So i have decided to write a blog...much to my distain but I have been thinking, and the cultural experiences taking place at the moment need to be recorded. I would much prefer to put pen to paper but as I have a whole library in my backpack already buying another libro de notas is not an option.

This blog i have decided will not go through the motions of my daily activities as such (especially as at the moment my daily activities are minimal) but will be a description of what is around me and the differences experienced on a daily basis...the differences that, I feel, really make a journey.

Argentina has been thus far amazing and ive seen so little. The cultural differences here are more subtle I am told than those of the countries further north. Argentinian cities seem to have a heavy European influence. Many of the buildings in both Buenos Aires and Cordoba have been colonial style...both cities are built up and not out which is more environmentally friendly. Street levels in both CBDs are littered with western style shops, restaurants, bars and cafes...and to add a little Argentinian style throw in a Kiosco (a kind of general store that sells an amazing array of sweet biscuits, cigarettes, bad sandwiches and sometimes empanadas)...

Its hard to find a badly dressed Argentinian, they have great style and every woman seems to own a beautiful pair of well-made boots and a well taylored jacket. Im very glad i bought my black Targe jacket as it allows me to fit in just that little bit.
Cordoba whilst being a large city (second largest in AR) does not feel that big and is scattered with squares/cementparks/plazas/call them what you will. These plazas are also scattered with fountains statues and lovers on park benches being intimate...its a very passionate culture. The shopping would be fantastic if i had the spare money and space and the CBD is always bustling. Except in the early afternoon as many shops tend to shut for an hour or so.
The food in Argentina is very unimaginative as expected from what we read online. Pizza, Pasta, meat, tomato based recipies, boring sandwiches, omlettes (never eaten for breakfast), mayonaise, ketchup, bread and a million and one varieties of sweet biscuits, sweet pastries and just sweets. Oh and how could i forget empanadas. Im a little bit in love with empanadas.

For breakfast they eat sweet pastries and drink mate. I love mate and often drink it but ive not been able to adjust to the sweet breakfast. Luckily Rodrigo has provided me with a toaster, bread and butter. Everyone drinks mate. I like it with sugar not without. There is a system with mate. It is drank from a small round cup made from some kind of dried fruit, some are made from metal, some are ceramic, and you suck it from a metal or wooden straw kind of thing that acts as a filter. You fill the cup with the dried mate leaves, add hot water and sugar and suck from the straw...as the cup is small you continue to add more hot water and pass it around or back and forth until the mate looses its taste. Every Argentinian owns a thermos, a mate cup and a bag of mate.

The concept of time here is one of the most difficult adjustments for me so far i think. The afternoon they refer to is what we would call evening. If you are going out for a big night you dont leave until perhaps 2 or 3 in the morning...you head to your friends place to start drinking an hour or two before that. You eat dinner at 10ish on a regular night but to eat later is not uncommon. Restaurants are still filled with people (families with children) eating well after midnight and bands start in bars at 2/2.30. They don{t start their days any later than us really, i dont know how they do it.

Spanish is a difficult language. More difficult than anticipated, there are bizzare rules, impossible pronounciations and more adjectives than needed. Argentina is particularly hard as they speak fast and have their own version of words. I am practicing lots though and am still determined to learn. I have had some pretty surreal moments - seeing a whole church full of people dance salsa to traditional cuban music...i tried but was not very good...a dancing water show, an amazing blues/jazz gig in a seedy club where i drank my first mega cup of fernet. Fernet is an alcohol traditional of Cordoba. A medicine tasting syrup you drink with coke and everyone drinks from the same massive cup.

Cordoba can be quite sad sometimes though as with any city. It has thousands of stray dogs everywhere. They are very sweet though and friendly. I was in San Martin Plaza the other day and one came up and just put its head on my lap and watched the other dogs hunt pidgeons. They just need some love. There are also beggers and things like the recycling tends to be done by children hunting through bins to pull out cardboard and sell it on again. There are old haggard looking men that make and sell sugar coated peanuts in carts on paths around the cities, theyre quite nice.

I think this will give you some kind of idea about Argentina thus far. I dont expect to be using this blog often but when i do I will try to involve detail.

Love Lauren.