Días 1-3

Hola de Buenos Aires!

Well, I'm finally here, and finally have got the chance to sit down for five minutes and let you know what's been going on (although I did check Facebook first - thanks one and all for the messages as well as for the invitations to events when I'm not actually in the country!) The main reason I have some time is because it's absolutely pissing it down! Me and Olivia did venture out earlier, but out little trip to have a look at the congress buildings and other touristy spots was cut short thanks to the rain. We did buy umbrellas, and yes, mine did break after about 2 minutes...that was the biggest waste of ten pesos (£1.60) I tell thee!

So, it's been pretty manic - it all started way back on Monday...a 2hr flight to Madrid, and then an 11hr30 flight on to BA...ahh, good times. Still, great entertainment and endless people watching opportunities were provided on the long trip, mainly by the Spaniards. In fact, the plane was pretty much full of Spanish speakers. The trip just reaffirmed my beliefs that you can tell Spanish people from a mile off - loads of elegant women, in sleek, stylish clothes, heavily made up, but who still manage to look like they live in the early 90s. I was disappointed by the lack of ill-matched denim and mousse which you're normally confronted with when in a confined space with Spaniards...although the air stewardess who looked scarily like Miss Man out of ScaryMovie did't fail to disappoint, with a tall curly, fake blonde barnet, cemented together with a lifetime's supply of product. More purposeful entertainment on board proved to be more dissapointing - I had no interest in watching Pirates of the Caribbean 3, and the film I did watch, Bajo las Estrellas (Under the Stars), was a pile of jank. I didn't realise that Spanish people clap when the plane lands successfully, this took me by surprise...I felt more inclined to break into spontaneous applause when Bajo las Estrellas finished! And the award for most surprising aspect of the journey...the sheer number of Jews who travel to Buenos Aires from Madrid.

We got a cab to the hostel Ostinatto which took about 45 mins - the fact that the cabbie had no clue where the hostel was didn't help matters. A nice guy, but totally had our pants down, charging us £15 for a ride which should only cost £7.50 - tosser. The journey was definitely one of those "what the hell am I doing here?" moments, and the taxi itself made the ones in Egypt look positively luxourious. The cabbie later explained that the car was in urgent need of repairs, but couldn't be fitted in at the garage until Thursday! It turns out that the hostel is about a 30 second walk form the office where I'll be working. On discouvring this exciting fact, me and Liv decided to celebrate with una cerveza at a pub type thing round the corner! There was further need to celebrate when we discovered that it costs around 70p for 500ml of beer! Another one of those"what the hell am I doing here?" moments occurred whilst guzzling our Isenbeck's al fresco under a corregated shelter in the pissing rain...we observed Argentineans go about their usual business at 10.30ish on a Monday night. Some rode around in shabby cars on the wide one way street which had about 6 lanes (which was fun crossing, as you can imagine), others in ragged clothes searched through piles of rubbish bags for anything they can eat/sell - one man's trash and all that, but still not a nice thing to see.

The hostel is cool. I've never stayed in a youth hostel and couldn't really imagine sharing a room/bathroom facilites with 6 other randommers, but it's been totally fine...so much so, we've extended our stay for another few days (nothing to do with the fact that we haven't started to look for appartments properly yet!)

Yesterday lunchtime we went for a cafe con leche in a little cafe - it was totally bizarre. Looking out at the rundown, yet elegant buildings of San Telmo, and the policemen pushing their broken down patrol car down the road contributed to the strangeness of the situation. Once again, the coffee was as cheap as ya like! We met up with Kristie, the editor of The Argentimes at the office, which also doubles as her home! She took us for coffee and explained everything about the paper/work. She was really nice and everyting just seems so informal/casual so I'm sure it's going to be fine. She explained about the first two assignments, one of which, she wanted to be done by a young bloke (kinda ruling Olivia out, thus leaving her to do the other). She explained Olivia's first...something to do with reviewing an art tour. Then on to mine...I knew something wasn't quite right when she said "If you don't feel comfortable with doing this then that's absolutely fine", then proceeded to piss herself with laughter. When she finally composed herself, she managed to briefly explain that she needed a young male journalist to review a new tour coming to Buenos Aires to go in the paper's cultural supplement. "Not a problem", I'm thinking, "Why should I be uncomfortable with that?" Anyways, I've conveniently managed to rid the main details from my head about the review, but the words "sex tour" and "drag queens" were mentioned - I find out more about my first project when I officially start work on Monday...

In terms of work, I have to come in for an editorial team meeting on a Monday and a Friday, and choose one other day as my "office day", when I have to be in from 10 til 6. So basically, I get to do my writing whenever I want (naturally providing I meet dealdlines) so that's cool!

After the meeting, me and Olivia went to Calle Florida, the main shopping area, to get a mobile phone so I now have an Argentinean number - check me right out! I won't use it internationally as it's so much cheaper to phone from a Locotura which is like a internet/phone cafe, which are located all over the shop! After our shopping expedition, we went for a steak at a restaurant about 3 mins away on Kristie's recommendation. The steak was absolutely amazing - I always thought the saying "melt in your mouth" was cliché, and I wasn't really sure what was meant by it - but now I know! It was cooked to perfection, no grissle, and costed, along with chips and a beer, £3!!!

We headed back to the hostel afterwards. Liv was abit tired, so decided against coming out with me and our roomie Gabriel. He's here with his mum and sis, which can't be great for a 22 yr old, so we decided to go for a...I wanna say pint, but it's a half litre...or two! We found a couple of nice bars locally with good atmospheres. It was a really good as he's from Chile so I got to practice my Spanish all night.

As for today, like I say, the weather is crap. We headed up to Plaza de Mayo to see the building from which Eva Perón gave all her speeches, the got the tube (subte) to Congreso to have a look at the Congress building and the senate. The rain got really heavy so we decided just to give up, tube it back home, and do the touristy things another day when the weather's nicer. The tube was an experience in itself - it's 12p for a single trip, and the carriages inside are totally wooden, and lit by lamps! Oh, and there's none of that waiting for the train to stop moving before the doors open malarkey!

So that's about it for now. I'm sure I've bored you enough, but just thought I'd keep you in the picture about what life's been like the past few days. Anyways, take care losers and catch you all soon!!

Ciao X