Arrival in Buenos Aires

Hi,

After a nearly sleepless night, we arrived early yesterday afternoon in Buenos Aires. This place is big! It really reminds us of New York City. There are huge signs advertising Broadway musicals, enormous buildings reaching skyward, and people everywhere busily making their way to their destinations. We've already met people living here from the U.S., Australia, and the U.K. We even met a guy here from outside of Atlanta (a GSU grad from Snellville) who, at the age of 25, is enjoying a great deal of success after organizing the Buenos Aires Pub Crawl, a wildly popular bar-hopping event. He is also the part owner of a restaurant/bar. Pretty interesting.

Last night, we went to a steak place called Desnivel in the San Telmo neighborhood to try some of this amazing Argentinian beef we've been hearing so much about. The meat was unbelievable. We each got a huge steak, perfectly seasoned and cooked, and shared a liter bottle of Quilmes, the most popular beer in the country. Including tip, the meal cost us each less than $10 American. We will both be returning to the states with high blood pressure and hardened arteries.

Our hostel here is unlike anything we've seen. It is so nice! It has a bar complete with pool table, a full computer lab, and a TV lounge. It is five stories high and has one of those charming old-fashioned, cage-style elevators. It also has a 130-person capacity.

We also forgot to mention that the tap water in Santiago, Valparaiso, and Buenos Aires is safe to drink. We were buying bottled water every day (which can add up quickly), but some Americans studying abroad in Chile told us we could drink right from the sink.

More to come later.