Welcome to Carnaval. This is a party.

Last weekend the group took a trip to Gualeguaychu (gwa-lay-gwai-choo) for the last weekend of Carnaval. The city is 3 hours north of Buenos Aires on the Rio Plata, and apparently it is a boring ghost town when Carnaval doesn't bring an infusion of tourists. We paid for an all-inclusive trip that provided us with a party bus, two nights at a hostel, two crappy breakfasts, and stuff to do during the day. There were about 50 people on the tour mostly Americans with some Europeans and Argentinians mixed in. The party bus didn't quite approach Freshman ski trip levels but we did have a fun time playing 21 questions and sipping on cuba libres. For anyone who doesn't know Brendan Brooks is the BEST 21 question player ever, just a warning if you ever find yourself up against him. After a couple drinks had built up our valor several of us Americans made a pact to only speak in Spanish for the rest of the night. This instantly made the night much more interesting.

Once we got to Gualeguaychu everyone went out to a big dinner on a a rooftop terrace. I sat with Dave, Brenny, and some Argentinians and had one of the funniest dinners of my life. I don't remember too many details but the combination of our jovial mood and attempts at speaking Spanish well caused much hilarity. Also, I died laughing for 5 minutes when Dave thrust his man hand into the salad of a big surly American girl who we had only known for 20 minutes in an attempt to "get the best part." She let out a shriek of no and slapped his hand away with enough force to make Dave look like a shamed puppy after it is kicked away from the dinner table. The entire table fell quiet, except for me as I instantly burst out laughing and couldn't stop for a while. If only Dave had eaten dinner with my mom before he would know he's not Helen Keller.

After dinner we went to a party in the streets, which is exactly what you might imagine. There were hundreds of people packing the streets/boardwalk. Music was blaring and everyone was dancing, drinking, or spraying foam in each others faces. Yes they sold some sort can that shot a stream of foam several feet. I refused to buy it until I was attacked by a mob of screaming/giggling/foam-spewing girls. It was terrifying and I vowed revenge. I purchased my own can and was handily winning the war due to my spraying skillz and evasive moves. Then I ran out of foam. Then I got ambushed and sprayed in the eye from 6 inches away. Then I quit because I couldn't see. Things quieted down a bit (meaning they ran out of foam to sell) so we danced in the streets for a while and went to bed just before the sun woke up.

The beach restaurant.
Dancing on the beach

Me winning the foam war.


The next day Dave forced us to get up for the free breakfast which ended at 10:30. It was not worth it as it included two mini croissants and some strong coffee that prevented us from going back to sleep. We were soon on our way to the beach though so it was all good. We spent approximately 6 hours at the beach swimming, lying, soccering, laughing, eating, playing. It had already been a phenomenal day, and we hadn't even started the real festivities yet. We returned to the hotel and went out to dinner, which was free. We also got some cake because it was Dan's birthday. After that we pregamed BC style for the carnaval, then took the party bus to the parade.

The first part of Carnval is a parade of the people where anyone who pays 40 pesos can slowly dance/walk down the main street displaying their drunken antics to the crowd. Of course we paid, and of course it was a lot of fun. After all we were part of Carnaval. There was lots of dancing, smiling, and picture-taking. It was strangely alluring to be making a fool of myself in front of hundreds of people. Now I know why people do reality TV. After that was over we joined the spectators and watched the real Carnval. It was crazy. Hundreds of people dressed in the most absurd costumes ever dancing down the streets. Many of them had barely any clothes on just some crazy contraption on their backs and a speedo. It was very cool to see all these people parading in such a ludicrous way, and they were all obviously enjoying it very much. One of our Argentinian friends explained to me that her people are quite self-centered and for many Carnaval is a great way to get the attention they covet. There were also 6 huge floats that were insanely decorated and had people dancing on them. It was a ridiculous experience and made better by the fact that they played three songs on repeat for four hours. Some dude also kept on saying "Welcome to Gualeguaychu, the last day of Carnaval, this is a party, have fun." He must have repeated himself so many times, or maybe it was a recording. It was all very funny and very exciting. Definitely something worth experiencing.

After the Carnaval we returned to the party in the streets. We were going to go to a club, but upon noticing that there were 30 guys in the line and no girls we opted for a bar instead. After a couple hours of sleep we went to the hot springs. This was a big outdoor area with lots of swimming pools and "termas" which were supposed to be hot but were really just warm and dirty. I kind of got the feeling I was standing in a big vat of pee. So I exited the springs and went to lie in the sun, a wise choice. Then we played a little jump rope which was quite the ball. After tiring ourselves out sufficiently we took the bus ride back to Buenos Aires. It was an excellent weekend with a good mix of partying, sight-seeing, and relaxation.
All the drunk foreigners in the parade.
Carnaval is for all ages hence the little girl in the back left.
Dancing Queen.
Best leopard print article of clothing I have come across.
Blurry from excessive movement.
Many feathers were used in the making of Carnaval.
Mini Indian float.

These are the floats from the night also with the video below (If it works). There is a facebook album online with more and different pictures.

An appropriate sunset.

Vamos a Di Tella

Real classes have started, but the fun hasn't ended (yet). Monday was the first day of classes, but registration is on Friday. Argentinian colleges have a smart system where you get to sample the classes before you decide which ones you want to take. So this week I went to several different ones, and I think I'm going to take Latina America en el siglo XIX, Historia del Arte, and Politica y Economia. I wanted to take this other class called Conflictos Internacionales y Seguridad but the teacher talked really really fast, and it's a 4th year class, meaning it would've been a lot of work. All the BC people are taking Historia y Cultura de Argentina too at some other University with this really nice professor called Sergio. Classes are allright, I find them interesting it just takes a lot of effort to understand what the professor is saying at all times and take notes. Hopefully my spanish will improve now that I am actually hearing and speaking it everyday. Another downside is that the Argentinians mainly keep to themselves, and let the foreigners stick together. I've heard that divide sort of breaks down once the classes really start, and I hope that rumor is true.

In Buenos Aires there is a coin shortage, and this is a serious problem because the buses that are the main source of public transport only accept coins. The buses go everywhere and run 24/7 which is nice but sometimes it's a hassle to find enough coins. The strange paradox that 1 peso coins are worth more than 2 peso bills and occasionally 5 peso bills is a result of this, and we often find ourselves spending 5 or 10 pesos to receive coins back. My coors light can piggy bank is frequently broken into so I can get around; I guess there's just no saving in this city.

Even though classes started we've still been having fun. We recently went to the Recoleta cemetery. This is the coolest cemetery I've ever been too, and you either have to have been a famous Argentinian or really rich to get interred there. The place is full of old stone mausoleums decorated with intricate statues. The mausoleums are packed really tightly and you have to walk down narrow passages. It's subduing and a little creepy to meander through these passages knowing your flanked by many of Argentina's important people's final resting place. Also, there's a ton of cats there for some reason, almost like their guarding the dead and protecting their peace. Maybe the Ancient Egyptians knew something about cats that we have forgotten in the haze of modernity. Here's a sampling of the many pictures I took of the place.
Lamenting.
Forever on the outside.
Variety of statues.
The original sun salutation.
Plaque in someone's crypt-translates to something like When the word might die (if it dies) I will be waiting for you-again-behind the stone, next to the fallen moon, faithful to your wish to always love me beyond the hours and days, in total silence.
Evita Peron's tomb, there was a huge crowd in front of this one.
The Grim Reaper guards this family's crypt.
Nice contrast of old and new-one of the more ornate tombs.
This guy eternally has an angel watching over him.
Coexistence. If you liked these pictures I'm gonna try to put the rest up in a facebook album next week.

After the cemetery we went into Puerto Madero which is Argentina's newest neighborhood. Its ultra modern and stuff, and they actually filled up the river with cement and sod to create the place. We walked around a bit then went to TGIF's for happy hour. The menu was in english and the waitress wore flair. The food was mediocre and the service slooooooow. Needless to say I don't think we'll be going back there. A couple days later we went to the zooo! We were all excited to go too a spanish zoo and see all the animals. Dave portrayed our thoughts aptly when he said "I just wanna see everything!"
El puente de mujer-a pretty pedestrian bridge in Puerto Madero.
Onward!
Guardian of Buenos Aires.

Alas, we were disappointed. It was kind of run down, and all the animals looked really really sad. There was also thousands of people there and it was hot and the ice cream was bad. I did get to see some animals I had never seen like jaguars, a polar bear, a white tiger, toucans, (my favorite-they're beaks are HUGE) capybaras, and rhinos so it wasn't all bad. After about 30 minutes most of us were thoroughly depressed and had dreams of breaking the animals out and letting them roam free. Instead we left. I went to yoga for the first time with Hannah and Dan. Harder than I thought it'd be as I always assumed it was a bunch of girls stretching and calling it "working out." It was a legit workout though and I felt pretty good afterward. Definitely something I'll do again. The next day, this past sunday, I moved into a new apartment with Brenny, Dave, and Dan. Its on the 22nd floor and has a ridiculous view of the city. Also, we can see across the river to Uruguay from our balcony which is very cool. It's essentially a penthouse, and we got it for very cheap. Continuing to live it up, and manana I go to Carnaval, which will be the next post...if I make it back.
Statue at the entrance to zoo, only example of an animal looking happy in the whole place.
Polar bear- "I'm soooooo hot."
Toucans-I spent 5 minutes marveling at the size of their beaks, almost as big as the body!
A little Buddha sitting in the shade of his tree, I wonder if he's been here for 500 years.
How'd those Roman ruins get up there?
The Southeast view from our apartment (Click for big).
The Northeast view from our apartment (Click).