International Man of Mystery: Juuuan David Mickle

In honor of the event we are attending and as a personal request from our host, we will feature a little segment on JD. JD is a man who claims to have no one home as he has lived all throughout Latin America due to his father's position as an ambassador. He now runs an entertainment club in BA that promotes and creates some of the wildest parties in BA, such as the one we are attending tonight. He has a gift for throwing bashes, but unfortunately needs some improvement in his salsa dancing. Regardless, he has been an amazing host here, ushering us from one party to the next all throughout BA and providing us with some very interesting personal introductions. Picture featured below that will be updated with a much more provocative one following the evening. Also, he is a dead Bardia Rafi look alike. They could be twins.

Karlyn and I have quickly adapted to the nocturnal schedule that epitomizes the Porteno lifestyle. It hasn't been easy, but someone has got to do it. Here they have dinner around 8:30 earliest and lately Karlyn and I have been frequenting restaurants at ungodly hours only to learn that the restaurants were not even open yet. Needless to say, we are adjusting our schedule to fit to the customs, which often leads to early morning returns.

Today, we went to the street market in Plaza Serrano. It featured rows and rows of little booths selling a variety of different handmade items. Our favorites included: headbands (obviously a must for me), jewelry racks, beautiful landscape paintings, and many more wonderful objects. We were also able to explore the neighborhood more and added to our extensive list of must try restaurants. Not to mention, we were able to find some great vintage stores (Gret would love!). We are trying to refrain from going crazy with the wonderful bargains here, so we did more viewing than buying in order to be able to pick out the must-haves later on.

As far as the people go, they have been wonderful and so kind to us. From taxi drivers filling us in on the local lingo and encouraging that we speak, speak, speak to strangers physically taking us to a location when we ask for directions, they have been so friendly to us. The only complaint is that they definitely do not hold back on remarks, which range from honks, obscene comments, and many more interesting facial expressions. We have also learned that Argentine people are much more direct than Americans, which has resulted in some very intriguing text messages that have caused us to laugh obscenely. Maybe we'll even post a few of them to give you an idea of the humor that occurs in translation, but for now we'll save the disgrace for those certain individuals.

Anyway, off to the fiesta and hoping to meet some polo stars. No better way to be exposed to polo than by dating one. Wish us luck in our crusades.

Saturday Night In BA

JESSICA & KARLYN'S SATURDAY NIGHT COURTESY OF OUR NEW FRIEND JUAN DAVID

TONIGHT TOUR Launch

"Every winter a frenzied excitement fills the air as we approach the final event of the season. As the temperature starts to soar, Buenos Aires' hottest 'it' crowd will flock to the riverside to the most highly anticipated event of the year. When the doors open the crème de la crème of BsAs arrive in their hundreds to the lush Terrazas del Este." click here

Tonight Tour brings to you and all of your friends VIP tickets to this event with our famous Train Parties.

Attire: Smart

Event Details
10pm – Meeting Point
• Meet at Esquina Santa Rosa bar (Uriarte 1657)
• Happy Hour: 2x1 drinks
• Free Sushi Cocktail
• Once there, exchange ticket for exclusive VIP Tonight Tour wristband giving you train access and VIP entrance to Sabado Fiesta

11.30 – 11.45pm – VIP TRAIN PARTTYYYYYYYYY!
• Board the train for the infamous Tonight Tour Rock-Star ride, with free drinks, music and partying!!

12.45am – SABADO FIESTA

• VIP entrance and queue jump for all guests with Tonight Tour wristbands.

• 3 different rooms:
- Main room – Reggaeton, latin music, 80' 90'
- VIP Lounge – Progressive House
- Oval Room – Commercial House and Dance

• 4 bars and a terrace overlooking the river

• Party until the sun comes up!

Downtown

After waking at a rather shocking hour, Jessica and I decided we should probably do something productive with our day... We made our 10 block walk to the subway where we rode it to the downtown center. Walking up the subway stairs we emerged to find ourselves surrounded by some of the most beautiful European buildings. I thought to myself "now this is where the phrase 'Buenos Aires is the France of South America' comes from"! We walked around the Plaza de Mayo and eventually landed at a historical Tango Cafe. (The tango environment has encouraged us to sing up immediately for some classes!) Founded in 1858, Cafe Tortoni hosts nightly Tango shows and seems to be a must-go-to spot for both the Porteno's and tourists. Jessica and I enjoyed a delicious meal topped off by a delicious slice of apple pie (yum)!

After our meal we took the subway back to Palermo and we truly feel like we are getting our bearings in this rather large city! We picked up four bottles of wine (for $10!) and are catching up on our daily dose of the internet before heading to a farewell party for Jessica's friend Lindsey (DON'T LEAVE US LINDSEY!!). Lindsey and Mikki, fellow Americans, have now lived in BA for a total of 16 months or so and have already taught us many things about this magnificent city (note picture to the right). After the going away party Jessica and I are going to a club called Asia de Cuba (we also went here last night) which is a popular spot located on the river! We will probably find ourselves dancing well into the night.... Stay Tuned for what we have planned for tomorrow!

The Interesting Customs of Argentina

I would have to say that the most interesting part of the Argentine culture is their concept of time. When Jessica and I headed out to dinner tonight we were greeted by some very confused looks not only because we arrived at the restaurant at 7:30, but because the restaurant didn’t even open their doors to patrons until 8:30! Despite their already booked night they were nice enough to seat us at a small table for two on their patio and as Jessica mentioned fed us enough food for the rest of our stay! Another interesting part of the culture here is that it is considered “rude” to ask for your food to go. However, Jessica and I always end up asking our left-over’s to go not only because we always have WAY to much food but because it comes in handy when you head home from the bars/clubs at 4 or 5am with a rather hefty appetite for food!

Through a couple of random “Small World” connections we have been treated more than generously since our arrival. Last night we went to the Wednesday night spot ‘Museum’ like Jessica mentioned and found it very amusing that people here dress in mainly black and white hues. Jessica, who wore a green and yellow floral dress to best fit in with the ‘reggae’ theme felt a bit out of place in comparison to my dress of choice; black & white. After the bar we put our roof top patio to use by inviting our French and American/ Argentine friends over for some wine and… you guessed it… left over pizza! Needless to say not only were we happy we always take our left-overs, but we were happy that we decided to stock up on an endless supply of delicious (yet inexpensive) Argentine wine!

After rising out of bed at nearly 2pm (don’t worry- we’re only adjusting to the time change) Jessica ran off to her interview while I spent my day applying to a variety of jobs via A Small World and Craig’s List. The opportunities here really are geared towards American Native Speakers- which is very reassuring despite the fact that I really am trying to learn the Argentine Spanish!

We must also thank our new French friend Ugo who has been kind enough to invite Jessica and I to join him and his friends on their excursion to the Iguaçu falls with lies on the border of Argentina and Brazil and inhabits some of the worlds most beautiful water falls- a wonder that just fell short of the new 7 wonders of nature! We are hoping to sign up for this wonderful opportunity tomorrow and will be visiting the falls in the end of September!

At the moment Jessica and I are enjoying yet another bottle of wonderful Argentinean wine and will be accompanying some friends to a club called Asia de Cuba which is located on the river in a part of town we have not yet visited! Updates to come…

Golden Oldies

Is it possible to be in a constant state of bliss? Yes, when you live in BA it's pretty standard. Each day we are falling more in love with our neighborhood. Tonight, we had an amazing steak dinner for not even 20 dollars a piece (well, Karlyn did for that matter) at La Cabrera courtesy of Mike Lewis. They literally brought us a feast that could have served a family of ten and we accompanied that by a $5 bottle of amazing malbec wine. We have begun collecting cards- business and pleasure. We have two baskets, one filled with business cards we receive each night from people offering us jobs and the second with all the restaurants we want to try. Our favorites so far include: Bandot- a great pisco bar that is so posh and has two for one deals on Wednesdays, Historieta Nacional- bar documenting the comics of Argentina for the last 50 years with great pastries, and finally our neighboorhood Mexican establishment called La Flor Azteca where we will most definitely go to get the necessities. These are just a few of the many bars. Those that need business inspiration should come here immediately.

Our new highlight of the day is that I got a job. I now work as sales director for the US for my special book. See link.It could not be a better environment. Karlyn is coming tomorrow to also apply for the position so we can work together. We are thinking of doing a few days at this place and then also working somewhere else to gain experience and contacts. The office is an old stable that has been turned into an office with amazing paintings all over because the owner's dad was a famous artist here. All the doors open to a garden in the middle of the building where all the employees dine daily for lunch. The company is a family owned business and they could not be nicer. The whole group greeted me with open arms as I sauntered in an hour late because I had no idea the office was located 40 minutes outside the city. The office is located in the suburbs complete with a polo court and their local golf club with Spanish mansions featured throughout. The company creates autobiographies for people and is a multinational company seeking to expand their sales in the United States and Karlyn and I are the ones who can make that happen.

So now that we are finally employed, we can say goodbye to the older creepers. Last night was quite eventful and full of people who do not comprehend that at a certain age they cannot attend certain bars and pretend like they own the place. We went to Museum, the Wednesday night spot, that featured over 3,000 people dancing to reggae music. Luckily, we managed to have a comfy spot away from the crowd that allowed us to sip our champagne at ease (despite the many requests for our number). It's too funny that both of us seemed to be texting boys with the name Mariano this morning, only mine were in Spanish. I have also become a full time translator. For the majority of the night Karlyn will have men whispering sweet nothings in her ear not understanding what they are saying, but smiling from ear to ear. I do my best to translate, but this accent and my Spanish skills need improvement. Regardless, we're getting by and our daily phrase is how could you ever leave this place? For those of you that are considering to visit, pack heavy. You might not leave once you visit. Actually, there's a pretty much guarantee that you won't, so you might as well look into a visa now.

Cat Park?

Day two has helped us come to the realization that it has been a very easy transition to acclimate ourselves to BA and an upcoming departure date is completely impossible. Buenos Aires is so much more than everyone described. It has a European feel mixed with a Latin charm.

Our neighborhood is amazing and right in the heart of everything. We walk around all day and see restaurant after restaurant that we want to try out. Not to mention the many amazing stores filled with goodies. The best part is that every street is so unique. See the picture below to get a feel for the colors that epitomize the BA feel.

Last night was so much fun and we already have a great group of people here. Karlyn is slowly learning to like fish and I'm weaning her in to become a true fishonado. Everyone is beautiful here and that's an understatement, particularly the boys. Karlyn and I were in awe at each bar we stepped into to see so many gorgeous faces looking back at us. They also have a very collectic style- preppy, but edgy. Needless to say, we were in great company. Our suitors included French, Mexican, a world traveler and a few Argentine men. It was a great combination of people from all over the world who each have a unique, interesting story to tell.

We were able to sleep in and relax from the evening and long flight this morning. However, the parents will be happy to know we worked on the job situation and are hopefully close to becoming working Argentine ladies. In fact, we even have an interview tonight to be event planners, which would be right up our alley. Gives you all more of a reason to visit and try out our events. More interviews to come tomorrow in the day, so we're excited to see what we get thrown into.

We went on a wild goose chase today in search for the Jumbo Easy store that is the equivilent of Target or Costco here. We ended up taking the subway and walking endlessly only to find out the store was down the block and all the directions we had received had sent us in wrong directions. We were able to check out the city some more and the bizarre cat park. The park literally was filled with cats. We didn't quite understand why, but learned that owners dropped them off there because they didn't want them. I wouldn't blame them. However, wouldn't the park attendants know they were going to do that in the first place if they brought them there? Karlyn and I not being cat fans did not enjoy this feline gathering one bit, but were able to check out a modern gallery located within that was worth the journey.

Tonight our schedule is triple booked. We have dinner scheduled with three different groups and are thinking of bouncing around from one to the next. We'll see if that actually happens, but one thing is for sure there will be dancing. Karlyn's only goal for the evening is to get them to play the new Miley Cyrus song, so she can show off her recital of each single word that she so adamently knows by heart.

Phrase of the day: Que rico! That's how you would describe our life at the moment. Ciiiaoo

Welcome Home!

Today was quite an eventful day filled with a mouthful of Spanish words with a level of Italian

boisterousness that will soon be our native tongue. We arrived at our apartment with six enormous bags, not to mention our over sized carry ons, that left the entire airport crew with wide eyed expressions of amazement that we weren't packing a family of seven in our bags (note picture to the left of our closet). Needless to say, we managed to make it safe and sound to the apartment to be greeted by our lovely landlord and Andres, the manager of the property. The landlord could not have been cuter and we went through the inspection after sharing a cup of coffee and galletas with her. Afterwards, she managed to direct us to the grocery store where Karlyn and I slowly made our way through the aisles trying to recognize some the basics we came to love at home. One of our favorites was the non-refrigerated milk that the grocery store man tried to persuade us was skim milk. We'll soon find out. We are getting ready to head out the door to a neighborhood joint, Jangada, that could not be more adorable (pictures yet to come). We are meeting two of my friends from Peru and being quite the socialites meeting a group of Argentine boys I know from Vienna and then a whole group of expatriates. Details to come. Viva Argentina!

Check out the restaurant here