South American Blunders

Greetings from Buenos Aires, ¨the Paris of the South.¨ This city is a beautiful fusion of European tastes and architecture with latin culture. The streets are always packed with beautiful, European looking people but the night never really begins until 2am. Literally, bars will remain almost empty until that hour as dinner usually goes until midnight. There are more parks, musuems, monuments, and areas of interest than any other city I've ever been in and I would recommend a visit here to any one who can afford it.
Getting here was no easy feat. There were 14 of us making the 3 day trip from Lima to Buenos Aires and we ended up half a day late. The bus broke down twice, but that was to be expected and didn't prove to be too much of an issue. The real delay came at the Peru/Chile border when 2 keys of coke were found on the bus and we were kept in a giant hamster cage for 6 hours. After searching and researching our bags and angrily questioning each and every one of us thoroughly we were all told to leave. Ask me to tell you this story next time I talk to you, there's more to be said.
Once I finally got here things went very smoothly. I stayed with Sam (American friend from my semester in France) and her family in the apartment they rented in Palermo, a ritzy little district of BA. They were great. Christmas was enjoyable-I went to midnight mass and played a silly game with their family until 4am. The next day they decided to take a 3 day trip down south and let me have the apartment all to myself! I hate exclamation points but this deserves one, it was so nice.
I am now staying with Ali and her crazy family in the apartment that they rented and last night they took me to a tango show, which was beautiful and I've been inspired to take up the accordion once again. I was supposed to have left yesterday for Bolivia and the monkey refuge but, just as I was walking out the door, Sam's brother informed me that Visa requirements had changed and I would have to spend $130 that I don't have to get into the country. Huge disappointment. So my plans have changed and I am now heading down to Patagonia (Southern Argentina) to volunteer as a ranch hand. I'll be working with 1500 sheep and 40 horses and they're going to train me to break in geldings (are they called geldings or is that a currency from a fantasy novel?). Check out the website...
www.estanciasantathelma.com
I am very excited about this and once I'm done there I'll head to a small farm also in Patagonia where they make their own cheese, beer, bread, wine, jams, and liquor.
www.chacraelcielo.com.ar
Yesterday I sat in a park, in the sun, and watched a puppet show while drinking beer and feeling very content.
Happy new years!