Veintiuno

My 21st birthday was a mighty success. After a midterm and class from ten until 9, I could hardly wait to relax and begin the festivities. My Austrian housemate Veronica’s birthday is the day after mine, so we decided to plan a little party together. We each invited our friends over to the house, and it ended up being a wonderful international affair, of (North)Americans, Argentines, Austrians, Germans and una francesa.







Natalia put up balloons outside the front door, and all over the living room and we sat chatting and laughing around a delicious spread of food: una picada (meat/cheese/bread/olives etc.) and empanadas. Anna (my French housemate) made caipirinhas, which is a traditional Brazilian drink, and we had a lot of tasty wine as well. Eli, Natalia’s friend/co-worker, made guacamole. I forgot how much I missed Mexican food until I took a bite of this guacamole.



Natalia also made a delicious apple pie for dessert. You can gather how good is was from the pictures :)





For a birthday present, Natalia gave me a shirt that she made herself. It fit perfectly, and I ended up wearing it that night! Veronica and Anna gave me a tango CD for me to practice my new moves with. Then the four of us had a big group hug. I felt, and feel, so incredibly lucky to be living with Natalia, Veronica and Anna. I couldn’t have asked for a greater family to be living with for my time abroad.

Here is me, Anna, Veronica and Natalia:



This is me with Eli and Natalia. Eli, by the way, is hilarious. She is over at the house a lot, because she works with Natalia, and I can always count on having an entertaining conversation with her. Eli speaks ridiculously fast, and every other word is either a lunfardo (Argentine slang) or a swear word, so sometimes a lot is lost in translation. She calles Luz, the cat, Senora de Chorizo (The Sausage Lady, roughly), which I never fail to laugh at. She is also, according to Natalia, very flaky. Natalia will call Eli, who will say she'll be over in a half hour, and then she will go back to sleep and show up at the house three hours later. Once Natalia snapped and got angry at Eli. When Eli showed up later, she slinked into the house bearing Natalia's favorite chocolate.



Later that night my group of friends and I set off to go dancing. I was reluctant to leave, because we were having such a fun time at the house, but I knew the night would not be complete without a little dancing. Per usual, I had a fantastic time at the boliche (club where you can go dancing) with my friends. Unfortunately someone dropped (and broke) my camera right when we got there, so I have no pictures. The night however, will be forever imprinted in my memory.

When I got home early that morning, I found that the girls had hung up the balloons all around my room. I thought to myself, it is good to be 21 and in Buenos Aires.