Buenos Aires

I have arrived safe and sound in Buenos Aires and currently find myself in a lovely corner cafe. The next two weeks, I will be living in "Palermo Hollywood" which is part of the larger Palermo contingent, which I'm told is one of the nicer neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. Nonetheless, I've already been regaled with a few horror stories, and I walked down the street with my bag tightly clung to my chest and looking out for a store where I can buy a more secure handbag. Fashion is big here -- that's already apparent after only a few hours -- but my fav Angela Adams handbag my have to go on hiatus for my time here.

I also already got to experience what the Lonely Planet guidebook warned against -- taxi drivers who "forget" to turn on the meter in the hope the foreign passenger won't notice and then charge an arm and a leg at drop off. Luckily, I was with a woman who'd been in Buenos Aires before, and she quickly asked him what was up with the meter. He feigned some technical issues before begrudgingly turning it on, but asked us to pay him more when we arrived at our destination. I was impressed that she declined. Looks like city life will require me to be a little grittier than life in Bariloche did.

All that said, I had the incredible good luck of flying on the same plane from Bariloche to Buenos Aires as the aforementioned woman (who was a fellow student at La Montaña), and it turns out she was living in the same apartment that I'm now in. She's on her way to Uruguay, but had a long layover, so we had lunch with some of her friends, a few of whom happen to be my new roomies. So first thing in Buenos Aires I got to meet some friendly faces and get escorted to the apartment, which was a huge weight off my shoulders.

My new room is glorious -- vaulted ceiling, olive-colored walls, and French doors to a balcony overlooking the street. The apartment also has a roof terrace and patio, and I'll be living with a few locals in addition to the other Spanish school students.

I've taken pictures of BsAs so far, but forgot to upload to my computer, so they'll have to come in the next post, but I was finally able to upload some videos from Laguna Negra and will finally be able to share them in a separate post. Hope you enjoy. Hasta luego!