Thoughts on my first day

Yesterday was really chill. They stuck us in a taxi from the airport, and I was sitting up front. After a few minutes of awkward silence, and an internal battle over whether or not I would speak, I worked up the nerve to ask him what he recommended in Buenos Aires. He seemed to not understand me at first, and I looked back at Rebe, who gave me an encouraging thumbs up. After a minute though, he responded. What he said, I may never know. I got pieces, and I think he was referring to some historical site.

So, I switched the topic to futbol, because I know (thanks to my conversation with Mario last week) that Argentina has a competitive team. Well, that was quite successful. From there, the conversation last for a while, then we just got quiet and observed the town. I had my first encounter with the Argentinean accent. He said "Yo llevo", but I heard "zzsho" (not even sure how to write it) "zschevo" and was like HUH? But I'm now trying really hard to imitate it.

Upon arrival, I found out that my address, which said --number, degree sign, number-- is actually distinguishing the floor and room number. Good thing the taxi driver told me that before I got out, because I wouldve been completely stranded. But he thankfully helped me to the door and pushed all the necessary buttons.

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Martin, a family friend who is here for a few days, helped me get my luggage up and get settled. We tried for AN HOUR to get wifi without avail, only to settle on the cable. I was doing good with my Spanish, and he and my host tia said I sounded good. Lulu, the 8yrold daughter, was still to shy to hang out.

After checking in with the world, Martin helped me find where my class was today, and then we walked around learning about the area. He is from Argentina, and is here to learn English and then hopefully move to New York. We had a fun interchange of English and Spanish. I got really hung up on words like "calle" and "yo" and had fun butchering those.



I got back, slept, woke up to an empty house, ate some yummy torta (quiche) that my tia made me, got everything ready, and then fell asleep to the sounds of the city outside my window, which included a baby crying, cars, an ambulance, and general raucous noises. Thankfully, I was tired and passed out.