Tyson's Adventures

Last days in Buenos Aires

tycatte — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:45:00 GMT

Following my birthday the days fell into something of a rythem. My Ozzie buddy Dan and I had steak for something like five days in a row. I'm going to have to worry a bit more about money from here on out, but I've had a good time in BA. A few of Dan's friends showed up and we went out with them a few nights. Once again for steak upon them claiming that the steak here was no better than anywhere else. We felt it was our duty to show them what they had been missing. (of the nights dan and I got food, one night we got steak sandwiches that had egg and bacon on them. We had not been expecting as much food as we got) the night the group of us went out, there was seven. Five Ozzies, and two Americans, the other being married to an Ozzie guy. We all went to a parilla (grill) that dan and I had discovered in our carnivorous adventures. Over the course of the evening at the returant six bottles of wine were drunk, as well as all the sides and the typically amazing steak (bife de lomo). Following dinner we all went back to their hostel, which is what is called a "party hostel", and while fun to visit, there is no way I would want to stay there. After a few more bottles of wine, it somehow got decided that we where going to a dance club. This was to be my second club in as many nights, but more on that later. They convinced me to go eventually. The queue for the club took about 40 minutes, and upon getting inside, it was extremely packed, I hung out for a bit, and then Dan and I took off. The club may not have been to my liking but the dinner was very enjoyable. The previous night was a blast. Called Bombas del Tiempo, it is a drum show, held every Monday night. There are something around fifteen drummers making a beat, along with the ocasional singer, all conducted by a collection of energetic guy who jump around and work the crowd as much as they do they musicians. It's a very cool show, not to be missed if one visits BA. The group went back to the hostel, and I ended up going out with another group from the hostel that I had made friends with and Dan had not (Dan speaks no Spanish at all). We ended up at a dance club some seven blocks from the hostel and stayed there until around four or five in the morning. At which time the group of us (consisting of a Brazilian, three Brits, an Argentine, and myself) were finally to exhausted to go on. Back to the hostel we went, were at least I slept until at least noon. There is more to add about BA, but it will have to wait for another day.

Rockstar

tycatte — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:49:00 GMT

My birthday has come and gone. I had a decent time during it though.

I woke up kinda sick, but got over it by the mid afternoon. At first I was uninterested in going out. A guy from Australia showed up and we ended up going out on the town. First we tried out a parilla (grill) and had some amazing steak. Of course by the end of this it was pouring down rain. It made no show of slowing down so we grabbed a taxi and headed into Recoleta. This was at a bit past 9pm which is very early for Buenos Aires. Thankfully, it being St. Patricks and probably the rain helped to get people into the bars earlier than the normal midnight hour.

My Australian friend (who speaks no Spanish) took off around midnight, while I stayed talking to a few people from Chile that I met. I made it back to the hostel around 3.30am, having left with the bar still packed. The next day ended up being a day of rest.

San Telmo and asado

tycatte — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:17:00 GMT

Over the course of the last few days there has been a good sampling of the world passing through the hostel. From a very talkative girl from Austria, a couple groups of Brits, a Swedish family, a guy from the Baste county (I may have the spelling wrong), a few chileans, a large collection of Brazillian guys, and a few French. There are others that I am forgetting, but I´ve only been on the road for under a week.

I am kinda lamenting not bringing a small laptop as there is pretty much always a queue for the two computers they have here. There is wireless though. I am happy that I packed pretty light, and haven´t discovered anything that I really wish I had. Anything I don´t have, I can do without and it will just add a bit of adventure to the trip.

We have had two asados in the past few days. Asado being a barbeque, though Argentine style. Beef, Chorizo, onions, salad, potatos, and yuka (I think). Not to mention the wine and beer. The first one was a blast with a good sized group of people that were all having fun. The second one was tonight, and while fun, was overshadowed by how loud the music was. Too loud to talk. The food was good though. Both were done on the roof of the hostel.

I found a few of my friends the other night. I went to the Spot to start and changed bars with my friend Pato. After visiting Shamrock, an Irish pub that has a dance club in the basement. We drank Guiness. It was good. From there we went to another bar where we met up with two of my old friends, Dario and Javier. Dario was a bartender for Henry J. Beans back in the day, and knew all the Marines. Javier was and still is a DJ that we all knew. The group of us ended up going to a few dance clubs in Palermo. I got back to the hostel at around 6.00am.. I was pretty useless the next day. I was suppose to go to thing with Dario, but ended up not doing anything at all.

Today, I spent a few hours and walked a few kilometers trying to find the Bolivian Consulate. I need to get a visa before I got there. Well... I will try again tomorrow.

First Night

tycatte — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:08:00 GMT

After getting myself square I did a bit of a walkabout after locking up my stuff. I was happy that I didn´t get lost and got back after about 45 minutes.

I started chatting with Caryn, an Irish girl that was on her last day of a six month journey from Canada to BA. Though they used more planes than I intend on. She gave me some advice for the area and then off she went.

That night after waking up I found myself with no idea what to do. So I decided to walk. I walked myself all the way to Recoleta, about an hour away, and dicided to look up an old bar that I used to hang out at. Well, Henry J. Beans had long since closed. I did eventually find the Spot. While the decore is very different, the atmosphere is somehow the same.

Upon walking in, I instantly recognized Pato from when I was there before. I thought I recognized my old friend Diego, but it was not him. I finally got Pato over near me and we spoke for a few minutes. He then introduced me to the current manager, a guy from Boston, who introduced me to a guy who was drinking there, but was from Madison, Wisconsin. I also discoved that the female bartender that I had been struggling to get Pato over near me was from Houston, Texas.

It ended up being a fun night. Andy, the Boston guy was playing around with the music all night. We heard an eclectic colletion of music. Everything from Argy rap, to the Jackson five. He did focus on American music though, at least as the night got later.

I finally left, very tired, and got a cab back to the hostel. Where I crashed for the night.

The plane and beyond

tycatte — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:29:00 GMT

I appoligize up front for any spelling issues that may be in here. The computer is looking for spanish words and could care less about english. Oh well.

Well, there was one casuality of the trip before I even got on the plane. Somehow my hat managed to wander off, while I was in the airport. It will be missed.

The plane ride itself was about as expected. Long and painful. I did manage to get a nice picture of the sunrise from my window.

I sat next to Ignacio, or Iggy as he introduced himself. An Argentine linguist who sounds like he is from California.

following the ten hour plane ride I found myself in Ezeza(sp?) Airport on the outsikts of Buenos Aires. I got a bit of a chance to try my Spanish, though most seem to recognize me as an English speaker. I got a taxi and gave the address for the hostel I was to be staying at and off we went. We got stuck in traffic (because of school according to the driver) at around 9.30am. It turned a 30 min (guess) trip into about an hour. I was ok with that, it gave me a chance to speak to the driver and start to remember my Spanish.

Eventually we made it to San Telmo. Though the number I gave the driver at first was wrong, and we had to get back in the taxi and go two blocks back (not super easy in town where all streets are one way). But we finally did make it to the hostel Carlos Gardel. Which is where I still reside.

The night before the plane

tycatte — Tue, 9 Mar 2010 19:49:00 GMT

The clock is just about to roll over to three am, and I've not yet gone to bed. Not because I'm not tired, but due to my dislike of airplanes. It's not that I'm scared to fly, I just find situations where I'm stuck in small area with recycled air for hours and hours to be somewhat unpleasant. At six feet tall, I just don't fit very well.

When I think about it, a plane is like a prison to me. The food is about the same, you are very restricted on where you can go, and the view is usually about as interesting. At least considering that I seem to fly during the night pretty much all the time. That or it's overcast. Though there was a time flying over the western arm of the Himalayas where the view was anything but tedious.

Well, time to sit back, relax, and listen to some jazz as I wait for the sun to come up. Perhaps I will be able to fall asleep on the plane if I stay up all night.

See you in Argy.