Last Week of Freedom

So this past week was our last week free from classes and the responsibilities of being a college student.

Today was a the first day of horrible weather. Rain, thunder, more rain.....and oh wait buckets more of rain!! Why I even decided to go out into the city today is beyond me because I was a wet dog from head to toe. After signing up for the gym, my friend and I went into FLACSO to check our courses and watched a little bit of the Olympics. Afterward we met up with some other people and went to lunch at La Opera, one of the older cafes, and stayed there quite some time to dry off as much as possible. After we signed up for our Rojas courses (mine being a Tango class! When in Argentina.....) And then went to our first class at the gym! The spinning teacher was so nice and everyone there was so welcoming and engaging. I find that when people meet you for the first time here, they sincerely want to know YOU. They make unwavering eye contact which I am still adjusting too haha and ask questions about your life. It is a warmth that I seem to only feel in Latin America. After class I enjoyed dinner with my host family and tonight the plans are still pending!

Yesterday, Wednesday, my friend and I went searching for a restaurant for lunch and stumbled upon a quaint little spot on Charcas. It was on the same street as the other middle eastern restaurant I had gone to, but this was a little more formal. When we sat down my friend noticed that the pictures on the menu were from Lebanon, where she is from. She mentioned it to the waiter and he told us that the owner is actually Lebanese. They then broke into Arabic and it was probably one of the coolest things I have seen. They asked where I was from and spoke a little English with me! Afterward we went to sign up for classes and went to Malba - the museum of Latin American art. The building itself is beautiful and we enjoyed strolling through each floor. My particular favorite exposition was on the top floor. It was done by a Peruvian artist named Fernando Bryce. He created replicas of newspaper headlines and articles from all over the world during different significant times in history. Anything from an old Inca Cola advertisement, to the Kennedy's, to German propoganda. Afterwards we went to a cafe and relaxed over tea, coffee, empanadas, and laughter! Later on that night we went to Cossab Cerveza Artesanal,  a well-knownish brewery here.

Tuesday I had the morning to myself which was SO NICE. I woke up on my own, got ready, and did some needed errands. Picked up my laundry, planned my classes, and recovered as much as possible so I could beat the cold which has been lingering for too long. In the afternoon we all meet at UCA, the catholic private university here, and were given a tour and able to speak with some professors. I personally really enjoyed the visit and plan on taking at least one class there. Afterward we went to lunch across the street at Gatto where we had quite the eccentric waiter. He was overly attentive and enjoyed speaking to us in quite possible the worst English I have heard down here so far. It is interesting that sometimes when you meet locals and they see that you speak English they immediately try to communicate with you in English. Most times we have to remind them that we can understand and speak Spanish and they gladly do so, but I think its interesting. Later on that night we went to one of the coolest bars in Buenos Aires. It is called Acabar. The inside is ridiculously wonderful. Your eyes dart everywhere - filled with color, texture, and a friendly ambiance it welcomes you right in. There they have board games, card games, etc waiting to be played. You just go up and pick what you want and bring it back to your table. We picked pictionary, jenga, and Argentina's version of Connect Four (Linea 4). After that off the bed!