Ma, I made new friends!

After a few days of feeling pretty alone here in Buenos Aires, the weekend brought new life to my social comma. On Saturday I was invited by Carolina y Mariana (who work at the hostel) to go out to dinner with some friends of theirs in Palermo (a neighborhood in downtown Buenos Aires. I’m not sure if they saw me walking around talking to myself and felt bad, but, regardless I didn’t hesitate to accept the invitation.

At dinner they helped me through the menu, while laughing at my expense along the way. The language barrier was a small price to pay for an amazing meal of red wine (vino tinto), rib-eye steak (ojo de bife) and chorizo (um… chorizo). After they carried me out of the restaurant, we went to a movie. The movie was El Secreto de Sus Ojos and it was entirely in Spanish (no subtitles). I didn’t understand a word of it, but it felt intense and the actors seemed passionate about whatever they were saying. None the less, it was a great first night out on the town. My plan is to go back and watch the movie next August and see if I can understand it.

On Sunday evening I was invited to a pizza party at someone’s house I met on craigslist. It’s not what you think. While apartment hunting, I actually started an email dialog with a wonderful women named Eliana. She rents out her pad to foreigners new to Argentina. Turns out the apartment search process is a great way to meet really cool people via craigslist (shout out to my home girls in the 858, Charlotte & Ashaley).

Anyway, Long story short, she ended up renting the apartment to Anna (below) but still invited me over for Sunday dinner with the roommates. How sweet is that?  It was an incredible night. We got drunk on red wine and Quilmes, ate entirely to much home-made pizza and had some great laughs. They all spoke very good spanish and english, which was inspiring and overwhelming. We ended up sitting on the patio watching an awesome thunderstorm until we ran out of booze. They will be great friends to have in Argentina.

TOP (Left to Right): Nathan from Chicago, Eddy & Willy from Colombia

BOTTOM: Anna from Switzerland, me, Eliana from Argentina

Gracias Carolina y Eliana mucho para hacer de éste el mejor comienzo posible para mi viaje.

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!