Things I didnt think I needed but I actually do

1. A mirror - There are no mirrors in my hostel room, no mirrors in my hos-tel roo-oom. For those of you who don't know the song No Mirrors in My Nanna's House, that joke probably wasn't so funny. But the only mirrors are in the bathroom which we all share so even when I just want to see if I look normal enough to walk down the street, I have to leave the room.

2. A blanket - Not that I'm cold in my room since so far winter here is not cold, but all I've got is a sheet.

3. A water bottle - Now I've heard that the tap water here is fine, but you can't really get it anywhere and with all this walking I get thirsty and my biggest expense is going to be water.

4. A lot of pesos - Whoever said that American cash goes far here was seriously disturbed (hehe) at least to my current knowledge. Luckily, I finally got a hold of an ATM. Phew!

So hello to all! I've been here in Buenos Aires just over 24 hours and I've already learned some lessons. But, the good news is even though I may be making silly American tourist mistakes, most people here think I'm native. WOOOHOOO! People even asked me directions as I was getting on the subte tonight. While at first I thought it was a scam to stop me and take my money - thank you all for making me paranoid, in all seriousness - I stayed my physical distance and helped them out. Yay!

So after I arrived yesterday, I went out to get a cell phone, change some money and explore. I was unsuccessful on two of the three. I was definitely frustrated and upset. The way people explained the city I thought that exchange places and phone kiosks had large signs advertising themselves. Guess what? They don't. But today I did manage to find those places, although most were closed because Argentines don't work on the weekend. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

After meandering around Av. Santa Fe for a couple of hours I came back and got ready for shul. I went to Kabbalat Shabbat at Amijai Comunidad in Chinatown. Yup, Chinatowns are everywhere. We (my new aquaintaince Rachel) and I got a little lost and ended up getting there basically at the end. I can't wait to go back and take pictures of this place though. On the facade it looks like a parking garage - plain, whitewashed. But once I walked beyond that whitewash wall, a gorgeous Zen-like courtyard opened before me. Stone walkways, and rock gardens sprouting wistful trees led to a Jerusalem-stone building where we found Kabbalat Shabbat. We felt like we were both inside and out. It felt ke those fake habitats at the zoo where you are indoors and you look through the glass on the walls into the "wild." We sat inside, facing a beautiful wooden ark mounted on a stone wall with glass windows all around us, looking into the courtyard.

The service just goes to show that Jews are the same everywhere. It was very cool to be able to sing along even though I'm in another hemisphere. AND the Rabbi personally welcomed me at the end of the service. Afterwards we stopped for and "early" dinner at 9:30. The food did not have a lot of flavor - as I had been warned - and the I had my first experience with the laidback style of dining. They want you to relax and occupy a table for forever...how strange.

I had my first night out in Buenos Aires last night. Rachel and I met up with a bunch of girls from her program and went to a bar and then to a club in Recoleta, right across from the cemetary. I felt right at home, almost like it was New York. I met some cool people there, dancing and talking. Men here have an interesting way of getting a girls attention compared to New York. First of all, they can all dance here. So if you are standing stationary, they'll just acost you by dancing literally on top of you. If you are walking by them, they pull your hair. They just yank on it. Boys at home, I don't recommend this. Cultural or not, that hurts.

I called it a night at 5:15 because at that point I had been dancing for 4 hours and my body wanted to get in a bed.

This morning I woke up for the Argentina vs. Germany game. It was so sad. I watched in my hostel so I was with some diehard Argentines. The celebration when Argentina scored (you know, before the goal was taken away) was unbelievable. Jumping on each other and hugging and chest-butting. Soccer is NO JOKE here - though we knew that.

After a much needed nap and some more inquiries about cell phones, I had a little lunch in a cute cafe. I windowshopped - this city is overpopulated with leather boots. I've never seen so many in my life. After that, I hopped on the subte. You can take the girl out of NY but you can't take NY out of the girl; even if buses are more popular here, I like the subway. I visited El Centro de la Ciudad. I saw the Obelisk, La Plaza de Mayo, y La Casa Rosada. Outside of La Casa Rosada there was a band giving an evening concert, so I caught some of that. Then I went into La Catedral Metropolitana. There was wedding tonight so I stayed for a little while and watched the bride sob. Now I'm back at the hostel before hopefully making some late night plans.

Thanks for getting to the end of the first installation of my novel.

BESOS!