Buenos Aires

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.