Tengo Tango

According to my handbook I completed the #10 best thing to do/see in Buenos Aires: TANGO!!!! ISA set up for our group to attend a Tango class in Palermo at La Viruta in the Armenia Cultural Center. Me and a group of students took the subte to Plaza Italia then walked a good 12 blocks to the class. We were a good 15 minutes late, but here in Argentina things operate at a slower pace, so really we were 15 minutes early. The class took place in the basement of the cultural center. We walked by the place three times until some locals shouted "Americans aca" (America's, here").

To start off everyone started in a circle and did some warm up laps around the dance floor stepping to the beat and following the instructors lead. After ten minutes the instructors sectioned off parts of the dance floor for advanced, intermediate, and beginner dancers. We were then confined to a very small part of the dance floor designated for 30+ people. Crowded much? The boss lady mainly spoke in Spanish but when she gave pointers they were in English. The ladies would line up on one side behind the woman to watch her steps and the men would line up behind the guy to watch his steps. Once they went through the first 6 count we had to find a partner and try it out. Every 5-10 minutes we were told to rotate so that we got to dance with different people. At first I didn't like the switching partners thing because you couldn't get in a rhythm with a guy, but after the first round I realized that some guys were better dancers than others so it was beneficial to switch every so often. One of the best guys I got to dance with was a swing dancer so that definitely helped him out. 

At first I had a hard time following the guys lead, I wanted to dictate the pace and go on my count but the instructors made it really clear how important it is that the man take control, and the woman follows. I'm just so dominate of a person I couldn't stand for a man to control me. jaja that was sarcasm..... Since we were in a very small space everyone ran into each other. It was the guy's responsibility to give the girls a heads up when we were gonna run into someone since they were leading us backwards most of the time, but they were not diligent about it at all. I think I counted a good three hilarious wipeouts/run-ins. 

As most people know I have never been comfortable dancing in public, but recently that has changed. Even though I was surrounded by half strangers/half new friends I was oddly comfortable and I ended up really enjoying myself. I thought I would have trouble with Tango because you don't move your hips at all and I'm use to swaying and moving my hips in every which way thanks to Salsa, but I quickly got the hang of it. I would tell all of my male partners that I was channeling Dirty Dancing the whole time jajaja (that's "hahaha" in argentine). It seemed to work. I got lots of compliments on my dancing skillz. heck yeah! I can contribute my dancing skills to nights out at Town nightclub, watching Beyonce's music videos, Hot Cardio Dance, and of course ZUMBA. After we finished our Tango lesson, they taught us Salsa. For Salsa they opened up the whole floor and it felt like the electric slide where you line up side by side and follow the lead of the person in the front. It was fun but I surprisingly liked learning tango steps better because it involved a partner. I don't know, So You Think You Can Dance might have to watch out for me....

After the lesson I shared a cab with a fellow ISA member John. He is tall, skinny, blonde hair, blue eyed Texan. When we got in taxi our friendly taxi driver just talked up a storm. I tried my hardest to follow, but he lost me a few times. I know he started off talking about religion, Mormons were mentioned, as well as Jesus, but then he lost me. He then started talking about his entire family tree and the fact that his last name is Van Der ...... and he's part Dutch. Random?? The last topic for the night was about the crazy traffic and driving in Buenos Aires (como se dice "botella de cuerpo" in ingles?" = Bottle Neck). It is absurd. Drivers don't stay in lanes, actually lanes don't really exist, drivers don't give pedestrians the right away, and people run red lights because they "just don't feel like stopping." Finally the driver asked me some questions as if I knew what he was talking about. When John told the driver that I could not speak Spanish very well he was shocked. He said I looked like an Argentine. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not??!!??!? It is good in the sense that robbers won't assume I'm a tourist, until I break out my massive map and say WHOLE-LA, but its also bad because the locals expect me to understand them and speak really well. I just like to keep people guessing.

When I got home I had dinner with Mimi and Elizabeth (roommate). After dinner I met a few of Elizabeth's friends because they came over to celebrate her birthday. Her one friend was incredibly sweet and very friendly. Within 5 minutes of talking with her I already knew every detail of her love life, including the two year relationship she just ended with a boy back home named Jose. jaja I love it!! She also told me that she knows a lot of single guys studying here with ISA as well as locals, so if I am interested she would be happy to introduce me. lol I plan on taking full advantage of her offer in the near future.

Tomorrow I have my training session with the San Lorenzo women's club team. Soy nervioso.

me encanta el futbol

THIS IS TASTE OF WHAT I SEE ON TV IN ARGENTINA

BARCAAAAA

Today was my first day of class. I was so nervous about class that I woke up two hours early and just starred at my ceiling dreading going to class. Naturally I was being a drama queen because class wasn't bad at all. Actually I really like mi professora and the fact that I am in a small class with around 11 students. There are two kids in my class from my study group but I met everyone else and they are all really nice (and from the south). We get two breaks everyday and a good 30 minutes for lunch. Well today i went to a local cafe with four other students for lunch since we had 45 minutes. We all forgot about the slower pace of life here in Argentina b/c we had 5 minutes till class and still no food. We scarfed down our food (and cerveza!) in less than 5 minutes but still ended up being 15 minutes late for class. Talk about a great first impression. Our teacher was understanding for the first day and let it slide. 

I thought having a class taught entirely in Spanish was going to be really difficult, but it ended up not being that bad. The only bad part about my class is I have that one kid in the class that asks the dumbest questions and waists everyones time. He told us before class that he was trying to move up to the next level but he could barely understand our teacher. It was annoying. The teacher was so annoyed with the student that she allowed us to break one of her rules (no english) to explain things to him. I guess you just can't escape that one annoying kid no matter the country. So, after class the teacher talked to three boys in my class (all friends living together from Mississippi) and asked them to move down a level, so now my class has only 8 students. Es muy pequeno. 

The night before I made plans with my local Argentine friend to watch the Champions League Final at this awesome sports bar in La Recoleta. During the first break I was showing a friend where the game was and then my teacher came over and asked if we were watching the game and when i told her where i wanted to go she knew the exact place and gave us good directions to the bar. It took a good 30 minutes to get there by Subte but we ended up getting in because my friend Patrick sweet talked the hostess. She was turning everyone down because the place was packed, even the high rollers, but somehow we got a seat. Los Locos X el Futbol bar was awesome. They turned down all the lights and blacked out the windows so the place was dark and only had black lights. I made the mistake of wearing a red and white shirt so i glowed like a martian hehe. Inside they had GIANT screen televisions lining the walls and smaller ones right in row above the bar. The downside to the bar was the 50 peso per person cover to sit at a table. In the end it was worth it. The atmosphere was sick and the people were really friendly. While the game wasn't the best display of soccer I was VERY happy with the outcome. When Messi scored they turned on the disco lights, blew some horns, and had a montage of his greatest goals on this one monitor. It was pretty cool. The best part was when the game ended the bar played Queen's "We Are The Champions" lol, i was expecting something a little more authentic than Queen. Eventually took the subte back home and had to wait for three trains to go by before I could shove myself inside one. It was hottttttt and crowded but part of the experience i guess. 

To sum it up: my spanish is already improving, I'm meeting a lot of new people (mostly Texans, who'd a thought??), and I'm eating amazing food. So far so good. Tomorrow i have my first Tango class.... YouTube video to follow hahahahaa

This is the Washington Monument at night. Nahh this is El Obelisco and it commemorates the 400th year anniversary of the capital's founding and is the site of the Bicentennial Concert that I attended. It is located on the Avenida 9 de Julio which is the 12 lane street, the widest in the world. The place was completely packed with over 12,000 people attending. I would compare it to the Inauguration. Yeah, it was pure madness but totally worth it. 

a moment to breathe

Last night I returned home from a long and tiring day in El Tigre and discovered that I have another roommate after all. This girl Elizabeth, who is from North Potomac, MD (right around the corner from me) has been with Mimi since February. She was traveling with her sister over the holiday weekend and returned last night. It was awesome because I now have a translator and an insider to Buenos Aires and schooling. This will make living with Mimi easier. I finally got my cell phone to work locally so I can contact my friends from ISA and get in contact with my house mom if I need to. That was a great weight off my shoulders.

Today I finally got a chance to relax and take in my surroundings. I had my placement exam this morning and met a few other international studies who will be attending my class for the next month. The test we were given today was one of the hardest tests I've ever taken. It was nothing like the practice test and I completely freaked out. We then had orals after the test and that just capped off the morning for me. I was so nervous and upset over the test that I bombed the oral and now have to perform really well in my class over the next two days to prove that I should be in a higher level. Sigh. This was not the way I wanted to start my studies here in Argentina, but I have to just take it in stride and work on my speaking ability. I am not alone because a few other people in my class need to move up a level as well so I'm hoping Belgrano will be accommodating. After the test I had lunch with a different group of students from ISA. Its funny that I still haven't really introduced myself personally to everyone in my group yet. However it is really nice that everyone generally gets along with one another. There are no cliques so it makes traveling together that much better and enjoyable. 

After lunch I had another ISA meeting. After the meeting I was FINALLY free to be on my own. I like to be around people but I need my alone time and these past few days its been non-stop socializing with no "me" time. It might sound anti-social but one of the reasons I did this program on my own was because I didn't want to depend on anyone, I wanted to explore the city on my own terms, and get outside my comfort zone. Now that school has officially begun I think i can finally start reallllllllly enjoying Buenos Aires. I don't have to eat with a group of people every meal and I don't have to be at a place for any longer than I want to be. :)

tomorrow is the Champions League final and I plan on watching the game downtown with the locals. Should be quite the experience. Then on friday I plan to go to my first training session with San Lorenzo women's club team. gulp, i'm soooo out of shape. ughhhhh

mini adventures in BA

So the second day was quite exhausting. Had my first breakfast of toast w/ dulce de leche spread instead of butter and la manzana (an apple). I had told Mimi the day before that I'll be fine w/ just toast and water for breakfast and today I find out that she will literally serve me toast and water EVERYDAY for the rest of my time here. haha i need to give her a more detailed list of foods that i eat...

yeah so i had a long Argentina/ Things You Should KNow 101 meeting. See previous post for highlights of that lecture. After that, I had my first empanada. YUmmmm muy delicioso! The whole group then waiting an extra 2 hours for our late bus to begin a tour of BA. SInce the autobus was late we didn't get to stay long at the stops. The point of the tour was to show us where we should explore on our own later so we know where to go. We hit up Palermo, Recoleta, La Boca, La Plaza Mayo, 9 de Julio, and Puerto Maderno. I began taking pictures but quickly learned after ONLY 8, that's right 8 pictures that my memory card was full. WTF?????? So my friend Lisa told me to try and reformat the pictures to increase memory space but then when she did that it erased my pictures :( sigh. good start to my day. Well now that i had more space i took a few more pictures and then tried to go back to the same format and again erased those. Que horro!!!! Frustrated i gave up taking pictures b/c i figured i would just be back to these same places on my own. I was upset but tried not stay positive about it b/c i knew that i had another memory card that would hold 1000's a pictures. 

The highlight of one of the stops was this cool artisan market. I was walking w/ a friend and realized that we had to go but were at the total opposite end up where we were meeting up so we frantically weaved our way through the market to our bus. In the process since i wasn't looking were i was going i legitimately stepped on a pigeon. I'm am so use to them getting close but then flinching with any sudden movement that i thought it was impossible to catch one, but no. it happens. Its was pretty funny and completely caught me off guard b/c i got stepped on his neck. Don't worry animal lovers, the pigeon was fine and flew away. hahaha

once we FINALLY got back home everyone was making plans for the night. My options were as followed:

1. Go to mass (you must understand that I am dealing with A lot of Texas, southern, Catholic people who are very into Jesus)---you can image that this was high on my priority list for the night.

2. Get drunk at a bar. again, this was a very close second.

3. Going to a concert to celebrate the 199th year of BA. (FINALLY!!!! something FUN)

So i ran home, showered and then headed back out to a subte to meet up with a girl. The ride was interesting... it was silent. I didn't want no gypsy kids pick pocketing me. I was with a girl who had never been on the subway/metro in her life so she was just taking it all in. On the subte they have children that shove paper at you and then come back to collect money for it. If you don't pay them they take the paper back from you. Its rather intrusive but that's how it goes in BA. Another boy was juggling in a Spider man costume. Equally impressive b/c he bounced the balls off the ceiling of the moving cars but i didn't feel like it was a performance worthy of my precious pesos.

When we arrived at 9 de Julio, the worlds widest calle (12 lanes!!!). It was PACKED. I'm talking every lane was full of people. We somehow made it into the crowd and watched some drummers for a good hour but then got tired of the smoking fumes and weed fumes. As we tried to leave we were literally mauled by people. WE were shoved this way and that and most of the time i wasn't even on the ground b/c they had lifted me up and physically moved me. It took thirty minutes just to get out of the crowd. It was quite the experience and i loved every moment of it. Especially when people stepped on my toes, spilled cold drinks down my back, and tried to pick pocket me. i kindly grabbed there hand and said "Nurr means nurr" (that's a shout out to my NOLA buddies!) hahaha but in all seriousness it was pretty awesome. 

I returned home, had an AMAZING dinner with Mimi and called it a night. Despues el dia, era muy cansado! ( i was very tired after the day). Tomorrow is my first excursion to El Tigre, this port city with many artisan markets. My computer is dying so Buenos Noche! 

Good to know:

My second day started early with a long ass meeting with ISA. It was very informative and at the same time terrifying. Guillermo (pronounced Gui-jer-mo) told us horror story after horror story of kids being robbed, followed, mugged, stabbed, shot, hospitalized, and almost raped because they acted too American in public. Don't worry guys, here are some helpful tips to know to survive in BA that i picked up:

1. Never speak English loudly or at all if you can help it in public. You know how all Americans are loud, rude, and dumb? yeah don't do that.

2. Don't speak BAD spanish--that tips them off that you are a foreigner. so don't say "yooo abloo es-pann-oll" = dead give away.        So right now your thinking, hmmm then i guess i can't talk at all? Yup, you got it. Be a mute. That was his best advice to us. It makes riding on subways w/ friends mighty awkward, but it can save you from a robbery or assault.

Our second lesson was about money. People in BA give out fake money alllllll the time. Its a common occurrence especially if they know you are an American. Taxi drivers have two wallets: one for fake money and one for real money. Its kind of funny but also a real issue that makes paying for things that much harder b/c Guillermo's advice was to pay everything in exact change. That way you don't get money back. Huh, easier said then done my friend, especially when the ATM gives you a wad of 100 peso bills. If you receive fake money and know its fake you are suppose to give it back, said "i am no idiot!" and demand real money. Nahhh just kidding, you just give it back and say real dinero por favor as politely as you can. If you are given fake coins (which is a huge problem in BA and is impossible to distinguish) you are just plain out of luck. Don't worry my friends! I have been highly trained as to how to distinguish between real and fake bills. It is incredibly difficult, but I have mastered the skill and will be happy to teach you in the future.

Third lesson: If you get attacked don't bother yelling help b/c nobody is gonna save you. People are to concerned about the whole cry wolf business and that if they try and help it is just a set up so once again, you are on your own. Okay horror story time: so this guy and his gf at ISA were walking through a park at night (red flag!!! don't walk anywhere at night, especially in a secluded park). Shockingly some man came up w/ a gun and demanded there belonging. The guy gave him his backpack and knew that he had a bottle of vodka in it and asked the robber if he could have it back b/s they were meeting up with friends later. The robber gave him the bottle and then the guy smashed it over the robbers head. The robber fell over and started bleeding, no surprise there. The guy and girl gathered up there belongings and decided to kick the robber a few times. They then looked at the gun and realized it was fake, so they got mad and kicked the guy some more. In shock and some what hystarical, the guy and girl then headed back home and tried to explain what happened to his house mom. The house mom saw the guy, covered and blood and holding a (fake) gun shouting and crying so she went CRAZY and called the police. haha The guy was so afraid that the robber had died and that he was wanted by the police that he refused to leave the house.... It turns out the robber survived and the guy didn't get in trouble and eventually his house mom convinced him to act normal again. Point of this crazy story: don't fight back it is only stuff. Oh and don't try to go all Jason Borne on anyone.

One lesson for guys: don't wear shorts with sandals and socks. Or a baseball cap w/ a college or some American logo on it. Again, dead give away that you are American and you are a target. So fellas leave the socks at home and if you are wearing sneakers keep the socks as low as possible por favor. 

Last and most important lesson. This one is for all the ladies out there: Guillermo told us that guys in Argentina do not believe in relationships between girls and boys. There is no guy and girls that are friends. He insisted that any kind of date like activity or meeting up at a guy's place or yours for that matter, is basically saying that you agree to have sex with them. yeah so coming back to the apartment to hang out means sex, getting a cup of coffee together means sex, going to a movie means sex, ect... To sum up this lesson do not hangout with Argentine boys. Stick to the ladies. 

This was interesting b/c i was introduced to a local through a friend but have yet to meet up with him in person, though we've been facebooking. He invited me to a futbol game and I agreed to it at first, but then found out i had this meeting and a tour during the game so i had to cancel. Now i am curious if i had attended the game w/ him, if he would then assume that i would sleep with him?!?!!?!?!!! hahaha umm I'm not sure how to address this topic to him, nor will I, but I'm gonna assume since he goes to school in the states that he knows how friendships and dating work there and does not "expect" anything from me. lol

Okay! you are now ready to travel to Argentina because you know what to expect and how to act. Bueno suerte! (good luck) :D

Dia Numero Uno

I'm exhausted. This has been a long and difficult day. it started out well b/c I ended up having a 2 person row to myself for my flight. Once in the air i started reviewing my Spanish but quickly got distracted by all of the good movie choices. I ended up watching Taken. Umm not the best choice for someone who is going through basically the same experience as the girl that gets kidnapped...Needless to say it kind of freaked me out b/c I am very aware of the fact that my father does not possess the skills to find me and kill my kidnapers if i was sold as a sex worker. (if you don't know the movie, read the plot of it so this makes sense).

I then proceeded to sleep for 7 hours! I didn't think the was possible on a flight unless you had Niquil. I actually had legitimate dreams, that's how good i slept. Weird. When i woke up a snack was in my lap and I only had 51 minutes before landing. That's when i started freaking out. I had only made it through reviewing Spanish 1 material... not good.

I guess the highlight of the trip was getting my very own white face mask to wear while the surly flight attendant sprayed the cabin with insecticide. haha wtf?? Swine Flu really messes things up. I had an additional form to fill out just about my personal health.

Its funny, you watch movie about the "future", like the year 2018, as if I won't live to see that time, and you see the world as being full of destruction, disease, war, and robots and think "I'll ever experience that". Well putting on the masks and seeing everyone getting off their planes w/ the masks on makes the whole situation pretty surreal. ----Cue flamboyant male flight attendant scolding people not wearing their masks: "Do you want to die sir?" lol

Once i retrieved my luggage i found 2 people from my program who were on my flight. They were both from Texas, actually over half of my group is from Texas. There is only one of girl besides my self who is a Yankee. I never thought I'd be the minority being from the north. Unfortunately for my new friends their luggage didn't make it onto our flight and they have to wait till tomorrow to get it. Real glad that wasn't me.

Once we got through customs, we met our group, kissed our guides Paula and Sol (my first cheek kiss), and waited for the rest of the ISA group to arrive. Just so you don't make my mistke, its only one cheek kiss, not two. whoops. We then boarded a bus and headed to the University of Belgrano to meet our host families.

When we arrived all of these older women and men were lined up gossiping to one another. All of the kids ran to the window and started making predictions as to who their parents were. I felt like I was on the Price Is Right: we waited for the guides to call our name and claim our prize, i mean families :) Once i was called i met the wonderful Blanca aka Mimi and Andrea.

Andrea didn't speak a word of English and Mimi wasn't much better, at first. Mimi was a doll. She was very patient with me and tried to communicate as best as possible. I literally just had to go with it b/c there was no way to translate. I got the gist of what she said and she only had to resort to the Translation dictionary three times. Success!!! haha

Andrea made a lunch of potato and meat and i got a chocolate mousse dessert. So good. So much for my diet?!!?! After that Mimi showed me all the past girls that had stayed with her and talked about the rules of the house. I got to shower and then i unpacked. The apartment was beautiful. It has personal security guards and an elevator that goes directly to our door. Sweet... I also have a bathroom to do my business and a bathroom to shower, plenty of space, EXCELLENT location, and wonderful accommodations. 

When it was time for me to go to the ISA meeting mimi called me a taxi, kissed me goodbye, and sent me on my way ALONE. Well, we got to where the driver was told to go but i couldn't find the building anywhere. I started to panic a little and i asked for directions but it took me to the same place. Day 1---first outing alone---already lost with no phone, no map, no help. Bueno! Instead of panicking i just figured I would walk back the way i came. I saw a girl walking with what looked like grandma so i asked if they were from ISA and sure eough they were. I found the building with them. Horray! It turns out Mimi told the driver 974 when the building was actually 874. Regardless, i made it and was relieved to be able to open my mouth again to speak actually sentences. 

Federico was another guide who told us some useful information. He told us that it is normal to spend the night elsewhere instead of at our home. He actually encourages it. He says that's why they invented hotels bahhhhhh!!! He continued to tell us that people here make out in public like its their job. We should not be frightened by excessive PDA or nakedness (??!?!). Lastly, he warned the ladies that since kissing is so public, when a guy asks you back to his place he's expecting "everything". wow. good to know.

...moving on, after the meeting i explored the main street with a big group of ISA people. We set off to find adaptors, convertors, phone cards, and cell phones. Well 2 out of 4 'aint bad? It was really difficult communicating but somehow i was able to purchase a phone and phone card only to realize after buying the phone that i needed a different phone card. Perfecto! i can only pray that the phone actually works once it is activated in the next 24 hours. Not only do i have to place into the right Spanish class, i also have to survive for the next month basically alone. oy! yeah, i'm starting to feel overwhelmed.

I walked home and found a school with an outdoor enclosed soccer filed where adult men were competing and i also found the free impromptu tango lessons that occurs every night right down the street from me. very cool. I ate dinner @ 8pm and I decided to call it a night. enough is enough for day 1. lol as i write this my neighbors are blasting techno/house music, oh wait now its Sting (right on!). hahaha  So this is how its gonna be for the next month??

yup, the adventure has certainly begun.