San Telmo

I finally made it to the bohemian barrio of San Telmo for its famous ferreria (street fair AKA flea market) that is held every Sunday. The fair is pretty much Home-Goods and the Third-Ward meets Argentina all in one site. Jajaja! But honestly, it was the biggest fair I’ve ever been to and also the coolest. It encompassed blocks and blocks of hippies, bohemians, and other various forms of artists selling their unique artwork. There were booths and booths from jewelry to leather to china dishes to hats and scarves to bras and underwear (I’m still unclear why people would want to buy bras and underwear off the street but that’s beside the point). Everything imaginable was sold at the fair…the only thing that disappointed me was quality of silver wasn’t as good as the silver in Mexico AND I almost forgot---- it’s impossible to bargain here. Just ask Shonjon!

After spending an entire cold afternoon in San Telmo, a handful of us decided to go to Asian. Asian is a delicious kosher restaurant---I’m still slightly confused what kind of food they specialize in because there were Asian style dishes, ceviche, steaks, and other interesting options. I shared ceviche with Shoro and ordered an amazing chimichurri crispy chicken with vegetable rice…ahhh wish I was eating it right now. Honestly, we had no idea that it was going to be an expensive restaurant (at least for Argentinean standards) until we saw the menu…but who cares, it was well worth it! Also, for the first time, I experienced fantastic service---it was probably the first and last time that’ll ever happen! Uch, Mom and Dad please come visit me! I would do anything…Please…

Alright, for some odd reason it is cheaper to take buses around the country than to fly…oh how I long for an airline like Airtran in Argentina, it would make my life so much easier! I am mentioning this because I’m going to Iguazu Falls this weekend with a bunch of people and we’re going by bus. Just as a reference, Iguazu Falls is all the way up North bordering Brazil. Being that everyone here (including myself) is trying to conserve their money we decided economically we have to go by bus than fly. That means this Thursday we are going to be taking an 18 HOUR bus ride to Iguazu. SHOOT ME right now, PLEASE!!!!!!! To make myself feel better, apparently the buses are a thousand times better than first class seats on airplanes but don’t get me wrong the commute is going to be terrible just terrible. I keep on telling myself that I’m living the life down here doing whatever I want and I’m going with friends so it can’t be that bad. (I’ll let you know next week!)

Anyways, we went to Reitiro bus station after class today and it took 2 hours for the 8 of us to buy our tickets. TWO HOURS! Now that is what I mean when I say everything in this country is super slow. I’m really learning how to be patient here. It is pretty cool because time ACTUALLY exists here---there is no rush in the world and everyone is so laid-back, I love it!    

Anyways I’m so excited for Iguazu this weekend, apparently it’s one of the top places to see in the world!!