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 14^th.  Right now it is the 8^th.  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 13^th 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.