GIRL! Kaarin and I met her in the restroom of The Alamo bar, and then chatted with her. Woohoo! We also met two attractive guys who go to culinary school and aspire to be chefs, and they promised to cook us dinner soon. Ay dios mio, so amazing!

Tonight I also had dinner with only my host brother, Fermín, which I thought would be immensely awkward since 1) I hardly ever talk at dinner, much less about anything interesting, 2) Margarita and Emma and our new house-mate Tanja (Tanya from Switzerland) were not making an appearance. But we actually got along very well! AND I CARRIED A CONVERSATION SOLO EN CASTELLANO!! YAY! We talked about my field trip to ESMA, and somehow it spiraled to other topics, like the Simpsons, TV, Lost (<3), New York City geography, U.S. cities and their architecture (he’s studying to be an architect), and such. I’m just so proud of myself for being able to talk about all that stuff, without looking at Emma helplessly for ayuda with my vocabulary.

Kaarin, Arielle, and I went to a house party/get-together with Kaarin’s host brother, Javier tonight. Lots of his upper-20s/early-30s friends were there, and we got to talk to them in Castellano, which is always a plus. They gave us free alcohol and then transported us to a club, where we got in for free. Gotta love Argentine hospitality. Well, the club sucked anyway, and I cabbed it home. As I crossed the street to get to my door, a group of rowdy, happy Porteños asked me to take a picture of them. So I did, then afterwards, all the guys literally crowded around me, asking “De donde sos?” “Dónde/qué estudiás?” and the likes. So I made friends with Ignacio “Nacho”, Facundo, and some other guys that I don’t remember their names. And they invited me to go see FuerzaBruta with them later in March. If they remember and do invite me, cool The more friends, the better.

Okay, it’s now 5:45am, and I need sleep/to stop scratching my mosquito bites. Especially if they take up half of my calf…

Yes, those are both mosquito bites. WTF.

Hasta pronto y’all.

In short,

• We met Steve McCurry at his exhibition in BA. Quite an experience and his photos are breathtaking.
• I am practically a Porteno/Uruguayan/African-American now, with my super awesome tan. Skin cancer, ahoy!
• Another latin lover in another country, yesssh!
• Such a great time with friends and new acquaintances! WITHOUT any need for liquid courage, hoorah!
• Happy birthday to BFF Alex and Kelley Forester

and yeah, wasn’t affected by the Chilean earthquake at all, but thanks for (not) worrying!

Hasta pronto!

February 23, 2010

Dear Ms. Kingsak:

We received your email concerning the difficulties you endured while traveling with us recently. As the Immigration Specialist for Customer Relations, I appreciate having the opportunity to respond.

Our personnel are trained to verify pertinent entry and exit regulations by the use of a sophisticated data base which we subscribe to and provides us with up-to-date information on the requirements and regulations for nearly 200 countries. Currently, a citizen of the United States is granted a 3 month visa exemption to enter Argentina. However, the data base also states an extension is possible for tourists and students so I apologize that our agent forced a date and ticket change. I’ve followed up with our Station Manager at DFW. I’ve also refunded the $170 charge you incurred and changed your return flight back to your original date of June 5.

Ms. Kingsak, we hope that we have helped to make amends. It is our privilege to serve you.

Sincerely,

Shelli R. Gipson
Customer Relations
American Airlines

DAMN STRAIGHT. I’m pretty impressed with myself for dealing with that single-handedly. At least it’s over and done with.

So, problem: I think I have bedbugs at home. You know how susceptible I am to bug bites, particularly those of mosquitoes… well, I keep getting more and more, particularly while I sleep. And there are too many to count now. People say that, but I stopped at 40, no joke. At LEAST 24 are around my feet alone.

Here are some gruesome pictures:

It itches like hell, to the point where I’m scratching till it bleeds. I know that’s bad, and I’m gonna get it checked out when our nurse/doctor comes.

Oh, and I’m going to Punta del Este in Uruguay this weekend with a third of NYUBA. No biggie.

See y’all when I’m ten times browner! YAY!

Some places I plan to hit:

Quito, Caracas, Lima, Machu Picchu, Cordoba, Montevideo, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, maybe Tierra del Fuego and thus Antarctica, Reykjavik, London, Amsterdam, Zurich, Madrid, Casablanca, Athens, Rome, Moscow, Cairo, Nairobi, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Tel Aviv or Abu Dhabi, Mumbai, Bangkok (take a break a visit the fam), Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Tokyo, Melbourne/Sydney, Auckland, Fiji Islands (or Samoa),  Honolulu, and end in Dallas or New York. wherever I decide to call home.

I’ve been overly inspired by the people I’ve met here, particularly Robin and Jessica for having spent 6 months or so traveling the globe at their own pace. How amazing does that sound?!

I’m the kind of person that likes being able to say “Been there, done that,” so of course this would be something grand to add to my bucket list. BUT of course it’s not all about that. Being away–from home and from the motherland– is actually more enjoyable than I had initially thought, and I don’t think I’m ready, as a being and in my life, to settle down in a place. I NEED to explore options and continents and people and cities and lifestyles and languages and cultures and foods and mentalities. I really can’t sit still anymore, not when there’s a world just outside of here.

Time to start saving those paychecks.

Yeah, you don’t think it’s going to happen. Just watch me.

OH WHAT A WEEKEND IT WAS.  An educational, enlightening experience one in the same.

Things I’ve learned throughout my excursions in the BA:

1) 20 is a crazy age to be. Especially in Argentina. My and Mariann’s birthday shebang was quite glorious and epic, as I expected no less of course! We had everyone meet up at a swanky bar called Carnal (appropriate, yes?). And it was cute cause a good third of our NYU program showed up–aw! Well there was a sweet rooftop terrace and we could see the stars (fortunate, as they were nowhere to be found the rest of the weekend..) as we drank our alcohol draaanks and enjoyed each others company. And on this bar note,

1.A) Mixing a vodka shot with Corona, followed by some semblance of a Piña Colada, several shots of Tequila being poured down your throat by the bartender after you told him it was your birthday, and a mystery drink some guy bought you upon hearing everyone cheer “happy birthday” and proceeding to down it before he even got to his (don’t worry– I watched as the drink came straight from the bottle in the bartender’s hands and into my glass) will get you VERY VERY DRUNK.  But ohhhh not right away. That would be too obviously silly. It tends to kick in once the festivities begin, a cab ride and hoppin’ club later. We went to Club Lost (Or Araoz? We still argue about it today.) And there was some  freestyle-dancing, à la Step Up/Save the Last Dance before the American music came on and we all started dancing and getting our respective freaks on. Except I became the token drunk birthday girl and got more friendly with the bathroom stalls than the dance floor. But I remembered it all (Yay? Ney?) and had such a great time! And luckily I had no trace of a hangover the next day–though had lots of trouble getting to bed; as coherent as I was, I kept tossing and turning, singing, “HEY EVERYBODYYYY, HEEEEERE IIII AAAAM. I’LL MARCH MY BAND OUT, I’LL BEAT MY DRUM… DON’T BRING AROUND A CLOUD  TO RAIN ON MY PARAAAADE” (Oh, Glee Volume 2, how I love thee.) But I will NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. By “that,” see the first run-on sentence of this point. Seriously, though: for those who know me, y’all are very familiar with the fact that I never drink in the States, much less get craazzzy-drunk. Consider this my one time pass, and lesson most certainly learned.

1.B) Argentines really want some American bootay. Some guy named “Gaston” bought me my birthday drink, and then another fugly guy and his posse came with us to the club and got us in for free (not much of a complaint there). But they totally dig us not understanding them and their Castellano and are overly-eager to get in some pants (see: Layla’s unfortunate date fiasco). Such a shame.. Luckily, no misshaps in that field for me yet!

2) Argentines are apparently descendants of the Wicked Witch of the East, and melt should they ever get caught in rain. Too bad it doesn’t just rain here– there are huge deluges (awful wording–sorry) and it is supposedly not common for Palermo to resemble Venice (as I’ve seen happen twice during my stay). The past downpour was apparently (this word will show up a lot–get over it) 75% of February’s rainfall. That means the majority of the inches gained in one hour of raining cats and dogs and hot gay men was the total rainfall in a month. CRAZINESS. But once the water level goes down and the heavy showers become but a light misty gloss in the Buenos Aires night… the streets become totally deserted. Nightlife here is bonkers, unless it follows heavy monsoons. Emma, Ben, Robin, and I went out Friday night and very few souls were to be found (I mean, we were by the Recoleta graveyard, but still) in the bars/clubs/streets. Very uncommon. And slightly funny. But that just meant more elbow room for us, and I’m all for appreciating larger personal bubbles.

3) Having pizza at Plaza Serrano with your tipsy housemate at 6AM and having a creepy Argentine geezer sitting next to you and staring longingly is more fun that it sounds.

4) FORGET FINDING SUSHI HERE, PARTICULARLY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 3 and 9PM. So I was feeling like Sushi on Saturday afternoon (because I can’t seem to wake up before noon after a long night out), and searched for a few places in Palermo Viejo. I literally went to THREE places, all of which were close. Apparently Japanese-Porteños only feel like being open 12-3pm and 9-1am (give or take). Thus, my search was a fail. I stomped around angrily, then consoled myself with a Whopper Doble, Papas Fritas, and a Cola. Mmmmmmm. However, I did find some sushi at the Patio Bullrich mall (at which we saw Valentine’s Day) and jumped for joy. I devoured those ten pieces like it was nobody’s business, and enjoyed every soy sauce-drenched bite of it.

5) There are just as many hipsters here–if not more– than in New York. But I like the Argentine-version more– less grungy, more classy. But they all love love love Warhol, as it seems. Erin, Layla, and I trekked to the MALBA to see the exhibit before it closed on Monday, and there was an hour+ wait, which was wrapped horribly in front of the entrance. Know how you contort yourself every-which-way whilst playing Snake  to avoid hitting yourself? The line was similar to that. And I’m not the biggest Warhol fan, so the wait was kinda bleh, as was the exhibit.

And we also got to watch Warhol’s fun little movies, such as “Empire” (where he shot the Empire State Building for eight hours straight) and “Blow Job” (where he shot a guy’s face as he was receiving some oral pleasure for 40 minutes). Totally provoking. Not. Except when we were sitting in BJ and a guy brings his three girls in, only to later realize what he’s walked in on, and shoos his girls out of there, disgusted. Quite amusing.

6) Valentine’s Day is the WORST MOVIE OF 2010. I had some hopes after hearing from Jessica that it was cute (I should probably have known better, knowing my dearly optimistic friend). But I was squirming the whole time. It was beyond corny, and I cringed at nearly every line by Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel (UGH hate her), Jamie Foxx (dude, how did you manage an Oscar again?), Taylor², and many others whom I’ve fortunately forgotten. Oh but worst acting ever goes to Taylor Swift. My patience for her is severely wearing thin. Whoever told her she could act–especially as a stupid ditzy brainless blonde high school dancer– should be fired and banned from Hollywood. She induced many cringes and rolling-of-the-eyes. I pray to some deity that she doesn’t act like that in real life, or if she does, can now understand why Joe Jonas and Taylor Lautner–among the many other guys she writes whiny songs about– have dumped her sorry, teardrop-guitar ass. The ONLY part of that movie I  actually appreciated–and admittingly teared up during– was Julia Robert’s part at the end with Edison. Too bad that was literally a 30-second clip in a terrible 2-hour movie. I know it tried too hard to be like He’s Just Not That Into You with the all-star mega cast and lovey-dovey message… except it was an overload of stars–and not very good ones for the most part– and the stories ended up to be more depressing/stupid than how  they started. Minus Bradley Cooper/Eric Dane’s stories–didn’t see it coming, and totally loved it! Haha. OBVIOUSLY it was made only to fill up half of Hollywood’s bank accounts…I just wish it had more substance and reeked more of sappy, heart-warming love than desperation for box-office success.

7) Bros’ Night Out does not necessarily mean it’s exclusively for men. Layla, Emma, Hannah, Noel, and I all met up Saturday night at Lo de Bebe, a wonderful little Parrilla (steak) place I found on my birthday and at which I had a very cheap bday lunch. We each had a slab of glorious steak, and shared salad, papas fritas, and two 40oz of Quilmes and Schneider beer–and ONLY PAID 30 PESOS EACH, including tip. Uh hello? That’s less than $10USD each. Argentina is so freaking cool.  Also a plus: Emma having her first legit, amazing steak in SIX years. Yes, the meat is THAT good here that it can convert vegetarians. And Hannah so brilliantly educated us with Gandhi’s epic, truthful words: “Bros before hoes.” Truer words have never been spoken, Gandhi– except perhaps on Jersey Shore.

8 ) Snorting ice cream is never a good idea. Try to keep laughing and devouring ice cream as separate activities.

9) Saving three Spanish-conversation-intensive-classes’ worth of homework until Sunday afternoon is a HORRIBLE HORRIBLE idea. Especially when  you have at least 2 hours of reading for each one… eeek.

10) Mosquito bites will show up anywhere and everywhere. On your toes (more than once on just one, even). Lining your ankles to the point that it looks like you’ve implanted an anklet underneath the skin. On the bottom of your foot, on the arch (or where it should be, if you had proper arch support). On your stomach–twice– despite it being covered 24/7. On both sides of your forehead. On the lip. Ay dios mio…

11) The probability of meeting Europeans here seems equal to that of meeting Argentines. wtf.

That’s all for now. And of course there were many more things of which I was made aware, though are not of the best quality to be seen on this site.

Enlightening, right? Chau!

Now if Mariann and I could only find a place to have it… pretty much everyone is going. Ay dios.