i don't pick favorite holidays. i generally don't pick favorites of anything--it seems like a waste of time to devote energy to something that is always subject to change. well, unless there is a certain amount of specificity involved. it's easy for me to think: my favorite holiday in 2009, 4th of july. my favorite holiday in 2008, halloween. 2010 isn't over yet, but i can probably say that halloween isn't going to be it this year. there were festivities happening around buenos aires last night, but the necessity to save money is crucial. also, last night, i didn't feel like getting belligerent with a bunch of strangers. last time we did that (BA pubcrawl) i wasn't thoroughly impressed with the night. instead brandon and i made up some costumes from our own wardrobes and walked 2 blocks to the irish (ish) pub. they have really cheap drinks every night until midnight. we each had 2 and then started to feel tired and walked home, went to bed. i wasn't wholly disappointed, not like brandon. halloween is his favorite holiday, and not being able to celebrate like he wants is weighing on him. of course i would have preferred to celebrate and have a ton of fun and dress up fancily, but we can't do that, so i'll just look forward to the next holiday. although, i don't see myself waiting around to have an epic, grand time. it happens when it happens, and like most things, it'll be much better unexpected. besides---tonight we are having a scary movie marathon! how halloween of us. we'll drink red wine and call it blood, we'll close all the curtains so it will be pitch black, and we'll curl up scared under the covers, watching horror after horror from brandon's laptop. and tomorrow, we're going to visit the renowned recoletta cemetery, famous for it's many decadent crypts. we probably even have enough scary movies to continue the marathon tomorrow night.
speaking of our collection of scary movies, this is another point of interest. recently, after the columbians staying downstairs left, our internet bandwidth suddenly exploded. we now have the ability to download (very quickly) movies and music and whatever else we want. this has been a huge part of my life for a long time, the availability of media. it was hard to think that the new kings of leon album had come out and i wouldn't be able to acquire it for my listening pleasure until i returned to the US. now, i am listening to the new kings of leon album. and i have a couple of almodovar films on my computer. and soon i will have shutter island and date night as well. living in argentina does not mean i have to be completely cut off from all things american. yes, i want to immerse myself in the culture here, but i also have an identity, already established. i enjoy music and film, and that will always be a huge part of my life if i have anything to do with it. i'm just glad buenos aires has high-speed internet available to me. that much wasn't clear until yesterday. phew.
i have been craving burritos lately, probably because i found out they don't sell tortillas at the stores here. black or pinto beans can't be found anywhere. what about cheddar cheese? no. pepperjack, that's a joke. woe is me, woe is me. then, (after a little advice from a girl we met at a birthday dinner the other night) i was perusing the aisles of a chino, and i came across a little package of tortilla-looking items called rapiditos. indeed, they were flour tortillas. after that, i made my way over to the sauce section of the store, and found a hot sauce-looking bottle. turns out, a few hours later, brandon and i were enjoying some mozzarella&avocado quesedillas with a homemade corn and tomato salsa, spiced with that delicious little bottle of hot sauce.
we had also purchased 1 kilo of strawberries for 5 pesos. (file under: things i love about buenos aires). we quickly devoured them, all of them, while drinking cheap argentinean wine, of course.
it was a lovely afternoon, despite the halloween-induced homesickness.
btw: we found a place to live starting on nov 4th. we are officially not homeless! it may not be the most ideal place, (living with an old woman whose length of stay is uncertain, and a nice lady who is probably in her 30's, but shy, it seems, and starting at the end of november, the owner of the apartment, who i think is in his 30's or 40's, but who knows what he is like...i've only spoken with him over the phone and emailed him) but the house itself is great. the bedroom brandon and i will be sharing is big, with a lot of space for our things and a huge table--ample workspace for two writers. there is a nice, stocked kitchen, a real bathroom with a real shower, and a communal garden which we share with the other tenants of the building (we have a window that opens up to the garden). the apartment is big overall, with plenty of space for brandon, luna and me--- amplified in my memory by the seriously high ceilings. more details after we move in.
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