This weekend was packed with activities and outings with the girls from my Spanish class. Thursday we went on our final class-organized outing, to the movies. Despite the sketchiness of the neighborhood where the theater was, we had a really good time. The movie was called "Un cuento chino" and one of the main themes was the language barrier, so we all sort of related. After the movie we went to a little restaurant near Katie's host family's house and, as usual, shared a pizza and a bottle of wine. As usual, it was incredibly delicious. I wish I knew the secret to this pizza. I want to bring it back to the States with me. (The secret, not the pizza. I don't think that would keep very well.) Friday night, Tania moved into her new apartment in San Telmo, so we all went over to celebrate. After going out for an excellent tapas platter, we headed back to Tania's to share some wine, chat, and enjoy her new place. It's really a cute apartment. Very tiny, though. We stayed late that night; I think it was around 2:00a.m. that we ambled hungrily around the streets, looking for a kiosco to get some snacks, and it couldn't have been earlier than 3:30 that we headed back to the Resi. Saturday night we had plans yet again.
See, Katie and Brittany, two of the girls from the class, are only here for that one class. They're leaving this week, after the class ends with our final tomorrow. So Katie planned a ton of activities for her final weekend in Argentina. Saturday our original plan was to head to Cafe Tortoni for dinner and a tango show. Cafe Tortoni is the famous cafe where great writers like Borges used to hang out, so, needless to say, I was psyched at the prospect. As it turns out, though, Cafe Tortoni has become somewhat of a tourist trap, with hiked-up prices and unimpressive service. Luckily, in a student travel guide, Tania found the name of a place right in San Telmo where we could see a tango show for free. Although that particular restaurant (El Balcón) didn't have a show that night, the place right next door (Todo Mundo) did, so we went there.
It's a tiny little bar on the corner next to Plaza Dorrego, with TVs off to the right, where everyone was watching Argentina vs. Uruguay, and off to the left there was a small stage. We got a table right in front of the stage so we would be able to see the shows. The waitress told us there was a tango show starting immediately and a flamenco show at 10:30. The tango show was nice and all, but it was clearly a warmup to the awesomeness that was the flamenco band. There was a singer, two guys on these box drum things, a bassist and two guitarists, as well as a flamenco dancer. They had such chemistry and energy; I loved it. To make the night even better, I ate one of the best sandwiches I've ever eaten in my life. It was a hot steak sandwich: very simple, just lomito con queso, but it's Argentinean steak, so it's absolutely unparalleled as far as flavor goes. And it was all warm and cheesy on this soft bread, with such good fries...mmm.
We didn't stay out quite as late that night, because we had to get up early to get the Buquebus ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay the next morning. In spite of the fact that I woke up half an hour late (at 7:30, which should never be considered late...at all), we made it there by a little after 8:00 and proceeded to stand in line for nearly an hour to get our boarding passes and get through Immigration. The ferry was cool, though. It had a duty-free shop on the first level, next to the first-class room, then on the second level was the seating for everyone else (set up sort of like airplane seating) and a little cafeteria, and you could go up to the next level to stand out on the deck. We grabbed a table by the window and, after some breakfast, spent the three-hour trip alternating between homework and naps.
Finally we arrived at Colonia del Sacramento. We each got a map and started walking toward the Historical District. We strolled through the cobblestone streets, wandered through small shops, went up in the lighthouse, and ate outside, looking out on the water. My clothes from that day still smell like parrilla, the grill. In our travels we encountered some interesting characters. There was an 82-year-old man in one of the shops who told us not only about his own family's immigration to Uruguay from Italy, but about the strength of the country's culture. He spoke with this immense pride about his tiny, beloved country: "Somos chiquitos, pero la cultura..." He explained that the country is one of "viejos," or older people, as the youth tend to immigrate to every corner of the world.
We met some of the youth that remained in Uruguay when we went to the heladería to get some homemade ice cream. There were two young guys serving us who were endlessly amused by the fact that we didn't speak Spanish. I get the impression that they thought we understood even less than we did, and also that they were making fun of us. But one of them shared mate with Tania, which was nice, and the encounter solidified my belief that the people on this continent are on a completely different level as far as looks go. A higher level.
Maria and I leave in three days for Iguazu. We finally got our bus tickets and booked a few nights at a hostel, but after Saturday night we have no concrete plans. We're both a little nervous about that, but it's also pretty exciting. We plan to set aside Friday (once we arrive, at 1:30 p.m.), Saturday, and part of Sunday for the falls and the park, then head to San Ignacio Sunday night. There we'll see the Jesuit ruins, and I believe the mines of Wanda are right there, too. It'll probably be Tuesday before we leave for Rosario and re-acclimate ourselves to city life before heading back to Buenos Aires by the weekend. Our classes start the following Monday, so we plan to get back by Saturday night in order to have Sunday to relax, unwind, and prepare for the semester to begin.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
Lessons Learned
Also food-related:
#2. Jamón is omnipresent. Seriously: nearly every dish I've eaten has involved ham in some way. Today's lunch: pizza with sliced tomato on top and ham hidden under the cheese, accompanied by an empanada whose contents included egg, cheese, and ham. I usually don't even like ham that much. But it's good here.
#3. Somehow, all food is better here. I've had pizza, ham and cheese bread, empanadas, meat, cookies, hot chocolate, tea-- somehow everything tastes better. Well, last night I had Oreos, and they just tasted sort of odd, as if there was a minute recipe difference. But other than that: pizza, McFlurrys, soup, beef-- it is all amazing. There have been few meals that I haven't loved, and they've usually had a startling amount of onions involved.
Maybe today after class I'll just do an entire post about my food experiences, because while I've touched on it in essentially every post (what can I say? I love to eat), I think I should synthesize it all so you can come to understand just how happy my taste buds are every single day. I'll think about it all day. Hasta luego!
#2. Jamón is omnipresent. Seriously: nearly every dish I've eaten has involved ham in some way. Today's lunch: pizza with sliced tomato on top and ham hidden under the cheese, accompanied by an empanada whose contents included egg, cheese, and ham. I usually don't even like ham that much. But it's good here.
#3. Somehow, all food is better here. I've had pizza, ham and cheese bread, empanadas, meat, cookies, hot chocolate, tea-- somehow everything tastes better. Well, last night I had Oreos, and they just tasted sort of odd, as if there was a minute recipe difference. But other than that: pizza, McFlurrys, soup, beef-- it is all amazing. There have been few meals that I haven't loved, and they've usually had a startling amount of onions involved.
Maybe today after class I'll just do an entire post about my food experiences, because while I've touched on it in essentially every post (what can I say? I love to eat), I think I should synthesize it all so you can come to understand just how happy my taste buds are every single day. I'll think about it all day. Hasta luego!
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Lessons Learned
(Note: The numbers assigned to these lessons do not reflect the order in which they were learned, but the order in which they were recorded. Future posts will pick up with whatever number I've left off on.)
Entonces:
#1. Dulce de leche is God's gift to the human tongue. As much as I miss peanut butter, dulce de leche is a fabulous substitute. You eat it on crackers, on toast, in cookies, on apples, or just on a spoon. It's incredibly sweet without being overwhelming; it's light; it goes with everything.
That's the only one I've got on my mind now, as I've just eaten spoonfuls of dulce de leche. Buenas noches.
Entonces:
#1. Dulce de leche is God's gift to the human tongue. As much as I miss peanut butter, dulce de leche is a fabulous substitute. You eat it on crackers, on toast, in cookies, on apples, or just on a spoon. It's incredibly sweet without being overwhelming; it's light; it goes with everything.
That's the only one I've got on my mind now, as I've just eaten spoonfuls of dulce de leche. Buenas noches.
Perspectiva
Every day, several times within the day, my perspective of this life changes. In the morning, I may wake up exhausted, unable to even think about tackling the day. I'll think about how everything is just that much more difficult because of the language barrier. I'll think about the four agonizing hours I'll have to spend in class, poring over every detail of Spanish grammar. Then, by the time I'm on the colectivo, I see the city buzzing and thriving around me and I'll get excited; I'll realize I'm living here in this incredible city, in this incredible country, and God, aren't I lucky?! Class will both discourage and enliven me as I have moments of clarity and periods of utter confusion. And when I get home all I'll want to do is collapse on my bed. I'll get some much-needed alone time, all the while feeling an obligation to go out and converse with the girls on the floor but simply not having the energy to do so. I'll eat my dinner, finish my homework, and go to sleep thinking about what I would be doing if I were at home. That's what always brings me back to positivity. As much as I miss my family, home, and everything familiar, I have to remind myself that if I were there right now, I'd spend my days in some boring job or another, my nights on the couch watching TV. Don't get me wrong: I miss those things; I love those things. But look at what I'm doing here. I'm going to the theatre, the movies, museums; I'm exploring not only a major metropolis, but the capital of a country in a completely different hemisphere. It's exciting; it's challenging; it's big. And that's what makes it so exhausting. I was dropped into this world and I have to adjust my habits to survive here, to thrive here. I'm making progress; every day gets a bit easier, but I still can't help but realize how much easier it is at home. I realize how much I take for granted the fact that people I interact with will understand the language I'm speaking; that I live in my own home country, my patria, that I belong there. I never really thought about it until I left, but there's a certain level of comfort living in a place where you are a citizen, living in the country where you were born. I take travel for granted, food, TV shows, my couch. There are so many little things I miss while I'm here. But I know that this experience is a unique opportunity, that it's going to change me, permanently, probably for the better. And I know that when I go home in four months (which now seems like such a short time), all those little things I miss-- peanut butter, my couch, local commercials-- will be there. My regular life is going on without me there; my friends and family and all my little habits will all be there when I get back. It won't all be waiting for me, exactly, but my regular life will be ready to envelop me, and I'll be ready to wrap back up into it, maybe a slightly different person than when I left, but still essentially the same. I can't help but think big picture every day that I'm here. I can't help but realize the magnitude of everything I do during this five month period. Every day is significant; every day I'm going to see and hear and experience a hundred things that I won't be able to experience again come November. I'll just have the memory. So that's my goal while I'm here: I try to take every day as it comes, to enjoy every day. One day I might be homesick, but the next day I won't be able to imagine leaving Buenos Aires. Studying abroad is so strange: you create an entirely different life only to leave it behind. It sounds tragic. But, God, every day is just so damn exciting.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Weekend #3? Already?!
Wow. The days are getting away from me. I can't believe it's Sunday and my last entry was Wednesday. It doesn't feel that long ago. It's weird how I can already feel time speeding up. The first few days here were unfathomably long, but now that I'm more comfortable and I'm off doing things, the days are much quicker. My four-month stay here, which used to seem daunting, now seems brief. I am falling in love with this city, and I can already tell how terribly I'm going to miss it when I go back to the U.S., as thrilling as it will be returning home. The main reason I've been thinking long-term is because yesterday Maria and I spent almost the entire day trying to get a handle on what big trips we were going to be able to make and when. Machu Picchu got knocked off the list very quickly-- I think I already knew it was pretty impossible. But it looks like we're going to hit Iguazu Falls and the Jesuit ruins in Misiones; los Esteros de Ibera in Corrientes; San Antonio de Areco; Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay; Bariloche, or depending on the volcanic ash situation, Puerto Madryn, both a bit south; and Mar del Plata. We might also make it to the city of La Plata as well as Mendoza (wine country). It's all very daunting and complicated right now, but we're zeroing in on concrete plans for our first trip (Corrientes and Misiones), which will happen within the month.
Today we finally made it to the fair at San Telmo. We left the Resi around 1:30 and met up with Maria's high-school Spanish teacher, who is in Buenos Aires for a week to take an intensive Spanish course, as well. He won it in a contest, or something. So we met up with him in San Telmo at Habibi-- does this translate? Comida arabe = Arabic food? I'm not sure exactly what type of food it was, but it wasn't Argentine. We had falafel and this thing that I think is called shawarma or something, as well as a plate of what were essentially shish kebabs. It was all delicious! I was a little iffy when we got off the colectivo (#59, something new for us) and had to walk a few blocks through this neighborhood that I guess is still part of San Telmo. I was a bit uncomfortable, even when we found the restaurant, but it was excellent and afterward we walked through the street fair, which led us to more populated, commercial streets. Maria and I already know we're going to return to San Telmo at least once because we saw some booths where we might like to buy souvenir gifts for family and friends. Today it was just fun to meander through the streets and browse. After we'd wandered for a bit, we stopped at a cafe where Maria and her professor got coffees and I got dulce de leche ice cream...and a Coke. I'm very concerned about eating healthy, you see. We had to ask the waiter which colectivo to take back to our Resi (it was the #29, and the stop was just outside), but we made it back without any trouble. Now I've got some homework to do.
But first, I need to recount Thursday's trip to the theater and Friday's excursions to the Dept. of Justice and boliche #3.
Thursday:
Thursday morning we had to get up early to go get our certificados de antecedentes penales-- the document proving we haven't committed crimes in Argentina-- since we had to turn it in to the exchange office Friday morning. We had intended to go Wednesday morning, but I was still sick. So we got up, hopped on the colectivo, and managed to find our way to the office where we stood in line, paid our money, had our fingerprints scanned, and got receipts telling us to come back the next morning no earlier than 9:35. Then we sat in a cafe for four hours, finishing homework and people-watching. Maria and I agreed that people in this city are just generally good-looking. And everyone dresses well. It's a great place to people-watch, that's for sure.
After class we had a few hours to head home and get changed before we had to meet back up at the Teatro del Globo to see Codigo de Familia, a drama set a few years before the war over the Falkland Islands/ Islas Malvinas. Everyone in the class settled in and proceeded to concentrate for an hour and a half, and we all came out of the show understanding the gist of what had happened. We even caught some of the jokes. We were all very proud of ourselves. After the show, Marina (one of the professors) recommended that we go for dinner at Banchero, a popular pizza place. I'm so glad we did. The pizza was excellent; we shared a bottle of wine, and we all just generally had a great time.
Friday:
We had to get up early again to head back to the Justice Dept. (I guess that's what it's called?) to pick up our certificates. After hitting a kiosco to make a photocopy, we dropped off the necessary documents and hit another cafe to do some homework. We finished earlier this time, as planned, and headed to Avenida Santa Fe for some shopping. We didn't actually find the store we were looking for, but we stopped in several places selling the beautiful boots that are everywhere in this city, and we also hit El Ateneo. This bookstore is in a remodeled theatre, and is the most beautiful, amazing place I've seen. They still have the painted ceiling and the molding on all the balconies. It's incredible. When we walked out of there, you couldn't slap the smile off my face. The place just made my day.
After class we headed back to the Resi and I was dying to get out and do something, but we couldn't figure out what. Luckily when I was eating dinner a few girls from my floor invited me to go out to a boliche with them ("early," at 1:30). Maria and I were both sort of undecided about going, but one single exclamation of "Están en Argentina!" persuaded us, and we went. It was only a few blocks away, so we walked over. We danced for a while, but we were both tired, and left by 3:30. The thing about the boliches is these girls here can naturally dance. They're not spectacular or well-versed in particular steps-- they just naturally dance better than I can. I don't know if it's cultural or genetic or what, but when the average American tries to move to the music, it's pretty awkward. Not the case in Argentina.
Saturday was gorgeous, so we went to the park for a bit to look through travel books, then to Casa de Gretha to get submarinos and alfajores-- so far, the alfajores there are my favorite-- and continue planning. Planning and scheming continued until late, then we tried a new pizza place for dinner, hit McDonald's for dulce de leche and Oreo McFlurrys, and watched a movie before calling it a night. Then this morning, before we went to San Telmo, I finally got to Skype with my family-- all of them!-- during family breakfast. It was almost like being there, except I didn't actually get to eat. So, you know, that was pretty disappointing. But I ended up eating loads of delicious food today, so I'm not terribly upset.
Today we finally made it to the fair at San Telmo. We left the Resi around 1:30 and met up with Maria's high-school Spanish teacher, who is in Buenos Aires for a week to take an intensive Spanish course, as well. He won it in a contest, or something. So we met up with him in San Telmo at Habibi-- does this translate? Comida arabe = Arabic food? I'm not sure exactly what type of food it was, but it wasn't Argentine. We had falafel and this thing that I think is called shawarma or something, as well as a plate of what were essentially shish kebabs. It was all delicious! I was a little iffy when we got off the colectivo (#59, something new for us) and had to walk a few blocks through this neighborhood that I guess is still part of San Telmo. I was a bit uncomfortable, even when we found the restaurant, but it was excellent and afterward we walked through the street fair, which led us to more populated, commercial streets. Maria and I already know we're going to return to San Telmo at least once because we saw some booths where we might like to buy souvenir gifts for family and friends. Today it was just fun to meander through the streets and browse. After we'd wandered for a bit, we stopped at a cafe where Maria and her professor got coffees and I got dulce de leche ice cream...and a Coke. I'm very concerned about eating healthy, you see. We had to ask the waiter which colectivo to take back to our Resi (it was the #29, and the stop was just outside), but we made it back without any trouble. Now I've got some homework to do.
But first, I need to recount Thursday's trip to the theater and Friday's excursions to the Dept. of Justice and boliche #3.
Thursday:
Thursday morning we had to get up early to go get our certificados de antecedentes penales-- the document proving we haven't committed crimes in Argentina-- since we had to turn it in to the exchange office Friday morning. We had intended to go Wednesday morning, but I was still sick. So we got up, hopped on the colectivo, and managed to find our way to the office where we stood in line, paid our money, had our fingerprints scanned, and got receipts telling us to come back the next morning no earlier than 9:35. Then we sat in a cafe for four hours, finishing homework and people-watching. Maria and I agreed that people in this city are just generally good-looking. And everyone dresses well. It's a great place to people-watch, that's for sure.
After class we had a few hours to head home and get changed before we had to meet back up at the Teatro del Globo to see Codigo de Familia, a drama set a few years before the war over the Falkland Islands/ Islas Malvinas. Everyone in the class settled in and proceeded to concentrate for an hour and a half, and we all came out of the show understanding the gist of what had happened. We even caught some of the jokes. We were all very proud of ourselves. After the show, Marina (one of the professors) recommended that we go for dinner at Banchero, a popular pizza place. I'm so glad we did. The pizza was excellent; we shared a bottle of wine, and we all just generally had a great time.
Friday:
We had to get up early again to head back to the Justice Dept. (I guess that's what it's called?) to pick up our certificates. After hitting a kiosco to make a photocopy, we dropped off the necessary documents and hit another cafe to do some homework. We finished earlier this time, as planned, and headed to Avenida Santa Fe for some shopping. We didn't actually find the store we were looking for, but we stopped in several places selling the beautiful boots that are everywhere in this city, and we also hit El Ateneo. This bookstore is in a remodeled theatre, and is the most beautiful, amazing place I've seen. They still have the painted ceiling and the molding on all the balconies. It's incredible. When we walked out of there, you couldn't slap the smile off my face. The place just made my day.
After class we headed back to the Resi and I was dying to get out and do something, but we couldn't figure out what. Luckily when I was eating dinner a few girls from my floor invited me to go out to a boliche with them ("early," at 1:30). Maria and I were both sort of undecided about going, but one single exclamation of "Están en Argentina!" persuaded us, and we went. It was only a few blocks away, so we walked over. We danced for a while, but we were both tired, and left by 3:30. The thing about the boliches is these girls here can naturally dance. They're not spectacular or well-versed in particular steps-- they just naturally dance better than I can. I don't know if it's cultural or genetic or what, but when the average American tries to move to the music, it's pretty awkward. Not the case in Argentina.
Saturday was gorgeous, so we went to the park for a bit to look through travel books, then to Casa de Gretha to get submarinos and alfajores-- so far, the alfajores there are my favorite-- and continue planning. Planning and scheming continued until late, then we tried a new pizza place for dinner, hit McDonald's for dulce de leche and Oreo McFlurrys, and watched a movie before calling it a night. Then this morning, before we went to San Telmo, I finally got to Skype with my family-- all of them!-- during family breakfast. It was almost like being there, except I didn't actually get to eat. So, you know, that was pretty disappointing. But I ended up eating loads of delicious food today, so I'm not terribly upset.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Estereotipos
Our current unit in the Spanish class is discrimination/stereotypes, etc. Within that theme, we're reviewing verb forms to express opinions or impressions. I don't know how many people know the stereotypes of the different South American countries, but what everyone says about Argentineans, especially portenos (people from Buenos Aires), is that they are cold and arrogant. I've heard Buenos Aires compared to New York: the same bustling, everyone-for-themself attitude, indifference to your fellow man, that sort of thing. Now, I'm not sitting here saying I believed that; I'm sitting here wondering where that stereotype even came from. Everyone I've met here has been generous, helpful, and compassionate.
Last night I got a little sick (too many sweet, sugary foods--read: medialunas) and I couldn't finish my homework or make it to class today because I just felt so awful. So not only did the managers of the residence give me something for my stomach and move me to a room further away from the construction that's happening in my bathroom, but today I just checked my email and found that Angeles, a contact from the exchange office, had sent me an e-mail. She had spoken with Maria and found out I wasn't feeling well, and she said to call her if I needed anything at all. I get the distinct feeling that I could have called her and asked her to drive me to the hospital or bring me some ginger ale (something I have not been able to find) and she would have done it, gladly.
There was more I was going to write, but now that I'm feeling better, I've got to work on the homework I missed. We're getting up early tomorrow to go to the Department of Justice and get a report of past offenses in Argentina (clearly, there will be none): a document we need in order to get our student visas.
So, to recap the weekend:
Saturday night: boliche with the girls from the Resi. Very overwhelming, loud, fun, and one of the few types of establishments that still permit you to smoke indoors...so my clothes smelled disgusting.
Sunday: recovering from the boliche. Sunday night we went to a parrilla to get some authentic Argentinean meat. It was incredible. (http://www.sigalavaca.com/) While we were there, Rebecca gave us advice for planning our trips and we were excited to realize that we were following the conversation pretty well when the other girls were talking.
Tomorrow we have our third class outing: to the theatre! I'm very excited. Stay tuned as always for more pictures and stories.
Last night I got a little sick (too many sweet, sugary foods--read: medialunas) and I couldn't finish my homework or make it to class today because I just felt so awful. So not only did the managers of the residence give me something for my stomach and move me to a room further away from the construction that's happening in my bathroom, but today I just checked my email and found that Angeles, a contact from the exchange office, had sent me an e-mail. She had spoken with Maria and found out I wasn't feeling well, and she said to call her if I needed anything at all. I get the distinct feeling that I could have called her and asked her to drive me to the hospital or bring me some ginger ale (something I have not been able to find) and she would have done it, gladly.
There was more I was going to write, but now that I'm feeling better, I've got to work on the homework I missed. We're getting up early tomorrow to go to the Department of Justice and get a report of past offenses in Argentina (clearly, there will be none): a document we need in order to get our student visas.
So, to recap the weekend:
Saturday night: boliche with the girls from the Resi. Very overwhelming, loud, fun, and one of the few types of establishments that still permit you to smoke indoors...so my clothes smelled disgusting.
Sunday: recovering from the boliche. Sunday night we went to a parrilla to get some authentic Argentinean meat. It was incredible. (http://www.sigalavaca.com/) While we were there, Rebecca gave us advice for planning our trips and we were excited to realize that we were following the conversation pretty well when the other girls were talking.
Tomorrow we have our third class outing: to the theatre! I'm very excited. Stay tuned as always for more pictures and stories.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Este finde
This weekend is shaping up to be considerably better than last weekend. For one thing, the weather is nicer. It was 52 and sunny today when Maria and I went to Recoleta Market, a flea market only a short walk from the Residencia. Like the fair in San Telmo (which, as it turns out, is only on Sundays, otherwise we would have gone there today), it's every weekend. Booths with handmade merchandise line the sidewalks of the Paseo Recoleta, generally with reasonable prices. There are some booths with cheap touristy stuff, but there are also a lot with really beautiful, genuine, hand-crafted products: jewelry, paintings, small wire sculptures, mates (the special cup that you drink mate out of), clothes, shoes, leather goods, and loads of other things. For today we were mostly looking, though I did buy a mate. While we were around there, we stopped in at El Cementerio de la Recoleta. It's a famous tourist attraction, entry is free, and yes, it's a graveyard. It's one of the most bizarre places I've ever seen. The cemetery is honestly like a small city: there are streets lined with tombs and mausoleums as if they were houses or businesses. They sell maps of this place. It's enormous. And it's a very exclusive place for the deceased to reside. Not just any corpse can rest in the Recoleta cemetery. It's full of famous people, most notably Eva Peron.
While we were walking around, we watched a trio performing music on the street. I'm going to try to upload the video to either YouTube or Flickr. I think they were called Aqualatica. They all play electric string instruments that were designed specifically for them (according to the flyer we received). It was very impressive; Maria wanted to buy their CD.
Tonight the girls on the floor are going out to a boliche (nightclub) for someone's birthday. We actually ended up going out last night, a bit unexpectedly. Melanie, one of the girls from the U.S. who'll be heading home next week, came into my room and asked if I wanted to go out to a nearby bar "por un ratito," just for a little while. She said she didn't want to stay much more than an hour. I think she just didn't want to walk over and arrive by herself. Since I wasn't really doing anything, I agreed and we went. The bar, Porte Zuelo, was very cool and apparently very Americanized. Almost everyone we met was speaking in English and many of them were from the U.S. We got there a little before 12, at which point we sang Feliz Cumpleaños to Sofia, whose birthday we were celebrating. We stayed for a bit longer and then Rebecca (my roommate, who will also be leaving next week; she's finishing her semester here) and I went to a nearby boliche with some people we'd met.
I would say my first boliche experience was a positive one. I don't really have much to compare it to, as I don't go to clubs at home, either. This place was pretty relaxed, though. There was music playing, but not a lot of dancing. People were mostly standing or sitting on the sofas. We didn't stay too long, maybe an hour, and we got back to the Residencia at 5:00 this morning. This is apparently the normal schedule for such a night, which is why I'm going to take a nap now before we go out again tonight. Make sure to check out the pictures of the cemetery on Flickr. The place is outrageous.
While we were walking around, we watched a trio performing music on the street. I'm going to try to upload the video to either YouTube or Flickr. I think they were called Aqualatica. They all play electric string instruments that were designed specifically for them (according to the flyer we received). It was very impressive; Maria wanted to buy their CD.
Tonight the girls on the floor are going out to a boliche (nightclub) for someone's birthday. We actually ended up going out last night, a bit unexpectedly. Melanie, one of the girls from the U.S. who'll be heading home next week, came into my room and asked if I wanted to go out to a nearby bar "por un ratito," just for a little while. She said she didn't want to stay much more than an hour. I think she just didn't want to walk over and arrive by herself. Since I wasn't really doing anything, I agreed and we went. The bar, Porte Zuelo, was very cool and apparently very Americanized. Almost everyone we met was speaking in English and many of them were from the U.S. We got there a little before 12, at which point we sang Feliz Cumpleaños to Sofia, whose birthday we were celebrating. We stayed for a bit longer and then Rebecca (my roommate, who will also be leaving next week; she's finishing her semester here) and I went to a nearby boliche with some people we'd met.
I would say my first boliche experience was a positive one. I don't really have much to compare it to, as I don't go to clubs at home, either. This place was pretty relaxed, though. There was music playing, but not a lot of dancing. People were mostly standing or sitting on the sofas. We didn't stay too long, maybe an hour, and we got back to the Residencia at 5:00 this morning. This is apparently the normal schedule for such a night, which is why I'm going to take a nap now before we go out again tonight. Make sure to check out the pictures of the cemetery on Flickr. The place is outrageous.
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