Remember that time we watched a Norwegian film with Spanish subtitles in a candlelit hair salon?

On a daily basis, I find myself wondering either where the heck am I? or what the heck am I doing here? I feel like every day that I get out of bed, I’m going to have an adventure But even though I would not consider myself a city person (pollution, crowded public transportation, pickpockets, etc), Buenos Aires still has its charms. This was my week:

• The pipes in my madre’s apartment have been temperamental, so she called a plumber and he joined us for lunch in the middle of the day. Neither of them know English, but they both listened to radio stations from the US, and they sort of know the words. My madre started singing (Mariah Carey?), “Touch my body, put me on the floor, wrestle me around, play with me some more.” The plumber apparently knew the song too and he was bobbing his head to the music. I couldn’t decide if I should translate it for them…

• This Friday I went on a pub crawl. So Argentine, right? I don’t think I would do it again, because I didn’t like the places we went to, but as always we met some interesting people. One place in particular had a dance floor with a gay man. That was it- no one else was dancing, but he whipped out a chair, pulled some Beyonce moves, and did his thing. Then we went on stage and danced with him. We also went to a bar with the worst band I’ve ever heard. The bass player was wearing a garbage bag on his head when we walked in, and then he pulled it off and was wearing a fake beard down to this waist. The lead singer sounded like someone was pulling out his wisdom teeth without Novocain.

• This weekend was a long weekend because Monday was San Martin Day. I played in a Frisbee hat tournament, which was the perfect way to spend the weekend and work off all the medialunas I’ve been eating. Anyway, Saturday I wore my ultimate clothes on the subway, and a woman next to me asked her daughter why I’m dressed like a boy. Sunday it poured, but Monday my team made it to the finals. Awesome spirit of the game! Everyone high fived, hugged, and did the Argentine cheek kiss after a point. The last two games were pretty competitive, and when I came home my madre laughed hysterically. She told me I looked homeless because I was covered in mud and grass stains. (Thank you Ian for the photos that I stole from you):

Our team was red and our name was Carne Cruda (rare or raw meat):

• I didn’t think I would miss food that much, since they eat mostly variations of Italian food. But I was pretty excited when my madre whipped out strawberries, chocolate torta, and flan with dulce de leche. Since there are only two kinds of apples (red delicious and granny smith), I was really excited for those strawberries.

• Fun fact: I named my blog What’s Up Esperanza because whatsupbuenosaires.com is a website that highlights events in the city. And Sunday when it rained, What’s Up Buenos Aires did not disappoint. I found a film screening and went with some friends to Almagro, which is only a few subway stops away. When we got there, it was a hair salon. We contemplated not going in, but when we were greeted by a man in gold pants and a salon covered in tape (the kind you’d find in a vhs), we knew it was going to be an experience. He took us upstairs to a room filled with candles, plates of cookies, and cups with ginger tea. There were pillows on the ground to sit on and furry rugs. We first watched a Michael Jackson (MikEL-YACKson) film and then a Norwegian film with Spanish subtitles. I think if you translate the Norwegian title into Spanish and the Spanish title into English... it was called The Boy Who Loved Yngve.
  

Rojo Hair Boutique

Life update: Paint store and estancia!

Hello everyone! You may be wondering:

• What I have been doing since the last update
• Why the class schedule that I posted below is so awkwardly spaced
• If my phone is alive
• Why I don’t take any pictures
• What you’ll be having for dinner (I feel a little narcissistic assuming that everything you’re wondering is about me…)

I finally have time to sit down and update, so here comes another long one. I don’t take pictures because there are no tourists where I live and whipping out a digital camera would be very obvious and very stupid. Also, electronics here have a 100% tax if they’re imported, so they’re at least doubly as expensive as in the US. I promise I’ll take photos eventually, but for now I’ll have to borrow them! Also, the awkward spacing is because I’m html illiterate.

• I did manage to get all my paperwork together to register for UMSA. Because we don’t have student visas yet, it’s a mess of passport photos, copies, and a flurry of paperwork, but Matt and I ran errands together, and I am officially taking an Argentine art history class and a painting class. Except I missed the first class for both because registration took so long and because we had to take a Spanish placement exam. Anyway, apparently it’s common for students to not show up for the first class so next week I’ll let you know how it goes.

• On a side note, I had to buy a Spanish book for the advanced Spanish course I’m taking with IES, and art supplies for the painting class, so I went with Hallie and Sara. Unfortunately, the bookstore won’t have our book until next week, but the painting supply store was open for business. I sheepishly handed the guy my list because my vocabulary in that department is very limited (Imitation turpentine? cadmium red?), but he knew a little English and was very helpful. You might know that I call inanimate objects “little guy” or “little man.” As in, “Yes I would like this little guy (holding the small oil brush).” I didn’t really realize that this might sound funny to someone learning English, but when he started to say it too, I chuckled a little.
  
  
• I went with Carlos to the Recoleta fair. I wanted to practice Spanish with him, but I think he wanted to practice English, so we spoke half and half. I wasn’t feeling too great but I didn’t want to miss out. On the colectivo there were so many people I had to ask a man to let me sit down, because I almost passed out from the heat. Anyway, a little walking did me some good, and we explored the Recoleta cemetery, saw some street tango, and browsed the art fair. I may or may not have bought some Christmas presents…
  

• My phone is alive and well! (You remember the toilet episode?) It’s working like clockwork. Although this doesn’t always help me with punctuality because transportation here is so crazy. I leave half an hour before orientation and sometimes I’m early and sometimes I’m almost late. The other day three full buses passed by me as I tried to flag them down. After the fourth one, the guy in front of me in line shoved me onto the bus so I got a mouthful of someone’s jacket and someone’s elbows in my ribs. But I got on and made it. Thank you, Mr. Chivalry!

• I went to frisbee practice with Discosur on Tuesday night! I mentioned it to Will at IES and we met at the subway. It took over an hour to navigate the commuter subway lines, bus (we took the wrong one), walking, and finally a taxi. But we made it! We did drills and a scrimmage (4 on 4) and it felt so good to be running around in a park instead of coughing on the dust from the street. Will left early, so I took the bus back with a boy from Columbia and a girl from Venezuela who are also studying abroad.

• Thursday IES took us on a trip to an estancia, which is like a farm. There were swings and animals and lots of food. We rode horses and bikes and threw a frisbee around. It was so nice to get air and relax. At one point, we were sitting in the grass after our bike ride talking about the trips we want to take and why we chose Buenos Aires. To our left were llamas, to our right were sheep, and behind us were cows. It was very picturesque but I was pretty excited to get back to the city (I'm sure you know how I feel about animals...)!

Mi Horario

	Lunes	Martes	Mierc	Jueves
9-10	UMSA Arte Argentino		UMSA Pintura
10-11	UMSA Arte Argentino		UMSA Pintura
11-12	UMSA Arte Argentino	IES Adv Spanish	UMSA Pintura	IES Adv Spanish
12-1		IES Adv Spanish		Ies Adv Spanish
1-2	Impact of Globalization			Impact of Globalization
2-3	Impact of Globalization			Impact of Globalization
3-4
4-5		Argentine Foreign Relations		Argentine Foreign Relations
5-6		Argentine Foreign Relations

Tales from Orientation Week

I’ve been here a week and a half! Part of me feels like I’m well adapted to life in Buenos Aires, and then new things happen that make me feel like a tourist again. We’ve had orientation at the IES center downtown all week, and I always have to take a nap afterwards. The center is about a half hour walk, subte ride, or bus ride away. One kid started taking taxis because commuter transportation toward downtown is unpredictable, and he was late every day!

Things That Have Happened Since I Posted Last Week:

• I dropped my phone in the toilet. How’s that for an opening? I don’t know the polite way to tell this story but I put my phone in my back pocket and I think you can fill in the details (don’t worry- I used the other toilet!!) but basically I had to rescue my phone from a public bathroom toilet. And since I have had many a waterlogged phone, I knew the procedure. I held it under the hot air dryer, let it dry overnight, and now it’s recovering. Luckily it was only about $40 USD so if I can’t save it, it’s not a huge deal. But keep your fingers crossed anyway!

My soggy phone (picture bubbles in the screen):

• My madre is adorable! But sometimes when we have discussions, things get lost in translation. Argentina is 97% Catholic, but from what I’ve observed, not that many people flock to churches on Sundays. My madre is pretty religious, which I appreciate, but when she asked me about my church at home she didn’t quite understand. I told her I was Protestant, and she asked me why the church doesn’t let us dance or have blood transfusions!

• I’m always fascinated how a major cosmopolitan city like Buenos Aires is still developing. Examples: This morning she had to do some errands so I took my time during breakfast and my tea got cold. I figured no worries I’ll heat it up in the microwave. When I walked in the kitchen, I remembered. No microwave…Also, when I take a shower I have to light a flame under the pipes to get hot water. I tried to find a picture of it but I don't remember what it's called.
  

• This weekend I wanted to go to pickup, which is all the way across the city. So I figured out the best combination of walking, subte lines, and colectivo connections to get there. It took me about an hour and a half. Except when I got there, all the fields were occupied by a soccer league! Shoot! So I explored UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and Belgrano, a really nice neighborhood with parks, tea shops, and an outdoor craft fair. I also explored Buenos Aires Chinatown a little, but my mission to find bubble tea was unsuccessful. I will definitely go back there though- it's a great neighborhood! Lots of people reading under trees!
  

Belgrano:

Chinatown:

• This is part two of the story: I was a little disappointed to miss pickup, but the league starts soon and there’s a hat tournament coming up so there should be plenty of ultimate to be played! Also, I had overcome my fear of getting lost. Anyway when I took the hour long colectivo ride back, we passed el rio de la plata while the sun was setting! I’m not exaggerating when I say that it was honestly the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
  

I'm going to register for 2 or 3 classes at UMSA, an Argentine university, and maybe 2 or 3 at the IES center. I really want to get into a painting class and an art history class at UMSA. The classes (and registration) start tomorrow, so wish me luck! Today I'm going to the Recoleta art fair with one of my madre's friends (a bilingual gay engineer). She said he knows a lot about the area, so he can be my free tour guide for the afternoon. In other news, everyone is getting sick because it's been chilly and then warm and the fluctuating temperatures has everyone sniffling.

That's about it for now! I'm off to take more Sudafed and get ready for Sunday #2 of my semester abroad.

Me mudé de casa

This is a longer post but I added pictures to keep you from getting bored!

Last night I met Matt and Joy at the Obelisco downtown which is only a ten minute walk from the hostel. We explored some side streets which were pretty cool. There were a lot of people trying to usher you into their restaurant, but other than that it was fun. I’m trying to get accustomed to the schedule here, but sometimes it’s confusing. When we went to dinner at 9:30pm, the pizza restaurant was pretty full. But now for instance it’s 9pm and, I’m not sure if I should go to bed or if I should stay up with my host madre for dinner!

Medialunas

I woke up this morning and had medialunas with dulce de leche for breakfast. I can’t rave about them enough, but I looked up the nutrition facts and vowed never to look it up again! I was really nervous about this homestay. I haven’t really heard good things about Once, and I don’t want to spend my entire semester feeling unsafe. But I decided to keep an open mind. I practiced the conversation in my head and then called on the hostel phone. When Anemy pickd up and I told her it was “la nueva estudiante” she seemed so excited. The hostel called a taxi for me, and off I went to my new home.

First impressions: Anemy (Ann-Ay-ME) is a really cute retired woman. One of the first things she told me was that she has seven grandkids, but she doesn’t look much older than my mom! Her apartment has heating, air conditioning, hot water, and wireless internet, so I was pretty excited. Because it’s Sunday, there’s almost no one in the streets, and definitely no tourists, but she said it can get very busy. We had empanadas for lunch that were really good, but she gave me six of them- that's like triple the amount I usually eat! So I had to explain that they were very good but I couldn't possibly eat them all.

I was going to go to the giant feria in San Telmo, but she walked around the barrio with me and pointed out the gym, laundry service, and the buildings where all the homeless immigrants live. We went to an indoor mall around the corner and it seemed like all the people who weren’t on the streets fled to the mall! I told her that I desperately needed new boots, because the ones I brought have a one inch heel that keeps getting stuck in the cobblestone streets. Plus, you can’t beat the prices on leather here!

We went to a shop and she helped me pick out some boots. She introduced me to the salesman like I was her daughter from “Nueva York.” When I told her I was from CT, she had never heard of it, so I explained it was near New York and now that’s where she says I’m from! She also calls me Esperanza because Hope was difficult to say.

Abasto Mall

I called Josh on Skype ($0.021 a minute= cheaper than dirt!) and then my family. We used the webcam a bit and our call was cut short because Anemy’s friend brought over her IES student Eduardo. He’s from Las Vegas, and his Spanish is much better than mine because his parents are from El Salvador. I think Anemy took a nap, so I went on a second tour of the neighborhood with my new neighbors. We walked around the mall (again) and then headed to a grocery store to buy some facturas.

When we got back to my new home, we shared mate and facturas. I couldn’t follow the conversation nearly as well because the two women were talking faster to each other. I understood about 80% but sometimes I couldn’t make out the verbs or phrases. Anyway, I laughed when they laughed and I tried to ask questions when I thought it was appropriate, but I still think my Spanish has a long way to go! Tomorrow I don’t have to meet my orientation group until 5 pm, so Eduardo and I will go exploring in the morning.

Mate y Facturas

Fuerza Forehand!

Last night was the asado, and the person grilling the meat is called an asador. There are two guys from New Jersey here who have family in the city, so we went on the terrace to see how the food was coming along. It smelled amazing! We spoke in Spanish to the asador and joked about the different accents. There’s a guy here from Spain too, and a guy from Israel who speaks fluent Spanish, English, Hebrew, and Arabic. I also spoke with a woman from France who works as an engineer in Paris but took 6 months off to travel the world. Later, I talked to two Finnish people. It’s crazy how many different people there are here!

Anyway, when the asado was finished a few hours later, the entire hostel gathered for a meal. There were plates upon plates of chicken and different cuts of meat. The chorizo con pan was my favorite! It’s beef sausage with a slice of bread. The thing about the asado was there were no marinades or sauces- everything is rubbed with salt and that’s it!

Today I met Matt for lunch. He’s from the IES program, and we met at that cheap pizza place I went to yesterday because it’s equidistant. After we ate, he walked with me to find the subte. There was no E line! We walked about twenty minutes until finally we found it. I bought a pass good for 10 rides, and then I looked at the map and realized I actually wanted the D line. Oops! That was easier to find, so we traced our steps, I hopped on, and Matt went back to his hostel.

The subte was pretty self-explanatory and not any different from any subway I’ve been on. When I got off, however, the fields were much farther than I thought. Eventually I found the field and met some people. I spoke half Spanish, half English. There was a girl from Boston, a lot of Columbians, a few ex-pats from the States, and some porteños (Argentines). It was very much like pickup at home in West Hartford or Newington. Everyone knew the rules, and we had two games going.

Some people have irrational fears, but I have a very rational fear of the bus system here. It’s just so complicated and with my history, I can’t trust that I’ll get where I want to go! But at the end of pickup, I took the colectivo (bus) home with some people who were going in the same direction. I got off a stop earlier than they did, but I made it back in one piece! Public Transportation Success Number Two!

The Food Network Doesn’t Cover Orange Juice 7-31

I was so exhausted from flying I went to bed at 9pm when everyone was going out to dinner! My room is full of French girls who don’t speak English or Spanish. They’re nice enough, but the language barrier doesn’t make it easy to make friends. Tonight is an asado, which is an Argentine bbq, so I hope I’ll meet more people there.

This morning, I woke up at 9am for breakfast (yes I slept 12 hours!) and the only ones up were the girls in my room. I pointed to the orange juice and asked where they found it and they pointed to the oranges in a bowl. I started trying to squeeze them in my glass and they laughed hysterically. One of the girls got up and cut the orange in half, then took this plastic contraption and juiced it. Then it was my turn. I grabbed one of the orange halves and it squirted all over me. The girls thought this was hilarious. One asked, USA? And I nodded yes. And after all that, I squeezed three whole oranges, which only gave me a quarter of my glass!

This is what it looks like:

This afternoon was chilly. I walked around by myself for a few hours at a time, until I got too cold and my feet hurt. Then I would come back to the hostel to warm up, and go back walking again. I stopped in a bookstore and got cheap pizza ($0.75 USD for 2 big slices!) but other than that I just people watched as I wandered all over the city center. I’m really trying to get to know the major streets and intersections, because if you know me at all you know I have a knack for getting completely lost!

Tomorrow I’m meeting someone from the IES program who also got here early, so it will be nice to have someone to share stories with. I’m also going to try the subte to find the pickup game. It’s on the other side of the city, so I’m a little nervous. I haven’t explored those streets yet! Wish me luck!