La semana pasada

--There's Manu Ginobli advertisements everywhere in the city, which I love because they depict Manu in odd situations (see more pics below) and because it's comforting to see the Nike Swoosh every three blocks.

This morning when I woke up the Argentina/Australia game was on and I got to see my new main boy in action. Watching Manu is like watching the out of place guy at the gym, there's nothing particularly smooth about his game and his bald spot makes him look 10 years older than he really is. Yet he still murders everyone.

I already hate Pablo Parigiani of the ARG national team because he committed the two dumbest fouls I have ever seen in my life as ARG was up 4 with less than 15 seconds in the game.





--The USA/Lithuania game followed. USA killed Lithuania, who should ditch their Nike sponsorship and go back to the tie-dye jerseys. And boom there goes the dynamite.

--Apparently in Colombia journalism is respected less than it is in America. I was told that in Colombia the only people who study journalism are Miss Colombia contestants and other retarded models.

--For those of you who were making bets back home. I lasted somewhere around 9 days before I started to really miss Portland. It hasn't been as bad as when I was in Tucson, but I've still done quite a bit of Portland proselytizing. I'm trying to convince some of the great people I'm meeting here to move with me to Portland.

--Although I hated him at first, Ed has became one of my favorite people in the house just because half of the shit he says is priceless.
Like Monday's conversation:
Me: "How was your day Ed?"
Ed: "Oh. (long pause) Just fucking terrible."

Ed is really into boxing even though he hates damn near all of the athletes involved in the sport. He once eloquently described Floyd Mayweather as "just another n***** with money" and he believes that Ali would not have Alzheimer's if he were white.

Ed wasn't happy when I told him I really don't have any religion. I decided it was best to stop there and not tell him that if I had to pick a religion it would revolve around Money Mayweather.

--The stripper show on network TV here continues to amaze me. The other night it featured this huge fat guy that may have been Luciano Pavorotti (who apparently faked his death in '07 to move to Argentina) rubbing this stunningly hot girl's bare ass. Then it had another couple practically have sex on the stage.

Then a stripper climbed to the top of the tallest stripper pole I have ever seen and hung upside down by her legs. I'm just glad that no matter what language you speak or what color your skin is, stripper safety is always, always least of your concerns.

--Normally before I go out for the night I have a quick bowl of Frosted Flakes because it's quick, mildly filling, and I figure that if I'm going to go out and blow money on drinks I should at least not eat all of my food in the same night; note: this logic does not apply upon returning home.

However now that I'm living in a land where steak is as cheap as cereal, I eat a bowl of Frosted Flakes and a huge slice of steak before I go out, which my friend Nathan pointed out "might be the most Justin Adler thing you've ever done."

--There are a ton of McDonalds and Burger Kings here. I am trying to never eat either as it's silly to eat fast food when I'm in Buenos Aires, especially because both chains defy Argentine logic and are actually more expensive to eat than in the States. It's easy to boycott the BK as I have convinced myself that not eating a Whopper in Buenos Aires will somehow hurt the bottom line of the BK in the University of Arizona Student Union.

However I cracked with the McDonalds the other day and got the official Justin Adler combo, two hamburgers and an icecream sundae. It ended up costing me $4.60 USD, which is more than in the states. I think Argentina wisely has a dumb motherfucker tax for anybody who is dumb enough to eat American fast food, even though the rest of the city has no sales tax.

--On Monday I decided I would take the subway over the bus to school because it seemed quicker and because of everything Ludacris said about riding busses in the movie "Crash." This ended up being a terrible mistake as it lead up to the longest 30 minutes in my life.

I'm sure subways during rushhour are terrible everywhere. But from what I've heard Buenos Aires is especially bad. The subways are in short supply and only come every 6 minutes to a stop (I've been told this is slow compared to London and NYC). When the door opens at a stop people at the station will literally push everyone on the train and try to cram another five people on an already packed bus. For 30 minutes I stood there with someone's elbow in my kidneys and my hand on somebody's ass as we were jammed tighter with each of the twelve stops.

After the second to last stop, where most people got off, I looked around and everybody looked like they had been through hell and back. A better comparison would be seeing the reactions of people who just lost a Sunday night American football game in triple over time. It was the purest form of defeat I have ever seen, except instead of dealing with the loss on your mind, angry coaches and upset media all week, everyone was all too aware it was only 9 a.m. Monday morning and they all still had a full day and week of work ahead of them.

I took the bus the rest of the week, it's a little slower, but during the ride I am able to maintain a seat the entire time, where I can calmly relax, read or take a nap.

--Sorry this week's WPM sucked. It was a week full of lame orientation and unless you want to hear about my incredible success stories with the Nokia Snake game, there wasn't much to write about. Fortunately I have put together an absurd school schedule, which I can't really get into yet for a few reasons. But the future should be much, much more entertaining.

--Lastly this doesn't have to do with anything. But this is why I love Ron Artest.