Visitors in BA

It’s good to have some friends around this week, and even though I work throughout the day, we’ve been trying to make the most of the time together. On Sunday we did some touristy things and ended it with the excellent all-you-can-eat steak dinner. Yesterday we met up back at the apartment after I came home from work and they finished with a bus tour of the city.

We talked about what they had seen (and hadn’t seen) and then they went out to buy some things to make dinner while I prepared some mate. Once they were back and we started cooking I showed them how to drink the traditional tea. It’s kind of funny to me that I should now be the one teaching people how to drink mate, when I still feel like a completely novice sometimes. Of course, I am a novice, but with more experience than them.

The advantage for the friends that visit me is that they get to see a more authentic side of Argentina, even if I myself am a foreigner. Usually tourists will never try mate because it’s just not something you normally order in a café or bar. But it’s something almost all tourists know about and want to try, so to help my friends experience that a little bit, I feel glad to impart some knowledge on them.

Cooking dinner was a team effort, though Matt, Amy, and Carrie did most of the work while I prepared the mate. Finally around 10 pm we were ready to go with way too much pasta and meat, as well as some delicious garlic bread. It was a fun dinner in which we again over-ate, and topped it off with some dulce de leche ice cream and alfajores. I like having guests.

The guys are planning on going to more places throughout the week and visit Uruguay for a day at some point. On Saturday we are planning to spend a day in the country in San Antonio de Areco, a town I have yet to go to. It is known as a quintessential Pampas town, with estancias and museums to visit. Unless plans change (which they always good) it should be a nice day trip from the city.