100 days left in Argentina!

Queridos!!! I hope all is well on your side of the globe! As of Thursday, I only have 100 more days in this amazing country. It was a little scary looking at my calendar. I am already going into midterms!!! My life has been anything but boring lately and I never want to leave. My birthday was a blast and I was smiling all week. I love and appreciate all of my friends here in Buenos Aires. I couldn't have asked to meet a better group of people, and I am so thankful that I have Susan here with me. We laugh until our stomachs hurt and never get sick of trying new things.

This weekend was jam-packed with culture. On Friday, I woke up early and jumped into my tennis shoes. I was ready for a good work out, finally. Susan and I met up with a bunch of other chicos from our program, COPA, in downtown BA. We all signed up for an bike excursion which would take us north of Buenos Aires, to Tigre. Susan and I had already been to Tigre, but the plan was a bike ride along el Río de la Plata, through the northern suburbs of BA. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride too!

Julie, a new American friend who lives on the same street as me, met me at the bus stop. We made our way to the plaza where the bike ride began. The bus was so packed that we didn't even have to pay...which was great because we were able to save our monedas. Monedas are the coin form of pesos. They are extremely hard to find in Buenos Aires, but they are the only form of payment if you want to take the bus. So when we have them...we hoard them.

We met up with the group, chose our bikes and strapped on our fashionable helmets. Julie introduced me to her friend Emily and the three of us, plus Susan, jumped on our bikes. None of us were exactly professional bikers and we did have a few "moments". I was pretty close to falling over a few times. I peddled my way north, along the river, and stopped for a few photo-ops along the way. Half-way there, we paused for a lunch/mate break. The guides had mate for everyone, but Susan and I had brought our own too. The guides were surprised to see that we were mate veterans. Just two Argentine girls, the two of us! :)

When we arrived in Tigre we sat and rested for a bit. It was a gorgeous day. After we had gained a little energy back, we made our way over to one of the local rowing clubs. We all paired up and headed down to the river; we were going kayaking! It started a little shaky, Susan and I were zig-zagging across the river, dodging the big tour boats that came our way. It was super relaxing but a good arm work-out too. After kayaking we took the train home, exhausted. Needless to say, every part of my body was sore the next day...but it was fun!

Saturday I woke up, stretched out a little, and got dressed. Julie, Susan, and I had made plans to go to a Contemporary Ballet. You all can imagine, I was very excited! Julie and I grabbed the subway and, by complete coincidence, Emily was on the same train and in the same car! SO random, but she decided to come too! We got off the Subway about 6 blocks from the theater and as we were coming up out of the subte station, Susan was walking along the sidewalk. Such a coincidence...AGAIN! The four of us chatted as we walked to the theater, grabbed our tickets and sat down. The show was very cool....and the dancers were practically skeletons, super skinny.

After the show we decided to go to dinner at this Peruvian restaurant called Status. Susan and I were first introduced to Status by Rouslana. The first time I had a spicy chicken dish and Susan had a seafood soup. We also tried the typical homemade Peruvian juice, made from purple corn. It's called Chicha Morada and it was amazing. We paid about 20 pesos each for a huge platter of incredible ceviche and another huge platter of calamari and white fish. It all melted in your mouth.

After dinner we grabbed a bus over to Palermo and headed to a local jazz bar called Thelonius. A friend of Susan's from Minnesota, who is studying in Chile, met us at the bar with a couple of friends. Plus, a few friends of Julie's and Emily's friends came also. It was the first night Susan and I had spent with Americans in over a month! We sat, drank vino tinto, and watched the live jazz show. I finally went home at about 1 am, which is an extremely early time to head home for Argentine standards. In fact, as I was walking to the bus stop, I saw families with very young children, still out playing, and elderly couples walking their dogs. This is very normal for 1 am in Buenos Aires.

Overall, it was a busy weekend but very fun! Now I must go do my homework...reluctantly. Thanks for reading!

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