"I will keees your tattoo."

As I've mentioned before, people take their time here. You're 10 minutes late to class? "There was congestion in el centro" is the standard excuse, used for everything and always presumed to be a fib but accepted anyway. You see a friend at the mall? You sit and chat "por un rato," or a little while. People stop in to see you unannounced all the time, and it's just expected that you'll hang out for a while. And to add to this general relaxed nature, you have a beautiful thing known as the siesta.
The siesta is usually taken between 1-5. Many businesses close down for a few hours, as this is also the time when people eat the biggest meal, almuerzo (lunch). After eating to your heart's content, why not take a nap? And this is what we do. While I'm at school it's a bit different, because I don't get home until the middle-end of the actual siesta, but there isn't a time limit on things. If you want to take a nap at 6 p.m., more power to you - there's always the night time to get whatever you need to done. As a veteran and champion napper, I am definitely in my element here.
The weekends prove to be the most essential time for napping, as people have a habit here of staying out until 6 a.m. This Saturday we went to a boliche, which is the word for dance club. People here start going out around 11:30 p.m., and the night starts with a "previa" (which is what we call pregaming) at a bar or someone's house if you're trying to save money, and then around 2 you head to the boliches. Things don't really get started there til 3. The music in the boliches is far superior to American club music, because it's all very upbeat and easy to have dance parties to. I particularly liked the Brazilian music, as well as "el cuarteto," which is music from Cordoba that requires you to find a partner and do lots of twirls and turns. Needless to say, when I poured myself into bed at 5 a.m. (which is early here) I was tuckered but very excited to have passed my first night out in such a fun way.
I also had the pleasure of tasting Fernet this weekend. Fernet is basically the drink of choice for Argentines, and it is always served with coke. Fernet negra has a more mild flavor than Fernet verde, which basically tastes like pure mint cough syrup. Fernet negra is loved by all Argentines, but usually hated by foreigners. I, however, grew quite fond of Fernet negra over the course of the night. Between that and the cervezas, which are HUGE and so cheap, I have happily found my Argentine drink of choice.
Again with the theme of sharing, in the boliches you buy a drink (which is always served in a massive plastic cup), bring it back to your group, drink some, and then hold it up in the middle of the circle of your friends. It is subsequently passed around until everyone who wants a sip has safely deposited their germs on your drink. This continues all night. It's a big money saver, makes for fast friends, and generally guarantees that you will one day catch the plague. Needless to say, they're not germaphobes here.
All in all, my first real weekend here was a success. I made some new friends, learned some new customs, and spoke in broken Spanish all weekend with some very forgiving locals, a few of whom really enjoyed trying out their English on us (hence the title of this blog, which is a direct quote from a very happy and very short chico who seemed fascinated with the Oregon tattoo on my back). I'm looking forward to many a weekend like this one, and of course, more Fernet!