The weather in BA has been amazing. I have been in short sleeves almost the whole time I have been here…commiserating with South Africa. You can see how good last weekend was in the picture above of Floralis Genérica where I also went on Saturday. This thing is crazy. It’s so big up close and for those who don’t know, it is a gigantic steel solar-powered flower which opens and closes each day and night. [Correction: it functions with hydraulics and light sensors and opens automatically everyday at 8am, because the sculptor was afraid people would miss it if it opened at daybreak. And on certain days, including the 1st day of spring, it stays open for 24 hours.]

Tonight when my solar powers deactivate, I am going to sleep very well. I have hopefully found an apartment after a serious hunting expedition and a few disappointments, egged along by an unresponsive agent who told me I’d have this studio I found, but then never heard from him again. Umpteen emails, phonecalls and voice messages did not help. He did speak English, so it definitely wasn’t a language barrier. I will also sleep better tonight because I am moving back to hotel #1 (The Mine Hotel) and thus, I won’t have the noisy couple who were next door to me last night. On the way to the bus this morning, for the first time since being here, I saw a person sleeping in on someones patio, all snug in a sleeping bag. Perhaps he had also tried my initial rental agency. Maybe that’s how these things happen.

Ham & Cheese denotes my favourite filling of almost anything these days. Partly because it is easy to like. Partly because it is easy to get. And partly because it is easy to say: “Jamon y Queso” (humon-e-ekeso). The food here has been an education. I have actually eaten more interesting things than the McDonald’s from the other night. My daily protein RDA is probably pushing the limit and after the first few days of gnawing on steak, I decided to take a break. Last week for the first time in years (if not ever) I ordered chicken off the menu. There are other local favourites too besides steak, two of which I have tried. Empanadas and Milanesas. (In short, these are Pies and Schnitzels). They’re slightly different obviously (especially the pies, which aren’t the 3 in the morning greasy BP kind, but much nicer). I also tend to ask for these with Humon-e-ekeso.

Beer here is also rather nice. And it is agreeing with me most satisfactorily. ‘Quilmes’, Argentina’s local favourite, is really good. And I see myself morphing into an avid beer drinker (flat I found is close to gyms and parks, don’t worry). Last Friday I went for ‘just one drink’ with some guys from work. We went to a place called Wranglers, which is a kind of cheap and nasty saloon type place near work. There the beer came in 2 litre bottles. It seemed kind of pot luck whether you get the 2 litre Budweiser bottle or the 2 litre container which looks like a blender, only it has a plastic column down the middle filled with ice. Ingenious. I added to my Spanish vocab that night playing pool. Rashala is stripes and lisa is solids. (I could definitely have the spellings wrong here, and yes, I know – these are hardly the most important words to be learning). Rashala also means mad, so I have to be careful when saying ‘Hey, it’s your turn, and incase you haven’t realised, you’re Rashala’.