Weekend #2

I´m not really sure where to begin. It always seems like so much happens between updates.
So, lets see.... This past week was the last week of official orientation activities with FLACSO. To celebrate, Thursdsay night we (students, staff, etc.) all went out to Job´s Bar for pizza, drinks, pool, etc. On Wednesday or Thursday I came down with a cold, which slows me down a bit. I had tried my best to avoid getting sick, but seeing as most everyone in the program was/is sick, it seems its my turn.

Friday we had a test on the basic information of the program (which apparently wasn´t taken very seriously since lots of people will be retaking it...). Afterwards, I went to get pictures taken for my Visa and then out to lunch. Sarah came home with me to see if we could get the wireless internet to work on my computer, but alas, it still won´t. I think we´re going to call someone to come out to set it up because, once school starts, it will be much more convenient to be able to access the internet from my computer. After that we wandered around San Telmo in the rain for a bit, shopping until all the stores closed. I bought one shirt, but since its short-sleeved it doesn´t exactly help me with the cold. We went to a fabulous place for dinner called Desnivel, which is a local favorite. We each had salad (I don´t eat as many fruits and vegetables here as at home) and delicious steaks and shared wine and chocolate mousse.

Saturday I went shopping for a bit since there are a lot of end of winter sales right now. I didnt find anything I liked, but the girls I was with bought a few things. The style is very different here. The 80´s are in full swing here. Leg warmers are normal. Everyone wears either boots or converse sneakers, and if boots, then their pants are usually tucked into them. Mullets and rattails are not uncommon. Lots of stretchy material. In the stores you see all kinds of colors, but most people wear dark colors--lots of black, brown, grey, dark blue and green, etc.

Anyway, after shopping (my biggest purchase of the day was tissues. very exciting) I went home for a bit before heading out again. I went out to dinner with a few of the girls to another "local favorite" type restaurant and then went to see a play. Cata (my host mom´s daughter and Annie´s host) works on production at a theater, so we went to see "Las Criadas." They talked really fast and I had a bit of a headache, so I didn´t catch all the lines. I understood the general idea though. Its definitely a fun way to practice my listening skills. I´m hoping to go to the theater again.

Today I finally went around San Telmo with Elvira, my host mom. We had been planning on doing it for quite some time, but each day I had substantial free time it rained. We walked just a few blocks from where we live and saw all kinds of things. The Manzana de las Luces is the block where the first school and universities were. The Cabildo is the building where the fight for independence from Spain was planned. We also saw the Casa Rosada and the Plaza de Mayo, 3 churches (one where San Martín is buried--an Argentine hero who fought for independence though Simon Bolivar gets much more of the credit), and a few museums. Then we wandered along the street Defensa where all the artisans, artists, antiques, and musicians are. We went into the market too, which is much of the same, though covered. This would be a antique collector´s paradaise. It was pretty, but I´m not all too interested in antiques. I did buy a necklace though from one of the stands on the street. For lunch we stopped at a little Parilla (grill) and had choripans. Its a very typical food of Argentina, which is pretty much a sausage sandwhich. It was tasty though. We wandered for a bit more before returning home to get out of the cold for a bit. Today was a lot of fun. I was able to see a lot of interesting things and finally learn a bit more about the buildings I pass everday.