Speaking of...

"Double Sunrise" at Terrazas del Este. Morning after Halloween 2010

Between the rain and the plumbing in our apartment, this city's drained me today (ugh). Found out both friends I came here with will be returning home sooner than I thought (around mid January) which leaves yours truly in the Good Airs without his homeboys for at least two months. Their return to Cali will certainly mark a new chapter in my life down here: a chapter sans constant reminders of my past home, without the temptation to speak in English, and a chapter that might just teach me as much as I've learned since I arrived in Buenos Aires. I'll miss them greatly, but it puts some good old carpe diem pressure on the next nine or so weeks as their time in this great city counts down.

Speaking of countdowns, we booked the beautiful beach town of Mar del Plata for our New Year's celebrations. Now, upon reading this you've got to be asking yourself one or two questions, "How did Nate come up with such a seamless segue into this paragraph?" or "You're in BUENOS AIRES, why would you want to leave for NYE?" Apparently a lot of places close down for El Nuevo Ano, and the majority of the city's youth goes summer vacationing to beach cities like Mar del Plata or Uruguay's Punta del Este. Really stoked about Mar del Plata as I've heard nothing but great things about it's summers, and the pictures of it (see below) remind me of one of my all-time favorite cities, Tel Aviv. The open air and sea breeze will no doubt provide a nice escape from our big city's humidity that loves to trap itself between tall buildings and piles of mierda de perro left on the sidewalk for the early morning hose-down.

New Year's 2011: Mar del Plata, Argentina

Speaking of coastal escapes, I took a boat over to Colonia, Uruguay on Sunday to renew my three month tourist visa. Had a great time riding scooters up the rustic coast, where the sights and smells of small town families' weekly seashore asados (BBQ) immediately reveal the essential feelings of summer. The actual "city" was a bit of a ghost town on Sunday, which meant less traffic for scooting and horseback riding (:D). All in all a perfect way to spend a day of rest. Hopefully I'll be writing about more extensive travels in the near future.

Speaking of writing, I've started writing a comedy based loosely on this trip. A bit dark, but I think it's a great time to test my strengths and weaknesses as a creative writer while I'm in the life-mode of exploration. Last week I had the opportunity to attend a series of book presentations at a beautiful bookstore in Palermo, where I met celebrated Argentine author and singer Pablo Ramos. You can read about the presentation at the bookstore's blog. Mr. Ramos was immediately engaging, neurotically comic, and remarkably inviting to me considering the general lukewarmth that initially receives a youngish male "Yankee" in this town. Though I didn't completely understand the subject matter of the books being promoted, I tried to absorb as much as I could of the confidence and creative energy that surrounded these native authors.

Speaking of absorbing...okay, that's enough already. Happy Turkey Day everyone! Let's go Lakeshow!