¨Every day´s a school day...

is a saying that I have picked up from my good friend Oein from Ireland. And its so true...

We have been in Buenos Aires for over a week now and already feel completely at home here. The hostel is gorgeous and the staff have all become like our family already. We have met up with our new bestie Nikki from Brighton who we have become so close with already. Along with Robin from Holland, we are just another crew of like minded people happy to have found each other..

BA is an incredible city, the 8th largest in the world. Its all things a big city should be: dirty, polluted, busy and bustling but with another undercurrent of a dark history and a struggle that continues each day.

One of the first things you notice is the rubbish. Each night, all the restaurants and shops put their rubbish onto the street to be collected which is when an entire populace of scavengers come out. They rip open the bags and rifle through the trash to find anything recyclable or that can be traded for cash, a beer bottle for example can get you 2 pesos (75cAUS). I have seen entire families riffling through rubbish at 3am, a little baby asleep in his mothers arms as she throws junk onto the street. The worst thing is that they then leave it everywhere and rubbish lays all over the street until the morning. Its heartbreaking to see this industry at work but I am sure its barely the worst of the poverty we will see...

Today we did a historical walking tour of the city which was extremely educational. I learnt more about Argentina´s history in a few hours than I would in months of living here. We went to see where Eva Peron´s body was embalmed for three years before being kidnapped and moved all over the city. I didnt really know anything about Evita before this so it was amazing to hear all about her influence in Argentina. The old man from the museum was talking to us in Spanish about Eva and the guides translated for us but he kept really looking at me in the eyes while he spoke and I could feel the emotion he had for Eva and the people she fought for. It was totally moving and I was in tears by the end! We also learnt alot about the Dirty War in which thousands of Argentines ¨disappeared¨ and were tortured and murdered before their bodies were thrown into the river. Dark times in Argentina´s history but one I could relate to with the recent resurgence of the Stolen Generation issues around Kevin 07´s apology. I have told quite a few Argentines about the apology which they have thought was amazing and a great first step in the healing of the past wrong doings of a nation...

Its not all sadness however. We have been ripping it up in the clubs, enjoying frozen mojitos in bars and huge steak dinners which have been the best ever (the pasta has been great too!) I got addicted to empanadas briefly which are baked pastries, filled with deliciousness like queso y cebolla (cheese and onion) or verdura (spinach). So cheap and tasty but so so bad for you! I think I will be a ten tonne tessy by the time I return... the food interests me more and more. Not so much the food but the culture around the food. Bread and jam for breakfast, bread with salt sprinkled on not butter, salad with boiled egg, pizza with ten times the cheese you would usually expect, more empanadas, NO fresh vegies, NO asian food and NO spicy food!!! Bland!!!! Aaarrggh!!! And the men, dont even get me started...I have had no love from the local men, i think because they are all 5 foot and skinny and I am like an amazonian next to them. They are loving Jodie however so when we go out i am like her body guard hahaha! They do have amazing dreamy brown eyes however..

We are here for another week and then go to Iguassu Falls followed by Rio. As much as I am loving the South American cities, I am desparate to get to Peru, Bolivia and Columbia which are by all accounts the real diamonds of South America.

Until next time...