exotic dancers and $20 beers

so i had quite the interesting night last night. earlier in the day paul comes to me and says, "ya know.... i've never been to a strip club... we should go to one, i mean, yeah." so we do a little research and decide, maybe we'll go to one tomorrow on new years. there seem to be some good places. so first thing that night the whole lot of us (minus paul, who sucks! for not coming out) went to a tango show, which was amazing. i mean, you can't go to BA and not see tango! so we see tango, and we've all had a few drinks. so everyone by me, pat, patricia, and nick leave for home (losers). and so we stay for another show and then decide to pack it in.

as we're walking toward a busy street to catch a taxi, pat tells me we are oh so close to one of the strip clubs that we were checking out on the internet earlier today... hmmm new plan? absolutely!! lets check it out and see if it's cool for tomorrow! so we head over, literally a 5 minute walk. we get there and the club is set up differently than US clubs... not that i would know... but it looks like a normal bar and there is an upstairs where private shows go on. so immediately a hostess sits us downs and starts chatting us up. we all order a beer (4 total, and note that a beer in BA never costs more than 3-4 US$ in the most touristy places) and talk some more with the hostess. we start talking about the show we'd like to see and all that, and they show us the price list, i almost choke on my beer. STARTING at $80 PER PERSON. what?!?! are you fucking kidding me?! patricia tries to negotiate, no dice. this is the most expensive strip club ever!! ... not that i've ever been to one... yeah... so we ask for our drink check, and decide that this was a waste of time. the check comes, and holy fuck! $80 for 4 beers?!?! what!?!? this place is ridiculous! so patricia takes the bill up to the 'madam' of the place to argue over the obvious turista tax. so we're sitting back, watching the arguement, and i see patricia hop up from her bar stool and point to her ass and then start dancing around... i am at a loss. apparently when patricia asked why the drinks were so overpriced the woman said that we came in and sat down on those seats... patricia then said, "oh these seats! what's so special about these seats?! are they more special than this seat?! (pointing to her ass)" LOVE IT!!

So we lost the battle over the check, or so i thought. so patricia tosses enough money to cover half the tab and walks out. the three of us are left sitting surrounded by bouncers, like, ummmm yeah. so i say, umm uno momento por favor. and walk out, a few seconds later nick and pat get the clue and follow. then we start to run, because, SURPRISE, the bouncers are chasing us down the street. and OF COURSE, there are never any taxis when you need one! we grab one half a block away, and end up driving back by the club...

oh boy, ridiculousness.

ps- prostitution in legal in argentina

near death experience via mattress

so i am spending this christmas in south america, Buenos Aires and Piriopolis, Uruguay, to be exact. i know, i'm ridiculously lucky. my aunt, uncle and cousin have been living in BA for the past year, and i kept saying i was going to get down there, and here i am, FINALLY!! so i got here the day before my birthday, and on my birthday we took a ferry (one hour trip) from BA to Colonia, Uruguay. Then we rented cars (hahaha they have Thrifty car rental in Uruguay!) and drove through Montevideo to Piriopolis. We had four FABULOUS days at the beach, including my 25th birthday!! which was AMAZING! usually my birthdays suck!! but in south america christmas eve is like one huge party, everyone out on the streets dancing, drinking, havign a good time! we were all out till 4 am drinking and having a great time.

so on our drive back to Colonia we're driving along, me nadine and paul are sleeping in the backseat. when all of the sudden i hear, "SHIT!" and bolt awake as our car swerves and i see a mattress fly off the roof of the pick-up truck in front of us and almost hit us, but my uncle artfully swerves and the mattress only takes off our side mirror instead of flipping us over into the ditch. no! so when my aunt goes to ask the driver about the whole deal all he has to say is "lo ciento" and that all he has on him is a cervesa and 8 pesos... yeah... so we wedge the side mirror back on and hope the rental place doesn't notice... we turned down the insurance.