I was talking to Lauren yesterday about the things that I´ve learned here. There really hasn´t been that much. The cultures aren´t really that different. I think people here are generally more ameable, or at least they pretend to be. And I still haven´t quite mastered the kissing on the cheek thing. I´m not sure when to do it. I think the general rule is kiss everyone you have any kind of relationship with when you meet them and when you say goodbye. And mostly I can do that. It just gets complicated when there are a bunch of people around or when I´m in a hurry. But in my experience that´s about where the friendliness ends, at least with me. Introductions don´t seem to be too common and for the most part if you don´t talk to them, they won´t talk to you. Course, that could just be because I an extrañero. And really, they are mostly very nice once you get talking to them.
The biggest thing I´ve learned here is how I treat people. Before now, I never realized how hard it is to understand things in a different language, and it never really occured to me that a cute accent means something more than that they weren´t born in this country. Even when I was with Kana, I probably didn´t slow down and explain enough. Native speakers talk so fast, and unless I am invited into the conversation and directly spoken to, it´s really hard to participate. My normal state of being here is tuned out. So I am more aware of myself. I will invite outsiders into my conversations and introduce them to others and make sure they are comfortable and participating. It´s difficult, because I´m kindof shy myself to think that I will take that much iniciative, but it is much more difficult or the one who´s new.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
September 24
The long weekend. Friday was Dia de los Estudiantes. Apparently it’s a really big deal. Everyone was wishing all us students a happy day and my dance professor even gave us candy and little pictures of her when she was young and dancing on stage in different situations. It sounds a little conceited here but it’s actually pretty cool to see all the things she used to do. She’s gained quite a bit of weight since the pictures were taken. Anyway, on Friday Lauren finally got me up and out of bed so we could go to the huge parks on the other side of town that was apparently the place to be. It was incredible. There were thousands of students in the park covering the grass and sitting under trees. Everyone was sitting, talking, drinking mate, playing futból, listening to music (or playing music), and just generally being with friends. No one was alone, and it was rare to see just two or three people together. There was so much joy, just the happiness of being in the company of friends and not being in class. It was great. The spectacle was only slightly dampened by the fact that when the sun started to go down and everyone left they also left behind all their trash on the grass and in the lake and on the streets. Ugg. Sigh, oh well. I have noticed that people seem less concerned about littering here. It was great to see and be a part of that though. Although Lauren and I were severely wishing we had brought some mate with us. We did buy some burgers from the vendor on the corner that despite being just bread and meat were absolutely delicious!
Later we tried to go to a Mexican restaurant with William. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for renovation so we ended up at the pizza place across the street. It was really fun though, to just hang out. Side note, when the menu says that something has basil on it here it means lots of fresh basil leaves. It’s fabulous. Were hung out in the restaurant for a while and then went to a bar for a bit where I saw a girl from my program who I have Spanish with. She’s nice and it was really good to be able to socialize with her a bit. I’m really jealous of her situation because when she came down here, her boyfriend came with her. Most of the other students I’ve talked to left their boyfriend/girlfriend in the states. On the way home I stopped at William’s house to use his bathroom, and somehow managed to break the door knob or something… anyway, it wouldn’t open. Seriously, who gets locked in a bathroom. We spent some 10 minutes trying to get it open before William just told me to break it down. So I did. I felt ridiculous. But really, in my secret heart I’ve always wanted to break down a door, just so I could see if I could do it. I just rammed into it with my shoulder a few times and the wood around the door knob splintered and broke away, and I was free. Anyway, I decided that the universe was telling me it was time to go to bed. So I grabbed a taxi.
Saturday I layed around it bed most of the day until it was time to go to a choir concert with Lauren. Side note: on the way to meet Lauren I was walking in the Subte and I saw one of the Rastafarian musicians that we had seen the day before at the park, and I swear, he looked at me, smiled, and nodded. As if he recognized me. It was insane. Anyway, one of Lauren’s friends was singing in the concert and then afterwards, we and the other people in his choir went to his house for some authentic asado (which is basically a bbq… with lots of distinct kinds of meat). Apparently, meat is a big deal down here and everyone loves them some asado. And now I understand why. Really, it was incredible how tender and juicy and flavorful it was. I had to actually stop eating for a while because I felt overwhelmed by flavor. Amazing. After that I finally got back to my house after a rather terrifying car ride with Lauren’s friend. No one in this city wears seatbelts and they all drive like locos. My roommates were having a huge party in my house that I had learned about earlier that day. I was really excited to go, but due to the fact that I don’t have a car and that the Asado was in a suburb outside of town, I didn’t get back to the house until almost 3 am. But it was still kicking, though I had missed the band. My roommates had bought at least 16 crates of Heineken beer (that 12 liters per crate) and wine and Fernet (an argentine alcohol, gross, but supposedly is better for the liver and doesn’t give hangovers) as well. And they had formed a little bar in our kitchen and were selling alcohol and pizza to those in need. Luckily, I live here so I didn’t have to pay. The music was really cool and I immediately thought of Spencer. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to socialize in a situation like this, dark, loud, and in Spanish. Fortunately, not too long into it a man and his friend started talking to me. They were very nice, and definitely in their mid to late thirties at least. Not too long into the conversation, after finding out that I was a dancer, they asked if I wanted to dance, and of course I did. It was hilarious to find myself in a rather sparsely populated dance floor with two thirty plus argentines dancing to the heavy beat of some argentine house music. I’m really glad that everyone was dancing in their own space, none of that bump and grind oddness that always takes place in the states. Anyway, they didn’t shut the music off until after 5, at which time I eagerly went to bed.
Sunday I actually only slept until noon and did some more laying in bed, organizing pictures and music, and playing Freecell, my usual free time activities. I think I did manage to do a bit of homework though too.
Today was pretty straight forward. I went to class. My dance professor didn’t show up, so I took Lauren out for gelato to celebrate that she had finished her first midterm and came out alive. She thinks she passed too! Then I came home to the first truly satisfying evening with my roommates. We all (well most of us + Malena and her boyfriend + some girl I had never seen before) sat around the table drinking some of the mountain of beer left over from the party and eating some left over pizza. It was fabulous because they talked to me. I felt included in the conversation. They asked me questions. I felt almost capable of conversation. It was fun! Now I’m going to bed. With a smile on my face.
Later we tried to go to a Mexican restaurant with William. Unfortunately, the restaurant was closed for renovation so we ended up at the pizza place across the street. It was really fun though, to just hang out. Side note, when the menu says that something has basil on it here it means lots of fresh basil leaves. It’s fabulous. Were hung out in the restaurant for a while and then went to a bar for a bit where I saw a girl from my program who I have Spanish with. She’s nice and it was really good to be able to socialize with her a bit. I’m really jealous of her situation because when she came down here, her boyfriend came with her. Most of the other students I’ve talked to left their boyfriend/girlfriend in the states. On the way home I stopped at William’s house to use his bathroom, and somehow managed to break the door knob or something… anyway, it wouldn’t open. Seriously, who gets locked in a bathroom. We spent some 10 minutes trying to get it open before William just told me to break it down. So I did. I felt ridiculous. But really, in my secret heart I’ve always wanted to break down a door, just so I could see if I could do it. I just rammed into it with my shoulder a few times and the wood around the door knob splintered and broke away, and I was free. Anyway, I decided that the universe was telling me it was time to go to bed. So I grabbed a taxi.
Saturday I layed around it bed most of the day until it was time to go to a choir concert with Lauren. Side note: on the way to meet Lauren I was walking in the Subte and I saw one of the Rastafarian musicians that we had seen the day before at the park, and I swear, he looked at me, smiled, and nodded. As if he recognized me. It was insane. Anyway, one of Lauren’s friends was singing in the concert and then afterwards, we and the other people in his choir went to his house for some authentic asado (which is basically a bbq… with lots of distinct kinds of meat). Apparently, meat is a big deal down here and everyone loves them some asado. And now I understand why. Really, it was incredible how tender and juicy and flavorful it was. I had to actually stop eating for a while because I felt overwhelmed by flavor. Amazing. After that I finally got back to my house after a rather terrifying car ride with Lauren’s friend. No one in this city wears seatbelts and they all drive like locos. My roommates were having a huge party in my house that I had learned about earlier that day. I was really excited to go, but due to the fact that I don’t have a car and that the Asado was in a suburb outside of town, I didn’t get back to the house until almost 3 am. But it was still kicking, though I had missed the band. My roommates had bought at least 16 crates of Heineken beer (that 12 liters per crate) and wine and Fernet (an argentine alcohol, gross, but supposedly is better for the liver and doesn’t give hangovers) as well. And they had formed a little bar in our kitchen and were selling alcohol and pizza to those in need. Luckily, I live here so I didn’t have to pay. The music was really cool and I immediately thought of Spencer. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to socialize in a situation like this, dark, loud, and in Spanish. Fortunately, not too long into it a man and his friend started talking to me. They were very nice, and definitely in their mid to late thirties at least. Not too long into the conversation, after finding out that I was a dancer, they asked if I wanted to dance, and of course I did. It was hilarious to find myself in a rather sparsely populated dance floor with two thirty plus argentines dancing to the heavy beat of some argentine house music. I’m really glad that everyone was dancing in their own space, none of that bump and grind oddness that always takes place in the states. Anyway, they didn’t shut the music off until after 5, at which time I eagerly went to bed.
Sunday I actually only slept until noon and did some more laying in bed, organizing pictures and music, and playing Freecell, my usual free time activities. I think I did manage to do a bit of homework though too.
Today was pretty straight forward. I went to class. My dance professor didn’t show up, so I took Lauren out for gelato to celebrate that she had finished her first midterm and came out alive. She thinks she passed too! Then I came home to the first truly satisfying evening with my roommates. We all (well most of us + Malena and her boyfriend + some girl I had never seen before) sat around the table drinking some of the mountain of beer left over from the party and eating some left over pizza. It was fabulous because they talked to me. I felt included in the conversation. They asked me questions. I felt almost capable of conversation. It was fun! Now I’m going to bed. With a smile on my face.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
September 20
I´ve been really tired all week, a combination of a tiring trip and not much sleep this week... basically just making it through my classes. I´ve also been unexplainably busy. Luckily we don´t have class tomorrow because it´s Dia del Estudiantes. And aparrently it´s just a spring party day for students. I finally talked to Katiana on the phone yesterday. It was amazing. Our experiences seem to be more similar than I thought they were. Lauren and I decided that we are going to a mexican restaurant this weekend... I´m really excited... though I´m sure it´s nothing like the mexican food we get in the states, nor like anything you would get in mexico. But hey, if it has blackbeans and mexican rice I care not. My brain is scattered... or maybe it´s just my heart that is scattered, and my brain can´t figure out what to do without it.
Monday, September 17, 2007
September 17
Cordóba
Tuesday night I watche Clockwork Orange... not the most pleasant experience of my life.
Wednesday I only had to go to Spanish class. Then I went to FLACSO to check my email and such and have lunch with Lauren. The program had split our number in half so as not to have to organized housing for 120 people per visit so unluckily Lauren was going to Jujuy and I was going to Cordóba. She brought a piece of cheesecake and a piece of chocolate cake for us to share. It was delicious. Then I happily talked to Royce online for a couple hours before running home to take a shower, eat dinner, and pack in the hour and a half I had before I had to head to the Bus Station. I actually finished doing everything in an hour...lol. Then I drug my sport bag and book bag to the subte and found my way to the bus station. I actually got there an hour before I was supposed to get there because I hadn´t known how long it was going to take me to get there so I left early. Then we waited another hour and a half before we actually got on the bus, an extremely comfortable semi-sleeper with lots of space and apparently lots of food. It was just the beginning of a weekend of being stuffed full of food at every turn. Then we began our twelve hour bus ride with a horrible movie called Lucky Seven. I won´t bore you with the details of the odd movie.
We got to our destination at about 11 am Thursday morning and of course immediately went in for breakfast. Our destination was a small sort of resort. We separated into cabins and rooms of about four people each. The room I ended up in was kindof at the top of the hill and the view from our porch looked down over the village and up into the mountains in the background. Of course I didn´t know that on Thursday because it was really wet and cloudy the entire day. After we had lunch we all walked through town, cute, small, a little shabby, to a path that led up the river into the mountains. This part was beautiful and I was really excited to see something resembling nature. At the top of the mountain there was more food, snacks, and drinks for us to have before they drove us back to the resort. Then we had some more free time before dinner. Stuffed ourselves full of dinner and wine and beer before getting up to dance some local cumbia and things like that. It was fabulously fun. Well, I suppose I was a little lonely the whole trip because Lauren wasn´t there and I don´t really hang out with anyone else so it was awkward tagging along with other groups of friends. But it was fun to meet some new people. Anyway, then the people in my room and the girls from next door all hung out on the porch until some ungodly hour... well I suppose it was only 4 am.
Friday, we slept through breakfast and got up for lunch at 12:30. But the clouds had cleared mostly and I got to see all the gorgeous scenery. Then we all got into vans that took us up into the mountains to this gorgeous little waterfall where we hung out for most of the day. Some people were brave enough to hop into the pool below the waterfall, but I was not one of those. It was not really that warm out. Then we returned to the resort where we had some free time so each room could organize a skit to perform at the bonfire later that night. Dinner, wine, beer, free time, then the bonfire complete with hot wine, melted chocolate, marshmellows, and many hilarious and often horrible skits. Our skit was a short and rather lame depiction of how the young men in Bs. As. hit on women which basically consists of starting by showing us that they can speak english then basically just grabbing you. It was funny, but really not very good. There was a funny version of Twelve Days of christmas about all the rules that we had to follow in the program... most of which we don´t even try to follow. The evening was finished off by another large group of people sitting on our porch being drunk.
Saturday we skipped breakfast again and dragged ourselves out of bed so we could go out to a ranch or something where we had some of the tradicionally grilled meat that you hear so much about. It was quite good. Then they gave out prizes for the skits from the night before. And they gave us all Mate gordes (the cup you drink mate out of) with out names carved into them! It was so cute! Then we went HORSEBACK RIDING!!! It was really exciting for me. My horse was so cute and attentive to me. I felt like such an expert comparte to all the city kids getting on a horse for the first time (there weren´t actually THAT many who had never been on a horse before, but I was definitely one of the most experienced riders). It was fun! Then we retured to the resort to pack before getting back on the twelve hour bus where instead of one, we watch two bad movies.
We got back to Bs. As. at 7 am. The subte doesn´t open until 8 am on Sunday and am becoming less and less inclined to take taxis... because I´m cheap. A girl said that she would sit and have coffee with me until the subte opened. So we had some yogurt and cereal and chatted for an hour before getting on the subte and making our way home. I spent most of sunday relaxing on my bed. Then I went to the locutorio across the street for 5 hours to reconnect with my long lost parents, spencer, emily, and royce. It was too late to call kati. :(. Then I happily went to bed. Though I am not really excited to be back in the city. Seriously, I could have sat on that porch in that small town, with my roommate playing guitar in the background for the rest of my life. Or, maybe I was just so relieved to be out of the city. Anyway, I´m going to see if I can go to Uruguay this weekend. William wants to go anyway, to renew his tourist visa.
Tuesday night I watche Clockwork Orange... not the most pleasant experience of my life.
Wednesday I only had to go to Spanish class. Then I went to FLACSO to check my email and such and have lunch with Lauren. The program had split our number in half so as not to have to organized housing for 120 people per visit so unluckily Lauren was going to Jujuy and I was going to Cordóba. She brought a piece of cheesecake and a piece of chocolate cake for us to share. It was delicious. Then I happily talked to Royce online for a couple hours before running home to take a shower, eat dinner, and pack in the hour and a half I had before I had to head to the Bus Station. I actually finished doing everything in an hour...lol. Then I drug my sport bag and book bag to the subte and found my way to the bus station. I actually got there an hour before I was supposed to get there because I hadn´t known how long it was going to take me to get there so I left early. Then we waited another hour and a half before we actually got on the bus, an extremely comfortable semi-sleeper with lots of space and apparently lots of food. It was just the beginning of a weekend of being stuffed full of food at every turn. Then we began our twelve hour bus ride with a horrible movie called Lucky Seven. I won´t bore you with the details of the odd movie.
We got to our destination at about 11 am Thursday morning and of course immediately went in for breakfast. Our destination was a small sort of resort. We separated into cabins and rooms of about four people each. The room I ended up in was kindof at the top of the hill and the view from our porch looked down over the village and up into the mountains in the background. Of course I didn´t know that on Thursday because it was really wet and cloudy the entire day. After we had lunch we all walked through town, cute, small, a little shabby, to a path that led up the river into the mountains. This part was beautiful and I was really excited to see something resembling nature. At the top of the mountain there was more food, snacks, and drinks for us to have before they drove us back to the resort. Then we had some more free time before dinner. Stuffed ourselves full of dinner and wine and beer before getting up to dance some local cumbia and things like that. It was fabulously fun. Well, I suppose I was a little lonely the whole trip because Lauren wasn´t there and I don´t really hang out with anyone else so it was awkward tagging along with other groups of friends. But it was fun to meet some new people. Anyway, then the people in my room and the girls from next door all hung out on the porch until some ungodly hour... well I suppose it was only 4 am.
Friday, we slept through breakfast and got up for lunch at 12:30. But the clouds had cleared mostly and I got to see all the gorgeous scenery. Then we all got into vans that took us up into the mountains to this gorgeous little waterfall where we hung out for most of the day. Some people were brave enough to hop into the pool below the waterfall, but I was not one of those. It was not really that warm out. Then we returned to the resort where we had some free time so each room could organize a skit to perform at the bonfire later that night. Dinner, wine, beer, free time, then the bonfire complete with hot wine, melted chocolate, marshmellows, and many hilarious and often horrible skits. Our skit was a short and rather lame depiction of how the young men in Bs. As. hit on women which basically consists of starting by showing us that they can speak english then basically just grabbing you. It was funny, but really not very good. There was a funny version of Twelve Days of christmas about all the rules that we had to follow in the program... most of which we don´t even try to follow. The evening was finished off by another large group of people sitting on our porch being drunk.
Saturday we skipped breakfast again and dragged ourselves out of bed so we could go out to a ranch or something where we had some of the tradicionally grilled meat that you hear so much about. It was quite good. Then they gave out prizes for the skits from the night before. And they gave us all Mate gordes (the cup you drink mate out of) with out names carved into them! It was so cute! Then we went HORSEBACK RIDING!!! It was really exciting for me. My horse was so cute and attentive to me. I felt like such an expert comparte to all the city kids getting on a horse for the first time (there weren´t actually THAT many who had never been on a horse before, but I was definitely one of the most experienced riders). It was fun! Then we retured to the resort to pack before getting back on the twelve hour bus where instead of one, we watch two bad movies.
We got back to Bs. As. at 7 am. The subte doesn´t open until 8 am on Sunday and am becoming less and less inclined to take taxis... because I´m cheap. A girl said that she would sit and have coffee with me until the subte opened. So we had some yogurt and cereal and chatted for an hour before getting on the subte and making our way home. I spent most of sunday relaxing on my bed. Then I went to the locutorio across the street for 5 hours to reconnect with my long lost parents, spencer, emily, and royce. It was too late to call kati. :(. Then I happily went to bed. Though I am not really excited to be back in the city. Seriously, I could have sat on that porch in that small town, with my roommate playing guitar in the background for the rest of my life. Or, maybe I was just so relieved to be out of the city. Anyway, I´m going to see if I can go to Uruguay this weekend. William wants to go anyway, to renew his tourist visa.
Monday, September 10, 2007
September 10
Hm, I don´t know what to write here. I´ve been really uninspired to write in my blog for the past couple days. I don´t know why. My classes are okay: I really enjoy my spanish class which is good because I have it 8 hours a week. My international relations class is kindof like any other international relations class (the information is really interesting but it´s often hard to pay attention because of all the big language and indepth theory talk) only worse because everything is in spanish and it´s really easy for my brain to just recognise is at background noise if I´m not directly involved in it. It´s sad because I really do want to know the information. I think I need to figure out a different way to study for the class. My dance classes are fabulous, as always. One is fairly easy for my level and one is very challenging and over my level... but I feel like I´m keeping up, or close to it. Tango club is getting really fun! I think I like it! And I also think that I will probably pursue my tango translation thesis idea.
Anyway, on friday I hung out with some of my roommates and ate dinner before Lauren came over to watch Love Actually... seriously I must have seen that movie 50 times by now... and though I can practically recite it from memory it still makes me cry a little. It was cool, we had a little girl party and ate chocolate covered peanuts and various cookie things from the store. It was fun. On Saturday we tried to go to a concert but it turns out that Argentines are 30 minutes late for everything except things that are free. Then they show up hours early. Sigh, oh well. We went to a museum for a while and then to a cafe for an American time dinner at around 6 pm. We talked for over two hours. I love that so much. I know that sitting in cafés talking for hours will be something I will always miss from being here. Then we went to Lauren´s house and she graciously let me use her internet to talk to Royce for a while. sigh. And we had some amazing ice cream. It was a little surprising because up until then all the ice cream I had had here was substandard I must say. I even bought some hagen daz (however you spell that) and it wasn´t good at all. Then I went out with Patricio and some of his argentine friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. Unfortunately since I had not had much sleep the night before I was ready to pass out at about 1 and talked them into letting me go home around 2 even though they thought I was completely lame. Oh well. Sunday Lauren and I went to one of her singing friends concerts at the museum of Bellas Artes (btw: lauren is a singer who is taking classes at the Arts Institute here... in one of her classes they watched a video of vocal cords that had been take by a camera that had been shoved up someones nose...). The concert was actually kindof amazing and it was in a museum so we got to look around at all the art... all in all it was a very spencer and emily kind of moment. Then we went looking for a restaurant that Coco (Lauren´s friend) wanted us to eat Choripan (a really fatty red sausage) at. Turns out she didn´t really no where it was so we ended up walking around a lot. We got there eventually though. And she and her friend were both really nice and fun. We went to her house after that to eat popcorn and watch the Devil Wears Prada. Then we tried to go home... but I got turned around looking for the bus and we ended up walking around for quite some time in a strange neighborhood after midnight. It was kindof a nice neighborhood though so we didn´t get robbed... unlike one of the other girls in my program who was just sitting in a park with a friend at 9 pm... or so I heard.
I´ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do next semester... since I don´t know if I´m getting the experience here that I really wanted. I have lots of options... but I have to keep thinking about things like money, credits, dance, and friends. It´s so complicated having so many things I want to do at the same time. I´ve just kindof been feeling like I´m only having a kindof spread out college experience, in spanish, and living in a house that is okay... but I don´t get very much attention. I´m thinking I would probably get more out to the culture if I weren´t having to spend a bunch of time reading about the international relations of south america... I don´t know. I just feel kindof focusless... but I guess that´s what happens when you want to dance, study, experience a culture, learn a new language, and save the world all at the same time. I know Spencer and I have had this conversation many times... but how do we find a satisfactory balance between art and making a difference. And then you throw in personal happiness and you´re practically counterproductive. But I did decide that I´m not going to decide anything until the end of October at least... even if I want to. So I should really stop thinking about it. But alas, my brain has a horrible habit of completely ignoring me.
I´m still having crazy dreams.
Anyway, on friday I hung out with some of my roommates and ate dinner before Lauren came over to watch Love Actually... seriously I must have seen that movie 50 times by now... and though I can practically recite it from memory it still makes me cry a little. It was cool, we had a little girl party and ate chocolate covered peanuts and various cookie things from the store. It was fun. On Saturday we tried to go to a concert but it turns out that Argentines are 30 minutes late for everything except things that are free. Then they show up hours early. Sigh, oh well. We went to a museum for a while and then to a cafe for an American time dinner at around 6 pm. We talked for over two hours. I love that so much. I know that sitting in cafés talking for hours will be something I will always miss from being here. Then we went to Lauren´s house and she graciously let me use her internet to talk to Royce for a while. sigh. And we had some amazing ice cream. It was a little surprising because up until then all the ice cream I had had here was substandard I must say. I even bought some hagen daz (however you spell that) and it wasn´t good at all. Then I went out with Patricio and some of his argentine friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. Unfortunately since I had not had much sleep the night before I was ready to pass out at about 1 and talked them into letting me go home around 2 even though they thought I was completely lame. Oh well. Sunday Lauren and I went to one of her singing friends concerts at the museum of Bellas Artes (btw: lauren is a singer who is taking classes at the Arts Institute here... in one of her classes they watched a video of vocal cords that had been take by a camera that had been shoved up someones nose...). The concert was actually kindof amazing and it was in a museum so we got to look around at all the art... all in all it was a very spencer and emily kind of moment. Then we went looking for a restaurant that Coco (Lauren´s friend) wanted us to eat Choripan (a really fatty red sausage) at. Turns out she didn´t really no where it was so we ended up walking around a lot. We got there eventually though. And she and her friend were both really nice and fun. We went to her house after that to eat popcorn and watch the Devil Wears Prada. Then we tried to go home... but I got turned around looking for the bus and we ended up walking around for quite some time in a strange neighborhood after midnight. It was kindof a nice neighborhood though so we didn´t get robbed... unlike one of the other girls in my program who was just sitting in a park with a friend at 9 pm... or so I heard.
I´ve been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do next semester... since I don´t know if I´m getting the experience here that I really wanted. I have lots of options... but I have to keep thinking about things like money, credits, dance, and friends. It´s so complicated having so many things I want to do at the same time. I´ve just kindof been feeling like I´m only having a kindof spread out college experience, in spanish, and living in a house that is okay... but I don´t get very much attention. I´m thinking I would probably get more out to the culture if I weren´t having to spend a bunch of time reading about the international relations of south america... I don´t know. I just feel kindof focusless... but I guess that´s what happens when you want to dance, study, experience a culture, learn a new language, and save the world all at the same time. I know Spencer and I have had this conversation many times... but how do we find a satisfactory balance between art and making a difference. And then you throw in personal happiness and you´re practically counterproductive. But I did decide that I´m not going to decide anything until the end of October at least... even if I want to. So I should really stop thinking about it. But alas, my brain has a horrible habit of completely ignoring me.
I´m still having crazy dreams.
Friday, September 7, 2007
September 7
I don´t really have time to write this because I have to go to modern, but I finalized my schedule today. I have two intensive spanish classes that take place one after the other thoughout the semester. I have modern at IUNA, and contemporary dance at the cultural center. and International Relations here at FLACSO. I´m satisfied with my schedule. It is getting hot and humid around here. They call it pesado which basically just means hot and humid. I had a long and badly needede conversation with spencer last night that helped me a lot. After about two hours and almost two phone cards I decided that we could easily continue talking for the entire night and that I´d better save some of my phone cards. It would be a lot easier if the freaking internet in the house worked. I don´t know what´s up with that. Then again maybe I would end up spending all my time talking to spencer... naw. Anyway. I have to go. Talk to you all soon... it had better be soon anyway.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
September 4
Aahhh... where did the time go.
I suppose it´s a good thing that I haven´t had time or energy to write in my blog for a while... but really, not too much has happened. I dropped my ballet class because it was far far too advanced for me and I wasn´t really learning anything. I felt like I was in the way. When on Friday everyone pulled out their pointe shoes halfway through class I was like... oh-k, that´s that. And left. It was very stressful because I WANT to dance. I'd be happy to take a lower level, but they don´t offer them this semester. So I spent the rest of the evening worrying about, money, classes, credits, the future and life... and consequently picked up a stuffy nose to go with everything else. I did go to Family Night with Sebi though and that was fun. It was a potluck with some of the other CIEE students and their families in my neighborhood. There was so much food. And it was all delicious... I probably ate two dinners in the two and a half hours we were there. Plus desert. It was fun... but then of course I went back to my room and sat at the computer until 3 am because I was too full to sleep... then I stresses for a while in bed, fell asleep, woke up 6 hours later and stressed some more. This is my neuroticism.
I layed around in bed most of the morning before finally texting Lauren so we and a couple of her friends from her college in D.C. could go to the Body Exhibit that was displayed in one of the malls. It was insane! For those of you who don´t know, the Body Exhibit is a travelling display of meticulously disected cadavers that show all the different body systems and parts of the body at different levels. It was incredible... if a little creepy. Anyway... we then waited around in a Café for a couple hours before going to the Peña we were planning on eating dinner at. We waited around some more because we were typically and horribly early. My argentine friend Patricio showed up after a while as well as Kevin, another CIEE student. The Peña turned out not really to be a peña but more like an empty room with beer and a $15 cover charge. We hung out for a while and then went to the resaurant near my house with all the good food at about midnight. It was fun. We all laughed a lot and we talked in english the whole day which was a nice break for my brain. Everyone else wanted to go to a club in Palermo but I decided I should get some real sleep and try to get over my cold. I complained to all my gracious friends for a while and they said I should relax and get some sleep. Of course! But it's nice to blow off steam! It´s also nice to have friends. So after that... I let it all go. I slept for 10 hours and woke up refreshed and happy with a more relaxed outlook on life. YAY! I still have a cold however...
Monday I did laundry, the first time in a month... I was out of everything! I went to class. Modern was still really fun! YAY! Ate dinner with my roommates. They make the best rice ever... I have to figure out how they do it. And I went to bed.
In the interim I found out that I don't have to be back here for next semester until around the 10th of MARCH!!! So I get to spent my 21st birthday in the states afterall!!! YAY!... that means I will probably be imposing on my dear Spencer's hospitality for closer to a month than two weeks... but if I have to sleep on the sidewalk that's okay too.
Anyway, I love you all. I had a dream last night about us roommates all being back on 17th street together. It was a pleasant dream. It's funny how I miss the little things... like sitting in the kitchen and emily's footsteps coming down the stairs. It's finally getting warm here. And humid. I feel sticky all the time. But I'm getting more comfortable. And having fun!
I suppose it´s a good thing that I haven´t had time or energy to write in my blog for a while... but really, not too much has happened. I dropped my ballet class because it was far far too advanced for me and I wasn´t really learning anything. I felt like I was in the way. When on Friday everyone pulled out their pointe shoes halfway through class I was like... oh-k, that´s that. And left. It was very stressful because I WANT to dance. I'd be happy to take a lower level, but they don´t offer them this semester. So I spent the rest of the evening worrying about, money, classes, credits, the future and life... and consequently picked up a stuffy nose to go with everything else. I did go to Family Night with Sebi though and that was fun. It was a potluck with some of the other CIEE students and their families in my neighborhood. There was so much food. And it was all delicious... I probably ate two dinners in the two and a half hours we were there. Plus desert. It was fun... but then of course I went back to my room and sat at the computer until 3 am because I was too full to sleep... then I stresses for a while in bed, fell asleep, woke up 6 hours later and stressed some more. This is my neuroticism.
I layed around in bed most of the morning before finally texting Lauren so we and a couple of her friends from her college in D.C. could go to the Body Exhibit that was displayed in one of the malls. It was insane! For those of you who don´t know, the Body Exhibit is a travelling display of meticulously disected cadavers that show all the different body systems and parts of the body at different levels. It was incredible... if a little creepy. Anyway... we then waited around in a Café for a couple hours before going to the Peña we were planning on eating dinner at. We waited around some more because we were typically and horribly early. My argentine friend Patricio showed up after a while as well as Kevin, another CIEE student. The Peña turned out not really to be a peña but more like an empty room with beer and a $15 cover charge. We hung out for a while and then went to the resaurant near my house with all the good food at about midnight. It was fun. We all laughed a lot and we talked in english the whole day which was a nice break for my brain. Everyone else wanted to go to a club in Palermo but I decided I should get some real sleep and try to get over my cold. I complained to all my gracious friends for a while and they said I should relax and get some sleep. Of course! But it's nice to blow off steam! It´s also nice to have friends. So after that... I let it all go. I slept for 10 hours and woke up refreshed and happy with a more relaxed outlook on life. YAY! I still have a cold however...
Monday I did laundry, the first time in a month... I was out of everything! I went to class. Modern was still really fun! YAY! Ate dinner with my roommates. They make the best rice ever... I have to figure out how they do it. And I went to bed.
In the interim I found out that I don't have to be back here for next semester until around the 10th of MARCH!!! So I get to spent my 21st birthday in the states afterall!!! YAY!... that means I will probably be imposing on my dear Spencer's hospitality for closer to a month than two weeks... but if I have to sleep on the sidewalk that's okay too.
Anyway, I love you all. I had a dream last night about us roommates all being back on 17th street together. It was a pleasant dream. It's funny how I miss the little things... like sitting in the kitchen and emily's footsteps coming down the stairs. It's finally getting warm here. And humid. I feel sticky all the time. But I'm getting more comfortable. And having fun!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
