**Warning: This post contains alcohol use**
Yesterday Victor, Emily, Pryia, and I planned to meet at the school at 9:30 to take the bus to La Boca (Neighborhood in BA, one of the bigger tourist destinations). But when we (Victor and I) got to the school, the girls had failed to show up. We waited around for a bit, but still nothing.
So we get on the bus, and ride for about 20 or 30 minutes. As it turns out, La Boca is WAAAAY bigger than we guessed, so we go off the bus in the bad part of the area. so we walk around, trying to find out where we want to go, and how to get there, and without asking any locals for directions (we both hate doing that) we set out for another 20 minute walk to get to the tourist area.
When we got there, the first thing that struck me was the colors of the buildings. The walls are painted very bright shades of reds, blues and yellows. And the people! So many! I'd liken the atmosphere of the locals to one of disneyland, but way more aggressive. There is no subtlety in the aggressiveness in which they try to get you to part with your money. There are people dressed in tango costumes in the street, some of them dancing, some of them waiting, with extra costume pieces, so you can take pictures in tango costume... It was crazy.
We walked around for a while, looking at the statues, the walls, the paintings (pictures on facebook). We had a very good time. And then it was time to get back to school, or we'd be late for class... So we hop on another bus, and rode it back.
I had class then, so I’ll go into that for a bit…
My class is amazing. It’s around 7 people, ranging in age from 17 (me) to 28 (Pyria). The level of learning is just right for me, and I’m learning so much. The class is great, and so are the people. We are very alike in many ways, but different is so many more. The names and nationalities of my classmates are: Harry (California, Sonoma County); Tyler (California, San Francisco); James (Australia), Pryia (England), Tom (England), and Victor (California, Los Angels). We joke around, and have a great time every class, but we are also studying hard…
Ok, so tonight…
After class, it was decided to go to one of the hostiles in the area that Tyler was staying at, which had a club of sorts (bar + dance floor), but we needed to get one of Victor’s roommates before that, so a group of us went back to Victor’s apartment. I wasn’t really sure what was going to happen, but I went along anyways…
There were 6 of us when we went back: Myself, Tyler, Victor, James, and two of victor’s other roommates, 2 Dutch girls named Nikki and Hannah. We got back to the apartment, we got Becca (the roommate) and then it was decided that it was far too early to go to the club, so a few of the guys went down to the store nearby, and picked up a couple of 40’s.
When they returned, it was found out that I had never had alcohol before. Now, at this point something amazing happened. For the first time, instead of saying: “YOU MUST DRINK NOW” that usually happens, they said: “We respect that. If you change your mind, we’ll respect that too…”
So, there’s no pressure. So, they start talking about they’re favorite drinking games, and drinks are poured. I’m not feeling the odd man out, as I don’t have a drink, as they include me in all of the reverie (laughing and telling stories). I’m having a good time, playing the drinking games with no drink (they’re pretty fun, even if you don’t have one).
After a time, it dawned on me that one of the main reasons I was IN Buenos Aires was to branch out, take risks. So I ask for a sip.
Everything. Halts.
And then a cheer goes up from the majority of the people there, and I get handed a glass of beer. Not gonna lie, I was terrified. But I take a sip anyways.
FREAKING. NASTY.
I’m not joking, I don’t understand how or why they like it… But it was a big moment, and they decide to take pictures… Fun times…
Then its time for me to go to my evening tango class, as I haven’t been to one yet… So I go out looking for it (I have the general location on my map), but to no avail. I search and search, but I cannot find it for the life of me. I ask people, but with the language barrier, it’s tough at best, and they don’t know where I’m going either. So after about 20 minutes of searching (plus a 15 minute walk there beforehand) I decide to hang my head in shame and return to the apartment. As I get back I’m greeted by the rest of the group leaving to go to a hostle to find another friend who said he was going to meet us there. So I walk with them, not knowing what to expect from it, yet again. It turns out the hostile has a club of sorts downstairs (dj and bar) so we hang out there waiting for the friend, who never shows… but that’s not really important… But they all had hard alcohol, and I convinced myself to have a sip of what I later learned was vodka and redbull. Not a good choice, but life’s full of those…
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