Examenes y experiencias finales

4 Agosto

I had seen better mornings on Tuesday. When I got up, I did my typical internet correspondence, including checking how much money I had left to spread out over the next week. I had overdrawn by about 10 dollars!!! Yes, I admit my on fault in (A.) not being more frugal, and (B.) not keeping better track of my expenses. But, in my defense, I probably will never come back here and the prices are really low, it's difficult to know how much money to take out from the ATMs when your banking is in dollars and you withdraw in pesos, and credit card transactions take days to appear. Well, lesson learned. Luckily I had 50 pesos or so in my pocket which lasted me the next couple days. So, I went downstairs and made myself an Argentine breakfast (toast and coffee), and tried to call Raliegh so he could put some mulah in my account. Then I went back upstairs to finish getting ready and make some hot water for my mate which I sometimes take to school. When I left my room to go, I smelled some smoke, but I figured it was just a neighbor cooking or something. But when I got downstairs, I saw that the entire house was filled with smoke! Our toaster doesn't pop up, and I'd left it in there for at least 15 minutes. I set down my backpack and matero (mate bag) and franticly opened all the windows to get the smoke out. No one was home, so when my family here reads my blog, they'll find out that I almost burnt their house down. After several minutes of fanning the smoke out, I picked my stuff up to go, and my thermos had spilled, soaking my matero. I wasn't extremely upset about any of this, but I thought it was funny that it all happened within an hour or so.

After all of this, I took my clothes to the lavadería and took the Subte to class, our last day to have Carlos. Thankfully, it was very laid back, since nothing we did that day played into our grade. We also discussed what we liked and didn't like about the class. Then all five of us went to Galeria Pacifica where we met up with Derek and another friend from Peru, and we all split a kilo of ice cream from Freddo. Yes, the love of Cambria's life. After that, Adam and I explored the entire mall, and we noticed a level to which no stairs or elevators went, but it said "Borges" on one of the clear walls that malls have, so I figured that we could get there through the Borges museum. I was right! And apparently that night there was a Pakistan art festival in the museum above the mall. They were also serving free wine, but the wine was really nasty, probably really cheap. I was proud of myself for being able to tell that the wine sucked. After walking briskly through we met back up with Cambria and Bridget, and then we took them up to see the art. Adam left, and went to a parrilla (grill) that I couldn't go to because of my financial situation.

I got home fifteen minutes after 9, and the family had already started eating. I was glad that I didn't go to the parrilla, because my family had made steak! After dinner I talked to Alejandra a little about her position on the guerra sucia (Dirty War), because we had to discuss our opinions on it for our final on Thursday in Cultura y Sociedad.

5 Agosto

Wednesday morning, I went to pick up my laundry with Amanda and Ava, but the woman working there wouldn't take my 20. It was a little faded yet clearly real --I could tell from the watermark-- but she wouldn't take it because she said it was "lavado" (washed). Luckily, I was able to borrow from Amanda. Afterward I went to class early to use the school's computers to look up linguistics stuff. For our final in Marta's class (Spanish conversation), all we had to do was talk about something for 5 minutes or more. My philosophy with any presentation that I'm giving is that I don't want to have to memorize anything that I don't already know, and I don't want to have to stretch out what ever I'm talking about it. It should be something that I enjoy and that I'm familiar with. Hence, I talked about linguistics, the most basic level which is phonology, the study of human speech sounds. I told Cambria and Adam, though, that I was presenting "fun-ology." The other four students all talked about their likes and dislikes of their Buenos Aires experiences, and then I talked about linguistics until the end of the class. I had fun, but I'm pretty sure I bored Alex and maybe even Marta. Luckily, the other three students said they were at least slightly interested.

Between classes, I tried to buy some medialunas y café cortado with my defunct 20, but yet again, it was rejected for being "lavado." We had Cultura y Sociedad next, but our professor, Guillermo didn't ever show up. Instead, his teaching assistant Franky taught the whole class, which was good, but by the end of it, my brain couldn't take any more Spanish. Can you believe it? Seven weeks in, and finally I had my first real experience of not being able to take in any more. Half-way through class Franky got a call from Guillermo. Guillermo was taking the train into the city, but the train had stopped because someone was sitting on the tracks in a suicide attempt. After class, Mbr and I took the Subte to Corrientes, where we would soon watch El fantasma de la opera. But first, we enjoyed some fine dining for 10 pesos each at a small burger joint on Lavalle. The man working there looked like Corky Romano, and he also did not take my "lavado" 20. Afterward we still had time to kill, so we stopped in an heladería where Cambria was unfaithful to Freddo. Near our table, we espied the first water fountain that we had ever seen in BA. We found out why they are so rare when a homeless man came in and washed up in it.

The opera theatre house was similar in size to the Midwest City High School PAC, but it was much more professional-looking and ornate. As we waited I tried to get a program, and the usheress said that they were "una colaboración." Apparently, that means that they want donations. Cambria donated some for us. I was extremely happy about our seats. We were toward the back of the house, but we could see the stage just fine, much to the dismay of the people selling unnecessary binoculars outside. The show began at an auction like the Phantom of the Opera always does. When they lit up the chandelier and started playing the music, my jaw dropped. It was incredible. There were lights flashing everywhere, and I was thrusted into the imaginary land of theatre. I actually couldn't understand all of what they were saying, but I still understood the plot as much as I have whenever I've seen it in English. The next time my jaw dropped is whenever the Fantasma/Phantom takes Christine down into his lair for the first time. Along with the pounding music, the stage filled with smoke as they gradually lowered a platform from the top of the stage to the bottom. Candles appeared from nowhere, and they got in a boat that really looked like it was floating on water. The set magically put itself together. This was the first time that I'd ever seen a professionally done musical, and I couldn't believe that they are so captivating. In other shows on a stage, I have to focus to be able to stay in the story, but this one just sucked me in, even though I didn't understand all the words. The actors definitely made the Spanish language sound amazing, too. Anyone who doesn't think Spanish is a beautiful language needs to hear it acted or sung, probably in a country other the the U.S. or Mexico. When the show was over, Cambria and I stepped out into the real, gloomy, polluted streets of BA and went to our respective houses.

6 Agosto

Thursday I woke up knowing I hadn't studied at all for our final in Cultura y Sociedad. Our final was going to be a coloquium, basically a graded discussion, Merkx style, over everything we had talked about during the course. However, my approach to tests has changed drastically over the last year or so, especially since most of my tests have been language tests. I figured if I know it, I know it; if I don't, I don't, so I studied as best I could with the time I had that morning, but I didn't freak out about it like in the old days. On my way to class, I went the bank to see if I could exchange my "lavado" 20 for another bill, since no one would take it. However, there was a ridiculously long line at the bank (probably for coins), and I didn't want to wait.

So, I didn't. I went to school and crammed as much as I could before class. Guillermo and Franky caught me in the computer lab. Franky asked, "¿Estudiaste?" (Did you study?) to which I responded, "Si, ahora ...todavía." (Yes, now ...still.), but I had actually just started studying. Eventually I had to stop cramming and go to class. Instead of talking about the Kirchner era as was planned, we jumped right in to the coloquium. It started out to be really challenging. We spent about an hour talking about a period in time that we talked about on our first week of classes (the beginnings of Argentina). Many of the questions he asked, I did not ever remember being taught. I did manage to put in my two cents about Rosas, though. He was Argentina's first dictator that came into power following Argentina's Civil War, but he did a lot of good things for the economy and what-not, so he's generally not called a dictator. Then we talked about Peron, and I also disagreed with Guillermo's view. He is a Peronist, and I said I thought that Peron gave the people a false hope. But they actually were really glad to hear that we had differing opinions. To them, it said that we had learned enough to think about the subjects on their own. My comments paid off well, and I was granted an 8 for a grade, which translates to a 90. After the discussion, we took a break and they read our grades to the class. Culture shock. Apparently, it's completely normal here to announce students' grades to the class. That would not fly in the U.S.

Guillermo and Franky were a hilarious team throughout having classes with them. Every once in a while Franky would call Guillermo a Marxist and say that he loves Chavez. Guillermo was always really excited about what he was teaching, and he was determined to make sure that we understood his every word, even the simple ones. Half of the words he asked if we understood were cognates like "inflación" (inflation). He would say everything at least twice, really loud and staccato, such as, "MUY! MUY! MAL!" and "ERROR y HORROR!" One word that was fun was when he would talk about "cows": economic cows, political cows, social cows, etc. He was actually saying "caos" (chaos), but the visuals that came to our minds were really funny.

After class, we were all elated to be through with classes. After saying goodbye to Alex, I walk with Adam to the Subte. On the way, I finally did it. I kicked a pidgeon. It wasn't as fat as I would have preferred, but I did it. I could now leave Buenos Aires knowing that I had done all of the most important things. I went to Adam's house where we killed time before dinner. I played with the three poodles a little, and I talked a lot to his host mom and learned about her political views. She supports the PRO party, which seems to be a pretty sensible party, against political corruption.

I forgot to mention it in my blog about the tour of the Casa Rosada and other buildings, but on that day, Marcos was talking about the protests that go on here. There is one or several just about every day. He and others since then said that wealthy, self-interested people will pay hoards of impoverished Argentines to protest. I was appalled! I was under the impression that people only protested for changes in government they wanted, but apparently not. How can the government know what the majority of people want, when a majority of people are being paid or otherwise coersed into supporting a view they might not even hold? Horrible. Such a system completely devalues freedom of speech. I can't even express how sad it makes me. For dinner, we walked to Dely Wok, where we met up with Cambria, Serri, Eric, and Bridget. Dely Wok is an all-you-can-eat Argentine/Asian buffet, and it was amazing! I was particularly impressed by their fish, which I don't usually like. I couldn't get enough of this fish; the waiter called it something that sounded like "Bogi." This place also had asado and dessert pancakes. We all stuffed ourselves. When we were trying to figure out how to pay, I left my "lavado" bill for a tip and exchanged it for different bills. I bet the waiter hates estadounidenses now. But I figure he'll know what to do with it.

7 Agosto

As soon as I got up and ready on Friday I was out the door. I still hadn't done the cooking workshop I signed up for, so Expanish finally set it up (on my last day) after I asked for my money back. Despite all of the students they've had this summer, I was the only one who signed up for the cooking workshop, so I had a one-on-one cooking lesson. I was fifteen minutes late, which is normal in Argen-time. The lesson was in the apartment of the teacher, Leo. Leo is a thirty-year-old wine server and salesmen who cooks as a hobby. He is a big, lovable, sort of guy, like Hurley from LOST or Josh Czajkoski. He explained that the stuff he was showing me was so basic to Argentine culture that it's not something that is normally thought of as something to have a "workshop" for. When I got there, everything was set up and ready to go, like a cooking show. We spoke in both English and Spanish, whichever struck our fancy. Leo said he also spoke German, French, and Italian, which impressed me. He showed me how to make empanadas and some sort of beef. The empanadas were easier than I thought. We didn't make the dough, because you can buy them premade here. All it was was onions, green onions, red and green bell peppers, boiled stew meat, and potatoes, chilled and then with optional boiled egg added, packed into a little pocket of dough. Our home-made empanadas were way better than the store-bought ones I've had here. Leo explained that those didn't have nearly as much love in them. The steak was amazing, the best I've had here. Leo kept talking about how incredible it was that different parts of the cow taste so different when they're only a few centimeters away. Since Leo is a wine connosieur, we ate our lunch with some really good wine, both blanco and tinto (white and red). This made us both nice and loose, and we had a fun conversation while we ate a very Argentine meal of steak, along with batatas, cebolla y papas, all fried in cow fat. So good. I stuffed myself again.

Then, I said goodbye to Leo and went to Expanish, where I took brief half-nap on a comfy chair. When Cambria arrived, I had some coffee, and we filled out our evaluation forms and turned in our phones. After Cambria left, Bridget came in to do the same, so I said goodbye to her, and went home. Sadly, of my host family only Brenda was there for dinner. We had some store-bought, loveless empanadas. After dinner I packed a little, and then went to goodbye party for Ivanna, a friend of Amanda's with Amanda, Rochelle, and Ava. The girls were all really tired, so we went back home after that and I packed some more before going to bed.

8 Agosto

This morning, I woke up, showered, and packed, occasionally bidding farewells to whoever leaves the house. Around 5:30, a taxi will come here and take me, Adam, and Cambria to the airport. Their flight leaves an hour after mine, and it will be nice to have people who I know to wait for the flight with me. It will also be nice to travel in comfortable shoes. And I'm booked for first class for my long flight this time. I'm looking forward to it.