Is it time for breakfast yet?

Buenos Aires has a reputation as one of the most active night scenes
in the whole world, and as I've just discovered, for good reason.
Dinner most nights starts around 9-9:30, about the time I've gnawed
off about 3 fingers out of sheer starvation. Then on the weekends (or
any day, if you're a minimally committed foreign exchange student) a
little siesta is in order, followed by an 11:00 visit to the local
cafe for a coffee and ice cream (or in my case, ice cream and ice
cream). Around 12 or so, once all the friends have gathered (meeting
times mean nothing here), the group migrates to a local bar for some
of the cheapest drinks I've ever seen. Local beer: Quilmes, not bad.
Then, at the time US bars are closing their doors, the bigger bars are
starting to turn into clubs, and the bigger clubs are starting to
open. No one's really going crazy with the drinks, so the usual post
alcohol exhaustion never really kicks in. A few hours dancing to
Duran Duran-era hits rounds out the night, but no one's going to bed
before a quick breakfast at a cafe on the way home. Rinse, repeat.
Two days of this, and I've never slept so soundly. I got out of bed
today at 2:30, undoubtedly the latest I've ever slept in. I came out
of my room with a sheepish grin on my face to find out that not only
was my family not surprised, they too were in their pajamas. I love
this place.

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My "classes"

Hi everybody,

I just signed up for classes, and I don't think that they'll be consuming
too much of my time! I'm taking classes on Argentine Globablization,
a couple on Argentine literature and culture, and of course, the
tango. And on top of that, they only meet once a week (two hours
each), and I don't have class on Monday or Friday.

But it's not just me, school in general is taken a bit lighter here. It seems like they're more interested in living life, not learning about it. And who can blame them?

Talk to you all soon,
Myles

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I love this place

Hi all,

Well, I met my family yesterday, and I couldn't have asked for nicer people. The day that I moved in was the youngest daughter's 18th birthday, so the whole family came over for quite a party. Even Grandma didn't leave until 3am. Dinner was served at 11, and was the
most amazing meal I've ever had. Calling it anything less than a feast would be quite the understatement. We devoured almost a dozen courses (three which were dessert), including some of the best ice cream that I've ever had. I'm very full, and that means something.

So, anyway, the party was great, and the house is also.

I have my own room and bath, and the shower's quite a trip. It's a shower head coming out of the wall right in the middle of the bathroom; not so much as a curtain to keep the water from soaking everything, even the toilet paper.

Today I met the staff of my exchange program, and they're all very nice. They're locals that speak English, although it sounds like they're going to have us speak Spanish around them. That's ok though, it's why I'm here.

All in all, things are looking very nice.

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I made it!

Hi everybody,

After a full 24 hours of travel (of which maybe 4 were sleeping) I'm safely sitting in a Buenos Aires internet cafe freezing my balls off. Yep, you read it right, it's cold! Because of the whole southern hemisphere thing, it's wintertime in Latin America. For most of the continent, that means a brisk 97 degrees, but Argentina is far enough south to actually have seasons. It's not awful, probably about 50 degrees, but I sacrificed bringing a jacket to free up some space, so I'm a bit under dressed. When I came off the plane--and for a split second saw my breath hovering in front of me--I seriously considered getting right back on.

The plane ride was nice, I watched Sahara four times. If the star was anyone besides Penelope Cruz, that might have been a problem, but it sure did help pass the time! I sat next to a nice Argentine lady who works for National Geographic, she gave me some pointers as to where I should look for a hotel. I found one, by the way, but not before I hit a couple of speed bumps...

So, I went up to the transportation counter at the airport and asked for a bus ticket, but I used the wrong word (Argentine Spanish has a different vocabulary than Mexican Spanish or Spanish Spanish), and only upon being led away by my private driver to his private car did I realize the err of my ways. I though that it was an expensive bus ticket! At least he took me right up to a hotel, so I didn't have to wander about Buenos Aires like Toury McTouristan with my big rolling duffel, asking door to door if there were any rooms available.

Alright, that's about it for now, since I'm paying by the minute, but
more to come soon.

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