(Let me just say that my boyfriend, Matt, is the sweetest. He woke up at 5am his time so that he and I could have a skype date this morning for Valentine's day! The best!)
Much has happened in this last week:
my new school...
Classes started Tuesday and they've been going pretty well. I tested into Intermediate 1, which so far has been covering the things that I learned my freshman year of college. But, like my profesora (Cecilia) keeps reminding me of, if I would have KNOWN these things well, I would have tested into a higher level... Therefore, I'm remembering that it is good to be humble, and it's not a bad thing to have to swallow my pride every now and then.
my Argentine cat, Mumi
I experienced my first night on the town this Friday... I went to a bar and bought my first drink. I drank not even half of it, because I was too scared of getting tipsy haha
Saturday was the best day yet! One of the girls that lives with me, Katie, the freelance writer from CA- apparently she ran track in college, and is a member of a little group of older people that run with a coach. She invited me to go to practice with them on Saturday, so I went to this super cute park and ran with the team! It was so fun and I'm going to go back tomorrow! After running we stopped outside her coach's house and his family invited us in for mate (a very Argentine hot drink- has the caffeine like coffee but the health of green tea, not too bad) So we went up to their house and just sat around the table drinking mate and eating some pastries (much like an afternoon tea would be in England) The Saturday evening we celebrated the birthday of a guy that lives here with an asada(BBQ/backyard party)... there were like 15-20 people there and it was SO fun! There were people from the states, Germany, and Argentina... at one point we were all sitting at the table and there were like conversations going on in like 4 different languages!
my current place of residence
Sunday was very relaxed... I took some sun as the say in Spanish on the patio out back, ate lunch with some friends, and then went to mass with Alicia (host mom) and Devon (official housemate). I liked the music a lot- it was a "contemporary" service. They sang "Go tell it on the Mountain" and I hummed along...
Things I've learned this week, unfortunately all from experience:
-most restaurants charge a cover fee
-if you leave the clubs/bars at 3-4am, that's early
-the lavadoria (laundromat) is closed on Sunday as are most stores
-order water without gas
-if you don't want to pay for water- order specifically from the tap
-meeting new people is fun
-having to make new friends kinda sucks
-look at a map and know which direction you are walking before you go 20 minutes and realize it was the wrong way...
-you don't make eye contact with strangers who are walking by you
-when men meet for the first time- they shake hands...pretty much in every other interaction, you are greeted with one "kiss" on the cheek (though really you just touch cheeks and make a kissing sound)
-dinner time: anywhere from 9 to 10:30 at our house
-the post office (which is really just a kiosk that happens to mail things) closes before 7...
I know I've learned way more, but I'm pretty tired right now so I'm not functioning at my best. So, with that I leave you.
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