Hot weather, new friends, and good food.

With no disrespect intended towards any readers who have been scraping ice off their windshields, I must say it was damn hot yesterday. The thermometer must have reached 90 degrees, and with the humidity it felt like 100. I spent most of the morning making hostel reservations, and waiting in line at the Aerolineas Argentinas office to pay for our ticket to Ushuaia. The latter experience reminded me a lot of a visit to the DMV, and took waaaaaaaay longer than it should have. By the time that was all over, I went to the park to read for a bit, and promptly fell asleep in the grass for a few hours. It was a pretty lazy afternoon.

At night, back at the hostel, I met a guy from Holland named Thaijs and his friend Stephanie from France, who are both currently taking a semester abroad in Brazil. The three of us all wanted to go out and experience the Buenos Aires nightlife, but nothing gets started until at least 12 or 1:00am, so we went around the corner to grab a bite to eat and a beer beforehand. Well, soon after we sat down at a table under the awning, it started pouring rain. Since we were stuck there, we just kept ordering more beer, and ended up making friends with a group of locals sitting next to us. They complimented my Spanish, which felt great since I thought I was really rusty and we all ended up having a great discussion for the next few hours. We talked about everything from politics (such as our mutual disdain for Bush) to the subtle differences between words in Argentine slang (this word means 'party' and this word means 'party with no clothes'). When the rain finally let up, it was quite late so I came back to the hostel and fell soundly asleep.

This morning, I went with my newfound friends and a group of their classmates to a neighborhood called 'La Boca', known for its colorful houses and outdoor tango shows. I took note of how the basic steps of the dance look pretty simple, despite all the really complicated moves that build on them. Perhaps when Jerica gets here, can take a Tango lesson and do a little dancing in the street, ourselves.

For lunch, Thaijs and I split a 'parrillada' (mixed grill) which was way more meat than I expected, even divided between the two of us. I think we each ate about four different steaks. In this picture, Thaijs looks ready to tackle it, but by the end, we were practically comatose.

A few hours later, after walking it off, I convinced Stephanie to split this ice cream Sundae with me. Now, I think it's time for a nap, myself. We're going to try and go out again tonight, and then it's early to rise to pick up Jer at the airport at 6:30!