ZONDA TIME

Today is the first day of the zonda which for the vast majority of you who don't know is basically a wind storm that makes being outside near to miserable.

I woke up at my usual weekend time around 1:30 in the afternoon and I could already tell it was beautiful out it was a sunny day out, I checked the weather and alas it was going to be 80 degrees!!! Which naturally made me feel that it would be a great day to spend outside in the sun maybe get a savage tan or just take some mate and enjoy the lovely bohemians in Plaza Independencia.... terrible idea

First I walk to the trole stop and after about two minutes I noticed the massive dust clouds that were storming towards my face. I was grateful for my sunglasses because otherwise I would have had an incredibly difficult time ever opening my eyes. However, after about 15 minutes of waiting for the trole even my glasses couldn't protect my eyes...or mouth...or nose from being bombarded with dirt and dust.

Finally the trole arrives and I get to the plaza, and it was strange because even though it was siesta time most of the cafes that were usually open had closed their doors and hardly any of the artisans were around the plaza, which is strange because normally there are more people out. I see a couple of the guys hanging out on a bench listening to their portable radio and we decide to put up with the winds and just hang out and try to enjoy the day. After a little while we decide ice cream would be a good excuse to get out of the nasty winds and we head over to Bianco Nero- which is kind of pricey but has INCREDIBLE ice cream. We enjoy our lovely ice cream outside until a hard gust of wind nearly sends a killer umbrella across the peatonal towards our heads.

Even after this near death experience we still decide to stay outside and enjoy the day, so Coral and I go to grab her hookah and go back to the plaza to meet Meg, Kailey, and Michael. This would have been a great idea on a normal day but trying to light the coals on a windy day was the worst of ideas, sending sparks and burning coals everywhere we almost caught on fire several times. so we gave up on that idea and just decided to jam in the park, Michael had his guitar and there were a bunch of Argentine guys playing a makeshift drum circle. This was a safer and much more pleasant idea, and thus we enjoyed the remainder of the day.

I got back to the house and looked in the mirror and just had to laugh at the intense amount of dirt/dust caked upon my face, I looked like I had seen many full days at the tanning booth....sooo sad.

My host mother Fanni said this was just a small zonda, so it gets worse, sometimes to the point of closing schools down GREAAATTT. something to look forward to