best friend in BA!!

Well, I’ve finally recovered from a crazy week! My best friend Stephanie came to visit me for 6 days, and I think I got about 6 hours sleep total the entire time she was here. But it was SO worth it! She was my first visitor since I moved down here in August, and so she was the first one I got to introduce to the Argentine way of life. We did so much in such a short time, its hard to remember everything! One of our main goals was for her to try all the Argentine classics, and I think we got most of them. Here’s a run-down of all the new things Steph got to try: pizza (fugazetta, of course), empanadas from El Gourmet, mate (did not like, too bitter), Fernet (LOVED, took home a bottle all for herself), choripan (enjoyed, partially because it was one of the two words in Spanish she could remember, the other being “salchicha”), and helado (loved, but had to repeat the taste-test multiple times and at multiple locations ).

But let me go back. Last Monday night Anna and I went to meet Benja and some of his friends for drinks in Plaza Serrano, a little plaza surrounded by various bars and boliches. It was a good time, just drinking some beers and chatting. I was tired from work, but at about midnight I was mercilessly peer pressured into going out with Anna, Benja, Salvador (Benja’s cousin), and two of Benja’s friends (and brothers) Ernesto (but everyone calls him el Negro) and Agustin. We headed across the plaza to this place Madagascar, which turned out to be awesome! Monday nights in BA are usually laidback nights, but Madagascar was great: awesome music, dancing, cheap drinks. We stayed out for a few hours and had a great time.

The next day I was exhausted so I (GASP) didn’t go into work, but told my boss I would work from home. Which in BA apparently means do work for 2 hours then go out for a long lunch with friends...oops!  Benja and I met up with Anna, Negro, and Agustin for a light lunch al fresco near the apartment, and then grabbed some ice cream (#1) on the way home. That night Negro and Agustin invited us all over for dinner at their apartment, where Anna and I got called cows for eating lettuce and vegetables…typical Argentines and their meat obsession!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I had requested off work so I could pick up Steph from the airport and spend the week showing her around my city. Wednesday we did some shopping, walked around a bit, napped (I was probably more tired than Steph), then went over to my friend Nate’s apartment for Taco Night round 2. It’s a great tradition we’ve started with about 12 people, both expats and locals, who come together and make delicious Mexican food. I make my now-famous strawberry mango salsa, Nate makes pastor (a spicy meat dish), and we have guacamole, nachos, refried beans, and all the delicious mexicanness you can’t really find here in BA. Enter food coma.

 

On Thursday Steph and I headed to Puerto Madero via Plaza de Mayo, to take some pictures and be touristy. We walked to the Costanera, got a choripan (which was as delicious as it was the first time, might be a new BA favorite!), and then some more ice cream (#2). Thursday night Benja and I invited some people over for a quiche dinner and some drinks, which was a lot of fun. We then all went out to Sumatra, a small boliche which was amazingly fun, although possibly the hottest and thus sweatiest boliche I’ve ever been in. Apparently the owners like it that way because they think people drink more. All I know is I felt (and looked) like I ran a marathon when we finally left at 5am!

Friday Steph and I went to the outlets on Avenida Cordoba and did some shopping, then got a well-timed lunch in Plaza Serrano at Maleva. We ate fajitas and raviolis while watching the rain pour down outside, then went back and hit some more stores.

Saturday I took Steph to the fair at Recoleta and we wandered around there for a little bit enjoying the sunshine before getting some ice cream (#3) and heading home because we had plans to go to a polo match at 4! We got a taxi over to the stadium in Palermo and got to watch two awesome teams play. I’d never seen polo before, so it was really fascinating to see how it’s done. The riders are amazing, and the horses are even better. I didn’t even really watch the ball, I was too busy watching the horses and seeing how the turned and stopped and galloped at the blink of an eye. Ridiculously skilled, rich, and not to mention attractive riders plus gorgeous horses? Yes please! Anyway, Steph and I had to leave before the match was over because we were getting a ride from el Negro and Agustin to an asado outside the city, in Pilar. However, Anna had just called and said she wanted to come as well, so there was a brief dilemma over transportation arrangements. But in the end, the boys made it work and Negro took the three of us in his car while Agustin and Chimi went by bus! I felt so bad that they had to go by colectivo (standing up the whole way as I was later informed), but they insisted and in the end we all made it and had a great time. Very caballero of them!

The asado was amazing. The meat itself was delicious, and the people were all really nice…I got to know some really interesting people. Some people left early, but Anna, Steph, Chimi, Negro, Agustin, some other guys and myself stayed up until 6am just chatting and singing karaoke, which was hilarious since the Argentines only knew about half the words to the English songs and just mumbled the rest! The only bad thing was the mosquitos…these things were seriously monsters! I’m pretty sure they were biting us through our jeans. We crashed for the night (morning?) in the spare room of the house and woke up to a houseful of relatives, including some adorable kids. Came back to the CF (capital federal) and promptly died. I was so cranky after not sleeping, so I had to take a nap. It was Steph’s last night though, so I rallied and we went to this kind of sports bar called Jobs near our apartment and played a few rounds of pool before getting some late night ice cream (#4). 

On the whole, it was a fantastic week! I’m so glad I got to see Steph—it’s really hard being so far away from all the people I love, and I miss her already! But she’ll be back and hopefully she will have learned some more words by then…salchicha and choripan will only get you so far (love you Stephhhh)!! As for me, I’m taking the time now to relax and try to detox my body from all the meat and ice cream and alcohol that was consumed, but knowing Argentina, I probably won’t have time before the next round of madness begins. Oh well. Bring it on BsAs!