We made it!!! After a day and a half of travelling, we landed in Buenos Aires - sweaty, tired, and clearly very thirsty. We made our way to our first hostel, the Downtown Mate. It was quite the hole in the wall, colourful and crumbling, filled with enthusiastic Brazilians, and so hot and humid even the walls seemed to break out in an uncomfortable sweat. In light of the heat and humidity, we did what any two Canadian backpackers would do - found the closest restaurant and ordered two pints of their local beer. Oddly enough, this seemed to be the theme every day from there on in :)

We spent the first few days exploring the many different neighourhoods of Buenos Aires on foot and using the ´Subte´(BAs metro system). Palermo was our first stop; which has been broken up into smaller barrios nicknamed after those in the US - Palermo Soho, Palermo Hollywood, and they even have a Harlem! It´s a trendy neighbourhood with a lot of cafes, boutiques and some of the most popular nightclubs in BA. We spent the next day wandering El Centro and San Telmo, the latter of which has become our home away from home. A little more¨us¨ where there is a fabulous steet market every Sunday that runs about 10 blocks and bars on every corner that sell liters of beer for about $3.

After a few days on our own, we were joined by a few of our friends from home. Travis arrived early New Year's Eve and Shanil, who had been here since mid-December, also joined us. New Years Eve came with great expectations, as we had tickets in hand to see Armin Van Buuren- one of the world's top DJs. He did not disappoint. However, the night was quite eventful long before Armin started his show at 4am. We had an amazing meal in Palermo, due more to great company than exceptional food. The wine and beer started to flow, and just before midnight we went in search of another venue to ring in the new year. With only a few minutes to spare we found an energetic restaurant in the middle of nowhere and charmed the waitress into selling us a cheap bottle of champagne. 2008 was rung in at the intersection of Thames and Costa Rica Avenue- quite literally, as we clanked our glasses while taxis flew by us and fireworks were set off by some of the local hooligans. The party shortly moved to the rooftop of the restaurant, where a dj was pumping out cheezy 80s and 90s music- oh how we had missed the Venga Boys! At 2 in the morning the party hadn´t even truly started... We made our way to club Crobar- the entire way on foot. Needless to say, Morgan was struggling to stand up by the time we reached the club, having decided to wear highheels. Her spirits were further dampened upon realizing she had also lost her wallet along the way (4 days into the trip- way to go Morgan!) Armin finally came on at 4am, and put on a spectacular show until 8 in the morning. We left before he had finished his set, but didn't get home until nearly 10 in the morning because of the near impossibility of finding a taxi. There was very little movement from anyone from our crew the next day to say the least. That being said, nobody slept that well either because of the intense heat and lack of fans or windows.

We finally decided the heat was too much and opted to change locations in search of a hostel with air conditioning - it was glorious and Morgan had her first full nights sleep in a week. The next few days were filled with good ol´ Canadian drinking games in the courtyard of the hostel, guided tours around the city on obnoxiously orange bicycles (Shanil and Morgan finally fullfilled their dream of riding a tandem!), and enjoying huge Argentine steaks for about $8.

We eventually said our goodbyes to Shanil, who returned to Edmonton to below zero temperatures, snow, and school - we feel for him! Our budgets had been stretched to the limits the first week and so we decided to switch hostels again in search of an even cheaper one - and what a sacrifice it was, giving up our air conditioners. The Hotel Carly is where we are now and will be until our departure to Uruguay.

We have officially settled into a routine in Buenos Aires, cooking some of our own meals and enrolling in Spanish classes which we take every morning. Our afternoons have been spent doing more sightseeing. We took a tour of the Boca Juniors stadium, one of the most popular fùtbol teams in South America and where the legendary Maradona played most of his career. We saw an expositions that has travelled through most of North America called ´Bodies`. One of the most intense things any of us had seen, displaying real human bodies dissected in an educational yet artistic manner. It showed the inner workings of our nervous systems, reproductive organs, and how certain ailments like cancer or strokes affect parts of the body. The most controversial exhibit of all was the display showing the various stages of development of the human fetus. It was well done and very deserving of the international acclaim that it has received. We spent one afternoon at the Hipodromo - or the local horse racing track. Morgan felt right at home and apparently has learned a few things at Northlands - she won her first two bets! A great day at the track was made even better by a mesmerizing underground drumming concert that night. Some friends of ours, Morgan Keij and Tara, had told us about it the day before. For Pat, the concert was definitely one of the highlights so far. For the first time we felt like we were off the beaten track, and part of the local beat. Words aren't enough to describe the venue and the music- people of all sorts dancing, smoking, drinking, and moving to the sounds of an orchestrated percussion group. It was amazing. Yesterday we took in a Tango show which included a delicious steak dinner. Although we both prefer salsa to the tango, it still is a very captivating and seductive dance.

Tomorrow is our final day in Buenos Aires. We will wrap up our spanish lessons, do some much anticipated shopping, and have one more steak at our favorite mafia-like restaurant. Then on Saturday it is off to Uruguay for some fun in the sun on the beach. Sorry this entry is so long, it's been a busy first two weeks! We promise to update more frequently and less long winded- which is quite the challenge for the two of us :) Besos from BA!