"Speed Dating"

30/07/12

If you would’ve told me a month ago that I’d be spending a Friday night in a bar speed-dating style my way through Spanish, I probably would’ve laughed at you.  But yes I did it.  It wasn’t actually speed dating but it was definitely set up to look like that.  The program was called Spanglish and every table had a number and one person who stayed (the Spanish speaker) and one person who moved (the English speaker).  I was assigned a number and groaned inside when I saw that I was placed with a 30-40 year old Porteno (someone from Buenos Aires).  Typically when I get a piropo (what they call any comment, cat-call, whistle, etc) it comes from men 30+ so I was slightly dreading the imminent conversation.  By some stroke of luck though, the guy seemed very nice and then 30 seconds into the conversation told me and was single and gay.  I’ve never been so happy to hear that.  

We proceeded to rotate through to meet each person for a couple minutes until we rotated.  I was glad to be able to meet some really nice Porteno guys and girls.  We even got the chance to meet some our age and went out with them afterwards.   This speed chatting was super fun and I am definitely going to have to do it again. J 
PS: To clarify for my mom, this was not actually speed dating.  The director of our education abroad program got us together to go to this to practice our spanish.  The goal was to give both spanish and english speakers the opportunity to speak the other language.  

Lo que es Mejor o Necesitamos

26/07/12

This is my running list of things that we need to get or start doing back in the US.

Besos: Here, whenever you greet someone you know, walk into a room of some people you know, or are introduced to someone, you do a quick peck on the cheek. Although I have yet to master the loud sound at the right time, it’s a nice tradition and a personal way to say hi to everyone in the room.  And yes, even men greeting men will usually do this too! J

Los Semaforos: The driving here is CRAZY.  I have finally decided to stop watching while I’m in a car and especially the busses.  If you don’t hold on in the bus, you will sooner or later fall over.  BUT the cool thing about the streetlights here (los semaforos) is that when they are about to turn green, they turn yellow first.  Also, the people here actually try to stop (verrrry suddenly) when the light goes from green to yellow and they go in reverse if they’re on the crosswalk too!

Cafés: The cafes are fun to stop in to pass the time.  It’s not quick like a Starbucks drink.  Rather, they take some time to prepare stuff and bring you out a whole tray of things.  Yesterday, I ordered te con limon (lemon tea).  They brought out a hot kettle of tea, a teacup and plate with a tea pack, a plate of lemon slices, a small dish of 3 lemon cookies, and a glass of soda water.   Having never made tea other than just from a packet or instant tea, I didn’t know how exactly to prepare it or even what the soda water was for.  I ended up just leaving it there and later found out it’s to drink after.  Still, cafes look like they’ll be fun. 

Panadaria y Confiterias : These shops are full of carbs and sugar.  Pasteries, medialunas (crossount looking things that have sugar on the top and are sweeter inside…DELICIOUS), donuts, cakes, candies, and pretty much everything along these lines you can imagine and more.  The best part about these shops is that they’re practically every other block :D

Mate: Mate, the classic Argentine drink.  It’s hard to describe.  You’ll get the best idea if you look at my pictures.  It’s quite strong, especially at first.  Raul, our director, showed us the customary way to drink it yesterday in a special restaurant that serves it.  A dry, green mix is put into the “mug” that you use to drink it and filled to the top.  Then the designated pourer pours the hot water into the cup to the top and puts the special straw into the mug. The first person drinks it (don’t look like a tourist and hold the straw as we all tried to do) and then gives it right back to the pourer who pours water into the cup again and gives it to the next person.  You keep doing this for everyone in your group.  It tasted very strong but somewhat like tea.  The second time around, we tried it with sugar and it was really good then!! It’s one of those things that I think I actually will physically bring back J

Nothing Screams Foreigner Like Blonde Hair

24/07/12

Yes, there are blondes in Argentina.  However, it’s not the same…either they have dark blonde hair, darker skin, or you can just tell that their hair is highlighted.  I had hoped to blend in, or at least not stick out too much, but I realized the first day touring the city that it was not a reasonable expectation.  Even without saying a word, people in shops will say “Hello” to me and even the people passing out pamphlets for Boliches (the Argentinian night clubs) will switch over to English to try to get me take one. 

Walking down the street with my blonde roommate, we do get some looks and an occasional yell but nothing compared to when I walked to the Subte on Monday morning.  Since it was 8 AM many Portenos were heading to work and my street, Manuela Pedraza, was more crowded than I had seen it before. Store owners were setting up their shops and fruit stands, people were walking, and lots more taxis were out.  On the first block, I got a wolf-whistle, but hey, that happens occasionally in the US too.  On the next block, someone made a sound that I could only best describe as a growl.  I couldn’t help but laugh actually.  As I passes another man, he just stared at me and once he was behind me, I heard “Que bonita vos.”  I don’t know what proper etiquette is for this typical attention to females in Argentina but I still thought it was best to keep looking straight ahead.  By the time I got to the fourth street, I was thinking it was getting a bit ridiculous.  I waited for the last taxi to pass but instead he slowed down, leaned over to the passenger side and started blowing me kisses.  At this I could not help but laugh.  At least he kept driving though.  Raul, our director and “temporary dad” as Meigan has called him, says that these complements are toward women are very common here but after 4 months I think I might get a bit annoyed.  Haha These 4-5 blocks were quite an entertaining walk for me but the best part of the walk really was the best part. 

Thanks to my loose, scuffing shoes, the senora in front of me kept turning around and looking at her feet to see what the sound was.  After probably the fourth time, she saw me and started laughing at herself and probably me too.  She talked to me for a minute but then walked a different way.  Funny enough though, I ended up behind her again on the main street and she started looking at her shoes again for the source of the sound and finally saw me and laughed even harder.  I apologized again of course and she was such a sweet lady that she started giving me suggestions on how to make them tighter on my feet.  She started asking about my time here and gave me suggestions of how to get around.  I was so glad to talk to such a nice older lady and she was so interested in what I was doing here.  Thankfully, her presence deterred any more Porteno men and she even made sure I got onto the Subte on the correct side of the street and went the right direction.  I just hope I get the chance to meet many more kind senoras like her.  

Riquisimo!!

22/7/12 En la Casa

After a long day of touring the city, I am exhausted.  I can’t even begin to describe the tour of the city so I’m just going to blog with the funny things that happened to me today. 

I think in the first 24 hours, I've managed to break half the rules of things people told me not to do.  The first thing I wish I had considered is that few stores are open on Sundays so going out to exchange money or buy a hair dryer is not going to work.  After successfully finding the ATM my host mom had given me directions for, I found out that it had no more money in it.  Rule breaking #1 of the day: Walking alone in a foreign city...on the first day, but not too bad right? Rule breaking #2: Failing to have any money except US dollars.  Rule breaking #3: (this might not have been a rule but it is now): Asking what is in a food.  This final rule really needs the full story though…

Our program director took us out to a restaurant for lunch.  This restaurant specialized in meats and it was buffet style with several bars of cold food and 2 giant grills though windows with 4 cooks standing behind them.  The did have a list of all the types of meat they offer but with my limited vocabulary, the only meat I recognized was Chorizo and even when I got that, it wasn’t what I had been expecting.  My first time up to the grill I ordered the same thing as I had heard someone else say because it looked like some good ribs.  I then just looked at the array of meets on the grill and pointed to a small coil and said “eso.”  It looked somewhat like a piece of shrimp so I figured I might as well try it.  When we got back to the table, it was hard to get my fork though the outer layer even.  This should’ve been a good warning sign, really.  I asked our bus driver if I was eating it correctly and he said yes that it’s “riquisimo” which basically means rich, very flavorful, and delicious.  It was a very strong flavor for sure and had a soft inside.  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to finish it though.  Our program director then started talking about the same thing that was on his plate too.  I couldn’t hear what he said but when some people started laughing, I was a bit worried.  The girls next to me just said I didn’t want to know but of course I eventually guessed…cow testicles….o great… hahaha  

All the food her is truly “riquisimo” with different flavors than anything I’ve ever tried.  The spices must be very different and so are the combinations of foods.  I’ve only been here a little more than 24 hours but I think every food that I’ve tried has been described as “riquisimo” and honestly, there isn’t really another word I could give to it either.  

21/7/12 8:30AM Aeropuerto

A twenty foot drop is one heck of a wakeup call, as many of the passengers on my flight to Santiago found out.  Since it was about 1:30 in the morning, most people were asleep.  The flight had been smooth up till that point but suddenly there was a small jerk followed by a couple seconds of free fall.  The girl next to me, who had been asleep, screamed as did about half the plane.  I just laughed, thinking of the expression that probably would’ve been on my mom’s face if she would’ve been there. 

            As we approached Santiago, we flew over part of the Andes, but the girl next to me just told me to wait till my flight to Buenos Aires because these mountains are very small-I’ll see the real thing on my next flight.  Walking into the airport was quite different.  I might be the only blonde in the airport right now and none of the workers I’ve talked to speak English.  I really don’t know what I would do if I didn’t speak any Spanish.  Thankfully, I have successfully executed, “?La computadora debe ser separada o no?” to the X-ray worker and no funny looks for an accent…yet.  J  Now I just have to hope that I’m sitting in front of the right gate for my next flight...