Daily Routines and other Tidbits

So I've been in Argentina a month and I haven't been doing a very good job of blogging. :( I'm sorry, from now on I will try to update once a week. I'm finally getting into a daily routine so I'll make it a habit!! Speaking of routines, I thought I would share with what a normal day is like in Argentina. During the week, I don't get out of bed until 9 or 10 in the morning. School usually starts around 10:30, depending on the day. After my morning class, we have a couple of hours to get some lunch. A group of 4 or 5 of us usually go to a cafe for a bite to eat. There are tons and tons of cafes down here, with both inside and outside seating. Obviously, it depends on where you go, but most cafes are really reasonable. I can get a coca, a sandwich and fries, or half of a pizza for about 20 pesos ($US 5). The pop isn't free, it usually costs around 6 pesos. The cafe scene is really popular down here. A lot of people just get a beer or some wine, and just sit and socialize for a couple of hours. Life here is way more laid back. After lunch I head back to school for my afternoon class. I finish at 4:20, and the rest of the day is for whatever. Sometimes a group will hit up a cafe for a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) and some medialunas (basically a croissant). Other times we will go to some place and have some mate, which is a very popular drink in Argentina. It's like tea but stronger, and the method of drinking it is different (I'll have a blog post on that). My family doesn't get home until 9:00 or later. In Argentina, we don't have supper until 10 pm. The food here is very good, but has less flavor. Spicy food is basically non-existent. If it's a week night, I usually go to bed by midnight. If I am going out, that is another story. Usually a social occasion doesn't start until 10:30. It's very common for a group of friends to get together and drink a couple of drinks. After that, they go out. I experienced my first boliche a couple of days ago. We didn't go until 3 in the morning. They open at 2, but no one is there that early. There were thousands of people there. I have never experienced anything like it. We left the boliche at 4, and just kind of walked around the city. I didn't get home until 5:30. This is considered a normal night out in Argentina. It definitely takes some getting used to. Next blog....mate!!!!

Buenos Aires

I just got back from BA a couple of days ago. It was a pretty good trip and I experienced a lot of firsts. It was my first time being in a city as large as BA, first time staying at a hostel, perhaps the second time of riding in a taxi, and the second time taking the subway. BA is a very neat city. I met people from Germany, Brazil, Paraguay, Norway, and New Zealand. Most people were really nice, others were not. We lived along one of the popular shopping districs in BA, where no cars were allowed to drive. We were about two blocks from the obelisk, and maybe four blocks from the casa rosada (the pink house which is equivalent to our white house). There are so many cafes that you can stop to eat and visit with your friends! It's really cool. We saw many sights and sounds of the city, recoletta, congresso, cafe tortini, etc. The food in BA is very good but more expensive than Rosario. I ate a lot of pizza with coca in glass bottles!! The last day we were there is when the earthquake (terramoto) hit Concepcion, Chile. I think the death count is up to 700 now. For a while it was very scary because they said that buildings were shaking in Buenos Aires. I may have felt an aftershark at the cemetary. I put my hand on a grave and it was shaking. I was a little feaked out and didn't know what it was until I heard the news. I am now back in Rosario and started school today. I am in the intermediate group, which is probably a good thing since it's been two and a half years since I've used my Spanish. It is starting to come back to me and the people are getting a little easier to understand. I am maybe experiencing a little culture shock, but not very much. I am adjusting to life here pretty well. That is all I have for now. Chau.