Friday was dia del trabajo or labor day so I didn't have to attend class or teach lessons. So on Thursday night me and Julia hopped on a bus to Mendoza. The bus was a 14 hour trip that took us from the east side of Argentina to the west side. I slept some on the way over, but managed to wake up to see the sunrise. It wasn't long after that the Andes mountains appeared on the horizon. We were dropped off at the bus station and walked to our hostile. After some brief complications regarding reservations we were able to get in to our rooms. We dropped our stuff off and headed for the large man made park. Mendoza is sort of a desert, but has set up an irrigation system from the mountains. ... read more

Today I finally made my way to La Boca. The day began having the most stereotypical porteño conversation possible. I ran into someone I'd met at a bar during my first weeks there. I got the typical argentine greeting and then when I asked him how he had been he said. "Good, I just got a new nose and am coming from the shrink so I feel great." Nose jobs and shrinks are everywhere here. After the conversation I hopped on a bus to Boca and after a few problems managed to stumble across la bombanera- which is the stadium for the Boca Juniors. After that it was off to caminito and the surrounding area, which is the buildings painted in bright colors. It was very touristy as expected, but was still pretty. It was full ... read more

It's been another busy week. I moved into a new apartment in Palermo and am right near a park. The apartment has some problems-the apartment above leaked in the bathroom, but it is still nice. I'm getting used to the new area, but found a good takeout place-though not as good as Cuartito. I ordered a pizza that was spicy beef, onions and cut up hard boiled eggs. It's right on a large park which I can see from my balcony. The other big news is I started working. I'm teaching a class three days a week on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. It's beginners, though the only class I taught so far was on Wednesday-I moved into the new apartment on Tuesday and Thursday was a national holiday. Unfortunately I don't get paid for my teaching ... read more

It was a lovely trip having my parents here, though it is definitely strange now that they have left. I've gotten used to them being so close and being able to visit it, but I feel like they were able to see a good part of Argentina. Thursday was spent at Recoleta cemetery, which is a beautiful cemetery, but very full. The grave sites are like skinny churches slammed in together. The pictures describe these better so I'll let them do the talking. It is definitely a tourist attraction but draws plenty of porteños. At Evita's grave, the locals were touching it and crossing themselves. Also it is overrun with cats, but they were all just sleeping. The rest of Thursday, Friday and Saturday were spent doing a lot of shopping. Strangely I don't think Dad ... read more

It's been a busy week, but I'm trying to get some stuff up. Saturday was spent going to the Recoleta cemetery's flea market. It was similar to my first day exploring, except with much more shopping. The flea-market is huge and is filled with everything from mate gourds to art to purses and various things. One of the interesting experiences with this is the people. The porteños enjoy this and come to hang out at it. Some of the most interesting were people playing around on bungee tightropes. They would do tricks on them which are pretty tough to explain, but the picture gives some idea of how good they are. After the market we tried to view the cemetery, but after walking inside were called back out by a large bell signaling closing time. We ... read more