BACK TO BA

So here we are seven months later and I have returned to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This time I brought two friends with me : ) One only came for a week, seeing as she has an actual job and all, the real work doesn't allow for unplanned adventures. Her (Ashley) and I arrived the same day, an hour apart, and spent an hour looking for each other in the airport. It didn't occur to me to designate a meeting place, not that I could remember what the airport looked like, if you refer back to my post in January about when I arrived you'll know what I'm talking about. Anyways, once we found each other, which was a huge reunion of sorts since we hadn't seen each other in about 3 years, we were well on our way into the city. We arrived thirty minutes later to the hostel I had called home for a month earlier this year. Slept for most of the day then went to my favorite French cafe around the corner for the best eggs benedict I've ever had in my life. Our first couple of days were spent relaxing, eating, and shopping.

It wasn't until my other friend Lauren arrived three days later that we really began to do anything touristy. Also, that weekend we moved into a cute studio apartment we would call home for the rest of the week. Having been here for two months before, I felt like the tour guide and showed to the best of my ability all the "must-see's" of Buenos Aires. Still, our days were short and tiring. We were all trying to adjust to the time and woke up well into the afternoon EVERY day so by the time we were ready to leave the apartment, we would only have a few hours of daylight left since it's still winter over here. Regardless, we still saw all the obvious attractions each day, The Obelisco on Avenue 9 de julio (supposedly the widest avenue in the world, spanning ten lanes), Puerto Madero-the seaport neighborhood with a lot of nice restaurants and new buildings, Calle Florida- similar to Canal street in NYC, the cemetary in Recoleta- a city all on its own with huge masoleums including where Evita is buried, streets of Palermo- chic boho neighborhood, San Telmo's Sunday street fair, Abastos live drum circle-which is every monday night year-round and some of the most amazing percussion music i've ever heard, an intimate Tango show at Bar Sur-where I was serenaded for my birthday...what else hmmm....it was a really busy week. We were also ending our nights pretty late, seeing as the typical time for dinner here is at 10:30pm and the bars don't open until after midnight.

Last Sunday I celebrated my 24th birthday here. Lauren and Ashley cooked a delicious meal for me and four of my friends that live here in Buenos Aires (all ex-pats though). Lots of wine, pasta, and cake...I had a great time : )

Ashley left last Tuesday and since then Lauren and I moved back into the hostel (a better choice economically not comfort-wise though), and spent the rest of the week recovering and relaxing. We had a couple rainy days so we went to the cinema more than once. Tonight is our last night in Buenos Aires until October. Tomorrow, our actual journey begins as we are leaving for our next stop, Rosario. It's apparently a smaller version of Buenos Aires, four hours north and sits right on the river so it should be greener and cleaner : )

From now on, I'll be writing regularly as the sites I'll be seeing will be for the first time and can share it with you guys as I see them. Until tomorrow, CHAU!!! (Argentines borrowed the term from the Italian Ciao)