Ahora, Sabemos (Now, we know.)

Friday, we decided we'd go to a bar/club that was fun, but not too crazy.  We looked up Cocoliche on the Web and it's reviews made it sound cool with a chill room upstairs and local beats spun downstairs with a professional light show.  Although the reviews said "left-of-center" and "underground," we just took that to mean there wouldn't be any tourists there, but all the "cool" people would be.  It's door was inconspicuous and lacking a sign, so it looked as if we were off the a good start.  Also, we figured out how to get our name on the list to avoid paying a whopping cover like a Crobar.  When we arrived, it appeared that everyone there was "on the list." So much for being special, but at least we still didn't have to pay more than 10 pesos.  Once inside, there was trippy artwork and an interesting crowd.  I consider myself pretty alternative and love listening to underground music, but that place was waaay too intense for me.  Even a bottle of water was 10 pesos, and the bartender wouldn't give me change to tip, expecting a 5 peso bill.  Yeah right! Once the downstairs finally opened up, the DJ played the same 2 bars over and over and over and over.  I'm all for crazy dubstep and electronica, but this was straight trance music.  It was impossible to dance to and too loud to talk.  Knowing we had just stocked up on bar supplies at home, I figured we should cut our losses early to enjoy the rest of the night at home.  Not everyone agreed.  This turned into the first major scuffle of the trip.  Due to tempers, we ended up walking like 10 blocks out of our way with the group being separated several times.  To make things worse, no one had cell phones because no one had minutes, and on top of that some people didn't even have their keys to go home.  Long story short, it was a disaster.

This presents a challenge I'm sure we'll have to deal with a lot over the next few months.  Speak your mind and be considered a b***h, or stay quiet and nice, but get screwed over or do what the group wants all the time.  This is especially hard when our group is divided between more outspoken, opinionated types (myself) and people who would stay quiet to avoid conflict at all costs.  I feel like I'm actually a sort of mix of the two and it makes me passive aggressive, which I hate! I never know whether it's better to say my piece or just let things go.  Obviously, if it's not that important, let it go.  But what if it's important to you, but everyone's already slept it off and back to normal? I guess I'll just have to use the serenity prayer a lot this semester and learn as I go.  It's puzzling to me to be able to see the areas where we're going to evolve over the trip, but still not know how.  I think that's a major benefit to having a blog; I get to look back and really see how I changed from beginning to end.

Saturday, we slept in later than planned because of the eventful night before, but eventually made it to the pool.  It was a huge park with tennis courts, basketball courts, soccer fields, all sorts of stuff.  By the time we finally found the pool, we were told that before you could enter the pool, you had to get a medical check.  A little intense for a pool, but at least it meant the water was safe to swim in.  So, we proceeding to walk around some more looking for the medical check.  Found it, whew!

It's getting to be like 3 o'clock at this point.  We waited in line only to be told you have to shower before you can be examined.  AHH! I just want to lay in the sun!! We waited in line for showers and made it back to the medical check.  For such a methodical system, our checks sure weren't objective.  I spread my toes and had my hair checked for lice.  Kylie had her armpits examined, and Anna had to do something with her bikini bottoms! Huh?! They were all female nurses in scrubs, but what the heck?  At least the certificate was good for 30 days. Uhhh, what if someone gets lice or crabs in 30 days.  I just do not understand their reasoning at all.  Finally, we were off to the pool.  It was huge.  It holds 2-3000 people.

There were a couple slides too, but slides aren't really my thing, so I decided to keep watch of our stuff instead.  While the girls were gone, a workout class began in the water.  Genius! It was a lot like the Tiger X classes at Mizzou except you get to cool off and get a tan while you do it.  There were probably 200 or so people of all ages participating; it was great.  I wish my best friend Chelsea could have seen it! It makes so much sense.  Americans treat exercise like punishment; no one wants to do it.  Here, it's just another way to have fun.  Society as a whole here is so much more active, not to mention they eat barely any processed foods.  And the United States wonders why it has an obesity epidemic.  If people could have fun without vegging out in front of a tv or computer, you wouldn't even need to workout!! Another thing I like about the water class was that it used the water for resistance.  Kids think fun splashing; muscles think what a work out.  Awesome.  No one cared if they looked stupid either.  You know how when it's that dread week of PE for tae-bo? Everyone just stands there doing nothing, worried about looking silly.  Yeah, you kind of look like a freak punching the air and jumping in the water, but who cares? I love this about Buenos Aires.   We also talked and shared food with some boys laying out next to us when out of nowhere appears a 50 foot Jesus replica!!! It blew our minds.

 "I swear that wasn't there five minutes ago." "Wait, is he rotating?" The giant Jesus is apparently part of Tierra Santa, a replica of Bethlehem.  We rises from the mountain once in a while turns to face all his children and then disappears back into the earth.  It looked more to me like he was telling all the thong-laden pool-goers to find some religion and cover up their temples.

Apparently, Saturday was the day for crazy apparitions, because on the walk back home, there was a giant ghost man/woman standing outside the cemetery.  After Michael Jackson impersonators and the naked cowboy in NY, Americans are used to statue people and entertainers, but this ghost was CREEPY.  I wanted to run away and cry, NOT give him my already scarce monedas.

Saturday night was a chance to make up for the chaos of the night before.  We definitely wanted to have a fun time.  To celebrate the Chinese New Year, we headed to Chinatown for some yummy food that didn't consist of tomato, mozzarella, and basil.   We walked to the bus stop that would take us there, but it was actually a station with lots of stops.  We were trying to figure out which terminal was for 130 when we saw it pulling up.  I tried to hail it as usual, but I guess the driver didn't care since I wasn't standing in the correct place.  Having barely any dignity in Buenos Aires anyways, Kylie and I thought it wasn't going to hurt anything to be the crazy person running after the bus.  Luckily, he had to stop at a light before pulling out onto the main road.  While we jumped on, our other two friends were left in the dust.  Once again, we had no cell phones and no way of communicating.  To make things worse, the other girls didn't even know where Kylie had picked for dinner; they only knew Chinatown.  Kylie and I walked around Chinatown for a while knowing it would be 20 or 30 minutes before the next bus got there.  We walked back to the stop hoping the other girls had asked for help and knew to get off there.  No one got off.  Well, now there was absolutely no way of knowing what they were going to do.  It's really hard to try to be predictable, but also try to do what they think you would do.  Kylie and I figured we might as well eat and just sit by a window in case the other girls made it.  By some miracle, we ran into them on the way to the restaurant.  If you think ordering Chinese food is hard in the U.S., I would like for you to imagine for just a moment, picture in your head, a menu written in Chinese translated into Spanish.  Think Arroz Juey Suey.  Excuse me? I ordered seafood and rice, something I'd been craving for days and wound up with a plate of chewy squid tentacles and soupy rice.  Uh, should have stuck with veggie fried rice.  Why do I also go for the adventuresome plate?

After dinner, we walked to a bar that was more "cheto," or trendy.  It also didn't have a sign; you just have to knock on the door of the alleyway.  It was probably my favorite bar yet.  There was low lighting, good music, and beautiful people.  As we looked for the patio (which was blogged about online), we realized we were outside.  Part of the bar had a roof, while part of it was covered with trees and was actually outside.  Very cool.  We had a Squeeze, which consisted of gin and maracuyá, a sweet citrusy fruit.  It was the best drink I've had in my life.  Delicious and smooth, sweet but not too sweet, and you still felt a little kick afterward.  Absolutely perfect.  It was good to have a relaxing night that didn't go too terribly wrong.

Sunday, we made plans to go to the zoo!  I know everyone's probably been to the zoo in their lifetime, but I was hoping to see some animals that South America had, but you couldn't find in familiar Saint Louis.  The Parque Zoologico was famous for white lions and tigers.  It only cost 27 pesos (7 dollars) to go, and we had a blast.  I felt like a little kid again.  On the walk to the bus stop, we saw a bunch of kids swimming in a statue fountain.  While this may be frowned upon in the U.S., I think even illegal, we decided to hop right on in.  Ok, so I guess we just dipped our legs in, but it was still perfect after 4 hours of walking in the sun.

Of everything that happened last weekend, we've discovered the saying of our trip.  Before, "Es una aventura," and after, "Pues, ahora sabemos."  "It's an adventure" (justifying getting lost, spending too much money, and making all the wrong decisions.) and "Well, now we know" (hoping at least we have it figured out for the next 3 months.  Speaking of months,  I can't believe after this week, I'll have been in Buenos Aires a month.  It is absolutely mind-blowing.

Hasta luego,
Amelia