Saludos de South America: Dia Del Campo

4/18 (so weird.. I feel like it was just yesterday I was making the dates in February)

Hola!! I might have just had the most relaxing weekend to date in Buenos Aires. Between happy hour with some friends, a full day at an estancia, and a lazy Sunday, I had a delightful weekend just enjoying the city and not stressing about simply checking off the to-do list.

Friday after class, a group of us went to Benihana for happy hour and good conversation. Before you judge me, I have to say two months ago when Christine told me about the happy hour I just replied "There's no way I'm going to a Benihana when I'm in Buenos Aires." BUT... drinks and sushi rolls are only 3-5 dollars, meaning that I spent less than ten bucks on two *very* delicious and strong mojitos, and next time I can spend less than fifteen and get myself two drinks and a california roll, which is incredibly hard to find in the city due to the lack of crab on the Buenos Aires shore.

Saturday

Saturday, I headed to Univ. Belgrano at 8am in order to board the busses that would be heading towards Lujan, the same city where the zoo was, to have an excursion at a ranch, or "estancia."

I conked out for the two-hour ride, and upon waking in Lujan, I could barely process what to do other than to find coffee. Since we had an hour to stroll around the HUGE church, Christine and I opted to head to a small cafe before taking in the sights. The church was covered in fog, and the weather matched our grogginess.

A double shot coffee later, and as if the heavens smiled down at us blue skies and sunshine, we headed towards the church. A service was going on, which was beautiful to hear in Spanish, and I don't think I've been in a church that big before. It was beautiful.

After an hour, we loaded the busses again to head towards the estancia, which as our guide put it "en el medio de nada." It was a lovely little resort-ranch, with greenery and peacocks all around. I wasn't looking too forward to this trip just because there were so many of us (three charter busses full- the same as Rosario), but just like Rosario I ended up having a fantastic time.

We were allowed to ride horses, which I thought would only be the guide dragging you along by a rope kind, but we were free to roam around the fenced in area. Without warning my horse took off, which was a lot of fun especially since it's been so long since I've been on one.

After the horses we had probably the longest meal of my life, where the meat was disappointing, but the people and conversation greatly made up for it. I couldn't help but constantly think how great of a weekend it was turning out to be, just hanging out with some friends at a ranch in Argentina.

After the meal, we headed out to watch some horse riders play a game where a small ring hung from poles and they had to stick a pencil through the ring while galloping at breakneck speed on a horse. Casual. If they got it through the ring, they got to get a "besito" from a girl in the crowd and give her the ring.

It was great fun watching the riders (one was an adorable 11 year old boy- who actually got it through the ring!) and I even got a besito- woohoo! After the day, I was so tired that I fell asleep yet again on the bus and dragged myself home, crashing relatively early in order to wake up for brunch the next morning.

Sunday

Sunday I woke up and decided to walk to brunch, about a mile and a half away from my house. It was such a beautiful morning, and it was really nice just to meander through empty streets since it was a Sunday morning. I met Kerrie and Christine at Oui Oui, the same place I went with my parents, although I guess the restaurant has two locations, and we went to the other one that was maybe three doors down.

After ordering some fruit, eggs, bacon, and toast (DELICIOUS), I also received some tea. I literally lifted the teapot up to pour it into my cup and it broke clear off the handle. Of course everyone stared at us, and Kerrie was like "quick! Speak in Spanish so they stop staring!" but I couldn't help and laugh at the handle in my hand and the teapot on the floor. Clearly not my fault, however the waitress brought me back a lame excuse for just a cup of tea, without any extra water. Lame.

Regardless of the waitress' attitude, it was an amazing brunch, and it felt nice to spoil myself for once while I've been so budget-friendly (although the fantastic double meal plus lemonade and tea still was less than 20USD).

Afterwards, Christine and I walked to my house and changed, then heading to a park between Palermo and Recoleta in order to get some Vitamin D in. It had been forever since I'd laid out and gotten some sun, and relaxing and reading Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (thanks mom) was the greatest way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Once we reached our breaking point with the mosquitoes and bugs, we headed home. I then popped in Star Wars (again thanks mom) and had a perfect Sunday, complete with heading to bed WAY early at around 930/10pm- can you say abuela?

Monday was normal.

Tuesday after class, I headed to a cafe to read up more on Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and for dinner I met up with a few friends at this African restaurant. it was PHENOMENAL. I can't even describe the dishes, but the owner was from Cameroon and helped four of us pick out three dishes to share family style. There ended up being around 12 people, and we all sat outside on a quiet street, just enjoying each others company. I ended up staying at the restaurant for three hours, mainly because another girl and I were so early- so while we waited we made a sort of happy hour out of the dinner, but we ate this like bean/chicken/spices dish, with the same sauce on a beef dish, and then a spinach/possibly pesto chicken dish, with sweet potatoes and fried bananas to dip in the dishes. I've never had African food before, but it had SO MUCH FLAVOR. The closest I've had would be Indian, but I really can't describe it.

Today I'll be heading to a movie (Kerrie and I make it a point to get ice cream and a movie once a week) and the rest of this week looks pretty low key. Chau for now!