Experiencias nuevas

20 Junio

Saturday, I woke up and had no idea what to do. I walked around a long ways trying to figure out how to use my cell phone. In order to buy anything, you have to be able to communicate, at least minimally. Gradually, I talked to enough wrong people to find the right place and learn the necessary vocabulary to get a phone card. Then I entered a bunch of numbers and tried to call people. Cambria's phone didn't work, and Adam decided that he can live without his, I tried Bridget, but she didn't answer either. I tried to call the U.S. using my other phone card, but the locutorios didn't accept it. It use is blocked because the locutorio doesn't make any money from its use. I'm pretty sure my email wasn't working then either. I couldn't go to Expanish either because they are closed on Sunday. Needless to say, I felt stuck, frustrated, and alone. So, I kept walking around the city with no plan. Finally, Bridget called back. She and Cambria had been walking around in Recoleta in and around the Jardínes Japones (Japanese Gardens). We tried to find each other for quite some time before actually doing so. By the time we found each other, it was dark. We walked around a little bit, and stopped in a restaurant for some coffee. Bridget and I also had a sandwich de pollo y tomate (Chicken and tomato sandwich). For something so simple, it was really good. Then I walked Cambria home, hoping that her host mom could tell me which colectivo (bus) to take home. There are over 200 different colectivo lines, and we have a map book called Guia "T" which is supposed to tell us how to get where, but it's very confusing. Her host mom, Elsa, wasn't even there, so I started walking down Puerredon and found a colectivo on my own that took me almost all the way home. When I got home, the other American student that lives with me, Amanda, invited me to a bar with her and her friends. I decided that it couldn't hurt. I met a lot of her friends, Americans, and they were pretty fun. I only had two drinks over a couple hours, but I'm pretty sure I got the closest to drunk I've ever been. Don't worry, Mom. I didn't like it at all. No more two-drink nights for me. Now I know.

21 Junio

I woke up Sunday with a similar attitude to that of Saturday, with no hangover, mind you. My email still did not work, which was unfortunate because I was expecting an email from Natalia, Expanish's activities coordinator about the Boca Juniors fútbol (soccer) game that was taking place that day. So I called Natalia and got the info. Luckily, Cambria had sent me a Facebook message with her host mom's phone number in it, or else she wouldn't have been able to find out any information about the game because her house doesn't have internet. Anyway, we planned to meet up early in San Telmo at our meeting place for the Boca game. On my way there, I passed an artisan fair that stretched as far as I could see in both directions down Defensa. Cambria happened to show up at the same time as two other students that arrived when we had. We then went down to the artisan fair and explored all the different vendors. It was really incredible to see all the different types of people. There were plenty gypsies, or at least the closest thing I've ever seen to a real gypsy. I might have said it before, but it seems like all the porteños will do whatever it takes to get some money. One of the most popular forms of advertisement is for you to stand in the street or on the sidewalk and hold flyers in front of every passer-by. Not good for someone who mindlessly takes whatever is held in front of them. To be a porteño, you have to learn how to say "no" --a lot, with a simple shake of the head or just by ignoring them. Anyway, a lot of the merchandise at the fair seemed really make-shift. The really ingenuitive vendors worked hard to make their stuff stand out. For example, why sell carmel apples when you can sell carmel apples dipped in popcorn? Why sell second-hand clothing when you can sell second-hand clothing with neon fabric paint on it? The fair itself seemed ad hoc, as everyone who had anything to sell showed up. There were quite a few genuine artists, though: many painters, jewelry makers, clothes and accessories makers, guitarists, bands, a caricaturist that was amazingly inexpensive, an opera singer that looked homeless, a facially expressive man dancing the tango with a life-size woman doll, the classic clown on stilts, and a man dressed as if he were being blown away and playing the part to match. The only thing I bought was some jugo de naranja (OJ) freshly squeezed before my eyes.

After exploring as much as we could, we headed back to the meeting place where we paid our admission to the people putting on the night's festivities. For many of us, we felt ripped off. We paid at least 80 pesos beyond the cost of admission to the game. But it ended up being a good experience. Buenos Aires waited until that night to get down to 10 degrees Celsius, and it was really cold. After waiting about what seems like an hour, we were herded onto a jam-packed colectivo and carted to a restaurant in La Boca where they served us all-you-can-drink, nasty Quilmes beer, and less-than-you-can-eat, pretty good pizza. We also got to experience a taste of La Boca team spirit. Then we crowded back into the bus and were taken to the stadium. To prevent animosity between opposing teams, the entire neighborhood surrounding the entrance to the stadium was shut down, and teeming with policia. Before getting our tickets swiped, we were separated into genders and felt up twice for armas y drogas (guns and drugs). Finally, we made it to our seats. The game went really slow to me, probably because it was so cold. Our team was doing decent in the first half, which left them with a score of 1:1, but they wigged out in the second half, and Gimnasia got another point that they never managed to match. Despite the lack of excitement, La Boca fans went wild. There were banners and confetti everywhere. The Gimnasia fans were seated above the La Boca fans, and I think it was them who threw dozens and dozens of toilet paper which looked like streamers down to the field and the fans below. On our side, a Gimnasia fan hung a long banner over the side of the seating, and it came down to the La Boca fans' seating. One of them lit it on fire. Halfway through the second half of the game, all the Boca fans lit their Roman candles, creating an exciting fireworks show. And just about throughout the whole game, they sang their fight song, none of the words of which could I make out. Many Boca fans pointed their fireworks upward towards the Gimnasia seating. Like I said, Gimnasia won, and they were filtered out of La Boca before the policia let us, the Boca fans, leave. The sardine bus squeezed me out at our stop in San Telmo, and from there I walked home because I couldn't find a colectivo.

22 Junio

Today I had my first class at the Universidad Austral. Getting there was a nightmare, I tryed to take the subte, but after paying for it, I went down into the tunnel to see a great mass of people (not robed in white) waiting for the subte. When it came, it was already full, but people tryed to get in anyway, and several people were hanging out of the thresholds until the doors automatically closed on them, forcing them off. I decided that I was too good for that, and walked back toward Hipolito Yrogyn (or something like that) to look for a colectivo, but I had to go a long ways before finding one. I arrived thirty minutes late to the universidad, which is acceptable by argentine standards. When I got there, I couldn't find where we were supposed to meet, so I scurried around until a woman resembling my high school AP English teacher Ms. Merkx asked me if I was looking for my spanish class. She was our profesora, Marta, and she couldn't find any of her students. I called Bridget, and they said they were on the 5th floor, so we went up, found everyone, and commenced with class. It was pretty enjoyable. We conversed a little, then took a written test for her to evaluate us, then conversed a little more. Class ended too fast. Afterward, I took the subte home which was less crazy by now, and then walked from my house to Expanish, quite a ways, but very interesting. At Expanish, I had mate which put me in a good mood, and tried to use their internet that didn't work, which canceled out the good mood, leaving me at normal. After looking at the week's activities on the wall of fun at Expanish and figuring out my plans, I again took the Subte home. There I had some tea and talked a bit with Nico and one of two new students living here replacing the couple who left just yesterday. Then I left around 6:30 to go to a show called La Bomba del Tiempo. I walked all the way there, and they couldn't break my 50 peso bill, there was no one there who I knew, and I was tired, so I decided that I would walk home and go to the show some other Monday night. It turned out to be a good plan. That way I got to relax some, and then have dinner: a sort of shepherd's pie --made with pumpkin instead of potato. It was really good.

Now I'm blogging and am about to go to bed. Thankfully, my classes here on out don't start until noon.