I roll with the stars

Here's my day in the life, for Thursday, 7/23/2009:

11am: Wake up. Oh, I hate mornings. They should really not exist at all.

Noon: Ceci picks me up. She recently bought a new car, this is sorta kinda the awesome. Awesome in that she drives me places, not awesome in that I have to give her directions in Capital in Spanish (obviously, this results in lots of jokes about who exactly is the foreigner).

12:30: We show up at Sudestada, the best lunch in Buenos Aires (and subject of enough posts here), where I am on a first name basis with many of the waitresses. Ceci does not like the panAsian food, she thinks it is "raro."

1:55: We're driving, and Ceci starts freaking out. Apparently it's an actor that is in every novela here. "He's really not as good looking in person." I am pretty sure I've seen this dude in Sudestada multiple times. Yeah, I didn't think he was that good looking.

2: We start circling in Centro (downtown), looking for parking. But wait, there is a random union strike (btw, if you think unions are overly powerful political in the US, you will probably not like Argentina).

2:40 Parking space. Ship it. Yes, note the timeline, welcome to my life. What was my dollar expectation during those 40 mins? I'd rather not think about it.

3: Is that the first government line here that didn't take an hour?

3:30 Last 30 minutes was a talk in the car with the girlfriend. She is great, and in the midst of a very very cold day, her car is warming up naturally from the direct sunlight. Good choice on the parking space.

4-7 Coffee shop in Belgrano. Girlfriend likes her caffeine.

7:15 Try to decide what to do next. Apparently that whole making decisions thing isn't my forte.

7:45 Arrive in Las Canitas mall. Buy tickets to see La Propuesta (The Proposal) with Sandra Bullock. Guess whose idea this was? Movie doesn't start til 8:30, walk around for awhile. I dance in the aisles.

8 Ceci is ready to leave me forever because I won't stop dancing. I swear, it's the fact that the shoes I have right now have zero traction, and these tiles are super slippery, so I just have to do the moonwalk.

8:05 Wow, he's really famous, i can't believe it! I'm still not clear as to who this guy was, but he was seated with 2 other people, 1 of which was also famous.

8:30 Moviements. I don't remember the protagonist's name, but I thought he acted well. Very forgettable, don't recommend it (Ceci gave it 2 stars out of 5). On the other hand, I don't regret it. Stupid premise, yet executed well. I got to sit next to a beautiful woman for more than an hour, I'm happy.

10:30 Leave theater. I go to bathroom.
10:31 Old man leaves urinals slightly before me. Dude literally takes 15 seconds of standing in front of the washbasins to decide which to use.

10:32 3 girls pass me. Yawn.

10:32:30 "Did you see those girls?," says Ceci excited. "Which?" say I. "The ones that came out of the bathroom before me?" "Uh...not really...I think there were 3 of them, that's about all i can remember." "The blond is one of the most famous models here..." "Really?"

It's no joke to say I would choose Ceci a million times before any of those models. That's the end of this post.

I've meant to be writing more here. Really.

But everytime I have time at the computer, writing missives to the unknown electronic ethers isn't my first choice. So this is all you get for now:

The other day, Ceci says to me, "What, are all you Yankees Shakira fans?"

This is the one in which I talk about the Swine Flu

Well, apparently Argentina has taken the Swine Flu worse than any other country outside of Mexico.

Not really sure what to say about this -- frankly, I assume that it's a case of negative variance, wherein Argentina got unlucky. Go read about Power Laws and this should make sense. Alot of people here are blaming the government, but I really don't see it.

But, as often happens in democracies, the governments are going crazy. All schools have been suspended in the last 2 weeks. Churches are mostly suspending their activities, all public (and in Argentina, the majority of private schools are public schools as far as I can tell), colleges and universities are closed. Hand sanitizer is everywhere, surgical masks occasionally in the street and always in the supermarket

OK, I dare you

For those of you who think you speak another language, here is a practice exam:

Please explain why electric cars get better mileage in the city, opposed to normal cars. Please be advised that you are talking to your significant other's parents, and may or may not be disagreeing with them.

Enjoy!