I was extremely uncomfortable when I woke up this morning- it was incredibly hot, I was in a bathing suit b/c all of my boxers were soaking wet, and there was no where to move in the room b/c all of my clothing was laid out on many chairs, trying to dry. Normally, I leave my clothes out on the small patio outside but it had been raining yesterday- hence, my wet boxers. The heat, the wet clothes, the feeling of claustrophobia, plus my sore foot- it was all very unsettling. Having a dryer is one of those luxuries that we certainly take for granted in the US.
Anyway, all of a sudden this week, I'm loaded with work- it includes 2 oral presentations and 3 papers, all due in the next 2 weeks. I'm not asking anyone to feel bad for me, but I will certainly have to improve my work ethic as of now: So far, I have fallen asleep at every attempt to read the course materials, and in class, I have thought about everything else except for what the teacher says. I'm exaggerating a bit, of course, but I will have to get alittle creative to produce something decent.
On the other hand though, being that I'm abroad in a great city, I feel that there isn't enough time in the day to think about school work. Too many places to travel to, too many under-the-radar areas in the city to explore, too much ice cream to eat for school. I think I'll figure it out...
A complaint about money here: I usually seem to find myself with only 100 peso bills(100 pesos is about 25 dollars), and the majority of stores ( at least where I'm not buying that much) will not accept that amount, only something smaller. So I often need to go to great lengths to break the bills. In addition, in order to ride the city buses, you need to pay with coins, which is fine, except that nobody, even street vendors, ever seem to have coins. So everyone always has 100 peso bills but no change, so he/she is always looking for something smaller, which nobody, except for the banks, seems to have.
That being said, I was super happy when a cashier gave me 3 peso coins and more for my 10 peso bill (the rare occasion I had a small bill). And then when paying at a bar last night, I asked for change for a 20, and he said he didn't have. I called him out on his bluff and questioned him: en serio, are you serious? He couldn't lie in my face a second time and gave me the appropriate change. That was easy.
I went to my friend's bbq last night, and in listening to the Argentines at the table, 2 things became especially clear to me:
1. They can't go a sentence without saying Che boludo, which literally means "yo dude" in nicer terms. It's a very informal way to address friends, not something you'd say to a teacher.
2. Political correctness does not exist in Argentina. I was asking my dad if it would be ok to post some of the things that they say which would be unheard of in the US, and we decided just to leave it out. I then realized that just the fact that I had that conversation with my dad attests to how different the US and Argentina are when it comes to speech. I was concerned about writing something non-PC, which would simply serve as a cultural contrast. Simply put, Argentina has no filter.
My program is going to Colonia, Uruguay, tomorrow for a day trip. Unfortunately, I won't be able to join, but I'm hoping to use my ferry ticket to go at another point. Instead, I will be taking a long trek to Once, a very Jewish area in the center of town, where I will be eating at the UMD rabbi's cousin for lunch.
Great news: I've got both of my seders covered, both sure to be interesting experiences. 2 seders in Spanish...
Que tengan un shabbat shalom
ciao
ariel
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