Leah y Jack

The majority of the friends I had been hanging out my first three months in Buenos Aires left after the New Year. I was somewhat convinced that I would be spending the majority of January pent up in my air-conditioned room. After surviving the heat in November and December this wasn’t a bad prospect as I had heard that January was typically the hottest month in Buenos Aires. I had also decided that my lack of friends would allow me to detox for a bit and prepare for the travels that were to come. Yeah, that didn’t really happen. As the old cliché goes, when one door closes another one opens…. And in typical Vandria fashion, I had no problem finding new friends to spend my time with.

Leah

Looking sexy after a full day of cocktailing

I first met Leah in November at Creamfields. She was a friend of my Elebaires friend Emily, through a Chicago connection back home. I had an absolute blast with her that night. We exchanged information and discussed hanging out in the future. The next time I saw her was at my Thanksgiving dinner where she made the most delicious cake! Again we discussed our need to hang out.

But we both had busy lives and our own group of friends, so we didn’t really follow through. It wasn’t until January, when Leah sent me a message on Facebook asking if I was back from my crazy December travels, that we really became friends. We made plans to meet up for lunch the following Saturday. Lunch continued into an afternoon cocktail, which then turned into Happy Hour, witch then turned into nighttime drinks. I like to say that we got accidently drunk that day. Accidently in that we didn’t plan on it… it just kind of happened.  From that moment on Leah and I were pretty much inseparable (aside from all my travels).

Night out at Crobar

Leah is the kind of person that you can bring to any situation and she will easily converse and fit in with the crowd. She is quite loud and often speaks her mind, which is just part of her charm. People tend to always get a kick out of her when I bring her along.

The other night my roommate and I hosted a dinner party in which Leah attended. The next morning Ceci and I were disusing the night before and she said “Y Leah… que genial!” Which basically translates into super-cool/one of a kind.
I think Ceci hit it on the nose with that one!

Jack

Jack came to Buenos Aires just as his best friend Lea, my friend from school, was about to return to Australia. Hearing Lea speak so highly of him, I knew we would get along! I did not, however, anticipate how much time we would spend together nor how close we would get! I first got to know Jack on the Elebaires trip to Mar del Plata. By the time we had arrived at the parilla for our first night’s dinner, Leah, Jack and I were pretty much the three musketeers. Every story Jack told involving our mutual friend Lea he would make sure to clarify, “the other Lea (not you)” as if Leah wouldn’t be able to figure out that she wasn’t involved in the stories without this explanation. It became a running joke amongst us.

Our first night together! Love at first sight :)

The week following our Mar del Plata getaway, the three of us made plans to meet up on Tuesday for Happy Hour at Leah and my favorite place Chicha. On Thursday Jack and I went on the Out and About Gay Pub Crawl that Melvin works for. On Saturday, we went out BIG and had an amazing night at a gay nightclub – Human. Sunday was the Super Bowl and we all met up at The Alamo to watch the game and discuss the night before. Needless to say none of us were in the mood to drink much.

I decided to call the month Jack was here “Agua con gas y vodka” as homage to our favorite drink vodka soda, which they do not seem to understand here. When you say soda they pour you sprite. So we have to make certain to say water with gas to which they look at you like you are insane. It definitely is not the same as soda water… but it works.

Lunch at Fundación Proa in La Boca

While Jack and I did often paint the town red (I’m just full on clichés in this entry aren’t I?) we also spent a lot of time together during the days sunning our bodies by the pool or going to new restaurants for lunch, etc… It was very hard for me to say goodbye to Jack. The time difference from BsAs to Melbourne (+14hrs) makes it hard to chat, but we keep up-to-date via facebook and emails. And he is planning a 2012 summer trip to The States! Now I just need to get “the other Lea” on board too!