Boredom leads to haircuts

I finished teaching a class yesterday, and had a couple hours to kill, and got kind of bored/ distracted just sitting around in my room... so I took out my scissors and cut my bangs really short. It seemed like a wise way to pass time.



Thoughts? I kinda like it. For now.

Maybe I should go into the bang trimming industry rather than English teaching??

UPDATE: I'm not going to be homeless!

I found an apartment yesterday! That I LOOOOVEEE!!!! I'm so excited! Finally, I can stop this apartment hunting madness. Oh, man, that was getting really intense. (Great stories though) ;-)

The place is located in a neighborhood called San Telmo (here, read this), which is a cute, colonial-style part of town with a thriving nightlife and plenty going on! I love it. Well, actually, I've only been there like 3 times, but each time I really liked it! And I hear it's a great place to live, minus being slightly sketchy at night (I promise, Mom and Dad, to be careful). I will also be living only 3 blocks from the famous Plaza Dorrego, mentioned in that wikipedia link, which is where the market is held each weekend, and also is just a fun place to sit, hang out, have a beer, and listen to the musicians.

The apartment is exactly what I've been waiting for. You know, that feeling when you walk in, that you could imagine yourself walking in again and again and feeling like you're really home. I had that feeling. Every other place just felt wrong-- felt dingy, felt like I'd be in someone else's space, felt too cluttered or just not right.

Maybe it's that I'm American, and therefore have sort of high expectations or something, but the first thing that really got me excited was how clean it was. It's brand spanking new! New hardwood floors, freshly painted white walls, and new kitchen appliances-- a dream, compared to some of the nasty, broken down things I've been seeing. Clean bathrooms! A fully functioning kitchen! And a general feeling of lightness and breeziness. Sun was pouring through all the windows. I don't know, it was just... nice.

The room itself is the smallest in the house-- there are 5 all together-- yet still not claustrophobic. It has a twin size bed, a desk, and an armoire, and best of all it has its own balcony! Granted, it's a small balcony, not really big enough to stand on, but big enough to enjoy and put some plants on anyway! I love it.

I'll be living with 4 other people in a very multi-national household. First there is Diego, a 26 year old porteño (local guy) who actually owns the apartment. He's fantastic. He's actually the only one I met, but we instantly clicked. He's traveled a ton and seems like very relaxed guy. He and his sister are opening up their own hosetl around the corner too, which I got to see under construction, and looks like it's going to be very nice. He's quite the entrepreneur, I'd say. Anyway, there will also be another American girl who's around 26, an Australian guy who I think is about 32, and a French woman who I believe is 27-ish. So we're all around the same age, and supposedly everyone gets along very well. Best of all, we're all going to be working, so it won't be some sort of student household.

Oh-- and there is a roofdeck! Granted, it's shared with the entire building, but whatever. I can catch some rays out there. I love roofdecks!!!

So yeah, I paid a deposit, and can go over and get my keys on Sunday. I am reeeeally looking forward to it! It will be fun to have a new neighborhood to explore, and some new roommates to get to know. Hopefully they are all cool. Next week, I'll start moving things in a bit, but I'll stay here in the dorm to sleep, since I will still be in school for one more week, and the school is right next door. Then, I'll move for good next Friday!

Oh, and next Friday I'm also going for a long weekend with a bunch of people from my class to a beach called Necochea, where one of my classmates has a family beach house. Yess!!! After all this work, it'll be amazing to relax and soak up some rays.

A word of advice: Hold on to your stuff!

Yesterday, my friend Emilia got robbed right in front of my eyes, without either of us seeing a thing.

A group of 6 of us went out to lunch to a pizza/ empanada place around the corner from our school (and my house), in happy, shiny, wealthy, "safe" Recoleta. I had my purse on my lap, as I always do because I'm paranoid. Charlotte and Emilia were seated across from me, and Charlotte had hr laptop at her feet, while Emilia had her bag by her left foot on the ground.

As we looked at the menus, none of us paid any mind to the well-dressed gentleman who came in and took a seat in the chair right behind Emilia. None of us also paid any attention about 5 minutes later when he got up without ordering and left. I was totally oblivious. Next thing we know, Emilia has realized that her purse which she'd put by her left foot was now by her right foot. She grabbed it, rummaged through, and lo and behold, both her wallet and cell phone were gone. Just like that. Amazingly, Charlotte's laptop wasn't taken.

It was AWFUL. These guys are GOOD at what they do. I mean, we all literally had no clue, and it all happened so fast. I felt so bad for her, as she had to buy a new cell phone, cancel her debit card, and deal with the general inconvenience, not to mention the utter feeling of violation, that comes with being robbed. I just feel lucky that it wasn't worse- at gunpoint, late at night, etc. I hear stories like that a lot too.

This is not to scare anyone-- I'm fine, she's fine. But I certainly learned my lesson-- never let ANYthing out of your sight! Never let your guard down. Hold on to your stuff, and carry as little as possible. Buenos Aires is lovely and all that, but there is also a lot of crime, and it can happen when you least expect it.

The hunt for an apartment

So I need to be out of my residence on March 7th, and I am having so much trouble finding an apartment! I am stressed out and frustrated. Being an American around here is tough, because it puts a target on your back that says, "Hi, take advantage of me. I have money." Which I don't.

I have a fairly modest price range of no more than $1,000 pesos per month (or less if possible!) and just that alone has been trouble. Sure places exist that are well within that range, but again, they find out I'm American and suddenly there are all sorts of other fees, or the price mysteriously goes up.

So far I have looked at 2 apartments, and I have about 3 other prospects on the horizon. And let me tell you, none are particularly appealing.

First, on Saturday I went and looked at a place in a neighborhood called Palermo Hollywood (yes, it's really called that) a cute, kind of trendy area of town. The rent was $950 pesos (sure!) and the room was fairly large and came with a huge roofdeck with a grill and all that jazz. It was a nice space. I'd have been living with a local porteña woman and an English girl. The porteña sat me down and we had a great conversation, and I'm thinking to myself, "This is perfect! Nice place, nice girl, nice price, what more could I want?" and then suddenly she says, "So, by the way, in addition to the monthly rent, you also need to pay me an additional $300 USD." So I say, "Oh, like a deposit that I get back when I move out?" and she says, "No, just give me $300. I did some renovations a while back and I need to recoup the costs." ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! So basically she wanted me to just slap down $300 bucks for some "home improvements" I had nothing to do with. Jerk. I thought about it, and realized the whole thing left a sour taste in my mouth. I don't want to start off a living situation feeling like already right off the bat I'd been taken advantage of. So scratch that place off the list.

Then, there was the place I saw yesterday. It was in a great location in Recoleta, just a few short blocks from where I'm staying now. The price was only $900 pesos. But I walked in and saw the room, and although it was big and had a small balcony, the bed was right on the floor and there was literally nothing else in the room. No tables, no closet, nothing. Then I realize that it's a woman and her 17 year old daughter who live there and rent out several rooms. The woman started going on and on about how one boy living there now doesn't eat enough so she makes him dinner, and how she likes doing people's laundry. Wait, Mom? Is that you? Then it suddenly hit me, so I asked, "Can I have friends over?" and she stumbled through a long answer about how they could come for dinner, but I'd need to call and ask first.

Um yeah. I celebrated my 18th birthday almost 10 years ago, and am officially an adult. I think I'm all set with moving back in with Mom. Argentina style. Scratch that one off the list too...

THEN there are my beloved/ horrifying prospects. First, there is the 21 year old boy who contacted me asking if I'd like, for $700 pesos, to share his STUDIO APARTMENT, and kindly offered to "put up a screen for more privacy." Is this really what it's come to??

And of course, there is the room that was offered to me with 2 other men, and it sounded nice enough until I found out why the girl living there now is moving out. Apparently one of the roommates, a young French guy, has some sort of sex addiction that he likes to act out almost daily with different women ON THE LIVING ROOM COUCH.

Dear god.

And last but not least, we have the one I'm supposed to go see tonight (and you KNOW I'm desperate because I am still willing to go see this place), where apparently the ceiling is about 5'8", which coincidentally is slightly shorter than I am, and where the roommates all smoke inside the apartment. For the record, I absolutely hate smoking.

So yeah. I'm frustrated, and likely to be homeless in the near future. Ugh.

A bit of tourism

Before this weekend arrives, I want to tell you about some of the fun things I did last weekend!

Friday night was Nathan and Paul's last night in town (they had just returned from a trip to Patagonia-- lucky boys!) so I headed out for pizza and beer with them, Ali, and Bata. We scarfed down tons of pizza con jamón, fugazzeta (carmelized onion pizza), and faina (a baked chickpea paste dish), and enjoyed the togetherness while it lasted.



Then we headed over to a fun little expat bar called the Red Door in San Telmo, where we met up with a bunch of my classmates and drank some more. I ended up going to bed at 5:00am-- how Argentine of me! In fact, that's early. (For them, not for me!)

Anyway, one of my TEFL classmates, Paul, lives here in the dorm with me, and he and I decided to spend Saturday seeing some sights. After all, I'd been here for a week already and felt like I hadn't seen anything or gotten my bearings straight at all, since I'd been chained to the books all week! So after waking up late, due to the prior evening's festivities, we decided to take off on Saturday afternoon to see the famous Cementerio de la Recoleta.

The Recoleta Cemetery is like nothing I have ever seen before! It's more like a small city than a cemetery, with rows and rows of tall mausoleums to wind through and peak into. It's very cool, and looks like this:



It also happens to be where Eva "Evita" Duarte de Perón is buried! Here's me hanging out at her family mausoleum.



...and hanging around the tombs...



Once we'd wandered around the cemetery for a while baking in the sun (it was getting HOT!) we wandered down the hill and passed through a fun little outdoor weekend market filled with hippies selling incense and clothing and banging on drums. It was a gorgeous little park, with a view of the Retiro neighborhood off in the distance:



...and then we went on a search for "La Flor Gigante," the famous giant flower sculpture of Buenos Aires. Found!



It is so cool. This piece of art is not only enormous, but it is also solar-powered, and so the flower actually opens and closes with the sun. How cool is that?!

Then we gave a call to our friend Megan, another classmate of ours, and we all wandered over to Puerto Madero to attempt a glimpse at the ever-elusive Rio de la Plata. I am pretty sure I never actually saw it, though. I think we were just looking at some sort of offshoots or canals or something. But they were brown. Just like the Rio de la Plata. Brown. Quite disappointing, actually.



The area itself, other than some cool boats, a really weird bridge, and a Hooters, is sort of boring. It's sad really-- I personally think they should do more with the area and make it a bit livelier, since it's on the water and everything! It reminds me, creepily enough, of Boston's Financial District in the way that it was just totally dead on the weekend and filled with buildings. It's saving grace is that there is a massive and beautiful 900 acre ecological reserve there. 900 ACRES! Plus, we found some delicious ice cream to pass the time.



The ice cream melted in about 2.5 seconds, because by this point in the day the temperature had reached around 104 degrees. GAH! And guess who forgot to wear sunscreeen????



UGH. I should NOT have worn a big circular necklace! (The good news is, the burn has faded quite a bit since Saturday, and people don't seem to be laughing at me anymore! Yay!)

We hung out in Puerto Madero for a while, marveling at both the enormity of the reserve, and the extreme dedication of the locals to tanning. While watching browned men and women bake themselves purposefully in the sun, us gringos tried to focus on staying hydrated.

Then, the 3 of us walked in the baking sun all the way to the neighborhood of San Telmo (one I'm scoping out to possibly live in-- but we'll see) to check the scene. When we arrived in Plaza Dorrego, it was like an oasis in the desert... We plunked ourselves at a shady cafe table in the middle of the plaza, listened to a musician perform, and enjoyed several ice cold beers.



It would have been perfect had it not been for the nauseating make-out session going on for 30 minutes straight next to us. Yes, I took this sketchy stalker picture, because I want you all to share in my horror:



THIS, my friends, is Argentina in a nutshell. COUPLES SUCKING FACE. People make out EVERYWHERE at ALL TIMES. No shame, these ones. None. Ugh, get a room.

Anyway, we had a great time sitting in the plaza (other than the aforementioned traumatic scenery), and got to see a couple perform tango in the plaza, hear a few street musicians, see some funky local artists selling their things, and browse an antique market (overpriced!). We even ran into some sort of festival going on in the streets as we wandered around, where a very strange breed of music was playing, all dressed up in different animal costumes and carrying strange flags, and everyone in the crowd was squirting foamy silly string stuff! It was bizarre, and after several beers, quite amusing.



Finally, it occurred to the 3 of us that we were ravenous, and we decided to go right for it and go to a parrilla for steaks. So we took the subte (the BA subway) over to San Nicolás, where we went to a restaurant called La Parrilla Peña, and I enjoyed the single best slice of meat I have ever had in my entire life. People, I am not exaggerating. This bife de chorizo (kind of like a prime rib) was almost crunchy and blackened on the outside, pink on the inside, and tender all the way through. I also managed to pack away mashed potatoes (the Argentines know how to make 'em right!), an empanada, and share a salad. Oh, my! I have not been that full in ages. As my mom would say, I was "Thanksgiving full." This picture doesn't come close to doing it justice, but I'll post anyway:



I am going to gain 500 pounds here if I don't join a gym soon. Which brings me to my conclusion-- I am apartment hunting. I am looking for a place in either the San Telmo, Palermo, or Recoleta neighborhoods, something that is both nice and affordable, which as an American, is a tall order. Wish me luck-- I'm visiting a place this Saturday that sounds pretty cool. And once I have my new apartment and neighborhood decided on, then I can think about doing settling-in things like joining a gym.

Jazzy Tango for the Soul

Although I probably should have been staying in tonight preparing tomorrow's lesson plan on "ordering food in a restaurant," I opted instead to go to see a jazzy tango orchestra concert by a local group called the Fernandez Fierro Orquesta. It was incredible! Accordion has never sounded so beautiful. There were 12 people total-- one singer, one pianist, several accordions and violinists, plus a cello and an upright bass (which we all, of course, know is my favorite instrument of all time). I really found the music beautiful, sultry, and inspiring, and I'm so glad I ventured out. If only it hadn't been well over 100 degrees in there (quite literally), it would have been perfect! Luckily, my program got me in for free, saving me $15 pesos. :-)



Every time a song ended, or actually just a mere moment before, there was a girl off to the side of the room who would always scream "Bravo!" without missing a beat. We couldn't figure out how she always knew, down to the millisecond, exactly when the song was end, so we ended up turning it into a little game. Could we yell "Bravo" before her, but still at the appropriate time?! This turned into bets, dares, and finally the ultimate Double Dog Dare, but in the end we were defeated. She was just too good. (Ever the conspiracy theorist, I'm convinced she was being paid by the band.)

Anyway, now at a mere 2:30am I am getting snuggled into bed and trying to get a bit of sleep before tomorrow's class. I will teach a beginner lesson tomorrow on the aforementioned topic, which should be interesting because it's my first "beginner" lesson. I'm also planning one for Friday that I will teach to an Intermediate class on the topic of "getting through US Customs and Immigration." It's a crazy topic, really, and one I think they will find quite useful. Hopefully I won't scare them too much, as I found out in my own research on the Homeland Seecurity webpage that in addition to scaring the pants off people with our intimidating officers asking intimidating questions, we also actually take everyone's fingerprints and EYEBALL SCANS these days when they enter the US. Nuts! There's one good solid reason to be an American. Entering Argentina took all of 2 seconds, and there were definitely no elaborate scanning and tracking devices involved. Apparently tourists entering the US also have to answer the direct question, "Are you a terrorist?" Sheesh!

Anyway, you can tell I'm tired because I'm rambling about terrorism. Love to all!

CHANGE: You don't you have anything smaller?

Change. It's a problem. And I'm not talking about American politics. In fact, one of Argentina's biggest problems is change... Coins, that is. Monedas.

Apparently there is some kind of coin shortage, which results in people being very protective over the coins they have. To make matters worse, the colectivos, the buses here, only accept exact change (no bills), and are by far the best way to get around the city (they literally go EVERYwhere, and run 24 hours), so not having any monedas can really limit your ability to get where you need to go. In fact, most porteños are totally dependent on them.

Let me Americanize this image: picture it as a country filled with people who need to do coin-op laundry, and no one will give you any quarters. Catch my drift?

So basically, you go to an ATM and take out money, which usually comes out in $100 peso bills, and then no one wants to accept your $100 peso bills! Sometimes they are so reluctant to make change that they will literally not make the sale, just to save their change. Seriously, this is no small inconvenience, but rather it is closer to a national crisis, a problem that is often cited as one of the factors in Argentina's economic decline. Not to mention, it is incredibly frustrating! I have literally yet to make a purchase when they have not asked me, "No tienes nada mas pequeña?" ("You don't have anything smaller?")

Grrrrr.... No! I do not have anything smaller! And even if I did, I am most likely hoarding them just like everyone else for the next time I need to take the bus! Sheesh! I don't know who to blame for this problem, but it needs a solution, and fast. I feel like I've really taken for granted the ease with which I collect nickels, dimes, and quarters in the States. I mean really, I should be able to buy something that costs $7 pesos with a $10 peso bill and not be treated like I am committing a sin.



For more information, check this out.

Teacher in Training

I taught my second class today, and it went GREAT! Which is surprising, given that only 1 person showed up. Yes, one lonely student. But it ended up being a wonderful class, and a nice little ego boost for me, which I desperately needed.

Today's class was advanced level, and I'd prepared a course dealing with euphemisms. I brought in a text to read and had about 10 euphemisms picked out that I wanted to teach. Luckily, the lone student, Alejandro, found the subject matter really interesting, and didn't already know most of it. His personal favorite was "pushing up daisies," which was great because I was worried that talking about things like death would be too depressing, but we ended up making it fun.

The class was particularly good because it had a natural flow to it. Although I had several exercises and discussion topics prepared, we didn't stick exactly to the plan and ended up discussing several other things instead. It ended up being even better that way, because Alejandro learned what he wanted to learn, and it still remained in the framework of the planned theme of the class. As class neared a close, I felt like I'd done a pretty good job...

...which was completely validated when, as I wrapped things up, Alejandro asked me, "Did you just start teaching?" And I told him yes, that I just taught my first class yesterday. And he said to me, "You are an excellent teacher, a natural. I learned a lot today, thank you very much!"

Big smiles!! As a new teacher, what more could I possibly ask for? I feel so much more confident now, and am reading to take it easy this weekend and have a few celebratory cervezas tonight. :-)

I taught a class AND got a can of beans!

OMG!



That, my friends, is my can of beans. Ali works miracles, and found them at a store near her house for 5 pesos. Overpriced, but frankly, I'd pay triple. BURRITOS!! I am going to have burritos. *sigh of relief*

I taught my very first class today, and I didn't die! That is a great start. I was actually over-prepared, in the sense that I had more material ready than we had time to go through. It was an "intermediate" level class, and only 2 people showed up (they told me 1-6 would, so I guess 2 is better than 1!), and one was quite advanced, while they other was more of a beginner. It was a challenge because we had to go very slowly even though the other woman wanted to move along more quickly. But overall, I think I did a decent job for my first time! It was challenging, but the students seemed to enjoy it enough (they didn't hate me anyway, which is always a good sign), and I certainly feel like it was great practice and experience. I feel a bit more confident now. Which is good because I am teaching again tomorrow, this time advanced level!

Anyway, I got out of class and walked pretty much directly to Ali and Bata's house for dinner. Ali made fresh pasta with a delicious homemade tomato sauce, a caprese salad, and fresh bread. It was soooo good, and was also so great to get out of the house! I feel like I have been holed up for 3 days doing nothing but lesson planning, and I needed a break! They are wonderful, and I'm so lucky to have friends in town to give me that family feel. Ahhhh I needed it!

You know what else I need? Weekend. Saturday the plan is to go exploring around the city and see some of the hot spots, and then try to convince some of the students on my program to go out on Saturday night. Should be fun! Sunday night I am going to an asado with some of Ali's friends, which of course should be a blast! Oh man, listen to me. My brain has already fast-forwarded to the weekend. I am exhausted and need a serious brain break. This program is no joke!

Getting my vegetables...

...isn't easy around here! In a culture filled with empanadas, carne, pizza, pan, and more carne, I sometimes feel like I'm eating nothing but meat and cheese.

Part of the solution was that when I looked in my wallet a couple days ago, it hit me hard that Buenos Aires is not so cheap after all. Before I got here everyone kept telling me, "oh, it's so cheap there!" Yeah, well they were wrong. Apparently it used to be cheap, but now I feel like it's about the same prices I'm used to in the States, which is both unexpected and lame.

So I've taken to preparing my own food at home to save money, which is nice because it means I can make whatever I want. Within limits. The limits being that the kitchen here is tiny, gross, and unpleasant, so I don't want to prepare anything too lavish. However, it's perfectly suitable to make pasta, a sandwich or a salad.

I've been stopping by a fruteria every day to pick up what I need. They look like this, more or less:


The process is different than in the states, in the sense that you don't walk in and start selecting your own vegetables, but rather you actually go in and tell them what you want and they get it and bag it for you. I learned this the hard way, by walking in and grabbing my own veggies and having everyone look at me like I was the biggest jerk on the planet. Yup, the hard way. But now I know.

Today, I'm planning on whipping up a salad of lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, and avocado, with oil, lemon and salt. Simple and yummy. And you'd be hard pressed to get someone at a restaurant to sell you a salad here without an accompanying meat dish. For example:


That was my lunch on Monday. It's called milanesa napolitana, which is a piece of meat fried (milanesa), then covered in ham, sauce, and cheese (that's the napolitana part). Milanesa is a very typical Argentine dish, as the Argentines love their meat FRIED! It's usually served with french fries, but I finagled my way into a side salad. It was delicious, but I was stuffed for the rest of the day, and I didn't even finish it! That is a seriously heavy meal.

Anyway, tonight I will be teaching my very first English class! I will be teaching a real practice course every Thursday and Friday for the next 4 weeks. I'm really nervous! I have been working on my lesson plans for the past couple weeks, and stressing about whether or not they are going to work. Here's to hoping they will! My class tonight is an intermediate level, and I plan to teach about "apartment hunting" and the words associated with that. I'm going to have them role play some apartment hunting scenarios, and write their own "apartment for rent" ads. Then my class tomorrow is an advanced level, and I'm planning on talking about euphemisms. Hopefully they will actually be advanced, and will be able to get into an interesting discussion about how and why we use them.

Then I'm headed to Ali's house for dinner tonight after I teach! Yum! I seriously cannot wait for this weekend. I feel like all I've done is study since I've been here, and it's very tough. I don't feel like I have a super great sense of the city at all, so I am excited to do some exploring around town on Saturday and Sunday, and hopefully get some good stories and take some pictures to show all you devoted blog readers. ;-)

A new pillow (and other stories)

Today I got a new pillow. This may not seem monumental for you, but you have NO IDEA what I have been sleeping on. Picture the thinnest, most worthless excuse for a pillow you have ever seen, make it even thinner, and make the pillow case a little bit abrasive and NOW you have an idea of my former pillow. I asked around the dorm, and it quickly became apparent that everyone else was perfectly happy with their pillow, and thus I determined that I had somehow been screwed over by the Pillow Distribution Services. I was forced to take matters into my own hands. I noticed this afternoon that one of the boys was moving out today, and casually glanced at his pillow... nice and thick! SNATCHED!!! New pillow. I'm leaning on it right now as I type, and cannot express how thrilled I am.

ANYWAY, you are probably wondering much more about my first day of school than about my pillow... fair enough. It was good! It's a bigger class than I expected, 13 students in all, 8 men and 5 women. We're a big range of ages, from a couple years younger than me, to several about my age, to 4 men that appear over 50 (one is most certainly over 60). Everyone seems really nice, and we're all kind of in the same boat. Although there are a few people with teaching experience, it appears the majority of us anyway are new to the whole thing, and are here for similar reasons-- career change, and an opportunity to work abroad. And a bunch of travel-lovers all in one place can't be half bad! The teacher seems like a nice enough fellow-- he is a kind of aggressive Irish guy with an intense personality who may take some warming up to, but overall he seems to have a good head on his shoulders... we'll see.

The reeeeally intense thing is how fast paced this course is going to be. I can barely even believe it as I type it, but I am going to teach my first course this Thursday! And another one on Friday! With real students!! Ahhhh!!! I'm terrified, which is why I am up at midnight blogging and pretending to research lesson plans. My class on Thursday will be intermediate level, and the one on Friday will be advanced. Overall over the next 4 weeks, I will teach a course every Thursday and Friday, totally 2 beginner, 2 intermediate, and 2 advanced when it's all said and done. But who knew I'd be thrown in so quickly??

I'm nervous-- I have to write the lesson plans tomorrow, present them to my class on Wednesday, and then execute them Thurs and Fri-- but also excited! I figure it makes sense to just jump right in. I don't feel I've had enough instruction at this point (after all, it was only ONE DAY), and I have no idea what I'm doing (he left the assignment very open ended, so our lessons can be about just about anything), but I'm assuming their expectations are realistically lower for the first lesson, and I'll only have room to improve.

So yeah. I'm going to be a certified ESL teacher in 4 weeks. Whoa!

In other news, I would like to recount the story of my first experience at an Argentinian grocery store. I've been into a few smaller markets, but I'm talking about a 2 story monstrosity called a Coto that sells everything. Well, just about, with a few key omissions. Like beans. I must rant about this-- you cannot find a can of beans anywhere in this city!! They just don't sell beans! It's horrible. Not only can I not buy a burrito anywhere, but I also can't even make my own?! It's like I'm being tortured. You can only buy the dry ones that you need to soak and boil, and if you could see my dorm's kitchen you would know why that is absolutely not going to happen.

Anyway, other than not finding beans, oh man, what a way to spend nearly 2 HOURS of my life. Wasted! It's a mad house! You go winding through the aisles, and it's like every single person in the city is in there, crashing into each other, with not even an inch to yourself. I spent almost an hour steering through the crowds, picking up easy-to-cook-in-an-awful-dorm-kitchen essentials while simultaneously being fascinated by the selections of funny looking cookies, bizarre meat parts, and tubs of spices labeled "spice." Pasta-- check. Tomato sauce in a bag (hmmm)-- check. A loaf of bread (the only one that looked remotely multi grain, although it turned out to be oats)-- check. Some ham and cheese for sandwiches-- check (although I have no idea what kind of cheese I bought??). Cheerio's and milk (the only one that appeared to be slightly reduced in fat, though I'm pretty sure they don't have skim here!)-- check. A couple grapefruits and a couple avocados. Mmmmmmmm I LOVE AVOCADOS.

So then I go to check out, and the lines are THIS LONG. Like, REALLY LONG. I am not exaggerating, I was in the "15 items or less" aisle behind about 10 people and waited an hour!!! God it was a nightmare. Even worse, some woman who I thought was just kind of fat started cutting in line in front of me, and of course being the disgruntled, impatient person that I am, I was trying to subtly sort of cut back in front of her.. finally she shoved past and marched to the front of the line, cutting in front of us ALL, and it was only then that I looked up and realized I had gotten myself into the "handicapped and pregnant women" express lane-- ugh, she wasn't fat, she was with child. STAB. (Frankly I don't care if you're pregnant with quintuplets, I have been in line for an hour!!!)

When I FINALLY arrived back at my residence it was already about 10:30 PM and the only reason why I was remotely okay was the thought of a yummy ham and cheese sandwich with avocado smeared all over it. So you can imagine my misery when I realized I'd somehow managed to not pack the avocados in my bag!!! I'd paid for them. Oh yes, they were on my receipt, but not in my bag. Grrrr. I am going to bed hungry in protest.

Note to self: do whatever it takes, pay extra, eat out every day, go to every corner market in town, but NEVER GO TO COTO AGAIN.

xoxoxo Love, Erica

Parte de la familia

I'm having a fantastic time so far! I really, really love Buenos Aires, and I think it's going to be a great year abroad. I've been here only 2 days, and I'm already loving it. Of course, I haven't started school yet, so a lot remains to be seen, but my first impressions are phenomenal, and that's gotta count for something. If only the men were taller, and I didn't think my colon was going to give out on me from so much meat, this might be the perfect country.

So when I left off, I was getting ready to meet up with Ali, Bata, Nathan, and Scott for dinner on Friday night. We ended up going to a place near Ai's house called La Payuca, which is a place that specializes in carne a la parilla (grilled meat). In addition to sharing a couple bottles of fantastic Malbec, we loaded ourselves down with a ton of meat and potatoes. Bata, Scott, and Ali split a huge meat sampler (I forget what it's called) which had a little bit of everything-- and I mean everything-- including kidneys, intestines, some sort of gland, the whole bit. They said it was delicious... it looked like this:


Nathan and I split a delicious carne de lomo, which is pretty much a prime rib, or something to that effect. Yummmmyyyy!


You eat it with a series of these salsas they give you. The one on the left is the classic Argentine chimichurri, then the next one is salsa criolla, the green one is provenzal (my favorite!), and the last one was a sort of spicy tomato sauce.


Afterword, we checked out a brewery called Buller in Recoleta, where Ali insisted I try the sampler of all 6 of their locally brewed cervezas... she was right! Fantatic. First time I've ever liked a "light lager," to be honest. My personal favorite was the Honey Beer, 3rd from the left. The boys shared a couple pitchers of the IPA, which was reeeeally good, but not quite as hoppy as I'm used to.


About halfway through the sampler, I started to totally pass out and realize that I was waaayyyy more jet-lagged than I realized. (Nathan told me the next day that I kept on apologizing for "being lame" and they kept saying "don't worry about it, you're tired and you won't even remember this in the morning," and sure enough, I definitely do not remember that conversation.) I was totally delirious and passing out at the table, so we finally said our good byes to N and S, and I went and slept on Ali and Bata's midget couch, where I sweated profusely all night long. Wow it is hot.

Anyway, yesterday (Saturday) was a total blast! Every Saturday Ali and Bata drive to his hometown of Adrogue (a suburb about 45 minutes outside the city) where they have lunch with his entire family, and I was lucky enough to be invited! It was incredible-- not to mention, delicious! From the moment I walked in, I felt incredibly bienvenido. I met Bata's dad (Jorge) and mom (Adriana), sister (Paula) and her boyfriend (Maxi), brother (Nachi-- short for Ignacio) and his girlfriend (Sofi), grandmother and great uncle, and aunt (Cristina). What an awesome family!

Bata's dad, Jorge, cooks up a mean asado (basically an Argentine barbecue, with tons of yummy meats cooks on the grill), and the whole family are excellent hosts. I mean, they are hilarious, laid back, a ton of fun, and love food just like me. :-) We spent all afternoon on their gorgeous back patio by the pool drinking soda and wine, eating asado accompanied by potatoes, a mixed salad, a capris salad, palmitas (hearts of palm), and ice cream for dessert.

Jorge cooking his asado:


My yummy plate of food-- lomo (steak), choripan (chorizo on bread), provoleta (grilled provolone cheese), salad, and wine.


Not everyone, but most of the table (L-R: Ali, Adriana, Bata, Jorge, Paula, Maxi, Me):


Food side note: I ate intestines (chinchulines). They were DISGUSTING, but I tried them. I may or may not have spit them out in my napkin...) I did not, however, try to glands or the kidneys. Baby steps.

All in all, it was a fantastic day. Sunny and not uncomfortably hot (probably high 70s), a day by the pool with great people and food... what more could I ask for? Plus, they are hilarious. At one point we got to talking about how Ali and her family always pee themselves when they laugh too hard! (Apparently Ali once peed in the dressing room of an Ann Taylor, while trying on a dress, which she peed all over, and then in turn her mom peed all over her own khakis, and Ali balled up the dress, threw it in the corner, and fled the mall. Hahahahaha!!!) The best part was then everyone started chiming in with pee stories, and I was cracking up sitting there realizing this is the kind of thing MY crazy family would discuss at dinner, and how nice it was to be with a laid back bunch who aren't afraid to talk about a little pee.

Also, in addition to telling me how fantastic my Spanish is (admittedly, it is really good, better than I expected after a 3 year hiatus), they also couldn't get over how tall I am. At one point Jorge pulled out a tape measure and measured me, since I wasn't sure of my height in centimeters. So there we all are out on the patio, crowded around me as I got measured-- 175 centimeters, by the way! Soy muy alta! It was hilarious.

After stopping by for a visit with one of Ali's Argentine sisters, Victoria, and sharing some yummy yerba mate, Ali and I took the combi (shared bus) home to BA, while Bata stayed with his family.

I stopped by my residence long enough to change my clothes and confirm that yes, I live with a bunch of studious Americans who don't seem to get out much or speak any Spanish (avoid! avoid!), I took off once again for dinner with Nathan, Scott, and Ali. By the time I got to N&S's hotel (a short walk from my place), it was about 11:00, which in Argentina is just in time for dinner! We decided on Italian food, since there is a huge Italian culture here and the Italian food is top notch. We dined on really yummy pasta at a tiny restaurant owned and operated by an Italian man and his sweet Brazilian wife, and then headed over to San Telmo to check out the bar scene. We ended up at a sort of Bohemian style bar called Gibraltar, where we drank $8 peso Quilmes beers and looked at boys. I think San Telmo is a bit of a touristy area, because a lot of the people definitely were not Argentinian, but I was struck by how short the boys here are. Uggghhhhh. Beards are very in here, though, so at least there's that. :-) Anyway, we ended up staying out until after 4:00am... again, totally normal for Buenos Aires, but today I'm exhausted.

This is the world's longest blog post, so I will stop now. I am going to go on a drive and some sort of tour with Nathan, Scott, Ali, and Bata today, and then later on get ready for school. Yes, I start school tomorrow! Wish me luck. I'm semi-terrified.

I have arrived!

I'm in Buenos Aires! After 19 full hours of planes and layovers, I finally made it! It was a long journey, but it was well worth it, and I did manage to get a bit of sleep on the plane. Ahem, well actually I had the *pleasure* of sitting next to an obese Texan on the plane from Newark to Houston, who kept telling how messed up my "politics" were (I hadn't actually told him any of my "politics," so I guess he was just judging me by appearance?) as he practically sat in my lap, his huge thigh bulging over his seat and onto me, and his foot jammed under the seat in front of ME. Luckily I have a smidge of class, because I wanted to smack him. However, I had a nice, young, normal-weight guy next to me from Houston to Buenos Aires, and somehow I managed to sleep for about 6 of the 10 hours.

ANYway, after I picked up my luggage I got my arranged ride to my residence and showed up about half hour later. This is my street:


The brown door on the left here is my school, and the one on the right is my residence:


I was greeted by a girl named Paige who showed me around a bit. It's a nice building, kind of a fancy converted urban mansion with hardwood floors, tons of windows, a big winding staircase, and a rooftop terrace. Apparently there are about 20 people who live here. I've met about 10 so far in passing, and am having trouble remembering everyone's names. Everyone is here for different reasons, and so far I haven't met anyone who is on the same program as me, though they claim there is one other living here. There are people here studying Spanish, doing internships, and working on various things, so it seems like a bit of a mash up.

I'm living in a tiny double room with a British girl named Victoria who is here volunteering for 5 months. She seems pretty nice so far, however the room is going to be a problem. Ugh, I am glad I'm only going to be here for 4 weeks. I have one drawer to myself, half of a very small shared armoire, and a cubby thing for toiletries. Plus, I have a narrow little twin size bed and a lamp. Hmmmm.

I took one look at my 140 pounds of luggage, and my 2 shelves, and panicked a little... looks like I'll be living out of my suitcase! :-/ This is my ENTIRE ROOM: (my bed is on the left)


Anyway, after quickly settling in, I gave Ali a call and she, Nathan (my old co-worker from AAC) and his boyfriend Scott came and met me!!! yay!!! It was so great to see them all!! It was a totally unrealistic greeting committee, as Nathan and Scott are just here on vacation and are leaving next week, but it was so great to see some familiar faces after a long grueling trip! We all went out and got some almuerzo at a restaurant around the corner from my residence: beer, pizza, and empanadas de carne, jamon y queso, and humita (corn). Delicious!

We walked Nathan and Scott back to their hotel, which is located in the same neighborhood as me (Recoleta), and I got to see a bit of the area. It's a great day to walk around today-- not too humid, high 70's, and nice and sunny. Wandering through just a small part of Recoleta, it seems like a lovely area, with trees lining the streets, sidewalk cafes, and lots of little shops. They all seem to close around 4:00 and reopen later, so most things were closed while I walked around, though I did manage to stop into a grocery store and pick up some soap and toothpaste. Ugh. I'm dirty.

Even though I'm exhausted, I actually have a relatively busy weekend ahead of me. Tonight after I shower and unpack a bit I'm off to find my way to Ali's place (she claims it's only a 20 minute walk, but I don't think that factors in how lost I will probably get) and then have dinner with her, Nathan, Scott, and Ali's boyfriend Bata-- steak, baby! You know, when in Rome... then I'm sleeping at Ali's place, and tomorrow we are headed to her host family's house in the 'burbs for an asada and some swimming! Sweeet!! It's supposed to be nice and hot and sunny. Sorry, Bostonians. No more winter for me!!! (Mwahahaha)

Anyway, this all feels like it's happening really fast, but I'm just diving right in! I can't believe I'm in Argentina!! It is so exciting! I think I might be a bit delirious right now, and thus incapable of fully expressing myself, but I can say that I am very excited for whatever adventures lay ahead. Right now I'm really overwhelmed by everything-- new roommate, unpacking, catching up on sleep, meeting people, and starting school on Monday-- but that's just me. I've only been here a few hours and I'm already putting pressure on myself to have it all figured it. It'll come... more later. :-)

Packing is my cardio

Baggage Restrictions for International Travel, by Continental Airlines:

1 carry on bag, no more than 54 linear inches, no more than 40 pounds
1 carry on personal item (purse, laptop, etc.)
1 free checked bag, no more than 62 linear inches, no more than 50 pounds
2nd checked bag is $25, also no more than 62 linear inches, no more than 50 pounds

Checked bags that weigh more than 50 pounds and less than 70 pounds cost $50 extra per bag. Bags that weigh more than 70 pounds will not be accepted.

Okay, now let's take a look at what I packed:

1 carry on bag, exactly 54 linear inches, 35 pounds
1 abnormally large personal item (a backpack stuffed with my laptop, books, notebook, camera, cables, and of course a ham sandwich ;-)
1 checked bag, exactly 62 linear inches, weighing in at 66 pounds
1 checked bag, exactly 62 linear inches, weighing in at a startling 69 pounds!

Needless to say, I spent the better part of this evening sitting on my suitcases and cramming things in as I tried desperately to get them to zip... Eventually they did, but man, that was rough! I reeeeeally hope I don't have to open either one again for any reason until I arrive.

I'm leaving tomorrow at 1:30 PM, and surprisingly I'm not even a total mess about it anymore. I'm actually feeling really calm and really excited! The only thing that stands between me and Buenos Aires now is 19 hours of travel... ugh.

Wish me luck!!! Love to all. <3

Homework already?!

I'm leaving the country in about 36 hours, and with my mind 100% focused on packing, getting my life in order, and saying good bye, you can imagine my surprise/ horror when I opened my email on SUNDAY AFTERNOON and found a pre-course homework assignment waiting for me-- one that needs to be completed and emailed to my school before class starts on Monday.

And as much as I'd loooove to spend my first weekend in Buenos Aires with my head in a book studying, ummmm hmmmmm yeah, I think I should get this done before I go. THANKS FOR GIVING ME LIKE NO NOTICE, JERKS! Could you not have sent this to me a week ago? Or a month ago?!

So it starts off easy: What is wrong with this sentence? I have seen that film yesterday. Alright, simple enough. Wrong tense.

Now which tense is it? Ummm...??? One simple google search later, and I've discovered they used the present perfect. Okay, good.

Now explain briefly how you would explain the error to a student and how they should correct the usage. Okay, fine. This sucks. Where is my wine?

Now do that 30 times.

Now, still think you're so smart? Try this one on for size! The reader who can tell me what the person is trying to communicate in this sentence wins a one year subscription to my undying affection: My hobby is keeping feet.

HELP! Do they collect feet? Do they like giving pedicures for fun? Is this a really messed up way of saying they are a runner? Am I totally stupid, because I have no clue??

Anyway, welcome to my new world of English as a Second Language. I hope you enjoy the ride.

Why Argentina?

Many people are wondering, why is Erica moving to Buenos Aires? I've been asked that a lot lately, and it's a fair question with a long answer. So I've obviously put a lot of thought into this, and feel that you curious ones deserve a complete answer. Here it is, in list form. (Not in order of importance, btw. It's all pretty important.)

1. I love to travel! I want travel to continue to be a huge part of my life, as it always has been. I'm always looking for an excuse to go abroad.

2. Specifically, I've been wanting to work abroad (ie. get paid to travel!) for many years. As much as being a travel writer and/or founding my own international school is the ultimate dream, I realized several years ago that teaching English abroad is probably the best way to get started, and the best way to live around the world and find employment in many different countries.

3. Teaching intrigues me. I'm not big on office jobs, jobs that require me to be chained to a desk for hours on end and all that jazz. I've been curious about teaching for a while, and I think TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) is the way to go, at least to start off. It seems like a great way to combine my love of travel with a profession that is flexible and creative. Plus, I'm a people person, so I think (I hope!) that I will love it and excel at it.

4. I went through a traumatic break up back in early September, and was simultaneously feeling like I needed a professional change, and realizing also that I won't be a spring chicken for much longer. It occurred to me rather suddenly this fall that if I want to pick up and move abroad again and really tackle this travel bug of mine, I better do it soon. I mean, lets face it, right now I am single, looking for a career change, childless, and I don't have a mortgage. It's kind of now or never.

5. I speak Spanish! So when I finally decided to take the plunge and look into TEFL programs and it came down to choosing a country, I decided to sacrifice higher wages (Asia) and go somewhere where I know the language, at least to start off. I figure I can always move somewhere else once I get certified.

6. So then I thought about which Spanish speaking country I should go to, and it seemed glaringly obvious. Argentina!! Why? Well, I've already lived and/or traveled in Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and all of Central America, so that pretty much narrowed it down to South America. And then I came to terms with that fact that I am a city girl and really want to stay in an urban environment, and started contemplating which cities seemed most exciting. Buenos Aires is a city I've always wanted to visit, and not only that, I have a close friend there- Ali! I'd been wanting to visit her down there anyway, and it suddenly all just clicked and made sense. Buenos Aires or bust!

That pretty much sums it up as best as I possibly can. And although it is scary and overwhelming at times, I also feel confident that this change will be a good one. How can following a dream and moving to an exciting new place be bad?

A couple of the best pieces of advice I have received recently are:

1) Just do it. I am not chained to a contract. I am free to stay as long as I want or come back whenever I choose. My friends and family will be here when I get back, and will love me when I'm gone.

2) I chose to do this all by myself, and for good reasons. Whenever I start to doubt myself and my decision, remember those reasons which brought me to this decision, and be happy that I am strong enough to follow those dreams.

Great advice. Keep it coming! I am listening.