The Pinamar Weekend

Well, the past weekend in Pinamar was pretty great. Calvin and I set out at 9am, with six hours of Argentina prairie ahead of us. Good conversation and a couple mates later, we arrived. Neither Carlos nor Pablo had called us back, so we were kind of worried about our living situation. We arrived, called Pablo, he answered right away and told us that he didnt have credit to call us. They were waiting for us at their restuarant.

First night with the old roomates in a LONG time
We arrived at the restaurant, a very cool lounge bar that does dinner and music shows. We hung out for awhile, and then they had to get back to work. They gave us the keys and directions to their house, and told us to meet them on the beach later. Calvin and I took off on our walk, expecting to find their apartment situated in the ghettos of Pinamar...WRONG! They live in a beautiful 3rd floor apartment, with balcony and an ocean view. On top of if all, the restaurant they work for pays for everything. Thats the way it works in these resort towns; you come to work for them, and they hook you up with lodging...good lodging, not like Wisconsin Dells worker lodging.

Day view from their department

Sunset from their department

Well, to cut a long story short, Calvin and I lounged on the beach for four days and really enjoyed ourselves. Calvin turned 21 on Saturday night and we went big, as planned. A night out on the town with Pablo is always a good time. Carlos went south to party with his Mexican friend Radim for the night.

Calvin´s 21st birthday

On a sidenote, Speaking english in this city was the coolest thing in the world! We would talk down the main city street, just talking about whatever, and everyone, be it young girls, old men, families, etc, would crane their necks to see who was speaking english in Pinamar. After hearing english, they would slowly move themselves close to us until they were able to ask us where we were from. The people from Pinamar are definitely, without a doubt, the richest people in Argentina. So, of course, they love American culture, movies, attend bilingual schools, brag abouting going to Miami, what have you. Seeing as the OC, and The Hills are popular TV shows here, the young girls immediately attacked Calvin(from Cali) with questions. Calvin despises these shows and hates how they´ve tarnished the California reputation, which is exactly what we saw in the questions they asked him.

Calvin, the Cali boy, getting swamped. Classic scene throughout the weekend.

It was a unique feeling being in a city like Pinamar. I definitely didn´t belong in a place like that, seeing as it´s the Hamptons of Argentina. I, a young midwestern male, would NEVER be allowed into the Hamptons. I have neither money nor a famous last name. However, in Pinamar, being from the US is like being a Kennedy in New England. It was fun to be so popular for four days, but it definitely felt good to get back to regular BsAs. The attitude in Pinamar is what they call, Cheta. Super wealthy upper-class people who look down on the rest. It was a daily experience to hear rich northern-suburb kids talk smack about barrios in Buenos Aires that I feel have lots of character. Many of these kids despise coming into "the city" because its so dirty and hectic. It seems very very similiar to what my friends said about the relationship between the northern suburbs of New York City and the city itself.

Anyways, fun weekend, great to see Carlson and Pablo again. They are doing really well, enjoying the beach seven days a week with a great group of coworkers. All in all, I had fun.

Pier in front of the house during sunrise

Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina