Where the Wild Things Are

This lion is REAL and yes, I am petting her.

I have always known that I was among the 10 coolest people in the world, but this past weekend solidifies my spot at Numero Uno. However, I am going to explain this story at the end--so you have to read about my (really fun, but comparatively less interesting) weekend that happened 2 weeks ago.

Sarmiento's House

Tigre

For about a month, a few of us had been planning on going to a riverfront city called Tigre about 1 hour outside of the capital. We however had been postponing it and finally managed to
find a Saturday that worked. To get there, we had to take a train out to the more suburban area. We were also duped
 into buying the more expensive "coastal route" tickets which turned out to be 2 stops of coast, and 12 stops of graffitti covered walls. Nonetheless we arrived on a beautiful day in the early afternoon. Tigre is a city that is known as a tourist/getaway destination for many people that live in Buenos Aires. It is located along the various other tributaries of the Rio de la Plata and has a theme park, a very large market, and many docks for boat rides. We decided it would be fun to take an hour ride on a catamaran which had a terrace on top in addition to dining services below. We nestled in below deck and grabbed a bottle of vino tinto--you know, to curb any potential sea sickness. We disembarked from the dock and got to take a nice, easy ride down the Rio Sarmiento--aptly named after a former famous Argentine president who has the house of his childhood located (in a glass cube) on the banks of the river. As we floated downstream we saw an assortment of things like people's houses, a semi-sunken ship, and some other places to vacation. The area is very similar to the watershed area around Alganac (you are mostly MI people right?) where it is connected to the lake, but is inlet and people need to use boats to get to their houses. It was very chill and everybody would smile and wave at us. The waiter we had was also a very amable fellow who had an extra nice personality to make-up for his lack of teeth.

Rolling down the rio

"Rio Sarmiento"

Afterwards we made for the markets and shopped around for a bit. The vendors sold all kinds of things for relatively low prices. What I liked most however is that although there were many people, everything was very tranquil and slow-moving--it was a very nice break from the big city. While we didn't have a full itenerary, this took up most of the day and we headed out at dusk. Overall, it was a very nice place with nice people. The photos do more justice than my words, but it was a very relaxing time.

Now we move on to what I did on this past Saturday. One day I was going about my usual business of being an interesting person when my friend said ran up to me and said: "Oh my god, dude! We gotta do this!" while pointing to a computer screen. I responded: "What are you talking about?" My friend: "Duuuude, we can go to this zoo where you can pet lions and tigers, f&%$ing TIGERS, man!!". I was a bit skeptical about the whole thing, but I decided to go with him and another guy. So we took a bus from a street 20 minutes north of me and we headed the 2 hours out to the ciudad of Lujan. After a weird and uncomfortable ride, we made it to the city. The plan was to grab a bite and then head on over to the zoo. Lujan itself is a very interesting city. It was built out from a main plaza and in the center sits a monsterous basilica that in my estimation, is several hundred feet tall. We wanted to take a tour (it also has a museum regarding certain aspects of Argentine history) but were pressed for time. We got our lunch--I ordered a milanesa napolitana (breaded lamb cutlet covered w/ cheese, ham, and marinara sauce) of which I have provided a beautiful photo.

Look how big I am!

Plaza Lujan

(Let me preface the rest of this story by saying everything that happened next had a very shady aura to it) We head back over to the zoo by bus from where we came, but the driver for whatever reason didn't stop there and kept on going. So we had to tell him what we wanted and he dumped us off on the side of the highway about a quarter-mile from the entrance.After our little walk we make it to the entrance and pay our way in--40 pesos or about $10--and we were given a map detailing the "park". So we start walking towards the tiger pen and stop at this open area where there was a mix of goats, llamas, pigs, horses, and two really big camels. One camel ran over to this lady and licked her face in the funniest way possible. But we were on a mission, a mission to find the tigers--and we finally see them. Now you know how in any other normal secure zoo the potentially lethal animals like lions and tigers are behind serious metal cages and dug-out motes? Well, all this small pen consisted of was some metal chain and 2 guys armed with nothing but a camera and milk bottle. As we enter the pen I notice a total of 7 tigers--3 of which are awake and waling around. All are fully grown. As it was my turn, the guy told me to pet the tiger's back while he got a photo. It was a truly beautiful animal. When my time was up, I went just behind the other guy to wait to get out, at that time however, one of the tigers decided to take a little stroll next to me and check out what was happening--it was a mix of terrifying and really funny because the whole situation was so ridiculous.

Camel Love

After a quick of check my drawers, we walked through the rest of the park. We saw some sea lions begging for fish, and I got to feed an elephant (which was really cool) and a bigger pen of even bigger tigers. By the end we made it to the lion pen which is where the first picture comes from. What you DON'T see in the picture however is another equally large female lion pacing around the fence just a few feet from me. I'm not sure what was more distracting: the lion that I was petting or the other one moving about the pen. Anyways, by the end of the day I got to experience some things that I could definitely never have done anywhere else--pretty cool huh? Which one of you can say you did that? Haha.

Feeding an elephant!!!

Look at those chompers

As much fun as it was, it was nonetheless a fairly sad zoo--the animals were overfed, cramped, and I believe a few of them were probably nipped-out. So I am a bit conflicted over the experience--but it was nonetheless EXTREMELY unique.

This is the coolest goat I have ever seen.

Milanesa Napolitana w/ fries

The bus ride home was pretty ridiculous as well--it was packed and I was forced to stand nearly against the windshield for roughly a half hour while the driver was flying down the highway like a maniac. It was certainly a day that i will never forget.

"Party in the U.S.A."...?

Buen dia todos! While sitting here on a cold and windy Saturday afternoon, I began to think about topics that I have not yet covered in this blog. Then it suddenly hit me; a topic that anyone really only trully cares about: Booze and Nightlife!!!

Wine Regions

Now I am certainly a student who relentlessly studies when not eating or sleeping, BUT, I nevertheless hear things about how the other side lives. (Haha, but seriously, I have a much larger work load here than I do at Albion--I spend ample time doing work here--Mom, Dad). It is important to know that social life is EVERYTHING here. While the U.S. is also a fairly social based country, there are very many distinctions that set our drinking and nightlife cultures apart from that of Buenos Aires. For instance, it is pretty much accepted here that you head out to the bars or clubs at around 2 in the morning--nobody, and I mean nobody, is occupying the clubs at midnight--it's just empty. As a consequence, people generally won't go home until around 6 or 7--pretty crazy. Another major difference here is the nature of drinking itself; while both places are large consumers of alcohol, Buenos Aires is more based the "marathon" system while the U.S. is running on "sprint" mode. It is considered of poor form to be sloppy or fall-down drunk, whereas that is not such a problem in the U.S.--depending on the setting of course. Additionally, when people go out to dance in clubs, it is generally for the sake of dancing and enjoying themselves and most people are very chill and not too stuck-up. Night clubs are the same format as the U.S., but since this city is so un-godly huge, there are a lot of them, and some really nice/grandiose ones. BA is of course a major world city and attracts all kinds of entertainment traps--so the night life is extremely rich/bountiful if you want it to be. I could go on, but there are blogs and books dedicated to this topic already--it's a big deal.

Fernet

Another big difference is the appropriateness of drinking at various times of the day. It is very common for people here to have some beer or wine during lunch time or as a midday thirst quencher. Dinner is also obviously a time for some adult beverages. They are a lot more self-controlling here. Don't get me wrong, last weekend I saw a man literally collapse on the dance floor from too much vino--people can definitely get wild here, but the culture has adopted booze as a part of life (drinking age is 18--"carding" is rare) and they think no more of taking a sip than putting on their shoes to leave. Whereas in America it has a varied perception and often used to start out of control, (un)forgetable parties that often result in debilitating hangovers that last for days a.k.a. college, frats...this sounds familiar...

As for the preferences of alcohol itself, there are a few major brands here. Beer. First and foremost is Quilmes. Quilmes is like Corona to Mexico or Budweiser to America. It has 4 different versions (Cristal, Bock, Stout, Amber) and absolutely dominates the shelves. Bock is my favorite because it is darker and a bit smoother--the Cristal is the most widely available and very similar to Coors, Miller, etc. There are few other brands of Argentine beer. Otherwise it is primarily Belgian or Euro-beer like Stella, Heineken, or Schneider. Beer is also sold primarily in liters or individual bottles--not a lot of cans or packs like we are used to. As far as the wine goes, one doesn't need to be that educated to know that Argentina is famous for their vino. Both reds (vino tinto) and whites exist, but red is the most numerous. In general, it is all very good. I am by no means a conisseur, but the variety and richness is indicative of some good brewing. Virtually all supermarkets have entire aisles dedicated to vino and it is certainly a very social drink. Sharing bottles for dinner is very common. Liquor/licor on the other hand is a little different. It is much less readily available, and can be quite pricey. However, they do like whiskey (Old Smuggler, Jack Daniels, etc...) vodkas, and a unique licor here which they call "fernet". It is most popularly mixed with Coke. I only tried it once and I really hated it haha. It is remenicent of quinine water, black licorish, and wax, with a dash of soda. It is quite popular--I will stick with the brews. Gin, rum, and tequila are certainly in-stock, but are limited in brand and much more expensive. I have been dying for a good margarita--looks like I will have to wait.


Also, as promised, I have copied a link to "Show Match" here. It is 11 minutes and pretty much gives an accurate picture of the show. As a synopsis (because it's in espanol/castellano), there is a pair of dancers that enter in the beginning. The girl talks to the host, Marcello, about why she (randomly) is happy she found god--hence the commandments. Then she says she wrote a song and everyone is essentially making fun of her for it while they try and get her to sing. She eventually does a horrible hip-hop rhyme thing to Marcello's name and they dance. All sounds and images are part of the show--no add-ons. Oh, and the 2 people eating the chocolate are some of the judges.