AUTUMN’S ADVENTURES

It has been a few days since I have updated.  I’ve been a combination of things these past few days: busy, exhausted, confused, lost, happy and sniffly.  I thought I would remember a lot more of the language once I was forced to use it but I really don’t remember any grammar what-so-ever.  I only speak in present tense. Simple, present tense.  I am re-learning everything I studied in school for years.  I don’t want to say I wasted my time and money but right now I feel like I did.  Maybe I just need to find the key to the locked box inside my head that has all of that information.  I have been in Jujuy for 4 days and I have only left the house a total of 3 times.  It is not as easy to explore this new city like I have explored others because if I get lost I can’t really ask where I am or where I need to go.  This language barrier I’ve created for myself is a real pain in the ass.  I’ve spent most of my free time studying castellano and trying to talk with people in castellano.  It is hard to work (for my job) remotely right now because I can’t use my laptop in the house (no wifi) and I hate hogging their computer.  Also, their computer is slow and doesn’t have all of the programs I need.  I wanted to go into the city tomorrow because I need to work on a project for IHS but I can’t because there is a teacher’s strike happening and all of the major roads and bridges into the city are closed.

I’ve been watching a lot of spanish television and it is quite hilarious.  There is this one show called  Duelo that is competitive dancing, aerobic routines and ice skating.  They wear barely any clothes and almost always have a thong and fake breasts as part of their outfit.  They also wear a lot of makeup and dance super provocatively.  This one couple ice-skated to “Boogie Wonderland” and they painted themselves dark brown from head to toe and wore fro wigs.  They were freaking fake black people.  I couldn’t believe my eyes.  They also fall a lot in ice skating and the routines aren’t that difficult or much less entertaining.  I mean, I’m entertained by the sheer unintended humor that they are providing me.  The newest thing on Duelo is the Reggaton dance routines and they are freaking disgusting.  There is a lot of dry humping, licking and pulling of women’s hair in the routines.  I don’t really like it that much but it is still fun to watch.  Also, the show is about 2 hours long each night.  That is INSANE.

Last night we watched fútbol.  It was my first time watching a professional soccer game on TV that I actually cared to see.  The game was Argentina vs. Peru.  It started at 11:30pm and didn’t end until 1:30 am.  I was so tired by the end that I didn’t finish it but I did really enjoy watching all of those hot men right before I fell asleep.

I went bowling this afternoon for the first time in a long time.  The day was rainy and cold so I couldn’t do any exploring.  I had a lot of fun but I didn’t win a single game.  Fede kept calling me a tromposa because I kept stepping over the line and setting off the alarm and that was the only time I’d get a strike.    We ate hamburguesa completas, which is becoming one of my favorite foods here, and they were freaking delish [it contains fried egg, tomato, lettuce, cheese, etc...].  Tonight we went to a couch surfers barbeque (indoors because the weather was crappy still) and I met a lot of cool people.  I spoke in castellano for a good half of the night to a few people.  I was proud of how much I remembered but I know I probably sounded like a retard.  I mostly spoke with this one guy at the party because he was the easiest to understand.  I know the only reason he talked to me for so long was because he was hitting on me but I didn’t care — I was freaking speaking castellano and I didn’t want to stop.  I am really beginning to like Buenos Aires and I’m wondering if I should come back here to live for a while.  Fede is a great guy and Anette is wonderful.  Right now, though, I can’t stop smelling my feet.  These socks smell so bad for 2 reasons: #1-I’ve been wearing them for two days and #2-they are cheap socks.  Luckily I will wash my feet tomorrow.

It is 4 am and I am just arriving back to Fede’s apartment after an evening with “the girls”.  I really love girls nights.  We drank about 5 or 6 bottles of wine between the 4 of us.  We all gathered at Anette’s apartment which was super cute.  She just got a new bright red couch that I am in love with.  I met Paulina, Jess and Sarah for the first time.  Jess and Sarah are both from California but different parts.  Paulina is an Argentine lawyer.  She and I had a lengthy discussion about Argentine politics and economics — she is a smart girl.  I really liked her personality and she kept the conversation interesting for hours.  If I were staying in Buenos Aires I would hang out with her a lot.  Sarah was only visiting for a few weeks and she wasn’t very lively because she had just spent 2 months in India and was exhausted.  Jess has been living in Buenos Aires for the past year and is returning to California in about 3 weeks.  Apparently she can understand castellano perfectly but refuses to speak in castellano and she only speaks in English.  I think that is just stupid but whatever.

Today was my first day in Buenos Aires.  I spent most of the day on the 86 bus that I caught at the airport.  It was extremely cheap (1.5 pesos) and the view from the window was a treat for the eyes.  I arrived to my Couch Surfing host’s apartment around 4 p.m.  The place was very cute and quaint.  The first person I met was Anette, a stunning blonde from Sweden (duh) with a great sense of humor and killer bangs.  Fede, my CS host, followed shortly thereafter.  He was very kind and have a very inviting presence about him.  Lastly I met Fiona, the 6 month old iguana.  I knew there was going to be an iguana in the house but I expected it to be much bigger.  This one was no bigger than an anole or a gecko.  We all spent a while talking over coffee and pastries that Anette had bought for us.  I worried about my travel stench and hoped I was the only one that could smell the 24 hours of travel on my body.  I don’t know what it is about traveling long distances that makes me smell so horrid.  I call it the “old skin” smell (to make this nasty description even worse).  After the “coffee talk” I freshened up and drank some wine.  We went to Palermo Hollywood for dinner and beer.  I had the most mouth-watering quesadilla in all the world.  First off, it had BACON in it.  BACON.  Next, it had veal (only the most tender and lean in the world), and of course it had cheese.  Loads of it.  These are my three most favorite foods at the moment.  I ate that shit like it was heaven on a plate.  GODLY.  Now I lay in my blow-up bed thinking about how wonderful today was and how every day from this point on will probably be just as amazing.  At the restaurant it hit me — I’m here, I’m really here in Argentina and I’m actually doing what I said I wanted to do.  It is so easy — why did I ever wait?

My favorite thing about international flights is the meals.  They are hands down the most interesting part of the flight for me.  I take notice how they are always wrapped up so perfectly.

I want to take my time with each section of the tray and savor each bite.  I unwrap the food slowly and carefully so as to not disturb the presentation of my beautiful meal.  Someone took the time to prepare this feast for my flight and I am going to enjoy the hell out of it.  I stab one noodle at a time with my spork and yelp

silently to myself at the discovery of cheese in my pasta salad.  I push the olives aside and pretend they don’t exist — nothing will ruin this meal for me, not even icky, disgusting olives.  I think the dessert is cheesecake.  I am falling in love with you already, Aeromexico…

So begins my travels.  I am still in disbelief that this is actually happening — that I have put a hold on the trusty 9 to 5 to throw myself into unknown territory and leave all that I know behind.   I’ve slimmed my belongings down to two 60 pound suitcases containing such random items as a jar of peanut butter, a Dremel glass drill and cowboy boots.  One should never leave home without their cowboy boots or else they are committing a horrible sin.

Contrary to what some people think, my travels do not start in Argentina.  I begin my journey with a nostalgic week at home in beautiful Western New York.  I went to the Super Walmart and got lost for hours, loving the fact that I could buy everything I needed in one stop.  I also reveled in the scenery which included dozens of rednecks and their redneck babies piled up in a shopping cart.  I enjoyed the 75 degree weather with a perfect breeze and the smell of my neighbor’s cow manure and freshly cut grass.  My dad took me for a joy ride on his motorcycle around the lake and it made me ache for my own bike.  My next adventure will be a cross-country road trip with my dad on our bikes.  I hung out with my good high school friend, Jolene and finally experienced her driving a car after eight years of Jolene not even having a driver’s license.

On Tuesday I was driving through town just to see how much it had changed since I was home last and I saw an old boyfriend from high school walking down the street.  I did a double take and turned my car around to confirm that it was actually him.  It sure as hell was him and I was extremely happy to see him.  You see, this particular ex-boyfriend happens to be the hottest thing ever to be born and bred in Bemus Point, at least by my standards.  He is still the hottest guy I’ve ever dated in my 9 years of dating.  He was my first french kiss which happened to be on an over-sized wooden swing that my dad built near my tree house.  A moment couldn’t have been more perfect than that moment of sheer bliss with the hottest dude in town.  We only dated for 2 weeks but to me that was like tasting bacon for the first time — it didn’t take long for me to fall in love.  I embarrassingly pined for him for at least 8 months after we broke up and every time I see him I wonder if he remembers how much of a nut job I was in 8th grade.   I know now that we’d probably make a horrible couple because we aren’t really all that alike but I’d be willing to put that aside for he is too stunning to not want him by my side.  He is also an extremely nice guy, humble and unaware of his devilish good looks.  We ended up going to a few bars that night but I’m not going to go into details about that.  Let’s just say it was a fabulously good time and totally PG.