Buenos Aires

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I now know why everyone raves about this city, it is fab! I stayed in a hostel when I first arrived which was located centrally but in a run down part of the city, coming from Brixton it felt like home, in fact it just added to the character. Everywhere you go the architecture is amazing whether it be the posh part of the city or the really run down areas. The hostel was great and I met some really nice people there. The first night in the dorm there was just 3 of us, a guy from Columbia who didnt speak much English (so our conversation was pretty short - but we did have a conversation!) and a guy from Southampton who I didnt really meet until the following night (bit of a party animal). Call me naive but I really didnt expect a mixed dorm, but it was fine.

I intended to spend my first day visiting the cultural epicentre, I found the cathedral and even stayed for mass, no I'm not turning all religious but was just curious to find out if it was different from mass back home (it was much shorter and everyone sang, it was cool), but then I found the shopping centre - and wow, what a shopping centre, it makes Oxford St look like a market town high st! it must run for 2 miles with at least 6 shopping malls coming off the main street, it's pedestrianised so easy to meander along! and along the street were more shopping streets running off it! my problem was that I cant buy anything because I cant carry it. As it stands my backpack weighs a ton or 20kg to be precise! which is a good thing as I'd probably blown the whole of my budget!

That night I met Elizabeth,an American girl who came into the dorm, she was even the same age as me, more or less which made me feel that I wasnt the oldest traveller in town! We spent the following day exploring the San Telmo and La Boca areas. San Telmo is the trendy part of town, a bit like Camden (yes I know it's burt down- tragic) but with better architecture. La Boca is where all the colourful buildings are. It is also the rough part of town and the guide books warn you not to go past the tourist areas which is a shame as it is very touristy! However, we did go a couple of blocks down and saw the Boca Juniors football stadium. We also saw some street tango which for a few pesos in a hat was well worth it. We took a cab ride home and went through an extemely poor part of the city, people were living in nothing more than tin shacks! which is such a contrast to where I am staying now (I'm now in the posh part of the city!!) That night Elizabeth and I went to a salsa club which was only a couple of blocks down from our hostel, we got there about 1am and no one was dancing, we decided to get food (this city seriously dosent sleep) and went back at 2am where the place was really salsaring. However, we didnt get asked to dance so went back at 3!! yes I know, they really didnt know what they were missing!

The next day I said goodbye to the hostel and headed for Recoleta, where I am staying with a family while studying. They are really nice, and while the mother dosent speak very good English her daughter does. I have my own front door and bathroom so it's all very self contained, but they have said I can use the apartment as my own, which feels a bit weird! However they were all out last night and I watched an English film with Spanish subtitles in their living room which was cool.

I have to admit I am really struggling with the Spanish, my pronounciation is rubbish! and I can barely string a sentence together. The classes are moving quickly so there is a lot to take in. I am trying to put in an extra couple of hours each day but even then......

I'm off to the theatre tomorrow night, it's mime so I should be alright. It´s being organised by the college so there is a group of us going.

The weather here has been great, it's been about 30 degrees, (perfect) each day although the first couple of days were cloudy!

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