HAPPY JULIO!

     Turns out, the Fourth of July in not-America is just sad. I don't think I'd ever truly appreciated how American we all become for this holiday until I walked down the street in Buenos Aires and there were no red-white-and-blue, no flags, no fireworks, no lavish displays of patriotism. I mean, obviously. But my heart was just aching for some good old-fashioned American fun: with star-shaped glassed and Uncle Sam hats, hot dogs, desserts involving blueberries and strawberries, guns, and roman-candle related injuries.
     I asked in a few stores where to find fireworks and they just shook their heads sadly and said "Not sure... it's not really the season for them..." :[ Not the season?? It's the Fourth of JULY! Don't worry, as evidenced above, I managed to find me some sparklers in this city and celebrate appropriately--with a little bit of pyrotechnics.

Some days Sydney and I match exactly on accident. 

     Now, usually I try to avoid going out in public with large groups of obnoxious yelling Americans, but when you're in a foreign country on the Fourth of July, it seems to me like the only thing you CAN do! I went on a "Freedom Crawl," or a pub crawl with two to three hundred of my closest American friends. We had a blast... singing every American song we could think of at the top of our lungs (which turned out to be a lot...). But ultimately I ended up making friends with some of the few Argentines there, naturally. You can't expect too much from me.

   

These girls are wonderful. 

And these kids are something else.

     While skyping with my brother a few days ago he declared, "You're not deserving of the word adult." And while my first thought was "Rude." my second thought was "Absolutely." I realize that some people my age are married, or planning a wedding or looking for big-kid jobs and me...? If I get up before noon these days I call it a successful day. I have nothing to do for school, no job... I don't even have to cook for myself or do my own laundry! The toughest decision I make in a day is which of several music venues I want to go to that night. So no, I am 21 years old, but please don't confuse me for an adult. I plan on being an adult sometime later on, but I figure I have the rest of my life for that nonsense and for now I'm soaking up this wonderful, carefree, and--in a word--fun period of my life while I can :] I don't deserve it, not in the slightest, but I've got some awesome parents to thank for it and I am incredibly grateful for the experience while it lasts. I'll conquer adulthood later, if I must.

Mutantly long arm......

     Last night I went to another fantastic music venue, Vuela El Pez, with my friend Tomás. The band was INCREDIBLE! They had eight members, and a variety of instruments to include a flute and an electric violin. SO much talent! They were... rock meets cumbia meets electro-ska with a little bit of rap sometimes and I absolutely loved it. Five of the members looked like they could be siblings (turns out they are... so I essentially saw the argentine von Trapps).  My favorite part, however, was when I saw a woman standing by the wall dancing and singing along to every single word of their songs. I realized she was the thirty-year-older spitting image of the girl singing on stage. Just the supportive mom, going crazy at her kids' rock show :]  

El Plan de la Mariposa

xxx
Un besote