Fall is here.

Adios summer! When Gavin and I got here back in November, spring had sprung and the city was in full bloom. We enjoyed a great summer in Buenos Aires (nobody loves the summer more than the Argentineans!) and now it's fall. When we got here back in November, we didn't have plans to stay this long and thus, we don't have clothes for the cold. (I also refuse to buy anything else since we are returning to the northern hemisphere and I don't want to carry around anymore shit.)

Here are a few photos from the past month. We've met some great people and have done some amazing things. Words can't begin to describe our experience here in Buenos Aires.

With just a few days left in this great city, I find myself reflecting on the past 7 months and counting the many ways that this has changed my life.

I will miss Argentina. I hope to return sometime in the future.



Buenos Aires "Subte". Incredibly cheap, but often times more packed than a can of sardines.


Kata & Celia (Germany) with Gav and Losida.


Oxtail Stew. Yum! (I know how much you love the food pics!)


Gav at the racetracks.


Opening day at the Palermo Hipodromo.


Ricky & Jonathan (Ecuador) and me in Buenos Aires.


The Tango Show at Cafe Tortoni.


Me, Johan (Holland), Silvana (Argentina) and Gav.


A typical Argentinean fruit & veggie stand.


My favorite pasta maker in the city.


Me, Stephen (UK) and Gav.


Gav and I with Aldo, our spanish teacher.

Flashback: February in Argentina. Iguazu Falls & Misiones Province.

It's almost winter here in Buenos Aires. Yesterday it was 37F/3C and that's a bit too cold for me. Gavin and I are flying back to the US in just a few days, but before we leave, I have a few blog entries to write.

Back in February, Jeff H and Keven H made their way back to Argentina for one more visit. (They just couldn't get enough during their previous visit in November.) This time around, we didn't waste anytime playing tourist in Buenos Aires, but rather, we explored the the northern province of Misiones and Santa Cruz to the south.

At the same time, our friend Jason E from London was in Brazil celebrating Carnival and decided to fly down to BA to visit us and also check out Iguazu Falls. It was great seeing Jason again. The last time we got that opportunity was in London, last September. Jason is an amazing guy and he's always up for a pint of beer, so as you can imagine, we're natural friends. (Hmm ... it's 5pm. I think it's time for a cold one.)

It was a blast living it up in BA with Jason, Jeff and Keven. Fancy dinners, champagne, late nights out on the town and much much more.

We flew from Buenos Aires to Iguazu, which is located in Misiones Province. Misiones borders Brazil and Paraguay and is in the northeast corner of Argentina. It was a welcome break from the hustle and bustle of BA, but the heat and humidity was a bit much.

The actual Port of Iguazu didn't have much to offer, but that wasn't the reason why we were there. The gem of this corner of Argentina is Iguazu Falls. Vastly larger than Niagra Falls, Iguazu Falls rivals Victoria Falls in Africa and is one of the largest waterfalls in the world. Truly stunning.

In addition to the falls, we took a day trip to visit some stupid mine and also the ruins of a Jesuit mission. I would not recommend this day-trip, since it was close to a 4 hour bus ride in each direction and incredibly boring. (Not to mention that Argentinean drivers are crazy. Crazy, crazy, crazy!)


Gav, Jason & Jeff in Jorge Newberry (Aeroparque) Airport, Buenos Aires.


Iguazu Falls.


Gavin in the ruins of the Jesuit mission.

Iguazu Photo Album

Jesus Coming Soon!

A few weeks ago Gav, Losida and I went to "Tierra Santa" which is a Christian theme park here in Buenos Aires. There are no rides at "Tierra Santa" (translated to "Holy Land", but we refer to it as Jesus-Land), but instead there are replicas of famous scenes from The Bible. I pretty much know squat about The Bible, so I can't really go into details over this. (I really wish JL was there with me so he could explain everything to me.)

We took a collectivo (public bus) to Jesus Land. It was a 80 centavo (28cents USD) ride from our house to the park's location near the domestic airport. We were right under the path for the ancient Aerolineas Argentina's Boeing 737-200 (those jets are so old and loud!).

Everything in the park was made of fiber-glass and the people working there were dressed in middle-eastern garb. We saw a re-enactment of The Creation, The Birth of Jesus, The Last Supper and at the top and bottom of every hour, Jesus rises from the giant fiberglass mountain. Gav took a video of it. Check out the youtube video below the fold.

One of the best parts of the park was that they served beer in the restaurants. If that park was in the US, there is no way in hell (no pun intended) that any form of liquor would be sold. That's one of the beautiful things about Argentina: Abusing Alcohol is just not in their culture. (This needs to be written about in another post, but I rarely see drunks here. It's amazing.)

Our day at Jesus Land ended up being a whole lot of fun. We had a riot posing with the fiberglass people that populated the park. Oh good times.


Jesus Loves Us!



Jesus and the air conditioning unit

More Pics!

E.S.L (English As a Second Language)

One of the most rewarding (and definitely frustrating) parts of this trip has been learning a new language. Gav and I have been in Buenos Aires for over 6 months now and I am impressed by the amount of Spanish that he and I have learned. When I got here, I could only say a few words (which I only knew because I memorized them) and order another beer. I am by no means fluent or even conversational at this point in time (my problem is understanding Spanish when I hear it), but I am no longer scared to venture out by myself. I can now go shopping and enjoy a day on the city by myself. Talk about a liberating feeling!

I can't believe how many years I spent learning the Japanese language. I thought that I had a small grasp on the Japanese language, but after trying to learn Spanish and actually living in a place where you are forced to learn how to communicate, I realize that my Japanese was complete crap! Yes, I could read hiragana and katakana pretty well and I knew a bunch of kanji, but I could never survive in Japan. (Granted, if I lived there I'm sure that I could pick it up in a few months). Being thrown into a new surrounding is a giant kick in the pants. Furthermore I have this incredible urge to "feel normal" and thus communicate with my peers, so my drive to learn the language is pretty intense.

We've been taking language classes and I have various ways of practicing my nearly learned skills (I can hold my own in a chat room!). I am going to focus on spending this last month in Buenos Aires on trying to better myself.

I'm going to complain for just a second now and complain about why I don't want to blog. The answer is fairly simple, but its rather difficult for me to articulate my words into English because I've been really busy trying to think in Spanish all the time. Overall, I'm not too worried about this because I know that when I return to the US and get a job, everything will come right back. It's kinda like riding a bicycle, right?

Well, it's been a bit difficult for me to compose my thoughts and put them online, but I'm going to try really hard to do that right now. Besides, won't writing in my blog give me a great chance to practice writing?

Oh the hardships of living in a foreign city and trying to learn a new language.

Heaven's to Murgatroid

I've been thinking about an episode of Drawn Together that I saw awhile ago that had a gay scene with a cameo by Snagglepuss. I was a kid when I last saw Snagglepuss on tv, but after doing a quick look on youtube, I found this gem of a clip: