Tomorrow, I will have officially been in Buenos Aires for a full month. I don’t even know how that is possible. Looking back on individual experiences, it seems like I really have been here for quite some time, but on the whole, it feels like 4 weeks is nothing, that I only just arrived. The one thing I have come to realize and really appreciate is that for once in my life, everything isn’t planned out. I don’t really know what I’ll be doing every day, and most of my planning is very spontaneous. I have my schedule set up now, more or less, but besides that, I can do whatever I want with all the other open spaces. It’s incredibly refreshing.
Every day I feel like I could think of one small victory that is making life that much better here. Some examples:
1.My Spanish is steadily improving. I am hoping to be able to incorporate more slang/common language into my every day speech so that I may one day stop sounding like a disgustingly proper Spanish textbook.
2. I’m getting good at calling out cab drivers that try to rip me off and take the extra long route because I am an American. “Oh oh, sorry, I was thinking of a different number.” Right.
3. I finally learned which way the doors open in this country. It’s usually a push door to enter most cafes and restaurants. I don’t run into glass anymore.
4. After multiple visits to the Fencia café next to IES for tea and medialunas (little delicious croissants that are all the rage here) before class, I have made friends with the staff.
5. Jesus and I are making big strides. This week, she gave me pink bed sheets. I think she likes me.
Fun fact: I have a music major in my apartment building. How do I know this? Drums and bass guitar at 9:30 am ON A SUNDAY.
My life since last Friday.
Saturday afternoon, IES took us to a rugby match. Beautiful weather, liters of Quilmes beer, and good times. The match was great, considering I have never actually been to a rugby match before. A friend actually spotted a Northwestern rugby shirt? The guy said he had gotten one because Northwestern rugby had been down there for a tournament at one point. Who knew? The place was absolutely packed, with people of all different ages. A bunch of little boys in matching rugby shirts were playing on the adjacent field. I don’t think I could ever allow my 5-year-old child to play a sport that is essentially football without pads. Maybe that’s just me.
Saturday night my friends and I went to eat at a wonderful Italian restaurant in Puerto Madero, the port area along the Rio de la Plata, called Sottovice. The Italian food here in general, including pizzas, is fantastic, probably due to the great amount of Italian influence. After dinner, several of us went to a club called Punta Carrasco. Looking at the website for it now, it’s actually a ridiculously pretty place: http://www.puntacarrasco.com.ar/terrazas.html
Absolutely huge, it has over 10 different rooms with multiple bars. There’s also a gorgeous outdoor patio area with large palm trees and plants everywhere around the seating areas. Lucky for us, we have met a club promoter here who gets us into clubs for free, which was very convenient, considering this place looked pretty pricy, especially the drinks. All in all, very cool place.
The next day I went to the San Telmo street fair, a very well-known fair that happens every Sunday. San Telmo is in the southern part of Buenos Aires, full of many beautiful old buildings and cobblestone streets. This is the area where Buenos Aires was originally founded. Unlike the Recoleta fair, this fair has many antiques, among other handmade accessories like bracelets, purses, and scarves. While you roam the streets, you can grab freshly baked pastries and medialunas, watch a short tango show, or listen to the many street musicians. While we were there, we stepped into a large church on one of the main streets to listen to a choir concert. There are also many painters that come out there, and they usually display images of the city or tango dancers. I hope to find the perfect tango painting for my apartment this year.
Speaking of tango, I had my first class Monday morning, 8am. It was a little rough, but luckily I’m a morning person, so I was in better shape than most of my classmates. The class was split pretty evenly between IES students and university students. We basically learned some basic steps and started dancing in pairs, struggling at times, but not doing too bad. It’s going to be very challenging, but the professors seem very nice and the students are warming up to us. I’m very excited about it.
Tuesday I had a very interesting Spanish class. Somehow we had gotten off on a tangent and began talking about the differences between US and Argentine perceptions of economic/social status. This is what I learned. I was shocked:
--A person with more free time is regarded as someone who has high social status. Somebody who works a lot is seen as somebody who hasn’t ‘made it’
--In terms of priorities, socializing comes before work, and how successful you are at work is even less important
-If an Argentine does not enjoy the social atmosphere at his/her workplace, continuing to work there is completely out of the question. A bad social atmosphere is a huge indication of a place where you don’t want to be.
--Argentines typically work less hours a day, in order to socialize more
--Students are graded on a 1-10 scale, 10 being the best. Rarely do students receive A’s (9-10), because, as I understood it, of the idea that perfection isn’t really realistic/attainable. Thus, in Argentina B’s are considered excellent, and C’s are pretty good as well
--Our professor doesn’t really understand the concepts of “competition in the workplace” and words like “challenge” and “frustration,” because they just don’t really exist in the Argentine vocabulary…wow.
I left class that day with my head spinning, unable to fathom the idea of a place that not only is not comprised of a population of crazy workaholics, but also doesn’t revolve around the concept of relentless, cutthroat competition in everyday life. I just might never leave.
Wednesday morning I bought my tango shoes! They are mandatory for class. Guess what color I picked? You’re absolutely right, hot pink with snakeskin. How’d you know? They are beautiful. I attached a photo for your viewing pleasure.
After some convincing, I was able to switch out of my Spanish class on Friday mornings. So, now I only have class Monday-Wednesday. That means 4 day weekends, every weekend. FTW.
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