The week the boys spent here was phenomenal and very caloric. On Monday, we met up with my friend Kelly to see La Bomba del Tiempo (an improv drum band concert). The show was wonderful until some random lady started singing and ruining each piece. Around that time, we decided to head back home. On Tuesday, I decided to let the grupo loco go out without me because I wanted a quiet night at home -- something that is extremely hard to do when you´re in a city like this because there is always something else that you could be doing. On Wednesday, without other plans, we did what any sensible person would do -- we went on the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl. One word: Wow. Brazillians dominated the group because this is the time of year when they come to Argentina to take a break from the heat, but they were all pretty friendly with us since Eric speaks a bit of Portuguese and almost all of them speak a moderate level of English. *DETAILS HAVE BEEN EXCLUDED* because, as I told my dad the next day, what happens in Buenos Aires, stays in Buenos Aires. On Thursday, the boys met up with me to go see the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. If you don´t know about the tragedy, you owe it to yourself to read about it (on Wikipedia, at least...). I then went back to work for a bit and returned home at the usual time. Then, we had a laid-back night and went to a restaurant around the corner from where I´m staying. The food was great, very tastey and very reasonable. For their last night here, Friday night, we had a very packed evening. First, we went to a Chabad Kabalistic service for Shabbat. The Rabbi then took us into his home and invited us to dinner, along with 20 other people (from all over the world - including Argentines, other Americans, Brazillians, and Israelis). I guess it just goes to show you that the song is true...¨Everywhere you go, there´s always someone Jewish.¨ After engaging with Jews in Argentina, we went to Mandarine, a club located at Punta Carrasco, an area right on the river. It started off super slow, but it picked up rather quickly. We stayed there for a while, and it seemed like the boys had a great time (mostly because of the ridiculous girl-to-guy ratio). The next morning, we went to Murillo, the leather district, and I helped the boys buy gifts for their friends and family. Geez, I have never seen so much leather in my life. As Jerry put it, SENSORY OVERLOAD!!! After shopping ´til we dropped, we went to a parilla and split a gigantic piece of steak...still not entirely sure what cut. We also tried their pancetta and some of their empandas. Yum. At that point, it was time to say goodbye...o, chau chau. The boys left for the airport, and I had a timely reunion with my bed, since I was starting to get sick.
After spending all of Saturday night in bed, I woke up early on Sunday morning for a little excursion to Tigre and San Isidro. The former is an area about 30km outside of Buenos Aires, and several people live on the Delta, which is only reachable by boat. Thus, there are entire industries that exist by boat in Tigre - Supermarket Boats, Taxi and Bus Boats, Police Boats, etc. Crazy, no? All the while, I was explaining everything that the tour guide was saying to the Chinese woman next to me because she didn´t speak any Spanish. I then did some shopping in San Isidro, the Argentine equivalent of Highland Park, before heading to the antique/artisan market in San Telmo, one of the oldest neighborhoods in Argentina. Upon finding some bargains, my Chinese friend and I stumbled upon a man making fresh-squeezed orange juice, a rarity in a country like this that doesn´t believe in vegetables or fruit. For being her translator, bargain-maker, and acquaintance, my Chinense friend bought me a glass of his juice...which turned out to be the very best orange juice I have ever consumed. I then walked 3 miles in the rain (probably not a good thing since I was sick to begin with) and arrived home. At night, I drank maté (Argentine tea that is super bitter and consumed in a really interesting fashion) with my friend, Daniel, and finally saw The Blind Side. It was a good way to close out the week -- relaxing and watching an awesome movie. That was, of course, until I remembered that I had to finish my applications for On-Campus Interviews for when I return to the U.S. Oops!
Since the week is almost over, I am going to leave my updates about this week until tomorrow.
Enjoy.
Besito,
A
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Another week gone by, including several legendary nights.
Since I last updated, life has been flying before my eyes. It seems like I blink and then a day has gone by. Before I lament the passage of time in a wordy, philosophical passage, I might as well tell you what I´ve been up to.
Last week, I went out more than I have in a while. On Wednesday, I went out with my soccer team to a party that was thrown in honor of all of the teams in the different soccer leagues. The female team from my office ended up winning third place as well as MVP of the League (to Delfina). As a result, we received immense amounts of presents (I took away a plate and some silverware - - relevance to fútbol? Ni idea!) as well as a copa (the trophey) for Third Place. In addition to the awards ceremony, the party was complete with an open bar, endless food (empanadas and a steak station) and several desserts. Pretty sweet stuff.
Thursday was rather unremarkable - work was difficult both substantively and physically (mostly as a result of the previous night´s activities), and I spent the evening preparing for Eric and his friends to arrive in Buenos Aires.
On Friday, the grupo loco arrived, and we spent the day paseando tranquilamente. I took the boys to one of my favorite lunch spots, where we all shared budin de pan casero - think Flan but with better texture. After a small siesta, we ate dinner at the #1 restaurant in Buenos Aires (La Cabrera) where I somehow got us a free bottle of champagne. Despite the intense food coma we were all in from the immense dinner we consumed, the group ventured to the always ridiculous boliche - Kika. Several hours later, around 4 am, we returned to Suipacha, where my apartment is, to sleep until 1pm the following day. Prying ourselves out of bed after the sleep of all sleeps, we visited the Museo de Evita and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), where we saw some rather ¨interesting¨ exhibits including several photographs of masochism and sadomasochism. We then had a rather relaxing evening because we needed to rest up for a trip to Colonia, Uruguay the next morning.
As it turned out, Colonia was a disaster. It started to rain cats and dogs (and maybe some elephants) even before we boarded the ferry. Once on the ferry, it rocked back and forth so much that upwards of 30% of the passengers got sick. For me, despite everything, the experience was hilarious. A woman who couldn´t have been more than 4´10´´ sat next to me, and, as soon as the turbulence started, she said that she was going to jump everytime there was a giant wave because, that way, she wouldn´t feel it so much. Five minutes later, she got sick. Yikes! When we arrived in Colonia, the weather was much the same, lots of rain. We saw the city from inside a van because the weather was not nice enough to do a walking tour. So, we spent most of the day in chachkah shops buying tonterias (stupid things). We headed back early and relaxed while watching some How I Met Your Mother. During that time, I found out that I had been selected for Law Review, so we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate. We tried the #10 restaurant, La Pampa Picante, which I will remember more for its ambience than for its food, though the food was also satisfactory. We then headed to Sunday School, an event held at Tazz Bar in Palermo, where people go out on Sunday -- something that is extremely uncommon in this part of the world. After beating Jerry and Brad in pool and staying out until 3 or 4am, we came home, and that was that. The weekend was over.
In any case, I have many more details and stories to share, but, for now, I leave you with a besito. Chau chau.
Last week, I went out more than I have in a while. On Wednesday, I went out with my soccer team to a party that was thrown in honor of all of the teams in the different soccer leagues. The female team from my office ended up winning third place as well as MVP of the League (to Delfina). As a result, we received immense amounts of presents (I took away a plate and some silverware - - relevance to fútbol? Ni idea!) as well as a copa (the trophey) for Third Place. In addition to the awards ceremony, the party was complete with an open bar, endless food (empanadas and a steak station) and several desserts. Pretty sweet stuff.
Thursday was rather unremarkable - work was difficult both substantively and physically (mostly as a result of the previous night´s activities), and I spent the evening preparing for Eric and his friends to arrive in Buenos Aires.
On Friday, the grupo loco arrived, and we spent the day paseando tranquilamente. I took the boys to one of my favorite lunch spots, where we all shared budin de pan casero - think Flan but with better texture. After a small siesta, we ate dinner at the #1 restaurant in Buenos Aires (La Cabrera) where I somehow got us a free bottle of champagne. Despite the intense food coma we were all in from the immense dinner we consumed, the group ventured to the always ridiculous boliche - Kika. Several hours later, around 4 am, we returned to Suipacha, where my apartment is, to sleep until 1pm the following day. Prying ourselves out of bed after the sleep of all sleeps, we visited the Museo de Evita and the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA), where we saw some rather ¨interesting¨ exhibits including several photographs of masochism and sadomasochism. We then had a rather relaxing evening because we needed to rest up for a trip to Colonia, Uruguay the next morning.
As it turned out, Colonia was a disaster. It started to rain cats and dogs (and maybe some elephants) even before we boarded the ferry. Once on the ferry, it rocked back and forth so much that upwards of 30% of the passengers got sick. For me, despite everything, the experience was hilarious. A woman who couldn´t have been more than 4´10´´ sat next to me, and, as soon as the turbulence started, she said that she was going to jump everytime there was a giant wave because, that way, she wouldn´t feel it so much. Five minutes later, she got sick. Yikes! When we arrived in Colonia, the weather was much the same, lots of rain. We saw the city from inside a van because the weather was not nice enough to do a walking tour. So, we spent most of the day in chachkah shops buying tonterias (stupid things). We headed back early and relaxed while watching some How I Met Your Mother. During that time, I found out that I had been selected for Law Review, so we decided to go out to dinner to celebrate. We tried the #10 restaurant, La Pampa Picante, which I will remember more for its ambience than for its food, though the food was also satisfactory. We then headed to Sunday School, an event held at Tazz Bar in Palermo, where people go out on Sunday -- something that is extremely uncommon in this part of the world. After beating Jerry and Brad in pool and staying out until 3 or 4am, we came home, and that was that. The weekend was over.
In any case, I have many more details and stories to share, but, for now, I leave you with a besito. Chau chau.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Taking it all in...
I am going to try this again, but I just wrote out a huge post that somehow got deleted. Blarghhhh!
After dowloading and archiving all of the SEC filings between 1998-2010 for numerous companies, I am taking a much-needed coffee break.
Since I last wrote, I enjoyed a wonderful long weekend in Buenos Aires. Last Friday was Independence Day in Argentina, which I celebrated by going on a Pub Crawl with Kelly on Thursday. We enjoyed the shots of Fernet and Coke that greeted us at each bar we visited before ending the night at a boliche (nightclub) in Palermo called Kika. What a cool place! It reminded me of many of the places I used to frequent when I lived in Madrid. Kika was divided into two rooms - one for Rock and the other for Reggaeton. Kelly and I rocked out in the Reggaeton room, enjoying ourselves save for the sketchy Argentines who kept grabbing us. After dancing with a select few, we were joined by my friend Facundo and his lawyer friend Tomas. Around 5am, we went for some pizza bajon - the technical name for eating pizza after you have spent all night and the early hours of the morning at a boliche. Because of the Thursday night festivities, I spent some much-needed hours catching up on sleep before meeting up with my friend Alex, a lawyer and professor of law in Colombia. We went walking around Puerto Madero, an area that originally served as a way to unload cargo to be distributed in and around the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Nowadays, it is an area full of beautiful vistas, including the Puente de las Mujeres, and wonderful restaurants and cafes as well as some American imports (namely, Cinemark, Hooters, and TGI Fridays). After walking around for some time, Alex and I stumbled upon an artesan market where I ended up buying an antique perle broche. We also decided to share a piece of cake that I´m told is typical for Argentine Independence Day. The cake had two layers of filling, one with yogurt and clementines and the other with something akin to dulce de leche and nuts, surrounded by cake and topped with merengue instead of icing. As is the case with most food in this country, I´m sure that it had very few calories. Then, Alex and I decided to go off in search of a movie, but, alas, he wanted to practice his English by seeing a movie that wasn´t dubbed in Spanish, and we couldn´t find one that fit our schedule. Instead, we shared a meal and another paseo in a mall in Palermo, a cool neighborhood in Buenos Aires, before calling it a night. On Saturday, I relaxed and rested up for a night of festivities with Kelly and the group of Colombians (and one Italian). We met up at an apartment, hung out for a while, and then went to another Boliche. Fun was definitely had by all! Around 4am, I headed home. The following morning, I went walking from Retiro (where I live) to the furthest point of Palermo in order to meet up with Rene and her friends to watch the World Cup final between Spain and Holland. Unfortunately, I momentarily forgot the address, walked 15 blocks in the wrong direction and ended up in a part of town where I did not want to be. Luckily, I found a cab and all was right again. As it turned out, I hadn´t even really missed anything - the game was still scoreless and would eventually end up going into overtime before Spain finally scored the game-winning goal against Holland. PUDIMOS! Afterwards, I returned to my apartment to rest up for another week in the life of a summer associate in Buenos Aires.
For now, I am off to a party, celebrating my soccer team and the rest of our league - if I haven´t mentioned it yet, WE WON THIRD PLACE!!! (AND I PLAYED). I am sure that tonight will be warrant another post later this week. Until then, un besito.
After dowloading and archiving all of the SEC filings between 1998-2010 for numerous companies, I am taking a much-needed coffee break.
Since I last wrote, I enjoyed a wonderful long weekend in Buenos Aires. Last Friday was Independence Day in Argentina, which I celebrated by going on a Pub Crawl with Kelly on Thursday. We enjoyed the shots of Fernet and Coke that greeted us at each bar we visited before ending the night at a boliche (nightclub) in Palermo called Kika. What a cool place! It reminded me of many of the places I used to frequent when I lived in Madrid. Kika was divided into two rooms - one for Rock and the other for Reggaeton. Kelly and I rocked out in the Reggaeton room, enjoying ourselves save for the sketchy Argentines who kept grabbing us. After dancing with a select few, we were joined by my friend Facundo and his lawyer friend Tomas. Around 5am, we went for some pizza bajon - the technical name for eating pizza after you have spent all night and the early hours of the morning at a boliche. Because of the Thursday night festivities, I spent some much-needed hours catching up on sleep before meeting up with my friend Alex, a lawyer and professor of law in Colombia. We went walking around Puerto Madero, an area that originally served as a way to unload cargo to be distributed in and around the Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aires. Nowadays, it is an area full of beautiful vistas, including the Puente de las Mujeres, and wonderful restaurants and cafes as well as some American imports (namely, Cinemark, Hooters, and TGI Fridays). After walking around for some time, Alex and I stumbled upon an artesan market where I ended up buying an antique perle broche. We also decided to share a piece of cake that I´m told is typical for Argentine Independence Day. The cake had two layers of filling, one with yogurt and clementines and the other with something akin to dulce de leche and nuts, surrounded by cake and topped with merengue instead of icing. As is the case with most food in this country, I´m sure that it had very few calories. Then, Alex and I decided to go off in search of a movie, but, alas, he wanted to practice his English by seeing a movie that wasn´t dubbed in Spanish, and we couldn´t find one that fit our schedule. Instead, we shared a meal and another paseo in a mall in Palermo, a cool neighborhood in Buenos Aires, before calling it a night. On Saturday, I relaxed and rested up for a night of festivities with Kelly and the group of Colombians (and one Italian). We met up at an apartment, hung out for a while, and then went to another Boliche. Fun was definitely had by all! Around 4am, I headed home. The following morning, I went walking from Retiro (where I live) to the furthest point of Palermo in order to meet up with Rene and her friends to watch the World Cup final between Spain and Holland. Unfortunately, I momentarily forgot the address, walked 15 blocks in the wrong direction and ended up in a part of town where I did not want to be. Luckily, I found a cab and all was right again. As it turned out, I hadn´t even really missed anything - the game was still scoreless and would eventually end up going into overtime before Spain finally scored the game-winning goal against Holland. PUDIMOS! Afterwards, I returned to my apartment to rest up for another week in the life of a summer associate in Buenos Aires.
For now, I am off to a party, celebrating my soccer team and the rest of our league - if I haven´t mentioned it yet, WE WON THIRD PLACE!!! (AND I PLAYED). I am sure that tonight will be warrant another post later this week. Until then, un besito.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Wow, I suck at this...
To Everyone (including myself):
I am sorry! I have been really bad about updating on this blog. I planned on being better about it, but it seems like my time here is flying by so quickly that I barely have time to sit down and write. Suddenly, work has really picked up. I've been busy doing lots of document review which is boring and time-consuming. Still, I have found ways to keep it interesting - such as looking for documents that have dates that are special to me or that are holidays in the U.S. While I am already starting to be sad about the thought of leaving this place, it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine not hanging out with the chiquis (girls from the office) and Justo. They have been the defining features of my summer, and I am so grateful for having them in my life. The chiquis told me that I had to stay through the rest of the year in order to play in their next season of soccer (since I was such a hit during our recent game, in which we won 7-2, garnering 3rd place in the league). Justo told me that I had to stay so that he could keep having so much fun and being distracted while practicing his English with me. Gustavo told me that I needed to stay so I could re-learn the Karate that I used to do - he is a member of the Argentine National Karate Team. As you can tell, I love the people that I work with, even if the work itself is not my cup of tea.
In addition to work, I have been spending a lot of time running around. Last weekend, I went to Lima, Peru to spend the Fourth of July with Hallie, my roomie from senior year of college. The weekend was simply awesome...exactly what I needed. We lazed around and caught up on Friday, before heading to sushi at Osaka to celebrate my arrival and Hallie's roomate, Annie, finishing undergrad. It was so great to eat something other than meat. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I have been craving seafood for a while now, especially sushi. After hanging out at a swanky bar and downing some Pisco, we went home and had a "tranqui" night. The next morning, we walked around the city and went to a Spanish-influenced area of the city to watch Spain and Paraguay on the big screen. We took some great pictures with policemen, giant inflatables, and other things, before venturing into the markets to buy trinkets. I ended up deciding upon a chess set with the pieces being Incas versus Conquistadores - pretty sweet and only 20 soles, the equivalent of $8 USD. Later, we snacked on Salchipapas (hot dog and fries with condiments) and also anticuchos (cow heart). With energy up, we went to do some more shopping at another market before returning to the house to rev up for a night out. Dressed to impress, we ventured to Baranco and ended up hanging out with some of Annie's university friends. What crazy chicas! Aside from the cat calls from the Peruvian men, the night was a lot of fun, but I would advise anyone going to the bars not to order a Gin & Tonic...it is only Gin and quite unappealing looking. Regardless, it was a great time, despite having my first sighting of a prostitute...jeez. On Sunday, we walked around again and decided to grab some coffee at a Middle Eastern restaurant. We made friends with the bartenders and even got to pet a rabbit before we decided to march onward. At that point, we visited a point that overlooks the ocean - what a vista! We walked down the side of a cliff/small mountain and ate dinner at this amazing restaurant that was surrounded by water on all sides. It felt like what I imagine the Titanic felt like, minus the drowning and tragedy. After a tremendous dinner, we returned to Miraflores (where the house was located) and celebrated the Fourth by indulging in a Peruvian delicacy - tres leches - at an American institution - Starbucks. Good times! The following morning, I bid farwell to Hallie and Annie, dwelling on the fact that the weekend came and went all too quickly, but I guess that's just what happens when I've had too much fun.
In any case, I am about to head out for the night, but I must update more and will probably do so tomorrow about Argentine Independence Day, the Colombian lawyer, etc. Until then...un beso.
I am sorry! I have been really bad about updating on this blog. I planned on being better about it, but it seems like my time here is flying by so quickly that I barely have time to sit down and write. Suddenly, work has really picked up. I've been busy doing lots of document review which is boring and time-consuming. Still, I have found ways to keep it interesting - such as looking for documents that have dates that are special to me or that are holidays in the U.S. While I am already starting to be sad about the thought of leaving this place, it's becoming increasingly difficult to imagine not hanging out with the chiquis (girls from the office) and Justo. They have been the defining features of my summer, and I am so grateful for having them in my life. The chiquis told me that I had to stay through the rest of the year in order to play in their next season of soccer (since I was such a hit during our recent game, in which we won 7-2, garnering 3rd place in the league). Justo told me that I had to stay so that he could keep having so much fun and being distracted while practicing his English with me. Gustavo told me that I needed to stay so I could re-learn the Karate that I used to do - he is a member of the Argentine National Karate Team. As you can tell, I love the people that I work with, even if the work itself is not my cup of tea.
In addition to work, I have been spending a lot of time running around. Last weekend, I went to Lima, Peru to spend the Fourth of July with Hallie, my roomie from senior year of college. The weekend was simply awesome...exactly what I needed. We lazed around and caught up on Friday, before heading to sushi at Osaka to celebrate my arrival and Hallie's roomate, Annie, finishing undergrad. It was so great to eat something other than meat. Don't get me wrong, I love meat, but I have been craving seafood for a while now, especially sushi. After hanging out at a swanky bar and downing some Pisco, we went home and had a "tranqui" night. The next morning, we walked around the city and went to a Spanish-influenced area of the city to watch Spain and Paraguay on the big screen. We took some great pictures with policemen, giant inflatables, and other things, before venturing into the markets to buy trinkets. I ended up deciding upon a chess set with the pieces being Incas versus Conquistadores - pretty sweet and only 20 soles, the equivalent of $8 USD. Later, we snacked on Salchipapas (hot dog and fries with condiments) and also anticuchos (cow heart). With energy up, we went to do some more shopping at another market before returning to the house to rev up for a night out. Dressed to impress, we ventured to Baranco and ended up hanging out with some of Annie's university friends. What crazy chicas! Aside from the cat calls from the Peruvian men, the night was a lot of fun, but I would advise anyone going to the bars not to order a Gin & Tonic...it is only Gin and quite unappealing looking. Regardless, it was a great time, despite having my first sighting of a prostitute...jeez. On Sunday, we walked around again and decided to grab some coffee at a Middle Eastern restaurant. We made friends with the bartenders and even got to pet a rabbit before we decided to march onward. At that point, we visited a point that overlooks the ocean - what a vista! We walked down the side of a cliff/small mountain and ate dinner at this amazing restaurant that was surrounded by water on all sides. It felt like what I imagine the Titanic felt like, minus the drowning and tragedy. After a tremendous dinner, we returned to Miraflores (where the house was located) and celebrated the Fourth by indulging in a Peruvian delicacy - tres leches - at an American institution - Starbucks. Good times! The following morning, I bid farwell to Hallie and Annie, dwelling on the fact that the weekend came and went all too quickly, but I guess that's just what happens when I've had too much fun.
In any case, I am about to head out for the night, but I must update more and will probably do so tomorrow about Argentine Independence Day, the Colombian lawyer, etc. Until then...un beso.
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