A weekend of firsts

This weekend has been quite eventful and full of new experiences.

Well, Friday wasn't too terribly exciting. I had a meeting with my tutor for my independent study (very little time left and lots to do--eek!), did some work, then went home and went for a run (about time!) around the ecological reserve in Puerto Madero. That night I went to dinner with Alex at Cumana, which has food more typical of norhtern Argentina. We both had yummy empanandas and shared desserts--including an empanada filled with dulce de leche! I had heard a lot about the restaurant and finally went. It was packed! Lots of people waiting outside for a table. It's not that big of a place and the menu is very simple (empanadas, pizza, tamales, etc) but we found out what the big deal was all about....

Saturday I went to the Argentina v. Boliva futbol (soccer) game! It was my first soccer game I've been to in Argentina. It was fun and Argentina won 3-0. They played in River stadium (the biggest stadium in Buenos Aires/Argentina, which is the Buenos Aires team River Plate's home stadium). One of the guys in our group is from Bolivia and proudly wore his Bolivia jersey sitting in the middle of us. We were in a calmer section though, so fortunately there weren't any problems. It was interesting to see/hear all the chants and random traditions of the games. I usually couldn't make out the words completely though (a bit harder w/ the stadium echo effect). During one though everyone jumps and says something about if you dont jump, you're English. Haha, fair enough. The other interesting thing of note was that at one point during the game they used firehoses to spray the crowd. It was really hot in the sun (fortunately we were in the shade), so they did it to cool people down. Apparently they do it when there are problems in the crowd as well though.

After the game I rode the subte D line the entire line to get home--first time I'd done that. It was slightly difficult walking home to my house because there was a HUGE parade of Comunidad Homosexual Argentina going through Avenida de Mayo. I hadn't seen a parade here before either and this one was huge.

Saturday night I went out to dinner with Michelle and Amanda. We went to Meridiano 58, where I had gone with some girls at the beginning of the semester (and wanted to go to with my parents, but they went there for lunch just as a coincedence). I did wear my new dress though, which keeps me on the weekend of firsts theme. After dinner, Sarah, Michelle, and I attempted to go to Acabar (a restaurant/bar where you can play boardgames) but it was way too crowed. We found a fun spot called Sonomans and relaxed on the patio outside. Apparently we picked a good place because it got packed!

Today I went to the Feria de Mataderos with Sarah, Kate, Amanda, and Michelle. Mataderos is the barrio/neighborhood its in, which is in the southwest corner/limits of the city of Buenos Aires (almost out of the Guia T!). Mataderos means slaughterhouse. This feria is similar to a lot of the others, but this one has more of a folk/provincia feel to it. There was music and folk dancing all afternoon. They had a lot of food typical of Northern Argentina. We ate tamales and some kind of cornbread with cheese. They also had some kind of horse races. It started late because there were cars in the path. They found the owners for some and then just pushed a taxi out of the way (which had to be good for the car?). We watched for a bit (they rode so fast on the pavement and without real saddles!), but it looked like it was about to pour any moment so we left. From there we took a bus back into the main part of the city and I took the subte home (We took the subte--the entire line of E--plus a taxi ride to get there. From the bus I then rode the entire A line minus 1 stop to my house. I'd never ridden the whole line and now practically 3 times in 2 days!).

I took a nap for a bit, but now its time to do homework. Lots to do! Its so strange how everything is starting to come to an end. I don't like it. I'm just not ready yet. I'm not sure if I ever will be. Some people are staying for an entire year (a lot of them decided to do it while they were here this semester). I'd love to do that or study somewhere else for another semester, but its just not really possible. There'd be a lot of things I'd miss out on next semester as well. Oh well. Alright, time to do work!