Hi everyone! Thank you for reading these things and for all the comments. Glad you like them! :)
Well I've had a very busy few weeks. I am currently in Puerto Madryn, Patagonia and figuring out my next move! I'm having a great time out here. I'll catch you up on what's been happening since the last time I wrote.
I had my last week of Spanish classes over a week ago now! It went really well. We had an exam on the Friday... I got 97.5%! Don't ask me how, I still can't have a conversation properly. A lot more practice is called for I think! I was going to leave Buenos Aires that weekend, but I was having such a great time I decided to stay for another week! I didn't leave until last Friday. I could have stayed even longer if I had enough time and money!
My second day at Agustins (Dino) place was great! I cooked dinner and then we drank, chatted and listened to music till 4am. The next day was very similar but we also went to the pub to meet his friends and then stayed up till 5am chatting! I am really not used to eating dinner at 11pm and going to bed at 5am, it's so weird! On Wednesday Maria, my first couch host, invited me to a dinner party at her house with her and and her friends. It was so lovely. They have all known each other since they were kids and they just interacted so well with each other, it was so great to see! They talked in Spanish to each and English to me. I could kind of guess some things they were saying and they translated the rest when I looked really confused! They just seemed to be finishing off each others sentences and giving each other advice and just being really supportive and great towards each other. I stayed at her place overnight and went straight to Spanish the next day and back to Dino's at night. I spent Thursday evening studying for my exam with Alex. We didn't do very much so I was so surprised on Friday when I got 97.5%! On Friday night, Dino had some friends over. Alex came from the hostel and we chatted and listened to music till 3am. Then we went to a party organised by some couchsurfers in an awesome house that was huge and looked like a nightclub! They had a band and lots of crazy art on the wall. It was some sort of art project and they were raising money for it. It was really great! Maria joined us and we stayed till almost 7am! On Saturday, I spent the afternoon in the bus station with Dino trying to figure out where I should go after BA and how much it was going to cost. At night Alex and I continued our search for the worlds best steak and I think I found it! It was at a buffet restaurant called "Siga la Vaca" (Follow the Cow!). It had a huge grill with millions of different kinds of meat. I had two steaks and lots of salad, wine, chips and an amazing dessert, all for 13 pounds! Alex managed 3 steaks, but didn't eat as many chips or rice as me. It was absolutely delicious! We didn't leave the restaurant till after 1am so we just headed home, boring I know. ;)
On Sunday I went for a wander by myself and I stumbled across a rock band playing in the street. They were brilliant so I stayed there banging my head for a little while. I continued to "La Mazana de las Luces", the enlightment block (essentially just a square!) where the most intelligent people in Argentina thought up and organised the Argentine war of independence. I made Dino dinner and got him some Fernet (an Argentine drink that you will either love or hate but are guaranteed to hate it first time!). We chatted until 5am again and I also taught him some Scottish dancing! Hilarious.
On Monday I met a couchsurfing girl for coffee. Her name was Josefina and she was only 20. She told me lots about Argentine politics and her views on it. I have subsequently spoken with others who have a completely different opinion. I will do more research and maybe present my own opinion at some point! Dino had a date in the evening, so I went to stay with Maria's best friend to give him some space ;) She lives in Recoleta with her 97 year old grandmother. Her grandmother is amazing! She doesn't look 97 at all and is walking around making tea and breakfast and reading.. it's crazy! Apparently one of the secrets is to always stay postive and in good humour. I think a lot old people in Britain act old because that's how they think they should act. This lady never complains about anything! Maria was with us too and we spent the night chatting, it was really lovely just hanging out just the girls! I went to a place called "Once" in the morning where there are cheap clothes shops, but it turns out that cheap also equals bad! I finally found a top and then headed home! In the evening me, Alex, a girl who works in the hostel called Silvie and an Israeli guy went to the officially worst club in the world; it was so awful!! We survived till 4am and then called it a night. Alex has since met people who loved it, I guess we're just not the type who likes dressing up as prostitutes, paying a huge amount for alcohol, getting extremely hammered and dancing to really bad music. On my last night in BA however, Dino cooked me a delicious meal and then Alex, Mimi and I went to a Colombian party. Mimi is Colombian so she was teaching Alex and I how to dance; it was a great night!
I had to do a few boring things on my last day in BA and then at night Dino walked me to the bus station and I got on bus headed for Puerto Madryn in Patagonia. I left at 8pm and didn't get to my destination until 3.30pm the next day. The bus was great though. It was really big and I slept ok on it! I cried a bit because I really and truely love Buenos Aires!! I want to stay there for so much longer, I want to learn more Spanish, go to more parties and learn how to tango. Anyway, it was time to move on to more exciting adventures in South America. Well I'm tired now from cycling for 6 hours today, but more on my Patagonia adventures in my next post, coming soon! Sorry for my delay in this one; I guess I'm just having too much fun! :)
¡Chau chau chicos!
Hasta luego, Gemma
