Buenos Aires

Sarah:
This afternoon, we saw the most bizarre thing so far. The police had blocked off a pretty major downtown street in a way that looked like it might be a parade, so we headed down to see what was going on. Maybe 100 university age people sat on bicycles in the middle of the blocked street as though they were starting a race, but wearing street clothes, carrying purses and backpacks, and generally looking like they were just out for an afternoon ride. Also exactly 2 of them were skateboarding. So we sat by a monument and waited for something to happen. They started off, like a race, but with some people doing tricks, and some people cruising along slowly, like they were on a beach, and some chatting with each other or texting on cell phones. After about 2 blocks, they turned around and lined up again at the start. Waited a few minutes. Did it again. And again. We asked people (well, Hobbit did in Spanish), and they said it was just something people do. They just ride their bikes for no particular reason.

But let´s backtrack to how we got here.
We´ve made it through our 18 hour plane ride, and arrived in Buenos Aires at 2:00 pm on Thursday. We checked into the Lime House hostel, which I would reccommend for having clean facilities and fun people.

Though I was warned, and I´m a pretty late night girl myself, the late schedule that Argentinians keep really threw me off. Truly, these people party harder than anyone I´ve ever met. The music and beers start around 11:00 pm, and no one even leaves for the bar or club until 1:00 or 2:00 am. Some people head back around 5 or 6 when the bars close, but the die-hards hit up the afterbars then come back to the hostel around 8:00 am, where they finish with a beer or two before bed! I completely wimped out. After a few beers, I crashed pretty hard around midnight. Hobbit performed much better, heading to a salsa bar until 5:00 am with some Isralis and Australians from the hostel. I´ll let him tell that story when he posts. (He´s napping on the roof now.)

Despite missing out on some of the more extravagant nightlife, I´ve really enjoyed the city of Buenos Aires. It´s very European (like everyone says) in terms of architechture and the general layout of the city. The widest avenue in the world is here, Avenue de Julio. I counted 22 marked lanes of traffic--but during rush hour, there are at least 30 cars accross, weaving around busses and motorcycles. Crossing is an activity that needs planning and focus. The hostel is just near the capitol, which is cool because I´ve gotten to see political and union rallies complete with real fireworks and banners and all of the color you might expect from Latin America.

My attempts at Spanish are met mostly with confused stares, but I think I´m making some progress. Some staring is a little harder to get used to. I know it´s because I´m tall and white, but the blatant staring from the men is more than a little wierd. I would like to start waving and saying hi to everyone who stares, but it would take up my whole day. Walking down the street, they don´t even see Hobbit, but I am a real show stopper. I don´t know if it will be different in more rural areas, but at least there will be fewer of them to stare at me.

So far, no intestinal difficulties to report, and nothing disasterous has happened, so it´s pretty good. We leave on an overnight bus to Iguazu Falls tonight, and tomorrow, our first attempt at camping. Wish us luck!