Sunday, March 7, 2010

Some Brits and a house painted mauve.

Dear Adoring Fans,

I know I missed a day and I know you all check this religiously and for my tardiness, I apologize. This is the first time I have been able to sit down and do nothing in my house since Friday. The only other times I have been in my house, I have been sleeping or on Skype with Erik and Nani (which was thoroughly wonderful on both accounts).

Yesterday was a quite a full day. I slept in, because I was tired and I am an old lady. Got up around 11 and had some breakfast, talked to mom a bit and then went to meet Ami, Lindsay and Greg for empanadas. This was better in theory than in execution, so we just went back to Cumaná when all else failed and had empanadas there. They were delicious. We were all dead tired although we shouldn't have been. Greg wanted to go see La Casa Rosada (The Pink House), which is like The White House except for that is only a place of business, it's not residential.

So we went via subte, but before we went to do the touristy thing, Greg insisted we get coffee. Apparently I was so dead, he thought I needed coffee. We consulted the Lonely Planet (and then made a shrine and sacrificed a cow). We went to a place called London City in Microcentro. It was apparently where Julio Cortazar wrote his first novel. I think I can believe this, it was a cool place. When we sat down, we were skeptical as the prices were quite high. Then we got our coffee cups which were definitely small enough to take on a plane in a plastic quart size bag. The skepticism was high and then I sipped my coffee. WOAH, HOLY MAN WAS I AWAKE FOR LIKE 10 HOURS. It was the strongest tiny coffee I have ever had. We decided it was worth the ten pesos we were paying. Then we got the check, it was only 7.50 pesos. Lonely Planet wins again.

We walked to the Casa Rosada. We took pictures of the protesters. I think they were protesting something to do with Las Islas Malvinas (the Falkland Islands), which is a big deal here, it's all over the news. We took pictures, I was wearing pink, the house was pink, we clashed. We went inside and toured. It was not really nice at all. The tour was free and they showed us where all the construction was taking place. There were a lot of nice rooms and some awesome looking guards, but there was a lot that was more ehh. It was a quick tour and then we escaped, sadly into the heat. Greg decided that he wanted to go to Puerto Madero, which is near the water and apparently has the most expensive houses in the city. We went, we sat on a bench for ever which annoyed Greg, but the rest of us were happy. We then walked down to the Bicentennial Bridge, which the Argentines are quite proud of, 2010 is the year. We got tired, wanted to return our cameras to their safety and needed to rest. We returned to our respective houses having previously made reservations at a restaurant in Palermo. We got a suggestion from some book I have.

We went to Palermo via bus that we sort of had planned to take. The Guia T is still sometimes incomprehensible. The place was called Lelé de Troya and it was an international restaurant, according to the book. We split a bottle of wine and had some amazing food, which was a little more than we usually spend. I got vegetable risotto, mmmm delicious. Greg and Lindsay got fish, and Ami got a really good pasta dish. Oh and each room was completely decorated from floor to ceiling in a different color. We sat in the red room, there were nice cushy chairs and Ami and I sat on the couch, which was actually a bed. It was really nice and it costs me 67 pesos, which is about 15-17 dollars. Yay conversion.

I cam home and skyped with Nani for a bit, but was mostly asleep, so I talked to her again this morning because she is going to Atlanta to be an overachieving indian for spring break and build someone a house.

Sunday, today, we decided to go to the Street Markets in San Telmo. These are really cool but become progressively more touristy as the day progresses. Ami and I met Lindsay and Greg there after successfully riding a bus. This is an achievement for the record. We walked around fair #1 for a bit. It was all this amazing vintage stuff. People were selling everything from stamps and money to old jewelry and posters and newspapers and records. There were hats and art and purses and just awesomeness. We then walked a bit and walked in and out of stores. We saw some more tangoers, this time they were old and adorable. I saw some awesome stuff including tape with Evita and Che on it and different Che, Evita and Michael Jackson paper doll magnets. Please look at the pictures. We went to lunch at this really awful restaurant that was both a tourist trap and greasy dirty hole. I ate like four bites of my food and was done. We left quickly.

After having not used the Lonely Planet for lunch and failed, we went to an english book store in the Lonely Planet called Walrus Books. It was heavenly. It was super tiny and super cute. It has a bunch of used and new books, all in english and will be my source while I am here. It also has an entire bookcase full of first editions by Updike, Vonnegut and the likes. AMAZING.

We then went to the other street fair. By now it was really hot and the tourists were out. AND I mean EVERYWHERE. It was like a Nikon/Canon store in the street, there were so many cameras. And half of them were just waiting to be stolen by the kid who juggles on the D-line subway. We walked through, expect all souvenirs from here. Took the subte home, there was a kid juggling for money. This is the second time I have seen him on the subway, I have taken it less than ten times.

That's pretty much it for the exciting things in my life. I took a nap and had empanadas for dinner, I ate 5. I skyped with Katie and Luke and thankfully, she bought a mic, so that she doesn't have to write notes on paper and show them to the webcam now when she loses the chat box. Luke was wearing the soccer jersey I got him in Italy. Katie had tried to explain to him that I was in Argentina, and he told her he wanted to go to Argentina's house to see me. I LOVE HIM.

Alrighty, I have been writing this post for like four hours off and on now. I have been skyping and trying to upload pictures. So everyone expect an invitation to the pics soon. Like tonight. Now I have to go get ready to go see Alicia en el país de las maravillas. BALLIN.

Love love love today,
kristin

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