Victory is mine!

Sunday was an excellent day. I was in my first horseshow outside of the United States! Brent and I walked over to the barn around 11am and found my trainer. We found some good seats in the stadium and hung out for a bit (yes, you still have to wait around, just like a show at home). I was in two jumper classes, one at 1.0 meter and one at 1.10 meter. Fortunately I was unable to convert meters into feet or I may have chickened out. Well In the 1 meter class I think I got either 1st, or 2nd out of about 12. They don't use regular ribbon colors down here so it was kind of hard to tell, I thought I was second, but then they made me lead the victory gallop, so who knows? I had the first rail in the second class so no ribbon but a ton of fun.
After the show Brent went home and I went back to the barn to help put the horses away, and to ride one of my instructor's sale horses. Unfortunately, said horse and I had a small misunderstanding on the correct way to ask for a lead change and I was put in my place, which is apparently on my ass on the ground. I am fine, just a bit stiff. We communicated much better over the jumps- REALLY NICE HORSE.
After a shower, Brent and I took a bus back to the Feria de Mataderos and had a great time. We saw street musicians, folk dancers, a marching band and many fights with silly string. We sat down to get a sandwich and ended up talking to a group of Argentines about North American music (and I use the term "talking" loosely, I understood maybe 25% and Brent was about 40%). Whatever we said must have been what they wanted to hear because one guy gave us a copy of his band's cd. I think Brent might have accidentally said he knew Frank Zappa personally, rather than saying he knew who Frank Zappa was - a cause for much excitement and statements of undying fan loyalty. We took lots of photos and I will get after Brent to add them to the blog.
Later!

New Years Eve like the locals

Brent and I spent New Year's Eve with our new friends from Texas at thier apartment with another couple from New York. Here in Argentina, New Years is more of a family holiday where friends and family go over to each other's homes and have buffet dinner, play games, drink a bit, and shoot off or watch others shoot off fireworks. We followed that format to a tee and ended up having one of the most laid back and fun NYE ever. I didn't have as much to drink as Brent, who couldn't remember the cab ride home and was a bit sluggish the next day.
On Jan. 1 we went back to good ole USA traditions and met at a expat bar for a full day of burgers, nachos, and bowl games. I ate and drank as much as humanly possible to prepare for diet, exercise, and no drinking January. Hopefully by Feburary I will be able to fit into my clothes again.
Yesterday Brent and I walked down to the staging area for the Dakkar Rally. This race usually takes place in Africa in the desert, but due to terrorist saftey issues it was moved to Argentina and Chile. There are all different classes of racers, from motorcycles and 4 wheelers, to jeeps and suvs, all the way to huge trucks. The trucks facinate me. They aren't little pickup trucks, they are closer to big rvs or schoolbuses. They have crazy big tires and are just so random. It wouldn't have suprised me if they had a garbage truck division.
This morning I took another lesson from Leo, which went well. I am going back tomarrow to ride some of the barn's horses that need exercise, which may turn into a permanent gig!

Horses and lions and tutors, oh my!

Brent was able to get the money problems rectified Friday afternoon, thank goodness! So with pesos to burn we began our fantastic weekend. Friday afternoon I went to the stable for my first lesson. I was a bit early, so I sat and watched the lesson before mine and got to meet the wife of one of the students in the ring. She and her husband are in Argentina for a year and plan to see and do everything- including learning how to ride. We have plans to meet for dinner this week.
My lesson was soooo much fun! Maximo is a good instructor and speaks english great, but I told him I needed to learn horse words in spanish and he said he would help. I got to ride a nice horse and got to jump. The only drawback was how incredibly sore I was the next day.
On Saturday Brent and I took a train to a city named Tigre. It is located about an hour outside of BA on a river delta. I really don't know why anyone would ever want to leave this country; every place I have been, I have loved! The train station let us out at a river that is lined with trees, grass and a walking path. You can catch a boat tour of the area, or if you know where you are going, they have water buses. Brent and I grabbed something to eat by the water and then took the 1 hour tour. The area is beautiful and I took lots of pictures because it is really hard to describe. All in all, we had a full day outside the city with train transportation, food, drinks, and a tour for a grand total of 70 pesos! (A little more than 20 bucks!) We will be going back!
On Sunday, Brent and I went our separate ways. Brent went to play golf and Jo and I went to the Luhan Zoo. We took a bus to get there, and after about and hour and much confusion, the bus dropped us off on an exit ramp off the highway in the middle of nowhere. As we stood there looking around I noticed a chain link fence and some rather large birds behind it. We were there! The Luhan Zoo!
This was the strangest zoo I have ever seen. For $10 each we got to ride an elephant, hold a baby bear, get inside the cage and pet lions and tigers, sit next to a thousand pound bull seal, and have a full grown monkey jump on your head! Seriously, this place would not last an hour in the good ol'USA before somebody sued!
The zoo itself is like going to somebody's farm. Everything is dirt paths and chain link. If you wanted, you could camp overnight and grill out. They even had a swimming pool. I told Jo that it wouldn't suprise me if they unloaded a dozen otters into the pool while you were swimming. It was just that kind of place. Amazing.
Today we had our first real spanish lesson with Carlos. He is very good and laid back. He has a good way of explaining things and Brent and I both feel we will get a lot out of the lessons.
Today I will be trying to find a cheap rental car to drive down to the beach for Xmas. Wish me luck!

Holy crap! We are broke!

We began the day normally; we both ran , took showers, ate lunch, messed around on line. We had a spanish lesson scheduled for 3, so we decided to take a walk and go get some money to pay our tutor. When we got to the ATM, Brent put in his card and nothing. Card invalid. Ok, maybe a faulty machine, maybe his card got zapped somehow. We go back home, get my card and I go to a different machine. Card invalid. Interesting. Flat broke in BA. ba
It turns out that our bank is changing systems and is mailing us new cards. Seems like we should have the new cards before they cancel the old, but what do I know, I'm not a banker.
Our tutor, Carlos, shows up and we explain our situation. He is the nicest guy ever. He drove us accross town to American Express to see if we could get a cash advance, but the office had already closed. Then he drove us all the way back and loaned us $100 pesos to get us through till tomarrow. Needless to say we will be taking lessons from him and recommending him to everyone we meet. I don't know if he can teach, but he sure is nice!
Brent is at Western Union today picking up money wired to us from our bank. They say they will have the problem rectified shortly.
Assuming Brent will return with some cash, I have a riding lesson at 5 that I am really excited about. Brent and I checked out the barn and the horses look great. Brent may play golf this afternoon, and we are supposed to meet friends for a night out at 9. Keep your fingers crossed, otherwise it is looking like scrambled eggs and alot of bad spanish tv all weekend!

It's like we live here!

It only took a week or two, but we are finally settled into our new apartment. I know where the grocery store is, and have stocked our kitchen. I have cooked a few meals, and done the dishes. Brent has found a local bar about one block from here to watch the upcoming bowl games. He found a barber and got a haircut. So all in all, it's just like being at home. Well, kind of.
Sunday I went running and found the stable where hopefully I will start riding lessons this week. Lesson barns are the same everywhere. There were about 5 kids in the ring while I was there, learning how to trot. One kid had it down and was grinning ear to ear. Then you had the cryer in the middle, and the one boy who kept kicking his pony while the instructor's assistant tried to keep the pony in the ring. Take away the spanish and I could have been in Georgia.
Monday we attempted to go to the zoo with our friend Jo, but couldn't figure out what bus to take. Instead, we had a wonderful lunch at Las Cholas. The food is cheap, plentiful, and delish! They also serve the world's coldest Stella beer. Yum.
Today we hooked up with some friends and went to see a part of town called La Boca. We took our first subway (called Subte). Cheap and easy way to get around if you can stand the heat and armpits. La Boca is the home of one of the Argentine football clubs (read soccer team). We went in search of tickets for Sunday's upcoming game, and took a peak at the stadium. The area itself is very touristy but very colorful and fun. Brent and I bought mate cups from an artist who put our names on them while we waited. Well, that's all for now!

Off Road Ralley's and Goin' Gaucho Style!

Are you serious? Really? No, I'm not joking here! All I have to give you is $60 and promise to pay you $2,500 US if I wreck it? Fran and I rented a car in Bariloche this past Saturday to drive around the "seven lakes" area and do a bit of site seeing. The rental car guy showed us the map of the area and suggested our route. " If you take this road, you will spend about two hours on the dirt road through the mountains and lakes." For me, it translates like this - " Give me $60 and you can race our car cross country, in an area with fantastic views, on dirt roads, with no police and no speed limit. If you wreck our car and don't die in the process, you will owe us $2,500." Here is your money, where are the keys!!

The trip was truly breathtaking. The scenery went from jagged mountains and rushing rivers, to rolling hills and green pastures to desert areas with rivers. We saw cows, horses, and sheep just roaming around on the roads and roadsides. Made me thankful we were not traveling at night! In the desert section of the trip we saw pink flamingos and three huge deer. The total trip took us 6 hours and the last section back home there are good roads and no speed limit. I got to race some locals. By the way, we named our little rental car the Chevy "Chipmunk" because of it's size, but it could move buddy!

On Sunday, we went horseback riding on an "estancia" that raised sheep. Fran was in heaven!! We were part of a group of about ten and we rode for about 2.5 hours through some cool terrain. We saw huge rabbits, a fox and two deer that were, no joke, both 10 pointers or more. We had lunch of lamb shank and lamb sausage included with a bottle of wine too. We met some great dutch girls we will likely go out to dinner with this week. All in all, a very good weekend.