I know it's been a few days since my last post, but I wanted to have a few more exciting details to share, beyond going to school and having a cheese sandwich for dinner (I did not lead a very exciting life during the past week!).

On Wednesday I went to see the place I have rented for September, because I had to decide whether I wanted to rent it through the end of the year.  It was pretty cute and clean and modern, so I decided to go for it.  It's a studio but it has a good layout, with the bed off to the side in a little nook, and the kitchen is separated as well (I promise to post some photos once I am settled next week).  The location is very good - the block is quiet and actually has lots of trees (very rare here) with a little playground on an island in the middle of the street.  It's owned by an American woman whose daughter lives here, in the same neighborhood, so it's nice to know that if something goes wrong I can explain it in English.

On Friday I actually socialized with other people!!  In the afternoon I met up with some people from a BA expats website and met some nice people who are mostly here studying Spanish or teaching English.  Then, in the evening, I went out with two of the people that I go to classes with (a Canadian girl and an Aussie guy).  We definitely experienced the social time differences here - we arrived at the bar at 8.30 and it was completely empty with only a few waitresses standing around.  It was only around 9.30-10 that it started to fill up.  The nice thing is that most places do happy hours that go until 10 or 11, since that is "early", so us Americans can enjoy cheaper drinks!

Today I did my first touristy activity and went to the San Telmo market.  It's a huge artisans and antique fair, although there are also a few stands selling fake Ray-Bans and socks (which is useful for when I inevitably lose my sunglasses and run out of clean socks!).  It was a beautiful day, so it was really nice to just walk around and check out everything for sale.  San Telmo is one of the older neighborhoods in the city and still has a lot of the great old architecture and cobbled streets.  I definitely want to go back not on a Sunday and check out the neighborhood when it's a bit less crowded.

And now I have to do my homework!  I feel like it's back to high school...I of course waited until Sunday night to get started!

'Horrible Bosses'

I have figured out how to take a picture with my phone and transfer it to my computer with the USB cord - where would we be without Google to tell us how to do these things?  So today I have photos and will hopefully have some more soon!

The first picture is an ad for the Argentine release of Horrible Bosses which I got a kick out of.  Rather than just translating the title directly, they've gone with a literal explanation of the plot...  'Quiero Mater A Mi Jefe" which means "I Want to Kill My Boss"!

The second picture is from a building that is being built a few blocks away and is something I've noticed anywhere they are doing construction in the city.  Rather than having scaffolding they build these temporary sort of balconies of 2x4s and plywood/sheet metal that just sort of hang off the building.  I am sure they are stable, because they are everywhere, but I definitely don't envy anyone who has to stand on them, six or seven stories in the air!

Day Two of school went well and I have decided to sign up for 4 more weeks of classes at this school.  Then at that point I will decide what I want to do in terms of continuing with lessons or trying to do something else.  It seems that as long as you are a native English speaker there are teaching opportunities available, even if you aren't TEFL certified.  However the pay is never more than $8-10 / hour, which is about what I earned babysitting in 1998, so not sure if it's worth it.  I am also going to look into some options for volunteering, if any place is willing to accept a very poor Spanish speaker.

Electronics

One more note - if you clicked on that Carrefour link you can see how crazy prices are for electronics here.  The Wii is on sale for 2,000 ARS - a bit less that $500.  You can get the Wii on Amazon in the US for less than $150!!

Bootcamp & First Day of School

So I successfully made it to my bootcamp class (http://bootcampbuenosaires.wordpress.com/) and it was great. Two days later and I am still feeling it for sure!  They are currently having a great promotion for their entire spring session and I have signed up for 3 months of unlimited classes for 62 USD total - waaaaayyy cheaper than Dailey Method!  The class is entirely in English (the teacher is from London) and there was a girl from Brazil and one from Argentina, both of whom were really nice.

The class was at a park in Puerto Madero, which is a modern development done in the former docklands.  It has a ton of luxury high-rises but isn't very neighborhoody - sort of similar to the area of Chicago around Navy Pier.  To get there I took my first trip on the Subte.  It was really easy and full of fellow tourists - lots of English being spoken and guidebooks being read.  Of course I was nervous about slow trains/delays and being late, so I gave myself plenty of time...and got to Puerto Madero about 40 minutes early!  

Today was my first day of classes at Vamos (http://www.vamospanish.com/) which is about a ten minute walk from my current apartment (will be more like 15-20 min from the one I move to next week).  There were about 10 students total, but only one other girl in my level, so it's very personalized.  Class was pretty easy today, primarily reviewing things I'd done before.  I can understand everything our teacher says, but of course she is speaking very slowly for our benefit.

Fun facts for today (I'll try to come up with one or two for each posting) - 

--There is no automatic pilot light on stoves - I have to turn on the gas, then light a match and hold it near the burner to turn it on

--Stores do not want to give small change and they will actually round your bill down to avoid it.  For example at the grocery store (http://www.carrefour.com.ar/) my bill was 40.53 and they gave me 60 back for my 100 note.

Spanglish

Per Eileen's request, another update!

Yesterday I achieved my goal of getting a SIM card.  There are three big brands here, but I'd read some useful information about Movistar so went with them.  My first stop was a customer center up in Palermo Hollywood (north of my current place, about a 15 minute walk) which actually is only for people paying bills. When I asked if I could buy a SIM there (in Spanish), the woman at the desk responded with a ton of information that I completely did not follow - unfortunately I am at the point where I can ask a basic question well enough, but my comprehension of the responses is nil!  Luckily i managed to make out "20 meters" and "right" and found a little Movistar store around the corner where they set me up.  Oddly, they don't sell credit at these stores, so then I had to go to a "kiosco" which is a little corner stand selling candy, snacks and drinks.  They take your number and type it into a system and the credit goes directly onto your phone.  I managed to send and receive texts with Eileen so that is a good sign!

I then took a long walk to the big mall called Alto Palermo, which was really nice and had a mix of local brands and ones I knew (Merrell, Timberland).  I was *almost* tempted by McDonalds in the food court but decided to come home for lunch instead (there is a Starbucks and a TGIFridays there too!).

Last night I went to an event called Spanglish which is a conversation exchange - you do 5 min English/5 min Spanish with 5 different people.  It confirmed the fact that my ability to understand the Argentine accent is zero!  For both "y" and "ll" (like in pollo), they use a "sh" sound rather than a "y".  It made me even more excited to start classes on Tuesday and start working on my listening comprehension.  I think I will make a much better exchange partner in a few weeks.  Everyone was very nice - I met locals working for Microsoft and Accenture as accountants and had some pizza afterwards with the girl from Microsoft.

Today has been quite lazy - I watched some soccer and took a little walk.  Tomorrow I am hoping to go to a "boot camp" class but I am worried I tried to sign up too late - hopefully they will let me in!  I have to take the subway there, which I haven't taken before, so that will be Sunday's adventure!

First Day

Well I made it to Buenos Aires in one piece!  The flights were great - 30 minutes early to Dulles, then a very empty plane to BA which meant that I got to sleep across three seats for much of the flight. 

Immigration was easy, unlike the US & UK they don't ask a single question about why you are in the country, etc.  I paid my $140(!) entrance fee so now I can enter the country for the next ten years.  This fee is a reciprocal one due to the fact that the US charges the same amount for an Argentine citizen to come to the states.

While waiting in line for the ATM I chatted a bit with another American girl, who is here for three months doing an internship.  For some reason I didn't think to exchange emails, which I should have done in hindsight.  I need to be better about that in the future.

The trip into the city was pretty easy and the guy from the rental agency and the owner were waiting for me when I arrived.  The owner speaks no English and I am meant to call him in two weeks to confirm my checkout - which I am already worried about of course!  I am seriously considering asking my Spanish teacher to write me a script next week.

After a few hours at the apartment I decided I had to brave the grocery store - there are two very close to my apartment and I went to one called Coto.  Prices seem to be about what we pay in the US, although there are special "goverment supported" prices for key items like vegetable oil.  Also I could buy salt, but no pepper - apparently Argentinians think that pepper is too spicy!!  I need to check out the "chinos", which are little neighborhood markets, which are meant to be cheaper than the big stores.

Tomorrow the goal is a SIM card.  In the meantime, I am going to watch some old non-dubbed American TV - a 10 year old episode of Dawson's Creek!

(If there are spelling mistakes in the above it's b/c Google can see I am in Argentina and has changed my spell check to Spanish.  Help, Eileen!!!)