Activities!

Stuff I've done and places I've been:

La Tigre. Caught the train from Retiro station to this pretty little town on the delta. It's somewhere the Portenos often like to go on weekends as a bit of a daytrip. I caught the public boat up the river to check out all the river houses etc Afterwards I had a piece of quiche in a friendly little restaurant. I was the only female and all the other customers were these classic old argentinian men. They all wanted to practise their English on me and to show me how to make my lunch better (lots of salt apparently).

La Boca. Went here with Caroline and took the obligatory photos of all the beautifully bright coloured houses. Apparently the patchwork paintwork is the result of the very poor locals begging visiting ships for any spare paint so they could gussy up the outside of their homes. La Boca is a very poor neighbourhood and tourists are warned not to venture from the well-beaten tourist paths. But the result is that you feel as though you are visiting a cardboard city.. like a film set with nothing beyond the facade .. a small couple of blocks set up as a kind of show for tourists. The other thing Boca is famous for it the notorious Boca Junior football team.. the matches between Boca and River are legendary (youtube it now.. amazing). Boca's most successful player is the revered Maradona. There are wooden statues of his smiley face everywhere in Boca. 


La Boca is the birthplace of Tango in Argentina and the streets are filled with the sultry sounds of the tango music and there are shrines to the most important tango figures like Gardel and El Gordo.

Bracelet-making party. The aim was to make a thousand bracelets to sell for 10 pesos each to raise money to buy presents and supplies for children stuck in hospital over christmas. The children had created cards to santa clause asking for a doll, a football etc They were adorable! I found out about the event through Di (you can see her showing us her bracelet-making skills in the middle photo). Di is currently cycling around the world .. going wherever her "followers" tell her.. like a choose your own adventure book but she doesn't get to choose - we do! Currently the choice is between leaving BA to go west to Mendoza or north to Iguazu. Di is AMAZING and a kindred spirit who is very open to new adventures and activities.. check out her page at.. www.indianajune.com

Had a tango lesson. So I was sitting out the front of La Poesia (one of my favourite cafes in San Telmo) with the lovely Caroline when a stranger came up and said he had a very unusual favour to ask. He was an Aussie from Geelong and had booked in to have a tango dance class but they insisted he needed a partner. So.. being someone who says yes to random requests I found myself having a tango lesson. It was fun! Tango is very cool.. all sexy footwork intimating the to-ing and fro-ing of romantic interchange .. The professor said I was a natural.. but I don't think it is my kinda dance. I prefer more energetic, less structured. Or, as I told Hannes the other day.. I prefer dancing where I get to sweat and wiggle more. He found that amusing.


Bomba de la Fiesta! I'm not sure if I'm writing that correctly but it was a huge night of dancing with a stage full of drummers and performers and djs etc etc in this ginormous warehouse.I went along with Di and some of the people I met at the bracelet making party (Emily, Charlie, Jonny, Isabel) and also invited Daphne along. This was one of the best nights I have ever had! The energy was incredible!

Running Have switched my running track to around Parque de Palermo. It's filled with lakes and ducks. Very pretty! I've actually only done this twice since moving to Palermo on Monday. Way too much dancing til 3-4am ++!


Argentinian Birthday Party I crashed this party with some new friends I met on Thursday night.. super fun rooftop party with dj. Arrived just in time to eat cake!

This is my apartment. I sit out on the terrace in the mornings and eat my bowl of cornflakes with banana and listen to the morning birds. Santa Fe (the street/avenue I live on) is one of the busiest in Buenos Aires, but my apartment is completely sheltered from the hustle and is very tranquilo.

This is Hannes. The wonderful Kristiane introduced us and he is the most interesting, most hilarious guy I have met! We spent an entire day drinking in the sunshine at Plaza Serrano. This photo is of his happy face because it is the first day of his holidays.

This is my friend Jonny. He is from Colombia but has lived here in Buenos Aires for 4 years. He likes dancing almost as much as me. He says to me "You are from AUSTRALIA?!! But you dance like Latina!" This is him showing his acting range. There's also some photos from a club we went to on Wednesday night with my new friend Bill. Mucho bailar!