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Published: June 24th 2009
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La Casa Blanca
Saying ¨Hi¨ to President Obama An 11 hour layover in Washington, DC. What a great way to start a trip. I arrived in DC at 11am after a short flight from Philadelphia and had to kill 11 hours before my flight to Buenos Aires in the evening. I went downtown and saw the familiar sights along The Mall. It´s always good to refresh your memory of what it all looks like every few years. After meeting up with a friend from undergrad for dinner, it was back to the airport for the 11 hour flight to Buenos Aires. I had barely slept the night before so the whole flight was a blur. I even slept through breakfast, which never happens. After arriving at the Ezeiza International Airport, I took a shuttle straight to Aeroparque, the national airport, to catch my 1 hour flight to Cordoba. Upon arriving, I checked into my hostel and thus one journey ended and another one began.
I walked around the city a bit that day (this past Tuesday) and my sensual memory began to kick in as the sights, smells and sounds of this wonderful place seeped back into my brain. Of course, all the beautiful women walking around made
it that much easier. The hostel I was staying in was the same partying atmosphere as last time, and I got sucked into the nocturnal habits of Argentineans and after all that traveling did not get to bed until well past midnight. A funny thing happened on that first day though. None of the other travelers could understand why I went straight from the airport in Buenos Aires to Cordoba. I mean come on, it´s
Buenos Aires right? Most people simply love Buenos Aires. While the staff at the hostel smiled in approval over my preference to Cordoba, the other gringos were simply stunned. I told them to stay in Cordoba for a few days, think it over, and get back to me.
My first two full days in Cordoba were pretty relaxed, as I walked around the downtown area and reacquainted myself with its colonial architecture and pedestrian malls. Although it was not novel anymore, I still felt the same appeal from two years ago. Thursday would have been another low-key day but then some other gringos and I decided to go play rugby. Except for two other Americans and I, everyone else was British and had been
A bunch of gringos playing rugby
The two other Americans and I had no idea what we were doing, but we still managed to beat the other British playing. It was like 1776 all over again. playing since they were kids. We still managed to kick some butt though, even if I did take a hard fall and was limping for a couple of days after that.
Friday was truly a special day. Two English guys from the hostel invited me to go visit a friend of theirs who was working at an orphanage on the outskirts of Cordoba. So we went, and the kids there, all sixty of them, were pretty excited to see us. We helped paint the roof of the huge complex and made snacks for the kids (can you imagine making 60 snacks!). At certain points I felt like I was at my old job working with a bunch of rowdy kids, as I had to help break up three different fights while I was there. Kids will be kids no matter where you are. It was really great to get out of the city and see a different slice of life for a change.
At night I got together with my friend Cesar and had another great asado (barbecue) at his house with his girlfriend and a few friends. This is one of the main reasons to go to
Argentina (well besides the women, if you´re a guy): red meat, Malbec wine, and good company. A divine combination. We ate steak, ribs, sausage and potatoes until we couldn´t move, and then kept on drinking more delicious Malbec wine until the wee hours of the morning. Since I was planning on staying in Cordoba for awhile longer I had been trying to find an apartment to stay in...you can only take a rowdy hostel for so long. A friend of Cesar´s, Georgina, had an extra room in her apartment. After my long night on Saturday, I met up with Georgina and some of her friends for a late lunch in Sarmiento Park, the same place I played rugby. After plenty of food, an impromptu but chaotic jam session with all kinds of instruments I didn´t know the name of at Georgina´s friend´s house, it was time to take a nap to even have the energy to go out that night. Since the nightlife around here doesn´t start until 1am at the earliest, you better get some sleep. I met up with my friend Micaela and some of her friends (Argentines always travel in packs) to a boliche (nightclub) until the
club closed at yes, 6am. The thing you notice though is that Argentines have a good time without drinking much at all. With the way most Americans drink, there´s no way they would make it to 6am let alone 3am. I 3 beers over the course of 5 hours and at least one person made some kind of remark that I drank a lot. I laughed.
Sunday ended up being pretty much a lost day as I was exhausted after only a few hours of sleep after a long night out. I went to a couple art museums and then moved all of my belongings to Georgina´s apartment just outside of the downtown area. Now I felt even more comfortable in Cordoba, since I was actually paying rent and not just staying at another hotel. You want to know when I felt really at home though? It was on my second night in Argentina, having dinner at the hostel. Ignoring the English spoken around the table, I took a nice bite of some steak and washed it down with some Malbec wine, savoring the flavor. Ahh, yes. I was home.
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Will Boe
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Good stuff!!
Wow!! Bernie D!! Good to hear from you! Looks like you're enjoying life and spreading goodness everywhere you go! Way to be man!!