ZEN

So last night after dinner I met up with Gabriel, Jennifer, and Meike in the Plaza de Intendencia, where we just chilled for awhile drinking mate and smoking from Gabriel's hookah. Meike then suggested we go to ZEN later that night, which is known as Córdoba's best gay club.

Somewhere around 9 we split from Meike and went over to Gabriel's house to hang out until 12:15. Gabriel was having dinner, so Jen and I bought some empanadas and some coke so Gabriel's family wouldn't have to feed us dropping in unexpected.

We met up with Meike later that night and took a taxi over. But we got there a little late and the line was kind of long, because by the time we got to the entrance it was 1:15, and at 1am is when they start charging to get in. Next time we're going in earlier. Thank God the coat check was cheap.

But the drinks we shared were alright, and the music kinda sucked at the beginning of the night, but got better later on. And the people we met got better later on too.

The first guy that came up to us asked us where we were all from, and when he figured out we were estadounidenses he tried to speak English to us. His English seemed to be limited to "You're Beautiful" "How old are you?" and "F**k me please!"

But we met nicer people when we sitting outside during the times Jen needed her cigarette break. So here's how a lot of these meetings go. People come up to Meike first, and she introduces herself. She tells them she's from Germany, but the moment she points to us and tells people we're from the United States, they light up and try to see if they can use their English on us. (If they actually know any.)

But there was one group of nice guys that we talked to. I don't remember the names of anyone we talked to last night though. They couldn't remember ours either, because one guy kept referring to both me and Jen as 'Katerine.' One of the guys was really nice to talk to. He said he was from near Iguazu falls, and that he wished more people knew about Latin America and how diverse it was. I talked about how I had lived in other countries before, and that I was half Lithuanian and half Slovakian. He told me that I looked Lithuanian (though I doubt he actually knows what Lithuanians look like.) He was then pointing out his friends and saying what all of their ethnicities were, and he said his grandparents were German immigrants. I also learned that this same guy lives only three blocks from me. He told me where he lived first, that he lived in Alta Córdoba and that he lives along a street not too far from mine. I didn't give him my exact address, just that I lived close by. If he was going to try looking for me though, I think Mimi would be answering the door, asking who he was, and then turning him away. (So no creepy stalkers. I think I'm safe.)

A common theme that comes up when we talk to Argentines, is our impression of their country and their city, and how much of Argentina we've seen. Most of them are aware that there's a huge majority of Americans that don't understand that not all of the countries in Latin America are the same, and that they're not all like Mexico, and they're not all poor. I think they take the time to ask these questions to make sure that as representatives of the US that are going back, they want to be able to leave a good impression, so that we can bring it back with us, and let people know. Especially since many say they don't have the money to go to the United States themselves.

They also ask us about what it's like in the US, because the majority of what they know comes from the slough of Hollywood movies that come pouring through. Every English slang term or colloquialism they know comes from seeing american movies. Last night it was specifically about high school. One of the guys asked, "In all the movies I see about high schools, it's all about this popularity? Is that true? Is that what it's like?" So we got into this discussion of what my high school life was like, that Hollywood overdramatizes everything, and that other high schools are different, and that I especially noticed this from going to so many different schools, and then meeting all the different people in College who went to different places.

Now I'm still not a huge fan of the boliches. This was actually the first time I've been to one in weeks. It's just something the majority of the Argentine youth does for fun. I went enough to figure it out and experience it for myself, but if I don't do it anymore, I don't think I'll be missing out on much. But if I do go back to a boliche, I may just stick with ZEN.

But the rest of our night consisted of following around a drunk Meike trying to make sure she didn't get lost and hurt herself. And we stayed until it closed at 5:15 am. There's a recent law here in Córdoba saying that all boliches and bars have to close at 5am, so around that time the police show up to monitor and make sure everyone leaves without any problems. We all shared a cab, and I ended up getting home and in bed around 6am, and waking up around 2:15 am. Just another weekend here in Argentina. Though I don't feel like partying that hard any time soon.