Winding Down

It has been a while since I've really even thought about documenting about Buenos Aires and I think it is because I have settled into life here as just a normal life, and not something to be marveled at every moment. That doesn't mean that those marvelous moments have stopped occurring, instead it is that, as humans are so often inclined to do, I have begun to take my life here for granted. It is comforting in a way as well, that I feel so comfortable here, and I think a lot of this has to do with the group of friends I have made while I've been here. Unfortunately they are American and we normally speak English with each other, but I couldn't have asked for a better group of friends. We go out dancing together, visit new restaurants, and have recently started a weekly Sunday brunch tradition. I was trying to explain to my host mom that studying abroad fosters fast and strong friendships because you are experiencing so many new and challenging things together that form a natural bond. I really think this is true and I will be sad when we all have to return to our separate universities in the US. I hope that the bonds we have formed don't disappear with distance and time, but at the very least I am sure we will keep in touch and who knows, maybe eventually all end up in similar places a few years down the line. Enough with the philosophical musings, which I sometimes think I share too frequently with you all.

I'll share a bit about the tangible activities that I have been up to, and perhaps even try to organize them chronologically.

• Two Weeks Ago: I challenged myself academically (shocking, yes, something academic in this long vacation) by giving a presentation in my Jorge Luis Borges class at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. Each class students give short presentations to the class on the stories for the day and then the professor expands on points that he feels are important. It was not required to give a presentation, after all there are many more students than stories on which to present, but it was recommended, mostly as a way to distinguish yourself in the eyes of the professor and show your participation. So I signed myself up and presented on a short story called "La Busca de Averroes" with another girl - an Argentine - from the class. It was not the best presentation I have ever given; Marilina (my partner) probably spoke 75% of the time, but I frankly feel lucky I managed to squeak out anything in front of the class I was so nervous. And hopefully what I did say was intelligible and at least sort of intellectual.

• One Week Ago: I went to a circus show called Aires de Circo. It was on the hollowed out bottom floor of an old house, and had the feeling of an arts collective. Every two weeks different acts are presented during a show on Sunday night. The night I went there were a number of clown acts, one stand up comic, two trapeze artists, one hoop act, an all male improv dance group with fabric incorporated, and a really spectacular clown/mime/contact juggling act. The performers were young and you could feel the creative energy overflowing from their limbs and into the equally young crowd who was sitting on old couches, wooden benches and chairs made of tires and empty plastic soda bottles. The performers joined the audience when they weren't on the stage and helped out with technical aspects as well. I love seeing shows like this because the energy and drive and ideas that were so evident in every moment of the show is really inspiring. Among other places, I was raised in theaters and art galleries. But I was also raised in a competitive environment where should's abound and success is defined very narrowly. Occasionally I lose track of my creative upbringing, and get caught up in striving for a life that I'm not sure I even want. Seeing this circus reminded me I need to keep that crazy artist's spirit alive in me.

• Saturday: I moved! My host family here bought a new apartment and it was ready before they were expecting, and so we packed up the apartment and moved. Before I was living in Palermo/Recoleta/Barrio Norte neighborhood which is very young and hip, as well as central. We moved to a new building in Caballito which is a bit further from the center of the city and definitely has a different feel as far as the people I see walking the streets. I will admit that it is slightly inconvenient having  to a neighborhood that is farther away. Compared to an average commute of 15-20 minutes to most places, I now average 30-40 minutes. But I am getting to know a new neighborhood, new bus routes, and will be that much more comfortable in Buenos Aires by the time I leave. I was joking with my friends that it seems like I have to move at least every four months, so it was about time! I've gotten fairly good at putting my life into a couple of bags and moving on. The new apartment is brand new which is very fun for me, my host mom and my host dad. It is a bit smaller than our last place, but we fit just fine. The only true bummer is that the internet has not been installed yet and so I have to walk to a coffee store a couple blocks away just to check my email. Let me tell you I had no idea how dependent I was on the internet until this happened. Still, if this is the worst thing - it's clear that life is good here.

• Sunday: I went to my very first soccer game! It was really quite fun. I went with a friend from another program, and his Argentine friend and we were in la popular where all the Argentines stand and yell obscene remarks at the other team and sing patriotic songs. This particular game was filled with lots of patriotism because it was the Argentine national team versus Ecuador. Alejandro, the Argentine we went with, was telling us that the game was actually very calm in comparison to a game between two Argentine club teams. At those games everyone gets very riled up and it probably would not have even been a good idea to be a foreigner standing in the section we were in. Luckily, it was a pretty calm game, and I had a great time. I have always liked watching soccer and this was no exception. We were a little far from the field but the aerial view meant we could see the whole field and watch the game with a little more distance. Now, I like watching soccer but I do not actually know that much about it. Apparently the Argentine national team is very good, with a number of players who play for club teams in Europe, but that they were not putting up a good fight on Sunday. Ecuador scored a very nice goal in the first part of the second half and finally, in the last twenty or so seconds Argentine finally tapped one it to tie it up right before the game ended. I myself was a bit shocked when the game did end. There is no clock anywhere showing the time, so if you want to know how much of the game is left you must keep the time on your own watch, and with those extra minutes they sometimes end at the end of the half, who knows how much could be left. I am glad that I finally got to see a soccer game while I was here because everyone is so soccer crazed here, much like the rest of the world, excepting the US of course. If I get the chance to go to another one, I would go in a heartbeat. 

• Today: I finally gave into my American consumerism and visited Argentina's first Starbucks which opened about three weeks ago in the Alto Palermo shopping mall. And my Triple Grande Sugar Free Vanilla Skim Latte, or Grande Vainilla Latte con Tres Shots, Syrup sin Azucar y Leche Descremada, was absolutely delicious! I've been sitting here using their internet for the past couple of hours and the line has not been less that twenty people the whole time. It is actually creepy how much I feel like I am sitting in any Starbucks in New York. The same jazzy music, the same displays selling ceramic Starbucks cups and Tazo tea, the same chairs and tables. It has made me appreciate the corner cafés with all their unique character even more, but I'm not sure that their Café con Leche's would ever win a taste test against that tongue twister of an order that Starbucks has perfected for me. I will actually be interested to see how much Starbucks catches on here. The Argentine café culture is about sitting down over an espresso and lingering, enjoying - not running out the door with a two foot tall confection hardly resembling coffee that cost an arm and a leg, as we are so inclined back home. It will succeed if only because Argentine's seem to be endlessly covetous of American culture. They'll put their own spin on it of course. As I look at the menu, I can see that they already seem to have done so, adding a Dulce de Leche Latte to the menu and Migo sandwiches to their sandwich cooler. In the mean time, I hope I have satisfied my craving for my own countries "specialties" and won't feel the need to wait in a ridiculously long line for something that is so common back in New York and Colorado - but equally overpriced no matter what currency. 

• Upcoming Weeks: Visitors from home, final papers and projects, chilly weather, and my attempt to make the most of my last few weeks in this brilliant country.