So it's been a while eh? Sorry folks, just kind of been taking care of schoolwork and all that. I guess it just seems like there hasn't been anything too noteworthy to talk about, but obviously you guys have no idea what's been going on. Monday I started my spanish course at UCA. Me and the girls woke up at about 7:30 in the morning. ABSOLUTE TORTURE. I haven't had to get up that early for a class since high school, not to mention the fact that 7:30 here felt like 4:30 in the morning due to that oh, so helpful time change. We took the #2 bus down to Puerto Madero, where UCA is located. First of all let me say that even being the most advanced country down here, safety really is not that much of a priority down here. The buses are packed every morning. There literally is no room to move at all. There's no "line" to cut off where people can stand or anything. You just stand on the stairs, not even able to get to the machine to pay for your ticket until the bus has made at least 4 stops.
Anyway, we got to UCA very early and had no idea where to go. The school had sent us nothing about where and when to meet. First, we walked around outside and saw a lot of kids standing outside the third building and assumed it was what we were looking for. Unfortunately when we got closer, we realized they were all argentinos and still being new to everything down here and didn't want to ask any of them anythings. There's one thing I've noticed about the kids here. And I don't mean the city in general, but just at the school. They won't stop staring at you like you're an extranjero. I mean, I know I'm American and I speak English. That merits a slight glance. But whenever you walk by anyone here you just get this lingering stare like we're freaking lepers. At home I could care less if someone from another country walked by me speaking another language or whatever. Just stop staring, we're not that weird or different!
Ugh, anyway, after asking someone who worked in the building where we should go, we finally made our way through the basement , which connects both buildings. Along the way we met another American kid that goes to school in Arizona and together we found the auditorium where we were supposed to meet. We were the first to get there and Emily showed up a couple minutes later, so we just passed the time with some cafe con leche (soooo good) and croisants. Eventually a large group of American kids showed up and the leader of the program gave us a whole speech. The majority of these kids are all part of some exchange program, I think it's call AIFS or something. It felt a little comforting to see other American college students although we didn't really talk to too many of them. A few of them are nice, but honestly I feel like most of them are just here to vacation because Daddy didn't want to take the family on more than one big vacation trip this year. At least half of them speak Spanish with horrible American accents, which is grating on the ears. Overall, they don't seem too bad, just definitely not like our little AU group. As Brittany said, we made out pretty well with the group we have. I will say this however, knowing that a lot of different people read this blog, there are some FINE bitties in the group haha.
Anyway, we took our placement test, which was ridiculously hard. I think I got a total of 4 questions out of the whole thing correct. After that me, Mark, and Kim waited at least an hour and a half to do our oral test where you were just supposed to have a short conversation with a profesora. There were only two women doing this, making it much longer than it should have been. Since Monday we've just been having class every morning at 9 until 1PM. Me, Emily, Jessie and Mark are all in class Intermediate 1 together. The class has been going along fine so far, its just sooo boring. We are in the smallest classroom I have ever studied in and the time seems to pass by so slowly. The only nice part is our recreo for 30 minutes. Our teacher is really sweet and nice, and says either "Barbaro (perfect)," "perfecto," and "bueno" ever 2 seconds, which can get a little annoying but it's all good. On Thursday we went on a bus tour and I got to see a lot of historical areas and monuments. The tour itself was a little boring, but I was able to learn a little bit about where things are situated in relation to each other for when I actually go out and do some tourist stuff. We did stop at La Plaza de Mayo though, where the government building La Casa Rosada is located. We also went into the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was beautiful and is where the remains of General Jose de San Martin, the national hero, are located. i actually took some pictures and actually got to see the Madres de La Plaza. They are the mothers of people that were kidnapped, tortured, killed and what not during a time in the 70s known as El Proceso when an oppressive military regime was in power. They walked around a monument every Thursday wearing white bandanas as a sort of demonstration because to this day the government has not taken credit or apologized at all for El Proceso.
Well I'm gettin a little tired of writing, so I'll keep the rest kind of short. Thursday we finally got our rent situation figured out because i had been running around the main shopping center, Microcentro, all week looking for a bank to get US$350, which are impossible to find. We talked to Zulma and she told us that we could just send the money through Western Union. Bueno! I went out two nights ago with Mark and Kim and we hung out with some people from Mark's hostel in a little hole in the wall. And when I say "hole in the wall," I mean exactly that. The place didn't have a name, decorations or anything. It was just a grill and counter with some chairs and bathroom with no lights. I ate the best sandwich I've ever had that night, choripan. It's basically just a sandwich consisting of sausage and bread, but it was absolutely delicious and only 4 pesos. Perfecto. Last night we went out with the two Costa Ricans and the Korean girl that live in our house with us, with Kim eventually meeting up later. I went to my first boliche, or dance club. A lot of techno, a lot of bass. No luck with the chicas to dance with, but there will be more opportunities. God knows if there's anything I need out of this trip, it's to meet some new people and move on from this past year. Anyways, that's all for now. I'll let you guys know more soon!
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