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 13^th 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