'Tina Numero Uno

Buenos noches amigos. We're here!! I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of supercute or artsy photos to share with you, but it has been noted that there have been no posts since our arrival in Buenos Aires, so here's a lil something, with love, from the 'Tina...

SO, we ARRIVED on July 21st at 5:30am, and took a 2 hour public bus ride (why pay 40 pesos for a cab when you can pay 2?), traveling through the exquisite countryside that often surrounds an international airport. We were also just in time for the garbage strike, and it is indeed true what they say: it is the middle of winter in Argentina.We checked into our 8-bed dorm room in time for breakfast, wondering exactly what we had gotten ourselves into.  But NEVER FEAR, as you can see from this photograph, our sights rapidly improved! Once the trash was collected and the northern sun shone upon our faces, it was love at second (or third) sight. Lucky for us, our hostel was in one of the least scenic barrios in town, so it only went up from there...

This is one of many, many cute restaurants, cafes, shops, etc in our neighborhood.  Each neighborhood is very distinct... you have the bohemian/tango/antique/crumbly-historic neighborhood we live in (San Telmo), the big tall buildings and blinking lights neighborhoods, the sketchy, the ultra-modern, and the sickeningly bourgeois and terribly cute and enticing with lots of coffee shops and bakeries and too-expensive stores neighborhood.

One of the cooler things in BA is the amazing street ART. Puts Paris and Brussels to shame! There's lots of art, period, including a gallery hop sponsored by Chandon every final Friday. (Bee line!) Tango is still on our list of things to do, and we'll keep you posted on how that goes...

And here I am with some STEAK and tatoes! I hope to have a more mouth-watering picture to share in the near future, but we couldn't really be bothered with photography at a time like this.  Not pictured: provoleta, another specialty, which is basically fried cheese. YES!  My favorite, though, is the empanadas, which are the best at the joint 2 blocks from our house. About 15 flavors, and different varieties are folded in pinched in unique and lovely ways to signify their fillings.  Second favorite cheap food: choripan. (aka sausage sandwich) 15 pesos hot off the asado grill with all-you-can-top cabbage, salsas, etc.  There is a permanent aroma of grilled meats on the streets here. Yes, friends.

Home sweet HOME. We found a great apartment in San Telmo, a slightly grungy but up and coming neighborhood, with a señora named Juana. Juana is rad, and we have acquired 2 roommates, Aimee & Chris. We are living in harmony with maté and Malbec. Pictured here: Cutter watercoloring monster pictures. Not pictured: our very cute kitchen, 2 bathrooms, our own little bedroom and study on the floor above, and the Olympics on the TV in Spanish behind me.   Also to note, I've been offered a job teaching English as a live-out au pair, and Cutter is going to be doing some writing for  a popular local English newspaper, The Argentine Independent.  yay!  More choripans for us!!!  What else? We'll be starting intensive Spanish classes next week at a nearly-free, but notoriously excellent language school. So hopefully it will soon be less embarrassing to communicate with the locals.

Much to tell, but that's bueno for now.  :)  Besos to all!