So it's been almost 3 weeks since I've landed in this big ol' city. Since I've been meaning to start this blog for about two months now, I figured better late than never!
So far it's been amazing here- the food, the sights, the city, the dulce de leche.. It is a wonder how there are no obese people in this country when there are so many delicious pastry shops on every single street and the basic diet seems to be meat, bread, cheese plus empanadas.. so much good foood
My host family is a sweet older couple that lives in a relatively safe neighborhood. Relatively safe meaning you only have to watch out for fake money from cab drivers, never carry very much cash on you or any cards, and always be on the lookout for someone trying to rob you. Just like Yarmouth or Palo Alto right? However I'm getting used to the Argentine way, (or even city life for that matter!) slowly but surely. I've figure out exactly how much time it takes me to walk the 3 blocks to school but somehow I'm still 5 minutes late every single day- surprise, surprise. It's really nice living so close to school though and there's lots of shopping, restaurants and parks in the rest of my area- very residential.
Everyone in my group has either older couples or single older women as host parents because of the economy here most people live at home essentially until they're married so the only people with extra room to spare are grandparents. The family does speak some english though which helps with the whole communicating thing although it's still extremely awkward. My host dad is also having some health issues so he is resting most of the time but I like watching rugby, field hockey (they just became world champions!!) or Law and Order (with Spanish subtitles) with him. And with the subtitles we can both understand it so es perfecto!
My Spanish is coming along.. class is pretty intense and our teacher insists on only speaking Spanish. Extremely frustrating at times but our class is only 8 kids and we're all essentially clueless here so its a good time. ISA calls us their "argentine babies" and it couldn't be more true. When I was out to lunch with a couple of my friends also in my basico 1 class the other day we were freezing cause the door was open but we didn't know how to ask them how to close it so we just kept saying "frio! frio!" Straight up babies; can't do anything on our own. Speaking of which if you haven't seen the movie Babies.. es necesario. Also necesario is Friday Night Lights.. I'm hooked like Phonics, almost done with season 1 already and every episode so far has been a tear jerker.
Anyways, I can't believe it's already been 3 weeks, I feel like I've done so much but there is so much left that I want to do! The city is so big I don't think I'll ever be bored.
Here's a summary of my first week or so here in photos.. many more to come now that I've gotten this first post out of the way. Luckily I had my first test today so I was finally able to do some procrastinating!!
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| First night, first incident apparently those curtains don't slide.. |
anyways, here's the rest of my room:
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| hi oshe |
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| closet- and yes that is the living room 3 inches away from my room |
City Tour with ISA the second day, Sunday Aug. 29th:
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| Recoleta cemetary (Eva Perón is buried here) rates can be thousands of dollars a week! And if your family don't pay they apparently just throw your bones out on the street |
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| Casa Rosada (the pink house like the white house) |
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La Boca, home of team Boca stadium and famous for its colorful buildings- apparently they began painting them with leftover paint from all the ships that would come into the port nearby and the tradition stuck..
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| too cool for school in la boca |
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| Puerto Madero |
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| problemo numero 2, guess that bottom drawer won't slide anymore.. |
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| pretty street near my house |
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they do say they're obsessed with 80s music here.. disco balls in da clubs
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| and so begins my food diary |
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| cute lollipops/umbreallas |
On the next Saturday, Sept. 4th we went to El Tigre "the Venice of Argentina" where everyone gets around on boats to all the islands here. Would have been awesome had it not rained all day but here are some pics from our boat ride down the river
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| supermarket boat! |
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| an original el tigre house they've preserved |
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| clam fest in el tigre! |
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| mmm choripan |
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| group in San Isidro |
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| Buenos Aires skyline |
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| clean beaches!! |
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| That night I saw Ira!! We met up at Puerta Uno, a cool bar in Belgrano |
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| ..it was so classy that the menus matched the walls! |
Sunday brings the markets (ferias)
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| handicrafts, |
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| dancing, |
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| more crafts, |
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| piggies, |
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| of course, dulce de leche.. |
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| and some amaazzing tomales. |
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| only 1 peso, why not?! |
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| a parilla where I got my delicious vasiopan |
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| soo goood |
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lots of very cool wine bottle holders
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Then we made it just for the end of the Feria in San Telmo..
So that's the end of week one, hope you've enjoyed this monster of a post! I'm headed off to Córdoba for the long weekend but don't worry, I'll post plenty more pics when I get back!!
Un beso
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