BsAs (Part Four)

Alright... SO SORRY about the delay in getting posts from BsAs on here, but there's a lot more to getting it all together than would appear.

Anyway... On Sunday... we slept kinda late of course... considering I was quite buzzed the previous night (as proven in the previous vlog post), it was necessary.

We got up pretty much just in time to run down to a small take-out lunch/bakery... I had a yummy quiche & Hal had a couple of empanadas... The desserts looked AWESOME and I'm still sad I didnt get a chance to sample them.

After scarfing that down quickly, it was time to be picked up by a tour company to go to a soccer game! I made a video for you all to see.


Online Videos by Veoh.com

I tried to upload that video on youtube, but the quality sucked... it didnt match the original. The Veoh upload still doesnt look as good as the original wmv, but we couldnt figure out the problem.

Anyway, the video's a bit compressed... Hal said a bunch of parts that I found cute were "boring" ... I disagree... but he is doing the editing work, so I didnt fight that battle.

After the soccer game, we came home to check the scores of the American football games... it just so happened that I won the contest Hal & I had going on (which I blogged about a while back). As a result, he owes me a dinner anywhere I want to go... it was nice to win that on the day we attended a real "Futbol" game in South America.

Post football, we walked down to a pizzeria right across from our apartment... it was nice to avoid a scary taxi ride.

Unfortunately, there are no more video blogs of this night... but we later went out to Alsina nightclub. It was a lot of fun... it was in a beautiful building that was once a fabulous mansion. There were hot Go-Go Boys & Girls dancing in cages & a large regular people dance floor... I actually had to participate...and that's not one of my usual activities.

We also ran into two familiar American faces there... we originally saw them in the airport in Miami before the flight down there... I'll talk about one of them again later. It's always nice to meet a fun American friend in a country where there arent many people who speak English as we do.

In conclusion, it was funny on the taxi ride home... it was 4am or so and the buses were PACKED with people (we were in a taxi)... but I just found it odd for them to be so busy at 4am on a Sunday night/Monday morning.

Enough for now... more to follow later!!!

Here are some pic's

Some of the pics are from the previous day... so sorry for the confusion...

***Additional thoughts...

Ok, some things that got squeezed out by my vlog editor... Yes, we got there 2 hours before the soccer game...sigh...and they didnt even sell beer there! Only soda...first non-alcohol sporting event for me in a long time... Also, you'll notice there are some sections at the game with no one sitting there...well.. the opposing team had an empty section on either side that only had police in there to keep the peace... the opposing fans were also encased in barbed-wire fencing... pretty crazy.

My "editor" tried to cut out things in the video so it wouldnt be so long... b/c he didnt think people wanted to watch a long video... in full disclosure.. I've now requested he err on the side of including more and let you fabulous viewers decide on how much time you want to spend watching my sometimes rambling vlogs. :)

BsAs (Part Three) ***Updated with a pic link

If you havent read part 1 & 2... please stop & scroll down to read previous entries...


Ahh... we woke up around noon on Saturday and took a taxi down to the Florida Shopping District... as is the norm in BsAs... the taxi scared the bejesus out of me... but we made it...


Our first task was to find the tour company & get our tix for the Futbol game the following day... we did that.... and then walked around Plaza St. Martin... which was in an earlier pic that I posted.... it is a beautiful park.... pretty statues & we passed it so many other times during our visit....


The shopping district was a lot of fun... the Florida district is several blocks of pedestrian only traffic... there were a lot of shops... I bought a few things & was amazed at the prices... they were pretty inexpensive. We had lunch at Il Gran Caffe... it was a sidewalk thing & was so much fun...


We were on a mission to find Futbol gear for the game the next day... after an exhaustive search... we found what we wanted & hailed a taxi back to Recoleta.....


We had a drink--or four---and the rest is documented in a vlog:



Here's a link to some of the pictures we took in Plaza San Martin

Predators update

The roller coaster ride that has been the NHL Predators ownership situation seems to be headed for a smooth ending... for now...

The local ownership group & the city have come to terms with an offer that should keep the team here at least for 5 more years... hopefully attendance will improve & they will be here much longer than that though...

It's been a long & frustrating summer though as a big fan not knowing what would happen... but it seems to be headed in the right direction.

On Thursday night, Hal & I went to another game though. We had his company tix...so we also had access to food on the club level...we tried a new place that ended up being a disaster... it took 25 or so minutes & we missed a good chunk of the 2nd period... it was Asian food & they put it in a traditional Asian to-go container...and I really cant eat stuff like that in my lap... so I had to also get something more "hand" friendly to eat back in the seats....

Anyway... as if missing a big chunk of the 2nd period due to that food experience wasnt enough... as I was in line to get popcorn... there was only one line open... the 2nd period ended... and more people started coming out... well, about the same time... this other girl at the concession stand came down to her register...and a rude man started walking up asking her if she was open... I was already really pissed off at my wait times... so I let him know I had been waiting in line longer than he...

WELL... one thing led to another & he ended up calling me a slang term for a part of the female anatomy... I usually get nervous in confrontational situations... but I was too mad at this point... I got right back in his face & replied... "Well, you like that dont you?"... he muttered something else... & the girl was already getting my stuff.... I gave her my money...got my stuff... and walked away & said back to him... "Well, I dont"...

I cant really explain why this stuff tends to follow me around... but it does... this guy was sitting in the row directly in front of us & they had already been making derogatory gay comments... we ended up moving to get away from the bozos... I dont think the guy was making comments to me as a homophobe... I think he was just a jerk... but anyway... whether it's someone in my driveway calling me a 'little queer' or a multitude of other things that just seem to happen to me...

I'm going to keep it real, y'all... I might be posting sometime with an accompanying picture of me with a blackeye... but I'm not going to wilt like a flower with these people...

PinkPower!!!

BsAs break....

I interrupt the BsAs posts for a more recent event... We're (ok... Hal) is still working on getting the 5 gigs of BsAs pictures & video clips organized...

Tuesday night, my good college friend Dusty came to Nashville... She had tix for a fashion show downtown... it was all dresses, but what the hay... I went anyway... I dont get to see her that often b/c she lives about 45 minutes away... and we always have a fun time running our mouths together... we both like to talk.

We arrived at the fashion show close to the stated startime of 8pm... 8:30 pm... still nothing... no announcements that we will be starting soon or anything... so we decide to leave... I run to the john & all of a sudden... they come out... so we went back .... the fashion show was ok... I cant say that I was in love with most of the dresses... some were cute... one highlight was that most of the dresses were really short & one model bent over in front of us & showed her behind... yep... we saw it...

After the show, we had dinner at Bricktops & came back to my place before calling it a night... it was a school night after all...

At any rate... I've posted a fun/silly picture we took before the show.

BsAs Part Two (cont)--read previous entry first

After the "nap," we got up around 2pm-ish. I wasnt following the internet connection instructions in the apt... and this is where we encountered typical BsAs customer service. I called the office which was about 1 block away. They said someone would be there in an hour.... well... 2 hours later, still no one and I was getting antsy to get out & about. I finally figured out that I could piggyback off an unsecured wireless connection... so didnt worry with the apartment people any longer.

We then went for a neighborhood stroll & walked to Plaza V. Lopez (basically a bunch of kids) and then walked down Santa Fe, Arenales, Juncal & Uruguay streets/avenues. There were a lot of American style clothing shops... We didnt buy anything, but it was a lot of fun to people watch. It was very busy.

We did a lot more walking than we expected, so it was back to the apt for some foot rest. One funny thing was that we heard American Music like Snoop Dogg & the Dixie Chicks in that shopping district.

We came home & did a "we made it blog posting." I then proceeded to iron all the clothes that had been messed up in our luggage... it took over an hour... damn suitcase folds.

We were then ready for dinner & walked down to Lola's in the Recoleta area. It was really close to the Recoleta Cemetary (where Evita is buried). It was a good dinner & we had a lot of fun.

After dinner, we were still so exhausted that we couldnt handle a night out on the town... they dont get started going out until 2:30am and we couldnt handle that.

We had some Quilmes cerveza at the apartment & headed to bed.

BsAs Trip (part Two)--this is a long one--

On Friday morning (Day Two) at 6am, we arrived in BsAs. The descent to the airport was about the first time we saw daylight during the flight & it was like... WOW! There was so much beautiful green space/fields & flat land. We got a good view of this due to the fact we were in a holding pattern for about 15 minutes before being cleared to land.

We got right through customs with no problem. They didnt even check our bags, they just waved us right on. They are primarily concerned with their own citizens & people who had cart loads of luggage.

The airport experience caused a bit of anxiety. We had the cellphone number of our driver to the apartment... but the payphones wouldnt accept our credit cards...when we found a telecom center, we discovered the cell phone number was invalid... the apartment office (who arranged the transport) wasnt open until 9am, so I was a bit concerned. After nearly two hours of "Holy Crap, what do we do?" we went back to the payphones & our driver suddenly appeared with a sign with my name on it... PHEW, we were so relieved.

It took around an hour to get into the city to our apartment... the ride in was interesting. There were so many housing high rises... and you could tell they were for "less fortunate" people. They totally reminded me of the "Good Times" buildings. There were also a lot of low rise shanty's. We noticed a lot of these throughout our visit.

Eventually, we made it to the City Center, "Centro." On the way to our apartment in the Recoleta barrio (neighborhood), we passed by their Congress building and an obelisk on an enourmous blvd that is a copy of the Washington Monument.

At 9am, we finally got to our apartment. I was so relieved. I had some apprehension about it. I had done a lot of research on the apt company, but I was still nervous about how we had to pay them. After all was said and done, it was exactly as we imagined though. It was very nice & looked just like the pictures we had seen.

The Recoleta area we were in was a stark contrast to the "Good Times" high rises & shanty's I noticed on our drive in. It was really nice to be in a residential building instead of a hotel. It made me feel like I really lived in the area.

We were on the 9th floor, so away from a good bit of street noise. We were staying on a very busy street. We then came down & went about 2 doors over to a Mini Mercado for soda & snacks. We took at stroll around a couple of blocks to see what was in our neighborhood... and then it was back to the apt for a nap. We were so exhausted after the long trip & very little sleep.

Let's Get Started!

I failed you, loyal readers... I said I would have a vlog of the beginning of the trip, but I didnt get it done in real time; however, I kept a journal along the way... & planned on faking a vlog early on in the trip, but later decided against it...

Dont despair though... there are vlogs to come....in real time...

I'll start with a few highlights of the journey from Nashville to the Southern Hemisphere though:

• Forgot I had my cell phone in my pocket & got a full pat down right off the bat in the Nashville airport...dumb move, but I really had nothing to hide....


• Neat seeing the Nashville airport as it goes through renovation... it's looking much better


• Get on the plane to Miami... Janet Reno was sitting in First Class (Clinton Admin AG)


• Get to Miami for a several hour layover... That airport BLOWS.... at least the part we were in... I'll eventually come full circle with this on the way home to the US


• Get on the plane to Buenos Aires (BsAs from here on) & it was huge. Thanks to http://www.seatguru.com/, I picked out a seat with a laptop power port which allowed us to watch a movie on my computer (MeanGirls). I wasnt in the mood for the inflight entertainment.


• It was soooo hard to sleep even though it was over an 8 hour flight... there was quite a bit of turbulence over the Andes Mountains .... not to mention a crying toddler a few rows back


• If turbulence & a crying toddler werent enough, two Spanish speaking men several rows ahead got in a very heated argument that almost came to physical blows (requiring 5 flight attendants attention)... I couldnt understand, but Hal said one ended up saying something about the other's mama... (these were full grown men, mind you)... It was kinda funny.... although I would've been pissed if we had been diverted had they actually come to a physical fight

P.S... the photo wasnt taken on our first day, but I wanted to post something :)

Lo siento, amigos!!!

Sorry, y'all... I've been too busy with vacationing to edit photo's & video'CCs.... We have tons of both though & I'll defitnitely show both.

I love this city.... that much is true... it's really beautiful. The architecture is amazing. The air is very dirty as a result of all the traffic & that is obviously not an immediate priority to the BA people... the buses are very big polluters & something is starting to make my throat tickle... I'm guessing that it is the polluted air, but it may be foreign germs....

Nonetheless, I'm having a great time. I cant wait to come back to this city/country. I actually dont want to leave, but alas, I have not won the lottery yet.

I promise to fully document this trip later, but here is a placeholder photo for now.

Tchau,
Casey

Trip Update

Ok, y'all... we made it to BA no promblemo!

It's a really big place.. (bigger... but not as compact I dont think ... than NYC)...

I'll very likely blog more this week.

I'm probably even going to change things up & do a video blog instead of typing everything... I've made some notes in my journal of things to discuss & I'm pretty sure I'll just record it..throw it on youtube & post it here...

but it aint going to be tonight... it's almost 9pm Atlantic time (BA time) & crazy enough... the night hasnt even begun... we havent even been to dinner yet... you're not supposed to go until closer to midnight...

The sad thing is I am freaking exhausted already... I got maybe one hour of sleep last night on the plane (more in the vlog about that) & a three hour nap today... so 4 hours of sleep isnt much when you are facing a Friday night out in Buenos Aires!!!!

Tchau por ahora, amigos!!!