Wednesday, April 15, 2009

We’re catching up on the past few days now…. Blogging is hard when you wake up at 7:30 in the morning!

As I mentioned, I switched classes… I’m now with Graciella – she’s cute. Loves to draw really intricate pictures on the chalkboard to describe what we’re learning.

(Graciella)

The class is much more difficult, and I seriously feel like my Spanish is growing by leaps and bounds!

Since I have a newfound love of yerba-mate, I introduced it to all my classmates, and we totally had a mate party in class yesterday. Super cute.

(Nathan drinking mate)

(Sonia charting our course for the afternoon)

On Tuesday, Sonia and I decided to walk to Recoleta and have a nice lunch on a pseudo-Parisian street…We split some salmon and shrimp pasta, delicious!!!

We then went to the famous Recoleta cemetery and wandered around for quite a while. It was seriously intense! I’ve never seen anything like it. It was like a mini-city of the dead. Paved streets with ornate tombs, statues, busts, flowers…. stray cats, you name it!

We went to check out this cool museum, the “Centro Cultural Recoleta,” and all in all had a very nice time strolling around. As we do. We then decided to be adventurous and take the bus home. They don’t stop for you, you have to flag them down, and even when they “stop,” it’s not really a stop… it’s more of a slow down, and you have to just hop aboard quickly. The bus was hilarious – it had all these engraved mirrors and was very glitzy. Apparently they are all private buses, so the operators can decorate them however they want.

By the time we got home it was like 6pm or so, and we were DEAD TIRED. Again. What a surprise. We took a nap, and by the time we woke up at 9, it was too late to go meet our classmates for dinner (that’s what we’d planned on doing.) Instead we went and got a bite in San Telmo – I had salad and bife de chorizo – which is not chorizo at all… it’s steak! Sonia got the weirdest sandwich I’d ever seen – cheese, olives, mushrooms and artichokes. But apparently it was good!

Then we got home and skyped with Dan and Beau for a sec. I was out in a flash.

Today is Wednesday (we have no pictures, didn’t bring the camera around!)

Back at school. You know the drill. Spanish Spanish and more Spanish. I had planned to go to the gym after school (they gave us a free monthly pass to use) but when I got there, I learned that “free” doesn’t mean the same thing in Buenos Aires. It was just a “reduced” price – with “free” access to all the classes… Um… yeah. That’s what a paid gym membership is. Whatever. I was annoyed cuz I’d carried all my stuff around all day for nothing.

Sonia and I went to this monstrosity of a shopping street called Calle Florida or something, and I had a mild panic attack cuz of the crowds. I have a fear of crowds. I had to get out of there, but not before buying a pair of Haviana sandals and an English/Spanish pocket dictionary.

We split up and I came home to catch up on some internet stuff. I realized I still had the need para exercisio, so I ventured out for a jog around the neighbourhood. My, oh my. What a terrific way to spend my time! First of all, it was a great way to sightsee – it’s like walking, only faster! Second of all, I had my very own soundtrack (my iPod!) and I felt like this glamorous person in a movie somehow. Lastly, I came home feeling alive and rested and simply wonderful. Now I know that it’s something I’m gonna do as much as possible while I’m here. Kinda necessary considering the rich foods I’ve been eating. Empanadas, pizzas, steaks, wine, ay yay yay!

Sonia was out all day, and just got back. Yep, I wandered around Calle Florida for a bit. I had a mission of finding a bathroom and learned a new word, the hard way. Golpear means to knock. Florida got too much for me and I wandered over to Defensa, a street that leads home and is full of antique and souvenir stores.

Okay, that’s that. I’m off to the supermercado por algo comidas. Yummmmm….. food.

Hasta luego!