I honestly can't believe I've only been here a few days. We've packed so much activity into them that they have seemed much longer. It's Friday night. It's funny: I've never really enjoyed recording the events of my day; I could never keep a diary for very long, but when it comes to this blog, I'm always happy to recall everything I saw and did and to write it down. I'm actually a bit irritated that I didn't get a chance to write in here last night because of Internet problems. Of course, I could have done then what I'm doing now: writing the entry in a word processor document and saving it until I fix this issue.
Yesterday I woke up early, around 8:00, and had to get up and get moving to arrive at the university at 9:00 to go on a city tour. We left at about 8:30 or 8:40 and got on the bus, and we hit traffic, so I was a bit concerned that we would be late. That didn't end up being important at all. We got to the meeting place at 9:00 on the dot and proceeded to sit there for an hour. Finally, at 10:00, the tour guide, Juan Pablo, came in and retrieved us. We climbed aboard the giant Travelline city tour bus and seated ourselves among people from Paraguay, Brasil, Germany, Uruguay, and various other countries. The tour lasted until 1:45, at which point we had to get off the bus and walk back to the university for our class at 2:00. We were, needless to say, not on time. Having been on the tour for almost four hours, stopping only a few times to walk around in places like Plaza de Mayo, Recoleta, and the soccer stadium in La Boca (for photos, see Flickr photostream at the bottom of the page), we were starving. On our way back to school we stopped at McDonald's, where I purchased a McPollo sandwich (that is actually what it is called).
After class Maria and I realized we didn't know where to get our bus going back to the Residencia, since the day before we had taken a cab to transport our suitcases. One of the professors indicated where the stop was, and we got on only to realize we didn't know where to get off. But somehow over these few days we've managed to learn a bit about the local geography. We recognized street names. We recognized buildings. We got off in the right place, exclaiming, “We are so good at this!” Exhausted, we went back to our respective rooms to relax for a while before dinner. Before I really had a chance to relax, though, Maria had sent me a message telling me that my new room was ready! Antonia, one of the women who manages the Residencia, had told me that I could move to this other side of the building, out of the room I was in, which was off by itself. Maria had spoken to the night manager and the room was ready. I tossed everything back in my suitcases and Maria and I drug it all across the courtyard and up the halls to my new room, where I am now. I love everything about it, except the fact that I cannot connect to the Internet at all. That's why I'm writing this on a word processor. I spoke with Antonia about it this morning, and she said she would mention it to the guy who manages the network, so hopefully something comes of that.
Today I had nowhere to be until class at 2:00, so I had a leisurely morning of organizing my things, hanging some pictures, and fighting with my computer. After class we went to el Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, the fine arts museum in Buenos Aires, and then Maria and I walked back here to the Residencia-- a surprisingly short walk. The museum was very nice. We have a short assignment to do based on our visit there with the professor. So far I'm enjoying this class-- especially our thirty-minute break: today they served us medialunas. Delicious.
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