We began with our peer presentations. Everyone's went really well, and I really think it was mine and Angie's best one. We were detailed and intentional with our board drawings. Then Eamonn talked about teaching business English for a while. The basic points from that were that while people advertise "business English" as this all-powerful course, all it means is that you need to tailor the course to the environment that the client will be in. The first thought might be "formal", but watercooler talk is just as important (networking, oh yea) in business as the emails. Of course, I was in my element when we were talking about professional documents and cultural differences - I had lots of experiences from the Writign Cetner to draw upon. So lucky to have that job at A&M!! Amazing people to work with and learn from, and I just learn so muhc about mentoring and just about the English language!
For lunch, Angie and I went to Sabores. I got a milanesa con puree, which was only 11 pesos. So for less than 4 dollars, I got this huge serving of milanesa, with its equivalent in size in mashed potatoes. Which of course, normally I would've eaten half of it, but my appetite has just grown, so I ate it all. After lunch I hung around the House for a while, trying to transfer some files from hasil's MAC to my PC. We finally go it to work, which was REALLY exciting. Then I headed home, where I had a while to chill before getting to ready for the Opera! It was SO nice to just be home without thinking I needed to be working on a lesson plan.
I got ready, heated up some leftover chicken for dinner, and then headed out! Now, I was in my little black dress, heels, and red pea coat. Plus the fact that I have red hair, accentuated by the pea coat, oh and pale skin. I stuck out. And it was really awkward walking down the street, but thankfully I found a cab easily and made it to the Theater. They checked your tickets before you even walked in, so I had to wait for the other guys (Rebe, Stacy, Hasil, and Stacy's roomie Brittany all went to dinner before), but we were all about the same time. We got in, and made our way to the top!
Well, we walk into the auditorium of the Teatro Opera, and the guy who is seating us basically tells us that we are in one of the rows in the back, but that if we buy one of his programs he will seat us closer. Ok, sketch much? And so I then I asked him how much people pay for programs, and he was like, whatever you feel is appropriate. And I was like, what's the standard? And again he avoids the question. So we pull together 10 pesos and get one program (We found out back at the house that another group paid 2 pesos each for a program, haha). Oh well :) So we just chilled, and then we saw a new Roadie who had come to the show by herself, so she joined our group. Since it was a Wednesday, the theater wasn't very crowded. The show began promptly at 830 (which was mind-blowing for Argentina time), and it was good. It was so sweet to hear everything in Spanish. Overall the translation was good in terms of choosing words that still worked with the rhythm. There were a couple of points where they would hold a word longer or maybe it wasn't as smooth, but I only caught that because I'm really familiar with the original soundtrack.
It was funny though, because I associate Spanish with more dramatic stuff. So when Raul was like "TE AMO!" ....it reminded me of the scene from Enchanted when the Prince jumps in front of the bikers and says "GISELLE!" ..in all of its corny glory. The ballerinas were beautiful, and I was mesmerized by their movements. The main character's choreography was pretty standard though....in that they just moved dramatically from side to side. At intermission we moved closer, but I remembered to bring my glasses so I was able to see even when we were further back. An interesting difference was that people were allowed to bring in coffee and snacks after intermission, which gave the theater a bit of a movie theater feel. The second half went by quickly, and then we were applauding! We got a pic there, and then we headed to Cafe Tortoni.
We probably walked about 15 minutes, but we were with Hasil, so we had our tall, skinny guard :) Now this Cafe is where the greats of Argentina used to mingle. And by that, I mean I didn't recognize any of the names on the menu, except Marquez I think. I was really expecting to see Borges' name on the menu, but it wasn't. I also got a picture of myself "mingling" with the greats.
I'm pretty sure it should be though. We walked in, and since we were a party of 6, we proceeded to push some tables together. Oh no, not at Cafe Tortoni, the most prestigious cafe in town. A waiter hustled over and proceeded to vehemently tell us to stop. embarass. He directed to a table of 6 that was already pulled together. We perused through the menu, and I ended up with a cafe con leche and a chocolate mousse. Oh man, it was SO good, but so rich. I got through everything except the last bite. Delicious. We didn't get to see it, but there was also a show going on in a private room. When we headed out, we wanted to get a picture in front of the cafe. I found a lovely older couple walking down the street, and got them to snap it. Hasil, Rebe, Nicole, and I taxied back, and then I basically headed home. 
It was a lovely, classy night.
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