So I woke up just in time to get dressed, brush my teeth, and stumble out the door. Maria Laura was like, no breakfast? As I responded ummm no. She was like, yea, I know you were out last night, haha. Class went by rather quickly. We began by planning a lesson on "if" clauses and discussing their various uses. Angie and I presented last, and I swear it's the worst one we've put together, and we got a "well done". Doesn't make any sense, haha. Then talked about syllabi, then breaked!
Lunch was at Natural Deli. I got another bruschetta pop, which this time I finished without problem. The salad was good too. Then came back, and was working on my lesson plan. Angie gave me a c.d. with some reggaeton, so even though that's not really Argentina, I've been listening to it. Oh, stopped by a kiosk on the way back, and bought a coke and some M&Ms. Good and all, except homeboy at the cash register wants me to give him my change to pay. Pues, if you haven't heard, Argentines FREAK OUT about their moneda. Like.....freak out. Un ejemplo - taxi drivers give you an extra dollar rather than give you 50 cents back in change. The dollar pesos, coins, are worth more when melted down rather than as moneda. So it's hard to find them anywhere. And to ride the bus, you have to have pesos. But the bus companies hoard the moneda. Our prof was saying that one time it was discovered that a bus company had been keeping millions of the moneda. Now why does the bus company need it? Also, movies used to cost 19 pesos. He said the companies would offer people a piece of candy in lieu of their peso. It's crazy. So anyways, I made the mistake of flashing my peso, and homeboy cashier dude would NOT give me my change, and requested that I give him the peso. Since I don't ride the bus, I acquiesed, but grudgingly.
The coolest part of the afternoon was when I finally got to talk to Sebas. He works at the Center, and as I found out yesterday, he is a co-founder of Road2Argentina. Oh yea, and he's 25. So in two years, he managed to build up this company, and granted, it has quite a few kinks, but overall is a sustainable program that coordinates over 30 students. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL. I really just want to have a convo with him now and figure out HOW HE DID IT. That entrepreneur spirit fascinates me. He was really nice, and we chatted for a bit about Patagonia, about how to mejorar mi espanol, and then I found out he's going to Asia in two months. He's basically been here down this and is now going to find his new project. So cool!
So then the hour of my lesson arrived. And I was really excited about complaint letters! And only one student showed up.......which at first I was like, cool, you know, more one-on-one. And she was actually really new. She was in my advanced class last night, had decided it was too hard, and moved to intermediate tonight. Pues, she was really nice, probably about 60, and we started. We got through the vocab, but the problem was we kept hitting tangents. I look at my watch, and it's already 630. We were supposed to be done with vocab at 6:15. Ughhhhhhhhhhh. And I was nervous b/c I wasn't sure how quickly some of it would go since she was only one student. The least of my worries. By the time Eammon came in, we were comparing two complaint letters, a formal and informal one, but anytime I asked her for an explanation it lasted about 4 minutes, so we weren't getting anywhere. In the last 5 minutes, I managed to hit on my main points about complaint letters. It was difficult because I wanted to satisfy her curiosity for certain words, and I didn't want to cut off an adult, but I probably should've. Oh well. Live y learn, no?
After class, I went home and I honestly don't remember doing anything. I think I maybe reapplied deodorant since we were about to go dancing, but I don't remember. That's how crappy my memory is. Oh, haha, I did have a fun convo with Maria Laura about tango. And I told her I wasn't really looking forward to it, on account of my lack of hip to brain communication, and she was like, nonsense, just have some wine before you go! hahaha.
So went to the house, and met up with our group. It was me, Elyse, Rebe, Stacy, Hasil, and Constantin. This was one of our free lessons. So we make it to the studio about 10 minutes early. The place is really cute and brightly painted. We're all just kind of mingling in the back, and then all of a sudden homeboy is in front of the mirror stepping back and forth, and we are expected to follow. Not to bad, you know, back and forth, back and forth, follow el ritmo. Around 7:05, because people are never on time here, most of the "regulars" show up, and we're suddenly surrounded by 7 to 10 yr olds. At least 6. And there were probably 20 peoplein the class. About double girls to guys.
The co-instructor must've been 8. And she was good. We couldn't figure out if she was the guys daughter or sister. So we do the basic step, and then pair up. And that was fine, good, I messed up a few times but generally had it. Got confused b/c he started doing this whole heel-tap thing and I was freakin confused, but then he was like, no it's for the advanced people. Then we would go to the side, where our little 8 yr old instructor would work on technique with us, and the advanced people danced. Lucky boys, they got to dance the whole time due to the shortage. The second time dancing, the kid was about level with my chest. How did this happen? Well, I was left partnerless, and instructor grabs me and is like, I'll dance with you, and begins to lead me onto the floor. And of course I was startled, so my face turns red, and then Rebe and Stacy and Hasil are laughing, and I turn redder, and then next thing I know I'm holding hands with a 10yrold who is about triple my skill. And it was weird too because I maintained a proper distance with my friends, and then I'm like on top of this little kid. I felt bad b/c he tried to do something beyond the basic, and I pretty much just refused and was like "no entiendo".
Then back to technique for a while, where we learned the twist four times thing. That was fun to do. We also learned the back milonga steps. At the end, we danced in a circle, and I maintained my own. At the end, when the next class came in, we had to model what we had done. Well, they had given us four different steps, and I had no idea which one Constantin was going to do. So we kind of just fumbled through some steps and then skirted off the floor.
Overall, it was a ton of fun. I've recounted the more awkward moments for your amusement and b/c it's what I remember the most, but it was very enjoyable. And it's not everyday that I'm schooled by a group of 8 yr olds. No joke. I got a video of the little couple at the end of class, so you'll have to see it.
Then headed home, where I was treated to a yummy omelette and some...meh...soup. But I ate it, which is more than I would do at home. Then I was going to head out.....but I sat on my bed around midnight. And then I slumped down. And then someone texted me.....but I was asleep.............and I didn't wake up until 11 a.m. this morning.
It was a good sleep :)
Tango.
ReplyDeleteGood sleep.
mmmmmm :)