I figure instead of telling you about my great week, I might as well show you. Here's how it played out...

MONDAY: Buenos Aires contemporary artist shmorgishborg @ ArteBA '10

Monday afternoon I went down to La Rural in Plaza Italia to soak up some much needed culture. The coolest thing about Buenos Aires is that it's an artist playground. There are so many insane artists here in Buenos Aires doing incredible stuff. The ArteBA showed off some pretty solid contemporary art from both well-known and underground artists. My Personal favorite? It had to be the sick ATM booth my buddy Tranqui Yanqui setup.

Click to read more ...

(Look closely, the awkward smiles tell you that they don't understand a word I'm saying)

As mentioned in the 6-month Status Update, my formal Spanish lessons have been put on hold as of late due to tight funds. I have been working on a proposal to trade Spanish classes for marketing services but to be honest, I just haven't finished it yet. 

Even without classes, I'm still learning a ton through co-workers and friends. I'm also trying to watch more Spanish TV to attack this beast from all angles like the boys from Sandlot. It's frustrating though... I just want that damn ball already. 

Click to read more ...

[Part 1 of 2 from Townie Spotlight: Yanqui Mike & His Beef with Beef] 

One of the main reasons I started Tourist2townie.com was to create a platform to help others who are thinking about setting out on a similar adventure. My hope was that my experiences would make things easier for other "townie" status seekers, not just in Argentina but anywhere in the world.

With that being said, I wanted to learn from others who have made the leap before me. I decided to create a new feature called "Townie Spotlight". My goal is to sit down with people who have successfully made the life changing move from State-side to abroad and created a great life for themselves. I am really pumped about this for a number of reasons...

1. Meeting new people and hearing their stories.
2. Learning from the trials and tribulations others have faced before me.
3. Creating opportunities by networking with other business owners & developing business ideas.
4. It's better than me rambling on all the time. 

For my first interview I thought it would be perfect to interview Yanqui Mike. So I got in touch and we met up last week at the Buller Pub downtown on Paraguay for some beers.

Click to read more ...

(My Soccer/Futbol Glory Days complete with Argentine haircut)

The guys from Buller organized a futbol match last Wednesday after work. Although it was 3am and I was dead tired from class and work I couldn't turn down the invitation.

This was the second time I've played futbol since I've been down here and my skills haven't improved a bit. I consider myself a role-player. A whatever-it-takes kinda guy who hustles for everything and yells a lot. Kind of like my ice hockey "career". Inevitably, they stuck me on defense to guard the cherry pickers. 

It was the kitchen vs. waiters/bartenders. We closed up the bar at about 2:30am to play in a 3am game at an outdoor field (gancha) about 20 minutes away. It ended up being 7 vs. 7 and the competition was tough. The teams mostly consisted of Argentine guys from both Buller locations but there was also an Italian, an Uruguyan, my Colombian roommate Sergio, and I (poorly) represented the USA. 

Click to read more ...

I decided to follow the advice of a best friend and my sister and take a job slinging bottles here in Buenos Aires. Although i'm not a big Tom Cruise fan, his role in the 1988 box office classic, Cocktail, inspired me to persue this new venture. 

Thanks to my basketball buddy Amiable, I started bartending at Buller Brewing Company in Recoleta last night. The staff was awesome, although 80% of them only spoke Spanish. The customers were a mix of English speaking tourists and spanish speaking porteños. I think this is going to be a great place for me to network, practice my Spanish and learn some local cocktails! I'm also very excited about seeing the inner-workings of a foreign business, restaurant and kitchen. 

Within the first 5 minutes of arriving yesterday, it was determined that Gareth wasn't going to fly. It was too difficult to say in Spanish, yet alone English... "what, Garfield?" So, I opted for with my first name, Andrew (Andreas) and it stuck. My alter-ego is now Andreas the Bartender. 

Click to read more ...