All Hallows Eve

Hello to all,
It has been a bit since I last wrote, but things are really going great. I have started working half days and am taking Spanish in the mornings which is really going to be great in helping my Spanish progress faster.

I have to admit that I miss autumn in Oregon. I miss seeing the leaves and colors change, but that said... Its 70 and sunny down here, I don't have a complaint in the world. I had the opportunity last weekend to go to my friend Pato's weekend home in Pilar, a town about 40 minutes outside of the city. It was an unbelievable getaway if even for a a weekend. Saturday night he invited some of his friends from the city to have an asado (BBQ). We had about 5 passings of different cuts of meat, and rounds of Argentinian Malbec, it was really wonderful. Everyone was so fun and easygoing. I was the 9th wheel among four other couples, but I could have cared less. One funny observation is that the English taught in schools here is British English so when someone would speak to me in English to practice, they had a very distict English accent, very proper, and very formal, I loved it.

This week, my friend Bruno (he is the one dressed in red in the photos and looks more like a real-life pirate than a musketeer) and I decided that Halloween was worth celebrating more than once after finding out that the only rental option for our Musketeer costumes was for a week at a time. Wednesday we went to a party at Asia de Cuba, a restuarant which turns into a club at 1AM. It was so classic. He and I, both dressed as Musketeers, and his friend Mercedes, dressed as a Geisha, took the public bus from Palermo (my neighborhood) to Puerto Madero (where the club is). We got rounds of applaus as people got on and off the bus for our costumes. The funny part was that we wound up getting off the bus at the wrong stop, getting off in a very unsavory part of town. Bruno and I offered some protection with our plastic swords, but soon decided taking a taxi the rest of the way was a wise decision after seeing a masked man of whom I do not believe was on his way to the same party.

We arrived and were escorted to our table by Frankenstein. It was fantastic, everyone was dressed to the nines. I have to admit that we in the states might be more creative with our costumes, but it isn't exactly a nationally celebrated holiday here so slack must be given. There were smurfs, cheerleaders, an old time tennis player (Renee Lacoste) a modern one (Rafael Nadal), Madonna, the Joker, and Louis XIII. We ate and then danced till the wee hours of the morning. The best October 29th Halloween I have every had.

Tonight we embark on one last adventure as Musketeers. We are going to another Halloween party and hopefully will find our third Musketeer in the crowd. I hope everyone is doing well and this time of year makes me recall all the great memories celebrating this wonderful holiday with friends and family. Have a great night and I want to see photos of peoples costumes! Until then here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure.



On Guard! Sword fighting with Bruno in my apartment


What a motley crew!


If you look closely you may be able to see the piece de resistance of my costume...My Mustache!

I look forward to being in touch soon.

Madame Cartel

Hey everyone, post 2 is pretty great!!!
First of all there will be more pictures to come but I had to take my digital camera in to the shop after two weeks of blurry pics:(

The following is why you travel, to meet interesting (crazy people). I may ramble a bit, but this is so great.

Saturday morning I awoke and was eating breakfast in my hostel when a woman with a very bizarre middle eastern by way of Boston accent checked in. Short, frazzled hair and loud, she distraught over having missed a phone call from a friend to the hostel.
I then took a closer look at her and thought that she had been in a car accident with the way her nose was bandaged. I left to run an errand and upon my return I was met by her and her pleading for the help of an "American." Happy to help for what was supposed to be five minutes I sat down with her at her computer to help her write and correct an email.

We sat together and soon she looked at me straight in the face and asked, "How old do I look?" I realized that her stitches and nose bandage were not from a car accident but from having had a face lift the day before. Taken aback a bit, I collected myself and said 38 or 40 (obviously closer to 55-60). She then spent about 5 minutes telling me about her "little procedure" and how she was able to pay for it in cash and it was performed by Argentina's finest.

Five minutes had quickly come and gone. I then started in correcting her email. Poor grammar and miss spelling was everywhere, but the manner in which she wrote was very dramatic and descriptive. I started correcting it and at first thought I was correcting part of a romance novel.

It then switched to being about the Russian Mob in Buenos Aires and how she has to find out who is controlling the drug trade and medical rackets here in Buenos Aires. She had traveled to the Four Towers, basically a place no one goes due to the drugs and violence. She was convinced that although the Bolivian, Columbian, and Mexican cartels were involved, it was all being controlled in NY City (Personally I thought she has to be way off base)

It then became aparant that this was actually her life that she was talking about because she mentioned Palermo (my neighborhood) and Hostel Borges (where I was staying). It then concluded with with her apologizing that she had missed "his" phone call and that he could call anytime. She knew the situation was difficult right now, but that she had to hear his voice. I then had to write out for her that his voice was like "warm coffee in the morning, sweet, hot, and sensual." I had to stop myself from chuckling. In the end it had been an hour of helping and before I sent the email, she told me oh no, don't send it from this email, send it from my Harvard account. Turns out she has been been a professor at Harvard for 20 years. I was stunned one because, she is slightly crazy, but many successful people are, but also because she couldn't spell if her life depended on it.

I know that this is a long post but hang in there, it gets worse (or better depending on how you look at it)

Later that night, I was met with pleas of help one more time. I was slightly put off only because the 5 minutes of before turned into an hour, but this time I was promissed it wouldn't be long. I then went to help here and the whole time she kept asking me if I really thought she looked 40 and if the swelling had gone down. Looking like a character from Nip Tuck, I of course said yes, that at the oldest she looked 40.

This time I wound up typing a love letter for her to her "lover" in England of whom she had met two weeks before when he gave a conference at Harvard and the two had fallen in love within a minute. She then went on to say that she couldn't live without him and that if she was sure that she would soon make contact with the Russian mafia down here. The difficult part was that he was married. I did not find this out until I had finished the email and felt a bit guilty for being an accompliss. I then found out that she is somehow working for the NY times as an invesitgative reporter and that they were annoyed because she had taken a few days off due to "sickness" really time to recover from her face lift.

Today I am leaving the hostel to finally move into an apartment, but I have been extended an invitation to stay in her "huge" house any time I am in Boston. There are some more details, but I hope I effectively conveyed the lunacy of this story, what an experience.

More to come, but I hope all is well.

Ciao

Bien Venidos

The Japanese Gardens My First Day!

SAN TELMO

Hey guys. I just wanted to say hi, this is obviously my first post. Things in BA are great. I am moving into an apartment on Monday and not one day too soon!!! I will be living in Palermo Soho with Gabriel, a 32 year old Maitre'D from Buenos Aires!
Work is going great, the people here are so incredibly nice. I am off until I have a bit more thought to put into my post, but here are a few photos to enjoy. I hope all is well with everyone!!!

Sra. Eva Peron's Burial Plaque at el Cementerio de Recoleta


Portland's Finest!!! Pink Martini album collection at a friends house here in BA




The Door to work