Monday, August 29, 2011

El fin de semana y más tango


Jueves el 24 de agosto – día 39
Today I got up, had some breakfast, and then did some reading.  I packed my lunch and then headed to USAL for my literature class.  While I was originally not looking forward to taking a literature class, it has been my favorite class thus far.  I really like reading the texts, which are all Argentine classics, or by famous Argentine writers (I often recognize their names because they have streets named after them in Buenos Aires!).   During our break I got a café con leche and took some pictures of the coke machine (I know you’re laughing at me right now Kevin but I don't care).


Notice the straws, people don't drink straight from the bottle here...


We got our first writing assignment, which is a 3 page essay about a theme of our choice relating to Esteban Echeverria (one of the authors we read about).   After class I hopped on the subte and headed to UBA for my first teórica de Psicolingüística.

I got to class 15 minutes late, and it seemed like class was just starting.  There was only one seat left so I grabbed it (the desk was broken so I had to write in my lap the entire time).   About 15 people trickled into class after me, and they either sat on the floor or brought in chairs from other rooms.  About 2 hours into class we got a break so I went with Antonella to get some photocopies for class.  We ended up getting out of class about 20 minutes early (20:40), and I was super grateful, 4 hours is far too long for a class.

When I got to the subte station there was an announcement that the linea was experiencing limited service so I had to wait for 10 minutes for a subte to come.  Then I sat on the subte for 20 minutes before we started moving.  It was the slowest subte ride I’ve ever experienced, and I was absolutely starving.  When I finally got home at 22:00 Clarisa wasn’t home (she’d called me and told me she was going out) but she had left me some pastel de papas, which I heated up and ate.  After dinner I went to bed.


Viernes el 26 de agosto
I don’t have classes on Friday, so I got up around 10, had some breakfast, and did some reading for my Castellano class.  I made some lunch and then headed to IFSA because I had to copy the music for my Castellano class from one of the computers in the office.  I met Melissa there and we went to Puerto madero to see the sights and walk around (we wanted to take a tour of casa rosada, but apparently they only do tours on the weekend).
Sculpture

Puente de la mujer





Rowing


Ship for Sarmiento



Sculpture... notice TGIFridays in the background...

Canon of sorts... I think


























Another sculpture

I want to see this at night!

Strange combo...

We headed back to Palermo and found a café, where we both got café con leche y una medialuna.   We sat in the café for awhile, did a little reading, and talked.  I headed home around 20:30 and had some dinner (Clarisa had gone to the theater so she left me some pasta to heat up).  I finished up the reading, and listened to the music for my Castellano class, then read some for psicolingüísta before going to bed.

Sabado el 27de agosto
This morning I woke up and had some banana yogurt (delicious!) and an orange for breakfast.  I did some reading, and then headed to yoga.   There was a fería selling tons of produce, meats, and other food on my street, so I browsed through that on my way back.  I made some lunch and watched TV while I ate.  Unfortunately it was kind of a rainy day, but it ended up being ok since I had a lot of work to do anyway.
Around 17:45 I left to meet Melissa and Vanessa at Melissa’s house.  We were going to el centro de exposiciones for more tango events!  We saw un concierto de tango by Omar Mollo it was okay, the singing was real good, but the guy looked more like a grunge rocker than a tango singer. 

After the concierto we watched un espactáculo de danza that was really good!  It was called La noche de Mora Godoy and it was really interesting because rather than featuring the male dancer, the star of the show was a woman.  She was amazing and the entire show was really fantastic!
Introducing the show








You can't tell from this picture but her "pants" were actually mesh material and all she was wearing underneath was a lacy black thong... welcome to Argentina.

Spinning around the head!












We headed back to Palermo around 21:00 to eat at Fabrica del Taco. We all got tacos al pastor (pork tacos with a really delicious sauce) and chips and guacamole.  I was long overdue for some real Mexican food, and this definitely hit the spot!

Delicious guac!

Mango margarita :)

Tacos al pastor

Hot sauces!

Maybe they were talking about me...

In the bathroom stall..."Mi amor, mi vida, mi cielo"

I got home around 2AM and nobody else was home (people stay out VERY late here) but I was exhausted so I went to bed.

Domingo el 28 de agosto
I woke up today around 10 and had some breakfast, then I did some reading.  I made myself a sandwich for lunch and talked to Clarisa who was making a dulce de quinoto (kumquat).

It was a beautiful day out so I took my reading to a café and sat outside with Melissa to do some work and enjoy some medialunas (I may be addicted).
Bomberos en el parque

Moon bounce!

Fun day in the park for the kids

Soooo pretty

Capuccino Italiano

I headed home around 18:00 to start writing my paper.  Clarisa called me down for dinner (left over pastel de papas) around 21:30.  For dessert we had the dulce de quinoto (sort of like a jelly) that Clarisa had made, with some delicious mozzarella.  We watched part of a telenovela called “el hombre en su vida” which was terribly dramatic and overacted (but it’s a soap opera so I didn’t expect much else) but funny.
After dinner I finished up my essay and then went to bed.

Lunes el 29 de agosto
Today I woke up around 9:30, had some breakfast and then revised my essay.  When I was finished I headed out to find a place to print it out.  I found a fotocopiadora 3 blocks from my house but they didn’t do printing, however they directed me to a place that did which was only a block away.  It cost me $3.75 pesos ($1) for 5 pages, then I headed to the grocery store to buy some veggies and bread.  I came home and had some soup for lunch.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day so I decided to go for a long walk around the neighborhood.  I did some window shopping and just enjoyed the weather (it’s finally warming up here) and fresh (I use the word fresh very loosely, the air usually smells like diesel, dog poop, garbage, or just generally dirty/polluted) air.  I wanted to get frozen yogurt but both places were closed (I’ve noticed that a lot of places here are closed Sundays and Mondays) so I just walked around some more.  On my way home I walked by a park and this fountain was on!  I walk by the park fairly frequently but this was the first day I’ve seen the fountain on.



When I got home I read for my literature class and then went to a yoga class.  When I got home I showered and then Clarisa called me down for dinner.  we had a really delicious meal that I can't remember the name of right now.  It was a swiss dish consisting of mashed potatoes mixed with egg, onion, and cheese, all mixed together and baked in a baking dish.  Yum!  For dessert I had a mandarina (tangerine) which was tangy and sweet and delicious.

I'm off to bed now, I hope you all survived Irene, I've been seeing quite a bit of news regarding the damage and everything she caused.

Un beso,
Taylor

Random Photo:
Argentine popo