Grrr, and awesomeness

Hanging out at a bar in Palermo

I had my first notable negative experience in Buenos Aires. On Friday night, I switched hostels from Sohostel, which was a nice cute place, to Palermo Soho Hostel, which turned out to be a nightmare. They put me in a tiny room that was converted from an old closet and I originally decided to bite the bullet and stay there for the rest of my days in Buenos Aires. But after the first night, I had to get out. I paid for eight days (big mistake! i recommend never paying for for than a few days at a time), and the owner said he would refund me the next morning. But then he disappeared and left a girl who was really unhelpful. Only today, after 4 days!!, was I able to retrieve part of my payment (minus 20 percent and some other stuff). They were shady and I did not like that hostel one bit.

But now all is well. That Saturday, I moved to a new host family in Recoleta. It's a really nice part of downtown Buenos Aires and also close to a lot of attractions and fun things. Thank goodness for my program director, Carina, because I don't know what I would have done without her help! On appreciation, I also really appreciate overdraft protection because I accidentally withdrew too much from my bank, but didn't have to pay any extra fee because my bank rocks.

Puma Urban Art Show:
On Saturday, Lauren (another girl who's staying here), and I went to watch my hiphop teachers performed in a HUGE show at la auditorio Buenos Aires. It was an event like nothing I've ever seen before. There were BMX bikers, life art being created with leaves and natural materials, and exhibits of skateboard art, graffiti, and more! Best of all, my teachers did great, and they said hi to me afterwards! That made me feel special. : ) Then we found a chinese restaurant and I got wonton soup!

Recoleta Fair:
On Sunday, I went to the huge street fair in Recoleta where they sold everything from leather to shoes to food to beer-bottles converted in clocks. I had a great time walking around and got a few souvenirs to boot! Then, I walked by the famous Recoleta Cemetary again. AND THEN!!!!! I finally saw Harry Potter!!! I thought the movie was pretty terrible, but I enjoyed it anyway because I love Harry Potter. They assign seats in the movie theater here, so you don't have to worry about getting there early to snag the seat you want.

PDA:
Afterwards, I met up with JFlo, and some other cool people from Harvard at a bar. I had a delicious pinapple daiquiri with Malibu and was just really happy to hang out and speak english for a bit. The world was so small because a couple of people and I had so many mutual friends, it was crazy! We also witnessed a couple hour-long displays of public affection - something quite common in BA. I think it's because kids live with their parents until they are very old so they can't show too much pda at home. Thus, the public areas suffice.