Happy Hour in BA

I watched the local news today, and a baggage handlers strike Aerolineas Argentinas, the national airline, shut down every one of the company’s flights across the country. At Eziza (EZE), the international airport here in BA, the airline said it had no idea when it might resume flights, or how it would be able to help anyone that was (or is) holding a ticket. As everyone was essentially on their own, chaos erupted, which then affected all the other carriers. Eziza quickly sized-up completely, and the entire airport was shut down for the day. They say this happens from time to time, usually without warning. (Ultimately, it took 2 ½ days to get things running again).

We have a school happy hour on Fridays, and it starts at 10:00 pm. Like I said, everything starts late here, and at a lot of bars, drinks are usually 2 for 1 until midnight. This week, we’re meeting at a place in barrio Palermo Soho, and I got there around 10:30. I didn’t see anyone from my school, but I found another group of students who were taking classes that earn them a certificate to teach English in other non-English speaking countries. There are about a dozen of us, and we moved to another bar at about 1:30 am.

Plaza Sorento is a town-square that is surrounded by restaurants and bars. At about 2:00 am, the restaurants begin to take up all the tables and chairs, and the whole plaza becomes one big dance scene. I met a couple of local girls who seemed to like the fact that I was from the US. They taught me how to dance the Cumbia, and introduced me to a local drink called fernete. It’s an herb based booze that it somewhat like Jaggermeister, but tastes worse – if you can believe that. One is quite enough for me, thank you.

At 4:00 am, I was ready to head home, and walked out to catch a cab. There had to be a thousand people out there in the plaza, just carrying on and having a great time. Crazy.