First Day of Orientation

Today, I woke up very confused. It felt as if the alarm went off ten minutes after I fell asleep, and wait, I am not dreaming....I am really in Buenos Aires. After a quick shower in my personal bathroom, I opened the door to meet the maid, Juana, who I do not think was expecting me to be in the bathroom. After a cup of tea and an apple for breakfast, I headed out for my first full day in Argentina.

Before I went to school, I needed to stop at a local liberia to make photocopias of my passport to have for security purposes and for my student visa. I had thought out the dialog before I entered, so when I asked for the copies everything went smoothly. When it came time to pay, I heard the man say 20. So I handed him a 20 peso bill (about 7 dollars). He gave me a confused look and then pointed to the change he had in the cash register. It costs 20 centvaros (about 7 cents) to make the five photocopies! I almost overpaid by a lot! Good thing the man was nice enough not to rip me off....I wasn't even thinking when I handed him the bill.

I left the shop and started my walk to school. I had studied the map several times and received detailed instruction from my host mother. The school is about 7 or 8 blocks away, a very nice walk to start my morning. I got there in about 10-15 minutes. El Colegio de La Salle, the school in which most of my classes are being held this semester, is a very nice old building that has a beautiful mosaics for floors and grand architecture for walls. After meeting some of my fellow students, and their host parents that took them to school (some had much longer commutes than I did) the orientation started. I sat next to Nell, my friend from GW. We decided after today, we would try and speak Spanish to each other before we talked in English.

After a long and boring lecture introducing the program and administrators, we got a half an hour break before lunch. Nell and I decided we better go out to find a kiosk and buy some snacks for the future, since we both were starving for lunch at this point. After picking up some snacks, we stopped at a local cafe and sat down for a beer and some peanuts. It was nice to be able to sit and talk over a beer for 20 minutes in the middle of the day.

Lunch was served in the open air patio of the school. They set up tables with different quiches and empanadas. For desert that had a variety of local cookies that were flaky dough on the bottom, chocolate on the top, and dulce de leche inside. YUMMMMMMM

We had been given a schedule at the beginning of the day for the entire orientation process. It seemed very detailed and a little too organized for my liking. After one morning, I realized that the schedule was a rough guess at how long certain activities would take. Most lectures this morning that were scheduled for an hour and a half only took 45 minutes, leaving us a lot of extra time to sit under the sun in the patio.

The lectures today were all in English, so for a while I totally forgot that I was in a foreign place. They went over important safety instructions and other important information that is necessary, but not particularly interesting to listen to. After the last lecture, a group of us went over to the small cafeteria they have in the school and sat over cafe and tea. A medialuna , a sweet croissant(thanks Blaire) was the perfect snack to hold me over to our late dinner.

From La Salle school, the group walked together to the IES Center, which is approx. 10 blocks away on the main avenue of Buenos Aires, La Avenida 9 de Julio. The IES Center houses the administrative offices of our program, and the advising and tutoring offices. Since not all students brought their laptops, many of them tried to use the computers at the IES Center. Nell and I decided it was way too crowded to hang around the Center, but she wanted to use the free computers and I wanted to come back for a later meeting on local gyms I could go to. We again found a local cafe and sat over a beer and talked about the day. We both knew the day was necessary, but looked forward to the rest of orientation when we would be learning more Spanish and experiencing more Argentinian culture.

After a short time we returned to the center, and Nell checked her email as I spoke with one of the orientation liaisons about local gyms. He recommended a few gymnasios very close to my home stay which he said I should go to and talk with them to find out their rates and services.

Nell and I left the IES Center to meet with her friend Jane from home. We walked the few blocks from the IES Center to the MicroCentre, a downtown shopping area. The three of us sat down for cafe and tea in a small cafe chain called Cafe Martinez.

We left the cafe around 8:10pm and decided it was time to make our way home for the night. We all lived in the same general direction, so we walked back towards La Avenida 9 de Julio and down Sante Fe street. A few blocks in Jane and Nell took a right to their homes while I continues on Sante Fe. I was smart and asked to leaders of the program if it was safe to walk while listening to an iPod on the street, since we had been warned earlier of pick-picketers and other petty criminals. I was told as long as the iPod stayed in my pocket, and I wired the headphones through my shirt, there would be no problems. So I pulled it out, and rocked out to some music for the rest of my walk home.

The streets are very easy to walk, and the blocks are not as long as I am used to in NYC and DC. It was a very pleasant walk, and I was trying to notice all of the restaurants and shops that I passed for future use. After a while, I turned down Riobahmba Street, and headed to my home. I live three blocks away from Sante Fe Street, so it is very easy to walk home in a public area that is safe. I arrived to my home around 9pm. When I got home I had a lovely talk with my host mother about my day, and other things. I told her about my medialuna that I enjoyed so much, and she told me about a local bakery 2 blocks away on my walk to school that has fresh medialunas every morning that I will stop at tomorrow. I told her about the academic program that I was thinking of pursuing in my school and she was very interested.

I also talked to Santiago, my host brother, for a while about the local gyms. I wondered if there were any gyms that had basketball courts in the area. I have never been a fan of lifting weights, but keeping active and playing sports have always been fun for me. Although there are not gyms in this area with basketball courts, I do have some fine options in the area when it comes to gyms. I will venture out to these places in the next few days to inquire about prices and the such.

Santiago also showed me the best buses to use and what routes they take from our house to specific spots in Buenos Aires. The system is very easy to use, and only costs 80 centvaros (about 25 cents) no matter what distance you need to travel.

I had decided sometime during the day that I wanted to try and push myself and take a class in spanish in a local university. I have found that my Spanish is much better than I had anticipated, it being only my second day in Buenos Aires. I can understand a lot, and even speak enough to express myself in common conversation. With progress like this, I will be fluent in no time! For now, I think an art class in Spanish is best, since it will allow me to meet and become friends with locals, and push my language, but not be the most complicated vocabulary. I am thinking a dance class in the local art university could be a good option. I will be doing more research in the next few days.

Dinner was served at 9.30pm and tonight's meal was roasted chicken and roasted potatoes, carrots, and onions. It was great. I told my family that I was scared for the food in Argentina because I can sometimes be a picky eater. I told them I did not like beans and mashed potatoes, and they said they too did not enjoy those foods. This was a big relief for me. The entire family ate dinner together tonight, and I was active in the conversation during the meal. Pepin and I discussed his travels in America, since he was in New York, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. I described what both my parents did, and learned what my host family did for work.

The highlight of the conversation is when my host mother started telling me about Santiago's finance, and their upcoming wedding in December. My mother and father as sooo excited, and it was very obvious that Santiago was extremely happy as well. I told them I wanted to meet Rosario right away. They told me the wedding was December 21st, and they asked me if I would still be in the country. I said yes, and Patricia invited me to the wedding! I said I would love to go, but then I turned to ask Santiago if it was ok with him. The parents started laughing and it was a great moment.

This talk of dates led me to tell them my plans to travel during my spring break and after my trip. They have me useful tips and were very helpful. I then told them I had forgotten to do something last night, and I rushed into my room as they started to clear the table. I came back bearing gifts, and they were very excited. Santiago and Pepin loved their Jets paraphernalia. We all said that we would go together to the bar and watch the games wearing the Jets jerseys and polos. I taught them the J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS cheer. It was soo fun. Patricia was sooo impressed with the fancy dishtowels, potholders, and oven mitts. She also loved the candles. They all were enthralled with their gifts.

Santiago and I talked for a while about the Jets, and I somehow told them about the 1-15 season they had a few years ago, Joe Namath promising to win the Super Bowl and actually winning, and some other Jets history. We even talked about the fact that the Jets play in Giants stadium, and when the Jets play the Giants, they alternate who is home to see which fans can go see the game. At the end of the conversation, he told me: I am now a Jets fan....and you are now a Boca Juniors fan! The Boca Juniors, the favorite team of Buenos Aires, season starts in a few weeks, and I think I have arranged to go with Santiago to a game or two.

It is now after dinner and everyone has said goodnight. I am sitting here reflecting on a great first full day. My Spanish is really coming along, and I feel as if I have come to understand my part of the city quite well.

Tomorrow I start Spanish class at 9 in the morning, so I need to wake up at 8, and leave around 8.30. This is too early for Latin America, and hopefully I can schedule my classes for the semester at a later time. For now, it is ok.

I have just started to think a little in Spanish. I think this is a great sign.

p.s. There are no pictures from today because I left the battery for my camera in the charger this morning. Hopefully I will have some good ones for tomorrow.

p.p.s Tomorrow I will talk with a customer service agent to fix my phone so I can call the States. For now, if you want to reach me....send me an email and I will get it at night.

Hasta Manana