Perhaps I shouldn’t have been eating 4 pastries a day. All the sweets finally caught up with me and I had to get my sweet tooth filled.
Archive for January, 2009
Oh what a week it’s been. Showing my parents around town, eating fine foods, and having another run in with the Argentine police.
Before the police drama began, everything was going smoothly. We were seeing the sights and most importantly I ate my first steak in Buenos Aires. Yes, I had been living in the beef capital of the world for 5 months and I hadn’t tasted one juicy morsel. Well all that changed when Mommy and Daddy Warbucks came to town. Let me tell you, it was worth the wait.
Now for the good stuff…
We rented a car for the day to head up to a small town about an hour away from Buenos Aires. My dad took driving honors and relished the opportunity to drive a stick shift for the first time in 20 years (We stalled a few times). When we re-entered Buenos Aires it was its usual hectic self: crazy taxi drivers and crazier pedestrians. With all the one way streets and aforementioned craziness we got a bit frustrated and ended up following a few cars on an illegal turn.
And there they were, the bane of my existence, the Argentine cops, seemingly waiting for us to make a mistake. At first I played dumb and spoke loud and slow English to the cop. I’M SORRY. WE WERE JUST FOLLOWING THE OTHER CARS. That didn’t seem to work and only frustrated the cop. Eventually I gave in and broke out my Spanish skills, although for some reason I still pretended to be dumb and spoke in slow loud Spanish. The cop still didn’t budge and proceeded to tell us we were going to have to go with him to the station and pay a fine.
The cop eventually gave into our sob story: nervous foreigners in a strange and far away city. I think the cop was looking for a bribe, something us Yankee’s didn’t pick up on. But, he proceeded to pretend to write us a ticket, scribbling his pen in mid-air to appease the onlooking police before letting us drive away scott free.
All was safe. Tomorrow we cross international waters. I can’t wait to see what trouble Lori and Todd get themselves into next.
Turns out living in a bar isn’t exactly like every man dreams of. I was sleeping on a bench in a bar in Buenos Aires. While it makes for a good story it did not make for a good nights sleep. I had to tend to drunk bosses and co-workers and mediate disputes on the merits of the Japanese eating whales. For the record I am against eating whales.
Upsides included free drinks and full access to the bar cat, Johnny. But these small perks didn’t outweigh the downside of waking up early to let beer delivery men in, the everlasting fried food smell, and the dangers of living where you work.
So, I’m back at Susanna’s. Right where I started from.
I’m back in Buenos Aires after a much need bit of vacation. I breathed in fresh air, drank fresh glacier water and probably smelled very bad doing all of it.
Patagonia was a dream. We visited the very deep south of Argentina and Chile and the old proverb rang true: CHILE IS CHILLY.
I also discovered what could possibly be my new favorite word: crampon. A crampon is a claw the attaches to the bottom of your shoe, providing you traction on ice. Word wackiness insued when our guide insisted it was pronounced grampon while others giggled at the similarity to the word tampon, you know, the female hygiene product.
After the dreaded trip back to BsAs we decided we deserved a treat after some tough hikes and wet bus rides. So, today I got my first professional massage. I ended up with a male masseuse and yes he did massage my butt and I’m perfectly comfortable with it…
Mission Accomplished! I’ve become a permanent member of the Buenos Aires cityscape. I’ve left my mark.
Me and my friend Ginger have been planning and plotting for ages on a graffiti project and while the results may have been less grandiose than originally planned, I’m couldn’t be happier. There was something liberating about defacing public property, getting back at the city for all the piles of dog poop and gross water its sent my way. I’d like to think my little piece of revenge also holds a little beauty.
Today I’m moving out of my apartment and moving into the bar. As my time in Buenos Aires comes to a close, I’m going to have fond memories. Now the city will have memories of me. Tomorrow we take off for the deep south, Patagonia.
CLANG!.BURK!.CLACK!. Aw man, who’s hammering at 9 in the morning. Who is purposefully trying to ruin my life. When you’re tired and asleep there’s almost nothing worse than being woken up by construction. But alas, this is what happened this morning. I peeked out my window to see if i could spot the culprit. Nope, no one there. I walked into the living room to see if i could get a better look outside. And there he was, my roomate Alejandro hammering away in his pajamas. “Are you the one making all the noise!” I demanded. He laughed like always and said “Oh sorry did I wake you up”.
Jerk.
NYE was incredible. I had all these doubts about getting old and having fun, but New Years proved I can still kick back and frolic with the best of them. The night started at out Suz’s with glasses of champagne and tons of cheese. We amassed quite the group and then headed to my bar to ring in the new year, more champagne flowed.
The night was danced away at Amerika, Buenos Aires’ premiere gay club. The bar was all you can drink, which of course meant more champagne and tons of drunk gay dudes dancing on tables topless… I was only hit on once the whole night, albeit by a girl scoping guys out for her friend. I kindly declined and continued my spastic dancing.
I’m working on a video that will properly display the debauchery.
