Welcome to Buenos Aires

It's day three in Buenos Aires, and I'm blogging from my bunkbed in Hostel Nativo, a cozy little dive in Palermo (upsides: blocks from the subway, has a kitchen, wifi and a lady named Irma who likes to talk a lot) (downsides: kitchen hasn't been cleaned since 2000, Irma's Argentine accent makes it impossible to understand her).

I figured it's time to put pen to paper (err hand to keyboard) and tell you all what's up in the land down under (that's right, I'm wayyyyy south of the equator).

Well we arrived in Buenos Aires under a thick blanket of fog, and were met by the owner of our hostel, who had agreed to pick us up and take us straight into town.  He put up with our steady stream of questions, and we stumbled through conversation on the way in. The Argentine accent is killing me, and I'm quickly discovering how to carry on a full conversation, despite having very few clues as to what the other person is saying. Hopefully this will change.

We've spent the first few days trying to see the sites, which means visiting not only the storied Plaza de Mayo and the all important Casa Rosada ("pink house," which is actually their White House), but also the extremely telling Argentine site, JUMBO, which is an enormous all-you-can-buy grocery/hardware/clothing store in the middle of the city, kind of like a Costco on crack in the middle of NYC. There were also a few trips on the subte, BA's subway, which basically means we get really up close and personal with many an Argentine - they pack like sardines on those trains.

This is what I've discovered since I got here:

Buenos Aires has a plethora of pizza, beef, zapaterias (shoes stores), dogs, cute used book stands and near indecipherable local slang, but seems to be lacking in peanut butter (JUMBO had four tiny jars left over from 1994, at approx. 12 US dollars each), stops signs (my god the way they drive is scary) and -- quite sadly -- three bedroom apartments at low prices in the center of Palermo.

So far the apartment hunt is going . . . slowly, and my fellow travelers and I spent yesterday emailing and visiting various rental agencies.

On the upside, I was able to go out last night and walk into a bar and say I actually knew someone working there (!). In a strange twist of fate, my friend Josh - who I've literally known since age 7 - is living here and working at a downtown bar. Sweet.

Ok, ciao ciao - more later!

Julie