It's been a while friends! My most sincere apologies. I would love to tell you that I have been busy encountering the city and learning all that I can each and every day, so I will.
I'll be completely honest, it's taken me a while to get adjusted here. I'm kind of ashamed to say it, but I went through a horrible stint of extreme homesickness. What? Is my name Solange O'Brien? Solange calls home where ever she lays her head... Well, you got me. I have a heart and a home, but each day I seem to take Buenos Aires deeper and deeper within me. It's a painful and pretty experience. Funny enough, it's not the language barrier, or South American or Argentinian culture that sourced this shock. It's being in a big city. I've never been one to believe that the world is as big as I am, but holy freaking smokes, it's tons and tons and tons bigger. There are so many people! I'm a newbie, and know maybe 20 out of the 13million people who are in this city. Lots of other students complained that they are overwhelmed because they can't be alone. People are always in the streets, shoving past you to live their own lives. I find the contrary. The massive amounts of people who don't know your name or face can be extremely lonesome. It's been tough to get comfortable, but I guess the positive spin is that there's always room for re-invention. I can be whoever I want to be because let's face it, homegirl walking down the street won't recognize me anyway.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not sad or mopey. I love it here. I like the challenge. And with every passing day more of a routine is established, and faces become more familiar, and this big scary city turns into my home.
Also- I skipped class and discovered the city today. It was awesome. Got lost, walked for 5 hours in any and all directions, and did not get robbed or cussed out. WIN!
Enough deep, more deets
Not much has been happening on my end. School as usual. Objeto indirecto, Presente del subjuntivo, Pasado perfecto del Subjuntivo, Pasado imperfecto del subjunitvo, por, para, etc.. Bored yet? Me too. Exams for this intensive month is on Thursday and Friday. I'm not worried because these classes mean nothing to me or my transcript.
I'm really loving the gym I go to, and the girls who come with me :) We have a great time together. And Leo and Esteban ( two of the instructors) are wonderful. If I keep this up, plus all of the walking, I might get one of those teensy weensy not real bodies that these portena women sport oh so nicely. Ha. Yeah right. Beef, pizza, beer and wine cancels that dream out, and I'm totally fine with it.
Outside of the academic world, social world is great. La bomba del tiempo was a great time. It's a outdoor concert thing that everyone in the world goes to ( especially drunk study abroad students) and a group of about 13 percussion instruments pour intoxicating tropical rhythms into your body. If you ever get to see this show, I dare you not to dance. You will fail. And it makes Mondays manageable... (I'm a sucker for alliteration).
Friday night I went to a house party. BEST NIGHT. First off, being in a house.. Yes! It was a beautiful night ( all of them are) and vino, cerveza, and good porteno company. I spoke spanish the whole night, and while I stumbled on my words at the beginning of the night, by the end, it was the easiest thing in the world. Talked to a lot of people and had really great conversation. Naturally, politics eventually jumped in to the convo, and it was wonderful. I experienced ( for the first time) extreme foreigner prejudice. Homeboy, about 4 minutes into our political discussion, accused me of having an "exclusively American" point of view on American politics. Okay. Uhh... what? Eventually he said that neither I or President Obama know anything about being Black in America... once again.... Uhhhh? What? After about an hour and a half of heated spanglish discussion ( and Quilmes) we reached understanding. Plus, we totally bonded over our love for J.Holiday, Bobby Valentino and R Kelley ( that was mostly his love, not mine, but whatevs..) Cultural differences mended by music! Lessons learned, no harm no foul. To be completely honest, it was probably my favorite night here. Sure the flashing lights and dark smokey rooms are fun, but nothing compares to good conversation and learning about a culture. And I love talking politics with foreigners ( a lot more than with Americans). --- On that note, learned something... South Americans are deeply offended that we ( citizenship USA) call ourselves Americans, and call "others" otherwise. The boys made a good point, they too are Americans. I couldn't really explain why we do what we do. I've never really thought about it before. The best I could give them is that we were brought up on a 7 continent system, and while the Spanish language has "estadounidense" what would we say? "USA-ican"? "United State-ish"? "Middle of North American"? If you find a better name, let me know and I'll give it a shot.
Sorry so lengthy... I guess thats what happens when I neglect blogging for two weeks.
For those of you who stuck with me through this entry, or who are just big nasty cheaters, here are the
THINGS THAT MADE ME LOL
-Women's clothing: all size nothings. Seriously. I'm beginning to think that there's a perpetual shortage of cloth. F'real, that pant leg is the same width as my shoulder. Clothes here aren't real.
- Money. All you get is big bills. Tons of $100 bills. No one ever has change. Ever. And if you use a $100 for your purchase of $16, you will get the evilest of eyes, and then have to wait 15 minutes for the manager to approve the cashier giving you three of the one hundred $20 bills that is in the register in front of you. Money isn't real.
- Levi jeans having its own store. Levis, friends. and Wrangler too! They are located across from the Cartier kiosk. Huh? Not real.
-The shenanigans that take place at McDonalds post 2:00am ( see fb photo album " la vida es una maravilla" photos 38 & 42)
- shoes called "Sex Wax" They looked like skate shoes. They were ugly. He was twelve.
- A guido at the subway station. Gel was sweating down his face. His hands were very well manicured. I probably should have asked him where he got it done, my cuticles are a mess!
Later friends.
PS- I'm a big fan of receiving mail. Huge fan, actually. So for the dozen of you who are following this, here's the address:
Solange O'Brien
Cabildo 875 1er. Piso
Buenos Aires Argentina
C1426AAI
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