So much español, ¡todos los días! I did not realize how exhausting it would be to listen to people talk and to have conversations in Spanish 24/7. It takes a lot of mind power and even my body feels fatigued. That might also be because of the walking to and from subways, standing on the colectivos (buses), and walking down calles (streets), looking for cafés. Usually I can stay up pretty late without any caffeine, but all of this learning and experiencing new things is wearing me out and preventing me from having the Argentine energy late at night. It’s 12:57 AM and I just finished dinner with my mamá! She is a wonderful cook and I like everything that she prepares. Tonight was cooked eggplant with Italian spices and a cheese, zucchini, and tomato bake. We had a lively conversation and I understood more of what was going on than last night. I can tell I’m not completely thinking in Spanish yet because I will see a sign on a chair that says “No apoyarse” and I will immediately translate it into “do not support yourself on this”, the literal translation, rather than “don’t sit on this.” Ay carray.
Today was my first long day of orientation. 11 AM til 6:30 PM. The staff answered questions for us and then told us how to use the buses and subways, and they talked about security. I have been told many times that I should never walk around the streets alone in the nighttime. It’s kind of like the lakeshore path at UW-Madison! You can potentially walk there and not have any problems, but better not take the risk. Unless you’re with people. And they recommend traveling with locals.. People wearing American clothing and yelling in English are more likely to get mugged. I can’t imagine why.
I thought my converter wasn’t working because it wouldn’t charge my laptop.. Turns out, I am foolish and the MacBook charger cord has a built-in adapter, so the transformer isn’t necessary. I never thought about the purpose of the large white box on the cord because I've never taken my laptop out of the country. I just don’t understand why it worked at the hostel but not in my apartment. Oh well. It’s times like these when I need my engineering and math friends at Wisconsin with me to explain simple technological dilemmas like this. Or maybe just someone with a bit more common sense.
By the end of today’s orientation, I felt like I was even worse at Spanish than when I woke up this morning. Perhaps that’s just the result of learning a lot in a short period of time. Sometimes I feel myself forgetting basic words that I learned in high school and use often. I took the bus today and it wasn’t too difficult, but when I came back to Palermo on it and had to find the way to my house, I turned the wrong way and got lost for over half an hour. It was frustrating, but I get lost often anywhere I go due to my poor sense of direction, so I guess it was a familiar feeling.
Once I finally started recognizing cafés and tiendas (stores) near my apartment, I rewarded myself with my first helado (ice cream) in Argentina. It was ¡INCREÍBLE! Seriously the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life. And that is saying a lot, considering I am a frequent consumer of Wisconsin’s Babcock ice cream, and have also tried many a gelato while in Italy. I got half dulce de leche (creamy caramel) and half banana split. So ridiculously amazing! AHH. I have to make sure I don’t buy it every day! Muchos pesos.
I feel pretty alone when I get very lost or can’t understand anyone, but I know that this feeling will pass. It’s crazy that I’ve only been here for 3 days.. It feels like so much longer! Hopefully after a few semanas (weeks), I will feel more adapted to the culture. When I feel very lonely, I cuddle with Tango, the happy Argentine dog living with me. He's very comforting and makes me feel like I’ve always had a dog even though I never have. Perhaps he just brings out part of myself; I have a theory that my soul animal is a prairie dog.
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