After Fede's asado, we went to a club, I went home from the club, and then Omar the taxi driver came to pick me up right away to go get Katelyn at the airport. I am sure I was quite the site to see while waiting for her at the airport, but what are you gonna do. I made her take a nap with me for a whole 2 hours and then we got up and went to San Telmo and a Tango show at Cafe Tortoni. I took her to La bomba del tiempo and the next day to La estancia. It was a farm outside of the city and it was gorgeous. We were the only guests there so we were treated like queens! Our room was upgraded, we had a fire going the whole time, we got to ride horses (kinda...the horses didn't really like us!), watched polo, and got served meal after meal. I went on a run the next morning and I finally was breathing fresh air and the only thing I could hear were cows and sheep. What a change from the big city.
I took Katelyn to Liquid, the club with free beer on Wednesdays. And boy did she take advantage. She might have had one too many though and then the rest of the night went downhill. Lets just say she was asked to leave and I got to be the lucky one to take her home. lol. The next night we had a Postre party at our house and all of our friends brought their favorite dessert. It was fun but by the end of the night Annalise and I were making rice with soy sauce cuz we were so sweeted out. There was even voting and prizes for the winner. Brighton, my roommate, is all about the theme parties so we have had one almost every week.
Friday, Kate and I went over to my old office, Dimnet, and celebrated Annalise's last day of work. We had sangria and hung out with the coworkers which was interesting to see them in a social setting. We went out to sugar that night and katelyn continued to enjoy her stay in Buenos Aires;D We all ate takeout on my bed the next day and didn't leave until it was time for the next party...a beer pong party! Another all argentine party with katelyn and I and so I had to be the teacher of the beer pong. I even managed to talk shit in spanish (my favorite part of the whole game). To end the whole perfect weekend, we went to a River Plate futbol match. We were sitting in a calmer section than I did at the Independiente game, so it was different but still amazing. I love futbol.
Katelyn was off the next day and I think she had a fun time...I was glad I got to show her Buenos Aires from more of the "Portena" view. She even got to practice her spanish a lil and I was so glad my friend from home got to see my life here. Now I can't wait to get home and see all my friends and fam in one week!!!!
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
La vida...
Well, lets see what have I done that is interesting. Annalise and I went to Uruguay for a couple days. We had different boat trips to get there since it was so booked up, but she stood on stand by and at the last minute got on the boat and surprised me. It was meant to be. We were nervous about where to meet and what to do if not since our phones didn't work but everything works out in the end. We went to Colonia and ate, then went to Montevideo and ate some more. We even got to go to this market that you could sit at a bar and order whatever steak you wanted. I guess we ate at the same one that Anthony Bordaine ate at. I guess he is some famous travel channel man and Annalise and this other touristy american woman were all excited about it. It was a fun, relaxed trip, but we left with about 20 mosquito bites each from our hostel. yuck.
What else. I took another week of school to prepare for the test I am going to take that proves I can speak spanish as a second language. My teacher was super fun and we talked lots about celeb gossip. I even brought her one of my magazines and she was in heaven. We also talked about Argentine men and how they always hoot and holler at you on the street. The other day this man told me something about eating chicken out of my hand when i walked by. I knew it was supposed to be something flattering but was so confused, why the heck would u want to eat chicken out of my hand??? I then asked my friend from here and he told me what they really said, "estas mas buena que comer pollo de la mano" which means you are better than eating chicken from my hand (i guess they love eating chicken with their hands? weird i know.) My friend told me to reply, "no te toco ni con un palo" which means i wouldnt even touch you with a stick! haha kind of harsh but funny. I still haven't said that to anyone, it might be too mean.
I went to my first real asado (bbq) at my friend Federico's house. He made every kind of meat there is and we all sat around, ate meat, drank some drinks, and it was so fun. I also went to a party at my other friend, Guillermo's, house and it was the first time I was with only people from Argentina. I loved it because I got to speak spanish the whole night and see how they party. Usually I am with people from all over and we are speaking broken spanish to each other or the others speaking broken english (who i am kidding, my english is pretty broken these days too!).
What else. I took another week of school to prepare for the test I am going to take that proves I can speak spanish as a second language. My teacher was super fun and we talked lots about celeb gossip. I even brought her one of my magazines and she was in heaven. We also talked about Argentine men and how they always hoot and holler at you on the street. The other day this man told me something about eating chicken out of my hand when i walked by. I knew it was supposed to be something flattering but was so confused, why the heck would u want to eat chicken out of my hand??? I then asked my friend from here and he told me what they really said, "estas mas buena que comer pollo de la mano" which means you are better than eating chicken from my hand (i guess they love eating chicken with their hands? weird i know.) My friend told me to reply, "no te toco ni con un palo" which means i wouldnt even touch you with a stick! haha kind of harsh but funny. I still haven't said that to anyone, it might be too mean.
I went to my first real asado (bbq) at my friend Federico's house. He made every kind of meat there is and we all sat around, ate meat, drank some drinks, and it was so fun. I also went to a party at my other friend, Guillermo's, house and it was the first time I was with only people from Argentina. I loved it because I got to speak spanish the whole night and see how they party. Usually I am with people from all over and we are speaking broken spanish to each other or the others speaking broken english (who i am kidding, my english is pretty broken these days too!).
Thursday, April 2, 2009
La vida simple...
I finished dimnet the week before and now just one week left of AE and then I begin the last month of fun... Since I only worked AE this week I had time for more exciting things so, Annalise and I had a girls day out. We went waxing and she had never gone before and we are in rooms across from each other and all I hear is wax rip off and Annalise yell, "OH MY GOD!!" This didn't stop until she was done, I was cracking up. Then we decided to get manicures since that was a little more on the relaxing side. To continue our girly day, we went to see "Simplemente no te quiere" which is the movie "He's just not that into you". She is a cheesy girly movie lover like me so it worked out just great. Then, we went to my home away from home, California Burrito Company, and had taco tuesday and analyzed every boy story we have (in lieu of the movie of course!) We continued our week of fun by trying to go salsa dancing the next night, but I heard it started at 9:30 but it actually started at 9. Back-up plan turned out to be sitting drinking sangria at this cute restaurant. We can try salsaing another time. Since I normally work at Dimnet thursdays, I didn't have work and went shopping! what a surprise, I know. I was going to this one purse outlet that my friend told me about and it turns out the whole area was outlet shopping. I was in heaven on earth for a full day and I even found my leather jacket that I have long been searching for. I have tried it on in the little boutique like 3 times now but still thinking about it, then I walked into this random leather shop and found the exact same one for half the price! It was obviously meant to be so i bought it. I also found a coffee shop that day that had CHAI TEA! It came it a pot with the tea, a seperate thing of milk, and a pot of honey. It was the cutest arrangement ever and I was so happy. But, it does remind me of my desire to sit on my porch at my beach house and drink a linda's chai latte. I came home and Brighton was making his famous no-bake cookies that night and we overate but they were oh so worth it.
The infamous friday night party came and the theme was Edward 40 hands! Annalise and I decided we wanted to have a tacky north american party, and the facebook invite read:
"When the typical sloppy north american drinkers get together in casual rendezvous , we don't carry a 12 ounce beer while tastefully attending a pleasant soiree, we duct tape 40 ounces otherwise known as a liter to each one of our hands in praise and glory of the infamous Edward Scissorhands. okay, after the first liter you may have to pee, smoke a cigarette, or itch a place i'd rather not know, but the race is on and the only way you can win is to DRINK.
SO-bring two liters of quilmes (or your choice beer) and we'll provide the duct tape, drinking lessons,appetizers and a ridiculous night you're bound to forget."
Everyone from work came and of course we (me, Brighton, and Annie) taped our beers to both hands but a lot of people just taped it to one. I had no control over this though because my hands were occupied. It was good fun, everyone enjoyed it and liked the idea.
On Saturday, I had a fun house part to go to for my friend Pablo's birthday and Sunday I didn't get much accomplished. But, Annie went to barrio chino and decided to make an asian feast and it was great. The even better part was watching our argentine friend, Guerillmo, eat it because it was obviously food he was not used to. He told us that all he eats is pizza, pasta, steak, milanesa, and hamburgers. I do not think he will be eating with us again!
This week I had an epiphany and I realized how much I enjoy my simple life. I am not crazy busy and have time to do things I want to do. I do not have a ton of friends, but I have good quality friends. I get to go do things by myself and don't feel the need to invite someone. I need to remember this when I get home, when I do not want to do something, just don't do it, and don't feel like I should just because I am going to miss out on something. Ahh the joys of this wonderful trip I am taking...everyone said you will learn so much about yourself and I was like ya whatever, but really I have and am exited to come home with a new attitude towards life.
The infamous friday night party came and the theme was Edward 40 hands! Annalise and I decided we wanted to have a tacky north american party, and the facebook invite read:
"When the typical sloppy north american drinkers get together in casual rendezvous , we don't carry a 12 ounce beer while tastefully attending a pleasant soiree, we duct tape 40 ounces otherwise known as a liter to each one of our hands in praise and glory of the infamous Edward Scissorhands. okay, after the first liter you may have to pee, smoke a cigarette, or itch a place i'd rather not know, but the race is on and the only way you can win is to DRINK.
SO-bring two liters of quilmes (or your choice beer) and we'll provide the duct tape, drinking lessons,appetizers and a ridiculous night you're bound to forget."
Everyone from work came and of course we (me, Brighton, and Annie) taped our beers to both hands but a lot of people just taped it to one. I had no control over this though because my hands were occupied. It was good fun, everyone enjoyed it and liked the idea.
On Saturday, I had a fun house part to go to for my friend Pablo's birthday and Sunday I didn't get much accomplished. But, Annie went to barrio chino and decided to make an asian feast and it was great. The even better part was watching our argentine friend, Guerillmo, eat it because it was obviously food he was not used to. He told us that all he eats is pizza, pasta, steak, milanesa, and hamburgers. I do not think he will be eating with us again!
This week I had an epiphany and I realized how much I enjoy my simple life. I am not crazy busy and have time to do things I want to do. I do not have a ton of friends, but I have good quality friends. I get to go do things by myself and don't feel the need to invite someone. I need to remember this when I get home, when I do not want to do something, just don't do it, and don't feel like I should just because I am going to miss out on something. Ahh the joys of this wonderful trip I am taking...everyone said you will learn so much about yourself and I was like ya whatever, but really I have and am exited to come home with a new attitude towards life.
Friday, March 27, 2009
La vida...
The next few weeks I was without my girlfriends but I did manage to find a new roommate! His name is Brighton and he had been staying at the Argentina Exchange apartment but wanted to find a new place. Luckily, he moved in the same day that Ariane left. This is my first experience living with a boy that is not my brother or dad, but he is actually quite clean and the second night he was there I came home to dinner waiting on the table for me! I think it will all work out just fine:) Friday night at Argentina Exchange was a big party that we had been working on for the last few months and I got to be bartender. There are about 8 french people that work with me, and individually, they are all nice, but as a whole, live up to their reputation. I loved being a bartender but then got booted to other stupid jobs like the coat check and check-in. These were not my jobs but some others decided that they wanted to take over my job, quite frustrating. But, overall it was a good night.
Another fun event was getting locked out on Monday. Once you close my front door, it automatically locks and as I just closed it, I realized my keys were inside and my roommate was already gone. Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem, but I had no phone at the time and he does not have a cell phone. So I left him an email, but as he never went home during the day, never got it. I got home and didn't know where he was so I tried to get the door open with the help of the door man but no luck. I went to the cafe, luckily I had my laptop for entertainment and was trying to make plans in the event that Brighton didn't come back until late that night. I had gone out to lunch with this guy I met on the bus the week before and he wanted to go out again, so, in my distressed state, I turned to him for something to do. I ended up finding Brighton before that and getting into the house, but I felt bad and still went out with him. And here is how the date went: He showed up in a sleeveless shirt, the kind a meathead wears to show off his guns. I wanted to turn around right then and walk back inside. As we are walking to the restaurant, he kept grabbing me while we crossed the street like I needed protection. I just wanted to say, look chico, i walk these streets everyday and I manage to do just fine. Then, we sit down in a restaurant and we start talking. I knew that he had been married, but as I am asking him about the divorce process here, he told me that they still had not gotten a divorce, they were still married. Strike 1 (the others I could get over if the date went well). Then he started bragging about how many friends he has and how he always has a million things to do. Strike 1.5. Then he started talking about his workout routine and how he likes to always keep a 6 pack. Strike 2. THEN, here's the real kicker, he told me that his friends always tell him that he must have been a stripper in his past life because of the sexy way he dances. STRIKE 3. you're out. Check please. I do not think I will be seeing him again.
Tuesday was a much better evening...I made taco tuesday for my friend Danny. His job at work is to find housing so our deal was that if he found me a roommate, I had to make him dinner. So, taco tuesday it was. My friend Travis from SCU was in BA again, so he came for dinner too. All was delicious as every taco tuesday is and we played poker after. I do miss my girlfriends but it is fun to hang out with guys too...a bunch of girls would never just be sitting and decide to play poker. We can just chat away the evening without any other entertainment. But, I like both so it was a good change of pace!
I ended my career at Dimnet on Thursday, and brought cupcakes in to celebrate. Everyone was quite taken aback because they had no clue what they were! I told Conor and he was shocked (and mad he didn't get to eat the cupcakes). I had a good experience at Dimnet overall, but I have no desire to go into web design, that is for sure.
Finally on Saturday, Ariane and Annalise came back to me! It was Ariane's last night before she really left to go home and Annalise was done travelling. We went to our favorite bar, Sugar, and stayed out til 8:30 in the morning. I spent the whole next day in bed with Annalise. My body simply can't handle those nights anymore, I was exhausted all the way through Tuesday. To end the weekend (and to leave the house at least once on Sunday) we ate gnocchis because it was the 29th. We found this great little hole in the wall restaurant with amazing gnocchi for so cheap. We all said goodbye to Ariane for real this time and we were all sad to see her go!
Another fun event was getting locked out on Monday. Once you close my front door, it automatically locks and as I just closed it, I realized my keys were inside and my roommate was already gone. Normally this wouldn't be a huge problem, but I had no phone at the time and he does not have a cell phone. So I left him an email, but as he never went home during the day, never got it. I got home and didn't know where he was so I tried to get the door open with the help of the door man but no luck. I went to the cafe, luckily I had my laptop for entertainment and was trying to make plans in the event that Brighton didn't come back until late that night. I had gone out to lunch with this guy I met on the bus the week before and he wanted to go out again, so, in my distressed state, I turned to him for something to do. I ended up finding Brighton before that and getting into the house, but I felt bad and still went out with him. And here is how the date went: He showed up in a sleeveless shirt, the kind a meathead wears to show off his guns. I wanted to turn around right then and walk back inside. As we are walking to the restaurant, he kept grabbing me while we crossed the street like I needed protection. I just wanted to say, look chico, i walk these streets everyday and I manage to do just fine. Then, we sit down in a restaurant and we start talking. I knew that he had been married, but as I am asking him about the divorce process here, he told me that they still had not gotten a divorce, they were still married. Strike 1 (the others I could get over if the date went well). Then he started bragging about how many friends he has and how he always has a million things to do. Strike 1.5. Then he started talking about his workout routine and how he likes to always keep a 6 pack. Strike 2. THEN, here's the real kicker, he told me that his friends always tell him that he must have been a stripper in his past life because of the sexy way he dances. STRIKE 3. you're out. Check please. I do not think I will be seeing him again.
Tuesday was a much better evening...I made taco tuesday for my friend Danny. His job at work is to find housing so our deal was that if he found me a roommate, I had to make him dinner. So, taco tuesday it was. My friend Travis from SCU was in BA again, so he came for dinner too. All was delicious as every taco tuesday is and we played poker after. I do miss my girlfriends but it is fun to hang out with guys too...a bunch of girls would never just be sitting and decide to play poker. We can just chat away the evening without any other entertainment. But, I like both so it was a good change of pace!
I ended my career at Dimnet on Thursday, and brought cupcakes in to celebrate. Everyone was quite taken aback because they had no clue what they were! I told Conor and he was shocked (and mad he didn't get to eat the cupcakes). I had a good experience at Dimnet overall, but I have no desire to go into web design, that is for sure.
Finally on Saturday, Ariane and Annalise came back to me! It was Ariane's last night before she really left to go home and Annalise was done travelling. We went to our favorite bar, Sugar, and stayed out til 8:30 in the morning. I spent the whole next day in bed with Annalise. My body simply can't handle those nights anymore, I was exhausted all the way through Tuesday. To end the weekend (and to leave the house at least once on Sunday) we ate gnocchis because it was the 29th. We found this great little hole in the wall restaurant with amazing gnocchi for so cheap. We all said goodbye to Ariane for real this time and we were all sad to see her go!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
La vida...
Life is grand and now my roommate has to leave me! We spent our last week doing fun things like going to the horse races and our last liquid free beer night. On Thursday we both planned to call in sick because it was going to be our last day to do something together before her parents got here. We got up late, ate empanadas in bed, and went shopping...she is a great shopping partner which is always fun to find. She bought lots of stuff since she wanted to add to her Buenos Aires wardrobe before she went home, and I found a new pair of jeans. They feel very european in that they are skinny skinny jeans but I like them. They are considered to be designer jeans here and the most expensive pair of jeans you could probably find is about 400 peso which is a little over 100 dollars. Its too bad designer jeans from the states couldn't be more reasonably priced! Anyways, enough about shopping...we had a great dinner nearby and had a really good fake sick day.
At work on Friday, like every friday, I made lunch for everyone. I decided on hamburger pie since it is my favorite and when I put the mashed potatoes on top, I spelled out AE for Argentina Exchange. Everyone was so impressed and they took pictures and everything. That night Ariane and I had another nice dinner at this new restaurant near our house and then met up with our friends and on our way to this club there were two guys that asked our cab driver how to get to a certain club. So our cab driver told them not to go to that club, come to the club that the two cute girls in his cab were going to...so they ended up following us to the club! And then it was kind of awkward when we first met, but they were nice and cute, but they went in before us and then we didnt want to pay the 70 peso cover, so we never saw them again. It would have been a better story if we had fallen in love all due to our cab driver, but it was still funny that they actually followed us to the club. We ended the night at this bar near our house which I am now in love with...it reminds me of a college bar because it was nothing special inside, just a bunch of people hanging out and then a few people dancing. Who knew that I would crave a night in a dive college bar!
At work on Friday, like every friday, I made lunch for everyone. I decided on hamburger pie since it is my favorite and when I put the mashed potatoes on top, I spelled out AE for Argentina Exchange. Everyone was so impressed and they took pictures and everything. That night Ariane and I had another nice dinner at this new restaurant near our house and then met up with our friends and on our way to this club there were two guys that asked our cab driver how to get to a certain club. So our cab driver told them not to go to that club, come to the club that the two cute girls in his cab were going to...so they ended up following us to the club! And then it was kind of awkward when we first met, but they were nice and cute, but they went in before us and then we didnt want to pay the 70 peso cover, so we never saw them again. It would have been a better story if we had fallen in love all due to our cab driver, but it was still funny that they actually followed us to the club. We ended the night at this bar near our house which I am now in love with...it reminds me of a college bar because it was nothing special inside, just a bunch of people hanging out and then a few people dancing. Who knew that I would crave a night in a dive college bar!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
La vida...
I got back to my apartment after carnaval and I was glad to be home. It's amazing how fast a place can start to feel like 'home'. I received a couple of messages from my family saying they were worried about me, I hadn't emailed for a whole 3 days! I thought it was funny how worried everyone was but it is nice to know they care:) I went back to my internet job really thinking I was going to quit since I had such mindless tasks asked of me and was receiving no pay...but I talked with my boss and he told me about some projects that I would be working on during my last month. After that, I had a much better attitude towards my work and I also knew that I only had 4 weeks left.
My friend, Frida, who I met in Chile was in town for a couple of days before she went on a two week tour so she stayed on the couch. We have had lots of couch visitors...it is nice to be able to see people that I have met along the way again in a different city. I feel like it is so much easier to make fast real friends while traveling considering you spend so much time with a person that you normally wouldn't if you were busy with your own life at home. I love that I have worldwide friends now...there will always be someone to visit wherever I go!
Over the weekend, we had our first pre-party at our apartment. Ariane and I made lots of appetizers and we went to one of my favorite clubs in BA, Rumi. I had such a great night and I think its because I finally feel like I have good friends and fun people to hang out and go out with. Annalise, Ariane and I just ate the weekend away going to our new favorite empanada restaurant, La Brigada in San Telmo to have some steaks, and the next day we shopped an ate at Ariane's favorite restaurant in Palermo Soho. I definitely appreciate the fine dining in Buenos Aires and will have a list of restaurants to return to when I travel here again. Later that day was my first futbol game!! Well, I had been to one in Peru, but that did not even compare to this one...
Being the north americans that we are, Annalise and I thought it was appropriate to drink some beers before the game (what sporting event is there in the US where alcohol is not a part of it? NONE). We arrive to the meeting point with all the boys we were going with from my work, and they all just looked at us like we were crazy alcoholics. We quickly found out that alcohol and futbol do not go hand in hand. Well, we managed to get to the Independiente stadium after about 5 changes on the subte. We were about an hour early, so Annalise and I walked around the stadium and met lots of people...It was a crowd of mainly guys so needless to say we were not the ones initiating the conversations. Once the game started, the crowd went crazy and this big flag was pulled down over the whole crowd. Annalise and I were trying to get back up to our seats during all of this and that was a challenge. The game went on with song after song that i didn't know but would love to learn. When the first goal was scored, everyone jumped so much that Annalise and Ariane both got pushed down a couple of stairs, luckily just running into other people, but still, it was pretty scary. Independiente ended up beating La Boca so everyone was in such a great mood on our side but I do not think I want to know what it would have been like had we lost. This one guy in front of us took a liking to Ariane and said he would give her his hat if they won, so now she has this raggedy ann looking hat that she didn't want to put on because it was so sweaty. When the game was over, we had to sit and wait about a half hour and I found out we were waiting for La Boca fans to clear the whole entire stadium before we could leave in order to avoid fights. With the tattoos of their team, complete apparel, and pure passion, i finally realized how great this sport really is. If my brother or dad combined every one of their sports teams into one, they would be acting just the same, but the states has so many sports that it lessons the fans intensity for one particular team. Futbol is a religion for many and I got to see the light when i went to my first match.
My friend, Frida, who I met in Chile was in town for a couple of days before she went on a two week tour so she stayed on the couch. We have had lots of couch visitors...it is nice to be able to see people that I have met along the way again in a different city. I feel like it is so much easier to make fast real friends while traveling considering you spend so much time with a person that you normally wouldn't if you were busy with your own life at home. I love that I have worldwide friends now...there will always be someone to visit wherever I go!
Over the weekend, we had our first pre-party at our apartment. Ariane and I made lots of appetizers and we went to one of my favorite clubs in BA, Rumi. I had such a great night and I think its because I finally feel like I have good friends and fun people to hang out and go out with. Annalise, Ariane and I just ate the weekend away going to our new favorite empanada restaurant, La Brigada in San Telmo to have some steaks, and the next day we shopped an ate at Ariane's favorite restaurant in Palermo Soho. I definitely appreciate the fine dining in Buenos Aires and will have a list of restaurants to return to when I travel here again. Later that day was my first futbol game!! Well, I had been to one in Peru, but that did not even compare to this one...
Being the north americans that we are, Annalise and I thought it was appropriate to drink some beers before the game (what sporting event is there in the US where alcohol is not a part of it? NONE). We arrive to the meeting point with all the boys we were going with from my work, and they all just looked at us like we were crazy alcoholics. We quickly found out that alcohol and futbol do not go hand in hand. Well, we managed to get to the Independiente stadium after about 5 changes on the subte. We were about an hour early, so Annalise and I walked around the stadium and met lots of people...It was a crowd of mainly guys so needless to say we were not the ones initiating the conversations. Once the game started, the crowd went crazy and this big flag was pulled down over the whole crowd. Annalise and I were trying to get back up to our seats during all of this and that was a challenge. The game went on with song after song that i didn't know but would love to learn. When the first goal was scored, everyone jumped so much that Annalise and Ariane both got pushed down a couple of stairs, luckily just running into other people, but still, it was pretty scary. Independiente ended up beating La Boca so everyone was in such a great mood on our side but I do not think I want to know what it would have been like had we lost. This one guy in front of us took a liking to Ariane and said he would give her his hat if they won, so now she has this raggedy ann looking hat that she didn't want to put on because it was so sweaty. When the game was over, we had to sit and wait about a half hour and I found out we were waiting for La Boca fans to clear the whole entire stadium before we could leave in order to avoid fights. With the tattoos of their team, complete apparel, and pure passion, i finally realized how great this sport really is. If my brother or dad combined every one of their sports teams into one, they would be acting just the same, but the states has so many sports that it lessons the fans intensity for one particular team. Futbol is a religion for many and I got to see the light when i went to my first match.
Friday, March 6, 2009
CARNAVAL- Salvador de Bahia
WOW is really all I can say about Carnaval. It was amazing. The way I have described it to those that are from the east bay like me is to imagine Bay to Breakers, the ridiculous parade/run that happens once a year, times its size by 10 and then do it every day for 6 days in a row. There were these huge floats with Brazilian pop stars at the top, so if you wanted to be part of that concert you had to pay. There were people that would hold a big rope and those that were inside the rope, were the official attendees of that "bloco". Otherwise, you could be around or beside it and be "popcorn". Men would buy these blue and white beads and give them to girls that they would kiss, kinda like mardi gras. How many beads I acquired, you will never know:) We decided to be part of the Skol bloco, which had yellow shirts and then you could pay some ladies to cut it up and make it girly, which of course, we did. I would have done it myself if i had the materials! The night was great...being inside the rope was a lot easier to dance, not have gross men grab you, and safer from robberies. One night, we were walking along as popcorn, and all of a sudden there were about 5 guys that were coming in the opposite direction and made it so Jess and I could not move at all. I had nothing on me, so I wasn't worried, but jess couldn't even put her hands to her pockets because they were pushing her so much, and they stole her money. It wasn't much since we knew we weren't supposed to take out much, but still, enough to not get to buy beer the rest of the night! Back to the bloco night; on the way home from the bloco, which dropped us off at the end of the parade, 7 km away, it started raining. Then, one of the girls from our hostel we were with had to go to the bathroom so we went up this muddy hill. I didn't need to go up there at all, but didn't really realize what was going on, so I just followed. On the way up, my shoes have absolutely no traction whatsoever, and i slipped going upwards on the hill, but still managed to get covered in mud on my front side. I was wearing my cute white shorts and yellow shirt. Then, I realized I didn't need to be going up this hill so I started back down and I fell on my ass. At this point, i was completely covered in mud, and being the girly girl I am, being dirty is not my favorite thing. But, it was raining and I was in a good mood and we just danced and laughed all the way home. I took a shower fully clothed.
I can't really tell you what we did during the day because it wasn't much. We had a great group of people to hang out with at our hostel so we usually just hung out and rested for another night out. I met a guy who is from Los Altos and he reminded me of my friend from home so we got along really well. There were mostly Australians, but also brits, puerto ricans, spanish, and brazilians within the hostel. And one man that worked at the hostel, Mr. Wellington, helped me clean my shorts. Everyday he would try to explain to me how they were doing in portuguese and I would just smile and try to speak spanish back. After 5 days of bleaching, they are decently back to normal.
My other favorite night was when we went to a camarote. These were clubs that hosted parties where you could eat and drink all inclusive, and watch the parade go by or dance inside the club. We went on the very last night because there are simply too many people outside on the last night to try to be in the crowd. We got red shirts this night and they decorated them for us inside the camarote. We were determined to make the most of our night, so we managed to get there at 5 when it started and stayed til 5 when it ended. We ate hamburgers, pizza, sushi, and drank skyy vodka (a big brand name in south america!)and champagne. We were living the high life...by the end of it I was so stuffed and tired...we had wanted to go to the sunset party to end carnaval but we never made it. But, it was a good end to carnaval. Even after living a week in a 15 bed dorm with many more smelly guys than girls, a dirty city smelling of piss and vomit, grabby/touchy/forward Brazilian men, and not being able to smell vodka without a gagging reflex, it was the best party I have ever been to and am so glad I went!
Praia do Forte
Since our bodies needed relaxing, Jess and I went to a beach town about 2 hours away from Salvador. It is known from Californians as the Carmel of Brazil and they were right. It has an aquarium of sea turtles where we went the first day and cute shops galore. We treated ourselves to a hotel instead of a hostel and wow was it nice to have our own shower and our own bedroom. We had a couple of amazing dinners, 2 of them being Moqueca which is a shrimp stew that is served with rice and beans. I don't know how they made it so amazing, but we loved it and got it twice in 2 days. There is also this berry in Brazil called Acai which is supposed to have the most vitamins of any fruit or something like that, and it is more like a dessert than a fruit when they make their acai shakes. We went brazilian bathing suit shopping which was quite an adventure. Usually I just have to make sure the top fits right and then get whatever size bottoms I need, but this was the exact opposite. The bottoms are sooo small in Brazil and I am not about to come home sporting a thong on the beach. I did get some bottoms that are more risque than I am used to, but I literally bought the biggest butt bottoms they had to offer. I ended up getting two new swimsuits because the designs in brazil were nothing like I have seen at home and so I had to, right? Right. I also got 2 pairs of havaiana flip flops because they are from brazil, thus really cheap. I got a pair that I have seen in the US for $75 since they have some little diamonds on them for about $15 US. I love good deals.
On the last day of our trip, we decided to go scuba diving. I have never done it before but you don't need any sort of classes before you go here, so we decided to try it out. We went out with our instructor and his helper, both who spoke very little spanish and even less english. We had about an hour pre lesson which could have happened in 20 minutes had there not been such a language barrier. Finally we went out to the water and i kinda started to freak out. I went under water and was breathing with the tank but wanted to go up immediately and get real air but realized that that was the whole point, to stay underwater the whole time. So after I had my little freak out, I relaxed and we managed to scuba dive for about 45 minutes. The water was not too deep but we still got to see a lot of cool fish. No sea turtles, but it was still a lot of fun and now I would really like to do it again, maybe even take some scuba classes (in english this time!) The last night, we had dinner and drinks and did some more shopping and got a taxi at 3 am to the airport. Jess and I had a great trip and it really made me miss being with my friends from home...there is nothing like hanging out with people that you are totally comfortable with. I also found out that we were good travel buddies...we seemed to be wanting to do the same things and when she wanted to party more than me (i admit i couldn't hang as long as could!)she would go and i would stay. She was sad to be going back to work knowing that most everyone was still traveling around south america, but hopefully she will get her chance soon. I am not looking forward to that whole 2 weeks of vacation a year thing...yuck. I needed a vacation after my 2 months of working!
I can't really tell you what we did during the day because it wasn't much. We had a great group of people to hang out with at our hostel so we usually just hung out and rested for another night out. I met a guy who is from Los Altos and he reminded me of my friend from home so we got along really well. There were mostly Australians, but also brits, puerto ricans, spanish, and brazilians within the hostel. And one man that worked at the hostel, Mr. Wellington, helped me clean my shorts. Everyday he would try to explain to me how they were doing in portuguese and I would just smile and try to speak spanish back. After 5 days of bleaching, they are decently back to normal.
My other favorite night was when we went to a camarote. These were clubs that hosted parties where you could eat and drink all inclusive, and watch the parade go by or dance inside the club. We went on the very last night because there are simply too many people outside on the last night to try to be in the crowd. We got red shirts this night and they decorated them for us inside the camarote. We were determined to make the most of our night, so we managed to get there at 5 when it started and stayed til 5 when it ended. We ate hamburgers, pizza, sushi, and drank skyy vodka (a big brand name in south america!)and champagne. We were living the high life...by the end of it I was so stuffed and tired...we had wanted to go to the sunset party to end carnaval but we never made it. But, it was a good end to carnaval. Even after living a week in a 15 bed dorm with many more smelly guys than girls, a dirty city smelling of piss and vomit, grabby/touchy/forward Brazilian men, and not being able to smell vodka without a gagging reflex, it was the best party I have ever been to and am so glad I went!
Praia do Forte
Since our bodies needed relaxing, Jess and I went to a beach town about 2 hours away from Salvador. It is known from Californians as the Carmel of Brazil and they were right. It has an aquarium of sea turtles where we went the first day and cute shops galore. We treated ourselves to a hotel instead of a hostel and wow was it nice to have our own shower and our own bedroom. We had a couple of amazing dinners, 2 of them being Moqueca which is a shrimp stew that is served with rice and beans. I don't know how they made it so amazing, but we loved it and got it twice in 2 days. There is also this berry in Brazil called Acai which is supposed to have the most vitamins of any fruit or something like that, and it is more like a dessert than a fruit when they make their acai shakes. We went brazilian bathing suit shopping which was quite an adventure. Usually I just have to make sure the top fits right and then get whatever size bottoms I need, but this was the exact opposite. The bottoms are sooo small in Brazil and I am not about to come home sporting a thong on the beach. I did get some bottoms that are more risque than I am used to, but I literally bought the biggest butt bottoms they had to offer. I ended up getting two new swimsuits because the designs in brazil were nothing like I have seen at home and so I had to, right? Right. I also got 2 pairs of havaiana flip flops because they are from brazil, thus really cheap. I got a pair that I have seen in the US for $75 since they have some little diamonds on them for about $15 US. I love good deals.
On the last day of our trip, we decided to go scuba diving. I have never done it before but you don't need any sort of classes before you go here, so we decided to try it out. We went out with our instructor and his helper, both who spoke very little spanish and even less english. We had about an hour pre lesson which could have happened in 20 minutes had there not been such a language barrier. Finally we went out to the water and i kinda started to freak out. I went under water and was breathing with the tank but wanted to go up immediately and get real air but realized that that was the whole point, to stay underwater the whole time. So after I had my little freak out, I relaxed and we managed to scuba dive for about 45 minutes. The water was not too deep but we still got to see a lot of cool fish. No sea turtles, but it was still a lot of fun and now I would really like to do it again, maybe even take some scuba classes (in english this time!) The last night, we had dinner and drinks and did some more shopping and got a taxi at 3 am to the airport. Jess and I had a great trip and it really made me miss being with my friends from home...there is nothing like hanging out with people that you are totally comfortable with. I also found out that we were good travel buddies...we seemed to be wanting to do the same things and when she wanted to party more than me (i admit i couldn't hang as long as could!)she would go and i would stay. She was sad to be going back to work knowing that most everyone was still traveling around south america, but hopefully she will get her chance soon. I am not looking forward to that whole 2 weeks of vacation a year thing...yuck. I needed a vacation after my 2 months of working!
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