En cuanto a los resultados cualitativos ante todo queremos felicitar y destacar a los siguientes alumnos por haber logrado excelentes exámenes que denotan esfuerzo y un profundo aprendizaje de la materia hasta este momento:
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7. Nancy Lundin
This means: With regard to the qualitative results [of the midterm] we would like to congratulate and emphasize the follow students for having achieved excellent exams that show effort and a profound understanding of the class up to this point. And my name was on the list! I was so happy because I tried so hard and really didn't know if it was enough. There were 7 people listed out of the 50 students in the class. I know this is silly, but as soon as I saw this post, I forgot all about Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and his whole attack on the idealistic American Dream and truly believed that if you work hard enough for something, you can make it possible. I realize now that this is completely unrealistic in so many life situations and there will always be people giving everything they've got while receiving nothing in return.
I found out from talking to my host sister that the reason the door made such a loud noise the other morning was because the ladder beside it fell and smacked against the wall outside my room when the door closed. That helps explain why I was leaping out of my skin and jumping to irrational conclusions. Since mamá has left, I have been more responsible for Tango than usual. It's been like having my own dog, which I have never experienced before. He takes a lot of maintenance, that's for sure. If this dog isn't taken on at least 4 walks a day, he pees right outside the door to my room. Not a cute surprise to come back to after class, let me tell you. I like walking with him when I have time; he gets distracted by every tree and post in existence. I have also been spending more time with Toto the cat. He went from not giving me the time of the day when I first arrived to never passing up an opportunity to cuddle. I took a legitimate cat nap the other day with him. It was adorable; you should have seen it. I can tell that both pets miss mamá but I'm glad they have become my snuggle buddies. P.S. I am still not sure if Toto is a boy or a girl. I thought boy, then girl, now I'm not sure again. Whenever someone in the family talks about him/her, I imagine different endings to the adjectives they use to reference him/her (in regards to many Spanish adjectives, whether they end in -a or -o can tell you if the noun they are describing is masculine or feminine). Maybe I'll ask one day, but I feel like it's a little late at this point. Maybe Toto is past gender. Like we all should be! Haha, so anyway..
I had lunch with my friends from psychology class again the other day. I think it would take a year and a half here for me to completely understand their conversations, plus I would have to be introduced to their personal histories and inside jokes. Sometimes if it's too confusing to keep up, I start talking to one person individually and it's a lot easier. I talked to Mercedes about what books we liked and I showed her the one I was currently reading for class, Operación Masacre by Rodolfo Walsh. She said she doesn't like books about Argentine history because this was a subject that was drilled into her head from a young age. I'm not much of a history person either but I do recognize its importance. I introduced my friends to three-quarter hockey and we played it with pesos. This is a game I used to play with my high school friends in the cafeteria; you use three quarters (or in this case, pesos) and there is one player on each side of the table. One person sets two fingers up like a goal, and the other person tries to slide a quarter in between the other two without letting any of them touch. The player moves the quarters across the table until he or she scores or messes up, and then defense and offense switch. My friend Vari thought it would be funny if an outside player started making a soda can dance in the middle of the playing field as a distraction while simultaneously making weird noises. I like this girl. I got really excited when she started singing a song by Los Abuelos de la Nada ("Mil Horas") and I actually was able to chime in with the lyrics! I love sharing musical interests.
I went to the gym with my friend Mark today. I plan on going at least 4 times a week and also eating healthier, because these beef-fat free cookies and alfajores are really starting to catch up with me. It's easy to forget your healthy habits when you're in a completely different setting. Today I went to look for an old Spanish novel called Lo Prohibido by Benito Peréz Galdós for my literature class. I could not find it in any of the 11 bookstores along Santa Fe, the main street, and I was starting to think my teacher invented it. However, I was successful when I visited the numerous stands set up on a median near Plaza Italia where they sell books of all kinds. I am just as bad as my mom at resisting the urge to purchase when I am surrounded by stacks of books. I bought some of Pablo Neruda's poetry along with the book I needed for class. I also made friends with the bookseller named Luis, who was perhaps a bit too friendly. It seems to be much more common for older people to flirt with younger people here than in the States, and it's still taking some getting used to. It will be weird coming back and not experiencing constant double-takes or catcalls on the streets. I wonder if I will be offended by the lack of whistles and think I look just awful that day.
Oh and below is a picture of my ridiculous rainbow pants purchase. Worn almost daily.
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