Buenos Aires

We took a night bus that left Cordoba at 10:15. We bought "full-cama" seats or seats that recline into beds; they were a lot bigger and nicer than airplane seats- except there was a big wad of gum on my seat. Needless to say, I (or I should say Amanda) didn't notice it until after walking around the bus terminal; she asked me what was all over my butt and then couldn't stop laughing. I didn't think it was that funny. I did think it was funny that she forgot to pack underwear though...

The food was nothing special. After the bus worker (I don't know what to call him) finished picking up all the trash, he came by with a tray full of some type of drink. He repeated it a couple of times but we just COULD NOT UNDERSTAND what he was saying; Amanda (afraid to miss ANYTHING) immediately took a cup- she still didn't know what it was. We were thinking it was some Argentine tea or herbal drink or something we just hadn't come across yet. I took the cup from her and we both sniffed it- it smelled different but we couldn't figure it out. I took a sip and it was pretty nasty; Amanda took a big gulp and it started burning. Ok, so maybe we really are two naive little LDS chicas and not the grand world travelers we'd like to think we are... it was whiskey.

After our "nightcap" we had a good laugh and slept most of the way to Buenos Aires; we arrived around 7:30 the next morning. It wasn't too bad... I slept about the same as I would have on a 10 hour flight.

Buenos Aires is absolutely incredible! We went to our hostel (it's located right in the middle of everything) dropped off our stuff and then headed towards the guitar shop (which turned out to be a few blocks up the street from us). I think I've found the guitar; it's really expensive so I have to think about it and decide by Monday.

We then headed towards the Plaza de Mayo which commemorates a resolution that lead to Argentine independence from Spain. The Plaza de Mayo was also made famous by a group of mothers that would march in protest because their children disappeared during the dirty war (period of military dictatorship 1976-1983).

This is the main cathedral in/near the Plaza

Ok so I just realized most of the pictures from the Plaza de Mayo are on Amanda's camera- I'll post them later.

We also went to the Plaza de la Republica where the big Obelisk is. It was constructed to commemorate the 400th aniversary of the first founding of the city.

Across the street from El Obelisco waiting to cross like 10 lanes of traffic...

We walked along Corrientes which can be compared to New York's Broadway. We found a musical version of Othello and decided to get tickets.

I love this shot... it's of us eating across the street from the theater after the show; you can see the theater "Teatro El Nacional" in the background.

Please note the white sandals. We had an hour and a half before the play started and the only shoes I had with me were my orange birkenstocks. We were a ways away from the hostel (and we had to run back to change and clean up) and I just wasn't finding the right shoes... I was being picky. I wanted some nice leather shoes and nothing was "speaking to me"- time was running out so I settled for some rubbery/plastic white sandals that are actually starting to grow on me. I am liking them a lot.

After intermission we snuck down from our cheap seats and sat where we could feel the air conditioner and have leg room to stretch our feet.

The whole thing was very nicely done. Othello was a Shakespeare that I never read in high school (my teacher preferred 1,000 page Russian tragedies where you get all the way through just to find out they throw themselves under a train).

We both got the gist of what was going on.

Tomorrow we go to Recoletta, La Boca, and maybe a tango show...