Mia and Kenny's Visit Cont.

So where were we when we last posted...oh that's right, we were getting ready for New Year's Eve. For New Year's Eve we went to a friend's house in San Telmo where we had a pot luck and a lot of Champagne. We enjoyed the bottle that Mia and Kenny smuggled in from my Dad's collection in the privacy of our home (SSOOOO GOOOOOOOD) and then carried our meatballs and pasta salad to Jessica's. It was a great party, but things really got heated up at midnight. Literally. Even though there were advertisement all over the city attempting to convince porteños that lighting their own fireworks causes little girls to get maimed for life, the sky lit up at midnight in all directions. Out windows, off roofs, to the North, South, East, and West fire works lit up the sky and cheers rose from our roof top. We only lit sparklers because we care about maiming little girls.

Mia trusting the opening of the Champagne to no one but herself

Andrés and Josh on the roof

After the fireworks died down we made our way to Plaza Dorrego where a one man band was playing his drum set for all he was worth. We respectfully did the same with our dancing. Mia was shown some new moves by our friend Filipe.

My porteña friend Sabina who gets mad at me when I lie about understanding her...but she speaks so fast its rare that I do!

The next day we relaxed and recovered with some long walks. Typically EVERYTHING was closed, so our walk was limited to getting to know the city's streets a little better and the architecture of Palermo and Recoleta. The next morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to make a 7 am bus (a nice precursor to my 7am wake up call that is necessary to arrive at work on time) to Mar del Plata. We had wanted to go to a less touristy beach, but all the hostels were booked and we learned the hard way not to plan a trip to the beach the day before the desired departure!! Everything turned out well though. The trip was only five hours and we arrived at our hostel with plenty of beach time left. Mia and Kenny have yet to get over the fact that the sky is light until around 9:30, and this light was put to good use on the most crowded beach I have every been too!!! It was also the loudest beach. Men shouting their wares walked the beach with corn, churros, cold drinks, candy and jewelry. People played music, and beach games I have only seen in Argentina, and filled the beach to maximum capacity. We barely found a spot for ourselves!!! It was beach time though and eventually we got used to the noise, and Mia even got a sun burn.

The hostel was the nicest I've ever stayed in, and at around U$S 14 a night we had our own room and our own bathroom!!!!!!!!! Mia was in shock and refused to touch the sheets, and tattled on me to our dad that I was forcing her to stay at a 1 star!! The outrage. Well, for her first hostel experience I can proudly say I showed her a nice place that even included coffee and media lunas in the morning and who also lent us beach mats and umbrellas.
The second day we decided to wake up early and make the longer walk to a supposedly nicer beach. This one was much nicer. The water and beach were cleaner, and the vendors were quieter. The whole crowd was more posh, and there were private beach clubs everywhere. We had a nice big spot that slowly shrank as the day went on. By the end of the day it was just as crowded!!! People lay, stood, walked, and swam on every inch of beach available to the public.

Here I am teaching Mia to do Terere, or maté with OJ

The Pinochle tournament continues

Surfers!

After an entire day on the beach we were tired and hungry, and Mia was a tomato. We relaxed for a little and then went to a Cuban restaurant for a change of pace (the parilla the night before was amazing!!!!!). The mojitos and camprianis were amazing!!! We noticed the walls were covered in signatures, and of course Mia had every color of sharpie in her bag!!

Kenny leaving his mark

Even though we had grand plans to dance all night and watch the sun rise, we pooped out at 4 after Kenny won $400 at blackjack!!! Not bad not bad. The next morning we took the bus back and arrived in BA in time to make dinner and plan our lessons for our first day of work!!! Of course that was after I almost got pick pocketed in Retiro where the bus station is. I noticed I was being closed in on and told Mia and Kenny to watch their stuff. I put a hand on the fashion fanny, but my heart dropped when Josh shouted my name with urgency. Me being the naive dummy had forgotten about the backpack on my back...where my wallet was. Lucky for me they fell back as soon as I turned around, but not before they had unzipped my back pack a little. Nothing happened, but lessons are learned. One should ALWAYS keep their pack to the front in Retiro.
To cheer us up we made a tarta as seen below:

Our first two days of work have been great, but have left us exhausted. Waking up at seven, teaching from 8:15 till 9:45 and then getting in a whole day of sight seeing has been taking its toll, but Friday is almost here!!! Our classes are small and the people are nice. The whole thing is very relaxed and focused on conversations and I have enjoyed my classes (especially sharing maté with my students today!!) Tomorrow we are going to Uruguay and we will keep you posted.