Everything is beginning coming together. I'm now familiar with my neighborhood and, actually, a better part of the city. I have quite a few friends, all of whom travel in different circles. Recently I've been spending a good amount of my time with the people who work at the bar with me. They are mostly from the States and have been here for several months. I can't believe how much traveling they've all done. I find myself feeling extremely jealous whenever they talk about Rio or Patagonia or Mendoza, but I know that it's only a matter of time before I'm traveling all over the place too.
Hopefully my first trip is going to be April 21-26 to Ushuaia. It's the southernmost point of South America and is often referred to as "el fin del mundo" or "the end of the world." The details are still being worked out, but the hope is that we'll spend a few days there and do a few excursions involving glaciers and penguins. Meredith, one of my closest friends, is moving here to live with me on April 19th, so that would be quite the welcoming trip for her. In May I want to go to Mendoza to do a wine tour. I could go on and on about all the trips I want to take, but those two are the first ones on my agenda. And I obviously need to make sure I am keeping a watchful eye on my back account.
Last night a few of my friends from the bar invited me to go to La Bomba, which is a Brazilian drum show. It was incredible; unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was held in this giant pavilion-like room that was packed with people. We got there, bought some beer, and got a spot close to the stage. People were dancing like the music was literally moving through them. My friend CJ put it best: "I'm a believer in the theory that music can take hold of your body, but I think some people just take it to the extreme." After he said this I followed his gaze to a dirty-looking girl in pants similar to those Aladdin wears in the Disney cartoon. (These pants are surprisingly popular here. I am not a fan.) I can only compare the way she was dancing to something you would imagine finding in Africa. She was stomping her feet to the beat of the drums and shaking her dreadlock-covered head to no apparent rhythm at all, all the while moving in circles.
The two people I went with had been several times before, which was good because I would have been incredibly overwhelmed walking into that as a novice all alone. My friend Erin knew about this bus, appropriately called "The Fun Bus," that would pick us up for free outside of the venue and take us to another party with the same musicians. The drummers were actually on the bus with us. The guy who was playing the big bass drum was standing right next to me and handed me the stick thing for me to play it. I'm a drummer now, apparently. I'd also like to say that I was pretty damn good at it too.
Today my friend Ashley and I went to do some "tourist-y" stuff because, sadly, we haven't done much around here. The Casa Rosada (President's mansion) is closed during the week so we went to the Cementario de la Recoleta. This is where all royalty and military heroes are buried. It was pretty cool. I mean, it's a massive above-ground cemetery so it was... creepy, but cool. For your viewing pleasure...
Eva Peron's (Evita) grave.
This is the grave directly across from Evita's grave; i.e. the worst possible location in the whole Cementario. All day people have their backs to this grave while taking pictures of Evita's grave. I decided to take a picture of it because everyone deserves a little attention sometimes, even if they are dead.
A one-armed hero's grave. I'm only assuming he was one-armed because his statue is missing an arm. Being presumptuous.
CREEPY.
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