Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh My!

PoLin and I at Florida Ave

From Left: Katie, Jenny, Heidi, Becca, Po, Me, Carlos at the zoo!

Caricature!

The rest of the week went consistently well, without too much fuss.

I met up with Benjamin and Adriana on Wednesday to have some lunch over by Santa Fe Ave, where we enjoyed some very yummy pizza and beers. I have to mention that the beer here is much more alcoholic than in the US, so I tend to get tipsy just off of one. I don't know if that makes me an extreme light weight but it sure is funny.

After lunch, I wondered around the streets since it was a busy day and I didn't feel like going home. I ran into this woman who makes scarfs made of thread which she says takes her about five days to fully finish. She was only selling them for five pesos each (the equivalent of $1.25 USD) so I bought two. Argentina is full of these women.

Thursday I went over my cousin Cynthia's again to visit her baby girl Mia. This time Mia was in a fabulous mood and I stayed for about two hours just playing with her. I am officially in love.

Later in the day I met up with my step grandmother, Marta. Now, Marta is a very peculiar type of female. She is adamant about everything, and will speak her mind. She sometimes has verbal diarrhea, but can be very sweet when she wants to be. I am not going to go into details, but I will say that it wasn't the most pleasant coffee date I ever had.

Friday was a very fun day. Heidi, Po and I decided to take a trip over to Florida Ave, where the streets are solely for pedestrians and there are tons of vendors in the streets selling everything you could possibly imagine. There is live music, tango and tons of artists. We all got our caricature drawn as well! It is hilarious.

It was quite an adventure. We walked along the five or six blocks which fill the street, and at the end there is a beautiful plaza with huge trees. In front of the plaza is the Argentine military base, which was built so long ago that it is quite rare it is still standing. It was gorgeous.

The three of us sat down at a McCafe halfway through, since it was cold and we were starving. When we headed out of the cafe, around 6:00 pm, tons of new vendors were out in the streets and that is when our shopping got really intense. I swear, this country makes me spend so much money.

Once it became night time, we decided to head over to the obelisk, which is just another version of the Washington Monument, but in Buenos Aires. While we don't know who copied who, we still loved it and it was a very fun experience. I have to mention that we ran across a very busy crossing just to get the perfect shot of us and the obelisk. It was quite hilarious, and I wish I could have caught it on tape.

Friday night, Becca, Katie, Heidi and I got together for dinner at Pompeii where we enjoyed a delicious meal, followed by some margaritas. Delicious.

Saturday, Carlos, Jennifer G, Po, Heidi, Becca, Katie and I all took a trip to the Buenos Aires Zoo! I've been looking at it for a couple of weeks now and I couldn't wait to actually go in. The zoo here lets you purchase food to feed the animals, so we purchased a bucket for the equivalent of $4 USD and fed all the animals in the park. It's actually really cool because you can get close to the animals since they are used to people, and you can basically pet them. It's a very different experience from the US. In addition, the zoo itself is beautiful, a version of Central Park in the middle of the busy Buenos Aires. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday night just consisted of bar hopping in order to try which place had the best drinks. That is all.

Sunday was supposed to be a lazy day, which included an asado and some sleeping. I headed over to Po's around 2:30pm for an asado, the Argentine version of a bbq, but what makes it different is not only the amazingness of the meat, but also the fact that the food just doesn't stop coming. ever. There were about four rounds of meat, which just kept coming off of the grill. It was heavenly. After dessert all I wanted was to hibernate with my food coma, but Angie called me.

Angie is my friend who I met while she was living in the US, at Bonnie Ridge Apartments. After she moved back to Buenos Aires in 2005, I make it a tradition to see her every time I'm here. We got together for coffee right around Belgrano, my neighborhood, and caught up on our lives. She looks great and it's awesome to have another friend here in BA.

After such a hectic weekend, today is my day of rest. Classes don't officially start up until next Monday, but I have tons to do this week. Volunteer also starts next week so I need to get ready to be completely busy all the time. I love being busy, but it is quite a change from my laziness now. Wish me luck!