I decided to spend today walking around by myself. My host brother, Maximo, told me to go to Plaza Serrano, in Palermo. I've been there twice at night but never during the day. It's such a different flavor during the day! I must have looked like such a dork. I was walking around and just could not wipe the smile off my face. But I couldn't help it! There were just so many happy people walking around and eating outside, and cute shops, and bands in the street. It was awesome. During the day they set up the bars as little shops with clothing and jewelry and bags. I bought a cool wrap thing that you can wear as a dress or a skirt.
At around 6pm it hit me that I was super hungry, so I sat outside at a cafe and had pizza. NO ONE was eating, because it was only 6, and people don't eat dinner until 9 or 10. I probably had about 10 kids come up to my table asking for some pizza, or some of my Coca-Cola, or some money. But I watched how the local people handled it and they just ignore them.
On Friday IES took us to an estancia, a ranch. It was soooo relaxing. Perfect thing to do after an overwhelming week. The estancia was about 2 hours away from Buenos Aires, and we took a bus. When we got there, they had horse-drawn wagons to take us up to the restaurant where we first had some appetizers outside. And I had my first mate! It was delicious. I definitely need to buy my own to bring back with me. After some empanadas we had a huge meal with lots of meat. REALLY good meat. They just kept bringing it out and putting more on my plate. Then they brought out chicken. And I just couldn't eat anymore.
After our huge lunch we had free time to bike ride, play futbol or volleyball, go swimming, ride horses, whatever you wanted to do. So I did some bike riding around the estancia with my friends, worked up a sweat, and went in the pool. It was wonderful. I wished that I could set up a tent there and stay the night.
Saturday IES took us on a city tour. We took buses to different neighborhoods in the city and they told us about the history of each, and points of interest. It was really informative, and now I have so many places added to my list that I want to explore.
Tango in La Boca
Colors in La Boca
Plaza de Mayo
Recoleta
Massive flower whose petals close at night and open at eight every morning
Saturday night I went out in San Telmo with some friends and we ended up at Crobar, one of, if not the biggest dance club in the city. I stayed at Crobar for about 15 minutes. There were just sooo many people, and it was so loud, and crazy lights, and it was 4am. Time for the American to go home and let the crazies dance away until 8am.
One more week of orientation and then classes start! I haven't had class since middle of December. It's been wonderful! But I am definitely overdue for some brain conditioning. I need a schedule, and I am excited to take classes that I wouldn't get the chance to take back home. ALL IN SPANISH! It will be intense for a while. But I'm finding that the theme for me is everything is difficult at first. Then after you do it, you think, oh that wasn't bad at all!!
Hey Rachel!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that you are having fun! I love reading your posts and seeing all of your pictures. Is Argentina everything you thought it would be so far?
Good job on keeping up with your posting too, you will be glad a few years down the road when you can look back and read all of these posts I promise!
Hope you are having a blast!!!
- Amanda
Thanks for sharing your adventures with us. Your blog is great; love the mix of your story and the pictures. Stay safe and enjoy every minute of the time you are there. Thanks for staying on top of the post. I am always wondering how things are going and what fun and exciting things you are up to. Enjoy! Terri
ReplyDeleteRachel - take it easy on the mate :) You might want to check the caffeine content, because from what I read it's like a grassy-Red Bull. w00t!
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yerba_mat%C3%A9
¿Cómo fue el primer día de clase chiquita?
ReplyDelete