Catching up

So, it's been quite a while since I last updated, and I apologize for that. Life has gotten really busy all of a sudden. Since I last posted, I have been extremely busy - so much so that today was the first day that I've actually done nothing, which, by the way, felt amazing! In any case, since detailing the extent to which I lazed around today will likely be of interest to so few of you, I figured I might catch y'all up on the more eventful days I've had recently.

Work has truly picked up. I have tons of assignments and lots of things to do that are really interesting. Starting tomorrow, I am going to be working with another lawyer in the firm in order to draft a response to a complaint filed by the Argentine equivalent of the SEC against one of our clients. So, as you can tell, I'm being included on decently cool projects - which excites me because that is the whole reason why I came here.

Other than work, I have been traipsing around the city, meeting new people and exploring new barrios. On Tuesday, I played on the firm's female soccer team and was told that I held my own, which allayed my fears that I would be seen as the stereotypical American who sucks at futbol. On Wednesday, I went to the Universidad de Salvador and saw a movie called La banda perdida, which is a story about an orquestra from Egypt that gets lost in Israel. It was a decent movie with many hidden elements, but I wouldn't say that you have to hurry to watch it right away. On Friday, I went on the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl - a must-do tour according to everyone I have met. We started at Run Bar with endless wine/beer and pizza and then traveled to three other bars in the area before ending the night at some crazy disco. I met some interesting people, including a girl named Kelly who is in the process of moving to Buenos Aires for good to be an English teacher/volunteer coordinator. She reminded me a bit of my law school friend Kim because she is from South Carolina and is also a Gamecock. After chatting with Kelly and dancing at the club until 4am, I decided to call it quits. I came home, talked with my doorman (the sweetest man ever), and passed out. Yesterday, I spent some portion of the day hanging around, watching the USA World Cup Team play like a bunch of 4th graders in AYSO and just taking in the beauty of free time. At night, I went to an event called Spanish at a bar called Club V. The idea is that you spend 10 minutes talking to a given person, 5 minutes in English and 5 minutes in Spanish. In this way, you each practice languages while making connections with locals. Afterwards, everyone hangs out in the bar for the great happy hour prices that you get as a result of attending Spanglish. I met some really cool guys from the United States, Argentina, and Ecuador, and I plan on keeping in touch with them and maybe even doing a little bit of traveling with them in the coming weeks.

Anyway, that's enough blogging for me for now...


Un beso a todos...and, as for Argentina's soccer team, VAMOS VAMOS!

In the meantime...

I have to post stuff from this week, but, in the meantime, I thought y'all might enjoy seeing a map of where I've traveled in my life...

Turning it around...

Since I last wrote, work has picked up a bit. I´ve researched U.S. law pertaining to Gift Cards and Argentina law, as captured in the Civil and Commercial Codes, pertaining to the legal representation of corporations. I also analyzed a contract for a potential real estate investment that one client is considering. Relatively interesting stuff. As I write this, I am trying to put off continuing to research the gift card market but in Argentina this time. It´s funny the way that the Argentine versions of Westlaw and Lexis are like bad photocopies of their American equivalents. Anyway, enough about work...

Since I last wrote, I have grown closer to the posse of girls in the office, and I have made friends with a guy named Daniel, who goes by Dani. He´s a nice guy who I practice English/Spanish with, but I´m not sure how much more time I want to spend with him. He seems to believe that I am misleading him when I correct his English, which is quite strange seeing as I am the native speaker. In the meantime, I have arranged other language exchanges with people who seem much more interesting, including one with a law student from Bs As on Friday.

Sorry for the short entry...not too much to share. Still, look forward to my next entry which will likely include some interesting commentary on the events that will transpire tonight during my first tango lessson. Haha.

Creando amistades...

So, while work is still not anything noteworthy, my experience in Buenos Aires has radically improved. On Wednesday night, I met up with a friend of a friend from law school, and we saw a movie called Matrimonios Arreglados (Arranged Marriages), a movie about the custom of having arranged marriage as seen through the eyes of the two protagonists - an Orthodox Jew and a Syrian Muslim. The movie was followed by a debate between an Orthodox Rabbi from Buenos Aires and some representative of Islam.

Since Wednesday, I have spent most of the time hanging out with girls in the office - lawyers, paralegals, and secretaries - who are closer to me in age than the people I met last week. We eat lunch together, practice English/Spanish, and generally hang out. One of them took me to the Bolsa de Comercio de Buenos Aires (BCBA - the Argentine Stock Exchange), and we were able to go onto the trading floor because I am an American. Love it! It was quite entertaining to see a 90-year old man sitting in front of a computer on the trading floor, perusing Facebook. Genial! Not too bad, considering that everyone else was watching the World Cup.

Tonight, I am meeting someone for a language exchange and some dinner...should be a good time. Will write soon.

Chau chau.

Sitting in the office, looking at the sky(line)...

I apologize to all of you (read: all two of you who follow me) that I haven´t updated in the past few days, but there truly hasn´t been much of anything to write about.

I went to the Colombian party on Friday after work, and it was pretty boring. Most people came as couples, and the people I approached seemed to think that I was trying to flirt with them. So, after a few hours, I grew tired of standing alone and decided to go home. I should have gone to sleep right then, but I have become obsessed with The Good Wife, which led me to watch a few episodes before I finally decided to retire around 5am. The next day, I woke up around 3pm and had no idea what day it was! I took a shower, cleared my head, and decided that I needed to focus on finishing my note for the Journal Competition. Once I started, I kept running into the fact that the topic was of no interest to me. Bluntly stated, it sucked. I spent all of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday writing the note, not even leaving my apartment once during those three days. Even though my note was not my best work, I´m simply glad that it´s over. I feel like I can finally start to enjoy my time here in Buenos Aires and not have to think about all of the obligations that I left at home.

That being said, I am sitting in the office, doing nothing but staring at the skyline. I helped Justo craft the language for a particular section of this public offering of bonds that he is working on for the Province of Buenos Aires, but, other than that, I have not been too busy. I truly hope that things pick up a bit because I know that I can be an asset to the firm if they just give me the work to do.

Otherwise, I´m excited about going to a movie tomorrow night with a friend of my law school friend, Pam Swanson, and hanging out later in the week with some of the girls in the office. Until then, besos.

Oh, and before I forget...

I love the funny things that happen in this city. From today alone,

1. I saw a store called Mr. Sweater that only sold women's clothing.

2. I saw a store called Plan B - and it was a children's store.

3. I somehow got lost on the way home from work and found my way because of the obelisk that is in the middle of the city - who do they think they are, Washington D.C.?

Getting lost...and then found again.

As you'll notice, there is no post from yesterday. I spent most of the day catching up on sleep and then running around Buenos Aires trying to find a bank that would allow me to take out USD instead of Argentine Pesos and not charge an outrageous fee. Unfortunately, I walked several miles only to find that there is no such thing and miss lunch in the process. As they say, no pasa nada - don't worry! After that, I came home, chatted with friends from home, and prepared myself for Day 1 of my summer job.

So, that brings me to today. I decided to try my luck with my converter and blow dryer and ended up looking worse than when I got into the shower or as though I had put an entire jar of hair gel on my head. Gross! Anyway, it was already time to leave, so I had no choice but to just go with it. I then walked a bit over a mile to work and enjoyed the looks I got for not wearing a coat. I actually ended up taking off my suit jacket because of the heat, even though it was only about 60 degrees around that time. Finally, I arrived at my summer office. I was greeted by some lovely receptionists before speaking with several of the firm's most prominent names. It seemed like every person knew and admired the University of Illinois, probably due to Cabanellas' influence, and, so, I became an instant celebrity. I spent most of the day translating a contract from Spanish into English and distracting my office mate, Justo Segura. He seems like a really great person so far. His sense of humor is very dry and witty, and he likes to ask lots of questions. He received his LLM from the University of Michigan (yes, Muck Fichigan, I know...), and he practiced at a law firm in NY before returning to Buenos Aires. So far, I like everyone. They are all concerned that I have a good time, and I am pretty sure that I will, mostly because of them.

Anyway, I must get some rest for a party that my realtor is throwing for Colombian students that participate in his study abroad program. I'm sure there will be great stories from tomorrow (night).

On that note, besitos and chau!

Llegando a Buenos Aires despues de 20 horas de viaje - Obrigado!

I left Chicago at 9pm on Monday. It was Memorial Day - the day when most gather with their families at a picnic or a bbq to remember those who have fallen and those who continue to fight for our country. I, being quite the world traveler, spent most of the day re-packing and otherwise preparing to leave the country. Oh the irony!

Anyway, the trip started off relatively normal. As per usual, my bags were each over the weight limit, and, also as per usual, the lovely people at United didn't say a thing. I guess it just goes to show you that "tu atras mas abejas con miel que con aceite." The aforementioned is Spanish for "you attract more bees with honey than with oil."

Once I boarded my first flight, a few things decidedly turned for the worst. Some random passenger decided to move to my row and take a nap almost on top of me. After I "accidentally" knocked into her, she reconsidered. At that point, I decided to do some reading using the overhead light. All was fine until the flight attendant somehow skipped me for the dinner tray, and, when he finally corrected his mistake, I bit into the food only to burn my tongue. I guess life just throws you curve balls sometimes, and you just have to make sure to laugh. Later, I began to drift and decided I should just go to bed, which would have been alright other than the fact that my light/assistance panel suddenly would not function. Oh well, said the flight attendants, and they proceeded to tape a piece of foil over the light in order to lessen its intensity. Somehow, I still managed to get some rest despite all of the nonsense that had transpired.

A few hours later, I landed at the airport in Sao Paolo, Brazil, a place that is only memorable for being the most confusing airport that I have ever been in. I found a fellow American, Stephen, who was quite the character. He was missing four of his front teeth, was diabetic and suffered from several other medical complications which meant that he had to take a different pill every hour. He was also unique in that he was traveling all the way from Iowa to go meet his online girlfriend who lives in Buenos Aires - someone whom he had never met before. Needless to say, we kept each other laughing during our four hour layover.

The flight from Sao Paolo to Buenos Aires was rather uneventful. Afterwards, I was met by my realtor here, Santiago, a friend of Nuria's, and he drove me to my new apartment while explaining things about the city and also about his job. We drove past Argentina's obelisk - which is very reminiscent of the Washington Monument, and Santiago told me about some of the historical buildings that we passed. As part of his job, dealing with students from abroad who choose to attend university at the public school in Buenos Aires, Santiago is busy scheduling social events for all of his clients, including a party for all of the Colombians (plus me, of course).

Now, I am sitting in my apartment and relaxing. The weather is quite perfect - high 50s, and I am watching episodes of The Good Wife online...procrastinating from moving forward on my note. Don't worry everyone...it will get done!

Anyway, I want to finish this episode soon and then go to bed at a reasonable hour. Santiago is going to show me some cool spots tomorrow. Until later...chau!