white flight.

My stay at the amazing Hostel Estoril has come to an end. My friends who work there, though, are reason enough for me to take up their offer to come back any time. And not just to stay, but to ask questions, get help about the city, or even just hang out. They said they would love for me to return. And I have every intention of doing so because I so far I've learned a great deal chatting with the staff about Buenos Aires and the spanish language, and it has been a major highlight. Esteban took me to the Botanical Gardens in Palermo, a beautiful oasis in the middle of the city. We wandered around and he humored my spanish skills, and it was lovely. I stayed up all night with Nacho (short for Ignacio) and talked about economics and music and all the crazy foreigners who come through the hostel. I loved that they were willing to suffer through my broken grammar and correct my silly mistakes. I was so pleased that when they spoke super slow and clearly...I could understand them! I love that hostel and its roof terrace. I will certainly  return. 

I had to be extremely proactive in minimizing my contact with the the other tourists staying there. I did make some good friends from the states, but they had many connections in the city, from which I made even more local friends. 

I didn't like being exposed to all the English that come along with quick trip tourists in Latin America, and I am now nervous about the way this program will unfold given the amount of English speakers. There are 100 American students here. Already I can see cliques forming and freaked out people clutching to one another. I must not succumb to that. If I truly, truly enjoy somebody's company, of course I won't force myself away from them; but I refuse to spend the great deal of my semester with short term friends whose only purpose is to calm my foreign country jitters. 

I've got contacts here already, people to spend time with and practice spanish. Eye on the prize: learn spanish!!