My first Rainy Weekend in BA!!

I realize this probably makes me a complete and utter weirdo, but I love a good rainstorm. A little thunder, a little lightning, and a ton of rain is just perfect to me. I can stay home with a good book, good food, good drink and no one questions why I have not left the comfort of my own apartment. And if they do I just tell them like the Wicked Witch of the West I would melt if I had to go out in the rain. So when I saw the weather report for this weekend, unlike many people here in Buenos Aires, I was a little excited. Its supposed to rain Friday (which it is), all day Saturday, and most of Sunday. Of course this means the parrilla I was supposed to attend this afternoon got cancelled which sort of stinks, but I'm sure I will have a chance to attend another one at some point as they're a pretty common occurrence here in Buenos Aires. 


What did I do instead of stuffing my face with barbecue food and hanging out with new friends? Well I prepared for a weekend holed up in my apartment. First stop, by far the coolest bookstore I have ever been to in my life. Anytime there is a rainstorm I always feel this need to read a book. Now I brought a few books from home that I am excited to read, but I wanted something in Spanish (a little challenge to myself). So I asked a few people about what librería I should check out and without question everyone told me to go to El Ateneo. Unsure of the reason for the recommendation I followed everyone's suggestion blindly and boy am I glad I did.  Luckily, I had my camera in my bag and I took some pictures because its hard to make people understand. This book store actually use to be a major theater here in Buenos Aires and at some point was bought and turned into a book store with a cute café/bar on the stage and books throughout the rest. In an odd way it actually reminded me of the library in my high school. Anyway, here are some pictures to you can see what exactly I'm talking about.

 Now I love my pictures as much as the next person but I do realize I am not the best photographer in the world. So here is a little video I found on youtube of the place.

The next stop on my way home was the grocery store for my usual staples, soda and chips. Then I hopped on the Subte and headed to my local pandería to pick some stuff up. What did I pick up? Empanadas and facturas of course....my new staples here in Buenos Aires. For all of the non-spanish speakers reading my blog you are probably asking yourself what the hell is a factura? Well I'm still not exactly sure, but they are delicious! They're sort of like tasty pastries of all kinds. Churros, strudels, cream puffs, etc. and they are all delicious and usually on one whole wall of the panedería. When you walk in you grab a big bowl and some tongs and just fill it up. Then you just pay by the dozen. So I of course bought a whole dozen for only 20 pesos or about the equivalent of $7 in the states. AMAZING!! I took some pictures of the facturas...forgot to take some of the empanadas but here are what the facturas look like....

This is the adorable way the lovely baker woman in my neighborhood wraps them all up for me.
Its so old school! I love it!

And this is my dozen facturas! Absolutely a delicious combination of  sugar, fried dough, dulce de leche, chocolate, and candied fruit!

The final pieces to my rainy day weekend here in Argentina are of course the books (yes you read right books, because even in South America where every book in the store is written in Spanish I can't buy just one book when I walk into a book store) and the iced coffee. And I have pictures of both. I actually purchased two different books, one by Jorge Borges, who I learned is the guy in the picture from Being a tourist part 1 and the other by Gabriel García Marquez. And the pitcher of iced coffee I made this afternoon was absolutely amazing!

Yes my iced coffee is in a wine glass. Do NOT judge me. Its the largest glass I  own....wait maybe I should be judged_

We'll end this post with a bookmark from El Ateneo!

El Apartamento

Last night I went out for drinks with bunch of the people from the program, including another HUSKY, "what, what Northeastern" kids all over the globe you don't even know about! (Sorry about that).

I digress, we were all talking about our apartments and I've got to tell you I definitely made out. I was unsure about not wanting to live with a host family. Everyone says its such a nice experience you get to really understand the culture, but quite honestly after some of the stories I heard I am thrilled that I am in my OWN place. Okay Okay I know you don't care about reading this and just want to see the pictures so here they are:

First stop the door. My door is wonderful. Its so protective that I actually couldn't get into it the first time I tried. Luckily, the landlord (because the super also couldn't figure it out) came down and taught me the trick.

This is the red button that I have to press everyday to turn the light on in my outside hallway....the little kid in me is THRILLED!!!!

Next stop on the tour is my inside hallway.....that was boring so instead I'm going to show you the artwork on my hallway walls...

I don't know if there use to be a picture of an elephant here and its missing, but I use it to hang up my keys....pretty convenient I think

Okay now I realize that none of those really show you my apartment, but come on, a montage dedicated to an elephant getting submerged and then reemerging....its a little funny!

Next stop...my bedroom(I guess)...

My bed...Looks comfy right....it is!

This is the shelf over my bed.

This is again the shelf over my bed....can you
guess which books they provided and which ones I brought??

That's the first stop on the apartment journey....next stop my kitchen/hallway!

I realize that this picture is probably going to upset some people, i.e. my mother and grandfather....You might ask yourself why, there is one simple answer the tea kettle is on the outside burner and someone could just knock that down or off.....well good thing I live alone and won't do that. :)

Where should we go next....I know let's head to the bathroom...

Yes....I have a bidet...no I have not used it.

This is for you LB....that's right I have a world shower curtain too....I say we have a country off or a major city off when we both return to the states??? You game?? And I know you read this blog I saw people viewing it from Germany!

So funny story about that bath mat...I slipped on it and banged my shin on the bathtub.....so typical.

A razor came with the apartment...go figure!

Just my sink...nothing special.

Okay ten points to whoever can tell me what this is and how I hook it up in my bathroom?? I've got to tell you when I first saw it I was a little disturbed and still am a little....

Hmmmm....what else oh yea...my dining area and my balcony!

my kitchen table....which is quickly just becoming my desk...but it will stay neat ....who am I kidding this is probably the neatest it will be the whole time I'm here.

My TV and a very very comfy chair!

My balcony....no I have not pulled an Evita yet...but I will....actually I talked about Eva Peron for like an hour yesterday at the bar...they seemed to be impressed that an American knew so much about one of their leaders (I didn't tell them I knew all that from the musical...you have to keep some secrets right...)

I have potted plants and chairs for children.....hopefully I don't kill the plants....and hopefully no one lets children out on the balcony alone!

Last but not least...I think you should get to see the view from the balcony right...I have some pictures from last night and some I just took...enjoy... I know I do!

I guess that's it...my apartment in a nutshell....Oh I guess there is one more thing...my mirror....I am only doing this because I never had a myspace and therefore never got to take one of these pictures!