After a nap and a shower, Monica and I left our hostel and walked around a plaza in San Telmo. The barrio was lively and loud even though it was Sunday night. Students are on summer vacation here, but many working adults were out, too. There were young people playing drums and a really cool clicky instrument of which I should find out the name. People of all ages surrounded the musicians and danced with merriment. I love seeing all of the generations hang out together and have fun. In the books that I've read, the authors say that people of Buenos Aires are always impeccably dressed and jeans and shorts are a rare sight. However, while there are many women in lovely dresses and men in nice jackets, I have also seen plenty of people in casual wear. This is comforting, since dressing up is fun, but I would not want to do this all the time.
We arrived at a café in perfect time for cena (dinner) - 10 pm. While I'm here, I feel very relaxed and laidback. I can understand why everyone is so nonchalant about schedules and time here; the relaxed attitude is contagious. I took my time eating my mozzarella pizza and empanada caprese (pastries filled with cheese or meat; in this case, cheese, tomato and basil). Everything is at a much slower pace here (an exception being the traffic). I ordered café con leche (coffee with milk) because while I'm not usually much of a coffee drinker, I want to be a part of this highly-caffeinated city.
While I can generally carry on conversations in Spanish, buying a cell phone was a different story. The different accent really confused me and at the first store that I went to, the clerk told me that the system was down for all telephones, and then she tried to explain in English by saying "white." This made absolutely no sense to me, but later I wonder if she meant to use it as an expression, as in what we call a "black-out" or something like that. The next store sold me a phone but I originally heard the price wrong and thought it was 100 pesos less than it turned out to be. But by that point, I was so frustrated that I didn't care. Now I just have to figure out how to activate it..
I arrived at my host home; it is very charming and full of flowers and has a cozy feel. I have my own room and it has lots of colors and a vestidor (a closet with hangers and shelves). It was fun staying in a hostel and meeting Xavier from France and Nelson from Colombia, but I enjoy this better because it means that I can finally unpack and stop living out of a suitcase. I'm living in Palermo, a classy barrio with excitement happening at all times. To my delight, we have a cat named Toto and a dog named Tango. This is a nice change because I love animals but do not have any of my own since my dad and brother have allergies. My family has a mother and three kids, but the kids are all grown up with families and do not live in the house. My host mamá is wonderful. She is very sweet and when I don't understand what she's saying, she explains things again and again. She made me a delicious lunch of vegetable salad, arugula with various cheeses, and a pumpkin quiche. She thankfully has no problem with my vegetarianism and is happy to accommodate. The water here is safe to drink, which is a relief since I would prefer not to spend all of my pesos on bottled water.
Mi mamá took the subte (subway) with me today to get to my first orientation, which was very kind of her. She showed me the different lines you can take and advised me to keep an eye on my possessions because the packed subte is the perfect place for someone to steal from you without you noticing. A girl at my orientation said that someone stole all of her important documents out of her backpack without her noticing. I was also told that it is common for pickpockets to "accidentally" spill something on you and then try to help you clean it up, and then steal your bag while you are distracted. To add to the list of tourist disasters.. The ATMs here take your debit cards and then give them back to you after you are finished with your transaction; many people forget to take the card afterward!
It is glorious and sunny today - 80 degrees F! I believe it stays like this for another month and then starts getting "colder".. which means warm by Chicago and Madison standards. Now I have orientation for a month before classes start. That seems like ages but our director told us that we aren't ready to study in real Argentine classes yet. And when I think about it, I agree. It will take me a while to get used to the culture differences and Argentine Spanish before I can even think about listening to lectures, taking notes, writing essays, and doing everything else... All in Spanish. I am anxious to improve so that everything makes more sense and I don't have to constantly be saying "repite, por favor." My electronic converter worked in the hostel but isn't working here, so I hope to figure that out before too long. My computer is running low on battery! Hasta luego; and I will sometimes sum up a few of my points in Spanish if I am in that sort of mood. Gracias.
Después de tomar un descanso y una ducha, mi amiga Monica y yo salimos del hostel y caminamos por una plaza en San Telmo. Comí una cena fantástica de pizza y empanadas. Me encanta todo de la cultura de Buenos Aires. Me siento relajada y alegre. Vivo en el barrio Palermo con una mamá argentina. Ella tiene tres hijos pero viven en otros lugares porque son mayores y tienen sus propias familias. El tiempo aquí es perfecto; hace sol y hace calor. Anduve en subte y no fue demasiado difícil. Estoy emocionada para mejorar mi español y empezar las materias. ¡Buenos Aires es increíble!
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