5 weeks left...

Gasp!!! It's official... 5 weeks left and then Miguel and Ariel-Jose return to reality (and SNOW). How depressing!!!

What this really means is that we will be trying to cram a lot into the next month or so, in particular some great travel and going out a lot to the clubs. I think it really hit home for us that our time left is very finite when Sean and Katrine (pictured right) recently left to go back to Norway. Of course we decided to have one last helado together in my favourite ice cream shop across the street.

For any of you who have doubt, yes we are definitely going home. I am really loving being a man of leasure here, where I spend my days learning Spanish, and eating empanadas and ice cream. We have bought our extremely overpriced one-way tickets back for January which actually ended up costing more than a round trip ticket. We obviously should have bought round-trip tickets but at the same time weren't sure when we would be coming back (or from where). In fact, we will be flying back from Rio de Janeiro where we will be spending 10 days and NYE there... and even better, my friend Jodi is flying from Ottawa to meet us there. Jodi loves to go out and dance, which will be great since I've had to find some bad substitutes for blond dancing girls here in BA, for example the girl in this photo above.


We really have been going out a lot lately to experience the BA club scene, where you don't go out until 2 or 3 am and a power nap before is a must. Someone once said that you really haven't experienced the nightlife of a city until you find yourself puking outside of a nightclub. Well that was me the other night here in Buenos Aires but first I took this photo (but didn't remember doing so) with another member of the Mike & Ariel fan club, Latin American division.

Speaking of Latin American, my Spanish is definitely improving. Jose-Luis and Paula have been tag teaming me for the past couple of weeks, and now I know most of the Spanish tenses (YAY!). I still have some trouble speaking fluently but I have noticed that I really can understand most things when people are talking...

One thing I don't love about the clubs here is that people smoke a lot since I am used to the smoke-free clubs in Toronto. Now, I have to deal with my cool clothes smelling like smoke at the end of the night. Here is a photo of the smokey club (editor's note - it may actually be dry ice but at least there is a cigarette in the background for artistic expression)

To keep us company here, Ariel's parents Annie & Elie have arrived from Montreal and are here for the month of December. They are living down the street from us for now but I think eventually we will be sharing our apartment with them later in December, which may be a bit too close for comfort - we will see... Here we are having dinner at a kosher restaurant... Little do they realize that earlier that very day I was eating some jamon y queso empananas with a choripan (pork sausage yum)...

Also we recently had a bit of a cold snap for a couple of days. As you can see, I was back to wearing my "latino winter uniform" (i.e. the grey hoodie I wear in every photo). Don't worry, it is back to 30 degree weather now. We know for sure that Annie is related to us as she shares our bad luck -- she was pickpocketed on the street the other day.

What better way to spend a 30 degree sunny Friday than kayaking on the Tigre river. This is what we did yesterday with Ariel's MBA friends to celebrate the end of their school term. It was such a beautiful day and we got some sun and a great workout. I didn't realize that it would be a 2 hour kayak to our lunch and siesta location so after about 30 minutes of paddling and my shoulder aching, I would start "taking in the beautiful scenery" which essentially meant taking a break and making Ariel paddle by himself. He didn't appreciate this very much...

Here is a picture of us posing in front of our cute green kayak. It was super hot and now my arms are brown. With a tan, I am one step closer to blending in better with the latinos, especially now that I have my amazing Spanish skills. I may get some other photos to upload soon which actually prove we are kayaking and not just hanging out on a beach. PS - the water is really gross and not something that I would swim in.

Here is another cute picture of Ariel pretending to drink mate while he is researching for our upcoming trip to Mendoza next wee. Mate (green tea, but stronger) is another big culture aspect in Buenos Aires... in the parks, people bring their mate container and some hot water, and they share it with each other... Ariel is also sporting his new glasses which he had to buy to replace the ones stolen in Salta.

Our trip next week to Mendoza (wine country) had to move slightly due to Madonna, who has switched her concert from tonight until Monday. We are seeing her Monday and tonight we are heading to Moonpark, an electronic music festival. We are willing to make the change for you Madonna but you better not disappoint! Tonight should also be great and this time, I am taking my camera so I can show you all the great pictures!!

One last note, Senora Sandwich's assistant was jealous that she wasn't in a photo in the last blog so we took one of her as well... The assistant actually is the one who likely has to cut the crusts off the bread... hopefully she will be happy if she is reading this blog...

Hugs,
Miguelito