There has been a lot of excitement since the last time I wrote! First, some pictures:
I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture, but some of the dogs here are GIANT. I've seen at least 12 domesticated dogs the size of wolves in the last month! And lots of dog-walkers walking bands of 10 dogs all at once!
Another thing you can see in this picture are the tiles on the sidewalks: some of them aren't completely stable, so you have to watch your step! The plus side, though, is that they're not all litter-filled— people wash the sidewalks with hoses every day.
Here's a view of some of the skyscrapers and a famous flower sculpture.
There are beautiful statues all around the city. This is once is near the Museo de Bellas Artes!
On Saturday I went to another FILBA (literature festival) event: a panel of authors who discussed their ideas about sexuality in writing. It wasn't very good because the most arrogant one of the authors hogged the stage. I'm glad I went, though, so I don't have to wonder what I missed.
Sunday I saw La bella y la bestia (Beauty and the Beast), a Broadway musical, with three American friends. The costumes, special effects, songs and dances were amazing! During the scene where everyone praises Gastón at a bar out in the country (which I have to say, reminded me a lot of small-town Galesburg), all the dancers clinked their glasses together as part of the music. It was really cool. The dinner/"Be My Guest" scene was a super-glittery cabaret show. ¡Muy lindo! (Very beautiful!) My favorite special effects were when the beast and Gastón fought outside in the rain: the castle balcony and stage-light rain looked amazing. And when the beast turned back into a handsome prince, he levitated and spun completely around (vertically) three times!
I learned some new phrases from the show, too: "provincial life," "bad temper," and "I have to get out of here!" All good things to know, lol.
My first class on Tuesday was canceled, so I stayed up late chatting, listened to music, and lazed around 'til the afternoon. That was exactly the kind of relaxation I needed.
The second half of Tuesday was a bit of a misadventure. I ran some errands in the late afternoon and ended up in an area I didn't know very well. Although I knew the number of my bus and the general area of the bus stop, I wasn't able to find it, so I took a taxi back to class. Luckily taxis are cheap here— it only cost me 15 pesos (about 4 dollars) to make the 30 minute trip to my class. The class goes from 7-10:00, and I hadn't eaten anything since lunch that day— I just rushed out and did my errands. And at about 8:00, I started feeling really faint! I told the guy sitting next to me, "No me siento bien. Pienso que voy a fallecerme." Although I'd used a pretty hilariously wrong word (I said that I didn't feel good and might "pass away," instead of "faint"), he understood what I meant and was really a lot of help. He literally ran to a kiosk to buy me some water and told the receptionists at the school that I needed a medic. The water helped, and the medics said that my blood pressure and blood sugar were low, so I just needed to eat something and rest. I did that, and am now todo bien (all well!). It was embarrassing having fainted in class, but some good did come of the misadventure: I met a really nice receptionist, Mariano, who asked me on a date!
Today, my day off, I set out to find Korea-town. Wikipedia says it's on la Avenida Avellaneda, which is within walking distance from my house, so I figured I'd just walk the street and look for Korean shops and food. After not running into anything for quite a while, I asked someone who directed me to a bus that would take me a lot farther. Through the windows on the bus, I found it! There were hundreds of discount clothes shops with clothes that took me right back to Korea: the flowered shirts old ladies wear, stylish hats, belts, and socks, and lots of t-shirts with unintelligible English (one girls' shirt said simply: "I hate you!" lol). There weren't as many Korean restaurants as I'd hoped for, but I asked a few people and found a good one. I ate kimchi (spicy pickled cabbage), spicy soybean soup, and rice. It was delicious! I've been craving exactly those things (and spicy food in general) for quite a while!
In other exciting news: four people in the last two days told me that my Spanish is very good!
Tomorrow I'm going to walk and talk with the mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. More to come about that! =)
Saludos!
Kaeli
No comments:
Post a Comment