Thursday, July 2nd ...

I can’t believe today is over. How can a day just pass by like that! Current playlist: songs with “rain”. Really chill, go figure.

I would just like to say that the mosquito bugger tried to pester last night, but I wildly swatted around myself and the sheets for about 20 seconds, and I never heard from him again. So hopefully I took him out *fingers crossed* for tonight.

So anyways, I didn’t set an alarm for this morning, which was the first time in forever! It was nice to just roll out of bed when I felt thoroughly refreshed. I made three pieces of tostada, two with blackberry jam and my dessert slice with dulce de leche. Instead of instant coffee, I used the cocoa mix Lulu left out, mixed it with milk, and deliciously treated myself to some chocolate milk. That’s the one thing that I really miss down here – chocolate. Desserts aren’t that big, and the ones that are aren’t chocolate. So I might sneak in more chocolate milk mornings.

Oh, and I’ve decided what I want when I get back to the US – WHATABURGER. Except seriously. I miss the honey chicken blabla meal, it got me through last semester since I could go at odd hours. So that, plus a glass of chocolate milk (the good stuff, Mom) and I’ll feel back at home. Until then, I buy “family size” packs of M&Ms, which aren’t nearly big enough, and treat myself to a few after each meal.

So I ate breakfast, and then really, the only scheduled thing I had today was my first needs assessment with my student at 5. So I figured I could either make a to-do list or read. Well, I chose to read my Agatha Christie book, which I absolutely adore for several reasons. One, I may be an English major and supposedly appreciate the classics, but nothing beats a good murder mystery in my eyes. Two, the book is above my level, so I can pretty much understand and then pick up everything else, including new palabras through context clues. I know I have a teacher’s mentality as I mega-reflect and observe how I am using context clues to understand things. It’s really fascinating how that actually works though. Because sometimes I’ll start reading, and I have a bad habit of losing myself in thought and not completely concentrating. I can get away with it in English, but not in Spanish. But it’s neat b/c when I reread it, I have this idea of what’s going on, and then I pick up everything so much easier! And how do they recommend it in school? That’s right, skim once, and then read. And then sometimes I read it aloud to practice saying certain words because understanding is completely different from being able to use them/pronounce them in a conversation you know. I mean, more than 2 syllables and I have to concentrate. So anyways, I think comprehension-wise I’m learning a lot through this lovely book which I’m really enjoying reading. Also, how to phrase certain thoughts. The only thing is I tend to read enough in one sitting to where it all runs together and I don’t remember specific new things. Anyways, sorry for my dorky reading comprehension aside, but it is fascinating how much the simple act of reading is aiding my language learning. It also justifies why it’s important to read in your native language too!

So, in case you skipped the above paragraph, I read for a long time. Then, I pulled out my questions to prepare my needs assessment. Lucky for me, my TEFL class came with one already made! So I just looked it over and was ready to go! I also attempted to handwash some of my more delicate clothing. The problem is that I can’t dry my clothes, and I sil haven’t asked Maria Laura if I can hang them outside where she hangs hers because I’m not sure if it’s ok that I wash clothes in the sink/shower. So I constructed a plastic bag fortress in my closet where I let my clothes dry. And in some cases drip. Oh yay ghetto solutions. Then I decided to swing by the House and grab lunch along the way. So I went, chatted with Rebe, and we discussed the demise of Argentina due to the swine flu.

Here’s some info pertaining to the political persuasion, from the opinion of Maria Laura: Voting was held on Sunday. It was already pulled up from November. The country was declared a health crisis, I forget the actual term, two days after the election. They waited until after the elections, p.s. voting is mandatory here, but this time I think only 40% voted, to declare said health problems. If they had done it earlier, they couldn’t have had elections. So now all the schools are closing, which means no school observations for me. Also, according to Maria Laura, they want everyone to get better so people will still vacation during “winter break” and boost the economy. Always preoccupied with the vacation days. Although, Argentina is now a hot spot for the flu, and when I was on the subte today, people were wearing the health masks. We were also sent an email that recommended we wear them too.

So anyways, Rebe now can’t go to her hospital, which is probably good b/c at least two doctors already have been diagnosed with the swine flu. So she has nothing on the agenda for the next week, and odds are I don’t either really, aside from the odd student or two. Well, we already did all of our travelling, so crazy as it sounds, we were contemplating what we’re going to do. Road was also supposed to put on a yummy pizza party for us Friday night, but they cancelled b/c of health risk, which is a little ridiculous b/c most Road people already live together in the dorms, but w/e. While at the House, I also ran out and picked up some yummy Chinese food from the sketch restaurant on the corner. Sketch in that it has no physical marker that it is indeed a food house. There are also 2 new people at the House who speak French, so I listened in on their conversation for a while, and also realized how much I’m going to struggle in my class next semester (Abbie, I hope you can help me!).

Then, headed back to the house, changed, and headed into the subte to go downtown. I forget sometimes, because I feel comfortable with my surroundings now, that I still look like a tall, skinny white girl in a red peacoat. Some of the people staring at me on the subte reminded me of this fact. So I got off the subte, and I had already looked up where I needed to go to make it to the office, but of course, me with my lovely sense of the direction, confidently set off in the wrong direction, and I crossed the biggest streets in town (I went by the obelisk) before I realized that something was indeed wrong. Seriously, I wish I could’ve brought Tom with me. So I quickly hopped into the doorway of a non-sketch looking shop, whipped out my mini-map, and figured out that I had seriously just simply gone the wrong way down the right street. Ugh. So I turned around, but crossed one block so I didn’t look completely stupid walking right past the same people. And at this point I’m walking really quickly because it’s a little later than I had wanted to arrive. But I made it to the Language office without incident, and was still 15 minutes early. I REALLY like the bosses there, and I hope I get more assignments from them. It’s obvious that they’re really passionate about their business and providing language services, but it’s also obvious that they encounter a lot of problems (they’ve only been open for 4 years, which is REALLY new compared to other business I interviewed with which have like 20 years or so). So anyways, as I waited, I was listening to their phone conversations. And it’s also cool because one of the ladies doesn’t speak English, so when I talked with her on the phone and in person, I got to speak in Spanish. I also just end up mainly speaking with them in Spanish, so another reason to like them.  Anyways, I was listening to her phone convos, and I just really wish that they would take me on as a secretary or something because I would love to work for them. Plus, simple things, such as writing requiring people to sign saying they will pay, and posting all signs in English to improve credibility, I think would help them a lot. My mind was running the entire time I was sitting there.

Which ended up being a long time. 15 minutes in, they tried to call the woman, but with no response. Finally, around 5:30, I was dejectedly about to leave, when they tried calling one more time, and they got her. Turns out she just wasn’t going to show up, but one of the bosses was like you come or you don’t get your “free lesson” (because they don’t charge for the needs assessment). So they asked me to wait for 20 more minutes, which was fine with me b/c I was reading Agatha. So finally, at 6:10, she comes. And she doesn’t want to speak in English!

So for the sake of time, we conducted the interview in Spanish, which just left me absolutely giddy because I understood most of it and she seemed to understand me. The gist is she wants to move to Minnesota for her work, and she is in marketing. So she wants conversation/listening and a little bit of grammar in order to prepare herself for her trip. This is just like the one-to-one assignment we had to do for TEFL, so I’m excited to prepare for it. I think we’ll have a fun time. I also got booked for 4 lessons starting at the end of July with a different guy, so there’s something else to look forward to.

I left at 6:30. I had to meet Jen, a new girl at the House who wanted to go to Spanglish, at 7. Well, it was about 20 blocks to my house from where I was, plus another 10 minutes to get to the House. But the thing is, 6:30 is primetime rush hour. So with my backpack, I didn’t feel comfortable shoving my way into the subte, which is really HORRIBLY crowded during this time. I had no idea what bus to take, and I didn’t want to pay to sit in an angry cab. So I elected to walk quickly, and I actually made decent time. I stayed on the big street, so I was always around people, but when I got really close to my apartment, k mom don’t freak out, but this girl plants herself in front of me, grabs one side of my coat, and pulls, saying something about giving some moneda, while at the same time one of her friends brushes past me, and I’m like OMG and I managed to squeeze out a “que, no?” and try to look tough and irritated. So I pushed away from her and her friend, which required sidestepping into the crazy busy street, and kept walking as she and her friend laughed, but I really still have no idea what the incident was about. All I can think is either they thought it would be funny, or they were going to try to pickpocket me, which since my hands were in my pocket that wasn’t possible. Plus, there was a ton of traffic, and a lot of people around, so I’m again not sure what the objective was. So I’m going to ask at the Office tomorrow about what a good, confident-sounding “get the hell away from me” phrase would be that I could use next time.

Anyways, that definitely unsettled me a bit, but I made it the rest of the way home without any other problems. I ran inside, changed shirts and purse, and then ran back and met Jen at the office. We stopped by the House so she could change, where I met a plethora of new people who have moved in. Four to six weeks seems to be the average abroad stay, so I’m getting to see everyone leave and meet new people. Then we headed to Spanglish, which we were a bit late, but I didn’t have to pay since I “brought a friend!” So that was nice. Some points from the conversations that stood out were one where the girl said the word “nig***”. And I tried to explain how that word has SUCH a bad connotation in the states, like hearing her see it almost gives me chills. And she didn’t understand because it was used in rap songs she listens to. So then we got into how certain groups can use it and certain others can’t. So that was interesting.

Then, I met with a lawyer here, who specializes in labor law. She explained the court system to me, because since Argentina is based in Napoleonic law, it is all written. So it’s not based on precedents like in the states, nor does it use a jury. Interesting vocab – fiscal = prosecutor. Also interesting that abortion is illegal except in the case of rape or mental illness of the mother. The last convo was with a girl from England and a girl from Buenos Aires. The girl from England had a Dutch mother and a Spanish father, and she was raised bilingual. She was almost 29. The other girl is studying social communications at a university here. What fascinated me about the English girl was that she and her husband spent a year travelling South America before settling in Buenos Aires, where she now teaches at a school. I just really thought that was awesome.

Then took a bus back, made it to mi casa, and found some chicken and calabazas in front of the microwave. Heated it up, made some coffee, and ate. I saw Maria Laura as she went into her room, saying that she was going to bed early because she has to get up early….and now I can hear her chatting on the phone, so uh-huh. But it works for me because I can get on the internet on her compu. Also, she gave me another blanket, which I am treasuring because I can actually sit around with it. I hadn’t realized how much I rely on my blankets to curl up with when I’m sitting around the house, and I’m so happy to have that again. It’s crazy how much you can miss your sweatshirts and your comfy green blanket.

No idea about tomorrow except that I’m not setting my alarm again.