Caffeine and Nicotine

Buenos Aires' busy bees are all about their cafe, mate, and ciggies. It's no wonder they're able to start their nightlife after midnight and still be up by nine in the morning, and function for the rest of the day. It's because they drink coffee throughout the day, interspersed with a mate sesh.

That's the culture I'm beginning to come around to. I've barely gotten any sleep at night, surviving through classes, from 9 to 5, on two or three hours of sleep. Today I napped from 6 til 9, and dinner is at 9:30 pm. You can be sure I'll be going out. I researched jazz cafes and it seems Buenos Aires has an extremely rich artsy cafe/bar culture. I'm planning on scoping them out one by one, starting with a jazz bar tonight called El Perro Andaluz. I chose this bar for tonight because it's closest to my house in Monserrat and because this youtube video was on someone's blog commenting on the bar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfMg4n22m4M

Last night, we chit chatted over Fernet con Coca and Quilmes (local beer) until 4 in the morning. One of my classmates has a friend who is visiting BA from Santiago, and is originally from California. He and his girlfriend rented an apartment in Palermo for the week so he could visit and not have to stay at her host's house. Frauleine the apartment-cat kept us company while we strummed a classical guitar and talked about everything and nothing. Fernet is a very Argentine liquor, something like Jagermeister with a Mate twist. It's herby, spicey, and sharp. I'm fond of it.

Today, I just barely scraped by awake thanks to multiple cups of coffee. My body and my internal clock are just going to have to conform.