Hasta Lavista to Buenos Aires....at least for now

Well for those of you that know me well, you know Im very good at changing my mind ALOT. And that is exactly what I have done. After spending close to two weeks in BA attending spanish school the adventurer/fly fisherman inside of me is saying lets the hell out of this big city and enjoy the country for awhile. What about learning spanish? Well thats a whole nother story in itself. I came down here with very high expectations that were rather unrealistic of how fast I could learn this language. Over the past two weeks I have done well with it and am learning the basics, but the distractions along with all the english speakers really takes a toll when your trying to learn a new language, especially when you have ADD like me. Im going to continue taking some private classes next week in the wine capital of Argentina called Mendoza and continue private classes along my whole trip, that is with the exception of Carnival in Brazil where there wont be to much tme for stuff like...learning. That is except for learning enough portuguese to talk to the girls in some raw form. So as of 5 today I am on a plan to Medoza and embarking on a month long journey all the way down the the most southernly city on the earth in a rental car. By the way the rental car rates are ridiculous down here. Im kind of bummed about it, but what the hell I can alway make money to pay for it, and possibly never get the opportunty to travel a country this diverse first hand. Money comes and goes but these types of memories last forever.

So since my brazilian hockey match I have went out a couple nights one which was pretty interesting. This week at the gym I ended up asking a girl working at the front desk if she wanted to go out sometime. Now this was no easy task due to the fact she know no english and my spanish is...how should we say it...ahhhh. Terrible. thats the word I was looking for. So after about a 10 minute conversation of spitting out whatever I could in spanish we exchanged numbers and made plans to go out later in the week. So on thur I get a text in spanish seeing what I was doing tonight. I figured it would be good to go out with some locals to practice my spanish so after numerous spanish text messages which was a experience in itself, we had a place to meet. On the way there I told the cabbie to take my to the bar Amerikana Explota and he gave me this really stange look and all I could decipher from what he said was this is a gay bar. No big deal I guess Ive never been to one and if these girls are going there it must be a good spot. So I roll into this place and my first thought was there are alot more girls here than I would expect. That was until I took a little closer look. Drag City to say the least, Im sure a drunk guy has been fooled many times until he ended up dancing a little to close to these shemen. So anyways, a few guys rolled up to me and asked if I was gay and they kept coming up to the girls and asking them too. I probably shouldnt of wore my white shoes out to this place. I guess my keen sense of style got the best of me at this place. Besides having very interesting sorroundings all night the club was a pretty good spot. I had a great time with the girls and worked on my spanish a lot in between the base of the eectronic music, which Im growing acustomed to at all the clubs here. So that is my story on that.

The next day Friday, I go to class a little late, got a refund for the 2 weeks I didnt take, which was a struggle and then met a bunch of students out at a steakhouse for dinner. It was similar to the place I went with Omar and Naty by how they served the food. My favorite app. plate was the one with Intestines, Kidney, and throat. Yes you heard me right THROAT. Now Im not really sure where in the throat area there is any meat, or something edible, but there surely is and down here they love it. After a good dinner with some wine, we went out to a bar for a couple hours and I retired around 2 to get some sleep. Nothing to exciting except for sitting at a table with 20 people from all over the world. The chick next to me was from northern africa. It was cool to hear about what its like up there.

Thus far on my travels I have had a great experience an learned alot. Situations like this really bring out the best in people and force you to really think deeply at times about your life and yourself. Im sure this trip will reveal more of the same, as I enjoy figuring myself out. As you know I have a strange and unique way of looking at life and the world, but I dont think Id ever change a thing.

Heres a couple travel tips I have learned when traveling In Buenos Aires.

1. Never walk down the street with your head up. If you do you will likely step in a large pile of dog poop avery block as they dont seem to mind it all over the place.

2. Plan on everything taking 2 to 3 times longer than you expect. Simlar to Honduras things just move alot slower down here. Part of it is because latinos live a more relaxed lifestyle and part because they jst dont have the luxuries we have. t sucks for someone like me who wants everythign now or yesterday, but Iam growing use to it.

3. Wear your seat belt in a taxi and be prepared fo the ride of your life. The drivers down here are horrible. They really dont give a rip about anything and just kind of fly around avoiding any resemblance of rules on the road. I bet I have ran over 15 red lights in the last week.

4. Its very difficult to talk to local girls when your spanish is brutal. Now I now this is a obvious one, but I guess I though it would go a little smoother than it did. Even if girls seem interested and soon as I rip out my baby talk spanish its over. On the other hand when my buddy Tom talks they love it. If you can talk decent spanish down here it would open up a whole new can of worms and I probably wouldnt be leaving so quick.

5. The people down here are some of the most welcoming in the world and will embrace a stranger and help them in anyway they can. Not to say theres not some bad people around to, but I have been suprised as I have talked to many random strangers for whatever reason and they have been very gracious with there time and patience with my spanish.

6. There is no way to have detailed plans of travel when you come this far from home. When you get to area like this and start talking to people and there experiences your itinerary begans to change rapidly. Its a little more dificult to book flights and buses last minute, but its better than having to go somewhere you shouldnt be going.



Well thats my list of lessons for now. I will be adding to it as I go. Now I am off to Mendoza to meet up with Duffy Crane. Shes is one of my good friends from Columbus´s sister´s friend if that makes any sense. She moved down here last April to get into the wine business and things seem to be going great for her. They are even selling wineries for investment purposes to people in the states which I am interested to hear more about. Dont worry Dad, I wont get all gung ho on another busines idea.

IM OUT

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