La rutina y enfermedad

23 Junio

The last three days have been highly uneventful. The only thing I have had to get up for in the morning is class, which starts every day (after Monday) at 2:00. Thus, I slept in on Tuesday. Finally, I got up and took the Subte to class, which was a mistake. It takes too long and is always too crowded. Class was very interesting, in the sardonic sense of the word. Four hours of Economía y Ciencias Políticas. The professor, Carlos, seemed to be speaking way over all of our heads. The more I live here, the more I realize how much my Spanish sucks. Mostly in comprehension. If it doesn't improve by the time I leave, I will be really disappointed. Anyway, my theory on why the class was so overwhelming is that it was an overview of the entire course, so there was a lot of new vocabulary and concepts being thrown around. Hopefully, it will be more entendible next week. After the long class, I took a colectivo to Cambria and Adam's barrio, where we used the internet at McDonald's, which is way more expensive here than in the states. Familys here actually still believe that going to McDonald's is a rare treat. Us estadounidenses know it as the perfect place to get cheap, unhealthy food. Free Wi-Fi, by the way, is available just about everywhere in this city, lo que es muy muy conveniente. From McD's Bridget and I headed for the subte station where we waited, and waited, and waited. After 30 minutes, the first train that came was completely empty, during peak Subte hours. When it stopped, it's doors didn't open. So we had to wait another several minutes for the next one, which was packed to the brim. We decided to wait for the next one, which was also packed, so we humbled ourselves and crammed in, trying not to accidently molest those around us. I got off, thankfully, three stops later, but then I had to walk 15 blocks in the cold, already 30 minutes late, to the Arabian restaurant where Expanish people were eating. The only spot that was open was the end of a table with people I didn't know, but getting to meet them was probably the best part of the night's experience. The Arab food was very interesting, in the genuine sense of the word. One thing about eating with Expanish is that they order for you. Thus, I didn't get nearly enough, and I didn't get to pick out something I might have liked better. On future Tuesday nights, I might sit at my own table and order what I want. When I left, I miraculously found a colectivo that took my right near my house.

24 Junio

Wednesday, I woke up feeling under the weather. Sneezing, coughing, etc. So I stayed in bed as late as possible, then made myself get up. I walked to the nearby Subte station around 1:50 and bought a tarjeta de monedero. That way, I won't have to worry about having to take the subte or about having coins to be able to make it to school and back every day. I can put money on a card and scan it when I get on the colectivo instead. The monedero the newest thing in colectivo technology, but there are only 3 or 4 colectivos that use them. When I got to school, I had Spanish again with Marta for only two hours, which was bastante enjoyable. We reviewed the past tenses of castellano (what they refer to Spanish as) and got a good deal of homework. Despues, I went directly home and slept until dinner around 9:00. After dinner, I slept some more.

25 Junio

I got up this morning still not feeling my best but better than yesterday. I took my clothes to the lavadería to be washed, but they wouldn't be done until after I had to leave for class. Thus, I went to school sockless. Today was our first day of Cultura y Sociedad with Guillermo. It was more understandable than Carlos's class, but it moved very slow. It, too, is a 4-hour class. Guillermo cracks me up because he thinks that every big word is a word that we won't understand. For me, it's usually the opposite. The big words in Spanish have English cognates. Thus, he quickly passes over the small words he uses, the most confusing ones, and then he'll stop and spend several minutes making sure we understand the meaning of a word that we already recognize. After class, we piddled around at Austral and then I took the colectivo home and piddled some more until dinner. Now I'm piddling again. I plan to figure out how I can shave here comfortably. The hot water system here so far no es bueno.