Sista and Brotha in town

I know I’m a little behind on blogging, sorry about that.  The end of June was pretty busy with finals (passed all my classes by the way J) and then on the very last day of the semester I had a wonderful visit from my older sister Emily and her husband Dan!  I won’t lie, even though I was taking finals in Argentina I still got a little stressed at times and the visit from Emily and Dan was a perfect way to celebrate the end! They were only supposed to be here for four days from June 23^rd-26^th, but due to volcanic ash from Volcano Pueyhue in Chile, their flight was delayed until the 27^th. Unfortunately I already had a flight scheduled to Peru in the morning on the 27^th.  I know, so complicated! But anyways the time that we all did spend together here was so great!

On that Thursday I patiently waited by our meeting place, in front of Casa Rosada in Plaza de Mayo by pacing back and forth and constantly swiveling my head to make sure I hadn't missed them walking up. After what seemed like hours I saw Emily and Dan walking towards me!

Emily and I reunited at Casa Rosada. Missed her so much!

After the hugging and bit of tearing up we went to get out of the cold and find some food. I swear the weekend Em and Dan were was some of coldest weather we've had yet here in Buenos Aires. All the same, we made the most of it and had fun. That night my program CEA was having our last farewell dinner.  Since this was one of the last times I would see many people in my program Emily and Dan told me they wouldn't mind going. So after some INTENSE shopping on Calle florida (Em found her own porteña leather boots) we got ready and caught the subte to Calcio. This was Dan's first subte ride ever and I wish I could say it was more enjoyable.  We left during subte rush hour with everyone going home after a day a work. So that means a 40 min ride with absolutely no personal space at all. Dinner was delicious though and made up for the uncomfortable ride there.

Dinner at Calcio

The next day I tried to be a good guide and bring them to some of the big tourist areas of the area.  However, since I've been here a while and don't really do too many touristy things myself anymore we didn't get to quite as many places as I had hoped. I brought them to Once, a big shopping district in BsAs. It's also really cheap. Emily and Dan took advantage of this and bought some souvenirs for home. For lunch we went to Siga La Vaca, which is a very popular restaurant due to their amazing parilla buffet.  I definitely succeeded in making sure they had a taste of the Argentine beef. We all left Siga La Vaca stuffed. Then we went to a bar in Plaza Serrano, Palermo for a before dinner drink and then to my host mom's for a wonderful traditional Argentine dinner. Hebe also had her friend Susana over and we ate locro, a dish of white corn, veggies, sausage, all together like a stew. Hebe is a fantastic cook so of course everything tatsed wonderful. This was definitely one of my favorite things we did. I love that parts of my two families got to meet each other and that everyone got along so well. Emily dazzled us all with her spanish skills and even though Dan doesn't speak spanish, he was still as funny as always. Over all the dinner went really really well.  We left for a much needed food coma nap and then to a friends for an Argentina house party.

The aftermath of parilla buffet at Siga La Vaca

Hebe's wonderful locro

Probably right before they all started chanting "DANNY! DANNY!"

Saturday we hit up Museo de Bellas Artes and the market in Recoleta. Emily and Dan bought some souvenirs and then we had some down time at the hotel before the dinner and tango show.  We went to calle Carlos Gardel where of course there are statues, building art, and cafés all dedicated to the legendary tango singer. The dinner and show we went to, Esquina Carlos Gardel, offered a shuttle service to and from the hotel to the show which was really convenient. Dinner was delicious, complete with appetizers, a main course, dessert, and bottomless wine.  The service was also amazing. Not once did a glass or bread basket go empty.  Like the meal and waitstaff, the show was incredible.  I think it was the highlight of their time here for all of us.

Doing the tango with brooms

Ema nd Dan with the main course

Esquina Carlos Gardel

My dessert, Recuerdo Malevo

The weekend they were here just flew by and before I knew it we were saying goodbye in the hotel lobby.  Like I said their flight got delayed untilt he following night, but I had a flight to Lima bright and early at 6:00AM.  So after leaving there I hustled to the subte and back home.  I hadn't packed anything for my trip yet and had planned to meet at my friend Kellie's at 11:00PM.  This brings me to the next blog post Viaje Loco...vamos.

Exploring Palermo, don't forget your bum bag!

If you read or even glanced at my last post you know I went to Bariloche a few weeks ago. What you might not know is that while there Sam and I hung out quite a bit with Lina and Lauren from England. They're doing a two month trip around South America before they begin their lives as lawyers back home. After Bariloche they ended up following us back to Buenos Aires. OK, well not actually "following" us, but since we all got a long so great in Bariloche, they changed their bus tickets so we could all go to Buenos Aires together.  So now they're here and we're here so all hung out this weekend to continue this beautiful friendship!

Friday was a day of exploring the gardens and food of Palermo. We all met at the Plaza Italia subte stop then continued to the Japanese Garden.  I got there a little early (the green line is so fast!) and had time to walk through the Palermo botanical garden. Opposite of the heat Wisconsin has been hit with lately, the leaves are changing here and it's starting to cool down.  I do miss the hot summer weather i'm used to in June, but at least fall makes for a great day to explore parks!

Jardin Japones

So many koi fish

Lauren being oh so zen, ommm

Yerba plants in the Botanical Garden

After the gardens we moved on to the food part of our day.  First we stopped at Mexican restaurant close to Plaza Italia.  Sam and I both had fajitas, which were great.  We were going to walk around a while more after lunch, but the cold got to us and we ended up stopping at the first café we saw for hot coffee and tea.  The fact that this café had heavenly cakes in the window may have had something to do with it too :)

Carne Fajita Lunch

Rainbow Cake: Vanilla cake, cream cheese frosting
 with a hint of coconut. Amazing.

Saturday we met up with the girls again for some quality Recoleta Fería time.  Sam and I introduced the girls to pan rellena, bread stuffed with cheese and other toppings of your choice. While we sat on the grass eating lunch, we got to laugh at some little boys palying around the area.  It doesn't matter where you are, little kids will play by pretending to be supped-up flying robots or chasing each other with rocks and sticks. Afterwards, we went to a coffee shop nearby. I took this opportunity to order my first submarino! It's like hot chocolate, but made differently. It is hot milk with a melted chocolate bar stirred in. So yeah, delicious.

Submarino

Through out the weekend Lauren, Lina, Sam, and I were noting the words we use and how they vary in the U.S from England.  Here are some of the different words we use to describe the same thing:

U.S                         U.K
Chips                     Crisps
French Fries           Chips
Fanny Pack            Bum Bag


I know there are more, but will have to add them when the girls get back from Iguazu and can remind me.  Until then, besos!