I spent today getting my life back together. I had some old traveler's checks from Spain thankfully. I started at the bank across the street. They told me to go to the bank next door. I went to the bank next door, and they told me to go to Citi Bank. I went to Citi Bank and they would only change them in increments of $200. I only had $150. So off I trekked to the American Express office.
It's located in a neighborhood area I hadn't seen yet. It was a long leisurely walk (all the while breaking in my new boots). I finally found it, waited in line for about and hour, and now have 307 pesos to last until a new debit card arrives. (If that ever happens. I hate Regions bank. Tons.)
I then walked for a while, feeling very sorry for myself. I ended up at the Recoleta cemetery again. It was such a lovely place to brood. Just me, a gray sky, a few tourists, some stray cats, and about 500 tombs. I somewhat stalked this couple I could tell was American (man had on a Michigan football hat). I lingered around them for a while, thought about offering to take their picture for them, but finally chickened out. I was starved for smiling American interaction. Ijust wanted to talk to someone happy.
I eventually got it together and went on a lunch hunt. I found this cute little cafe. I sat in the corner to weep and people watch. I got this cool pumpkin and chicken quiche thing. Then this family came in and sat next to me. They were from BA. A mother and father in their late 50s I'd guess and their son (28-30?) I passed them a menu bc they didn't have one and the lady struck up a convo with me.
It was a lovely convo about the USA, Louisiana, Obama v McCain (they think McCain is too old and sick to be president), my internship, and more. My Spanish was rocking. It was a lovely pick me up in this time of distress.
I left (the son did not ask me out. He should have. His mom would be a great mother-in-law.) and headed back to the residence. I then borrowed keys from Santa Barbara and went to get them copied. 18 pesos later, I have keys.
Cash - check. Keys - check. Card - no check.
I was in a melancholy walking mood so I trecked over to the cobblestone streets of San Telmo. It was not as cute without the street fair they have on Sundays. But still a lovely walk. I made it back home again and lounged with Santa Barbara. I went to the grocery store, ate soup, watched some Entourage episodes, and now I'm in bed.
One day at a time.
Tomorrow I'm going to get up (probably at 7 when the contruction starts. I hate living in this building. Hate hate hate.) and maybe go to the gym again. More likely is that I will go drink cafe con leches and eat medialunas. Then internship and maybe a bar or something. We shall see.
I'm a bit crushed in spirit. Hopefully my vigor will return.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
29 is not so fine
Today was my first weekday with no school. No getting up at 8:30 to get ready in the dark. No Federico interaction. No GIC office.
Brie and I went to Pilates at the gym. Very chill this time. The teacher played a lovely selection of No Doubt and Sting. Afterward we came to the residence got ready and went to conquer Palermo.
Palermo is the hip neighborhood much like the Village of NYC. It’s quieter and full of awesome cafes, restaurants, and stores. All of the good parks are over that way as well. We shopped all afternoon, ate at an awesome restaurant (I had a huge salad with sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese and glee). I bought 2 cool graphic t-shirts (part of my new South American style), 2 pairs of earrings, and some boots. Now I know I already bought nice boots but these were on sale and are beautiful and timeless. I love them. They're like a caramel brown with a small buckle detail. Slight wedge. Perfection.
We hung out in a café for an hour or so reading. Then we headed to the subte. We each had to buy a new pass so we did that. Then we got on the subte, rode 4 stops, and headed out. Then I noticed my purse felt a little light.
And it wasn’t because I had spent all my money.
It was because someone stole my wallet.
Hooray hooray.
I was carrying my cute new purse that goes across the shoulder and latches closed. Someone literally must have opened it, grabbed my wallet, and closed it back.
Mystery is my camera remains. Thank God. Silver lining to my cloud.
(The same thing happened in Spain, but they got my wallet and camera. I’ve been through this.)
So some Argentina dude now has my cute Spain wallet I’ve been using, about 156 pesos (50 dollars-ish), my keys (along with really cute new key chain I bought at the art fair), my debit card, a photocopy of my passport and driver’s license, insurance card, and various receipts. Congratulations thief.
I didn’t freak out. Things like this happen in big cities. In the metro. In Spanish speaking countries. To me.
I called and cancelled my card. I talked to Visa 911 on the phone for about 36 minutes trying to get them to send me a card to Argentina not Monroe. I cried on the phone to my mother and Jan. The usual.
Santa Barbara is helping me out. They’ve supplied cash, wine, and Sex and the City. All I need.
I have some old traveler’s checks I’m going to try to cash tomorrow. It’s all going to be just fine. I’m going to buy a cuter wallet, find the key chain lady at the fair this weekend, and treat myself to a pedicure, cut and highlight whenever my credit card comes.
But something wicked this way has come. I believe I am cursed.
Anyone recall what happened on the 29th of August? Oh yes – attempted mugging of phone and purse. 29th of September (today)? Wallet stolen.
And my birthday? 29th of March.
29 is my unlucky number. 29th of March 2007? Hospital in Spain.
I can’t imagine what will happen on my 29th birthday. Or how the year 2029 will be.
What have I done? Some weird voodoo is going on. And it ain’t cool.
Brie and I went to Pilates at the gym. Very chill this time. The teacher played a lovely selection of No Doubt and Sting. Afterward we came to the residence got ready and went to conquer Palermo.
Palermo is the hip neighborhood much like the Village of NYC. It’s quieter and full of awesome cafes, restaurants, and stores. All of the good parks are over that way as well. We shopped all afternoon, ate at an awesome restaurant (I had a huge salad with sun dried tomatoes and blue cheese and glee). I bought 2 cool graphic t-shirts (part of my new South American style), 2 pairs of earrings, and some boots. Now I know I already bought nice boots but these were on sale and are beautiful and timeless. I love them. They're like a caramel brown with a small buckle detail. Slight wedge. Perfection.
We hung out in a café for an hour or so reading. Then we headed to the subte. We each had to buy a new pass so we did that. Then we got on the subte, rode 4 stops, and headed out. Then I noticed my purse felt a little light.
And it wasn’t because I had spent all my money.
It was because someone stole my wallet.
Hooray hooray.
I was carrying my cute new purse that goes across the shoulder and latches closed. Someone literally must have opened it, grabbed my wallet, and closed it back.
Mystery is my camera remains. Thank God. Silver lining to my cloud.
(The same thing happened in Spain, but they got my wallet and camera. I’ve been through this.)
So some Argentina dude now has my cute Spain wallet I’ve been using, about 156 pesos (50 dollars-ish), my keys (along with really cute new key chain I bought at the art fair), my debit card, a photocopy of my passport and driver’s license, insurance card, and various receipts. Congratulations thief.
I didn’t freak out. Things like this happen in big cities. In the metro. In Spanish speaking countries. To me.
I called and cancelled my card. I talked to Visa 911 on the phone for about 36 minutes trying to get them to send me a card to Argentina not Monroe. I cried on the phone to my mother and Jan. The usual.
Santa Barbara is helping me out. They’ve supplied cash, wine, and Sex and the City. All I need.
I have some old traveler’s checks I’m going to try to cash tomorrow. It’s all going to be just fine. I’m going to buy a cuter wallet, find the key chain lady at the fair this weekend, and treat myself to a pedicure, cut and highlight whenever my credit card comes.
But something wicked this way has come. I believe I am cursed.
Anyone recall what happened on the 29th of August? Oh yes – attempted mugging of phone and purse. 29th of September (today)? Wallet stolen.
And my birthday? 29th of March.
29 is my unlucky number. 29th of March 2007? Hospital in Spain.
I can’t imagine what will happen on my 29th birthday. Or how the year 2029 will be.
What have I done? Some weird voodoo is going on. And it ain’t cool.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Donde esta Ron Paul?
Hola amigos. It’s been a lovely week here in Buenos Aires. I’ve been here for exactly one month. It actually seems like much more. Not in like an “I’ve been here forever wow I must really have been born here not at St. Francis” but just in wow has it really just been 4 weeks? I suppose it’s because I’ve done quite a bit. Went to Mendoza, Iguazu, 4 weeks of classes - it just seems like more than a month’s worth of life.
So let’s see what happened this week.
Oh yes. Monday night we went to this really cool music thing. It’s called Bomba de Tiempo. It happens every Monday night at Konex Cultural Center (where I saw RENT). Basically every student-ish hippie in the Buenos Aires area comes together in this parking lot type location and listens to this drum band. It’s like a hippie drum line. Like if Drumline movie replaced the Grambling band with say – Widespread or something. Quite cool. It was very fun. We didn’t stay the whole time. An hour of drumming is more than enough for me. I bought a nice t-shirt that I clearly can’t wear until I get home. I would be like when I used to play tennis as an adolescent. We would go to all these tournaments. When you checked in, they always gave you the tourney t-shirt. Then the next day, some kids would actually wear the shirt. You just can’t wear the shirt at the event. Not cool. (Also similar to sorority life when they give out the rowdy redneck t on Monday night and on Tuesday 6 girls in the same Journalism class all have it on.)
Tuesday I had class then internship. Or I attempted to. I left school, got on the subte (subway), and got off at my normal stop for work. But somehow I ended up walking around for an hour with no Club del Disco in sight. I honestly felt like I was looking for Platform 9 and ¾. I finally quit and came home. I need OnStar Argentina or something. I spent the afternoon in the Coffee Store instead.
Wednesday I did class and actually made it to work. Hooray! I gave a presentation in class about Susana Giminez – basically the Oprah of Argentina but with scandals. Federico made me do one last presentation. He told me I could do it on anything. That’s too broad. Tuesday I asked him just to give me a topic. He then asked what are my interests. We had been through this many times already. He then asked “Don’t’ you like celebrities and stuff?” Si I do. He told me to pick a famosa from Argentina. It was fun. I know lots about Susana now. Her favorite flower is jasmine and her favorite singer is Sinatra. Her favorite historical figure is Jesus.
Thursday I did school and work. That night I went to a bar called “The Shamrock” (go kd). Then we tried dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Not much success there. Santa Barbara is seriously mixing their Mexican food. So we tried. And it was a failure. They don’t really do spice here hence bland bad mexi food. Jessica ordered this flauta thing that turned out to be basically a foot long, 4-inch wide, hollow fried circle. So bizarre. Then the impossible happened. We went out.
Every Thursday the residencia kids go to this bar bc a guy that lives here works as a promoter and gets everyone in and free drinks on Thursdays. So we had been to Shamrock, dinner, and now it’s about 11:45. But oh no. Here that is much to early to venture out. We had to force ourselves awake until 1:30 or so when we went. (We watched the office premiere… not obsessed.) Then it was time to go. We jumped in cabs and headed to Puerto Madero, the hip fancy area. We got there, got in, and got drink tickets. And everyone got Strawberry Daiquiris. Not a joke. I was just following the crowd and got one too. So Spring Break. So gross. Chewing on sugar basically. With maybe a splash of some sort of alcohol. No good. Then the music begins.
Oh the wonder! 90s music. Including: Shania Twain, The Cardigans, etc. I can’t recall them all but I basically sang and danced for the hour. Then things start getting crunk in da club. Boys here are quite aggressive. It’s kind of a latch on, grab, grind, philosophy. Oh how lovely. We all danced around it but eventually pretty much everyone was pairing off with these dudes. Adios. Taxi please. And I came home. I took a cab with some girls. One of the girls in the car was wasted off 4 of the aforementioned daiquiris. About as wasted as the high school situation of 4 Mike’s Hard Lemonades. Not really possible. I laughed. Got home a bit before 4.
And off to class at 9. Woo hoo fiesta fiesta. My last day was a bit anticlimactic. A new girl joined my class on Wednesday so it was no longer intimate conversation class with Federico. It turned more into preschool. We played Go Fish and Mad Libs and drew on the board. However we did have an interesting last lesson.
Spanish insults.
The other girl is this 18 yr old from Seattle. Fresh from high school. She was ecstatic to learn some Spanish cuss words. I was still cowering from the “let’s learn all the body parts day.” But here we return to private parts on the board with lovely slang words.
To really offend someone here, you can call him or her a used condom. Good to know eh?
So I’m beet red and not looking up and making eye contact with anyone. Federico notices and is like “Charlotte – they’re just words!” Dude I know. Gross bad words. Too much time at Desoto to say such things.
So class ends. I basically say Gracias and Adios. And run. No professions of love.
So I’m free from class! No more waking up early everyday while my roomies sleep! I went to lunch with Santa Barbara. We ate outside at a café. So lovely. Spring really has sprung. It’s much warmer.
Friday night you better believe I was finding somewhere to watch the debate. It was at Ole Miss. I was so into it and had to see it. SO I Google my way around the internet and find one ex-pat debate watching party hosted by – Democrats of Argentina. So me and my new 300 democrats abroad watched the debate at this cool bar. It was packed. People were very into it. Lots of yelling. Lots of McCain sucks. Lots of anger. Lots of fun! I’m probably the only one there who hasn’t dedicated her life to Obama. I’m still holding out for Ron Paul. I miss him dearly. Maybe there’s a Libertarian in Argentina club. I’ll Google that later. Go Ron Paul.
The debate was just so mean. Why can’t we all get along? I hate how the candidates sit there and smirk while the other talks. Hates it. Santa Barbara is going to start volunteering with Democrats of Argentina so I’m sure I’ll tag along to the VP debate. I already feel so sorry for Palin due to the hostility I know will occur all the way in BA.
I’m not sure whom I’m voting for. But my Mom keeps telling me I have to vote to cancel out Gwyneth Paltrow’s expat vote.
Saturday was a fabulous day! We shopped in Recoleta. I bought my new fave purse. We went to the artist’s fair. We went to this huge flower sculpture I’d been dying to see. We went to the cemetery. We drank a beer. Great great day. Saturday night we went to dinner at this teeny tiny sketchy location Indian place. It was very cool. Then we got gelato. Amazing. Still hunting for a good meal.
Today (Sunday) was dreary outside. Perfect for a day in Café Martinez. We sat there with medialunas and tea all afternoon. Also shared my fave torta bomba. It’s like a pie of dulce de leche, custard, brownie, and love. So good.
Then tonight I went to see Hairspray. It was wonderful. Better than the US tour version I saw in Memphis with the skinny Tracy. This was awesome. The Tracy was selected via reality show. Link was played by the same guy who played the lead in the Argentina version of High School Musical (so just like Zach Efron). The Spanish was tricky but I know every word in English so I could follow. I went alone but befriended the people sitting near me. It was in a huge theater. Very Broadway. I can’t wait to go to another show. I love theater. Love it. The man who played Edna Turnblad is some famous comedian genious who also translated and rewrote the play in Spanish. He was great.
Speaking of Tracy Turnblad, does John McCain ever remind you of John Travolta in drag with that lisp? Or is it just me.
So now I’m home, about to go to bed I suppose. No school tomorrow! What shall I do?
Besos y mas besos.
-Carlotta
Back at Konex. Rent propoganda. Big beer. All's good.
The Bomba de Tiempo
At the club with my daiquiri.
Obama party
Recoleta cemetery. Very NOLA.
Art fair
Floralis Generico. My fave thing in BA maybe. It opens and closes according the the sun.
Jump flor.
So let’s see what happened this week.
Oh yes. Monday night we went to this really cool music thing. It’s called Bomba de Tiempo. It happens every Monday night at Konex Cultural Center (where I saw RENT). Basically every student-ish hippie in the Buenos Aires area comes together in this parking lot type location and listens to this drum band. It’s like a hippie drum line. Like if Drumline movie replaced the Grambling band with say – Widespread or something. Quite cool. It was very fun. We didn’t stay the whole time. An hour of drumming is more than enough for me. I bought a nice t-shirt that I clearly can’t wear until I get home. I would be like when I used to play tennis as an adolescent. We would go to all these tournaments. When you checked in, they always gave you the tourney t-shirt. Then the next day, some kids would actually wear the shirt. You just can’t wear the shirt at the event. Not cool. (Also similar to sorority life when they give out the rowdy redneck t on Monday night and on Tuesday 6 girls in the same Journalism class all have it on.)
Tuesday I had class then internship. Or I attempted to. I left school, got on the subte (subway), and got off at my normal stop for work. But somehow I ended up walking around for an hour with no Club del Disco in sight. I honestly felt like I was looking for Platform 9 and ¾. I finally quit and came home. I need OnStar Argentina or something. I spent the afternoon in the Coffee Store instead.
Wednesday I did class and actually made it to work. Hooray! I gave a presentation in class about Susana Giminez – basically the Oprah of Argentina but with scandals. Federico made me do one last presentation. He told me I could do it on anything. That’s too broad. Tuesday I asked him just to give me a topic. He then asked what are my interests. We had been through this many times already. He then asked “Don’t’ you like celebrities and stuff?” Si I do. He told me to pick a famosa from Argentina. It was fun. I know lots about Susana now. Her favorite flower is jasmine and her favorite singer is Sinatra. Her favorite historical figure is Jesus.
Thursday I did school and work. That night I went to a bar called “The Shamrock” (go kd). Then we tried dinner at a Mexican restaurant. Not much success there. Santa Barbara is seriously mixing their Mexican food. So we tried. And it was a failure. They don’t really do spice here hence bland bad mexi food. Jessica ordered this flauta thing that turned out to be basically a foot long, 4-inch wide, hollow fried circle. So bizarre. Then the impossible happened. We went out.
Every Thursday the residencia kids go to this bar bc a guy that lives here works as a promoter and gets everyone in and free drinks on Thursdays. So we had been to Shamrock, dinner, and now it’s about 11:45. But oh no. Here that is much to early to venture out. We had to force ourselves awake until 1:30 or so when we went. (We watched the office premiere… not obsessed.) Then it was time to go. We jumped in cabs and headed to Puerto Madero, the hip fancy area. We got there, got in, and got drink tickets. And everyone got Strawberry Daiquiris. Not a joke. I was just following the crowd and got one too. So Spring Break. So gross. Chewing on sugar basically. With maybe a splash of some sort of alcohol. No good. Then the music begins.
Oh the wonder! 90s music. Including: Shania Twain, The Cardigans, etc. I can’t recall them all but I basically sang and danced for the hour. Then things start getting crunk in da club. Boys here are quite aggressive. It’s kind of a latch on, grab, grind, philosophy. Oh how lovely. We all danced around it but eventually pretty much everyone was pairing off with these dudes. Adios. Taxi please. And I came home. I took a cab with some girls. One of the girls in the car was wasted off 4 of the aforementioned daiquiris. About as wasted as the high school situation of 4 Mike’s Hard Lemonades. Not really possible. I laughed. Got home a bit before 4.
And off to class at 9. Woo hoo fiesta fiesta. My last day was a bit anticlimactic. A new girl joined my class on Wednesday so it was no longer intimate conversation class with Federico. It turned more into preschool. We played Go Fish and Mad Libs and drew on the board. However we did have an interesting last lesson.
Spanish insults.
The other girl is this 18 yr old from Seattle. Fresh from high school. She was ecstatic to learn some Spanish cuss words. I was still cowering from the “let’s learn all the body parts day.” But here we return to private parts on the board with lovely slang words.
To really offend someone here, you can call him or her a used condom. Good to know eh?
So I’m beet red and not looking up and making eye contact with anyone. Federico notices and is like “Charlotte – they’re just words!” Dude I know. Gross bad words. Too much time at Desoto to say such things.
So class ends. I basically say Gracias and Adios. And run. No professions of love.
So I’m free from class! No more waking up early everyday while my roomies sleep! I went to lunch with Santa Barbara. We ate outside at a café. So lovely. Spring really has sprung. It’s much warmer.
Friday night you better believe I was finding somewhere to watch the debate. It was at Ole Miss. I was so into it and had to see it. SO I Google my way around the internet and find one ex-pat debate watching party hosted by – Democrats of Argentina. So me and my new 300 democrats abroad watched the debate at this cool bar. It was packed. People were very into it. Lots of yelling. Lots of McCain sucks. Lots of anger. Lots of fun! I’m probably the only one there who hasn’t dedicated her life to Obama. I’m still holding out for Ron Paul. I miss him dearly. Maybe there’s a Libertarian in Argentina club. I’ll Google that later. Go Ron Paul.
The debate was just so mean. Why can’t we all get along? I hate how the candidates sit there and smirk while the other talks. Hates it. Santa Barbara is going to start volunteering with Democrats of Argentina so I’m sure I’ll tag along to the VP debate. I already feel so sorry for Palin due to the hostility I know will occur all the way in BA.
I’m not sure whom I’m voting for. But my Mom keeps telling me I have to vote to cancel out Gwyneth Paltrow’s expat vote.
Saturday was a fabulous day! We shopped in Recoleta. I bought my new fave purse. We went to the artist’s fair. We went to this huge flower sculpture I’d been dying to see. We went to the cemetery. We drank a beer. Great great day. Saturday night we went to dinner at this teeny tiny sketchy location Indian place. It was very cool. Then we got gelato. Amazing. Still hunting for a good meal.
Today (Sunday) was dreary outside. Perfect for a day in Café Martinez. We sat there with medialunas and tea all afternoon. Also shared my fave torta bomba. It’s like a pie of dulce de leche, custard, brownie, and love. So good.
Then tonight I went to see Hairspray. It was wonderful. Better than the US tour version I saw in Memphis with the skinny Tracy. This was awesome. The Tracy was selected via reality show. Link was played by the same guy who played the lead in the Argentina version of High School Musical (so just like Zach Efron). The Spanish was tricky but I know every word in English so I could follow. I went alone but befriended the people sitting near me. It was in a huge theater. Very Broadway. I can’t wait to go to another show. I love theater. Love it. The man who played Edna Turnblad is some famous comedian genious who also translated and rewrote the play in Spanish. He was great.
Speaking of Tracy Turnblad, does John McCain ever remind you of John Travolta in drag with that lisp? Or is it just me.
So now I’m home, about to go to bed I suppose. No school tomorrow! What shall I do?
Besos y mas besos.
-Carlotta
Back at Konex. Rent propoganda. Big beer. All's good.
The Bomba de Tiempo
At the club with my daiquiri.
Obama party
Recoleta cemetery. Very NOLA.
Art fair
Floralis Generico. My fave thing in BA maybe. It opens and closes according the the sun.
Jump flor.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Spanish is the new back handspring
So I was sitting in class yesterday morning not having one of my best Spanish days. I was day dreaming a bit. Federico was going on about the pluscuamperfecto verb tense which I am pretty sure we can all live without. And it hit me.
Me trying to master Spanish is just like in 8th grade when I tried to master the back handspring.
I tried out for cheerleader at Grace at the end of 6th grade. I can still remember tryout clinic at Parkview. We did a dance to some song that says "Make the sun come up." I made it - I have mucho enthusiasm. Not the best jumps, but mucho enthusiasm.
I cheered all of 7th grade. Tried out again in 8th. Due to the departure of the other co-captain (so not my fault, due to some other mother's belief), I was the official captain. I'm sure I lead those 11 girls with much vigor as we cheered on the 3 grace CYO football players while they still permitted non-Catholics to cheer and the basketball team as we played our games at the Richardson Alternative School. Oh the good ole days...
My cheer future was bright. High school was approaching. Clearly I had to be a St. Fred's cheerleader. Duh. But to be a high school cheerleader you have to tumble.
Oh no.
I have many talents. Flipping and jumping and the splits just aren't part of them. But boy did I try. I spent hours and hours on group cheer lessons at Bayou/Riverside Gymnastics. Private lessons with ULM cheerleaders Ty and Robert. Probably more money than my St. Fred's tuition. All to be able to jump backwards, throw my hands down, and flip over. Why is that even an option? Seriously who has this idea?
After about 2 years, infinite money that I'm too embarrassed to calculate, and many tearful collapses on the spring floor after the coaches told me to just go do more sit jumps, I realized that I am never going to be able to do this. It's just not in the cards for me.
Well fast forward to about say um now. After 9 years of Spanish classes. A month in Costa Rica. 4 months in Spain. An entire college degree of Spanish.
I still can't do it.
Don't get me wrong - I have my good days. Sometimes I'm talking to cab driers with such success I hardly even notice it's a different language. Other times I just laugh and smile. But sometimes, the Spanish just goes away. I'm not sure where. Maybe to Brazil. I did take 3 semesters of Portuguese. (And all I recall is Bom Dia!)
Just like the dern back handspring, so goes Spanish. Mucho time, muchisimo money, and here I am. The only cheerleader who can't tumble.
At least I still have the enthusiasm.
Me trying to master Spanish is just like in 8th grade when I tried to master the back handspring.
I tried out for cheerleader at Grace at the end of 6th grade. I can still remember tryout clinic at Parkview. We did a dance to some song that says "Make the sun come up." I made it - I have mucho enthusiasm. Not the best jumps, but mucho enthusiasm.
I cheered all of 7th grade. Tried out again in 8th. Due to the departure of the other co-captain (so not my fault, due to some other mother's belief), I was the official captain. I'm sure I lead those 11 girls with much vigor as we cheered on the 3 grace CYO football players while they still permitted non-Catholics to cheer and the basketball team as we played our games at the Richardson Alternative School. Oh the good ole days...
My cheer future was bright. High school was approaching. Clearly I had to be a St. Fred's cheerleader. Duh. But to be a high school cheerleader you have to tumble.
Oh no.
I have many talents. Flipping and jumping and the splits just aren't part of them. But boy did I try. I spent hours and hours on group cheer lessons at Bayou/Riverside Gymnastics. Private lessons with ULM cheerleaders Ty and Robert. Probably more money than my St. Fred's tuition. All to be able to jump backwards, throw my hands down, and flip over. Why is that even an option? Seriously who has this idea?
After about 2 years, infinite money that I'm too embarrassed to calculate, and many tearful collapses on the spring floor after the coaches told me to just go do more sit jumps, I realized that I am never going to be able to do this. It's just not in the cards for me.
Well fast forward to about say um now. After 9 years of Spanish classes. A month in Costa Rica. 4 months in Spain. An entire college degree of Spanish.
I still can't do it.
Don't get me wrong - I have my good days. Sometimes I'm talking to cab driers with such success I hardly even notice it's a different language. Other times I just laugh and smile. But sometimes, the Spanish just goes away. I'm not sure where. Maybe to Brazil. I did take 3 semesters of Portuguese. (And all I recall is Bom Dia!)
Just like the dern back handspring, so goes Spanish. Mucho time, muchisimo money, and here I am. The only cheerleader who can't tumble.
At least I still have the enthusiasm.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Bachelor: Iguazu Falls
Hola amigos! All's fab here in Argentina. I got back from Iguazu this morning at 7:30. We came back to the residencia, I showered, went to school. School was fun but mentally exhausting. It was like a marathon of verb tenses. Frederico dude. It's Monday. I slept on a bus. It was ok until the end when I basically told him that it was too much I quit. I'm going to redeem myself tomorrow.
So you are in for a treat. You get a special edition preview of ABC's best reality show. I fortunately/unfortunately was basically a contestant on The Bachelor this weekend.
First there was Alex.
Later there was the perfect Andrew Firestone.
Now there's Mariano.
Mariano is one of the program coordinators for GIC. In his spare time he is an actor. He enjoys Russian literature, history, and the outdoors. Mariano grew up in southern Argentina in the Patagonia. He came to Buenos Aires 6 years ago to study his craft, acting, at the University. But he hasn't quite found the woman to settle him down. Hes moving to Mexico in three weeks to sudy arquitechture and pursue his acting career. But for now, Mariano chaperones the Iguazu GIC trip with 13 girls and 3 boys. Off to northern Argentina they will all travel. Will he find love? Will the girls kill eachother? Will the rainforest bring out the jaguar in everyone? Watch the Bachelor: Iguazu Falls to find out.
Bachelor Mariano and the contestants met at the bus station Thursday evening. They mingled and giggled and tried to establish themselves. I was super awkward and laughed really loud and got really excited a lot. He laughed at my Vera Bradley bag (Yes, some may travel South America with a backpack. But I went to Ole Miss. I travel with a Vera Bradley duffel.) The girls gawked at his beauty while Mariano, being the latin lover that he is, spoke in beautiful Spanish causing each girl to fall into a deep crush. This bachelor has certainly won over the ladies.
Everyone boards the bus that will take them 15 hours north the the very top of Argentina. The contestants take their seats and wait to see where the Bachelor will sit. Who will get the first impression rose?
Charlotte Mintz. That's right. Mariano sits down in his seat assigned by the gods of love and fate and Spanish. Right netx to me. 15 hours of fun. We chat about our families, hopes, dreams, number of children we want to have, etc. Then he begins to read a novel by his favorite author, Herman Hesse. He takes a look at my book, Eat Pray Love (which I just reread, even better the second time) and reads the back. We have a fun flirty time reading each other's books and ocassionaly, our elbows touch. Sharing that armrest, heaven.
Dinner is served. We dine. A romantic dinner of steak, potatoes, argentina mystery foods, all served in tin foil. We drink red wine out of styrofoam cups. So romantic. Dinner ends and the movies begin (Prime, Scoop, Death at a Funeral). They bring us a cup of champagne in another styro cup. Our first date of dinner, drinks, and a movie is just perfection. I laughed quite a bit, just so the other contestants could hear me and hear how much fun we were having.
The movies end, and it's time to go to sleep. Now I'm not one to sleep with the guy on the first date, but what was I to do (joke joke)? The lights dimmed, he reclined his seat and pulled up the foot rest, I reclined my seat and put up the foot rest, he put on his hoodie, I put on my IPOD, and we slept. No night vision cameras needed. Throughout the bus sleep (kind of miz, but better than an airplane I think), I wake up to see the Bachelor still there. Oh what luck! I totally get the first impression rose.
Fast forward 8 hours. Who looks awesome after sleeping on a bus? Not me. And probably not you. Not even Mariano. The magic of the whole night was tarnished a bit due to my mousy hair and dirty face. No time to brush teeth. Once Mariano went to the bathroom I whipped out my makeup bag to do some damage control. Gum, oil absorbing sheet, lip gloss, and bobby pins. I'm back in the game.
They put on another DVD. As if my life could get any better.... Britney Spears Greatest Hits DVD. Oh yes they did. And Mariano and I had already talked about how she was from Louisiana (that's all these people know about Louisiana, and ocassionally Mardi Gras). We watched some Britney videos and shortly thereafter arrived in Iguazu.
We get off the bus and I am feeling the jealousy of the other contestants. I got so much alone time. I know! I'm totally getting the ring.
We jump in cabs and go to the hostel. The hostel is basically this huge cheap resortish type place with a pool, ping pong tables, pool tables, couches, restaurant - basically a mini Rio Yucatan (the infamous location of Spring Break 2008).
We spend the day by the pool, fighting over the Bachelor, girls really showing off the goods. We drink beer, play cards and ping pong, typical hostel fun. Mariano then went off on some rugged adventure to repel, rock climb, zipline, etc. We all missed him so much. People were really falling for him already. I asked him later what his favorite part of the adventure was. He said "learing the history of where we were". What a sexy scholar.
As always, the girl with the First Impression Rose never makes it long. I'm history. Not a good competitor for the fellas. Plus, as always, after the first few episodes, The Bachelor totally starts to look like a total loser. I hate this term but he was it. D bag. Now it gets more fun. As an observer, I really got to see what being on the Bachelor is like.
Night falls and drinking begins. Girls giggle and fight for his attention. At one point, Mariano has come to sit with me and the Santa Barbara girls. He's been there for maybe 4 minutes and some skank comes and says, "Mariano! You have to come play cards with us!" She stole him away.
Events like this continue all night long. Vom vom vom.
We call it a night and go to bed. I heard one of the contestants say when she came back to our room that night "Mariano is an angel". We get up early the next morning to go the the falls.
Iguazu Falls consists of 215 waterfalls located on the border of Brasil and Argentina. It really is stunning. I've never seen Niagara Falls but I hear it's lame compared to this. Not only do we have waterfally here, it's in the rain forest. So amazing. The latest Indiana Jones movie was filmed there.
But in typical travel spirit - it rains. Pours. And is freezing. It's like the bachelor gods (ABC producers) sent us on the outdoorsy date to test who would complain etc.
So cold. Constant rain. And we're in basically what feels like Disney's Animal Kingdom but it's real.
We wak through the park, go on a safari-ish ride through the jungle, and then on a boat.
By the time we get on the boat it is really about to storm. Have no fear though. They load us on what looks like a Coast Guard rescue boat with old school life jackets and say good luck. It was like we were on Deadliest Catch. They take us on this dingy (it really is like a rescue boat. Women and children first please. And it takes you into danger, not away from it.) and head for the waterfalls. I am crouched down in fetal position trying to avoid the ice bullet rain drops. The water is like white water. Peace out Ocoee. Hello waterwalls. Of death. The boat driver is decked out in full rubber suit. And he looks miserable and evil. It's like he was punishing us. By this point, delirium has totally set in. It becomes funny. He rams us up almost under one of the falls and my side of the boat literally is submerged. I swallow gulps of water. I realize that I am going do die on the adveture date. He pulls us out and then does it again. We survive and make it back to the dock. MIRACLE. There are no safety regulations in South America.
We are so ready to go at this point. No point in changing into our extra clothes because - that's right. It's still pouring rain.
A bachelor moment occurs. Mariano gives Jessica his jacket. It smelled of smoke, Old Spice and love. All the girls freak just like when Andrew Firestone gave his watch to Tina Fabulous to wear. Jealousy is pouring down harder than the rain. Or the waterfalls.
We get back to the hostel. I have never been so cold. Like hypothermic. I take a cold shower (yay hostel hot water. not.) and get in bed. I wrap up in 4 blankets but cannot get warm. Eventually I regain feeling in my feet. I get it together to go to the main building for dinner.
The Bachelor game continues as the plan of every girl is to "Get Mariano really drunk". Peace out chicas. About half the girls are out of the game at this point. Only a few remain. They try as hard as they can to win his affection. After the day of pneumonia, I regret the invitation to jump in the hostel van and go into town to the local club. The remaining contestants go try to seduce. I hear them when they come back in the morning. "Did anyone kiss Mariano????"
No they did not.
The next day is more of the same. The final girls really duking it out. They try to play volleyball. We leave on a bus at 3. The Bachelor has alternate transportation. The game is over.
The Bachelor remains single. I do not accept this rose.
That's basically the weekend. So beautiful. (Mariano and the falls).
It was hysterical to watch. I swear it was the Bachelor.
Here are some pics to illustrate to fun. Maybe they'll pick me to be the Bachelorette. I'm sure I was the viewers' favorite.
The hostel
Stalker pics
Hola Bachelor.
He looks a little Sexy Mexi but it works in real life.
Danielle and I in our fashionable Iguazu Falls ponchos
Jessica in Marian's jacket
So jeal
On the safari truck. So Animal Kingdom.
The falls. You should google "Iguazu" and see good pics. I did. It was a bit misty and gray for us.
More falls. Cataratas (en espanol)
Brie y yo at the falls.
More stalker pics
I could be a pro stalker. It's a video.
From the bus on the way back. Such a nice day.
A blue sky. Would have been nice a day earlier. But whatevs. It was nice to meet Iguazu even under the miz conditions.
Forgot to mention that on the bus back we got stopped twice by some border patrol type thing. Army men and dogs searched everyone's stuff. It was so South America.
So you are in for a treat. You get a special edition preview of ABC's best reality show. I fortunately/unfortunately was basically a contestant on The Bachelor this weekend.
First there was Alex.
Later there was the perfect Andrew Firestone.
Now there's Mariano.
Mariano is one of the program coordinators for GIC. In his spare time he is an actor. He enjoys Russian literature, history, and the outdoors. Mariano grew up in southern Argentina in the Patagonia. He came to Buenos Aires 6 years ago to study his craft, acting, at the University. But he hasn't quite found the woman to settle him down. Hes moving to Mexico in three weeks to sudy arquitechture and pursue his acting career. But for now, Mariano chaperones the Iguazu GIC trip with 13 girls and 3 boys. Off to northern Argentina they will all travel. Will he find love? Will the girls kill eachother? Will the rainforest bring out the jaguar in everyone? Watch the Bachelor: Iguazu Falls to find out.
Bachelor Mariano and the contestants met at the bus station Thursday evening. They mingled and giggled and tried to establish themselves. I was super awkward and laughed really loud and got really excited a lot. He laughed at my Vera Bradley bag (Yes, some may travel South America with a backpack. But I went to Ole Miss. I travel with a Vera Bradley duffel.) The girls gawked at his beauty while Mariano, being the latin lover that he is, spoke in beautiful Spanish causing each girl to fall into a deep crush. This bachelor has certainly won over the ladies.
Everyone boards the bus that will take them 15 hours north the the very top of Argentina. The contestants take their seats and wait to see where the Bachelor will sit. Who will get the first impression rose?
Charlotte Mintz. That's right. Mariano sits down in his seat assigned by the gods of love and fate and Spanish. Right netx to me. 15 hours of fun. We chat about our families, hopes, dreams, number of children we want to have, etc. Then he begins to read a novel by his favorite author, Herman Hesse. He takes a look at my book, Eat Pray Love (which I just reread, even better the second time) and reads the back. We have a fun flirty time reading each other's books and ocassionaly, our elbows touch. Sharing that armrest, heaven.
Dinner is served. We dine. A romantic dinner of steak, potatoes, argentina mystery foods, all served in tin foil. We drink red wine out of styrofoam cups. So romantic. Dinner ends and the movies begin (Prime, Scoop, Death at a Funeral). They bring us a cup of champagne in another styro cup. Our first date of dinner, drinks, and a movie is just perfection. I laughed quite a bit, just so the other contestants could hear me and hear how much fun we were having.
The movies end, and it's time to go to sleep. Now I'm not one to sleep with the guy on the first date, but what was I to do (joke joke)? The lights dimmed, he reclined his seat and pulled up the foot rest, I reclined my seat and put up the foot rest, he put on his hoodie, I put on my IPOD, and we slept. No night vision cameras needed. Throughout the bus sleep (kind of miz, but better than an airplane I think), I wake up to see the Bachelor still there. Oh what luck! I totally get the first impression rose.
Fast forward 8 hours. Who looks awesome after sleeping on a bus? Not me. And probably not you. Not even Mariano. The magic of the whole night was tarnished a bit due to my mousy hair and dirty face. No time to brush teeth. Once Mariano went to the bathroom I whipped out my makeup bag to do some damage control. Gum, oil absorbing sheet, lip gloss, and bobby pins. I'm back in the game.
They put on another DVD. As if my life could get any better.... Britney Spears Greatest Hits DVD. Oh yes they did. And Mariano and I had already talked about how she was from Louisiana (that's all these people know about Louisiana, and ocassionally Mardi Gras). We watched some Britney videos and shortly thereafter arrived in Iguazu.
We get off the bus and I am feeling the jealousy of the other contestants. I got so much alone time. I know! I'm totally getting the ring.
We jump in cabs and go to the hostel. The hostel is basically this huge cheap resortish type place with a pool, ping pong tables, pool tables, couches, restaurant - basically a mini Rio Yucatan (the infamous location of Spring Break 2008).
We spend the day by the pool, fighting over the Bachelor, girls really showing off the goods. We drink beer, play cards and ping pong, typical hostel fun. Mariano then went off on some rugged adventure to repel, rock climb, zipline, etc. We all missed him so much. People were really falling for him already. I asked him later what his favorite part of the adventure was. He said "learing the history of where we were". What a sexy scholar.
As always, the girl with the First Impression Rose never makes it long. I'm history. Not a good competitor for the fellas. Plus, as always, after the first few episodes, The Bachelor totally starts to look like a total loser. I hate this term but he was it. D bag. Now it gets more fun. As an observer, I really got to see what being on the Bachelor is like.
Night falls and drinking begins. Girls giggle and fight for his attention. At one point, Mariano has come to sit with me and the Santa Barbara girls. He's been there for maybe 4 minutes and some skank comes and says, "Mariano! You have to come play cards with us!" She stole him away.
Events like this continue all night long. Vom vom vom.
We call it a night and go to bed. I heard one of the contestants say when she came back to our room that night "Mariano is an angel". We get up early the next morning to go the the falls.
Iguazu Falls consists of 215 waterfalls located on the border of Brasil and Argentina. It really is stunning. I've never seen Niagara Falls but I hear it's lame compared to this. Not only do we have waterfally here, it's in the rain forest. So amazing. The latest Indiana Jones movie was filmed there.
But in typical travel spirit - it rains. Pours. And is freezing. It's like the bachelor gods (ABC producers) sent us on the outdoorsy date to test who would complain etc.
So cold. Constant rain. And we're in basically what feels like Disney's Animal Kingdom but it's real.
We wak through the park, go on a safari-ish ride through the jungle, and then on a boat.
By the time we get on the boat it is really about to storm. Have no fear though. They load us on what looks like a Coast Guard rescue boat with old school life jackets and say good luck. It was like we were on Deadliest Catch. They take us on this dingy (it really is like a rescue boat. Women and children first please. And it takes you into danger, not away from it.) and head for the waterfalls. I am crouched down in fetal position trying to avoid the ice bullet rain drops. The water is like white water. Peace out Ocoee. Hello waterwalls. Of death. The boat driver is decked out in full rubber suit. And he looks miserable and evil. It's like he was punishing us. By this point, delirium has totally set in. It becomes funny. He rams us up almost under one of the falls and my side of the boat literally is submerged. I swallow gulps of water. I realize that I am going do die on the adveture date. He pulls us out and then does it again. We survive and make it back to the dock. MIRACLE. There are no safety regulations in South America.
We are so ready to go at this point. No point in changing into our extra clothes because - that's right. It's still pouring rain.
A bachelor moment occurs. Mariano gives Jessica his jacket. It smelled of smoke, Old Spice and love. All the girls freak just like when Andrew Firestone gave his watch to Tina Fabulous to wear. Jealousy is pouring down harder than the rain. Or the waterfalls.
We get back to the hostel. I have never been so cold. Like hypothermic. I take a cold shower (yay hostel hot water. not.) and get in bed. I wrap up in 4 blankets but cannot get warm. Eventually I regain feeling in my feet. I get it together to go to the main building for dinner.
The Bachelor game continues as the plan of every girl is to "Get Mariano really drunk". Peace out chicas. About half the girls are out of the game at this point. Only a few remain. They try as hard as they can to win his affection. After the day of pneumonia, I regret the invitation to jump in the hostel van and go into town to the local club. The remaining contestants go try to seduce. I hear them when they come back in the morning. "Did anyone kiss Mariano????"
No they did not.
The next day is more of the same. The final girls really duking it out. They try to play volleyball. We leave on a bus at 3. The Bachelor has alternate transportation. The game is over.
The Bachelor remains single. I do not accept this rose.
That's basically the weekend. So beautiful. (Mariano and the falls).
It was hysterical to watch. I swear it was the Bachelor.
Here are some pics to illustrate to fun. Maybe they'll pick me to be the Bachelorette. I'm sure I was the viewers' favorite.
The hostel
Stalker pics
Hola Bachelor.
He looks a little Sexy Mexi but it works in real life.
Danielle and I in our fashionable Iguazu Falls ponchos
Jessica in Marian's jacketSo jeal
On the safari truck. So Animal Kingdom.
The falls. You should google "Iguazu" and see good pics. I did. It was a bit misty and gray for us.
More falls. Cataratas (en espanol)
Brie y yo at the falls.
More stalker pics
I could be a pro stalker. It's a video.
From the bus on the way back. Such a nice day.
A blue sky. Would have been nice a day earlier. But whatevs. It was nice to meet Iguazu even under the miz conditions.Forgot to mention that on the bus back we got stopped twice by some border patrol type thing. Army men and dogs searched everyone's stuff. It was so South America.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
BA is a ok
Hola chica hola! Hey hey from BA! I wanted to post before we head off to Iguazu falls for the weekend. Here goes something.
Last I left you, I was heading to pilates. Considering I've only done pilates once in the KD house with a video Katie and I bought at Target and basically just laid on the floor bc I can't even touch my toes, I knew it was going to be interasante. I went to the gym, jumped on treadmill and took off. There is nothing more motivating than being in a room of locals staring at your blonde hair and (god forbid) shorts to get you moving. Everyone has on black spandex. I have on a purple t shirt with Mike the Tiger on it and blue nike shorts. Oh well. Embrace the face and go.
After about 20 minutes it was time for pilates. We (my friend Jo from Dartmouth) and I went up to the third floor, walked in the class, and tried to find a spot.
Ok I hate going into workout classes in the USofA when you don't know what to do and which equipment to grab and if you need 5 pound weights or 2 pounders or a stretchy band thingy. So awkard. I always try to look cool ad basically just copy whatever the yoga princesses are doing.
We do the "copy everyone in silence" and set up mats etc. We get in the far back corner as we want no one to see us. Then the teacher walks in.
She sees us in our Americanness and starts yelling "Extranjeros! Extranjeros! (foreigners)" like she has just spotted ole Justin Timberlake walking down the road. We kind of nod and say yes we are from the estados unidos. Please live us alone. We don't say that exactly but I was thinking it really hard.
The class starts with something like the arm circles Sir used to make us do at soccer conditioning. After a while, I'm feeling the burn. Then she turns off the nice soothing yoga-esque music and starts torturing us. It was a very intense class. More like bootcamp pilates than winsor pilates.
It was good. I did it. I need to go back. Maybe next week...
I had school tuesday with mi amor Frederico. He was kind of a little brat but whatevs. He's suck a mess. He lectured me on how to take notes. Listen buckshot, I can, i just may choose not to at times when say I'm daydreaming about us getting married. Or whatevs.
We then played games. Like kids games with fairy tales and a wolf and golden slippers and magic potion. I had to make up all these weird stories.
When you study abroad, people treat you like a toddler. I already feel like a mutated kindergartner most of the tie anyway but it's true. It was the same in Spain. The way the program coordinators and teachers talk to you is like "Awwww! Did you have fun this week? Yay! That's super! Want a cookie?" It's kind of funny but weird. For example, at school on friday (I won't be there, going to Iguazu) all of the students are meeting together to get to know each other and celebrate the first day of spring. We are supossed to bring cookies and each talk about our favorite things in spring and how a perfect spring day would be (this is so like fiesta fridays in high school). it's just funny. And Frederico told me about it with such excitement. I wanted to tell him thanks but I already finished pre school. And college. But it's a nice gesture.
I then went off to work. I almost chickened out but I made it to the subte and after getting lost again, got to the office. So glad I went bc it always turns out so great. I love it. I'm obsessed. With my beautiful boss. And the cool office, mate drinking, cool music playing, - just a very hip environment. I don't contribute much to the conversations bc I normally have no idea what's going on. I'm like the silent american except I giggle and smile and blush the whole time.
Here's a nice tale from work that day. I had sent Rodrigo, my boss, an email saying when I was coming in that week. He never responded so I asked him about it. He said the best way to get in touch with him was cell phone. I gave him my numero and then he said he would text me his. So he's like the most beautiful man in Buenos Aires and I love him. And he's super nice and speaks very clear Spanish. Perfection. So I hear my phone get the text and pick it up. I open the message and it says (in Spanish but I'll give it to you in ingles). Want to go get a coffee after work? Kisses.
They sign off here and in Spain too with "besos (kisses) or un beso or un abrazo (hug). I think it's hysterical. Its kind of like ending a phone convo with luv ya! But they do it to everyone and they say "a kiss". Muy comico.
Anyways back to my story, I read it and am like OMG all of my dreams are coming true he loves me. I then see that the text is actually from Jillian, a girl from the residencia. The next message is a bunch of numbers and just says "Rodrigo".
Rollercoaster of love. My emotions can't translate this Spanish. It was quite funny. I feel like it would make a good scene on The Office or something. I'm so glad I didn't look up at him or something. Oh the horror.
I've been doing all this research at work on different ways to pay for things online. I have lots of experience with online shopping. I am somehow quaified to do this! It's like the job Julie and I did at BGR but instead of researching political nonsense and making Potential Client Reports about contracters in Mississippi, it's about music and culture and cool.
After work I came back home and rounded up some people to go eat at La Inca, a Peruvian restaurant around the corner. It was deelish. Tasted a lot like Costa Rica food - rice, spice, and chicken hooray!
This week has been good I actually was busy. Its a miracle! I don't know how you normal people do it. I was gone from my residencia from like 9 am to 11 pm. I had school in the morning, internship in the afternoon, went to a movie with some amigos, dinner, and then home.
The movie. Una novio para mi mujer. (A boyfriend for my woman.) I had seen the posters all over town. It looked like a solid chick flick. And it was. I missed about 75% of the dialogue but that's ok because you could pretty much figure it out with just the visual.
I did work and school the following day. Work was amazing. Rodrigo was doing something in the restaurant downstairs.. He kept coming back to the office to do stuff in his cute litle apron. German, another guy at work who is basically the cool dry witty guy from How to lose a gy in 10 days who works with Ben at the advertising place. Remember him? Not hte one in the glasses but the one from Dazed and Confised? Well German is like him but even funnier. He kept coming in and dancing to this techo music stuff.
School again today. It was magical. I was in a chipper mood and so was profesor Frederico. We had a joy learing the 76 different ways to say "become" in Spanish. We laughed a lot and ate some cookies and fell in love some more. He's like a super genious. He's getting some high up degree in linguistics and studies greek, english, german, latin. Hot. I'm sure he's just waiting for our classes to end before he proposes. He wouldn't want to cross the student teacher line.
I had a wine tasting class this week too. We tasted different espumantes (sparkling wines). It was very interesting. I now know that I like Brute or Nature espumantes, that everyone is ripping off the French by calling their wine Champagne, and that they drink it here with Sushi.
I've found a sandwich shop I love. It's amazing. I've been 3 times this week.
Last night Santa Barbara girls and I tried to have a poker night. We dreamed this up in Mendoza. Jessica googled how to play Hold Em and got her boyfriendish to help explain some stuff.
It was fun and pretty succesful. It was so funny though. Every hand or so we would just quit and start talking about Sex and the City or the struggles of being a woman today or something. I do not have the poker talent old Ben has. Maybe we can play a family round of Hold Em on Christmas morning or something.
Well, I'm off to pack. I'll let you know about the weekend when I return.
Besos.
Charlotte
Last I left you, I was heading to pilates. Considering I've only done pilates once in the KD house with a video Katie and I bought at Target and basically just laid on the floor bc I can't even touch my toes, I knew it was going to be interasante. I went to the gym, jumped on treadmill and took off. There is nothing more motivating than being in a room of locals staring at your blonde hair and (god forbid) shorts to get you moving. Everyone has on black spandex. I have on a purple t shirt with Mike the Tiger on it and blue nike shorts. Oh well. Embrace the face and go.
After about 20 minutes it was time for pilates. We (my friend Jo from Dartmouth) and I went up to the third floor, walked in the class, and tried to find a spot.
Ok I hate going into workout classes in the USofA when you don't know what to do and which equipment to grab and if you need 5 pound weights or 2 pounders or a stretchy band thingy. So awkard. I always try to look cool ad basically just copy whatever the yoga princesses are doing.
We do the "copy everyone in silence" and set up mats etc. We get in the far back corner as we want no one to see us. Then the teacher walks in.
She sees us in our Americanness and starts yelling "Extranjeros! Extranjeros! (foreigners)" like she has just spotted ole Justin Timberlake walking down the road. We kind of nod and say yes we are from the estados unidos. Please live us alone. We don't say that exactly but I was thinking it really hard.
The class starts with something like the arm circles Sir used to make us do at soccer conditioning. After a while, I'm feeling the burn. Then she turns off the nice soothing yoga-esque music and starts torturing us. It was a very intense class. More like bootcamp pilates than winsor pilates.
It was good. I did it. I need to go back. Maybe next week...
I had school tuesday with mi amor Frederico. He was kind of a little brat but whatevs. He's suck a mess. He lectured me on how to take notes. Listen buckshot, I can, i just may choose not to at times when say I'm daydreaming about us getting married. Or whatevs.
We then played games. Like kids games with fairy tales and a wolf and golden slippers and magic potion. I had to make up all these weird stories.
When you study abroad, people treat you like a toddler. I already feel like a mutated kindergartner most of the tie anyway but it's true. It was the same in Spain. The way the program coordinators and teachers talk to you is like "Awwww! Did you have fun this week? Yay! That's super! Want a cookie?" It's kind of funny but weird. For example, at school on friday (I won't be there, going to Iguazu) all of the students are meeting together to get to know each other and celebrate the first day of spring. We are supossed to bring cookies and each talk about our favorite things in spring and how a perfect spring day would be (this is so like fiesta fridays in high school). it's just funny. And Frederico told me about it with such excitement. I wanted to tell him thanks but I already finished pre school. And college. But it's a nice gesture.
I then went off to work. I almost chickened out but I made it to the subte and after getting lost again, got to the office. So glad I went bc it always turns out so great. I love it. I'm obsessed. With my beautiful boss. And the cool office, mate drinking, cool music playing, - just a very hip environment. I don't contribute much to the conversations bc I normally have no idea what's going on. I'm like the silent american except I giggle and smile and blush the whole time.
Here's a nice tale from work that day. I had sent Rodrigo, my boss, an email saying when I was coming in that week. He never responded so I asked him about it. He said the best way to get in touch with him was cell phone. I gave him my numero and then he said he would text me his. So he's like the most beautiful man in Buenos Aires and I love him. And he's super nice and speaks very clear Spanish. Perfection. So I hear my phone get the text and pick it up. I open the message and it says (in Spanish but I'll give it to you in ingles). Want to go get a coffee after work? Kisses.
They sign off here and in Spain too with "besos (kisses) or un beso or un abrazo (hug). I think it's hysterical. Its kind of like ending a phone convo with luv ya! But they do it to everyone and they say "a kiss". Muy comico.
Anyways back to my story, I read it and am like OMG all of my dreams are coming true he loves me. I then see that the text is actually from Jillian, a girl from the residencia. The next message is a bunch of numbers and just says "Rodrigo".
Rollercoaster of love. My emotions can't translate this Spanish. It was quite funny. I feel like it would make a good scene on The Office or something. I'm so glad I didn't look up at him or something. Oh the horror.
I've been doing all this research at work on different ways to pay for things online. I have lots of experience with online shopping. I am somehow quaified to do this! It's like the job Julie and I did at BGR but instead of researching political nonsense and making Potential Client Reports about contracters in Mississippi, it's about music and culture and cool.
After work I came back home and rounded up some people to go eat at La Inca, a Peruvian restaurant around the corner. It was deelish. Tasted a lot like Costa Rica food - rice, spice, and chicken hooray!
This week has been good I actually was busy. Its a miracle! I don't know how you normal people do it. I was gone from my residencia from like 9 am to 11 pm. I had school in the morning, internship in the afternoon, went to a movie with some amigos, dinner, and then home.
The movie. Una novio para mi mujer. (A boyfriend for my woman.) I had seen the posters all over town. It looked like a solid chick flick. And it was. I missed about 75% of the dialogue but that's ok because you could pretty much figure it out with just the visual.
I did work and school the following day. Work was amazing. Rodrigo was doing something in the restaurant downstairs.. He kept coming back to the office to do stuff in his cute litle apron. German, another guy at work who is basically the cool dry witty guy from How to lose a gy in 10 days who works with Ben at the advertising place. Remember him? Not hte one in the glasses but the one from Dazed and Confised? Well German is like him but even funnier. He kept coming in and dancing to this techo music stuff.
School again today. It was magical. I was in a chipper mood and so was profesor Frederico. We had a joy learing the 76 different ways to say "become" in Spanish. We laughed a lot and ate some cookies and fell in love some more. He's like a super genious. He's getting some high up degree in linguistics and studies greek, english, german, latin. Hot. I'm sure he's just waiting for our classes to end before he proposes. He wouldn't want to cross the student teacher line.
I had a wine tasting class this week too. We tasted different espumantes (sparkling wines). It was very interesting. I now know that I like Brute or Nature espumantes, that everyone is ripping off the French by calling their wine Champagne, and that they drink it here with Sushi.
I've found a sandwich shop I love. It's amazing. I've been 3 times this week.
Last night Santa Barbara girls and I tried to have a poker night. We dreamed this up in Mendoza. Jessica googled how to play Hold Em and got her boyfriendish to help explain some stuff.
It was fun and pretty succesful. It was so funny though. Every hand or so we would just quit and start talking about Sex and the City or the struggles of being a woman today or something. I do not have the poker talent old Ben has. Maybe we can play a family round of Hold Em on Christmas morning or something.
Well, I'm off to pack. I'll let you know about the weekend when I return.
Besos.
Charlotte
Monday, September 15, 2008
Mendoza con cesped y perros
So I went on my first travel expedition in Argentina. Santa Barbara girls, Lindsay the ballerina from Cali, and I left Thursday night. We took an overnight bus (what a lovely way to spend 14 hrs) but it was kind of awesome. The buses here are super duper nice. We got "full cama" seats which means full bed. We got on the double decker, went to our assigned seats up top and settled in. The seats are like big leather airplane first class. The bus attendant brought us some Bon Bons and drinks. And we were off. They showed some awful movie called WAR thst none of us watched. We just relaxed, ate, drank, wine and ipoded. At about 11 or so they turn off all the lights and everyone goes to sleep. The chairs lay almost all the way back and a foot rest comes forward. Muy comodo. Sleeping is still a bit tricky, but stil not so so bad. We arrived in Mendoza at about 11 am. We walked to our hostel and checked in. They prepared our room and we settled. It was a nice cute hostel and only cost like 10 dollars a night. We were feeling very ambitious so we set off to go see the vineyards.
Bikes and Wines. Does anyone else see the lawsuit coming? Well, here they don't. We rented bikes and peddled off to go on wine tours and tastings. So I know I got a bike for Christmas but the truth is I've probably only ridden it about 10 times so I am not a talented biker. The Santa Barbara girls however ride bikes 24/7 at school, even to go out at night, so drinking and biking was no prob for them. I can barely bike after drinking a gatorade - let alone anything else.
The road we set out on was basically a highway for the outskirts. Many semi trucks, whistling men, terrifyingly close to car interactions. It looked a lot like Costa Rica. Gated houses, stray dogs, a bit of poverty, the usual. Staying on the bike and not falling off or getting trampled by a hige truck are my greatest accomplishments.
We finally made it to the first vineyard. Once we turned off the main road, it was quite nice. The bodega was a small family owned and run old school winery. Loved it. We had such a nice guide who took us all through bodega. Then we got to try the wines. He set up these bean bag chairs outside for us. Heaven. It was so cool. The weather in Mendoza is so nice - blue skies, Andes mountains in the background, cool breeze. That plus great wine made right where you are sitting - ahh the perfection. Best thing I've done here so far.
But then we had to get back on the bikes.
We made it to the next vineyard which was more fancy and trendy. We just sat outside on this huge deck, drank wine, and looked at the vineyard. Amazing part 2.
Then we were starving - hadn't eaten since "breakfast" on the bus (bus food eww). We peddled our little hearts out to get to the lunch place they marked on the map. We got there and it was super fancy and expensive so we peaced out to go to the chocolate and liquor factory instead. Very cool. Very delicious.
We were biked out so we went back to Bikes and Wines and called a cab to take us to our hostel. We grabbed a late lunch at some cafe. So I still hadn't eaten any good meat since I've been here and I know this is supposed to be like steak central so I decided to start ordering the carne. I got some steak thing that was good. Not great.
We lounged for a bit and then went out to a great dinner at this trendy restaurant. Great food and drinks. And called it a night.
We slept in a bit and then went out searching for cafe. And boy did we find it. Best capucino of my life.
Mendoza has tons of great parks and plazas. Buenos Aires is great, but it's very concretey and crowded and gray. Mendoza is grassy and roomy and green. Such a nice break. We walked around all day - shopped, ate, read in the park- great great day.
That night we went to this cool brewery. We did a beer tasting and ate there. Lots of great convo. These girls are like hope for America. Politocos fo sho. Lots of Obama talk. I told them that it was cool to be in College Republicans at Ole Miss. They laughed and nearly spat out their beer.
We bar hopped for a while, ate some McDonalds, and called it a night.
Sunday morning we got up and went on a hunt for this other park. We found it after walking through Chino mas o menos. We parked it by the lake and read/layed out. But we made a friend.
The most awful, disgusting, heinous, smelly, diseased animal ever. A stray dog. So gross he made all the other stray dogs of Argentina seem like the cute 101 disney dalmations. This dog made Lulu (aka Lucifer the horrible dog we had for less than a year when she got runover bc someone left the gate open...) seem like heaven dog. This dog had a huge tumor or something hanging off it's reproductive area. It was repulsive. And it would not leave us. We left the park and it followed us all the way back to our hostel. I almost cried. I was on the edge of losing it seriously. It was so awful. Ew ew ew.
We finally hid in the hostel long enough for it to leave. We went and ate a goodlunch and tried to forget the horror of the perro. So gross so gross so gross. I hate dogs. There. I said it. I know that's a trait of serial killers but whatevs. (This was like Carrie Hill picking up stray mountain dog x 100000. Morgan picking up stray mountain dog x 60000000.) Ugh. Next. Give me a good cat.
We lounged, ate gelato, walked around til 6 when our bus left to bring us back "home". This bus was not near as nice. It was bright purple. Like barney on wheels. We got to watch 3 movies. They were so good I must share them with you.
First was Wild Hogs.
"A group of suburban biker wannabes looking for adventure hit the open road, but get more than they bargained for when they encounter a New Mexico gang called the Del Fuegos."
Starring: John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William Macy.
Oh the horror. It was maybe the worst movie of all time. I loved it. John Travolta who still looks like Edna from Hairspray, Tim the Toolman - it's just too good to be true.
Then was Cirque de Soleil - Quidam
This is the same show from Knocked Up I'm pretty sure where they do shrooms and then go and freak out. Well duh. It's the trippiest thing ever.
Then came a movie I don't know the title of and have to look on IMDB....
Ok it's Trust the Man. 2005.
David Duchovny, Maggie Gylenhal, Eva Mendes, the list goes on and on.
The weirdest Rom-Com ever. But very entertaining. And horribly awesome.
Then I slept for a few hours and woke up in BA. 7 am. Hooray. I didn't know people here got up that early, but the subte was pretty crowded. We made it back to the residencia and I blogged til class.
Frederico and I had a blast as always. Today his shoes were untied and he had a coffee mug that had his name on it and these little kid drawings of soccer balls. So cute. We played some fun numbers games. He told me about cool music. Fiesta fiesta. I found out he was born in 1985. Bout my age.
I ate lunch at Cafe Tortoni- a famous cafe bc Borges used to kick it there and write and stuff. It was delicious. I am loving the salads here. They are carrot based instead of lettuce. It works though.
Not sure what's on the agenda tonight. Low key fo sho. Everyone is sick. Carley roomie has strep, Henni norway is snifflig, it's like disease time. I plan on using lots of hand sani.
Here's some pics from the weekend. Besos.
I'm going to a Pilates class. Should be fun.
Bikes and Wines. Does anyone else see the lawsuit coming? Well, here they don't. We rented bikes and peddled off to go on wine tours and tastings. So I know I got a bike for Christmas but the truth is I've probably only ridden it about 10 times so I am not a talented biker. The Santa Barbara girls however ride bikes 24/7 at school, even to go out at night, so drinking and biking was no prob for them. I can barely bike after drinking a gatorade - let alone anything else.
The road we set out on was basically a highway for the outskirts. Many semi trucks, whistling men, terrifyingly close to car interactions. It looked a lot like Costa Rica. Gated houses, stray dogs, a bit of poverty, the usual. Staying on the bike and not falling off or getting trampled by a hige truck are my greatest accomplishments.
We finally made it to the first vineyard. Once we turned off the main road, it was quite nice. The bodega was a small family owned and run old school winery. Loved it. We had such a nice guide who took us all through bodega. Then we got to try the wines. He set up these bean bag chairs outside for us. Heaven. It was so cool. The weather in Mendoza is so nice - blue skies, Andes mountains in the background, cool breeze. That plus great wine made right where you are sitting - ahh the perfection. Best thing I've done here so far.
But then we had to get back on the bikes.
We made it to the next vineyard which was more fancy and trendy. We just sat outside on this huge deck, drank wine, and looked at the vineyard. Amazing part 2.
Then we were starving - hadn't eaten since "breakfast" on the bus (bus food eww). We peddled our little hearts out to get to the lunch place they marked on the map. We got there and it was super fancy and expensive so we peaced out to go to the chocolate and liquor factory instead. Very cool. Very delicious.
We were biked out so we went back to Bikes and Wines and called a cab to take us to our hostel. We grabbed a late lunch at some cafe. So I still hadn't eaten any good meat since I've been here and I know this is supposed to be like steak central so I decided to start ordering the carne. I got some steak thing that was good. Not great.
We lounged for a bit and then went out to a great dinner at this trendy restaurant. Great food and drinks. And called it a night.
We slept in a bit and then went out searching for cafe. And boy did we find it. Best capucino of my life.
Mendoza has tons of great parks and plazas. Buenos Aires is great, but it's very concretey and crowded and gray. Mendoza is grassy and roomy and green. Such a nice break. We walked around all day - shopped, ate, read in the park- great great day.
That night we went to this cool brewery. We did a beer tasting and ate there. Lots of great convo. These girls are like hope for America. Politocos fo sho. Lots of Obama talk. I told them that it was cool to be in College Republicans at Ole Miss. They laughed and nearly spat out their beer.
We bar hopped for a while, ate some McDonalds, and called it a night.
Sunday morning we got up and went on a hunt for this other park. We found it after walking through Chino mas o menos. We parked it by the lake and read/layed out. But we made a friend.
The most awful, disgusting, heinous, smelly, diseased animal ever. A stray dog. So gross he made all the other stray dogs of Argentina seem like the cute 101 disney dalmations. This dog made Lulu (aka Lucifer the horrible dog we had for less than a year when she got runover bc someone left the gate open...) seem like heaven dog. This dog had a huge tumor or something hanging off it's reproductive area. It was repulsive. And it would not leave us. We left the park and it followed us all the way back to our hostel. I almost cried. I was on the edge of losing it seriously. It was so awful. Ew ew ew.
We finally hid in the hostel long enough for it to leave. We went and ate a goodlunch and tried to forget the horror of the perro. So gross so gross so gross. I hate dogs. There. I said it. I know that's a trait of serial killers but whatevs. (This was like Carrie Hill picking up stray mountain dog x 100000. Morgan picking up stray mountain dog x 60000000.) Ugh. Next. Give me a good cat.
We lounged, ate gelato, walked around til 6 when our bus left to bring us back "home". This bus was not near as nice. It was bright purple. Like barney on wheels. We got to watch 3 movies. They were so good I must share them with you.
First was Wild Hogs.
"A group of suburban biker wannabes looking for adventure hit the open road, but get more than they bargained for when they encounter a New Mexico gang called the Del Fuegos."
Starring: John Travolta, Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, and William Macy.
Oh the horror. It was maybe the worst movie of all time. I loved it. John Travolta who still looks like Edna from Hairspray, Tim the Toolman - it's just too good to be true.
Then was Cirque de Soleil - Quidam
This is the same show from Knocked Up I'm pretty sure where they do shrooms and then go and freak out. Well duh. It's the trippiest thing ever.
Then came a movie I don't know the title of and have to look on IMDB....
Ok it's Trust the Man. 2005.
David Duchovny, Maggie Gylenhal, Eva Mendes, the list goes on and on.
The weirdest Rom-Com ever. But very entertaining. And horribly awesome.
Then I slept for a few hours and woke up in BA. 7 am. Hooray. I didn't know people here got up that early, but the subte was pretty crowded. We made it back to the residencia and I blogged til class.
Frederico and I had a blast as always. Today his shoes were untied and he had a coffee mug that had his name on it and these little kid drawings of soccer balls. So cute. We played some fun numbers games. He told me about cool music. Fiesta fiesta. I found out he was born in 1985. Bout my age.
I ate lunch at Cafe Tortoni- a famous cafe bc Borges used to kick it there and write and stuff. It was delicious. I am loving the salads here. They are carrot based instead of lettuce. It works though.
Not sure what's on the agenda tonight. Low key fo sho. Everyone is sick. Carley roomie has strep, Henni norway is snifflig, it's like disease time. I plan on using lots of hand sani.
Here's some pics from the weekend. Besos.
I'm going to a Pilates class. Should be fun.
Tango, Trabajo, Travel
Those are the big three T's of last week. Sorry I haven't posted - See I actually made some friends (if you recall in one of my firsts posts I predicted that this might occur and that it would impact my blog time ) and so now I have less blog time. But now I'm back and recommitted to sharing my adventuras.
So where did I leave off. Oh yes, about to go to El Alamo to watch NFL. Talk about a time warp. I could have been in any Oxford bar/frat house. It was all of these screaming drunk American boys yelling at the television. I was just waiting for Ben Mintz to show up. Good news is girls drink free beer. Bad news is it comes in a clear plastic solo cup and tastes like the bottom of the Keystone keg. Very fun, very funny, very why I am here if I wanted to be doing this I would not have moved to South America.
Tuesday. Hmm. Can't even remember. School I'm thinking... Yes. School was good. Then I went shopping which was better. Oh the glory of the peso. I still have no idea really how currency fluctuates etc. but it's working out well in my shopping favor. I went to the Gallerias Pacificas, a nice fancy mall with painted cielings that look all Vaticany. I was on the hunt for boots after the fall incident on Avenida de Mayo. And I found some. Beautiful, fabulous, classic yet trendy boots. They're a navyish color. Flat. Below the knee. Love. Now back in the old US of A spending $100 on shoes is sadly quite common for me. And probably you too. Well for 417 pesos which in my mental math comes out to be about 14o dollars (jk, just had to use my calculator widget). And I love these boots. They are very Mallory Neely-esque.
Fast forward to Wednesday. I wear the boots. Oh the pain. The pain. If you've ever seen that episode of Friends with Monica and the boots - quite similar. But I think I can work through the pain and break them in. Oh I will. Game on.
So I learned how to tango. Kind of! My dancing skills other than the Rebelette impressions and my much envied kick spin lean move are quite limited. My only other dance class experience other that the 2 years of ballett, tap, jazz fron 2-3 grade is a salsa lesson they forced us to take in Costa Rica which ended up on my top 5 most emberassing moments list. (Dancing with a girl, Ole Miss Basketball team, Costa Rica dance studio full of Ole Miss students.... bad bad bad). I was a bit nervous but when in Buenos Aires, one must tango. Our program set up this free lesson at the Confiteria Ideal. This place is legendary. It's even #1 on things to do in one of my 6 guide books.
We walked over to the place and went in - it's so pretty and cool and old and tangoish. The tango has 8 basic steps. We put on our heels and learned them. Then we had to practice turning by leaning on this column in the middle of the room. Every 5 minutes or so this old guy would come and steal one of us away to dance with him. I was like ducking on the sides of the column to avoid this but eventually he got me.
So we danced. Kind of. I was having issues not stepping straight into him, but I'm so sorry if I'm not super gung ho to take off into this man's pelvis. I got the hang of it after a while. I can do the basic steps. That may be all the tangoing I do. Done and done. Check it off the list.
Thursday was a big dia. I had to give a presentation to my class aka just Frederico. I also had my first day of work. My presentation had to be about something in the past from America. I chose every Ole Miss students favorite topic - racism! I even made a power point. I did the whole James Meredith thing. Frederico loved it and now thinks the South is even odder than he did before.
Then I was off to work. I jumped on the metro and then got a bit lost but I found it. I was quite nervous as I buzzed the office but they somehow understood me and came down to let me in. It was a great day at work. Everyone is so cool. I basically have no responsibilities and I think GIC pays them to let me be there but whatevs. I did some research on how to open an online store for their website. I wrote some english emails for them. I'll explain more later. My boss is beautiful. He was wearing a delicate scarf though...
After work I came back to the residencia, packed, and took off on our trip to Mendoza! Will post that later today. We got back at 7 am so I've been killing time til school at 9:30. It's now 9 so I must get ready to go see my Frederico.
Adios.
Highlights of the week - Frederico drawing a Spanish timeline on the board and saying I am at the end but just have some holes missing that we can fill in ( aka he thinks my Spanish is good)
My hot boss telling me my Spanish is way better than the last intern they had.
Success!
Walking back from NFL game we stopped to admire the shoe stores. Ahhhh.
Tango at the Confiteria Ideal
So where did I leave off. Oh yes, about to go to El Alamo to watch NFL. Talk about a time warp. I could have been in any Oxford bar/frat house. It was all of these screaming drunk American boys yelling at the television. I was just waiting for Ben Mintz to show up. Good news is girls drink free beer. Bad news is it comes in a clear plastic solo cup and tastes like the bottom of the Keystone keg. Very fun, very funny, very why I am here if I wanted to be doing this I would not have moved to South America.
Tuesday. Hmm. Can't even remember. School I'm thinking... Yes. School was good. Then I went shopping which was better. Oh the glory of the peso. I still have no idea really how currency fluctuates etc. but it's working out well in my shopping favor. I went to the Gallerias Pacificas, a nice fancy mall with painted cielings that look all Vaticany. I was on the hunt for boots after the fall incident on Avenida de Mayo. And I found some. Beautiful, fabulous, classic yet trendy boots. They're a navyish color. Flat. Below the knee. Love. Now back in the old US of A spending $100 on shoes is sadly quite common for me. And probably you too. Well for 417 pesos which in my mental math comes out to be about 14o dollars (jk, just had to use my calculator widget). And I love these boots. They are very Mallory Neely-esque.
Fast forward to Wednesday. I wear the boots. Oh the pain. The pain. If you've ever seen that episode of Friends with Monica and the boots - quite similar. But I think I can work through the pain and break them in. Oh I will. Game on.
So I learned how to tango. Kind of! My dancing skills other than the Rebelette impressions and my much envied kick spin lean move are quite limited. My only other dance class experience other that the 2 years of ballett, tap, jazz fron 2-3 grade is a salsa lesson they forced us to take in Costa Rica which ended up on my top 5 most emberassing moments list. (Dancing with a girl, Ole Miss Basketball team, Costa Rica dance studio full of Ole Miss students.... bad bad bad). I was a bit nervous but when in Buenos Aires, one must tango. Our program set up this free lesson at the Confiteria Ideal. This place is legendary. It's even #1 on things to do in one of my 6 guide books.
We walked over to the place and went in - it's so pretty and cool and old and tangoish. The tango has 8 basic steps. We put on our heels and learned them. Then we had to practice turning by leaning on this column in the middle of the room. Every 5 minutes or so this old guy would come and steal one of us away to dance with him. I was like ducking on the sides of the column to avoid this but eventually he got me.
So we danced. Kind of. I was having issues not stepping straight into him, but I'm so sorry if I'm not super gung ho to take off into this man's pelvis. I got the hang of it after a while. I can do the basic steps. That may be all the tangoing I do. Done and done. Check it off the list.
Thursday was a big dia. I had to give a presentation to my class aka just Frederico. I also had my first day of work. My presentation had to be about something in the past from America. I chose every Ole Miss students favorite topic - racism! I even made a power point. I did the whole James Meredith thing. Frederico loved it and now thinks the South is even odder than he did before.
Then I was off to work. I jumped on the metro and then got a bit lost but I found it. I was quite nervous as I buzzed the office but they somehow understood me and came down to let me in. It was a great day at work. Everyone is so cool. I basically have no responsibilities and I think GIC pays them to let me be there but whatevs. I did some research on how to open an online store for their website. I wrote some english emails for them. I'll explain more later. My boss is beautiful. He was wearing a delicate scarf though...
After work I came back to the residencia, packed, and took off on our trip to Mendoza! Will post that later today. We got back at 7 am so I've been killing time til school at 9:30. It's now 9 so I must get ready to go see my Frederico.
Adios.
Highlights of the week - Frederico drawing a Spanish timeline on the board and saying I am at the end but just have some holes missing that we can fill in ( aka he thinks my Spanish is good)
My hot boss telling me my Spanish is way better than the last intern they had.
Success!
Walking back from NFL game we stopped to admire the shoe stores. Ahhhh.
Tango at the Confiteria Ideal
Monday, September 8, 2008
Skype Hype
So I have discovered and conquered Skype (www.skype.com). It's like an instant messenger but you can verbally speak to each other and video chat. Obsessed. Yesterday I talked to Will and Morgan. Even more fun is that you get to watch yourself talk via the camera. Now I must admit (and if you've ever been anywhere with me that has a mirror, say Burgundy Room or something similar, you know) I love this. So get Skype and we can chat! It's free.
Well the rest of the weeknd was chillaxin relaxin cool. Saturday was very tranquilo. I went to a cafe down the street with the Santa Barbara girls. It was cold and rainy - the perfect day for kicking it in a cafe or watching One Tree Hill. Either really. But we cafe'ed and it was fun. We read newspapers and drank capucinos and looked hipster and Uptown Coffee-ish.
We stayed in Sat night and watched a movie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - it gets better with age, my friends). I slept in Sunday. Then I got up and we all went to San Telmo (a cool neighborhood) for a street fair they have every Sunday. It rocked! Sad to think how much my mood fluctuates depending on good shopping. I basically came alive. I bought a cool tango poster and some earrings. This totalled at about 11 dollars. Hooray for Argentina's economy.
After we shopped for a while we walked back and lounged some more (noticing a trend? I feel like my brother Ben who doesn't just end up hanging out on the couch for a while but actually plans it and calls it "couch time" - with a purpose). We ate at the pizza place across the street for dinner and then had more couch time.
At midnight, Madonna tickets went on sale. Her world tour is stoppping here on December 6. We tried for about 2 hours to get tickets online but ticketek is about as cool as ticketmaster and it wouldn't work. We're going to try to go to a kiosk and buy tickets later.
Lots of good music here. The Pepsi Music festival is coming up. Stone Temple Pilots, Dave Matthews, 9 Inch Nails - sadly no Justin or Britney, but it will do.
On a musical note (chiste...jajaja) I listen the the In the Heights Soundtrack and The Avett Brothers pretty much constantly during couch time.
Speaking of music again- I just got back from my internship interview. And it was perfect. So cool. It's with El Club del Disco. I know that sounds like a night club, but it's not.
El Club del Disco is a small business that promotes independent musicians. Every month they release a cd of some cool unsigned musician and a magazine about cool music. I'm going to be translating the magazine into English. When I went to the office today, it had such a cool vibe. Can't wait. I go again on Thursday. (http://clubdeldisco.com/sitio/index.php) Cool cool cool.
Sorry this post is a bit jumpy. Back to this morning. I fell. On the sidewalk. On the way to school. I felt all Carrie Bradshaw when she went all the way to Paris to squat in Dior. Many a local stopped to help me up.
Despite this rocky/sidewalky start, it's been a great day. My classs with Frederico went really well. The interview rocked. Lucas, the guy from GIC who is in charge of the internship program took me to my interview. Lucas - oh please picture this. You know the guy in Wedding Crashers who's all like "Hey Vince Vaughn, I made you a painting..." and he's creepy and funny and stuff. Well imagine him, but he's hot. That's Lucas. I don't know why but all the girls love him. He's so cute. He's from BA and is in college I think. He told me he has a biochem test wednesday -so he's smart too. It was fun to go around the city with him. Not so bad to go for the cheek kiss either. At one point our hands touched. I just wanted to latch on.
Since then I went with Santa Barbara to try to buy Madonna tickets. So did basically every other person in the city. The line was huge. We nexted it and went to buy bus tickets to go to Mendoza this weekend. That was quite an ordeal but 2 hours and $100 dollars later, we're going Thursday-Sunday. Can't wait. It's supposed to be all vineyardy and outdoorsy. Vineyard - check. Outdoorsy - I can fake it. I did spend all summer at camp. (See Jan - I should have packed the outdoorsy shorts..)
After our fiasco with the bus tickets, the McDonalds next door was literally screaming, "Americans - come seek comfort in fries and fountain diet coke." And so we went. It was the best diet coke I've ever had. Sadly, no filet of fish in Argentina. Triste.
I then went to wine class. We did red wine today. I found my new fave wine ever. It's a syrah from Argentina. It costs like 6 dollars a bottle. I'm stocking up.
I'm about to go to a bar that shows... NFL games on monday nights. Now you know how much I love watching a football game (Oh wait, no. I'm a grover, not a gamer) but it should be fun.
Much love to home. Yay BA!
- Ch ch ch char
Fotos!
La feria de San Telmo
Henni (Norway roomie) and I at the feria
A foto de a kiosko. They have kioskos on every street. They basically just sell goodies.
This is the obelisco. It is basically the washington monument.
This is Avenida 9 de Julio - the widest street in the world. Not so sure why this is something to be super proud of. Crossing it takes 2 seperate lights.
The line for Madonna tickets.
Well the rest of the weeknd was chillaxin relaxin cool. Saturday was very tranquilo. I went to a cafe down the street with the Santa Barbara girls. It was cold and rainy - the perfect day for kicking it in a cafe or watching One Tree Hill. Either really. But we cafe'ed and it was fun. We read newspapers and drank capucinos and looked hipster and Uptown Coffee-ish.
We stayed in Sat night and watched a movie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days - it gets better with age, my friends). I slept in Sunday. Then I got up and we all went to San Telmo (a cool neighborhood) for a street fair they have every Sunday. It rocked! Sad to think how much my mood fluctuates depending on good shopping. I basically came alive. I bought a cool tango poster and some earrings. This totalled at about 11 dollars. Hooray for Argentina's economy.
After we shopped for a while we walked back and lounged some more (noticing a trend? I feel like my brother Ben who doesn't just end up hanging out on the couch for a while but actually plans it and calls it "couch time" - with a purpose). We ate at the pizza place across the street for dinner and then had more couch time.
At midnight, Madonna tickets went on sale. Her world tour is stoppping here on December 6. We tried for about 2 hours to get tickets online but ticketek is about as cool as ticketmaster and it wouldn't work. We're going to try to go to a kiosk and buy tickets later.
Lots of good music here. The Pepsi Music festival is coming up. Stone Temple Pilots, Dave Matthews, 9 Inch Nails - sadly no Justin or Britney, but it will do.
On a musical note (chiste...jajaja) I listen the the In the Heights Soundtrack and The Avett Brothers pretty much constantly during couch time.
Speaking of music again- I just got back from my internship interview. And it was perfect. So cool. It's with El Club del Disco. I know that sounds like a night club, but it's not.
El Club del Disco is a small business that promotes independent musicians. Every month they release a cd of some cool unsigned musician and a magazine about cool music. I'm going to be translating the magazine into English. When I went to the office today, it had such a cool vibe. Can't wait. I go again on Thursday. (http://clubdeldisco.com/sitio/index.php) Cool cool cool.
Sorry this post is a bit jumpy. Back to this morning. I fell. On the sidewalk. On the way to school. I felt all Carrie Bradshaw when she went all the way to Paris to squat in Dior. Many a local stopped to help me up.
Despite this rocky/sidewalky start, it's been a great day. My classs with Frederico went really well. The interview rocked. Lucas, the guy from GIC who is in charge of the internship program took me to my interview. Lucas - oh please picture this. You know the guy in Wedding Crashers who's all like "Hey Vince Vaughn, I made you a painting..." and he's creepy and funny and stuff. Well imagine him, but he's hot. That's Lucas. I don't know why but all the girls love him. He's so cute. He's from BA and is in college I think. He told me he has a biochem test wednesday -so he's smart too. It was fun to go around the city with him. Not so bad to go for the cheek kiss either. At one point our hands touched. I just wanted to latch on.
Since then I went with Santa Barbara to try to buy Madonna tickets. So did basically every other person in the city. The line was huge. We nexted it and went to buy bus tickets to go to Mendoza this weekend. That was quite an ordeal but 2 hours and $100 dollars later, we're going Thursday-Sunday. Can't wait. It's supposed to be all vineyardy and outdoorsy. Vineyard - check. Outdoorsy - I can fake it. I did spend all summer at camp. (See Jan - I should have packed the outdoorsy shorts..)
After our fiasco with the bus tickets, the McDonalds next door was literally screaming, "Americans - come seek comfort in fries and fountain diet coke." And so we went. It was the best diet coke I've ever had. Sadly, no filet of fish in Argentina. Triste.
I then went to wine class. We did red wine today. I found my new fave wine ever. It's a syrah from Argentina. It costs like 6 dollars a bottle. I'm stocking up.
I'm about to go to a bar that shows... NFL games on monday nights. Now you know how much I love watching a football game (Oh wait, no. I'm a grover, not a gamer) but it should be fun.
Much love to home. Yay BA!
- Ch ch ch char
Fotos!
La feria de San Telmo
Henni (Norway roomie) and I at the feria
A foto de a kiosko. They have kioskos on every street. They basically just sell goodies.
This is the obelisco. It is basically the washington monument.
This is Avenida 9 de Julio - the widest street in the world. Not so sure why this is something to be super proud of. Crossing it takes 2 seperate lights.
The line for Madonna tickets.
Saturday, September 6, 2008
1 week
Hey readers. Gossip girl here. Things in Buenos Aires are cold. And rainy.
So I've been here for a week. Hard to believe just a week ago I was getting mugged. Seems like years ago.
Yesterday was quite a day. I went to school and had a time with Frederico. I don't know if I was tired or what, but I just couldn't get it together. I kept messing up and just speaking in English and then I'd tear up. Triste. Frederico prob thinks I'm way unstable.
After class I went to the grocery store and bought some stuff. I then napped all afternoon. I got up around 6 and hung out with some peeps on my floor.
Last night was the welcome dinner that our program organized for us. It was fabulous! We ate at this restaurant in a cool barrio called Palermo Hollywood. The restaurant was very big and loud and fun. They had board games and we drank for free. Great combo! I sat at a table with the Santa Barbara girls (my new bffs), 2 girls from Australia, and some others. We had a blast. We stayed at the restaurant from 10-2ish. The whole "we do things very late at night" thing here is hard to adjust to. At about 8 o'clock, my day is usually about done - minus whatever tv I must watch. Here that's like the afternoon.
After dinner we all went to some club. It was fun. We danced for a while. I came back around 4 which is like leaving the party before it even starts but hey - i tried. When I got back I took a shower and the with the courage of many beers, stole someone's hair dryer and dried my hair for the first time. It was pure joy. It may have been the highlight of the night. That's triste too...
I slept in today, along with everyone else. It was like a ghost town til about 3 pm or so. I spent the afternoon with the Santa Barbara girls in a cafe down the street. We drank capucinos and read things and wrote things It was a great way to spend a hungover, rainy, freezing afternoon. We came back to the dorm for a while and then went and got dinner across the street at this pizza place we frequent. We got this great pizza with chicken, tomato, olives, etc. Deelish. We then watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. A lovely evening. Now everyone is gearing up to go out. Oh heck no. I don't go out in the rain. Not even in Oxford.
Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so we can go to the Feria de San Telmo. They have a street fair with lots of booths to buy fun things. It's rumored to be quite touristy but guess what. Soy turista.
PS - I just watched the new 90210. Que horror. Bad idea. It's bad to think Tori Spelling would actually improve things.
Here's a pic from dinner last night.
Hola hola!
So I've been here for a week. Hard to believe just a week ago I was getting mugged. Seems like years ago.
Yesterday was quite a day. I went to school and had a time with Frederico. I don't know if I was tired or what, but I just couldn't get it together. I kept messing up and just speaking in English and then I'd tear up. Triste. Frederico prob thinks I'm way unstable.
After class I went to the grocery store and bought some stuff. I then napped all afternoon. I got up around 6 and hung out with some peeps on my floor.
Last night was the welcome dinner that our program organized for us. It was fabulous! We ate at this restaurant in a cool barrio called Palermo Hollywood. The restaurant was very big and loud and fun. They had board games and we drank for free. Great combo! I sat at a table with the Santa Barbara girls (my new bffs), 2 girls from Australia, and some others. We had a blast. We stayed at the restaurant from 10-2ish. The whole "we do things very late at night" thing here is hard to adjust to. At about 8 o'clock, my day is usually about done - minus whatever tv I must watch. Here that's like the afternoon.
After dinner we all went to some club. It was fun. We danced for a while. I came back around 4 which is like leaving the party before it even starts but hey - i tried. When I got back I took a shower and the with the courage of many beers, stole someone's hair dryer and dried my hair for the first time. It was pure joy. It may have been the highlight of the night. That's triste too...
I slept in today, along with everyone else. It was like a ghost town til about 3 pm or so. I spent the afternoon with the Santa Barbara girls in a cafe down the street. We drank capucinos and read things and wrote things It was a great way to spend a hungover, rainy, freezing afternoon. We came back to the dorm for a while and then went and got dinner across the street at this pizza place we frequent. We got this great pizza with chicken, tomato, olives, etc. Deelish. We then watched How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. A lovely evening. Now everyone is gearing up to go out. Oh heck no. I don't go out in the rain. Not even in Oxford.
Hopefully the weather will be better tomorrow so we can go to the Feria de San Telmo. They have a street fair with lots of booths to buy fun things. It's rumored to be quite touristy but guess what. Soy turista.
PS - I just watched the new 90210. Que horror. Bad idea. It's bad to think Tori Spelling would actually improve things.
Here's a pic from dinner last night.
Hola hola!
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Hace frio. Mucho frio.
That means it's cold. Very cold. I sit right now in the student lounge in the warmest lounge outfit I could piece together: argyle socks, blue pajama pants w/ hot air balloons on them, and a black sweatshirt jacket thing. And I'm so cold. I wore a long sleeved shirt, sweater, scarf, and coat today. Que frio! It will be like this for about a week before it starts to warm up. I should enjoy it now bc I'm missing fall this year, and it's my fave season. Enjoy it for me.
Today was a good day. I went to bed after watching Greek online last night around 1:30. I woke up a bit when my Norweigan roomie came in from the club but fell right back to sleep. When I got up at 9 I was still quite tired. I put on my warmest clothes and headed off to school. Mi profesor Frederico was over 30 minutos late. It's pretty much given that whatever you do here will start at least 15 minutes late. 30 was pretty big though. He was very apologetic. He's such a crazy. It was just us again today which is great. However I have a fun story to tell:
So we went over prepositions and por v para and some other stuff and then he suggested we review the parts of the human body. Oh great. Awkward. So Frederico likes to draw on the board the words I don't know. Like if I asked him que significa una silla? He would draw a chair. How cute. Not so cute with the human anatomy.
He drew a huge life size male and female on the board. Complete with all the parts. Oh yes. Penis. Boobs. Lady parts. And it's just us in this little conference room. It was so emberassing. He would point to something and I would name it. If I didn't know it he would write it out. On the board was written : pene, testiculos, etc.... And then he made some fun jokes about how there are a montana de palabras por vagina, penis, etc. Oh how educational.
After school I went to the grocery store and bought apples, water, coca light, yogurt, and some premade from the deli spaghetti. I ate the spag when I got back. It was quite good. I then napped for about 2 hours. I woke up and went to get a quick bite with 2 girls from my dorm. They ate pizza and I got a cafe con leche and this pastry called and alfajor. Ok this I love. It's pronounced Alfa-hore. Get it? I think it's funny. And it was delicious. It's like 2 cookie/biscuit things with dulce de leche in between. They love dulce de leche here. It's like a thick caramel.
I then went to the wine tasting class I signed up for at school. There were about 10 of us there. We learned the history of wine, the different tastes of the tongue, and did some tastings of white wines. The wines were all from Argentina. 1 was a chardonney que no me gusta but the other 2 were great. I have class once a week for 4 weeks. I'll be such the conniseur. I really want to do an Argentina vineyard trip. Maybe when MKB comes to visit...
After class we went to dinner. I was still full from my alfajor so i just drank some wine and hung out. It was quite the ex-pat ocassion. A canadian and 5 americans. Fiesta fiesta. After I walked back here and now I'm chilling. Literally chilling in the way that I am so cold. Chiste....
Everyone is going out to some club tonight. I'm like Grandma status here. I just have no desire to get all club ready and then grind from 3 am to 8 am which is the norm here. I plan on kicking back with my local newspaper and trying to understand it. Perhaps finding a link to Project Runway from last night. There are 3 other girls in the longe with me now who also just graduates. They're not going either. 22 is the new 75.
I saw a boy in a Mississippi State sweatshirt today. I stopped and stared but didn't talk to him. He was buying flowers from a street vendor. What a southern gentleman. Otra chiste...
So here's a few more pics. Love to Louisiana, esp the Big BR sin electricidad. Poor MKB is sleeping at work.
-CharStar
This is right across the street. McDonaldization. I should send this to my sociology 315 teacher Dr. O. The Mickey Dee's are quite popular here. They also have McCafe's with just desserts. I haven't been to one. Yet.
This is my building. It's old and pretty. I live on the 3rd floor. There are more students on the 6th floor too. I know there's a tango studio and a salon upstairs somewhere.
This is a protest from yesterday. Because we live on the same street as the Congreso, people are always outside protesting. This one was about teacher salaries and educational funding. Love to Katie and my teacher friends. All of the students ditched school to march. Lots of political activism here.
Today was a good day. I went to bed after watching Greek online last night around 1:30. I woke up a bit when my Norweigan roomie came in from the club but fell right back to sleep. When I got up at 9 I was still quite tired. I put on my warmest clothes and headed off to school. Mi profesor Frederico was over 30 minutos late. It's pretty much given that whatever you do here will start at least 15 minutes late. 30 was pretty big though. He was very apologetic. He's such a crazy. It was just us again today which is great. However I have a fun story to tell:
So we went over prepositions and por v para and some other stuff and then he suggested we review the parts of the human body. Oh great. Awkward. So Frederico likes to draw on the board the words I don't know. Like if I asked him que significa una silla? He would draw a chair. How cute. Not so cute with the human anatomy.
He drew a huge life size male and female on the board. Complete with all the parts. Oh yes. Penis. Boobs. Lady parts. And it's just us in this little conference room. It was so emberassing. He would point to something and I would name it. If I didn't know it he would write it out. On the board was written : pene, testiculos, etc.... And then he made some fun jokes about how there are a montana de palabras por vagina, penis, etc. Oh how educational.
After school I went to the grocery store and bought apples, water, coca light, yogurt, and some premade from the deli spaghetti. I ate the spag when I got back. It was quite good. I then napped for about 2 hours. I woke up and went to get a quick bite with 2 girls from my dorm. They ate pizza and I got a cafe con leche and this pastry called and alfajor. Ok this I love. It's pronounced Alfa-hore. Get it? I think it's funny. And it was delicious. It's like 2 cookie/biscuit things with dulce de leche in between. They love dulce de leche here. It's like a thick caramel.
I then went to the wine tasting class I signed up for at school. There were about 10 of us there. We learned the history of wine, the different tastes of the tongue, and did some tastings of white wines. The wines were all from Argentina. 1 was a chardonney que no me gusta but the other 2 were great. I have class once a week for 4 weeks. I'll be such the conniseur. I really want to do an Argentina vineyard trip. Maybe when MKB comes to visit...
After class we went to dinner. I was still full from my alfajor so i just drank some wine and hung out. It was quite the ex-pat ocassion. A canadian and 5 americans. Fiesta fiesta. After I walked back here and now I'm chilling. Literally chilling in the way that I am so cold. Chiste....
Everyone is going out to some club tonight. I'm like Grandma status here. I just have no desire to get all club ready and then grind from 3 am to 8 am which is the norm here. I plan on kicking back with my local newspaper and trying to understand it. Perhaps finding a link to Project Runway from last night. There are 3 other girls in the longe with me now who also just graduates. They're not going either. 22 is the new 75.
I saw a boy in a Mississippi State sweatshirt today. I stopped and stared but didn't talk to him. He was buying flowers from a street vendor. What a southern gentleman. Otra chiste...
So here's a few more pics. Love to Louisiana, esp the Big BR sin electricidad. Poor MKB is sleeping at work.
-CharStar
This is right across the street. McDonaldization. I should send this to my sociology 315 teacher Dr. O. The Mickey Dee's are quite popular here. They also have McCafe's with just desserts. I haven't been to one. Yet.
This is my building. It's old and pretty. I live on the 3rd floor. There are more students on the 6th floor too. I know there's a tango studio and a salon upstairs somewhere.
This is a protest from yesterday. Because we live on the same street as the Congreso, people are always outside protesting. This one was about teacher salaries and educational funding. Love to Katie and my teacher friends. All of the students ditched school to march. Lots of political activism here.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Zara Chara
Great day in BA! That rhymes. Loves it. I had class alone with Frederico. We learned irregular preterit verbs and played some numbers games. Que divertido! After class I watched Gossip Girl online again with my friend Lindsay. It was even better the second time. I love Chuck Bass almost more than I love Ross Gellar. Which is a lot.
This afternoon I explored Palermo which is basically the SoHo of BA. Very chill and awesome. We went to the botanical gardens. We also ate in Spanish cafe. I had a tortilla espanola that was delicious and reminded me of fond times in Valencia. I think Valencia is going to have some competition. I am starting to love it here.
I signed up for a wine tasting class so that I can be like Tara when we go out to eat and she tells us about the hints of blackberries and oak.
So, I found Zara. And a huge mall. Like amazingly huge and fancy and awesome. I saw 2 purses I plan on buying. First on my shopping list though are boots. They have shoe stores everywhere and all the boots on sale cost like 80 pesos (like 30 dollars). Oh yes. I shall purchase.
Zara is probably my favorite place in the world. I'm not going to go all Spain style and spend mucho mucho dinero there (plus, it's a bit out of the way unlike in Spain where I passed 3 on my way to school everyday.... I really want to buy just a few nice things to have from Argentina.
I also have decide that I'm going to do some traveling. I never really thought it was possible as South America is huge and trains can't take you from Paris to Amsterdam or whatevs but apparently the buses here are quite nice. I really want to plan to backpack for like 2 weeks at the end. If you have any suggestions holla back.
So I'm the only person here from anywhere remotely Southern. And I'm including Texas, Virginia, and Florida. There's a girl from Missouri and on from Nebraska. My accent is quite the commodity. I thought I was so city chic but oh no.
My Norweigan roomie just came back in and is telling me about cool music. She just asked me what songs I am going to play at my funeral. Gots to go.
Oh and it's really cold here all of a sudden. Hope your humidity is treating you well.
Oh and here are some pics...
My little queendom. I am using my suitcase for a bedside table.
This is the Congreso. It's right down the street. It's built to look just like the US Capitol. Well done.
This afternoon I explored Palermo which is basically the SoHo of BA. Very chill and awesome. We went to the botanical gardens. We also ate in Spanish cafe. I had a tortilla espanola that was delicious and reminded me of fond times in Valencia. I think Valencia is going to have some competition. I am starting to love it here.
I signed up for a wine tasting class so that I can be like Tara when we go out to eat and she tells us about the hints of blackberries and oak.
So, I found Zara. And a huge mall. Like amazingly huge and fancy and awesome. I saw 2 purses I plan on buying. First on my shopping list though are boots. They have shoe stores everywhere and all the boots on sale cost like 80 pesos (like 30 dollars). Oh yes. I shall purchase.
Zara is probably my favorite place in the world. I'm not going to go all Spain style and spend mucho mucho dinero there (plus, it's a bit out of the way unlike in Spain where I passed 3 on my way to school everyday.... I really want to buy just a few nice things to have from Argentina.
I also have decide that I'm going to do some traveling. I never really thought it was possible as South America is huge and trains can't take you from Paris to Amsterdam or whatevs but apparently the buses here are quite nice. I really want to plan to backpack for like 2 weeks at the end. If you have any suggestions holla back.
So I'm the only person here from anywhere remotely Southern. And I'm including Texas, Virginia, and Florida. There's a girl from Missouri and on from Nebraska. My accent is quite the commodity. I thought I was so city chic but oh no.
My Norweigan roomie just came back in and is telling me about cool music. She just asked me what songs I am going to play at my funeral. Gots to go.
Oh and it's really cold here all of a sudden. Hope your humidity is treating you well.
Oh and here are some pics...
My little queendom. I am using my suitcase for a bedside table.
This is the Congreso. It's right down the street. It's built to look just like the US Capitol. Well done.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Settling in.
Hola todos! Things in BA are going. I'm getting to know the city better each day. That sounds so poetic. Almost as poetic as I felt while sitting in a coffee shop drinking cafe con leche and reading. It was fun. I like the program I'm in. It's very different than the other times I've studied abroad. Very individualized and independent. I have only seen the whole group one at orientation and will likely not see some of them again. I am getting to know everyone on my floor in the residencia. There are about 10 people in my program on this floor. I haven't mustered up the confidence to canon ball into the water of argentine friends yet. I'll get there soon.
So people here kiss on greeting and saying goodbye. Que horror. I'm not so big on the physical touch of others. I kind of wave the hand wave which my teacher says is quite rude but it is what it is.
I had my first day of class today. It was great - a little basic but great. It was just Frederico, mi profesor, who is probs my age. He looks just like this English TA katie, morgan and I had in college. Crazy curly hair. Kind of like a super skinny Star Trek Johnny Depp. Very entertaining. For the last 2 hours of class it was just me and him. We played a board game that's a cross between boggle and scatagories. It was quite fun!
No one at GIC can understand that my major in college was Spanish. Especially bc I don't speak it all that well. Both Frederico and Delia, the woman from the front desk, have quizzed me about this. I assure them that yes Spanish was what I studied. Eventually I just told them that it was literature (true) and not much actual speaking. I need to find a grad program and get a real major or something.
So after much confusion I still don't have an internship, but I think I am getting an awesome music one. It sounds very edgy and hipster which fits in perfectly with my cool new south american persona (except I did wear a Talbots sweater today which makes my hipster level descend a bit).
I had dinner tonight with 2 girls from my program. At dinner, a man at the next table asked us if we were all from different countries as one was african american, one chinese, and me. I told him we were all from EEUU and that it was a country of many cultures but all live together as one country. USA is A OK. Amer I Can. It was a beautiful moment. I felt like an ambassador. He just looked confused.
US politics are huge here. Obama is in the media everywhere. Along with Sarah Palin and her fam issues.
Love to America. Miss you all.
PS - I just watched Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill premieres online. SO good. It took a lot of links and patience but so worth it. Thanks jesus for sidereel.com.
So people here kiss on greeting and saying goodbye. Que horror. I'm not so big on the physical touch of others. I kind of wave the hand wave which my teacher says is quite rude but it is what it is.
I had my first day of class today. It was great - a little basic but great. It was just Frederico, mi profesor, who is probs my age. He looks just like this English TA katie, morgan and I had in college. Crazy curly hair. Kind of like a super skinny Star Trek Johnny Depp. Very entertaining. For the last 2 hours of class it was just me and him. We played a board game that's a cross between boggle and scatagories. It was quite fun!
No one at GIC can understand that my major in college was Spanish. Especially bc I don't speak it all that well. Both Frederico and Delia, the woman from the front desk, have quizzed me about this. I assure them that yes Spanish was what I studied. Eventually I just told them that it was literature (true) and not much actual speaking. I need to find a grad program and get a real major or something.
So after much confusion I still don't have an internship, but I think I am getting an awesome music one. It sounds very edgy and hipster which fits in perfectly with my cool new south american persona (except I did wear a Talbots sweater today which makes my hipster level descend a bit).
I had dinner tonight with 2 girls from my program. At dinner, a man at the next table asked us if we were all from different countries as one was african american, one chinese, and me. I told him we were all from EEUU and that it was a country of many cultures but all live together as one country. USA is A OK. Amer I Can. It was a beautiful moment. I felt like an ambassador. He just looked confused.
US politics are huge here. Obama is in the media everywhere. Along with Sarah Palin and her fam issues.
Love to America. Miss you all.
PS - I just watched Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill premieres online. SO good. It took a lot of links and patience but so worth it. Thanks jesus for sidereel.com.
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