Bad Ryan....Go to your room!

OK, so I know in the last posting I wrote something like "More tomorrow!" I even considering going back and editing that out in an attempt to destroy the evidence. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it's been way to easy to get caught up in the day to day experience of living in this great city. So much has happened in the last month, there's no way that I could recap everything in one post, so instead I'm going to try list some things, and hopefully post more on them in subsequent posts.

1. Enrolled in French courses at Allianze Francaise, and attend two two-hour classes a week.


2. Had a spectacular visit from Hallie, during which we were constantly off doing something, one of the highlights being:


3. A ferry ride to Uruguay and overnight stay in the historically sumptuous town of Colonia.


4. Endured the month long meat crisis, which culminated in a standoff between meat producers and the government. This includes Ryan, Hallie, and Bella getting caught in a massive pro-government counter protest, and Ryan's four day excruciating stomach parasite ordeal due to bad meat.


5. Was finally introduced to the intoxicating tango subculture by Lyle Lovett's twin brother Blake.


6. Day at the races at Hippodromo Palermo. Oh, the excitement of losing a 50 cent bet on a 150-1 longshot named Papel Higienico.


7. Wine tastings/dinners with Marcos' mom and dad.


8. The overall kindness of the Argentine people, who put up with my bad spanish, round down cafe bills, offer spare change for the buses, and taxi drivers who, if told up front that you only have 100 Peso bills that they can't break, will offer to take you where you are going for free because they are "going that way anyway."


9. The triumphant post-strike return of meat.


10. Long walks to all ends of town, with no real purpose other than to just be there and take pictures.

Bella in Plaza San Martin

On the border of Belgrano and Las Canitas

Seriously, do you really need a description?

When you see clouds like these, it's going to dump serious rain in 4 hours.

Fall is definitely in the air here, and I've seen the weather change drastically in just a few days. Last week it was a pleasant 80 degrees during the day, but today I'm writing this from inside an internet cafe, wearing two layers of clothes as the weather has dropped into the 50's. Hopefully this will give me no other choice but to keep writing and posting.

I know sometimes I seem to look at this city through "rose-colored glasses' (can't believe I'm using that Thomasism) so in order to keep it real, I'm installing a segment in my postings called "What I Hate about BA".

What I Hate About BA - Episode 1

Rod Stewart

He's everywhere. I hate him. Not only did I hate him back in the 80's when we were supposed to let him know if we wanted his body and thought he's sexy in his pants made out of stretched Glad bags, but now he's found a way to consistently trigger my gag reflex in his newest (and seemingly never-ending) "crooner" phase. There's no better way to ruin a good meal than by being forced to listen to his raspy-ass voice butchering standards like "Beyond the Sea" over the loudspeaker in EVERY Buenos Aires restaurant. To make matters worse, I had to sit in the same restaurant with him the other night and watch people fawn all over his porcupine-inspired haircut and those pleather pants that he just can't seem to let go of. I've heard of brushes with greatness, but being in the same room with him was more like a brush with dried dog turds, prompting me to write the following well-crafted and thought-out letter to the man:

Dear Rod,

I hate you. Go away. Forever. Starting....now.

Kisses,

Ryan

Wow, that was cathartic.

Still missing friends and family terribly. I could totally use a Rock Band party right now as long as I get to play the guitar solo on Long Time by Boston.