¡Domingo fantástico!

Hola gente linda,

I had a fantastic Sunday! =) 

 (I thought this picture was funny, because I have no idea what it's advertising or why "try me," which seems like a threat, would be appropriate! lol)

I hadn't made any plans for the day, and in the morning I spent a long time debating whether I should just stay home and do the montón (tons) of reading I have to do for class or go somewhere in the city. Going somewhere would require finding something cheap or free and then figuring out the transportation (which can be complicated). I thought about going to la MALBA, a famous art museum, but it's free for students on Wednesdays, and I have Wednesdays off! So I'm definitely going to save it for then. After the frustration of not finding anything for a while, I was on the verge of staying home. I forced myself to keep looking, though, because I know it will be a hard week in school, so I should do everything I can to take full advantage of my Sunday. It occurred to me, finally, to go to Chinatown! =)

Getting there and back was simpler than I'd thought it would be. And near the bus stop was a nice feria (craft fair/flea market)! I'd forgotten until running into them, but there are ferias throughout the whole city on Sundays!

I love Chinatown!!! I ate spicy chicken on a stick (one of my favorite foods of this trip!), explored the stores, and went to an art gallery. The place was very crowded, and there were a lot of Argentine, Chinese and American people there (I know they were American because I heard a lot of them speaking American-style English!). There were delicious foods and cheap trinkets all around! And instead of security cameras, most stores had a man sitting up high on a display case to watch the customers. Besides the chicken, I bought some dumplings for lunches during the week, a headband with a flower on it, and a pretty scarf, all for very cheap! =)

The art gallery in Chinatown was great. There were lots of photos themed around migration and immigration. My favorite piece was a bluish lava-lamp with little people in it. The people move, as if walking, in different directions depending on your gaze. The piece is called "Migración," Migration. It made me think about how the process of migration/immigration is continuous, because you keep returning to old places and cultures in your mind, or keep gradually moving towards new ones. Surrounding "Micración" were black-and-white photos reflecting blue light and white origami boats. It was pretty!

Another piece I really liked was a photo of a ship with an axe in it. On the wall there was a translation of a Chinese proverb that goes something like: "When you move to a new country, you should destroy the ship that carried you." That was a scary thought! I don't like the thought of staying anywhere forever. I guess the impact it had on me was in the shock... I also wondered about the rationale: "be completely present?" At any rate, I won't be destroying any ship!

After exploring Chinatown for a few hours, I started heading back. Through the window on the bus, though, I saw a Spanish art museum, and decided to check it out. It was only 1 peso to get in, and the museum was so amazing! Most of the art was from the 1500's. There were lots of beautiful, religious-themed wooden sculptures — my favorites were of Jesus's corpse and his mourners (there were a lot with that theme). In one room there was a wall-sized painting of different scenes in Jesus's life, and some of the robes, halos, and backgrounds were plated with gold. There was also a great portrait of a nobleman sitting on a hill with his umbrella, and a colorful, windy city in the background. It was the most beautiful commissioned portrait I've ever seen!

The museum had a beautiful garden, too! That I did take pictures of. I will have to go back sometime and spend a day there.

Yesterday I hung out with my friend Raluca. We went to a book fair, the Biblioteca Nacional (the National Library), and a huge supermarket called Jumbo. They were all slight disappointments! It was a good time, though, because we walked for miles together and talked the whole time. We also got some delicious pastries to eat at a shop. I bought a tart with fruit on it and she a piece of bread. We also got some chocolate cakes with cherries on top as muestras (samples). I could hardly believe they were samples. I would value each one at $5! lol. Anyway, it was great! =) At the library we looked at newspapers from the 1930's. I love seeing how everyone's styles and concerns have changed. I'll be going back to the library later because September is its centenario (hundredth anniversary), and there will be lots of cool events there.

Now I'm going to get to my homework!

Chao chao!
Kaeli

La ESMA y el Tango

Today I went on a field trip to la ESMA (a museum), a parrilla restaurant, a free tango class, and to a few bookstores!

La ESMA is a naval academy. From 1976-1983, it was used as a clandestine detainment/torture/extermination center by the military regime. Many of the guards were naval officers, but some were young people: students of the naval academy, between 16-24 years old. 5,000 of the 30,000 desaparecidos (disappeared people) who were kidnapped by the government passed through la ESMA. The building is in the center of the city, and prisoners were brought there at all hours of the day. Some of the prisoners were part of a guerrilla resistance, some were intellectuals, and some were brought there only because they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (for example, out with a friend who the government wanted to detain). There was no logic to the terms of the detainment: some people were there for a few days, and others for months or years. All were tortured, some did slave labor, and most were killed. The regime's famous torture method was to tranquilize victims and throw them from a helicopter into the river while they were still alive. Years later, the bones of the desaparecidos started washing ashore. Only 4 of the 5,000 who were detained there escaped from la ESMA.

I went on a tour (with the other American students in my program) of the Casino de Oficiales (the building where the naval officials lived), where most of the torture took place. The basement and attic were both prison and torture centers, and pregnant women were kept separate so that their children could be appropriated to military officials and their friends. About 15,000 children were appropriated by the people who had tortured and killed their parents. Thanks to some very courageous and hard-working mothers (of the desaparecidos), some have been identified. The mothers want to start a blood bank in Argentina in order to discover more.

In order to protect themselves, the officials modified the building many times in an attempt to discredit witnesses' testimonies. They moved staircases, shifted rooms, added new facades, removed an elevator... Although it did become clear that la ESMA was indeed a torture center, the military convinced President Menem, the first non-military president after that period, to pardon almost all of the criminals involved. There has been a lot of justice done since, but the whereabouts of many of the desaparecidos and some of the criminals are still unknown.

It was terrible to learn that all those people were dehumanized and killed. It still affects Argentine families so much. The two biggest lessons I took away were that the culprit was dehumanization. Anything is justifiable when you're not dealing with people, but destestable, guilty, nameless objects. It's so important to appreciate people as people no matter what other categories, political or otherwise, they belong to. Even violent guerrilla warriors (which few of the detained people actually were), are humans.

The second big lesson I learned were the sorts of people detained. The tour guide quoted someone (I can't remember who!) as saying that the people considered criminals are: "First the subversive; then the collaborators; then the sympathizers; next the indecisive; and finally, the timid." I love that quote, because it shows that when one person or group is dehumanized, no one else is safe. It's so important, for that reason, to fight against every injustice.

On a much lighter note, I also went to a free tango class with some friends tonight! There was live music and really good (basic!) instruction. I danced with an Argentinian guy who asked me. He asked me if I was Brazilian. When I told him that I'm from Chicago, he asked if it was gothic, like Batman's Gotham City, lol. I told him that there are lots of glass skyscrapers there, and he said, "Oh..." I knew just as little about Buenos Aires before I got here! lol.

After tangoing, I went to some bookstores and found two amazing books for 8 pesos (about 25 cents)! Tomorrow I'm going to go with another friend to some weekend book fairs. =)

¡Mis vacaciones a Iguazú!

Hola, gente linda (beautiful people),

 

Last Friday through Sunday I went on vacation with my American classmates to Iguazú! It's closer to the equator than Buenos Aires, and the region borders Brazil and Paraguay (I saw the place where las 3 fronteras — the three borders — meet!). We had a tour guide named Lucas for the trip, and he told us that the Guaraní, the indigenous people of Iguazú, speak a language called Guaraportuñol: a combination of Guaraní, Portuguese, and Spanish! We all laughed when we heard that name. We're having a hard enough time learning rioplatense (River Plate, Buenos Aires-specific) Spanish!

The trip was amazing! Our program directors plan activities for us every Friday (and in some cases for the weekend), but don't give us much information. Beyond what to pack (shorts, something waterproof, walking shoes, bug spray, and a swimsuit), we had no idea what to expect!

We stayed in cabañas (cabins) in a resort called Orquídeas (Orchids). Here is a picture of the entrance. The place was full of beautiful flowers and trees!

 

I drank fresh-squeezed mandarin juice every day at the hotel! (Jugo exprimido de mandarina, in case you ever want it!) Yum!! 

On Friday, we walked through and learned about la selva (the jungle). After walking for a while, and traveling in our safari-style jeep to another site, we pulled up to about 25 harnesses and helmets. ...Yes, we were surprised, too! lol. We ended up jumping down the side of a cliff with a rope and harness, and "flying like birds" (el vuelo del pájaro) through three ziplines above the forest! Those who know me even superficially have got to be amazed that I did this, lol. But I did! I wasn't even too afraid. The scariest part for me was climbing the completely perpendicular stairs (while attached to a harness, but still...). It was fun, but not my favorite thing. I actually prefer to see the trees from the path below — they all look the same from above! But it was cool to have done something brave! =) Here's a picture of me ziplining:

 

When we drove back to the resort from the forest, the pueblo I saw affected me a lot: it was the first time I'd seen so many huts, farmers working with animals and their hands, and people with dusty faces and clothes. We saw so many people as we passed, and the shacks, made of wooden planks and tin roofs, were very small. The poverty there was so sad. The kids were all playing: some played soccer, and others played videogames on their phones or Nintendo DS. A lot of them waved to us. Sweet kids!

On Saturday we went to las Cataratas: the famous waterfalls. They are something you could never believe without seeing! Even though I was expecting them and could hear the water roaring and see the mist from far away, when I really saw them, it was hard to believe that a place like that exists! The mist from the falls is white and very immense, and hundreds of black birds called vencejos fly through it. Lucas told us that the Guaraní believe that the souls of their ancestors live on in those biggest falls. 

Here are pictures of the trail and some of the falls (there are over 200!):

 

Amazing! =) Another surprise adventure (and the reason we needed swimsuits) was a boat tour right up to the falls. When I say "right up to the falls," I'm not kidding! We actually passed under two waterfalls! That was really not my favorite thing... But I did it! (In this case, more because of ignorance about what I was getting into than feeling daring... lol)

  

On Sunday I went with a few of my friends to the town of Iguazú. We looked in a few very touristy craft shops, and one of my friends bought a cheap sweater made of llama wool (in Spanish, lana de lama). After that we went to the place where the 3 fronteras (borders) of Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay meet. The two rivers, Río Paraná and Río Paraguay, were very beautiful! The forest in the background made them even better. 

And that was my trip to Iguazú! 

On Monday I had class again. Latin-American History, which I had for the first time that day, was very hard! The professor talks really fast, and I don't know much about the subject matter. I know it will be a huge challenge (she warned us that there's a lot to read), but I'm excited! I know very little about Latin America at this point, and now am determined to learn. =)

The reading assigned for Latin-American Art (history) was very hard as well. I had to look up about one in every fourteen words! There were about 120 pages assigned for the last two weeks, so that was really a lot. The subject is one I like, though, and the words I looked up are good ones. I'm going to write a poem with them, both as a fun activity and a way to remember the words! lol. 

I met a guy named Gabriel in my Literature class today. He has an Escher tessellation tattooed on his arm! We were talking about zoos, and he used the word "entorno," environment. I had looked that word up earlier in the day, but it wasn't in my dictionary and I couldn't infer what it meant. How crazy (and lucky) that it randomly came up! =)

I met a few other Argentinians in my classes, too. They're all really helpful and nice!

Chao, everyone!

Kaeli

Iguazú mañana

Hola todos,

First, pictures!

Here are more pinturadas (graffiti) I like:

 

 "Fashion kills." I'm not positive, but I think this could mean: "Following the crowd kills."

  

 "REVOLUTION in the plazas, the houses, the beds."

 

 This is an empanada. (It's a bad picture. I'll post a better one later!) Empanadas are sweet, flaky dough filled (usually) with meat. They are cheap (5 pesos, about $1.25) and delicous! =) I eat them almost every day for lunch! lol

 

 This is a mall: Alto Palermo. The professors from our study-abroad program told us we'd feel completely at home there-- all malls are basically the same! They were pretty much right. The food court was even filled with fake Chinese food, just like at malls in the U.S. There were a lot of the same stores (Adidas, etc.), and even lots of signs and music in English. The one difference that struck me (although it probably can't be generalized, even for this mall) was that instead of peppy pop music in the halls, there was lighter, melodic music. I liked it! But other than that-- a mall is a mall is a mall!

 

"Vos" are here!

Now for the daily happenings: I asked my host mom today if she could help me conjugate some verbs. She, Ale(jandra) and Santi(ago) have been offering all the time to help me with any Spanish questions, and-- having homework now (and questions beyond "how do you say...?" which I've been asking them quite a lot)-- I took them up on it.

I asked Susana, "¿Puede ayudarme conjugar algunas palabras?" "Can you help me conjugate some words?" She didn't understand the "conjugar" part, and I thought it might have been the wrong word. She figured it out, though, and then spent ten or fifteen minutes trying to teach me how to say it. "'CON - JU - GAR.' No 'con - WHO- jar.' 'CON - JU - GAR.'" She called out to Santi, who was on the computer upstairs. "Santi! Is there any word in English that has 'JU' in it? I'm trying to teach Kaeli how to say 'ju!'" She said that Americans mumble everything. I have to make the vowels strong! "A! E! U! JU!"

All this was sort of a "My Fair Lady" moment. "Why do I need to say it again?" I was thinking. "I already said it! Conjugar! Conjugar! I need help conjugating!" I kept my frustrations to myself, though, and eventually understood the problem: I say "ju" like "who," with a 'w' sound at the end. "Who(w)." Frustrations, frustrations! It was really funny hearing Susana try to imitate American vowel sounds, though, and they did help me out with my homework (and confirmed my suspicion that it's very unlikely I'll use these specific conjugations or words, which are relatively obscure). So, even though it's frustrating, I'm glad they take the time to correct me sometimes! =) 

Another communication misadventure: On the colectivo (public bus) today, I heard someone say "¿Bajas?" "Are you getting off the bus?" I figured he was talking to someone else. I heard it again, though, and saw that he was looking at me. "¿Bajas en la próxima parada?" "Are you getting off the bus at the next stop?" I shook my head a little and said the name of my stop, which I'm sure I mispronounced. He sighed a little and got off the bus. After he left, I realized that he'd been inviting me to get off the bus at the next stop. "Do you want to get off the bus at the next stop with me?" Just yesterday our study-abroad professors told us that it's common for people (guys in particular) to ask strangers out for coffee and give pirotos (compliments/pick-up lines), and that if we want to (in a public place), fine, and if not, most Argentinians are very responsive to "No." This guy was really, really cute! Language problems suck, lol. 

But again (I'll probably wear this phrase out), I'm getting better! ¡Mejoro! 

I'm going to Iguazú Falls tomorrow. It will be summer weather there (it's been wintery in Buenos Aires). It should be really fun! 

Chau chau!

Kaeli

Primer día de clases

Hola todos,

Today was my first day of classes at la Universidad de Palermo: I had Latin American Art History in the morning and Latin American Literature at night. Both classes are at pretty terrible hours-- the first starts at 8:30am and the second ends at 10pm. (Obviously I go home in the middle. Siesta time!)

I liked both classes a lot-- especially art. I learned that for a long time after colonization, both the paintings and the literature in Latin America basically mirrored the European works, and uniquely Latin American arts developed after the revolutions. We're going to skip over most of the colonial stuff and look at the things produced before and after. Everything except the Mexican stuff (I took a Mexican culture class last term) is completely new to me. It's cool to study unfamiliar things from an expert, unfamiliar perspective. =)

Yesterday was el Día de San Martín, el Libertador. It was like Independence Day. Here, everything is open for longer on holidays (and on Sundays) instead of shutting down, and everyone went out. =) As far as I know, there aren't any Día de San Martín traditions, but most people had the day off-- a 3-day extended weekend.

I went with some friends to the Cultural Center at la Recoleta. The Cultural Center was like an art museum. I loved it! There were several photo series' there, and they were really great. There was a feria outside (basically a craft and performing arts fair), and I got some fresh-squeezed orange juice and watched a tango dance there. Fresh-squeezed orange juice, especially when you've walked and walked and walked, is an amazing thing! =)

Here are some pictures from yesterday:

 These almonds were 3 pesos (about 75 cents). They weren't as delicious as they looked! They were a decent snack, though, and looked so good that I had to try them!

 This tree was HUGE! A lot of its branches were supported by beams like the one on the left.

 "The Matrix has imprisoned you. It's time to wake up. Read the Gauchos."

People picnicking in San Martín Park.

Chau!

Kaeli

Corrientes y Callao

Tonight I went to Corrientes y Callao, an intersection famous for its librerías (bookstores). It's an especially active area at night. (There's a strange schedule here-- from what I can tell, everyone's out in the morning. From about 12-5 pm, everything's completely dead, and from 10pm-4am, everyone is out!) I got to the intersection around 7:00, and everything was closed! I wondered if maybe nothing was open on Sunday. I decided to walk around and look for anything that was open, but instead ran into the Congress Building again. I'd read today that the architecture along the whole street from el Congreso to la Plaza de Mayo is famous. I was wondering (at home) which direction I should walk to see all that, but when I got there and looked around, it wasn't hard to figure out! The buildings and sculptures were so amazing!

I didn't want to walk too far away from the subway, so after about an hour I headed back. At about 8:00, everything had started up! (And things got busier and busier as time went on.) The bookstores, like the buildings, were amazing! There are lots of used books at excellent prices, and I picked up one of my favorite works in Spanish (Églogas by Garcilaso-- I'd been trying to remember the name of that for a long time, but I flipped a book open, and there it was!). It was one of the bargains-- only 4 pesos (about a dollar!). The first (and best) of the bookstores I checked out played Beatles music the entire time. The second played swing, and the third American pop.

 

Here's a picture from the first time I went to Corrientes y Callao, on an educational trip. We saw the Obalisque and then went to a famous pizza restaurant, El Güerrin. The ice cream in the picture was chocolate, strawberry, and lemon. All the dessert here is very delicious (riquísimo!).

 

Chau!

Kaeli

Congreso, Arte, y Antigüedades

Hola todos,

My big plan for today was to see an art exhibit-- Constelaciones (Constellations). The museum is far from my house, and I knew it would be an adventure to try to get there! My friend Raluca wanted to see the exhibit, too (and go to the after-party), so we decided to meet at 2. I couldn't remember for sure the stop we'd agreed on, so I texted and called her to ask. Since to the best of my memory she'd said Congreso, I got off el Subte there. Since Raluca hadn't answered, and was nowhere in sight, I decided to walk around. And surprise (but really it was), there was the National Congress Building! Again, these pictures don't convey a bit of what I saw. It was huge, and intricately carved, and very beautiful!

Raluca called me later (she had overslept), and we met at the San Juan stop. We took a bus to La Boca, the province where el Museo Maguncia (the museum we went to) is. We accidentally got off a few stops early, and walked several blocks through a deserted shipyard area and a huge crowd of soccer (¡fútbol!) fans. We were the only two walking in the direction that we were, passing hundreds of soccer fans walking the other way. A few of them shouted compliments at us. It was a little scary! When we made it through the crowd, though, the museum was right in front of us. =)

Constelaciones was amazing. El Museo Maguncia is apparently one of paper and stamps, so all the work was painted and drawn on paper (except for a few photographs and sculptures). Almost all the art I've seen before has been oil and canvas, so it was definitely something new!

I didn't take any pictures (both because my camera was very nearly dead and because I wasn't sure if they were allowed), but my very favorite work was a bunch of what I think were modified kids' drawings. A lot of it had to do with being a foreigner and holding on to your culture. One illustrated a fountain, another a dog out in the rain. One was a gloomy desert sunset that said "NO SOY DE AQUÍ" (I'M NOT FROM HERE). Another had a picture of a Mayan sculpture with a color-code and all the rules violated, and right next to it a Mayan hieroglyphic guide with "O" being the only letter missing.

My favorite piece of that series was one that looked like a page ripped out of a notebook. It said (among other things), "Puede. Quien? What date? Que fecha? Qué día es hoy? Mejoró. Mejoro. ahora. ahora. ahora. hoy. hoy. hoy. hoy. esta noche. grande. pequeño. I inglés. No entiendo. No entiendo. Me entiendos? despacios. Taxi." All these are words are things that a foreigner is likely to need. "He can/you can. Who? What date? I improved. I'm improving. Now. Today. Tonight. I don't understand. Do you understand me? Slowly, please. Small. Large. Taxi." I can absolutely relate to this one! My Spanish is much, much better than that (I understood a whole lecture about Arab women in film yesterday!), but my notebook is filled with daily-use phrases that I'm just learning, too. I loved the word-play with "I improved/I'm improving," which in Spanish is the same word with or without an accent.

Some of my other favorites were a picture of a huge building like el Congreso painted and drawn with different textures and colors (it made me think of memory and the associations we make with different places); some papers torn out of notebooks with incomplete magazine collages (that one also made me think about memory, and the medium was really interesting); and a drawing of three princesses on a stage in front of a big gray castle with smokestacks.

Unfortunately, my internet wasn't working this morning, so I didn't see that the after-party starts at 7, and didn't get the address of the location! It was a great exhibit, though, and after that we made our way back and explored an antique store. A few rooms in the store were full of antique chandeliers. It was really beautiful! I also saw an original version of Eva Perón's autobiography, which used to be a required book in school.

I took the wrong routes several times on el Subte trying to get back, but eventually it worked out, and I saw some great subway art! lol. I'm not sure yet what I'll do tomorrow. I'm thinking tango, antiques, and/or books!

Here's more graffiti I liked (from Palermo Chico):

Chao!
Kaeli

Palermo Chico, Evita, and Arab Women in Film

Hola todos,

Today was a life-changing day! First, the most trivial thing: I picked up my laundry. I can tell already that I'm going to miss lavarropas (the laundromats). They washed, dried, folded, and packaged two loads of clothes for about $5, and now they all smell wonderful! It was like a gift! =)

In the afternoon I set out for Palermo Chico, where all the students in our program had to meet at 2:45 for a tour at the Evita Perón Museum. I got there at 1:45 (I had left myself plenty of time for transportation mishaps), so I decided to explore the area.

Palermo Chico is muy caro (very rich). Walking along, I saw iron gates amongst some regular buildings. As I passed them, a well-dressed worker opened the gates for someone, and behind them I saw a private condominium complex with a huge courtyard, a big, colonial-style clock, and beautiful balconies. It seemed exactly fit for Cinderella-- I literally gasped when I saw it. My shock made me lose the photo opp!

I did take other pictures, but none of them convey the smallest part of what I saw! These two come closest. It was a pretty, consumerist, ultra-Disney-esque feel.

The Evita Perón Museum was really nice. The museum is in a house that Evita had designated as a refuge for poor and abused women and their kids. Evita was credited for achieving women's suffrage in Argentina and improving all sorts of human rights. Born in the countryside and without even a high school education, she represented Argentina at important conferences abroad, signed treaties, and won major awards for her social justice work. For those reasons she's loved, but many dislike her, too: she promoted Peronism above anything else, and in that way did a lot of damage.

Her dresses and hats were so beautiful, and one exhibit-- a video of her funeral-- was in black, white, and red, with tango music playing and mirrors on the side of the room. It was muy imprecionante (had a big impression on me). I'd never seen film before in black, white, and red, and I liked it a lot. The mirrors made us feel like we were part of the huge funeral crowd. After the tour, we ate at the museum café. It was very fancy and fun!

After that came the real life-changing event (this is political and depressing): I went with my friend Raluca to a discussion about Arab women in film at the Spanish Embassy. We watched clips of Palestinian women sharing their experiences, thoughts, and hopes. Many of them had been students before the Israeli occupation, but a wall that divided the people (between Israel and Palestine) thereafter prevented some from getting to school, hospitals, etc, and others who tried to cross were harassed, humiliated, raped, and otherwise hurt.

One of the speakers (the blonde one) is a reporter for TeleSur and was stationed in Iraq. Over a million civilians were killed there, she said, and the war is terrible as ever now. She showed her own footage of the bombs going off, people walking out of the wreckage covered in blood and dust with missing limbs, dead babies, bloody babies. America has supported and funded all these things. It struck me so much.

It's going on now, in our names, but we (almost) all keep quiet and try to think of nicer things. Americans now are like Germans during WWII: so close to us people are dying, but when we're eventually held accountable, we will have to say, "We didn't know." I feel terrible about not knowing, and that so many of us, capable of helping, don't.

The reporter who spoke thinks that information, which is kept from the people (for control, power, money), is the most important thing. I think so, too, and I'm glad I saw and heard these things. Film is a powerful, informative means!

Today was a very eventful day, and I still have Saturday, Sunday, and Monday (which is a holiday) to go! =) Many more updates later!

Chau! (The Argentine way to spell it!)
Kaeli

Hola todos,

Here are some pictures of graffiti (pintadas) around the city. There are pintadas all over the place, and some of them are really good. =)

A "heart" robot (that's his name, inscribed on the side), "amor and anarchy," and a heart and piece of cake. I love it! =)

I love the picture of David with a Santa hat! The blue sign on the building is a street sign. They're often on houses instead of street corners here, which can make it hard to navigate! (But I'm getting better.)

I've been learning a lot in the last few days! Besides the sights and pintadas (and food), I love some of the phrases I've been hearing all the time. My favorites are:

un montón: a ton It sounds like "a mountain." I have a montón of things to do!

a vos: to you "Vos" is the Argentine way to say "you." It's kind of a regional thing. Whenever I say "gracias" to anyone, they say, "A vos!"-- (Thanks) to you!

tranquila: (be) calm All us estudiantes de intercambio (exchange students) have been hearing this a lot. Tranquila, tranquilo, tranquilos! Calm down. The sentiment and the word are both nice! =)

There have been a lot of firsts for me this week! My first Argentine bus ride, first time to a lavarropa/laundromat, first time at a restaurante ordering for myself, first time to an Argentine phone store and bank. There were small misunderstandings every time. Most embarrassingly, I wasn't sure where to put the coins to pay for the bus, since the machine is towards the middle of the bus instead of the front like in Chicago, and when the bus driver asked me "What's your fare? Where are you going?" I didn't understand him until minutes later! I also waited to be seated at a restaurant where apparently you seat yourself, and at a different restaurant, ordered without taking a number (which apparently you do, like at a deli). But it wasn't so bad, I guess, and now I know! 

Although those things have been embarrassing, the most embarrassing thing has been the parade of Americans we're sometimes required to be, when we all go to Movistar to get our phones, or all go to a touristy place for an educational trip. 

While it's obvious that I'm a foreigner, I don't like to look like such a tourist! We are really a spectacle, lol. But oh, well. It's been good to see the historical sites and go to various types of restaurants with an Argentinian to explain things we didn't understand.

Besides the embarrassing things, I've encountered a lot of cosas raras-- weird things. 

Stores that sell both children's clothes and lingerie (there are many like that) and lamp stores. I love the lamps!

Dogs with sueters-- there are a lot of those! Argentinians love their dogs. I even saw a doggy optometrist!

Tiny espresso cups-- they're at every restaurant and cafe.

Finally, "English Soup." They call vanilla "American cream!"

Ok, I've reached my limit! Hope you enjoyed!

Ciao!

Kaeli