Dogs on the dance floor

Just as my brother and I continued our trend of bringing in the new year in the Southern Cone of the Americas, we also continued our trend (2 years running) of spotting at least one canine companion in the club on New Year's Eve, though he looked like he was about to throw in the towel:

After sleeping off his jet lag for 14 hrs, Brent was ready to explore the city. We went to Rosario's "Monumento de Bandera," a tribute to Manuel Belgrano, who designed the Argentine flag. We then sauntered along the Costanera, watching maté sippers, troubadours and lip-locked lovers enjoy the river scene. My buddy Martin invited me to his friend's hostel for a big NYE party. When we got there, I was a little surprised to find the hostel deserted of guests. Juan, the owner, had just purchased the hostel 2 months ago and was still remodeling.

We had a killer Mexican dinner on the rooftop of the hostel, allowing us a phenomenal view of the fireworks. I even convinced our Argentine host and guests to sample some tiny pieces of jalapeño, "pica mucho!" they exclaimed. One of the rowdier guests kept everyone on their toes by setting off what sounded suspiciously to me like pipe bombs on the other side of the roof. Midnight was the huge fireworks display which we were treated to 360 degrees of, but failed to come close to the magnitude and longevity of the display we had witnessed in Valparaiso one year earlier.

I kept asking Martin if we were ready to hit the club, 2 am, 3 am, 4am passed by until we finally got a posse together to mosey out to the clubs at almost 5 in the morning. I mean, I like an occasional late night but leaving with one hour til sunrise is just ludicrous. We ended up at a club with a huge outdoor patio underneath the contemporary art museum on the waterfront. It was impossible to navigate the swelling masses, but we had a great deal of fun people watching, which got even more interesting as the sun came up. As we walked back towards the hostel, we ran into a couple friends who were still bringing in the new year despite this sudden intrusion of daylight. Brent and I had to respectfully decline, citing our desire to avoid sleeping all day, which in turn, allowed us to spend most of today drinking maté, reading and planning out our Colombia trip in the park.