Buenos Fucking Aires

Ok, so my outrageously overpriced bus ride was quite nice. i had seats that recline almost 180 degrees and the movies were in english and dinner was a slice of cold meet in a pretty good sauce with bread as a first course, followed by hot chicken breast and mashed potatoes, and i had red wine to drink, all gratis. then at around 11 they came around with whisky, champagne or tia maria for a nightcap, gratis. so it was a pleasant change from the bumpy bolivian buses (nice alliteration there) where your lucky if the person sitting next to you doesnt have a live chicken in a plastic bag pecking at the sleeves of your shrit. i got to my hostel in BA with no problems and that night was hanging out with some of my new roomies. the next nights were tranquilo, and then christmas came round. well, i guess i should say christmas eve, because thats the night that they celebrate, not christmas day so much. my options were pay 40 US dollars to get into some fancy nightclub, or have some beers with some israelies at the hostel. i went with the latter, keeping in mind my financial situation. the next day, christmas day, EVERYTHING was closed. mcdonalds was closed, the mall was closed, the 24 hour phramacies were closed, it was crazy. i decided to head south to the atlantic coast the next day.

so i got to the small-ish town of Villa Gessell, which is really similar to any town on cape cod. its very strange. it even seemed to have the same kinds of grass and trees, it was wild. my two days here were very relaxed. unfortunatly surfing didnt end up happening, as there wasnt much surf. the waves just werent breaking. the first night i had a terrific seafood dinner, with every kind of shell fish you can imagine. and although it was good, it wasnt really up to the quality of what i would have back home. which is fine, since i have been down here, i have come to realize that i probably wont have food as good as what i could get when i worked at the country club until i am back on vashon, or at least in the US. that changed 2 nights ago. i sat down at a very expensive looking resturant, just cause they had artisanal beer (i had a dark wine beer that was very good) and looked over the menu. i was gonna leave but something caught my eye, "salmón del pacifico" in a lemon sauce. it wasnt much more that the seafood at the other resturants around, so i decided to get it. the whole dining expierence was delightful, except the uncomfortable chair i was sitting in. it was a massive salmon filet over a pile of mashed potatoes and cooked spinach on the side. lemon sauce was poured over it, and it even had a light almond crusting. unbelieveable. it was so good.

i got back to BA last night and it must have been 10:31, because they stop running the subway at 10:30 on sundays, and i saw the last train leave as i walked down onto the platform. so i got on bus that someone told me was going to the right neighborhood and got off after 5 people all were giving me advice on how to get to my hostel in fast castellano. after wandering around a few minutes i got in a cab and the cab driver didnt know where the hostel was, but that didnt stop him from asking police officers on the sidewalk and other taxi drivers while we were stopped at traffic lights. finally i got out by an internet cafe, and within 2 minutes of being on a computer had the address. i took another cab there. keep in mind now that the day before i emailed them making sure there was room, they responded yes, and i confimed the response, saying i would be there around 11 pm sunday night. i got there just after 11 (not bad for the hassel it was to find the place, which is in an unmarked building, have you) and was told to wait while they check the room. the guy (who spoke english) came back and said they didnt have room. i said i emailed them, they said they would have a bed, yadda yadda yadda. he said since i didnt pay a deposit it wasnt a real reservation, and they gave my bed (the last one in the entire hostel) to someone who walked in just a few minutes ago. i withheld my anger, and asked if there would be room tomorrow. he said he need the computer to help someone else, wrote down the name of another hostel, and practically kicked me out the door. i was a bit upset, especially when the hostel he told me to go to informed they were also full, and told me of another hostel, which had room, thank goddness. anyway, i got the hostel buisness squared away today.

Well, thats all for now, im off to explore more of the city that i havent already seen. its massive, so this could take awhile.