On Friday night, I had an empanada dinner at my friend Whitney's apartment while her host parents were at a party. It was super relaxed and there were also plums. I like having friends. Later we met up a bunch of chums and went bowling. I love doing this because it is such a social sport; it's really more just like hanging out while throwing things at other things. Everyone is always really excited and in a good mood and the more the merrier. It reminds me of other fun bowling times with my Indian Princess tribe and my dad when I was little, and when I went with Wisconsin friends in Milwaukee.
The next afternoon, I met up with a group of kids from the IFSA program and we helped a woman's rights organization paint a mural in a run-down neighborhood to try to bring hope and cheer to its inhabitants. It was a bit disorganized and there was still graffiti all over the walls when we got there, but they painted primer over it and then we started to paint. The paint was a bit watery and I really don't know if it's going to withstand a few rain showers.. But fingers crossed, I suppose. It was a really nice time, and there were kids from the barrio there helping us out. It was extraordinarily hot standing in the scorching sun for hours on end, but it was worth it. We all painted our own depictions of paz (peace), igualdad (equality), and un futuro mejor (a better future). My friend Mark painted a big tree and then the kids helped him make leaves by painting their hands and placing them on the branches on the wall. I painted a peace sign with "Imagine" in Spanish written in the middle, basing my drawing off the Strawberry Fields John Lennon memorial in New York.
Today was another family meal, lunch with María Sol, my host sister who I have already met, her husband Pablo and their daughter Juanita, the grandparents, and then also Sebastian (my host brother), his wife Vicky, and their son Lucas. The number of people present was intimidating, but it felt nice being in a house full of people again. I could understand my host grandfather a bit better this time, and we talked about dogs and places we've visited. Vicky and I talked over doing dishes about her job as an English teacher. She is fluent but will not speak to me in English, which I appreciate since I have to improve my Spanish. The conversations with everyone at the dinner table are still difficult for me to follow, but hopefully by the end of my trip I will be able to understand everything and make important contributions to the conversations. Some days I feel competent at Spanish and other days I feel like it's a language completely new to me. I think I have to do a better job at immersing myself in it, which seems silly since I'm in a country that only speaks Spanish. However, a lot of my friends that I have made in the exchange program prefer to speak English since it is easier to communicate ideas, and this makes me practice less. I guess it's one of those things that you have to really really want to do.
Just a few hours ago I had the opportunity to play fútbol (soccer) with Argentines! It was really fun and a good workout.. But I realized that it didn't help that I haven't played since grade school recess. I need to amp up my game and practice more often. The Argentines were really nice anyway and passed me the ball even though that was obviously not an effective way to win. I shall embark on Mission Impossible: to score a goal in a fútbol game before I leave.
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