Joyful Girl

So I'm going to keep this one relatively short. Just figured I'd check in and answer some frequently asked questions, such as:

1) How are you doing?

Well, that's a bit of a loaded question. I'm doing well though for sure. It's a bit unsettling/disorienting living in a massive city for the first time without completely understanding the language and the culture. But I'm really pleased with my Spanish school. It's been wonderful to have that network of people in the same situation. And I've met some really interesting travelers from all over (but mostly the US and England). Plus, the classes keep me busy and focused which is great and necessary. Did I mention that this city is a bit overwhelming? I feel like this is what living in New York might be like... which is great because this kind of independent experience is exactly (mas o menos) what i wanted.

2) What do you do?

Depends. The first few days here (Thursday June 12 - Monday June 16) I just explored a lot with my mother. Then the following week was my first week of Spanish classes in the mornings. But this past week has flown by so rapidly it's frightening. I've had Spanish classes in the morning from 9 - 1 and added afternoon personal conversation classes from 2 - 4. I really like both of my teachers and the other students in my class (a navy pilot, a kid from Brasil, and a young TEFL teacher from the states). In the afternoons and evenings it's been pretty much a mix of low-key errands, exploring the city and homework.

And since I know you are curious: Even though this city is notorious for never (ever) sleeping... I've rarely been out. Last weekend ChiChi and I met up with another student, Natasha, (she went back to California and Finland for the month of July but I can't wait for her to come back in August...) and her fiance and some of their friends. We ate dinner at 12:30 am!! and no. we were not alone in the restaurant. Afterwards, because I couldn't sleep after eating all of that food... I met up with Madeleine and some of her friends here at a really chill/great bar called Sugar. These people are crazy though. A good bar/boliche(club) doesn't close until at the earliest 6:00 or 7:00 am... And this past Thursday one of the student's at the school had a good-bye party which I'm really happy I went to. Travelers have some really interesting stories to explain why/how they got here. But I haven't done anything much more. And once I get to a boliche, I'll be sure to let you know how it goes.

3) Where do you live?

Right now I'm living with a very nice Argentine/porteña woman. She's about 60 and a psychologist - apparently practically every porteño is in therapy. I got this "shared apartment" housing for two weeks through the Spanish school, and I'll be moving at the end of the week to another part of the city. Which is good because I kind of feel like my Señora thinks I'm retarded and I can't stand the shower's water pressure... But that's besides the point. One major highlight of living here is my roomie, ChiChi from New Castle, England. She's a 21 year-old med student... and my partner in crime/exploring thus far. It's been really great to have her around and we're planning a trip together up to the northern part of Argentina to visit the Igazu falls.

But to finish answering the question. On this upcoming Friday, I'll be moving into an apartment with an Argentina film/photography student I found through Craig's List. He seems really chill, and he's excited to live with me so I can help him with his English and he can help me with my Spanish. But I really hope he is prepared for me to pick his brain about his film studies as well. The house/apartment (it's a weird building, can't really explain at the moment) is in a really nice/hip part of town too called Palermo Hollywood. So that'll be fun.

4) How are you eating?

Fine... if you don't consider green things a required part of your daily diet. I've been living off of coffee, medialunas (small croissants coated in a sugar glaze) and chicken empenadas. So it's been rather unhealthy... I'm getting better with eating at least one banana a day though. And I also eat tons of cereal, toast and the occasional hard-boiled egg when I'm in the apartment. But lets be honest, the cuisine here is on a whole - rather unfortunate and directionless with some delightful sweets but mediocre seasoning where it really counts.

It's especially difficult since I'm not an intense meat eater and everything here is about the "carne"(meat) or "jamon" (ham). And I don't really like cooking in the kitchen in this apartment but hopefully I'll have better luck with kitchenware in the next place. Either way, I'm very pleased with my medialuna/empenada diet, it's just probably not very smart... and I think I'll start popping vitamins very soon.

Photo of the Post:

The view from the balcony in the apartment in Monserat... where I am living now.

the first sign of life!

hey people... welcome! last week i actually wrote out an epic post but i never made it to an internet connection to upload it. but now i'm camped out in this swanky cafe that'll stay open late and i'm using their beautiful wi-fi. so i'm ready! bring on the bloggin!

since this is your introduction to the blog and to my trip to buenos aires, i figured i'd start by posting some of the photos i've taken thus far. enjoy!

Above is a photo of an intersection of streets right next to the Plaza de Mayo. But the streets are unusually dead because it was a Sunday afternoon and this is a business area. The architecture in this city is amazing but this photo doesn't give it justice. But you should also be able to see the Obelisk tower/monument in the distance. The tower sits in the middle of Ave. 9 de Julio (the widest road in the world with some 15 or 16 (i don't remember) lanes!).

I took this photo in the barrio called La Boca. I hear that it isn't particularly the safest place in the city (i.e. don't be there as a tourist after dark) but these few streets are certainly very pretty and the colors remind me of the islands or at least some place warmer (side note: if you stray far from these streets then you are bound to step in dog poop... ughh... but that's a different complaint all together). La Boca is known for it's bright colors and artists. Daily the short cobble-stoned street El Caminito is lined with art and venders - but mostly for the tourist it seems. La Boca also had the first port of the city but it was closed a long time ago... (i want to say in the late 1800s but really I could be making that up). Anyway, in the photo you can see three of Argentina's most beloved citizens up on the balcony: Carlos Gardel (the legendary tango singer who's face/portrait is seriously all over this city), Evita Peron (the infamous First Lady who didn't want Argentina to cry for her); and Diego Maradona (the football/soccer player who was once blessed with "la mano de dios"/"the hand of God" but apparently now is pudgy and has a bad cocaine habit).


I included these photos because I like them. Simple as that. I know I should have picked something more iconic... but next time. The first photo has a stool in the foreground that has a stencil of some statement about respect for human rights. And the other photo includes a series of stencils that mention the 30,000 citizens who "disappeared" during the 76-83 dictatorship, their children... and some other things that i have yet to decipher clearly. Overall, this city is covered with political statements which I find really intriguing and different from Philly at least. I'd love to learn more about this kind of cultural statement... all in due time I guess.


Alright! Well... Time to move on to other things... More to follow soon!