BS AS

So i've been in Argentina for several weeks now and it felt like time to create a blog.  

This city is massive, and yet it's always crowded. Somehow millions of people fit into this one city, thousands seem to fit on the subways, and what feels like hundreds on the buses that never seem to come to a complete stop when picking up or dropping off passengers. Don't get me wrong - i've definitely been enjoying my time here... i just compare things to back home and find it hard to believe that half the escalators aren't in working order, ordering a bottled water at a restaurant can be more expensive than a glass of wine, making a one-stop shop at a grocery store is almost impossible, and burger king and mcdonalds are some of your pricier options when going out to eat.

Some positives about this city are the efficient transportation systems (when the workers aren't striking),      the bakeries that are on most streets, choripan (sausage on bread), the many parks and plazas all over the city, and being able to cross any street without concern of jaywalking (at your own risk).

Pickpocketing/ having money stolen is pretty common. I haven't had any personal experiences yet, but several of the girls in my program have had money stolen on the streets or on the subways. Sometimes the Argentinos get pretty aggressive... add that in with the policeman standing on corners who are notorious for staying in the same exact spot in all situations and you're on your own if anything bad happens.

4th of July

The nightlife here..... any night from Wednesday until Sunday it is common for the younger crowd to go out to a bar with friends for several hours, then go to one of the dozens of clubs that play a wide variety of music from about 2 to 7 in the morning. The common drink is speed (the local energy drink) and vodka. Music, themes, and crowd sizes vary depending on the night, but each club has its own definite characteristics with names like Club 1, Kika, Club 69, and Amerika. They're often overcrowded, hot, and playing music so loud you have to use sign language to communicate, but if you go to the right one with friends it can be pretty fun.

I don't think the treasury here ever stops the circulation of old bills. Some of the small bills are so unbelievably worn that you hope right when you get them that you will be able to spend it before the thing completely tears in half.
The exchange rate for dollars to pesos is about 4.5 when you go to an ATM for withdrawals, BUT some places will give you up to 6.2 if you wire the money to yourself through their company. Many people call this the "black market exchange rate," but if it isn't totally legal it's definitely the lesser of two evils compared to Argentina's fraud. Also, it's impossible to have ATMs spit out dollars. They only give you pesos even though most places accept and want to be paid in dollars.
 

I've been watching a lot of Argentine Olympics. Not very exciting though because
this guy is the only Argentino with a medal to his name so far for 2012.

most of the ppl from the intensive language month in ISA

Garganta del Diablo

Garganta del Diablo (Throat of the Devil) : the place gets its name from a spot where two canyons funnel into a narrow gorge and form a waterfall. Above the waterfall it gets pretty desolate, so it was a perfect area to backpack around and campout for a few days.

By the time you're in Tilcara you're pretty much knocking on the front door of Bolivia. Saying the people are dark skinned is an understatement. I thought I stood out in Buenos Aires, but in Tilcara I was like a snowflake in a coal mine. What also stood out to me was the huge disparity in wealth. The luxury, double decker buses let out only a block away from where a man was building a house with homemade bricks and a bamboo ladder tied together with rope.

JuJuy -> Terma De Reyes -> Laguna De Yala

Took a bus from JuJuy to a small town called Terma de Reyes (Hot Spring of Kings). I asked the bus driver how to get to a place called Laguna de Yala that I had read about in a travel guide and all he said was "Caminas caminas" (You walk, you walk). Turns out it was 18km each way but it was well worth it. The campsite was a diamond in the rough, nestled on a small rise in between two lakes. Couldn't find a better place to watch the sun go down while smoking a Cuban.

Downtown JuJuy

Coming out of the valley in Terma de Reyes 

Salta