Trabajo nuevo, libros nuevos, y tiempo excelente

Hola todos,

The weather here is improving: it's not as oppressively hot or rainy as it's been. It's about 75 degrees outside now — perfect weather for drinking mate in the park and having picnics. ¡Me encanta! (I love it!)

The Sunday before last I went with Nelson to El Tigre to see el Mercado de los Frutos, a feria with all sorts of crafts. The most popular item seemed to be decorative, Japanese-style wooden plants (tall, curly sticks with flowers on them that you put into a vase). We ate capresse salad and milanesa (does "schnitzel" mean anything to anyone? I saw that as a translation for milanesa in the subtitles of a movie). Later, we drank mate and talked about social justice (specifically, anti-racism) at a park. ¡Lo pasamos muy lindo! (We had a really nice time!)

Here I am drinking mate in El Tigre.

Later that week, I got a new part-time job based in Retiro! I look for executives' contact information to build the company's client base and network. Soon I'll start selling the product (business seminars taught by professionals) as well. It is draining work, and my boss seems temperamental, but being part of a "team" in a super-fancy office and getting free business lunches every Wednesday has made up for the drawbacks so far.

This is a beautiful clock tower I always see first thing as I'm entering Retiro.

And here is what most of the rest of the neighborhood looks like: high-rises and businesspeople!

Last Saturday, Fede had a house party. I met some friends of his from all around the world — France, Belgium, India, and Argentina. We danced, drank (a lot), and partied 'til 5am! (Which wasn't as bad as it sounds, since most people arrived at midnight or 1.) It was a great time, and I got to practice both salsa dancing and Spanish.

On Wednesday I had my first (weekly!) company-sponsored lunch. I ate salad, chop suey with carne argentina (Argentine beef is riquísimo, very delicious), and flan. I also got to know my co-workers better. They are from Britain, the Southern US, and another country I can't remember. Two of my co-workers are girls my age, which is nice!

I also signed up for classes. I'm going to take:

-18th Century European Art
-Medieval Art
-Sociology
-Social Psychology

It looks like a perfect schedule for my last classes as an undergraduate! Estoy emocionada! (I'm excited!)

On my way back from the university, I saw a "Liquidación" sign in the window of an antique book store. I went in to ask what the sale was, and the saleswoman told me that everything in the store was on sale. Only a few of the books had (cheap) prices, so I looked all around and picked out six books: two Guy de Maupassant short stories, Edgar Allen Poe short stories, a Modernist poetry anthology, A Thousand and One Nights, and Machiavelli's the Prince, annotated by Napoleon Bonaparte. When I got to the counter, I asked how much the books were, and they turned out to be more expensive than I'd thought. I told her I'd have to put a few back, and I chose the three cheapest to buy. When putting the books in the bag, though, the saleswoman secretly threw in the other three, too! That was an awesome surprise. I had bought my first Spanish-to-Spanish pocket dictionary that day, and will enjoy reading this great new stuff at cafes and in the sun. =)

Both my mom and my aunt Colleen sent me summer clothes from the United States. They are awesome and smell like perfume and department stores from the United States. (I realized that Abercrombie & Fitch is a distinctly American smell.) I am missing the US a little more now!

My dad gifted me some money, too, and I used it to buy sushi ingredients. Pickled radish (nabo), my favorite ingredient in Korean kimbap, must be prepared differently here because it's not as sweet. But the pickles I bought made up for it, and my portobello mushroom-based, pea sprout-topped sushi was delicious!

Here's a picture of the sushi I made.

And some delicious empanadas I ate at Cafe Piacere.

Besotes,
Kaeli