Buenos Aires, BA

Whewwww ok everything is settled. I spent almost all day yesterday between corner stores (for toilettries) 3 different police precincts and the US embassy. Well, it was 2 precincts, 3 times. The hostel told me go to the 17th, so I went there first thing, and they said it wasn`t their jurisdiction, I need the 15th. So I went to the embassy rather than back tracking to the other one. I had to pay a lot for this stupid new passport, and I had to pay a guy to take my picture in front of a tree with a polaroid camera so that I could bring it back with my paperwork, but now I have a brand new passport, good for one year, the police know about my stuff, and the US knows that my IDs are gone. Bueno. Then I went to the 15th. My new policeman told me that it wasn`t theirs, I need the 17th. I told him I went there, they sent me here, so he called them and told them to deal with it. Police, police, no one wants to work. They just stand around and look pretty.

So the night that I got robbed I went to the bar, like I said in the last post. Met this guy named Charly, a regular I suppose, and was shooting the shit with the bartender and we all just had one big chit chat in this bar. Charly told me he`d bring me clothes, just to come back to the bar again. So I did, and he gave me a bag of old clothes of his! He`s a rocker-guy, a couple inches taller than me, and a lot thicker, so I look like a hoodlum running around in his big, sleeveless shirts and cut-off jeans, but I`d rather look like a hoodlum than a bitch. I went out and bought some new clothes today, just some basic stuff, but now I have a solid week`s worth of clothes. Perfect. Too bad I´ll never get to see my pictures, or the 6 CDs I bought along the way, but it`s gone, might as well have never had it. That`s what I tell myself when I get mad about it. Anyway, at one of the police stations yesterday, a lady came in after I had told them what happened and was waiting to file my report, and the EXACT same thing had just happened to her, and the cops put us together to talk. She lives here, so it made me feel a tiny bit less stupid, and we comiserated together. But she was a little insane-like an Upper East Side lady-she went out shopping for expensive clothes, and as she was getting out, the cabbie just drove off before she got the bags out, door open and everything. She was really upset, and I wanted to shake her head a little bit and tell her to snap out of it, but I didn`t. The cops were pretty pleasant too, and pretty hot, all of them. If I`m lucky, I may find myself in a little more trouble while I`m here.

I moved into my apartment today, and to the confusion of the landlord, I just had one bag, haha. I told her why and she was so upset about it. Seriously, everyone here is amazing. Buenos Aires lacks the extreme, neurotic energy of Rio, but it makes up for it in this energetic suave-ness that I can`t describe, you just have to be here and feel it. Like everyone says, it has a more European feel, but definitely the Latin kick, I think it`s an awsome mix. Smooth like French (not like sleazy, just suave), Italian style and eating habits, and that fiery spirit that is so distinctly Latino. So far, I adore this city. And I love my apartment. It`s perfectly small, just a studio, but I have a little balcony, and the building is really clean and nice... I have a doorman who thinks my name is Zacarius, and I let him go with it. And it`s in a really posh part of town. The agent that brought me there said he was going to recommend me to a company that does English classes, so hopefully that will work out. Then he invited me to the beach this weekend with his friends. How crazy, I love this place. The land lady told me I can call her whenever I want, and her friend works at the hotel across the street and she is going to see if I can use their internet for free, instead of always going to cafes. If people could be any nicer, warmer, gracious... I dunno, they`d be on the floor dusting my feet off. It`s really incredible. I feel really good to have this apartment now. I loved hostel hopping, and the people, characters, you meet along the way really make for an awesome experience, but now it`s nice to know that I`m here, set, for two months. I can spread out, get comfortable, stock the fridge without someone eating my food, and always come home to the same spot. The balcony makes a big difference too. The view is really nice, I love it.

Today at 5, I go in to my volunteer place for the first time. I`m excited to get started and figure out my stuff. I`m more excited for the two week spanish intensive I`ll get, because while I can speak well enough to explain things to police and have normal conversations, I love the people so much so far that I can`t wait to really get get down and dirty with the language. So hopefully I`ll make my schedule today, so I can figure out when I can be available to teach English, and like that, the money disaster will be averted! But first, I`m going to go to the grocery store so I can stock up my fridge a little bit. Some of the people I met at that bar are leaving tomorrow, so I know I have to go there again tonight. The table cloth that the bartender gave me was the perfect towel for my shower, and now I put it on my table in the apartment, and it`s going to be one of those things that I`ll keep forever-the first thing I got after I got robbed, from a total stranger! Well, bartenders can`t really be considered strangers, I think too fondly of them.

So what else what else, I dunno. Now that I`m here for a while, I`m satisfied to chill out and take things slow. It`s obviously not hard to make friends here, and in my neighborhood there are a lot of bars and restaurants, and clubs aren`t too far away. I made some friends at the hostel last night, so I`m going back there tonight to find them, and then we`ll go to his bar. This stupid bar. It`s called Piola, and there is one in NYC and Miami too. The one in NY is on W 12 street, so all the NYers looking at this, let me say that, down here, it`s great. They have Italian kinda food-really good pizzas and some pastas and what not. That`s my plug, so now I`ll run.