Ok, so these are some things I’m learning about Argentina and Argentine ways:

·         It’s Argentine not Argentinian (although Word says they’re both acceptable…so I guess it’s just “Argentine” here).

·         Breakfast = toast with dulce de leche (which if you don’t know what that is, it’s a sweet topping; they use it like we use Nutella, except it’s more caramel-y and less chocolate-y) and coffee…that’s it.

·         The buses honk frequently and drive like they’re tiny vehicles (meaning they try to squeeze into small spaces and have no problem cutting off other drivers), also they don’t always come to a complete stop for people to get off, and may start driving away before everyone is on.  Seriously, yesterday there was a large group of people getting on and the last guy wasn’t even on the steps yet but the driver started driving away, so the guy hung on to a handle bar and was running with the bus until he could jump up onto the step.  I am so glad I was not that guy.

·         Air-Conditioning is a luxury I have taken for granted in the States.

·         Many buildings here are so warm…like sweating all the time warm. =/

·         The streetlights not only go from green to yellow to red, but also from red to yellow and then green, so you know when it’s about to turn green…spiffy.

·         You don’t need to clean up after your dog.

I think that’s all for today.  But today was the first day of Orientation…which is exactly like freshman orientation when you start college; we played ice breaker games and everything.  It was nice to get to know the students better, but we were all so tired it was hard to keep up the energy to talk to people.  But we have more orientation tomorrow, we’ll be taking our oral placement exam, sorting out classes, and buying cell phones.  After that Yelena and I are going to go shopping for some regular sized shampoo and conditioner and the like, and maybe some food too.  We’re allotted space in the fridge and the cupboards to keep anything we want, so that’s pretty nice—I mean, it’s a requirement for the program, but still nice.

I’m going to try to add some pictures today, we’ll see how that goes.  But please note that I don’t actually have any of people…well ok, one of Annalise.  But bear with me, I don’t want to just be taking pictures of people!  That would be weird!  But don’t worry, in time, in time. 

Big positive of the day: Yelena and I made it to the IES center and back (taking the buses) today. Yay! We’ll be mobile while we’re here!  She’s a lot better at knowing where to get off than I am, but I’m sure it will come together in time.  The biggest thing is that we need coins to pay for the bus until we get a card, and so we had to go to some little side shop and buy some candy today just so that we would have enough change to use the bus back home.  We got enough to last us a couple days, but I really should get that card soon, I think there’s a website I go to…or something like that; they told us about it in Orientation and gave us a guide with a million or so helpful facts, some of which include transportation advice.  So tomorrow, like I said, we’re figuring out class stuff, so I’m going to sign off now to figure all that out.

Hasta luego!

Kiki

P.S. So I’m kind of writing every single day…I’m fairly certain this will slow down a bit as I’ll have less new things to share, but for now, enjoy the frequent updates. (However, even though I write every day, doesn't mean I can post everyday, our internet is really sketchy and not liking working with us, but I'm ok with it...eventually I get to post what I want and talk with whom I want, so it's all good!)

P.P.S.  Pictures are not working with me right now…it doesn’t help that the internet is spotty during bad weather (which it happens to be thunderstorming now…) So I guess we’ll save pictures for another day.

P.P.P.S. My Tia thinks that we spend a lot of time on our computers; she teased us after dinner saying “Oh, now you’re going to go use your computers and then go to bed, right?” (In Spanish of course; translated for your convenience)…so I guess we have carved out at least one part of our day to be consistent…=/