Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Another BA weekend


Alright, I feel I’ve given you a sufficient amount of time to catch up—I believe it’s been over a week since my last update.  Now, that’s not all due to lack of trying on my part—my email account that I use for this blog has pretty much locked me out.  It only remembers me on any computer for thirty days.  Well my thirty days were up and so when I tried to sign in again, it asked for the verification code that got sent to my US cell phone.  Yeah, I’m never going to get that while I’m still in Argentina.  So there is a process you can go through to try and prove that you are the owner of the account and they will let you in, which I filled out all those forms and submitted them, but it’s going to take 3-5 business days from there (which I feel like it’s been more than 3-5 days…but time is weird here so I’ll let it slide) to verify if it is me and if they decide it is, then I get my blog back (yay!).  If not, well I guess I’ll have to make a new account and start a new blog…that would suck.  So I guess by the time you read this, you’ll know what I had to do…in the meantime, I’ll just hope they get back to me soon.

So there hasn’t been a whole lot going on this week, I mean, classes have all started, they’re all going pretty well; I went to see Hunger Games a day before it came out in the States (it was pretty awesome); last night I went out to eat with Annalise, we were going to do homework at a McCafé (which is a separate building from a McDonalds here) at a mall, go to a pizza place a few doors down from there, and then call it a night.  Well, plans changed slightly…you see, the movie theater is also right next the McCafé…and Annalise randomly threw out the option of going to see a movie tonight as well as dinner.  I had no problems with this idea, so she went to go see what movies were playing and at what times.  When she got back, we decided to go to This is War at 10:20—that gave us about two hours to go eat and talk and do whatever else.  But instead of going to this awesome pizza place, we ended up going to T.G.I.Friday’s…it was right next door and we were curious to see how it measured up.

Wow, I didn’t realize how homesick I was until I walked in and was cured of it.  It was EXACTLY like the Friday’s in the States.  It had signs and posters on the wall (all in English), the menu had all the titles of things in English (and the description in Spanish), it had a wait-staff that chatted with you a bit (pretty a-typical here), IT HAD FREE REFILLS!!!!!!!!  This is the first place I have seen with free refills on Sodas.  It was incredible.  That alone will make me want to go back.  It was so great to have a little slice of home…even if it’s only a Friday’s.  Of course, this almost exact replica of an American restaurant sparked an interesting conversation about the impacts of globalization, and pros and cons, and what the world might look like in 30 years, it was all very intriguing conversation.  And then we also played MASH.  You know, that game little girls play to plan out their life?  You know the one, where you have categories for boys, jobs, number of kids, etc. and you have four in each category, and then you find a way to pick a number (less than 10) and you cross off every nth item.  And MASH stands for where you will live: Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House…and you act as if the results are real.  Yeah, that game.  It started a couple days ago when a group of people in IES played it because one girl, Emily, thought it would be a good idea.  I love how everyone knew what the game was, though, that was probably the best part.  And so Annalise and I made up a 19-category game of MASH.  We only had time to get through mine before we had to leave for the movie, but we continued with her life in the theater, but the movies started before we could start to count it down.  Now, the movie was great, I really liked it.  It’s pretty much a romantic comedy where two CIA agents (who are best friends) fall for the same girl, and they don’t want to ruin their friendship, but they also want the girl.  It was pretty much hilarious.  I enjoyed it a lot.

Anyways, so yeah, dinner and a movie, it was pretty great…also a tiny bit of homework got done.  Speaking of which, I should probably do some more of that now.  So I hope you enjoyed my short (but sweet?) entry, reminding everyone I’m still here and still alive, and still having a good time.  And to say “Holy cow, I’ve been here a month, but it only feels like a week. Where on earth is my time going and how can I get it back?  Is three months really a long amount of time to have left? Or will it end up feeling like another three weeks?  Oof, time is moving too quickly for me.”  And that is all.

Love,
Kiki

P.S. Yay! I got my account back and I didn’t need a new blog! Woooooooo!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Tango!!


I know, I know—two post in one day? What’s up with that?  But guys—I learned how to tango!  I feel that is worthy of a double blog entry.  So there is a class that meets every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, and it costs 30 pesos per class.  It starts at 8, and so we got there at like 7:50 and there was another woman there with a student from Canada.  The girl was not there with a program for school, but instead with…some other thing that I don’t really know what it was.  I mean, she wasn’t there to study, and so she found some online site that hooks you up with people to stay with or something like that.

ANYWAY, the place is a restaurant on the bottom, but then you go upstairs and there’s a big room that’s kind of dance-studio ish, and it’s kind of old, so the floor is not as polished as I’m sure it once was, but there are mirrors along one wall and chairs lining the rest of the room.  At first it was just the four of us and the instructor, but little by little, people started coming in.  They almost all came in pairs, I noticed.  Not necessarily a man and a woman, it was often times two women, but it was pairs nonetheless.  And so at about 8:15 or so (which is pretty much 8:00 Argen-time) they started playing music and some of the people that already knew what they were doing paired off and started dancing together.  Now, the main instructor was female, but there were several old men that helped out.  By old men, I mean 65+…and by + I mean one guy was at least 80.  Anyway, so the instructor takes the four of us, Inés, myself, the Canadian girl, and her “host mom”, to one side of the room (we were the only new ones at that point) and she starts to show us the basic tango.  It’s eight steps, and it’s not incredibly complicated.  There is one part that’s a little tricky, but it wasn’t too hard to catch on.  So we were doing that for…I don’t know, like 20 minutes?  And we each got a turn to practice with her doing the guy part so that we could get used to the feel of dancing with a partner.

Now, the tango, I came to realize, is all about the legs.  You pretty much keep the upper part of your body super still, and the only parts of you that should be moving are your legs. So after we had been practicing the basic tango for a while and the others that were there had warmed up a bit, we all got in a big circle and the instructor demonstrated how to walk, just a simple, normal walk, but not moving your upper body, but keeping your shoulders relaxed, and just putting one foot in front of the other.  Now ok, this sounds dumb, but it was good!  And so they started some music and we just walked in a big circle around the room, getting a feel for the rhythm and how to move fluidly, but correctly.  And after a while of that, we then continued to walk, except this time taking a step with your left foot, then crossing your right foot behind your left, then crossing your right foot in front of your left, and then stepping forward with your right; then you bring your left foot up and cross it behind your right, then in front, and then step, etc.  While we were all walking, they (the instructor and one of the older gentlemen (who has been tangoing for 20 years and so he knows both the guy and girl parts, and so I think he’s another instructor?)) would come around and correct people and help them, and so it was a learning process.

After the walking was over, they started to play more music so that people could start dancing and practicing again.  Well before we could practice dancing, we had to learn how to pivot (which I didn’t actually use in the dancing, but I guess it’s still good to know).  So the female instructor took the four of us to the corner and we held on to the backs of chairs while we practiced pivoting.

Then we started to dance.  The female instructor brought me to the male instructor (probably mid-60s) and we did the basic tango for a bit, and it was tricky at first, but I definitely improved.  After a couple songs, I went to sit down next to Inés, but not too long after, another older gentleman asked me to dance.  In total, I dance with four different old guys, and I learned another move called “el ocho” (the eight) which is just adding two swivels, really (one to the right and one to the left—so it looks like an 8 I guess).  Well, I was sitting down next to Inés (again), and she hadn’t been able to dance with anyone yet, and so when the male instructor came over and asked if I wanted to dance, I said, “No, dance with her!” (Pointing to Inés) and so she looked a little surprised at first, but then she was delighted that she was able to practice.

While I was sitting, I was able to watch everyone else.  The tango really is a beautiful dance.  It’s so precise, and yet fluid—and it was fascinating to watch the couples who had been doing this a while because they knew different moves, and it was just really really cool to watch.  As we were walking home (yeah, it’s only like four blocks away from her house!) Inés made a joke about how I got more practice than her because everyone wants to dance with the younger one, but it was all good humoredly.  In all, I’m so glad that I got to go, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to make this a weekly thing. I’m pumped. Of course…I didn’t get any homework done today, yet.  So maybe I’ll go do that now? Maybe…

Chau,
Kiki

Just another update...


So as I sit here, listening to music in Spanish and writing in English…you’ll have to excuse the potential language train wreck that may follow.

I realize that the last post I uploaded was not the happiest…and it was a truly bad day, so I’ll allow it.  I don’t want to give the wrong impression though, I do really love it here, but it was just really really hard to come to such a sudden and harsh realization that my listening skills need so much work.  I have decided to drop that class and try to get into a class at UMSA, the school I wanted to go to anyway.  If I really can’t get into a painting class, I’ll probably take a Comm. class that will transfer and help out with my Comm. minor.  Also, a lot of my friends are going to UMSA…I don’t know why that’s important, but it feels like a valid enough point to me to count as a reason to go to UMSA.

So I finally dropped off my laundry at a lavandería (Laundromat, essentially) and so yay for clean clothes!  And tonight is my first tango class.  Inés asked if I wanted to go with her and I said of course, and she was really excited because she didn’t want to go to a dance class by herself.  Yelena will not be accompanying us (this time) because she is spending the weekend in Uruguay with a group of her friends.  I clarified that they were her friends because I was not invited to go.  Normally I may have been upset about that, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t know anyone in the group that was going…so I don’t think I’d have had much fun anyways.  Plus, now I get to be one step closer to reaching my goal of learning how to tango while I’m here!  Other goals I have are to go to a fútbol game (probably a Boca Juniors game…for those of you who care), to get a tan so that I look like I could be a local (working on that one, it’s ok…), to learn to speak Spanish better so that while looking like a local I can actually talk to people and sound more local than foreign, and…I’m sure there are others that I can’t remember now, but I think this list is good for now.  Goals I have already accomplished include trying mate, using the bus by myself, going to the market and buying souvenir-type things (more of that to come, though), and (starting, at least) to know where good restaurant are to eat lunch.  Oh, also making some friends.  I think it will be easier to find semester (at least)-long friends once we get into the rhythm of our classes and see who we have classes with and who we’ll be working with, and pretty much just get to know each other better. 

So I’m figuring out how nerdy I am…I’m really excited that classes are starting again. However, now I have to break the habit of leaving 10 minutes before my class starts because…well that won’t work here.  Of course, once I’m in the habit of leaving for class about 45 minutes early, I’ll get back to school and get to all my classes WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY early.  Oh well, at least that’s not a bad thing…and I’m sure I’ll be able to get back into the habit of a half hour more sleep pretty easily…just saying.

Classes are going well though.  I’m sure that was the question on all your minds: how are her classes going?  And I’m only joking a little bit, that seems to be the go-to question when I’m chatting with someone from back in the States.  So I’ll tell you: classes are going well.  I really like most of them.  There’s one where the professor is better at economics than teaching.  It’s my Impact of Globalization on Latin America class…the one I was most looking forward to.  He talks with a lot of pauses in his speech, and it’s very monotone and just, lacking in energy in general.  That makes me sad, but I think that the material is still interesting and so I’m going to stick with the class.  Also, I am going to be reading like, all the time.  Many of my classes require a lot of reading and so I’m looking forward to bringing my blanket, going to a park across the street, and reading outside.  The weather has gotten sooooooo nice.  I don’t know if you remember, but I kind of complained a little bit about how humid it was, well now it’s mid-70s every day with no overpowering humidity.  It is wonderful.  So anyways, many hours will probably be spent outside reading (this will also be a great time to work on that tan…), and it should be good. 

I also am really liking not having classes on Friday, it’s nice to have an extra day in the weekend.  There are some kids here that have made it so they don’t have class Thursday or Friday (of course, the other three days of the week are super booked).  That means there are three days of school and 4 days of weekend.  You can imagine the appeal, but I don’t think I could do that because I know that I have a problem with procrastinating…well I don’t have a problem doing it, I have a problem because I do it.  So I think that with four days off…I would get absolutely nothing done.  Yelena has managed to switch her schedule around so that she’s off Thursday and Friday even though she told me she’ll probably have a tendency to put things off until Sunday…….so what is she going to do with the other three days? We’ll find out.  Of course, it’s not really my business what she does on her weekend, so I’ll try to keep my nose out of it, but I am curious.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just leave it.

Anyways, I have homework to do (reading) and so I’m going to sign off for now.  Thanks for reading, sorry if this was a little drier—classes have a tendency to be less interesting than…well everything else, I guess.   But they are what I’m here for…partially…a big partially, but still partially nonetheless.

Chau!
Kiki

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

A bad day of classes


I came to a harsh realization today: I’m not as good at Spanish as I was thinking I was.  I mean, sure, when I was getting ready to come here I was nervous that I wouldn’t remember anything, and I got here and found that it was relatively easy to understand the conversational Spanish that was happening around me.  Then, I started orientation and we all spoke English to each other, and so I wasn’t practicing and Spanish, except enough to get by in my house to tell Tía Blanca that I was going to class, or leaving the house for whatever reason.  Then I started going places in the city with other IES students…that was my downfall.  I was able to order at a restaurant and ask for the bill while other students couldn’t, I was able to get on the bus and tell the driver “uno venticinco” so that he could push the button and I’d put my 1.25 in the machine and get my ticket,  I heard the other students speaking Spanish and I was able to tell that my accent was much better than theirs.  Then we started classes at IES and I was able to follow along really easily in all of them.  I knew what the professor was saying pretty much the whole time, while other kids in my class would leave saying they had understood about 60% of what was said.  All of this made me think that I was really, really good at Spanish.  Then I had my UCES class.

I got there and for the first part of class, the profesora was talking about basic things of the class and she wrote some things on the board (I still don’t know what it was for…I just know it was a bunch of names, and I couldn’t read her handwriting).  I know that she said something about the reading material for class (but that’s about all I know) and I’m pretty sure she talked about then final and such…but I’m not entirely certain.  All I do know, is that I was really lost.  After about 20 minutes of her explaining the class, she put us into groups based on what row we were in (there were three rows, so three groups).  I was in a group with 4 guys.  So she tells us what we’re supposed to be doing (looking through 2 books of paintings and finding one that we think is interesting.  So we start flipping through and they start talking really quickly to each other.  I then piped up that Spanish is not my first language and that I’m from the U.S.  The mood of the group changed instantaneously, they all became super nice and tried to talk more slowly so that I could understand.  Then the prof. came over and asked me a question (I still don’t know what she asked) and after a few dumbfounded seconds, they came to my rescue…saying that I don’t know the language very well -_______________-

She then asked me where I was from, I told her the States, and so she announced to the rest of the class that I am an exchange student from the States.  Then they all got excited, and the prof. asked if anyone knew English so that I could speak with them if I needed anything.  One girl piped up and said I could talk to her, and one of the guys in my group (who is actually from Guatemala) told me (in English) “You can speak to me in English too”.  So they were super nice…but then class went on and I was pretty much sitting dumbfounded listening to these guys talk about this painting.  They tried to include me, they really did, but I would always have to ask “Cómo [What]?” and I felt really bad.  So because it’s a three hour class, there’s a break (ok, in my shortest classes there’s a break so this was expected) we took a break about halfway through.  The prof. said to take 30 minutes (it ended up being more like 45).  Well, I was going to go sit outside by myself for a bit, but when I stood up, the group of all girls asked if I wanted to sit and talk with them (like I said, they were all super nice to me).  So for 45 minutes I was listening to these girls talk…trying to at least.  They asked me a few questions, but I needed them repeated two, three, sometimes four times and then gave a short response.  Or, they would be talking about something (but be talking super fast) and then turn to me and I would be dumbfounded (still/again) and they would laugh apologetically, then repeat the shortest part of the question again. 

Then class was resumed and…well it was a lot like the first half, I was struggling to catch what was happening and what people were saying, and what the assignment was for next week, and where we needed to get our books (and what our books were), and I felt really really overwhelmed by the end of it.  By the time the class ended I made up my mind to find a different UCES class, perhaps one that will transfer more easily?  Hopefully one with an easier set of materials.  I felt bad, but I told my group (oh, there was a group project due next week) that I wouldn’t be returning, and they looked sad, but they understood.  Then I went and told the girls I was leaving, and they also were bummed.  Then I told the prof and she said she understood and she wanted to make sure that I knew that if I wanted to change classes I needed to do a drop/add thing. I left feeling so much dumber than when I had come.

I thought I was getting better at Spanish…but this single class, this three hour time period, made me question my knowledge of the language.  Pretty much my first time being in a place with no English speakers, and it was incredibly difficult.  I just…thought I was better at Spanish…but now I’m realizing, I’m not.

But tomorrow is another day…and I’ll have to pick another class…and register for it, and make it fit in my schedule and yadda yadda yadda.  For a bit of good news: I got a Sube card today. yay.

Here’s hoping tomorrow is better.
Kiki

P.S. And unfortunately this is not a good P.S., I was 40 minutes late to my other class today because I came home to take a nap, was lazy and hit snooze, woke up later than I should have, went to go catch the bus, it didn’t come in 5 minutes, and so I decided to walk.  So now I know it takes a little over an hour to walk to the IES center.  I wish I had found out under different circumstances (like, for example, me having a day off and wanting to time the walk), but I didn’t.  And so when I got there, they were taking their ten minute break.  So I just snuck in for the second part of class…I’m not sure if he noticed or not.  So today was just not a good day for classes.  Man, this weekend cannot come soon enough.

Monday, March 12, 2012

So...I went to a wedding


So for my second weekend in B.A., I went to a wedding!  It was for my host mom’s ex-daughter-in-law…or perhaps another relative after (like her sister, or cousin) in any case, it was a slightly extremely extended invitation. Inés told us that her mom, her 9-year-old granddaughter Valentina, and herself were going and we were more than welcome to go with her.  She also told us that because it was a Catholic wedding, it would be part mass and part wedding.  That’s what turned Yelena off to going, but I wouldn’t have cared if it was a Jewish wedding, a Hindu wedding, a Protestant wedding, whatever—it was a cultural experience that neither IES nor any other school program can give you!

So first thing I noticed that isn’t really typical in the States: the ceremony was on Saturday night, at 8:30.  So we get there at 8:30, walk into the church, and see that the ceremony is almost over.  After being utterly confused, Inés walked closer to the front to see what was going on (the place was pretty crowded) and she came back to tell us that it was not the bride we were looking for.  So we walked back out into the courtyard and Inés asked a guy (who was ridiculously tall…like at least 7’ if not more!) when the wedding we wanted was supposed to be (he was apparently waiting for the same wedding) and so he told us he supposed it hadn’t started yet and it would after the one in the church now.  So with that in mind, we went into a mall that was about a quarter block away because Blanca needed to buy a birthday gift for someone for the birthday party that was the next day.  She didn’t end up buying anything, she kept saying how expensive things were and Inés kept saying how they really weren’t that expensive.  Inés also kept converting the prices into US Dollars, and I was kind of surprised by that.

We were at the mall for about half an hour and then we went back to the church to see the status on the other wedding.  It was about 9:15 now and the other group was talking in the courtyard while some guests of our wedding had already gone inside.  So we went inside and immediately there is a difference—Inés and Blanca know people here.  That was a big thing that was bothering Inés about the first wedding: she didn’t know anyone that was there.  So we sat down and she started chatting away with…everyone.  But, that’s just what you do.  You sit and chat and catch up with people, and of all the conversations I listened to, not one of them were about the bride and groom.  Everyone who was there was obviously happy for them, and so you didn’t need to waste any small talk on them, especially if you haven’t seen these people in a while.  So at about 9:30 music started, people stood up and turned around, and in came the bride.  No bridesmaids, no flower girls, no ushers, just the bride and her dad (well, at the very least a male).  Also, they walked really quickly.  I feel like in the States, the walk down the aisle is somewhat suspenseful, here it was nothing special…at all. 

When the bride got to the end of the aisle, she and the groom sat down so the priest could open in prayer.  After he prayed, the groom’s sister went up and led a prayer (I know it was the groom’s sister because I met her afterward and that’s how she introduced herself).  Then the bride and groom stood up and did some sort of ceremonial thing (I wish I could be more detailed, but my wedding-words vocabulary is a little thin, and I couldn’t actually see what was going on), then sat back down so the priest could do his homily. After the homily, the couples stood back up and did their vows; after that the priest started preparing for communion and then the couple had their first communion together as husband and wife.  Then the rest of the congregation (who were willing and able) were allowed to take communion as well.  After that, there was probably a short prayer, and then we all clapped for the happy couple who had just been married. 

They walked pretty swiftly back down the aisle, but this time they got a little sidetracked by people who wanted to hug and kiss them.  For the people that missed their chance as the couple walked by, there was no need to fear because the next part of the wedding was to stand in the courtyard and talk with people and congratulate the couple.  THIS is where people talked more about the couple than themselves…but still only about 50% of the conversation was about the wedding.  As far as I know there was no reception afterwards, but the thing is, I’m pretty sure this was a second marriage for each of them.  They both looked like they were in their late thirties or perhaps early forties, and so I don’t know how this compares to a first wedding.  The whole thing lasted about 45 minutes to an hour—it was really, really short.  So my point is, I would like to see another wedding for a couple that’s getting married for the first time…but I don’t know how realistic of a hope that is. 

Anyway, after the wedding we went back to the mall to grab some dinner, which was Subway for Valentina and Burger King for the rest of us.  At dinner, Valentina explained to Blanca and Inés how Subway works (I don’t think they’d ever been before) and how you get to pick your bread, and then the fillings, and the toppings, and the sauces, and everything like that, and how every day of the week has their own special sub and so if you get that sub it’s cheaper.  And so when we were leaving, we picked up some punch cards, and the guy was kind enough to stamp the first one, even though we hadn’t eaten there…or all of us hadn’t.  And so on the fourth stamp, you get to upsize your drink, and on the eighth one, you get a free 15cm sub. Yep, 15cm or 30 cm, no 6 in or foot-long.  And so Valentina gave me a little map that showed Subways, and there’s actually one RIGHT by my UCES class and so I figure if I don’t want to wait to get dinner, I can just head over to Subway, and the sub of the day on Wednesday? Chicken Teriyaki. Oh yeah.  So I’m pretty sure that’ll be my plan on Wednesday nights. 

So after the mall, we went to drop off Valentina at her mom’s place, and while we were in the car, she gave me another thing from Subway that has more addresses for more Subways in a greater area than the other map she had given me.  She really is a super sweet girl, and I like her a lot.  She speaks Spanish as her first language and she’s learning English.  And I don’t quite remember if I explained this at all, but if I did mention that we ate dinner with Inés’ son and his daughter, his daughter is Valentina and Sebastian is Inés’ son.  So because we ate dinner with them Friday night, we had eaten with Sebastian and Valentina twice now, so we were pretty familiar with each other.  And earlier that day (Saturday) Valentina put on a “game” show for the four of us (Blanca, Inés, Yelena, and me) where we had to do things like balance pencils on the backs of our hands, then try to throw them up and catch them, or drop pencils into a box from above, or answer trivia questions she made up on the spot—it was a lot of fun actually…not to mention it kind of reminds me of me, and what we did as kids to entertain our parents/grandparents.  But we had to cut the game show short because people had phone calls to make and places to be—which is a bummer, I would have stayed until it was over.

So anyways, we dropped off Valentina at her mom’s and we got out of the car and were chatting with her a bit.  Also, she bought a dog about 4 months ago and so for the first time in a long time, I was able to pet a dog again.  Now, this dog.  It was pretty small, if you know the size of my dog, it was about 2/3 the size of him…if you don’t know the size of my dog, well my dog is 15 pounds, so this dog was about 10 pounds.  So it’s pretty little, but it’s fur!  Its fur was like, 5 or 6 inches long!  And while anyone held it, it would kind of melt into whatever shape would best fill the space it was in.  It was like a water baby dog.  I’m pretty sure it didn’t have any bones.  It was super cute though!...just a little unstable.

Side note: there are so many dogs here. Seriously.  It seems like most of them have owners, and I don’t really know where they keep them all…but there are so many.  It’s not uncommon to see a person (a dog-walker I can only presume) walking 8 to 10 dogs at a time.  Also, most of the dogs here that are walking with their owners are not on leashes.  They’re free to do what they want, and they stop and sniff things occasionally, but then they go and continue walking with their owners.  I was at the bank the other day and I saw this girl walk up with a very small dog (on a leash).  She wanted to come into the bank and so I was interested to see where/how she tied her dog up.  Then, she just picked up her dog, opened the door, and walked into the bank.  Ok, wasn’t ready for that one.  But my point is, dogs are everywhere and I wish we had one in the apartment.  But also, like I’m pretty sure I’ve said before, owners are not required to pick up after their dog.  So a very very real caution is: look out for dog poop.  It’s on every sidewalk, everywhere.  I was reading an article in the paper about some new problems in BsAs and some old ones, I have experienced all of them.  Unfortunately, I cannot find the article to quote it, and I don’t remember it well enough to give you more than 2 of the 8 problems.  I remember two of the old problems (old as in, they’ve been around a while) as dog poop (and they said that the necessity of cleaning up after your dog has been an issue in mayoral elections), and smoking.  Everyone here (it seems) smokes.  So many people.  I think another one may have been overcrowded buses…but I may just be adding my own discomforts to the list…

So anyways, back to the story.  After dropping off Valentina, we went to go get gas.  Now, at this point it’s about 11:45 or so, and we get to the gas station and we’re sitting in line.  That’s fine.  However, the line is like, 10 to 12 cars long and there are only 3 stations at which you can fill up your car (actually they fill it up for you here).  So we’re waiting, and waiting, and waiting. And FINALLY it’s our turn.  It’s about 12:15 now.  Of course, Blanca and Inés were just chatting away, there was not one single comment about how long it was taking. So I guess that’s just the way it is here. After filling up the tank, she gets her tires filled (well, they weren’t empty…so I guess topped off? I don’t really know car terminology…) and then we head home.  So we left for the wedding at about 8:15 and we didn’t get back until 12:30…and the ceremony only lasted about an hour.

Now, I felt kind of bad because Inés told me that the wedding would probably be over by 10:30 (which it was) but I didn’t factor in the rest of the things we had to do, and so I told Yelena I’d probably be back by 10:30 or so—which was important because we had made plans with some friends to go out at 11.  Well, I didn’t bring my phone with me to the wedding because I have no compact and a little bit elegant bag that would have been appropriate.  So I had no way of telling her that I wouldn’t actually be able to go…and as it got later and later I felt worse and worse.  But it ended up being fine I guess, we didn’t go out, but she was able to relax and watch some TV while we were gone.  But back-tracking a little bit, earlier that Saturday, we had gone out to the neighboring neighborhood where there was a little market (the one that happens every Saturday and Sunday).  We met up with some of Yelena’s friends who I had never met, and had lunch with them.  It was honestly, kind of boring.  The other two girls talked with each other the whole time, Yelena was on her phone most of the time, and so I just sat there and ate my food…listening to a conversation that didn’t pertain to me at all.  When we got to the market it was a little more fun, they always have cool things to look at.  But Yelena walks so fast, and I like to stop and examine things, so we actually got separated for a bit.  But I did see some other friends at the market, and we said hi, and later we all ended up going to get more food.  Well, they hadn’t eaten yet, so they got food and Yelena and I got milk shakes—which were so good!  But anyways, it was really fun hanging out with them and talking, and so that was where the plans to go out came from.  Well, as you’ve read, it didn’t happen, but it was still nice that the plans happened and we knew how to get to where we wanted to go.

So that was my Saturday, Friday and Sunday were pretty uneventful…and now classes start this week!  This week I will have every single one of my classes that I’ll be taking in BsAs (which is nice because some partner universities haven’t started yet).  So hopefully after this week I’ll know more of what my schedule will look like and I’ll be able to start making a routine.

Well, it’s 11:30am now…I don’t have class until 1:30, I guess I should start getting ready for the day?  Changing out of pajamas would be a good start I think. :p

Chau!
Kiki

P.S. What's this? I wrote an entry and posted it all in the same day? Yay IES internet!  Also, it was pouring today, and I remembered my umbrella. Oh yeah.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Ines is here!


Inés finally got here!  But let me tell you about how this day went down.  Ok, so I guess I need to start with last night.  Last night (Thursday night) IES paid for dinner in Puerto Madero at a restaurant called La Bisteca.  Puerto Madero is the fanciest part of town, it’s the most expensive to live in, and so it was a real treat to be able to go.  Now, they told us that if at any point on an IES sponsored trip/event we wanted alcohol, we would have to pay for it ourselves (pretty reasonable) and since we were at a nice restaurant, many people decided to buy a bottle of wine to share with some friends.  So at my table, Annalise, Yelena and myself split a bottle of wine (I don’t remember what kind it was…ask Annalise if you really want to know), and I had the most delicious gnocchi ever. It was great.  So after dinner there was a group of about 11 of us that were going to go out after dinner.  So once we’d all had our fill of delicious buffet-style Argentine food, we headed out.

We all piled onto a bus (I’m sure to the distaste of the rest of the people on the bus) and it was maybe a 20 minute ride or so, but we were all talking and having a good time, and I met two more girls from the program, so that’s always good.  Anyways, we get to the bar called Jobs, (actually not pronounce hobs, but jobs) and, because it’s a Thursday night, it’s super not crowded.  I actually have no idea what time we got there, but I’m fairly certain it was somewhere in the 11 o’clock hour.  That’s kind of beside the point.  So this bar is super relaxed and super open.  It’s basically a giant room where on one half there’s pool and foosball, and on the other there are large picnic-table-style tables.  There is an upstairs, and it has ping pong tables, a couple more pool tables, and apparently the room with the ping pong tables becomes an archery range on Tuesday nights.  We have heard of bars doing this, and we can only assume (and hope) the by archery they mean suction cup arrows, or perhaps something more like nerf darts.  Letting drunk people handle bows and arrows just seems like a bad idea wherever you go.

So the bar has a deal on pitchers of beer so we pool our money to get a couple to split between us all.  After much talking and some drinking, a foosball challenge gets thrown out, and so we head over to the foosball table.  Now, this foosball table is AT LEAST three times the size of any standard sized foosball table.  The first game was a one-on-one, the second game was three-on-three (and everyone had more than enough room to play…that’s how ginormous this table was) and then we headed back to the table to continue drinking and talking.  I would like to make a note right now that I only had two glasses of beer…so it was not super much, but enough to make me slightly louder and slightly more snide and snarky than usual…ok maybe a lot more snide and snarky because I wouldn’t normally consider myself either of those.  Anyways, we were talking, but then a group of 4 left to go upstairs to play ping pong, and eventually the conversation turned more into a sing-a-long than a conversation, and because my knowledge of the songs being sung (and sometimes rapped) was minimal, I decided to head upstairs to watch ping pong.  After chatting with the ping pong people for about 10 minutes, everyone else came upstairs to tell us that the bar was closing in like 10 minutes.  At this point it’s probably 1:15 in the morning.  Well, we kind of got side tracked from leaving for a bit. I ended up playing ping pong with another girl Katie, and because our main goal was to keep a volley going and not to actually play, it was actually pretty successful because they were always nice easy lobs that we were hitting back and forth.  But as we played, everyone else started playing a game that I think is called “Wah!”  It’s really hard to describe…but think of like, and Orientation ice breaker game that’s sort of like ninja and bunny bunny put together.  Of course, only if you are a Hope student will you certainly know what either of those games are…oh well, they were playing a game.  Well at 1:45 they came upstairs to remind us that they were closing…oh…right.

So we were all standing outside, figuring out the best ways for each of us to get home from where we were, and somehow a game of ninja broke out.  So after the game of ninja, we all went our separate ways.  Annalise called for two cabs (one for herself and one for Yelena and myself) and so we were chilling for a bit outside.  The first cab came and Annalise took it (we didn’t want her to be waiting alone, outside, at night).  Oh! Side note that I forgot: one of the girls who was with us, Olivia, scored perhaps the first point of the game Tourism while we were outside.  It was pretty exciting.  Anyways, so Yelena and I wait maybe one to two minutes for the second cab and we tell him where to go.  Now, I had looked at a map before coming and so I sort of knew where we were, and I’m like, 98% sure that he took us the long way so that it’d be more expensive.  That makes me pretty mad…but what can I do?  So we’re in the cab for longer than necessary, and when it’s time to pay…well, basically I forget how to count.  In my defense, the bills were not in numerical order.  For example, there was a ten, a five, a five, (I’m doing well at this point) then a two, a two, and another five, then a two.  That five in the middle threw me off.  Like 4 times.  It was enough, but I couldn’t count it right!  Eventually Yelena took over, counted it once, and handed it to the man.  At this point, it’s 2:30 in the morning.  The doorman let us in and he made a joke saying, “Oh, wow, you girls are getting back so late—did you get lost?”  Also imagine there’s like, a winky face at the end of that.  He didn’t actually wink, but his voice did.  Does that make sense? Proabably…maybe.

So anyways, we got back, but I was pretty awake, so I played Solitaire on my computer for a bit…and by a bit I mean like an hour.  I really wanted to win a game before I turned off my computer (it didn’t happen) but I started to get a headache so I figured bed was a good option.  Well I woke up at like 7:30 in the morning because I had to go to the bathroom.  Then it took me another hour to fall back asleep (scumbag brain, letting ALL the random thoughts flow!  TJ, that was for you, you may be the only one who gets that…and maybe David).  What seemed like right as I was dozing off, I got a text from Annalise.  After thinking to myself, “Why the heck is she texting me at 8:30 in the morning??” I looked at my watch, only to see that it was actually 11.  I figured it was late enough for me to get up now.  And this is where my day starts.  I like to think that I now have an excuse as to why I woke up late…it’s a long (but valid) excuse.

So I woke up and walked around the house to see if anyone else was up.  Yelena was, and she was sitting in the living room, enjoying the internet that was randomly working, even though the router was not on.  We really don’t know how that happened, but we weren’t going to complain about it.  Now, we knew that today was supposed to be the day that Inés got back from the States, but we weren’t really sure when that would be.  Well, the rest of the house seemed completely empty, and so we figured her mom had woken up and decided to go back to her own house already.  So we were home alone, left to our own devices.  Now, the phone (I was told) had been ringing all morning, and so the next time it rang, I picked it up.  It was Soledad wondering if Inés had gotten in yet.  An easy phone call to complete. 

So, having nothing else to do, I showered and got dressed, and not too long after that, the other phone rings.  And by “the other phone” I mean that there is a phone connected to the outside, so instead of pressing a button and shouting into the intercom to see who is at the door, you pick up the phone and talk to them.  There are also two buttons you have to press to buzz them in.  I am so glad that Tia Blanca explained that to me earlier in the week.  So that phone buzzes and I pick it up, and all I really understand is that the guy needs to come to our floor.  I wasn’t really sure what to do, but he sounded so certain I buzzed him in.  Turns out he was the internet guy, come to fix our internet—Yelena had mentioned that it might be him, so I’m glad that the minimal expectations we had were met.  So we invite him in and, side note: in the morning, my Spanish sucks.  So he tells us something and we kind of just look at each other, shrug, and lead him to the router where he does whatever it is that he needs to do.  Well, a few minutes later he asks us where the door is, because he needs to go upstairs.  Well, I was super confused at this point because upstairs is another person’s living unit…but we point him to the door and he is gone for about 5 minutes.  He comes back down, knocks on the door, and this time he doesn’t come in, but he says that everything is good, and that we need to sign the paper.  Well, Yelena wanted to check the internet first, but couldn’t form the words she wanted as quickly as she had wanted, and ended up signing the paper before checking the connection.

So the guy leaves, and we’re heading back to the living room to check the connection, and walking down the hallway is Tia Blanca.  We were kind of shocked to see her, but we told her what had happened, and she was like, “There was a man in the house?!” And I quickly explained to her that he was from the internet company.  She settled down a bit and then started telling us how she had woken up, eaten breakfast, walked a bit, and then decided she wanted more sleep, and she didn’t hear anything—not the phone ringing, nor us getting up and showering, or even the guy coming in and working.  PS the internet stopped working.  It was fine, and then the guy came to fix it, and it stopped.  We were quite upset.  Well anyway, I made myself some café con leche and started reading the newspaper at the table.  Side note to Dad:  the newspapers are so big here! They’re like a yard long and many, many pages.  They have not downsized at all (or if they have…their newspapers used to be ginormous), and it just made me think of you…and also how the newspaper is still super important in other parts of the world…so if the whole States thing doesn’t work out, there’s always Argentina! [End side note]

Halfway through an article about Pinterest (I was super surprised to see it, and fun fact: it’s only in English and so they had a guide, sort of, to explain what buttons like “Repin”, “Comment”, “Search”, and “Like” meant, it was interesting to realize that the creators had never really intended to have it become so popular and so they didn’t even think to make it other language accessible…I’m sure that’ll change soon though), the door opens, and Inés walks in.  The energy she brings with her is amazing.  Her and her mom started talking in the doorway, and Yelena and I kind of peaked our heads out.  When she saw us, she got so excited and came and gave us hugs and kisses and started talking with us too.  One thing I love already is that even when she talks quickly, she still speaks very clearly.  It’s wonderful.  Well not five minutes after she got back, the phone rang and it was the internet company.  They said that the guy who had come didn’t see any problem with the cables (and that was his specialty—fixing cables that prevent the internet from working) and that it was actually a problem of the router—getting the signal into the building.  Well when the router won’t even turn on…yes, that would be the problem.  So they said that the soonest they’d be able to send someone is the 14th.  Right now it is the 8th.  Inés got a little upset at that, saying that she uses the internet every day because that’s how she works and that it’s unacceptable to wait a whole week for them to come…so maybe she’ll make them come earlier? I’m not really sure how the conversation ended because I went back to my coffee and newspaper.  When she got off the phone she saw me reading the paper and told me I should underline any words I don’t understand and then show them to her later and she’d help me figure them out (brilliant!), and for whatever reason, there was a pen on the table beside me, and so that’s what I started to do. 

Well, Yelena had an interview for an internship at 2, and it was now 12:30 and so she was getting ready to go, and left probably close to 12:45.  Well, Inés and her mom went into the family room to watch TV and I went into the living room to continue reading the paper.  So now, in several articles there are random blue underlines of words, or circling of names of important people about whom I know nothing.  Partway through my reading of the paper, I figured I may as well practice my speaking, and so I started reading out loud to myself.  I actually think it was really helpful, and I got to work on my Argentine accent (PS shout out to Ashley—they totally do say “sh” for “ll” instead of the soft ‘j’—I have found it clearly in everyone under like, 30, and it’s slight, but still there in my Tia.  So interesting!).  Anyways, I was reading the paper for a while, but it was getting to be lunch time and I was pretty hungry, so I texted Annalise and asked her about lunch plans.  We decided to meet at IES and choose where we wanted to go from there.  So I told that to Inés—I also told her that I needed more coins for the bus, and that I wanted to go to the bank and get some.  Well as it turns out, she needed to go to the bank and IES as well (she needed to sign a contract at IES she said, my thought is the housing contract I guess?).  So we headed out to the bank together, there’s one (several, actually) pretty close by, and I got twenty pesos in coins.  Oh yeah. 

So we hopped on a bus (sort of literally) and we were chatting about what classes I was taking and how I was liking the city, it was really nice to have someone with whom I can talk in Spanish until I don’t know a word, say it in English, and then hear the word in Spanish.  It’s like having an interactive pocket dictionary. It’s wonderful.  Anyway, we got to IES and I was there a bit before I told Annalise I would be, so I went up to the 13th floor with her to use the internet and the bathrooms…at separate times.  And who is also using the internet? None but Yelena!  She’s already done with her interview and so I invite her to lunch with us.  We head downstairs and not two minutes pass until Annalise comes up to us.  The decision on where to eat was pretty easy to make, Peru Express.  I only say it was easy because it’s not even a block away (and Yelena wanted a short distance because her shoes of yesterday had not been kind to her feet), it was close to the photocopy place where we needed to pick up our books, and we had tried to go the day before, but it was closed.  So we get there, and place our orders (it’s pretty much a Peruvian inspired Sandwich shop) and sit down at one of the few tables and start to wait for our food.  It takes maybe half an hour to forty minutes for our food to get to us (and I feel I should mention, this place is tiny.  There’s one other party of about 6 business men and then us.  So it’s not like it was SUPER busy.) and despite the tone in the parenthetical note, that’s just the way it is here.  Which is nice.  I like that we get to just sit and talk for as long as we want without having the pressure of needing to pay and move on so other customers can come and eat.  They actually changed the sign from “open” to “closed” a little while after we came in…so I guess that’s proof of how un-customer oriented they are? I’m not really sure…it’s just an interesting side note and I have no valid reason to actually include it, besides that I want to.  So…there it is.

Anyway, after lunch, it’s like 4:15 (it was a late lunch…clearly) but before we start to head home, we want to go back to the center to use the internet one last time before plunging back into the communcationless abyss which is our current home.  We spend probably about 20 minutes there before heading out to try to catch a bus.  Now, Buenos Aires is hot.  And humid.  Like 85% humidity humid.  It’s hot.  And even though we didn’t have to wait long for the bus (seriously, it was less than five minutes), we were on the bus for a very, very long time.  And in case you were unaware, buses are enclosed areas that don’t allow for easy circulation of things like, oh I don’t know—air?  Even though the windows were open, it seemed like the breezes were passing by the windows, but not through them.  And because it was rush hour time, the bus was getting more and more crowded, but also getting stuck in more and more traffic.  So we’re adding body heat to the bus every 5-10 minutes, and then remaining stationary for longer and longer periods of time.  Now, I was standing sort of close to the window, and I could see that we were almost running several red lights (pretty common here) but for the first time, I was so grateful for the speedy driving, because that meant that we’d be off the bus sooner.  However, the typically 18-ish minute bus ride easily became over 45 minutes long.  Yelena and I were both very relieved to be off the bus and in the fresh air as soon as our stop came.  And let me remind you that it is the end of the day, and so most deodorants and nice smelling perfumes have long worn off by now…and everyone is sweating and standing very, very close to you.  Fresh air is good.

So because we were both so stinking hot (yes, stinking and hot) we didn’t really have much energy to do anything.  I was laying down on the floor of my room, lights off, fan on, just lying there.  Eventually I fell asleep and took a three-ish hour nap.  Which was great.  Then I woke up, we ate dinner (pizza, because, as Inés told us, Friday is pizza day) and by the end of dinner, it was 10:00.  Well, there was a pub crawl tonight which we wanted to go to, but those plans fell through, mostly because we were getting last-minute text updates about where to go, and we were trying so hard to use the Guia T correctly and find a bus and figure out streets…it was kind of a stressful mess.  We realized that without Facebook, we couldn’t be a part of the conversation of planning processes, and without the interactive map website (which is super awesome), we couldn’t find our way out of a paper bag.  So we decided to stay in tonight…and pretty much every other night until our internet is fixed.  So instead of going out, I watched TV with Inés and Blanca.  We watched some show that was sort of like American Idol, and it was pretty interesting.  One thing that I thought was super awesome is that there were so few commercial breaks.  Unlike in the states, they would show maybe, 8 full performances before they showed one sponsored commercial, then go back and do like 5 more performances, and then got to maybe, 6-8 minutes of commercials.  It was great!  I think I’m going to watch more TV here! (In Spanish of course…)

And so now that the show is over, and my entry is pre-written in a word document, ready to be uploaded at the next possible moment, I suppose that means it’s time for bed.  Also it’s 2 in the morning here right now.  But tomorrow is a day off…I guess I could do some homework?  Oh, and just a funny side note: I’ve been desiring to buy some body spray, just to smell a little better, you know, but for now I’m pretty much just using my Tropical Fresh bug spray as both a body spray and extra protection from bugs.  Also, I’ve taken to spraying myself and my bed every  night before I go to sleep, night seems to be when I get the most bites—and it seems like it’s been helping!

Good night, Chau (I’m finding that this is how they spell it…)
Kiki

P.S. 10 entries in two weeks. I’ve got to slow down!!
P.P.S. I am SO glad I brought my DS and a new game, it makes the non-internet time go by faster.  Also, the band of white skin under my wristwatch indicates to me that I most certainly am getting more tan down here. Sweet.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

A less happy post...


Yesterday (Tuesday) was not a good day.  I had to wake up early to get to my Spanish class which is at 9:30am.  I waited at the bus stop from 8:30 until about 8:50 for the bus to come. I need to find a new route to take because the 67 is so unreliable, but of course I can’t do that from home because the internet doesn’t work, and so I can’t go to the super user-friendly website to find out all my options of which bus to take, where the stops are, how to get everywhere—it’s just a great resource, that I can’t use.  So I make it to my Spanish class with time to spare (like 10 minutes) and class is from 9:30 to 11:30.  It’s pretty long, but a lot of it was talking about how the class was going to run and what things we would need, which include a photocopy version of the textbook which we can get at a nearby shop, and one of two novels that we will be reading in class (some people reading one and others reading the other).  The class also only has 6 students in it, which is what all the Spanish classes are like, I hear, and so that’s kinda nice, except I didn’t know any of them to start.  But that just means 6 more friends I guess.  Anyway, after class we have 3 hours to kill because today we have to go for our background checks which are required for our visas, which are required if we want any credits to transfer back to our home schools.  Our background check meeting time is 2:30 at the IES center, and we need to be sure to have a copy of the photo page of our passport and 30 pesos in cash.
So this girl from my class, Samantha, and I figure we’ll go find a place to eat and then go get her some copies of her passport. Well, both of us have 100 peso bills that we want to break, but we go into this little shop for empanadas and ask the lady if she has change for 100s and she says yes.  Well, another woman orders and pays with a hundred, then Samantha does, and so for Samantha’s change, the woman had to go into her wallet to make enough change.  So by the time I paid, my bill was only 11 pesos and she asked if I had anything smaller, well I had a 10 and Samantha spotted me a two and so I did not get to break my 100, however, those empanadas were the best I’ve had here, so it wasn’t a total waste.
So because I had made copies of my passport page earlier that week, I knew that there were photocopy places around, I just couldn’t remember where.  So we started walking around, somewhat aimlessly, trying to find these stores we had seen dozens of times before.  Only after about 10 minutes of walking we passed by a coffee shop called Havana, which I have passed by several times before and they have fruit smoothies advertised on their windows and I always want to try one.  So I mentioned this to Samantha and we decide to go in so I can try a smoothie and break my 100.  First we ask one of the people behind the counter if they have change for 100, and he tells us that if we buy something, we can have the change.  So I look at their menu of smoothies and get a pear one (which was incredibly delicious, by the way) and another guy rings up the order.  I gave him my hundred and he asked if I had anything smaller, but his co-worker said that he told us we could pay with 100 if we bought something.  So he gave me change, and now I have 77 pesos and some change (which I need for the bus).  One thing I don’t like here is that the ATM will only let you take out denominations of 100, but so few of the places we go actually let you pay with 100.  So we have to carry around all these big bills until we need to pay a bill of, like, 75 pesos or higher (preferably, for the store owners). Which sucks, and of course is not ideal; I don’t have enough money to spend over half of it on things I don’t need, just to get some smaller bills.
Anyway, we leave the coffee shop and start walking around again.  Our plan of action is to walk around whatever block we’re on so that we cover all sides, and then walk to the next block and do the same thing.  After almost 45 minutes of wandering, we decide to give up and head back to the center.  Outside is a group of students from IES and we start talking with them, and one of the guys tells us that he got his Spanish book already, and that we should be able to make photocopies there, but if not there’s a place directly across  the (approximately 15 lane) street from us.  Perhaps the one street we did not actually walk down, had the photocopy place.  So we decide to go to get our Spanish books at the place not even a block away.  We get in and tell the guy what we need and he answers, but he’s talking so quickly I can barely understand what he’s saying.  He told us, I eventually realized, that he could make the copies, but we’d need to come back tomorrow for them, but pay now.  It was 100 pesos each. Gosh dang it.  So because I no longer have 100 pesos in cash, I decided to use my card.  Well he took Samantha’s cash and swiped my card, but my card was denied.  My card was denied.  So I take out the cash I have, Samantha is looking through hers, and because we both need 30 pesos for the background check, we realize we don’t have enough cash on us, and she left her card at home (we figured it wouldn’t have been a big deal if she paid because we have class together every Tuesday and Thursday).  But because I couldn’t cover the cost, the guy made a not on the receipts that I hadn’t paid (and so he didn’t have to make mine).  Being hot, tired, frustrated, and a little anxious (that my card hadn’t worked) we went back to the IES center and Samantha stayed outside and started chatting with the other people that were still there, I went inside and went up to the student area and thankfully there was a computer open (there are only two laptops for student use, I guess we are expected to bring our laptops with us when we go…) and so I checked my bank account.  Everything seemed normal though, I had enough money to cover the 100 pesos, so I didn’t really know why it hadn’t worked…perhaps he put the number in incorrectly?  I mean, it wasn’t the first time I used my card here either, so I really didn’t know what was wrong. 
I waited around in the lounge for about 10 minutes, just cooling off a bit, and then Yelena came in and we chatted for a bit.  At this point it’s about 1:15 and I know that I have my background check appointment at 2:30, but I figure since the bank and the book place are on the same block (opposite ends, but the same one) I could run to the bank, get out 100 pesos (which is frustrating because there’s a charge and I had just taken out money the other day, I just left most of it at home), go back to the place and get my book.  Now, the other thing I had heard is that the background check place is kind of far, and that the line is long.  This is a potential problem because I need to go back to UCES to actually register for the class I want, and even though I had gone the day before, that was to fill out paperwork and she had told me to come back the next day at around 3.  Well, I figured if I was going to be at the background check starting at 2:30, chanced were I wouldn’t be back in time, so I figured I’d try and go a little earlier.  So with just over an hour to do these things, I started.
I went to the bank, got my pesos, went back the shop, bought my book, and then started to head over to UCES.  Now, the thing about my UCES class is that the class I want to take (Creative Processes) showed two times under the course description in the packet that we got of potential classes.  One was at 8 in the morning on Mondays (No thank you) and the other was on Wednesdays from 5p-8p (sounds good to me).  The only problem is that one of the IES classes I want ends at 5, while my UCES class starts at 5.  I emailed them, telling them which class I wanted, and also asked if it would be a problem, they said yeah, kinda.  So I had been debating all morning if I wanted to do an 8am Monday morning class.  It only meets once a week…but Monday morning…at 8am.  That would mean that I’d have to be at the bus stop absolutely no later than 7:30, which means I’d have to wake up probably around 6:30 if I wanted to get --decently ready for my day. On Monday.  But I really wanted this class.  It was a rough-ish morning.  So when I get to the UCES office I don’t meet with the girl I had met with the other day, but the other person in the office, her co-worker who had given us the initial talk about classes (their names are Augustina and Augustín, crazy right? They work in the same office!).  So I get there, remind him of who I am (we had emailed) and he gave me the course packet to look through so I could find something else.  Well, I go to the page that the course that I want is, offered!  Wow, I didn’t even see those…well sweet, I guess I’ll look at it longingly, and then turn the page.  There, at the top of the page, are four more times the class is offered.  I was so excited!  So I pretty much said, “Oh look! There are more times it’s be able to take this class after all! Yay!” And when I looked up from the paper he was just staring at me. I had said all this in English (we had been talking in English, though) and so I, now much more self-conscious, started to say, “Oh, I hadn’t turned the pa—” but her cut me off and said, “I heard what you said.” And just continued to stare at me as if I was the dumbest creature on the planet.  It was a terribly uncomfortable moment.  He then asked me how my Spanish was, and I tried to answer in Spanish…but it didn’t work too well. I felt terrible, I knew he probably thought I was going to be overwhelmed in the class and not understand a single word.  It’s a second year class (so like, 200-level) and I’m sure at that point he had his doubts as to whether I was actually in the advanced program and needing to be at a partner university, or just a beginner student who had no idea what was going on and what I was supposed to be doing.  The only thing that makes me feel a little bit better is that when I was talking to Augustina the previous day, she asked where I was from, I told her the States, and she was surprised and said that I understand Spanish very well…so there is some hope for me…I hope.  But anyways, I was able to register for the class I wanted on the day I wanted (I had really wanted Wednesday or later because then I’d be there for the first day when they explain everything).  So today is my first UCES class, well, tonight actually.  It’s from 7pm-10pm, which is unfortunately right over dinner.  So I guess I’ll eat a snack beforehand to tide me over until I can get back.  I’m also a little worried about taking the bus so late at night, but then I remember that it’s not really that late, and hopefully it’ll be ok.  I mean, some people don’t even start dinner until about10. We usually eat at 8 or 8:30, but that might be because my Tia Blanca (that’s her name, I found out) is kind of old and goes to bed kind of early.  My point is, it might change when Inés gets here.
So after I left from UCES, not really sure how I should be feeling, I headed back to the IES center.  At this point it’s about 2:10 or so and so the 2:00 group is waiting in the lobby (yeah, there’s this thing called Argen-time which is ten to fifteen minutes later than say, U.S. time) so that’s kind of normal.  The thing that is less normal is that by the time it’s 2:45 they’re still there and the 2:30 group is now also there, and we’re all quite confused as to what’s going on.  Well, they told us to all move from the lobby to the IES room on the 13th floor…it’s a slow elevator and thus a long trip.  Anyway, once we get there, they tell us that the background check place’s computer system crashed and they had to reset the entire system and were closed until further notice.  They will notify us when our new appointment is.  This is frustrating only because of the ordeal I went through trying to make sure I still had 30 pesos in cash by the time of the appointment.  So we all kind of go our separate ways from there, I head to the lounge and find Annalise there with a to-go bag of food.  She had been running late to the appointment and hadn’t gotten to eat beforehand.  So we stayed there and chatted while she ate her food, and she ended up being a live advertisement for Peru Express because several people asked her where she’d gotten her great-smelling food.  I guess that’s just how it goes, though.
So after she finished eating, we hadn’t really finished talking, so we walked out of the building together, and I think she needed something from her house…or maybe there was a café that she wanted to try that was close to home (she’s only about 4 blocks from the Center) so we were headed to her house (plus her host mom sounds super sweet, and her name is Elita and that makes me think of my Lita, so it just made me want to meet her more) but we got sidetracked by a nice little restaurant closer to the center.  We decided to just stop there for today and so we sat down (outside; pretty much every restaurant has outdoor seating) and ordered two Pepsis and continued talking. 
We talked a lot about the differences between Argentine culture and American culture, and about the perceptions and worldviews that are so different in each place.  I’m certain that even though I’ve only spent a week here, and not even a week of classes or work, I would be a completely different person than who I am in the States.  Sure there are some habitual changes, like how to cross the street, or it being completely acceptable to order a Pepsi at a restaurant and stay talking for 2 hours, buy nothing else, and after paying, just getting up and leaving, or planning an extra 45 minutes to an hour into a trip to wait for the bus, that would be different, but could be changed again, but there are certain other things that will always be different. 
For one, I empathize a lot more with foreigners and foreign exchange students.  Before, I had absolutely nothing that could even come close to knowing how they felt in different situations, but now I feel like I know a little better how it feels to not know the language so well, or the customs, or the etiquette.  I know how it feels to not know my way around and to need help, and soon enough I’ll know how it feels to be at a local university that’s no big deal for the other students there, but something totally new and kind of scary for me.  We talked about how my perception of U.S. history has changed.  How when I learned about how each group got their chance at being tormented because of their race or religion; how we put Japanese people (and Asians in general) in concentration camps during the war; how we took people from their native land and made them slaves here and then even after they were freed, we still put them down and made a system that doesn’t help them in the slightest—it was all just history.  Of course that’s how it happened, because that’s what we learned. 
But now it’s not just a history story…what if that had been me?  If that happened here in Argentina, and I didn’t really know what was going on, just that I was being carted off to some unknown place, and everyone around me was pretty much ok with it, what would that be like?  There are plenty of good things about the U.S., but its history towards foreigners is barbaric and cruel.  These are things that I’m realizing now.  And it was such a relief to be able to talk about all of this with Annalise; she understands what I’m going through, and has done it all before.  I’m pretty sure that it’s somewhat of a relief for her to have someone else (that she’ll see after Argentina in a consistent way) who gets it too.
I know this entry got a little heavy, but what’s life-changing trip without some substance?  Surely you don’t want to read only about the fun touristy things I do—although it’s often entertaining—but I’m also pretty sure I’d explode if I never processed any of these thoughts.  I mean, when I said that Annalise and I talked for two hours, there was definitely more time of me talking than her…by like a ratio of 4:1.  It’s good to have a pre-friend in another country.  And by that, I mean someone who was a friend before.  There are a lot of people here from the same schools and most of them didn’t know each other or maybe were acquaintances before, but I’m glad I actually had a friend to come with me. It makes the adjustment a little easier.  Although, today (all that was a “yesterday” post) I was feeling really, really homesick.  I woke up from a dream where I had just been able to fly back to St. Louis for a day and then come back out, and we were sitting outside and talking and laughing and having a good time.  I was able to see my family again (and Jarred, you were there too) and just talk and catch up with them, and then come back…but then I woke up. And here I was, in Argentina, with no family, and no internet with which to contact them.  I finally got out my calling card and (after asking permission to use the phone) gave my dad a call. 
It was only like 10:30am here, which is 7:30 in St. Louis, but he was already at work and I’m so glad he answered the unknown number; when I told him it was me, I could hear in his voice that he almost fell out of his chair with surprise.  It was so great to hear a familiar voice (of reason)!  I had been stressing out about finances, especially because I had/have to buy books, and there’s a bus fare I need to pay at least twice a day, and I don’t have a job, and I need to buy a visa for 300 pesos, and I need to buy lunch every day (and dinner too, on the weekends) and I just wasn’t ready for all the living expenses, not to mention buying minutes for my phone and souveneirs like my mate cup, among other things, and potentially clothes (because I did NOT bring good clothes, especially not for hot weather…)…I just wasn’t ready for all of it. And he was able to talk to me and remind me that just because I’m so far away doesn’t mean that I’m too far away to be helped.  They can still put funds into my account (that they have already set aside) and they were anticipating the need for living expenses for four months—unlike I was.  It was really great to be able to talk with him, I just wish I could have talked with everyone, but I still have about 40 minutes left on my calling card (ten pesos is an hour and six minutes, not bad) but it needs to be from a landline, and I don’t want to be on their phone all the time.  But maybe we’ll figure something out with Skyping to my cellphone? I don’t know, plans are still being formed.  But I’m glad that I was able to talk with my dad, even though we’re really far away, it helps me remember that we’re far, but not disconnected (and we’ll be even less disconnected (or more connected) once our internet is up and running again…hopefully tonight because Inés’ son is coming back over and he helped us with it before).
For now, I’m going to go out with Yelena and go shopping for groceries and such, and then at 7 I have my first class. Oh boy.  Well, I’m glad I got to write, bummed I can’t post, but at this point, it doesn’t even matter because obviously I’ve already posted.
Ciao,
Kiki

My First Weekend...and other things


Today, I got caught in the rain and had to walk several blocks in it.  Well, that’s an understatement…Today I got caught in a torrential downpour and walked 40 blocks in it.  Ok, that’s a bit of an exaggeration.  Today, for real, I walked about 23 blocks in a heavy rain.  Why, you may ask, did I walk 23 blocks in the rain? Because I was 23 blocks away from where I needed to be, of course.  Today was a pretty light day for me, I don’t have my Spanish class Monday and Wednesday (like many people do), but am one of the people who has it Tuesday and Thursday.  So all I had to do today was register for classes at the local university UCES…and that’s pretty much it.  So I was able to sleep in (sort of, it was so humid before it rained and my room was so hot and sticky…it was gross, also by hot I mean like 95 degrees (Fahrenheit of course) hot) and take my time getting ready, but I wanted to get to the Center because I wanted to check my email to see if there was anything important that I was missing because our internet is still not working…well sort of, but I’ll get to that later.  Anyways, I make it to UCES with minimal problems (I was at the bus stop for about 15 minutes before it came, but that’s about it) and when I got there I had to fill out a form and give them the passport sized photos I had taken earlier in the week, but then she said I’d have to come back tomorrow at like 3 to actually register for the class I want, so that gives them time to put my info into the computer.  It’s Monday now, and the class I want doesn’t start until Wednesday, so I’m pretty ok with this, it’s no big deal.
So I walk back to the center (it’s only like 5 blocks away) and chill there for a bit, and then decide to see if I can get a Sube card.  A Sube card is like a bus pass, sort of.  You can put money on it and use it to pay for the bus or the subway.  Apparently there’s one super close to the center and I want to check it out.  So I walk over (it’s not even a block away, it’s seriously super close) and the place is set up like a DMV…that already is not a good sign.  So after wandering from one line to the next (not really sure where I should be going) I see a little sign that says if I want a Sube card I don’t need to take a number (too late) and I just go in a certain line.  So I go in that line, but there are two girls in front of me, and they ask for Sube cards too and the person tells them that they don’t have any.  I’ve heard that this is a common problem in trying to buy a card.  So I leave the little store and head back to the center. 
By now it’s about 1:00 or so, and so it’s definitely lunch time, and I don’t want to go out to eat alone.  So I call Annalise (who had her Spanish class this morning) to ask her what her plans are.  I called her while I was in the elevator going up to the 12th floor and as it turns out she was waiting on the 12th floor for the elevator.  So we meet up with another one of our friends to work out a game plane for the next couple hours.  The both of them were going to the UMSA tour to register for classes there, and that was at 2:30, however, even thought Annalise had told her bank she would be in Argentina, they hadn’t done anything about it and so when she tried to take out money from and ATM, it wouldn’t let her.  So this was obviously worrisome, especially because she only had 11 pesos on hand…which is like $3.  And of course, she’d already used up her phone card that they gave us when we got off the plane.  So we logged on to one of the IES computers to see if her bank had an interactive online…thing.  You know, like a chat with one of the employees…well it doesn’t. 
So we left the building (by now, “we” is Annalise, Olivia (our other friend) and myself) and really close to the IES center is a kiosk where you can buy another phone card.  Luckily it’s only 10 pesos so she was able to buy one.  Of course, to use a phone card, you must use a landline, no cell phones allowed (which is why, mom and dad, I haven’t used mine yet, I haven’t asked to use the phone yet) and so we head back to the center and up to the 13th floor this time (both floors are for IES) and Annalise asks if she can use one of their phones to call her bank.  She’s on the phone for like 10 minutes and when she comes out of the office, she’s all set to go.  So we leave the center and now she needs to find a bank.  Well, thanks to my hours of wandering, I actually know that there’s one close by (or have a hunch at least), and sure enough, my hunch was right and we had three banks right in a row to choose from.  So we go into one and she is able to withdraw money and everything is happy in the world.  It’s now probably like 1:30 and so we only have an hour before they have to leave for their UMSA tour. 
Now, the Center is pretty close to the corner, and on the corner across the street is a restaurant we’ve been to before and the last time we were there it was super fast.  So we sit down to eat and we’re talking and all is good and dandy, but we only had an hour and so our conversation was cut short as they had other things to do.  So as they went on their tour, I decided I would walk down one of the main business Avenues nearby, just to see what kind of shops they had.  So it’s 2:30 in the afternoon, it’s still super humid and super hot…just remember that.  So I kind of lost track of time and before you know it…or before I knew it at least…I’m 25 blocks away from the center, it’s almost 4:00, and it’s starting to rain.  Also, somewhere along the way I found another place that sells Sube cards, and they were also out.  She said they’d have some next week…it’s Monday. Bleh. Anyways, so I turn around and start heading back, and at first it’s just a little bit of rain, but people start whipping out umbrellas like the rain will kill them…I was just like “Whoa, calm down, it’s just a little rain”. 
Well, a couple blocks later, it was coming down a little harder to be a consistent and steady flow of rain.  I was pretty wet, but not drenched, it was still ok.  However, the sidewalks were getting more and more slippery and I was wearing my sandals that are like, 2 inch platform sandals (which are more common here than one might think)—let me tell you, they are not the most ideal shoes to wear on slippery grounds while it’s raining.  So after probably 8 to ten blocks it really starts coming down, like serious rain.  The sidewalks are pretty much cleared, but only because people are now walking on the sides of it to be close to the buildings because many places have awnings or something like them…ok, now even the people with umbrellas were walking there, and that was pretty frustrating because I was the one who ended up moving more into the rain for them.  But at this point it didn’t even matter because I was drenched. Completely, head to toe soaked.  My purse was not doing much better and I was kind of getting worried about my phone, but I didn’t dare pull it out.  So for another 10 blocks (at least, it felt more like 100 though) I’m soaked, walking as fast as I can (which is getting slower by the minute) to get back to the center.  The reason I want to get back to the center is not only because I know how to get home from there, but also because at 5:30 they’re showing a, Argentine movie that won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 2006 (it was incredibly good and I would highly recommend it, yes it’s in Spanish, but get subtitles. It’s called El Secreto de Sus Ojos—it’s seriously so good). 
Anyways, so I’m walking back and although after a bit, the rain lightens up from mega downpour to steady flow, it doesn’t even matter anymore because I’m soaked.  There were several points where the streets were almost flooded and so I did not just cross streets, I waded through them. So after blocks and blocks of wondering “Am I there yet?” I finally made it back to the center.  There were a couple people waiting under it (it has a pretty big section that protects you from the rain) but none actually from IES. 
I figured the people in the building wouldn’t like it very much if I walked in soaking wet, so I sat on the three or so steps in from of the building letting myself dry off a bit. After a few minutes of just sitting (and also making sure my phone was ok—it was fine, it had been in an inner pocket and hadn’t gotten wet at all) I stood up and started wringing out my dress (PS I’m wearing a dress).  Well pretty soon some homeless guy comes up and stands right next to me and starts talking to me, pretty much just saying something along the lines of “Oh you got a little wet, huh?”  And because it was harmless I let it go, but then he stayed standing kind of close.  So I decided I was dry enough to go inside (even though I was still quite wet) and went inside.  So by now it’s like 5:00, so I’m happy I made it back with plenty of time to dry off.  So I go to the bathroom and wring out my dress for pretty much 20 minutes.  By the time I’m done, it’s still pretty damp, but so much better than it was!  So I go into the room where the movie will be and decided to check the rest of the contents of my purse.  The results were not so good.
The guidebook they gave us at orientation (which has saved my butt a number of times) was wet all along the binding of it (but it’s a spiral-notebook-style book, so it’s not too incredibly bad), my “Guía T” (the guide to all things transportation) was completely soaked and totally ruined, it shouldn’t be a big deal to get another one though, what I hadn’t remembered was that I had taken photocopies of some pages of my passport earlier that morning.  Also, I wasn’t sure how many pages I’d need to register for classes (I knew it was some, but couldn’t remember) so I had my copy of every page of my passport with me—thank goodness all the pages were in a plastic page protector thing (Thanks Dad!), some water still seeped in from the top, but the damage could have been much, much worse.  My actual passport was fine also (thank goodness), but it’s a bummer to have only wrinkly pages to give to the Visa place and the background check place (PS we’re all getting background checks because…well I don’t really know why it’s required but it is…and it only covers our background in Argentina…so for almost all of us it will be pretty darn clean) and so that seems really unofficial and boo.  But I guess it could have been a lot, lot worse and I should be grateful that I got off pretty easily. So I am.
So we watched the movie (which was so good!) and by the time it was over, I had been sitting in a damp dress in an air conditioned room for over 2 hours.  When I stepped outside, it was still raining (compared to before it was barely a drizzle though) and I just became so stinkin cold.  As I was standing at the bus stop, I got a call from Yelena asking if I’d be home for dinner.  I told them I was at the bus stop and that they should just eat without me.  So after no less than 10 minutes (but probably more like 15 or so) of waiting for the bus, I was shivering almost non-stop, and it was the first time (I realized) since I had gotten off the plane, that I was actually cold in Argentina.  It took me a week (a little over, actually) to get there, but it happened.
So I finally got home, and I ate dinner, and now I’m here, writing this.  But as promised, more details about our internet.  Apparently it works on her desktop now, but the wireless is finicky.  Yelena can connect, but I can’t seem to be able to get the internet to work L It’s very sad.  Hopefully I can get it to work soon, or find some way to upload this today anyways (it won’t be that hard), but I’d really like for my computer to work.
And even though this post is already three pages long in a Word document, I must tell you about my yesterday.  So when we were at the ranch we were able to sign up for bike tours if we wanted to.  Of course, my group of friends wanted to, so we did.  We signed up for Sunday at 1:15.  We all walked over together (and because we didn’t want to be late, we left pretty early and ended up getting there like, half an hour early…yeah) and once the entire signed up group was there, we were about 10 students strong, with 2 guides, and 1 IES staff member.  So it was a decent sized group of people.  We start biking along (on the street—yes I wore a helmet) and we would stop at certain places and the tour guide people would tell us a little history about where we were.  It was all actually really interesting and really fun.  It was a Sunday and so the roads were super clear, and the weather was pretty much perfect.  One place we stopped for a while was the Ecological Reserve, part of which includes a beach.  Well, as it turns out, the beaches in Argentina are super unsafe to swim in due to all the pollutants and toxins that were dumped in the water over many many years—seriously there was a cop there that would blow his whistle at people that got too close.  So while we were there we drank Terere, which is pretty much cold mate, but with juice instead of water. 
Ok, culture lesson. Mate.  (Mah-teh).  It’s a drink here in Argentina that is similar to a very strong green tea.  There are very specific cups that you use for mate as well as a certain straw (una bombilla).  The straw can be one of a variety of styles, leaving people to pick their preferred style.  Examples of different styles would be that the end of one may look more like a strainer, whereas the end of another may look more like a coil.  The difference is in the way it filters the tea leaves (la yerba), and thus the way the mate tastes.  Typically, mate is a hot drink.  You fill your mate cup 2/3 of the way up with the yerba (which looks a lot like chopped and dried parsley flakes), pour very hot (but not boiling) water in, put the straw in, and let it steep for a few minutes.  You’re not supposed to stir it in any way, you just let it sit.  Then, once steeped, you drink it.  Of course, on a hot day, hot tea is not ideal. So there is another way to drink mate and that is either with cold water or with cold juice. (I’m not sure if any cold mate or just cold mate from juice is called Terere, but at least the juice is.)  Although mate is acceptable as one person’s drink, it is also quite common for a group of friends to drink mate together.  When that happens, there is one server, one cup of mate, and several people.  The server will pour the (in our case) juice into the cup and hand it to a person who drinks until the juice is gone. They then hand it back to the server who pours more juice and hands it to the next person.  This cycle continues until either 1) There’s no more juice, 2) The flavor is gone from the drink, or 3) People just get sick of it (ok I just made up that last one, but I’m sure it happens…maybe). So to recap: mate is a drink—very common in Argentina—that can be shared among friends or drunken separately; it is a type of tea; it requires a special cup and straw; it is delicious. End of culture lesson.
So we had mate with pineapple juice and it might have been the most delicious drink I have ever tasted in my life.  Yeah we were all sharing the same straw and the same glass, but it was totally fine and no one really cared.  We also were able to finalize the rules of our new game we’re playing now.  It’s a picture-taking game.  1 point if you take a picture of a couple making out (it’s so common here…so common), and 5 points if you’re the one making out (of course, that means you have to take a picture while kissing someone, and also I don’t plan on getting points this way).  We’re calling the game “Tourism”.  If I had been camera-ready, I could have gotten two points today.  Oh well, there will be more opportunities for points. I guarantee it.  We’re also making a fake email address to give to people that we all will have access to; we want to see who responds and how they do…it should be a blast J.  After the ecological reserve we continued on our way.  One of the stops was La Plaza de Mayo (I’m sure you’ve heard of it).  We got a pretty sweet history lesson, and then we were able to walk around.  In case you don’t know (I didn’t until I visited) the capital building is in La Plaza…but instead of a White house, they have a pink house. 
Now, there are two legends about the color, one is that the President at the time wanted to show that he was mixing the fascist way of thinking with the communist way of thinking, to be one united country. Thus, white and red make pink.  The other legend is that they used animal blood to mix with the primer to help the paint last.  In any case, we were able to go in (all you had to do was put your bag through the conveyor belt-scanner things they have at airports and boom, entrance to the capital building.  We asked one of the guides there why it was pink, and I’m pretty sure he said it was nothing more than that the president at the time was named Rosado (which means “pink”), which is not nearly as interesting, but probably accurate.  After riding around a bit more (it was a 3 hour tour—with stops) we ended up back where we started.  Now, where we started just happened to be a block away from one of the guide’s favorite bars, called La Puerta Roja (the Red Door), which has no sign, and is simply a red door.  The signature drink of this place is the Chili Bomb.  It’s some type of liquor (don’t know what kind) that has part of a habanera pepper in it, and you drop that into half a glass of Red Bull and chug.
Of course, we had to go there to try it…but it didn’t open until 6 and it was only about 5, so we went to the market, which was conveniently located right by where we were.  There were several blocks of market-y things, and apparently this happens every single Sunday, so we’re pretty pumped about that.  One thing that was on the minds of many people was buying their own mate cup and bombilla.  There were many, many options.  After walking up and down the entire market (probably 4 or five blocks or so) only a handful of us had actually bought mate cups—I am one of them J.  So now I have my own cup and bombilla, I did not, however, buy any yerba…it’s super easy to find and I had already spent quite a bit that day.  Side note, we also at an outdoor place and I had…chori? I can’t remember what it was actually called, but omg it was the best thing I’d ever eaten.  And I don’t even know its name…such a sad story!  So anyways, by now it was about 6:15 and so we made our way back to the street the bar was supposed to be on.  We passed one red-doored place, but it didn’t seem to promising, so we kept walking with the intent to return if there were no other red doors.  However, a few more shops down, there was a tall, narrow, bright red door.  We figured this had to be it.  We opened the door to a stair case, and at the top of the staircase, it had a sign that said “Happy Hour” and then a list of drinks. Yep, we found it. 
Our main goal of going there was to just check it out and see what it was like and to see if we would want to come back again sometime. Short answer to that is yes.  It’s a very chill bar, with a pool table, and lots of places to sit and chat, it just seems like a really cool place.  Well of course, happy hour was from 6-10. We couldn’t pass that up, and people were dying to try the Chili Bomb.  So of the 8 or so of us there, 6 tried it and loved it (the other two (myself included) didn’t try it).  After that, we all ordered beers and went to go sit down.  Yes, I ordered a beer.  A Quilmes, for those of you that care.  It was ok.  I only drank about a third of it before I started to feel the effects of it, and by that point we’d probably been there about half an hour, and people were ready to leave and continue on with plans for the night.  So I had a little help finishing my beer and we headed on our way.  Most of the people in the group wanted to eat dinner picnic-style at a concert that was happening in town.  The plan was to go home and shower (we were all so grimey!) and then meet back up and head out.  Well, I had already made plans to eat dinner with Yelena, and I didn’t really feel like I’d be missing out on a lot, so I said my goodbyes and headed home for the night. 
I must say, Yelena and I felt very Argentine when I got back at 8:30 and we were just starting to get hungry.  It’s a good feeling knowing you can adjust to a culture’s eating habits!  We went out to a little restaurant and were able to order food, and we even had some sobremesa (mini culture lesson: sobremesa (literally “over table”) is time spent after dinner talking.  This usually goes anywhere from 1-4 hours, but in our house it’s usually almost non-existent due to language barriers. Also, another mini culture lesson: here, it is considered very rude for a waiter or waitress to bring the check if you have not asked for it, thus allowing time for sobremesa; people stay in cafés for hours, even if they just order a cup of coffee, and it’s totally ok.) So basically what I’m saying is that I had a good time hanging out with Yelena and I’m glad we’re finding it to be easier and easier to talk about, well anything and everything.  I’m sure it also helps that our schedules have started to drift apart a little more, and so we really don’t know how the other’s day was, and so we can fill each other in on new things learned, or new people met.  We went to another café after dinner so that we could have some dessert and use the wi-fi.  It was nice J
Also, I forgot to tell you about Saturday night.  Friday night was such a bust (if you remember) and Saturday was so much better.  Annalise has a local friend that she’s known for…I don’t really know how long, but her name is Lou.  We (Yelena, Annalise, Lou, and I) went out to eat, then later went to a café for dessert, and we were there for maybe, two hours just talking and having a good time.  The thing is, Lou and Annalise started making Yelena and I speak only in Spanish.  And Lou is kind of a grammar nazi, so we learned a lot because she wouldn’t let us get away with making little mistakes—it was great.  That’s what I want to happen when Inés is here, I want to be able to ask for clarification in English if I need it, and learn how to say things correctly in Spanish.  All in all, it was a pretty good weekend, and I’m excited for this Friday when Inés finally gets back from the States.
Well, three pages later, I’m finally done. I hope you enjoyed my weekend as much as I did! Now I just need to find out how I can post this…but the good thing is that by the time you’re reading this, I already did. Oh yeah, I rule…or I hope I will at least, lol.  The closer to Monday night I post this, the more I rule.  Let’s just go with that.

Ciao!
Kiki

P.S. *Sigh* Alas, I do not rule.