I am currently enjoying my merienda
(the mini meal between lunch and dinner) of Argentinian brand Oreos
and milk. It's quite delicious. Gimme any kind of cookie, and I am a
happy girl. Good thing there are kioskos every where with tons of
cookies/alfajores at my finger tips.
I feel like I should take a moment to
specifically shine the spotlight on Alfajores. Y'all. They are God's
gift to Argentina. I am obsessed with them. It is really bad.
Basically an alfajor is 2 or 3 cookies with dulce de leche separating
them and then covered in chocolate. AMAZING. And cheap. I tend to eat
them on an empty stomach though, and then I get sick because they are
soo sweet. Anyways...enough about food.
Unfortunately this week we did
not have a holiday, so I had to go to school all four days. *Cue
the tiny violin* School has been keeping me busy. These Argentinian
professors do not mess around. I've already had to write a TON. This
I guess is a blessing in disguise. Although I hate writing (in
English or in Spanish), I really do need the practice. Hopefully by
the end of these three months I will be a reading/writing/speaking in
Spanish pro.
I
think I'm finally improving some in my conversational Spanish
department. Cata (my Chilean house mate) even told me that she could
notice a difference! Hallelujah! Just don't ask me to describe
something in detail for you. You'll be standing there for at least 10
minutes as I internally debate which verb tense would be most
correct. And then make sure I stem-change correctly. Oh and don't
forget those indirect/direct objects.
Thursday
was the beginning of our cultural festivities. Another tango class.
This week was a bit more sensual then the others. I thought I only
had to worry about the eye contact; now I needed to worry about
making sure my foot correctly ran up my partner's leg. This time my
main partner was my friend Erik. Not to brag. But we definitely
brought the sensuality. And the eye contact. Double whammy.
On
friday I got to check off another first! A reggae concert! The band
was called Nonpalidece, and apparently they are very popular!
Everyone knew all of the words. Even one of our TA s. I thought I
wasn't going to enjoy it, but I actually really liked it a lot. The
music and energy was a lot of fun, and any chance I get to dance I
take it :] I also rode the subte (subway) for the first time with
Carson and Lara. Nothing makes you feel like a legit city gal like
taking the subte places.
Saturday
was a free day, so I mostly relaxed and eventually went over to
Palermo Soho to hang out and eat lunch with some of my friends. I
absolutely love that area! It's super artsy, and the cafe I ate at
was amazing. And cheap! Which makes everything ten times better.
After a while I met up with a girl I met via Good Women Project
(christian blog for women) who I saw was also studying abroad in
Buenos Aires! Crazy awesome God moment. And the two of us along with
my friend Ashley went to a church that was in the barrio Belgrano.
Sunday
was probably the best day I've had so far in Argentina. We left the
city and headed to an estancia in a rural area outside of Buenos
Aires. It was GORGEOUS. We took a tour of the little pueblo there,
and afterwards headed to the ranch. This ranch has been passed down
for generations, and it is absolutely breath taking. Seriously. If I
had to live there the rest of my life, I totally would. Our day
consisted of soaking in the beautiful sun while riding horses and, of
course, eating a TON of meat. Like seriously. The most meat I've ever
eaten in one sitting in my life. So delicious. I had the biggest food
baby ever. TMI? I don't care. It happened. And it was worth it.
Last night I got to have a peak into the political culture of Buenos Aires. Cristina Kirchner is the president of Argentina, and I have realized that a lot of people hate her. From what I've heard, she is basically crazy and wants to change a lot of the constitution so she can do whatever she wants. Last night she took over every channel on TV and gave a speech about all these changes she wanted to make. Shortly after it started, I heard a lot of noise outside. I went into the living room to see my house mom putting on her jacket and going outside to the porch bringing along a pot and metal spoon. Apparently in Buenos Aires, people will go outside and bang their pots as a sign of protest. Along with pots, people were shouting angrily in the streets and taxis were beeping their horns repeatedly. It was crazy. Argentinians have so much passion. I love it.
This past week was my third week in Buenos Aires! This is amazing/depressing at the same time. I really can't believe it's already been three weeks. Time is going by so fast. If this keeps up, it'll be time for me to leave my beloved Buenos Aires in no time. But with
each week that passes, I am more and more sure of the fact that I
will be coming back here to teach English once I graduate. God has
been showing me a lot the past three weeks, and He has firmly planted
the desire in my heart to teach and care for this city.
Until
next time!
Besos.
