At "Da Club," red wine patio parties, and empanadas...oh my!

Since we have been in Buenos Aires, our life has mostly consisted of listening to our English teacher lecture in a small classroom or lesson planning in said classroom or in our little dorm room. Yesterday, we were literally in school (listening to lecture, teaching, or observing) from 10am until 8pm. Until we finish the course (2 weeks!), it seems as though we will have very little time to explore the city, take Spanish classes, or fall in love with tango. However, we have managed to get out of the house and/or socialize a few times.

Last week we went to one of the most popular clubs in Buenos Aires, called Crobar. In the States, I would have been very leery of a club named after a large metal tool, sometimes used as a weapon. I guess the word is different here. Around 15 of us left our house at about 1:30am. Yes, in the morning. Here, bars don’t open until about 11pm or midnight and clubs don’t usually open until around 2am. It’s normal to see people stumbling home around 5am or 6am. I’m not sure we’ll ever get used to this. Anyways, we hailed cabs, and thankfully our house “chaperone” David (Dah-veed, not David) got in with us so we had a local to make sure we ended up at the right place. Yes, David got paid to go dancing. Tough gig, right? This club was gigantic. As soon as we entered, Jesse and I were assaulted by the delicate aroma of cigarette smoke. Oh yeah, you can smoke indoors here and everyone smokes. We made our way to the bar and tried to order a beer, but it works a little differently here. We had to go to the cash register at the end of the bar, pre-pay, and then give the bartender our tickets. It actually is a lot more organized than I’m used to. Normally, we can buy a 40oz. beer here for $1.50 American. At this bar, for the same crappy quality beer, it cost us $6 American. What?! That’s what I said. We swallowed the cost, though, because we came there to get down. I don’t think there is one person who prefers to be stone cold sober when they are cuttin’ a rug with a bunch of strangers. We had a great time, and Jesse, as usual, stole the show for a couple minutes when he busted out some of his best moves in the middle of the dance circle. If you have never seen him do this before, then my description could never do it justice, you’ll just have to see it one day. At about 4am I decided I was done, so we (all by ourselves!) caught a cab home. Also keep in mind that, by their standards, we left early. We had to take a shower because we smelled like ashtrays. All in all, it was a great night. However, if I never went to another club in Buenos Aires again, I think I’d be OK with it. In my opinion, the Crobar was pretty similar to any other club I’ve been to in the States. Overpriced drinks, loud techo-style dance music, and the guys who stand along the side of the room all night, not really dancing but hoping...

On Thursday night, the program (Road2Argentina) put on a pizza patio party at the Road House, which was really fun. Unfortunately, we had a crap-load of lesson planning to do, so we weren’t able to hang out too long. We did manage to eat some fabulous pizza, alleged to be the best in Buenos Aires, and drank a few glasses of wine. Also a success of the evening, Chase (a former Road House resident) and I introduced all the Australians (there’s like 15 of them, fresh out of high school) to the art of the beer bong. They’re hooked. I’m no hero, just a girl trying to make the world a better place. Jesse and I also speculated that the beer bong even made its way out to the patio party and was introduced to some Argentines. We mostly think this because we started hearing “Go! Go! Go! Go!” directly followed by boisterous cheering.

View from the Road House patio. Not bad at all!

At the patio party. Yes people, those are plastic cups filled with red wine. When the quality of the wine goes up, the classiness of the wine glass is allowed to go down, right? Everybody was doing it.

 We’ve also decided to include a “Food of the Week” on our blog. Just to rub it in everyone’s faces how great the food is down here. This weeks food in empanadas.

Empanadas are essentially big dumplings. Generally they are filled with meat, wrapped up in dough, and baked. Sometimes they mix in potatoes or hard boiled eggs.  Our favorite empanada flavor is carne picante (spicy steak). They don’t really like spice here, though, so don’t let the name fool you. It’s more like steak and really wimpy salsa. Two of our other staple flavors are chicken (pollo) and spicy onion and pumpkin (pikachu). The dough is usually folded or crimped along the edges of the dumpling in different ways so you can identify which flavor it which. We’ve already found our favorite empanada place “La Cocina.” Our belief that this was indeed a great find was confirmed today when we sat next to a little old lady who struck up a conversation with us. She said La Cocina is also her favorite place to get empanadas. Someone who is well into their 70’s and has obviously been living in Buenos Aires for a long time has to know the best places to go. Old lady wisdom never fails.

empanadas from Buenos Aires Pizza

empanadas from La Cocina

So in conclusion:

1. Dance clubs are pretty much the same regardless of the country you’re in.
2. Beer bonging is an internationally beloved activity.
3. Empanadas are possibly one of the most delicious foods ever invented.