Its Been a Long Week

So, I have changed home stays after deciding that I could not longer live with the first family and I am all moved into another home. I love my host mother. Her name is Cecilia and she is not overbearing, she is easy going and she is not a smother-mother. I have had many adventures since my last post, but unfortunately I do not have internet at my new home yet because I moved during the weekend and my host mother couldn't get it hooked up on the weekend, which seemed strange to me because I am used to being able to call any company around the clock and get service, but that is not how we are living over here. For now, I am buying overpriced coffee for internet, but it is delicious, so I can't really complain. 

I will start with the least recent adventures first. The grocery store. It is amazing. There are so many new and different things. First, everyone needs their bimbo bread right? 

Im not sure if you can tell what this is. It is a wall of Nesquik. Yes, a wall. They don't play when it comes to Nesquik. 

This is twisted chocolate, I didn't buy it, but I am planning to go back for it. Im not sure it will be good, but it will be interesting. 

Then there was the protest. So, basically all of the rich people in BA think that Cristina is a bad person and that her government is corrupt and they want her out. There was a protest. They walked down the streets in the rich parts of town and yelled and banged pots and pans. They think she charges them to much taxes and she recently raised the amount that poor people get on welfare to keep up with inflation. She also wants to change the constitution to be able to run for president again. Basically, these people don't have anything better to do, so they complain about how hard it is to be rich. They also had signs that said typical protest things. Unfortunately, my school is in the middle of where they were passing, so traffic was stopped and I had to walk against the crowd to get home. It was a struggle, but I made it. 

There were people of all ages there. I mean, people in wheelchairs that looked like they were about to fall apart any second, but they were out there standing up for what they believe in. 

This guy. He was a chatterbox. We went to get ice cream at a chain called Freddo and he just walked up to us and started talking. I assumed he had been to the protest and he proudly pulled his pot out of his bag to show us. He said he was a farmer from one of the interior provinces and that he came to BA for the march. He said that she is an awful person and that she needs to go. He then started trying to tell us he started up with the marriage proposals and we bounced. 

Friday, Danijela and I went on a an adventure to find outlets on Córdoba. We searched for 2 hours in the wrong direction, then we got it right and we shopped til we dropped. We saw this cool looking building along the way. I discovered that "shopping" is a word in Spanish, but it is not a verb or an action, it is a place, like a bunch of stores or a mall. 

This is the school of Economics. 

This is exactly what you think it is. 

Day #37

I woke up this morning afternoon and I decided to get a jump start on my homework for Monday (tomorrow). I started with a bit of lite reading on slums for my class on Drugs and Violence in Literature and Arts in Latin America. It turned out to be heavier than I anticipated and I decided to have a spot of tea in the kitchen while I read for a little motivation. I went into the kitchen and put on some water for my tea and I get an orange and a plate and set my books down on the table and I am all set to get to work when my host mother comes in and tells me that I should go in my room and study because she was about to have some tea. Of course I felt awful for not being able to read her mind and I grabbed my things and left the kitchen while she helped herself to the hot water I was going to have tea with. I put on my shoes and I got myself ready to go because I didn't want to let her know how I really felt. I packed up my books and some Oreos Bañadas and headed for the door. When she saw me on my way out the door she looked puzzled as to why I was leaving. I hope that in the 6 hours I was gone it dawned on her that I left because she was rude and dismissive. Ironically, I don't think it did.

So, my adventure began. I decided to go to a park about 3 blocks from my house. I checked the weather and it was about 69 degrees outside, so I wore long sleeves and pants, but I did not know that there were serious winds.

I sat in the park for about 10 minutes before I knew I had to abandon that plan. I could try to find a café (they were all closed because it is Sunday) or I could go home (not happening) or I could explore. I heard tell of a mall 2 blocks from my house and I decided to see if I could find it. It seemed like the most rational choice considering that my house was not an option and it was too cold to stay outside.  I found said mall and also saw some other interesting stuff along the way.

Inside the mall I found a bench near the entrance and I sat there for about 30 pages and then after that I decided to take a break and explore the mall. I window shopped until I saw this store full of gidgets and gadgets that were soo cute! I unfortunately my alarm clock was broken during my voyage to Argentina, so I have been in the market for a new one. I found a super cute one that was only $45 AR, which is about $9.50 USD. Isn't it the cutest little thing you have ever seen?

After that find, I went to the food floor and I went to the tried and true Starbucks and I became the proud owner of a Café Mocha Blanca, whatever that is. It tasted like coffee with sugar and cream.

I decided to head home about at about 8:10 and by that time my host mother had eaten dinner without me and I am having dinner alone, but I think today, I would prefer it that way. Over and out.

Adventures in Palermo

Today Theresa and I decided to go to a few "ferias americanas" which are supposed to be thrift stores, but they were more like Rag-o-rama, in other words, other people's used clothes, but overpriced. We had a great time, but we only found one of the four stores we set out to find because the other 3 were closed or had turned into something else, but we check out other stores as we walked.

The adventure began on the bus, linea #111 to be exact. We got on the bus and shortly after a beautiful hipster man got on and was standing in front of me, which was totally normal because there were no open seats. We are standing and I am looking around because I had never been in that part of town before and while I am taking a gander out of the window he manages to take a photo of me while I wasn't looking. He asked me about a minute later if it would be ok to post it on this website called "Chicas Bondi" which means bus girls. He said it was about beautiful women on buses and I agreed, I mean afterall, he already had the picture. Not bad for a guy with an iPhone.

We see a cheese shop. I have never seem so much cheese before in my life. I didn't know cheese could be that big. Crazy. 

We're walking, we're walking. Cool graffiti. 

Cool chairs. 

Really cool store, but really overpriced. 

A corner cafe. 

I saw a girl round the corner with a Frapacinno. I could not resist. When he asked me for my name I decided to take the easy way out. 

Cool old cars for my beau. 

I decided as we walked by this pet store that I need a gold fish. I also saw this rabbit and thought of my roomie Dulce. 

I am also experiencing some guilt because I feel like I have mistreated my poor little Bruiser. EVERY dog, and I mean EVERY small dog has on a sweater, or a vest or some kind of garment for warmth and they look sooo cute! I must make one for my little Ruisy :)

I know he will love it!

He was trying to be coy. 

After making it to the next 3 shops and discovering that they had either been turned into bars, art galleries or had just been shut down, we ventured into the world of yarn. This store was called Milana, which translates to "my wool" and it was the most beautiful store in the whole district. The yarn was mostly wool and not full of cheap acrylic yarns. 

I thought this yarn was very interesting. Snippets of blue jeans. 

This was the winner for the day. Malabrigo in the colorway Archangel, but this one was different from the rest. The others seemed to be more purple and had hints of yellow and orange, whereas this one seemed to be almost equal parts and with some blending in between. This one was the one for me. I paid a pretty penny for it too. $85 AR which is about $15 USD. They are gonna be like putting the hands of a Sweedish masseuse on my feet. I can feel them already lol. 

We sojurned on to another awesome store called Moussa with a great window display that says "Crear y Tejer" which means "Create and Knit". They didn't have as much variety in wool, but they had some great sales. I snagged these two skeins of some acrylic something or other for $39 AR which is about $7 USD. I am not sure what is going to become of them, but that is the true calling card of a knitter, buying yarn and not having any idea what to make with it. 

After Moussa, we went back to Milana because after seeing many shady and awful stores, Theresa decided to get needles from there. I noticed this wall hanging behind the cash register and I thought it was absolutely quirky. It must be added to my "to craft list".

After a long day of scouring the city for yarn we were beat and we caught the bus home. On the way back a girl sat next to me and asked me the time, but she said it so fast that I could not understand her. When I realized what she meant I told here and she knew instantly from my confusion that I was not a porteña and she asked me where I was from and whatnot. She then offered me a flower. I obliged. 

That's all folks. 

¿Shoe Pie for Dinner?

This is a picture of what is for dinner.

 I asked what it was and my host mother replied "Tarta de Zapallitos" (In Argentina the double L is pronounced like a sh, so it sounds like "zapashetos"). My mind went to my internal dictionary and I scrolled through the words in my vocabulary that start with Z. The only thing I could think of was shoes, which is "zapatos", but my host mother always says "zapatitos" which is like saying "shoesies"or "little shoes". I then pointed at my shoes and asked her to confirm that she was telling me that there was a shoe pie for dinner. At this point my host mother and our maid Emmy laughed at me and went to the fridge and showed me some strange vegetable that I have never seen before and said that was the main ingredient in the pie. It is a squash, which is on my list of do not eat foods, but I am going to try it. We will see how it goes. 

 Emmy with a zapallito. She is awesome. 

Bonus Pic: This is the view from my classroom at school. I have crossed 9 de Julio in one light without running. Be impressed. 

The Spinach Scandal

In my homestay I am provided with breakfast seven days a week and dinner five days a week, but I am on my own everyday for lunch. For breakfast I used to have toast, but my host mother kept burning it, and I don't want to eat crusty burnt toast, so I decided to buy some cereal. When the bag that I bought ran out, she bought one like the one I bought and some other kind that looks like frosted mini wheats, but it is stuffed with the gross looking strawberry stuff that I know I am not going to like. Anywho, dinner is mostly meat. Sometimes meat and potatoes, so I decided that I would buy spinach and have it for lunch this week in a salad to get some vitamins and nutrients.

I went off to the fruit stand and I bought a huge bag of spinach, a bag with two romaine hearts and a lemon (for dressing) for 11 Argentine pesos (~$2 USD). The only catch was that the spinach was the dirtiest that I have ever seen in my life. I'm talking visible dirt, roots, just nasty. So I figured it must be extra fresh and I would have to wash it a lot before I ate it. I got home and I showed my host mother my purchases and explained to her that I was going to take the spinach to school for lunch so I didn't have to spend money everyday on lunch and she seemed to understand at the time. She even got me some bowls to wash it in and some newspaper to put it on to dry. I washed and washed like little Cinderella until it was clean and the water was clear. Then I put it in a bag and put it in the vegetable drawer in the fridge.

The two days later I went into the kitchen for lunch after a hard day at school and I was excited about my salad because I bought an avocado the night before and I was excited to have half of it in my salad. I open the fridge and to my surprise, there was no avocado there. I asked my host mother what happened to it and she surmised that my host brother must have eaten it. I could not help but be a little perturbed because she allowed him to eat something she knew she did not buy, but she went out later and bought some more, so I let it go.

The following day I was going to have salad at school so I got up early to pack my lunch and when I went into the fridge to  get my spinach, I noticed that there was a plate already in the fridge with some of my spinach on it that seemed to be leftovers. I thought that was strange, but I went ahead and packed my lunch and went on my way. I had lunch and I had an evening class, so I was happy to get home and eat dinner. When I arrived everyone was waiting for me at the table and as soon as I sat down the maid brought out a bowl of salad, made with my spinach! I could not believe this and I was doing everything I could to stop myself from falling out of my chair. I ate the salad but I kept thinking that maybe they bought some, and mine was still safely tucked in the veggie drawer waiting to be eaten by its rightful owner! To my disappointment after dinner I snuck into the kitchen and there was no trace of my spinach, not a leaf!

I am not sure what to do. What is the world coming to when a woman cannot have spinach in her own house??!! I could talk to them, but I feel awkward about it because they clearly don't think there was anything wrong with eating something they know I paid for with my own money, but I explicitly told her that it was for my lunch, but I don't want to seem like I am selfish, even though it was my spinach. I could just talk to her or write my name on my food, but I don't really think that would do much. I am going to keep my lunch in the fridge at school and write my name on it. I could just write my name on it and keep it at home, but I feel like that is passive aggressive and overtly saying that I have a problem with them eating my food, which I do, but I don't want them to know. I think here are some cultural differences here when it comes to the idea of what is personal and what is communal, but I have a solution for all of this to bypass the awkwardness and confusion of it all. I am going to keep my food in the fridge at school and write my name on it because at least then I don't feel bad about writing my name on it because it is semi public. I just dont want to make waves. I have 3 more months here and I am just trying to keep the peace and not shame Americans everywhere with my selfish ways, but I don't think I'm being unreasonable.

Over and out.

Old School Mini Spotting in Buenos Aires

There are so many odd cars here that I never see in the US. I know my beau will appreciate these pics.