My last weeks in BA

Tuesday I had class during the day and did a little work in the afternoon. For dinner we met up with Elise's family and went out to La Brigada, an amazing steak restaurant in San Telmo. We had a really nice fun dinner with her family, and got to know them pretty well. Kate and I successfully made it back and forth on the bus, which was quiet a feat.

Wednesday was just a normal day of classes and getting a little work done. I started to outline my papers that I knew were due the next week.

Thursday I slept in and then got some work done on my papers. I spoke to my family for a while and talked to a few friends. I missed being home for Thanksgiving, not necessarily for the traditions (although I am dying for some turkey and cranberry sauce) but the family gathering together. I ended up going to an ex-pat bar for dinner and to watch the football games. My JETS got killed by the Cowboys, but thats how life goes. After dinner and the game, we went out for ice cream and called it a night.

Friday morning I had a presentation for my conversation class. This was for the final grade in the class, but it was not that hard for me. I choose to speak about my experiences going to the soccer games here, and did a small presentation about the history of the team. It was about 15 minutes, and I think I did well. After that, I met up with Alex to do a little adventuring that afternoon. We met up and took a train out to San Isidrio, one of the nicest suburbs of the city. We walked around for 20 minutes and found a good local place to have some lunch. After we walked around the outdoor market and neighborhood for a while. We hopped on a train back that took us next to the coast, which was nice, but not that scenic. I got home for dinner and enjoyed the meal with my host family. After dinner, I wasnt in the mood to go out crazy, so Kate, Elise and I decided to have a quiet night and go see a movie. We caught a late showing of Superbad, which was amazingly funny. It made my night. I couldnt fall asleep later that night since I was still laughing at the jokes from the movie.

Saturday I was really productive and got a lot of work done on my papers. For dinner, I met up with Elise and Kate and ended up eating Mexican food at a place close to Plaza Serrano. After dinner, we went and hung out at the residencia with our friends that live there. I left a little early to meet up Nell at a bar in Recoleta. I met up with Nell, and two of her friends from GW that were traveling, Gerawa and Dave. From that bar, after a drink, we caught a bus and headed to Nell's ex-roomate graduation party. Augustina graduated from university with a degree in psychology, which is a big deal here since it is a six year program. The party was at this cool bar and it was so full it was hard to move. Augustina's sister is our age, and since Nell knows her well, we ended up hanging out with most of her friends the entire night. After we left, we checkout out this concert that was just finishing up across the street that sounded awesome before, but the band had already left. We split a cab home and I got in bed around 5.45am.

Sunday I slept in and did a lot of reading about American news. I did some more work on my papers, and then took a nice walk in the park. I kinda just hung out at the fairs, and enjoyed people watching. I sat in on some free outdoor concerts and walked passed some fun drum circles. I got back to my house, and relaxed before finishing up one of my papers. I stayed in for dinner, since my host family had invited me to be with their cousins who were visiting. Pepin made a really good chicken and rice paella-like dish that was great, and I was able to have fun talking to the cousins.

Monday I had a review for Spanish in my class, and then went to Culture class to get my exam back and listen to a little Argentine music. After class I met up with Sarah, Lauren, and Elizabeth to go to California Burrito Kitchen for lunch. I ate so much I felt like I might explode. After lunch we did a little gift shopping on Lavalle and Florida streets, and I bought myself my last gift from Argentina. I came back to get some work done, but had to restart my computer. While it was rebooting, I laid down for a second (around 4.30pm) and then got woken up by a text message from Nell (at 7pm). I then left to meet Nell to go to a drum concert that she has been going to for a few weeks. We took the bus over to Abasto neighborhood, to find the concert. The show takes place outside a cultural center, but it looks like a run-down wharehouse. The drummers are on an elevated staircase, and the people stream into the open space to party. The concert was great. The leader of this group invented a sign language to be able to conduct the drummers and change beats, tempos, and sounds without having to yell over the music. The music went on for about 2 straight hours without stopping. They brought up a guest DJ for a little while. It was a great party, and I hope to go again.

Tuesday morning I had my exam for Spanish class, which went very well. I had lunch with Elise, then handed in my final Tango paper. After lunch, Elise and I went on an adventure to get to know the neighborhood of Belgrano. After dropping some stuff off at my apt, and then going and finding her a new suitcase, we took the bus out to Belgrano and wandered around looking at some cool stuff. After a little walking through the neighborhood, we stopped and bought a drink and just sat and relaxed in the park for a while. A stop for ice cream, and then we were back on the bus coming home a few hours later. Now, I am writing before dinner and then plan on going out to JOBS bar tonight. I have a short oral exam tomorrow morning, then I hand in a paper in the afternoon and am officially done.

With soo little time left, I am trying to do as much as possible in the time I have. So, I wont waste anymore time writing, and Ill go do something cool!