expat friends!

This is Jessica and I on my birthday at a bar in Caballito. She and I have become tight after we met each other on a Couch Surfer's expedition to Tigre. (I wrote a blog on that a few months ago). She is from Atlanta and her family moved to Montana where they have a ranch and she rides horsies and such. She teaches me yoga sometimes, we drink lots of mate, go out dancing, listen to music and chat A LOT.  Our life philosophies complement each other, and it's amazing having her around. We appreciate many of the same things about the city and have a lot of authentic experiences in spite of the fact that we are both American (meeting musicians at La Peña, dancing with drummers in San Telmo, wing-woman adventures in bars) I like that she isn't a study abroad student, but has already graduated college and is teaching English at various institutions here in Buenos Aires. She has a different perspective and it's awesome. Plus she's a vegan in this city inundated with meat and cheese, and I've learned a lot from her about creativity, discipline, and integrity.

 

We also have the most hilarious spanglish text messages of all time. 

updaaaate (lots of videos linked..check em!)

This break I've had in between semesters has been fabulous, although I've forgotten what working is, and I'm a bit nervous about getting back into the habit when classes start. 

Nevertheless, since I've gotten back from Brazil, I have been extremely social, wanting to take advantage of free time. I've gotten to know the more of Buenos Aires nightlife and met lots of new people. It's been a lot of fun because my language skills have improved so much and conversations are so much more meaningful than they were at the beginning. 

Measurements of Progress:

1. taxi drivers don't respond to me in English anymore!

2. I can watch telenovelas or movies with Ines and UNDERSTAND what is going on!

3.  I can chill at a friend's house the entire day without uttering more than a couple words in English (for clarification), when before I'd have to say "ok, spanish only from now on..."

4. regional lexicon slips out naturally, when before I felt like was joking if I said "che" or "boludo" or "que se yo" or "o sea"  or "a ver" or "dale." 

che= an informal name you call your friend. "che, queres un te?" 

Boludo=an endearing nickname or a word for dumbass

que se yo= literally, what do I know. used as whatever/i don't know/a vocal interrupter

O sea= a vocal interrupter, close to the english (over)usage of "like"

a ver= used similarly to "let's see..."

dale= an affirmation or a call to hurry up

5. Not only can I actually explain the haircut I want at the peluqueria, but I can shoot the breeze the stylist!! 

6. I'm not afraid explore transportation and the really effed up bus system anymore because I can ask whatever person on the street, kiosk employee, or bus driver what I need to do. Before, I would get fed up with my Guia T (the map/bus route) and just take a taxi! 

7. I don't think twice about grabbing the phone and ordering food or something...when before it gave me maaad anxiety. 

Anyway...now that I have improved so much (I definitely lack A LOT, but it's coming along), my social experiences are sooo much richer. 

This past week was a lot of fun. It included: 

1. celebrating Jessica's birthday by drinking damn good barley wine from Patagonia in a vegetarian restaurant downtown and later clubbing with dreadlocked Spanish architecture students. I was half embarrassed/half extremely proud to be able to lip-sync to the majority of the reggaeton songs. Here's Sattva on Montevideo y Corrientes, I'm a new fan (whenever I find good, unique restaurants, it's really exciting. Buenos Aires is known for its repetitive cuisine..)

2. traveling outside of Capital to Martin Coronado to a costume party for Alda's birthday where we drank tequila, ate delicious homemade empanadas, and danced cumbia (which embarrassed some of our friends!!). I was dressed as a hippie. This is Jota and I (prior to fixing the Mercedes Benz logo on my chest). 

3.  starting classes in la UCA (the private Catholic university) and having a fancy dinner in a Puerto Madero Parilla (restaurant that prepares carne) with kids from class

4. A Sunday night pubcrawl with Jota, followed by a mate session and a chat about poverty, education, and BOYS until dawn!

5. singing protest songs with Ines from the age of the Dictatorship at 4 in the morning

6. Drinking mate at Flor's house while exchanging youtube videos of Bluegrass and Argentine folkloric music, chatting about life, and later ordering a deliciously greasy pizza (muzzarella y acetuna)  and watching Twilight with spanish subtitles! Legit pajama party!! 

Oh and here's a really cool video she showed me of "the best advice" ...Take a look!!

7. Receiving my first mate, a gift from the program. It's metal and has my name engraved!! 

Things are going really well as the second semester gets going. I am feeling more confident with my Spanish and am becoming more and more satisfied with relationships I'm cultivating. The American kids on the program would joke about how hard it is to make Argentine friends. It's extremely easy to meet guys, especially as a foreigner at Boliches and bars, but that's not very interesting (all the conversations are EXACTLY the same..). I was lucky though, to have Javi as a contact when I got down here, and was able to make a lot of friends through him. When people asked how I made so many friends, I couldn't really give them advice because I really just lucked out. I didn't make many friends in my classes because they were full of foreign kids and it was extremely difficult to extract myself from our bubble. There are still a lot of foreign kids in the classes I've tried so far, but now, with the experience I have and my higher confidence, I don't have as much as trouble striking up a conversation with the locals. In fact, I almost--almost--relate better to the locals in class because the foreigners are all brand-spanking new to the city and I don't really like repeating all the confused, stressed out conversations I had with my American acquaintances from last semester. 

I am thinking about travel plan for the semester as well. Flor is from Santa Fe, a province in the North, and I'm hoping to be able to see it with her as my local connection. I really, really prefer to travel when there is a local joining because it makes the experience so much more meaningful. She also has family in Montevideo and goes often. I'm considering not renewing my student visa (it costs like $200 USD) and just renewing my tourist visa by leaving the country (yaaah Uruguay! It's only a ferry ride away...). 

And it's starting to get warm!! Spring is coming!! Soon we will be able to sprawl out in the plazas and drink mate in the sunshine in our flowery dresses... and shortly after complain because it's sooo effing HOT!!!

chau folks, I'm off to Jessica's house for...you guessed it... some mate!! 

Besos!!