Life update

I’m coming home!

…in December. I finally booked my plane ticket! I will be leaving Buenos Aires on Dec 21. I’m flying through Mexico City again, but I’m not sure what I want to do the three weeks after my program. Since it will be freezing at home, I'd like to volunteer and paint en plein air- that would be ideal.

Nothing like Niagara

Speaking of travel plans, we don’t have any games this weekend, so I’m going with some friends to Iguazu (Ig-Wah-Zu). It’s on the border of Brazil and Argentina, and we’re taking a bus 20 hours overnight because there is no class on Monday. I'm sure I'll steal someone's pictures after we go but here's a general idea:

Salsa Class

On Thursday, I went to my grammar class and a girl mentioned that she’s going to salsa classes that night. She gave me a flyer, and it turns out it’s just a short walk from my apartment! So I went and took some beginner level classes for the equivalent of $3. I was really nervous, because I remember I tried to do clases with Josh and there’s not much connection between my brain, the music, and my feet! But Kelly is really good and she knows everyone who works there, so it wasn’t too bad. After, we went to Abasto (the mall) to eat with a new porteno friend. My madre said she wants to come this week, so I can’t wait for our “family bonding time!” This is the new move I'm working on ;)

El Teatro Ciego

Friday night I went to a really unique theater with Kristen, Emily, and Eduardo (my neighbors). It’s called a blind theater, and we sat in darkness during the performance. We could only hear the performers speak, but during the ocean scene, for example, they spritzed us with water and we could smell the sea salt. During a romantic scene, it smelled like flowers. You get the picture. Most of the actors were blind, so it was something different.

Frisbee

Joining a team has been really stressful, because I live so far from the parks where we practice and it’s difficult to travel at night unless I want to take a taxi every time. It took a while for me to finalize my class schedule and on top of that, before the league started, not all the teams had decided on their practice schedules. Anyway, Aqua seemed to work out best and this was my first week practicing and playing with them. They play with 3 handlers back and a vertical stack, and I had a lot of trouble understanding the motion offense and double sided defense. And during the first point, I ripped off my pinky toenail because I hadn’t yet put on my cleats. That baby hurts!! I didn’t tell anyone because I didn’t want to be “that girl.” But despite my bloody foot, I couldn’t imagine NOT playing when the weather is this beautiful. The team is really fun, even if they do make jokes that I don’t understand!

Mexican food

Sunday night I went to get Mexican food with Sarah, Emily, and Kristen. It was good, but definitely not the best I’ve had. I had a drink, the special (tacos pastor), and we split nachos as an appetizer and it came to less than $6 USD for my meal. I also went to an Arabic place near the IES center for lunch the other day, and the swarma (wrap) I had was to die for. And I had sushi two days ago. Next on the list is thai. I love the food here, but I'm used to a little more variety.

Fighter Jets?

Sarah and I were walking downtown when all of a sudden I heard a guy shout shut up in spanish and we noticed that everyone on the street had stopped moving and were staring at the sky. It scared me at first, but then some fighter jets trailed blue smoke across the sky right above the obelisco (it looks exactly like the Washington Monument). In the restaurant, they said something about France on the news but I couldn't see because we were sitting directly under it. When I find out what was going on, I will keep you posted!