Quite a week I've been having. Luckily, I did manage to get started on my Spanish classes. My instructor, Lucas, has been quite considerate so far. I don't know if he's yet realized he's working with a linguistic idiot. Luckily, our language barrier has kept the truth from him. He thinks I use sentences like "Me like yummy foods" because I don't know any better. In fact such phrases are crucial to my lexicon. It is amazing, though, how confident a couple of spanish lessons make you. I now boldly walk into almost any cafe and ask for a menu. After that, I quickly realize my spanish is insufficient to be polite and I end up sounding like a caveman. It's not unusal to hear, "Me want meat, you bring." This is reasonably advanced communication compared to the exaggerated pointing which has gotten me into trouble previously (you must be careful when trying to convey your desire for a footlong hotdog, you might end up with a phone number or two, but it's just as likely to earn you a black eye).

Since my communication is still restricted purely to cafes (not taxis or buses), I've been walking to get everywhere. After my lesson Friday, I had the whole day to explore. I decided to see some of the famed sites of the city. I walked over the famed Recoleta cemetary which is the permanent resting place of such dignitaries as General San Martin, Carlos Gardel (creator of tango music), and of course Evita Peron. The place was terrific. Like a half-size model of a little European village. Everyone is in mauseleums, so every resting place is like a little house. Some were really grand. It was well worth the jaunt over. I can think of no better way spend eternity that surrounded by scantily shrouded women clinging to my "home".

After the cemetary, I headed off to find the botanical gardens, but was treated enroute to my first purse-snatching of the trip (no, I don't carry a purse). Previously, I'd never given much thought to the intelligence of thieves, passing them off as rough desperados who strike like a snake and slither away just as despicably. If that is the case for most, I must have found the crappiest thief in BA. He attempted to steel a little old lady's purse, but she caught on and wouldn't let him have it. For some reason, even after the element of surprise was lost to him, he tried again. Admittedly, if the little old lady is alone on an abandoned street, he'd have a heck of an advantage, but she was walking with two older gentlemen and another lady on a reasonably busy street. By the second swipe at the purse, they'd caught on, and were more than a little peeved. They started kicking at the guy and tried to corral him while the police officer who happened to be station right across the road came running across. Talk about a moron. Clearly, he was quite experienced at botched thievery, because after running towards the policeman for a bit (I assume to escape the bared dentures and sharpened cane tips of the geriatric posse who were gnashing at his heels), he turned tail and ran through the street to the getaway motorcycle which pulled up to retrieve him. All in all, quite a bit of free entertainment.

This whole episode didn't dissuade me at all from my solo sojourn around the city. I spent the rest of the day scoping out bars and cafes, and sauntered back to my hostel around 4 AM. I think I was the first person to return to my room for the evening. This town is awesome!