¿Cómo lo hice? Bueno, yo zafé…

Looking back on my time spent in Argentina, I would have to say that “zafar,” or “to get by,” captures most perfectly my evaluation of the experiences I have had.  This semester was by no means an easy one.  I had my camera and wallet stolen the third week I was here, and my phone a few weeks after that.  I unintentionally took a senior-year art history class at a local university.  I got a first-hand look into the Argentine healthcare system when I developed a kidney infection.  And I can’t even begin to count the number of times I found myself wandering the streets without my Guia – T or an umbrella. 

But, despite all of these misfortunes, I still got by.  There’s not a doubt in my mind that the friends I have made here helped me with this, particularly when I had to borrow $300 pesos to pay for my visa so I could stay in the country while I was trying to live off a $100 pesos the week I was waiting for my new debit card, or when they used up all of their cell phone minutes to text me rather than talk via internet when I lost wireless service in my apartment half way through the semester. 

My host mother Cecilia threw me a bone every now and then too, like the time I locked myself in the bathroom for over half an hour, or when she had to answer the door at 4 AM because someone forgot her keys.  She never spoke a lick of English to me, and for that I have to thank her because I probably learned the most Argentine Spanish and history during our discussions over her somewhat interesting if not creative culinary concoctions (my personal favorite being the salad of rice, tuna, shredded carrot, eggs, and mayonnaise, a staple of the Argentina café menu).  And despite the language and culture barriers, which seemed to be a mile-high wall that first week I was here, I still managed to get by.

I know most people spend their last week or so wallowing in their fears that they didn’t do enough, that they never saw or experienced the real Argentina, didn’t have enough nights out, didn’t eat enough steak and empanadas, didn’t meet enough people.  Rather than wasting my time thinking about the “what if’s,” I’d rather take stock of all the accidents, the mishaps, the unintentionally offensive words and misunderstandings, the struggles, the challenges, and even the near-death experiences, all of the quilombos that my life in Argentina has accumulated, and thank God that I made it through alive, with most of my health, most of my sanity, some of the most amazing people I have ever met, and some of the most life-changing experiences I will ever have. 

The Argentine’s have another phrase that they use: ya fue. It’s used when to say that something bad has happened, but it’s time to forget about it and move on.  All of the experiences, both good and bad, have happened, whether I wanted them to or not, and while I certainly will try not to forget them, I know that this chapter of my life is coming to a close, and it’s time to prepare for the next one.  I came, I got by, I survived, and I’m ready for more.   

That one time that Cory & Dennis came to visit...

... was AMAZING.  I really enjoyed having them here, and not just because I knew they were taking me to Mendoza.  Having to act as a translator wasn't a new experience for me as I had done the same in Salta on some of the excursions I went on for the people who didn't speak Spanish, but having to do so for my parents was a whole different situation.  It made me feel a lot older, and definitely gave me more confidence in my Spanish skills so far.  It also confirmed my suspicions that Buenos Aires can be a very difficult place to get around if you do not have any sort of prior Spanish knowledge.

My parents also chose a pretty exciting week to come visit me, as on Wednesday the 27th, the second day that they were here, former president and first husband Nestor Kirchner died.  We found out when we ran into some of my friends in Colonia, Uruguay, which we went to visit because Wednesday was the National Census Day and therefore everything was closed.  This is a huge deal, as he was running again for president (in Argentina, you can be president for as many terms as you get elected, but you cannot run for consecutive terms, hence why his wife Kristina Kirchner is the current president - people thought that they would be able to maintain control of the presidency by just running back and forth), and now the current party in power has NO idea who is going to run in his place.  Colonia itself was beautiful, and was a good place to spend about half the day, although I almost didn't get let back in to Argentina because I forgot to bring my student visa with me and my tourist visa (which lasts 90 days) was almost up.

While they were actually here in Buenos Aires, my parents and I visited Plaza de Mayo, the Recoleta Cemetery, the MALBA, Embassy Row/Circle, the Evita Museum, Palermo SoHo, and San Telmo, which gave them a taste of just about the entire city and all of its variety - or at least the variety that I'm familiar with.  I realized that there are still so many neighborhoods that I have never been to and will probably never go to, but remember that as I am only here for four months there are places like these other neighborhoods that I have no need to go to because I'm not that kind of resident.  If I was living here for a year or so, I'm sure I would go to Almagro or Once more to go shopping for example, but as I'm neither a tourist nor a real resident, I'm perfectly content with the lovely mix of touristy and non-touristy places and routines that I've created.

Sunday through Wednesday we went to Mendoza, the major wine-producing region of Argentina, where they grow and produce the famous Malbec.  I was really glad that I went with my parents, as both of them are amateur experts on wine and were able to guide me through all the wine tastings and vineyard tours we went to.  I learned so much about the entire production of wine from both them and the tour guides we had, particularly from our tour guide at Pulenta Estates who was a girl from St. Louis, MO who had studied abroad here and decided to come back after graduation (she spent a fair amount of time trying to sell Mendoza and ex-pat life to me on the tour).  Aside from just drinking wine all day, we also spent a couple hours hiking in the foothills of the Andes, had some absolutely phenomenal meals (especially at this one restaurant called Azafran that had a molten chocolate cake with olive oil ice cream for dessert), and we even began our trip with a much needed trip to the spa for some massages.  This trip definitely increased my interest in learning more about wine, and also gave me yet another thing to look forward to when I return home in December - the three crates of wine my parents ordered while we were here :)

Sending my parents off to Ezeiza airport when we got back from Mendoza was both sad and shocking, as I realized that I only have three weeks left on my program.  That's 21 days that I have to figure out exactly where I am going to travel once the program is over, and for how long, and when I am going to come home, and when I am going to visit friends at GWU and my brother at Emerson.  I need to do all of those things before Christmas breaks start, as I won't have a chance to do them again until May.  Oh, didn't I mention - I'm studying abroad again next semester in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

The Extraordinary Education System of Argentina

So as I previously mentioned, our ticket out of Buenos Aires for our spring break, aside from hundreds of pesos for 22-hour bus rides, was taking our midterms.  I was "lucky" and only had three midterms; a Spanish test, a Cultural Icons take-home essay, and my Arte Argentino test at Universidad del Museo Social Argentino, one of the two Argentine universities I am currently taking classes at.  The classes I am taking here translate as "Pass/Fail" back at GW, so as long as I pass the class I get credit for it in some fashion.  However, the question now is what defines "passing." 


I'm not saying that I've completely thrown all attempts of an education out the window while living here.  In fact, I'm quite enjoying some of my courses.  "Íconos Culturales como mercancías globales" is essentially a combination of Argentine history and Sociology.  We're studying the most important figures and traditions of Argentina that make up the state's national identity, such as the image of the "gaucho" or Argentine cowboy, tango, Evita/Eva Perón, etc.  While I find the readings fascinating (and also difficult as they are all in Spanish), the class itself only meets once a week for 3 hours straight, which is brutal under any circumstances.  My Spanish class is sometimes an excellent use of two hours when we review colloquial phrases or elements of Argentine culture, but rather a bore when spent reviewing where to place accent marks. Both of these classes are through my study abroad program, so I suppose I can't expect too much variation in class from the teachers. 


My tango class, which I am taking at Instituto Universitario Nacional del Arte, has been cancelled for the past month due to strikes.  Unlike UMSA, IUNA is a public university, and the public universities here are notorious for constantly going on strike.  When I asked a fellow tango student during our first resumed class why there had been strikes, she told me "all the strikes go back to money."  The public schools in Argentina have very limited funding, as evident from the quality of the buildings the schools are housed in.  Despite the fact that many students and professors are protesting against the state and the schools it provides, they continue to hold classes in parks or on the sidewalks outside of the buildings.  To me, it proves how dedicated the students in Buenos Aires are to their education, that they will both fight for better conditions while at the same time continuing their rigorous studies. 


And when I say rigorous, I mean it.  The art history class I am taking at UMSA is HORRIFYING.  I accredit my terror to the speed at which our professor speaks, the amount of prior knowledge our fellow students have regarding the subject, and the lack of handicap that we as international students receive in the classroom.  The expectations the school and professor have for us are exactly the same as for the Argentine students.  While it is refreshing to not be treated as a completely incompetent Spanish speaker, it is also a huge blow to what I thought was my fairly solid grip on the language. 


For a little background information, the Argentine education system is quite different from the U.S. version.  Students attend primary school until they are about 11 or 12, then move on to secondary school, which is essentially middle and high school.  After about their third year, students must chose a "track" of classes to follow for the rest of their time in secondary school.  Each track is specific to a certain area of studies, such as "computers," "architecture," "graphic arts," etc.  Essentially students here chose their major when they are 15 years old.  After they graduate from secondary school, they continue on to university, which is usually still in the same city they went to primary and secondary school in, as they will continue to live with their parents throughout their time at university, and well after.  The concept of a "college campus" is an absolutely delicious idea to the 14 and 15 year olds I work with when I volunteer in English classrooms at one of these secondary schools for my English Teaching Internship - a life without their parents seems so foreign, and this is why all the college-themed US movies they see are even more ridiculous than they appear to us.  


Anyways, despite feeling quite inadequate in the university, I was reassured somewhat when I received my midterm grade - a wonderful, fabulous, outstanding FIVE. No, that's not a 5 out of 100.  And no, that's also not a 5 out of 5.  That's a 5 out of 10, which is the standard grading scale in Argentine schools, meaning it's a passing grade, but not outstanding.  Personally, I think what constitutes a "good grade" varies from university to university, but I have heard that anywhere from a 7 to a 5 as being the "average" grade, and that very very rarely do students receive an 8, even more rarely a 9, and never a 10.  Moreover, having heard from fellow IES students who are taking classes at Argentine universities, I am one of a handful to have passed, so I have to be thankful for that at least.  The question now is whether or not a passing grade in Argentine standards will also count as a passing grade when transferred back to GW...


But I can't be too preoccupied by this thought right now, as all I can think about is that Cory and Dennis will be visiting in a week!

Spring Break 2010 - Córdoba

We got to Córdoba by 11 AM (on Wednesday), checked in, showered, then did the church circuit.  Córdoba is the second largest city in Argentina and has a huge number of universities there so it's a pretty young city.  There's also a huge jesuit complex, and some really beautiful cathedrals and churches (as I still don't have a camera, I will try to steal pictures from Sadie).  We also went to a cool modern art museum, then went out for dinner and had probably the best pasta I've had the entire time I've been here.  The next day (Thursday) we made the trek to Villa General Belgrano, a little town founded by ex-German soldiers that (we were told) still has a very prominent German influence and appropriately hosts Oktoberfest.  After a two hour bus ride, we arrived in a somewhat gimicky, but very quiet ski/chateau-esque town.  Apparently they too take to the Spanish tradition of the siesta, as we got there by 2 in the afternoon and there were probably less than twenty people on the streets.  So, we found a place to get some lunch and kill some time (very few places with actual German food, though that's not surprising), and then headed into the Oktoberfest park.  To get in you have to pay an entrance fee, then buy a beer mug from a vendor, then pay to have that mug filled at every different beer stand you go to.  It may have been because it was a Thursday, but for what ever reason, the park was deserted.  We saw no laederhosens (or whatever they're called), no traditional German dancing, just a big empty stage set up with a bunch of empty chairs.  We asked some of the bartenders where everyone was, and they said that it was too early in the day and that the real show started at 10 that night.  Of course, the last bus back to Córdoba was at 8:30.  So, even though it was a bit disappointing, we still thought it was hysterical that we practically had control of the entire park, but could only entertain ourselves until about 6 at which point we called it a day, bought some alfajores for the ride back (in Córdoba the traditional alfajores are filled with not just dulce de leche but also fruit preserves, specifically one called "membrillo" which Sadie and I deduced to being something similar to a "quince"), and were content enough with our awesome German mugs. 

 The next day totally made up for the failure of Oktoberfest though.  We took the advice of the people we met during breakfast and went to Alta Gracia, home of one of many Che Guevara museums in this country.  This one was based out of his childhood home, and was super informative and much more legitimate than many of the other museums I've visited here.  For example, did you know that Che Guevara had asthma as a child?  Well, now you do.  After, we walked around a bit and found a big park next to some old mission ruins, so we got lunch and then walked around the old church and museum a bit - we actually joined in on an elementary school field trip for the museum tour, although how they didn't realize we weren't part of their group is a mystery to me as we weren't wearing the white and blue frocks that all the primary school children wear in this country.  We got back to the hostel, played an epic game of Monopoly 21st edition (they use credit cards instead of money!), and then almost missed our bus back to Buenos Aires when the information desk guy told us the wrong terminal number.  Oh, and then right outside of Cordoba our bus broke down for 3 hours so we had to switch buses at 3 AM.  But, if that was the only major snaffu in our travels, I'm completely okay with that.  

Other than me having a little cough that turned into a nasty cold by the time we reached Córdoba, it was a completely excellent and totally successful trip.  It's made me way more confident in my solo-traveling abilities (relatively speaking), and I learned a lot from all the people I met.  It also, as was expected, made me want to travel much more, though I also now realize that while I liked spending only a few days in Salta and Córdoba, I think I'm enjoying the time I've spent building a deeper relationship with Buenos Aires, and if I do any serious, multiple-month-long traveling in my future, I'll probably need to spend a large chunk of time in at least a few places, so that I have some vague sense of a home to return to at the end.  Once again, I have to thank my parents, who I'm really looking forward to seeing in two weeks, for letting me take this wonderful adventure, and now, with only a little less than half of my time here left, I'm excited to see what the rest of the semester will bring about, and hope that I have the energy and drive to make the most of it.  

Spring Break 2010 - Salta/Jujuy

The last week of September we had our midterms here, and while many people who have studied abroad assured me that "classes in other countries are a joke compared to US university courses," I would have to politely disagree with all prior advice I was given.  THEY WERE HORRENDOUS!  Perhaps this is due to the fact that they were all in Spanish, or maybe that I was taking a few of them at universities outside of my study abroad program, but either way, I am dreading the day when we find out what our grades are.  Sure, I only need to pass, but even that seems like a challenge now having talked to fellow US students who have also gotten their midterm grades back.  I guess we'll just have to see in this upcoming week, and pray that finals will go more smoothly...

On the bright side, I got to finish my terrifying midterm week with an absolutely AMAZING trip to Salta, Jujuy, and Córdoba for my midsemester break.  I traveled with just one other person, my friend Sadie, having realized after our trip to Iguazú Falls that smaller numbers is much more desirable, especially for a trip this long.  I'll start with Salta and Jujuy, which are two provinces in Northwest Argentina very close to Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.  The capital of Salta is also called Salta, and this was the first somewhat "major" city I've been to outside of Buenos Aires (not counting my excursion to La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires, for the day, which was more depressing than anything else really).  There's a different feel about the town and the people up there.  For starters, it's got a much slower pace - the majority of the people there follow their Spanish traditions and take a siesta from about 2-5 in the middle of the afternoon, which took some transitioning.  Also, they have a different way of speaking.  I don't believe they use the "vos" pronoun or conjugation, and they have a sort of light, sing-songy way of speaking.  The biggest thing I noticed was that all of the locals we talked to a) immediately knew we were from Buenos Aires, or at least that's where we learned our Spanish, and b) thought Salta was the best part of the country and that Buenos Aires was "too much." It really put into perspective the fact that the country was nationalized more or less against it's own will, and that all of the different provinces have their own identities and opinions about the rest of the country.  

The first day we got there (Friday afternoon), we checked in, dropped off our stuff, and found a travel agency that did rafting trips.  Originally we were only going to do rafting through them but then we realized that their prices for the other excursions we were interested were about half of what the hostel would have charged us, so we booked three trips with them.  The first was to Cafayate (on Saturday), the wine-producing region of the province, known for their Torrontes grapes which make a super sweet white wine.  We toured one vineyard and even got to try wine ice cream, but for me the best part was the drive up there.  Our tour only had me, Sadie, two other girls and our driver, and we were all squished in a 4-door sedan, but that was okay because we got to stop anywhere we wanted to to take pictures.  To get to Cafayate we drove through La Quebrada de las Conchas, or the Gorge of Seashells, so named because it's a bunch of mainly sandstone rock formations with marine-life fossils embedded in them.  They were absolutely gorgeous, especially on the drive back, though our "English-speaking tour guide," was not very informative, nor did he speak much English, so we ended up acting as translators for the other two girls in our car, which turned out to be pretty funny. 

The next day (Sunday) we went rafting, which was fun, but we were pretty hungover from the night before because we decided to eat dinner at the hostel (for free (and it was spicy!) - this place was such a steal) and met a bunch of people traveling all over South America and went out with them.  We met a guy from Boston who was living in Bs As for a month and half, two guys from France (one who was also twenty, which we've now realized is really young amongst hostel users, but who's planning on working on a Disney cruiseship for 6 months so he can travel all over the world once he's done), and a really nice girl from Australia who we're actually gonna try and meet up with when she's in Bs As again.  Interestingly enough, almost everyone we talked to was headed on their way to Bolivia, being that its only a two hour bus ride away, and the entire night people kept telling us how amazing it is, which made Sadie and I very tempted to just try to sneak over the border as apparently it's quite easy, but we resisted the urge.  Anyways, rafting was fairly easy compared to all the other times I've been, and we got the chance to do some extreme sports off of one of the dams in this man-made lake we visited after rafting, like bungee-jumping and something called "puenting," though I'm still not really sure what it is.  I did not go bungee-jumping because I didn't think the height was large enough for how much it cost - I know, sounds silly, but if I'm going bungee-jumping, I want it to be worth every penny. 

Monday we went to Humauacha (I'm sure I've spelled that wrong) which is north of Salta in the province of Jujuy, and along the way we stopped at a bunch of little villages populated by people of Incan and Spanish ancestry and who speak Qichwa (also probably spelled wrong), which was lovely as well as we got to see this range of mountains called "Las Montañas de Siete Colores" which was absolutely gorgeous.  Also, in Humauacha, I ate the most amazing "locro" which is a stew traditionally eaten in the winter there, with corn, garbanzo beans, Spanish chorizo, and sweet potatoes.  When we got back to the hostel, we met up with a bunch of other kids from IES who had just arrived after having been in Mendoza for the weekend, so we got to chat with them for a bit but they all had excursions early in the morning so we went out with some other friends from the hostel (a lovely couple called Dorris and Valter (like Walter) from Holland who were hilarious and a kid from Colorado who's here doing work for his non-profit that bring lacrosse gear to villages).  The next day (Tuesday) we walked around Salta more, hiked up a trail to get a better view of the city, then went to the MAAM museum which is home to three perfectly preserved sacrificed Incan children that archeologists found on top of one of the highest mountains in the Andes. After saying our goodbye to all the wonderful people we met at our hostel, we packed up our gear and got on a 10 PM bus headed to Córdoba.    

99 whales...and 2 penguins

So it has been quite a while since my last post - not because I haven't had anything to write about, but rather I'd say because I haven't had ANY time to write.  Okay that's a lie.  I have.  But that's beside the point.

The week without cash was not as hard as I thought it would be.  Thanks to some wonderful friends I've made here, I was able to maintain my usual nightly activities during the weekend, as well as have a good excuse to not go out and catch up on some much needed sleep.  I also ate what I deem to be so far the best empañadas that I've had here, although they were from a chain store which did kind of bum me out.  The following weekend, with new debit card in hand, I went out in true porteña fashion, meaning I stayed out until 6, 7, even 8 AM every night/morning.  It was truly a miracle that I survived the entire weekend on an average of 4-5 hours of sleep a night, but to me it was worth it.  On Saturday night, I ate some pretty amazing sushi at a very nice restaurant, but not so nice that they did not permit us to do saki bombs (I was utterly amazed that it was the first time for everyone else I was with - Nooshi throwbacks, oh I miss my wonderful Friday PE Happy Hours).

After we went to an Argentine's apartment in the rather swanky neighborhood of Alto Palermo, and there I was exposed to the staunch political mindsets that Argentines are rather infamous for.  While I did not exactly enjoy listening to one particular Argentine berate the United States for almost all of the world's problems, it did give me a greater insight into the view of the U.S. from an outsider's perspective, as well as new ways to look at certain current issues, both domestic and international.  It also made me realize, as I was getting more and more upset with this kid (and I can say kid because he was younger than me), that as much as I agree with the unjustness the U.S.'s history of interference in other countries' political and social processes, particularly in Latin America, that I still have pride in my country, that I don't enjoy hearing the name "America" being dragged through the mud.  Perhaps this will change in a few more months time, but for now, I will continue to deflect U.S. criticism as best as I can.

Now, fast forward to this past weekend, and it's like I'm leading two completely separate lives: one in the city, and one on the road.  This weekend my friend Sadie, her friend Molly, and I all went to Puerto Madryn, a port city about 20 hours south of Buenos Aires on the Atlantic coast.  It's the main town people stay at to gain access to the Valdes Peninsula, an National Park home to tons of different marine and land animals.  Puerto Madryn also has some of the best whale watching in the world, and is home to the largest colony of Ballena Franca Austral, or Southern Right Whale.  We spent all day Saturday on a wildlife tour, which started with us stopping at a beach to see whales only about 100 yards away (I think...they were really, really close, how about that).  We then went on a boat tour where we got to cruise around the New Gulf bay and see whales come right up next to the boat.  Right now is the mating and birthing season, so we saw a mama whale and her calf, as well as a whale threesome - the commentary from our captain was priceless, although it was all in Spanish so I don't think some of his jokes translated into English very well.  We also saw elephant seals, a bird that looks like a small ostrich (I think it's called a ñandú), an animal called a mara (which is basically a cross between a rat, a rabbit, and a kangaroo), and lots and lots of sheep.  Oh, and of course, TWO PENGUINS!  The penguins don't come until October, but we saw two male penguins who were already there to pick out their mating and nest spots, those little eager beavers.

As fishing is a major industry in Puerto Madryn, I was finally able to eat some fish, one of many food items missing from the Argentine diet (along with vegetables, good ketchup, and peanut butter of course).  I must say, the dinner I had Saturday night is now ranked in probably the top 5 seafood, if not overall meals that I've had in my entire life.  The mussels Provencal that I had was amazing, not to mention the lasagna Bolognese and the scallops Milensa that my two companions had.  It all just tasted so fresh, probably because it was - as Argentina has a very strong agricultural sector, almost all of the food that I eat here is locally grown and raised, which is why their diet includes so much meat and wheat.  It was the perfect meal to end a very relaxing and much-needed weekend out of the city.  The trip was much more enjoyable with just three people traveling as opposed to my trip to Iguazu with more or less my entire study abroad program.  It also made me realize how diverse this one country is, and how much more I still have to see.  But, in two weeks time, I'll hopefully be done with midterms and off to the Northwest of the country to experience a whole new culture.  Until then I suppose it's time I actually think about school. Or at least what I'll be doing this weekend.

New word of the day: "robado"

At some point, all good things come to an end.  In this case, it was time passed during which I hadn't been robbed.  Unfortunately, Monday night my wallet and camera were victims of what I personally believe is "the curse of 2010."  Considering I began the current year by being robbed on the train back to school, I'm actually not too shocked that something like this happened.  Sure, we'd been told all the horror stories of people getting phones stolen from pockets on the subway, wallets from unzipped purses on the bus, even Ipods snatched by motorists while walking on the street.  But I just always thought that happened to stupid, oblivious people.  I thought that I was a master traveler, able to conduct myself appropriately in public and not have "TOURIST" plastered on my forehead.  Clearly, I was wrong, either about the typical robbery victim, or the perception I have about my travel savviness.  Or both.  I certainly misjudged what sort of travel mishaps I would encounter down here, as I did not bring any extra ATM cards with me or traveler's checks, and therefore currently have AR$ 92.90 to my name (that's about $23.00).  Thankfully my parents are already on top of it and have another debit card on it's way, but who knows exactly how long that will take.  Add on the fact that I have a bit of a looming deadline in the form of paying for my student visa by Monday, and one could say that I'm just a tad anxious right now. 

But aside from losing my wallet and camera, the show that I was at this fateful Monday night was freaking awesome!  It's called "La Bomba," and it's a huge percussion band that plays in a warehouse on the outskirts of Recoleta.  It reminded me a lot of the countless street musicians that I've seen playing, and attracts a wide range of people as it audience; there were businessmen in suits, college students in flannel, and hippies of all ages dancing everywhere.  Plus, my senora, Cecilia, told me to go to it, and I've found that anything Cecilia tells me to do, I should do.  That's how I got to go to the free "tango show" at the Planetarium on Sunday - although in reality it was more like a star show set to live tango music, though equally as enjoyable.  

After the tango show, I went wandering around the park that was across the street - I think it was Plaza Holanda - where, I kid you not, 75% of the people there were on some form of wheeled transportation contraption.  I'm talking about bikes, unicycles, skateboards with 4 wheels, skateboards with 2 wheels, individual skateboards for each foot, bike-carriages, and the most popular and most enjoyable for me to watch, rollerblades.  And by far the best part of all these people was that none of them had really mastered how to operate on wheels.  Add eating an amazing choripan (sandwich of chorizo (sausage) on bread (pan) with whatever toppings you want) and it was by and large an excellent way to spend a free Sunday.

And speaking of tango, I went to my first tango class last night! 4 hours of dancing + 4 inch heels = painful blisters.  Aside from the shoes, the class was really a lot of fun - it's about 50% porteñas, 30% IES chicas, and 20% IES hombres, meaning lots of dance partners for the boys in the class.  Our teacher is a stoutly old man with an absolutely fabulous bushy mustache and the grace of a ballerina.  He makes tango look so natural, like it's simply another way of walking around.  We learned the basic box-step pattern, which can then be taken and embellished with a variety of extra moves that usually the man decides on and which the girl must follow to the best of her abilities.  I figured I would just learn the basic steps in my first class, but lo and behold, by the end of those four hours I was sashay-ing around and kicking my feet between my dancer partners' legs.  However, I'm terrified to think of what else I am possibly expected to learn after that class.  And, we have a recital at the end of the semester - with the other Argentine dancers, all of whom look as though they've been dancing tango their whole lives.  I at least have a number of friends with me in the class to share in the pain and embarrassment that inevitably will ensue.  

Until I get my new debit card, I will be rather limited to my extracurricular activities, but I actually see this as more of a friendly challenge: can one go out on the weekends where nightlife revolves around the bar and dance club scene and NOT spend any money?  We shall just have to see...