Hey Blondie

Today was my first day that I got to sleep in for real...I slept until 11:30. I kind of felt like a total bum, but I feel like it was my first chance to really catch up since I arrived here.

At 1 p.m. I met my friends (Samantha and Emi) from ISA at the subte station to go to barrio chino. That's right folks, ChinaTown isn't just in America...Argentina has one, too. I will say that it is kind of mind blowing to go to a Chinese restaurant and have an Asian person speak to you in Spanish...not broken English. The ChinaTown here is considerably smaller than those in America, but it's the same typical ChinaTown scene. Everything has Chinese inscriptions, lanterns, and is painted in red and gold. We ate a Chinese restaurant...the food is very different, which is kind of interesting to me. My sweet and sour chicken had fried chicken (but it wasn't deliciously golden fried like back home) with potatoes, green peppers, red peppers, squash, mushrooms, and carrots...it was a totally strange concept. Also, their food isn't served with rice or soup or egg rolls. But, hey, it was an experience...

I also had a te rojo which I picked some up at the grocery store...for those who don't know barrio chino is probably the only place in the whole country where you can pick up US-style peanut butter...so the girls I was with picked up a jar. I also found an Argentinian flag for 30 pesos, so I had to snatch that bad boy right up, too.

Then we went to the jardin botanico. I went there on Tuesday when my teacher was sick, but this time I returned with a camera to take some pics. Its fun to walk through and creep on people and look at the plants and all the stray cats.

After that was the jardin japones which was SWEET. It was about 2 American dollars to get in, but it was really cool. It's like a total Japanese oasis...with coi fish, lanterns, red bridges, plants native to Japan, and all kinds of oriental statues and lawn decorations. They also have restaurants and shops inside of the gardens...it was very nice. The coi fish are HUGE. Like so huge that I think I will probably have nightmares about them tonight...they also jump like one foot out of the water, which is crazy to see.

For our afternoon snack we stopped at an heladeria where I got my first taste (literally!) of the heaven that they call ice cream here. I love ice cream (we all know that), so I was clearly thrilled at the chance to taste out the local ice cream joint. I ordered a waffle cone with two scoops of ice cream...I chose white chocolate with cookies and cream...they topped it off with dulce de leche sauce and chocolate sauce and cookie crumbs. This ice cream is so sweet and so rich and so smooth...there are no words. IT'S ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS. I think I will forever be depressed about the state of ice cream back at home after tasting the Argentinian take on this yummy frozen dessert. I have no words...but I hope everyone in the world has the opportunity to taste how amazing the helado is...

Emi and Sam also got a nice taste of what it's like to be a blondie living here in Buenos Aires...it's not so easy as you might think!!! I can't blend in...people know I am from America...and people always have a comment about it. For example, one day I was walking to class and there was a moving crew moving a family out of an apartment. One of the young boys started singing/beat boxing as I walked by and then he stopped and yelled "Americano!" Obviously, it wasn't like a taunting thing or anything...people just love to point out that I am different. Another example...I was walking out of the subway station and passed a man waiting for the subte and he said, "Ay, que hermosa Americana." Which means what a beautiful American. Of course, none of these men could be nice young students or kids with decent jobs who want to be my Argentinian boyfriend for two months...their just strange working men who love when an American passes them by!!! Today we had another incident (haha)...as we were walking into the botanical gardens one of the street vendors yells "Hey Blondie!" I couldn't help but laugh as this was a new one for me...IT KILLED ME. Like, this dude probably only knows two words in English and he chose to learn Hey Blondie for situations like today when a nice little blonde walks by his stand....what a hoot.

For dinner we had pork roast, puree of apples, and rice. Dulce de batata for dessert...I really like that stuff. Probably gonna stock up on a few blocks of it to bring home to the States.

Anyway...tomorrow it's back to the feria de mataderos...I have a few gifts to pick up for you kiddies back in the states. I've been thinking about it for a week and I have decided on just the perfect souvenier...can't wait to pick them out!!! :)