Too much nightlife and not enough sleep

I don’t understand how the Porteños function on so little sleep, although the numerous tiny cups of coffee consumed, continuous mate drinking, and eating a sugary pastry at each meal and for snack time, seems to be doing the trick. This last week I have had to partake in this caffeine/sugar consuming lifestyle just to stay awake and function, as unhealthy as it sounds, it seems to be working, but I think I would gain a million pounds if I had to live here for more than a year and would have to take many vitamin supplements because I think my diet would be so overloaded with carbs, caffeine and sugar. Besides working and going to school 40+ hours a week, I am trying to live the lifestyle here while, finding time to complete homework, write this blog, a Spanish blog, practice yoga and keep in touch with friends. Wednesday I attended tango lessons at school and then went out (at 10pm mind you) with my classmates and teacher to a Cameroon restaurant because one of the students is from Cameroon. My plate was a pile of green mush, which if you knew me as a child or even a few years ago would not have been consumed by me, I used to be such a picky eater, I still won’t eat tomatoes but I managed to eat my mashed up veggies, fried plantains and goat, which was tasty despite the fact that it looked like someone threw-up on my plate. 

Thursday I went with my schoolmates to a fusion concert at CAFF, the band, Punte Celestial, was interesting. Everyone in the band could play more than one instrument and the music was…..well interesting or exotic would be good words for it. youtube.com The band was amazing, the wine so-so, the beer bad but plentiful and the empanadas the best I have had so far. Friday was tough because we again didn’t get home till about 2am. Friday I was exhausted but, had plans to go with my cousin’s friend Peter and his girlfriend and daughter to a Spanish Play. We saw the Estrella de Seville by Vega at the Teatro Nacional Cervantes, the whole thing was in Spanish and everyone wore a grey suit, I was so tired and so confused. The funny part was I wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand, most of the Argentines couldn’t understand the play either. You see, the play was written in Spain Spanish from Shakespeare’s era, which is a foreign language to most Argentines! It would be like going to a British version of a Shakespeare play where everyone wore black. I was surprised to know that I did understand a lot of the play after talking about it. After the play I was hoping to go home and get some sleep at a decent hour (10:30pm) but no, it’s Argentina and that’s dinner time, even for people who are 60+.

Saturday I went to La Boca, a neighborhood in Buenos Aires that contains brightly colored houses thanks to the Italian immigrants from long ago. La Boca is known for its asados (bbq), tango and the colorful homes. I went with my Norwegian friends and my English roommate. We had a fantastic steak lunch with sangria in a lovely courtyard while listening to a wonderful tango singer. It was a beautiful afternoon that was followed by hour d' orves at my house and capped off with a wreck the house party with 1,000 beers, Argentines and expats, circus acts, and the loca but extremely fun hostess Sunny who’s apartment was being torn down the next week to build a high rise…..again no sleep until about 5 in the am. Let’s say my internet breakdown Sunday morning also have come from lack of sleep from this past week.

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