Day 4 – Jonny and Michael’s Argentine Surf Rock Extravaganza

Hello everybody! Argentina has been unbelievable. The people here are incredible. The food is interesting. Very interesting (think blood sausage). And the work we are doing with St. Andrews is rewarding beyond measure. Argentina can really take you by surprise, and let us tell you, we experienced this first hand.

Let us start this short tale by informing you about the Argentine dining habits. It has been common for us to start dinner at 10:00 – 11:00 PM. Last night, we had the opportunity to share dinner with not only our Host Mommy (Sylveen), but her twenty-two year old granddaughter Jannine, as well. After we finished our meal, Jannine was kind enough to invite us to a live music show in the city. She described the music as “obscure”, so Jonny and I were unsure of what to expect.

Once we survived the Argentine streets (they are freaking MANIACS), she escorted us to…the local fire department. What the heck?! She quickly ascended the stairs outside, and we followed her until we reached the top floor of the building. Five Pesos ($1.25) got us in the door, and as we entered, we realized this was going to be a great night. Over 350 college and high school students were jam packed into a room with 6 disco balls, giant black lights, and blasting amps. And the “obscure” music genre Jannine described, we now knew, was actually SURF ROCK. 350 kids were twisting, jiving, and Shakira-ing to Beach Boys covers! We met like 576,082 new people, all of whom Jannine seemed to know. 2:40 AM rolled around, and after almost three hours of experiencing true Argentine nightlife, we plopped into our beds with smiles glued to our faces and buzzing ear drums droning out the sounds of the night. Welcome to Argentina.

-Jonny and Michael