Salsa

Friday, 7/24

I crawled out of bed for my morning class after hitting the snooze button. Nasty habit. I made my way to the kitchen and made my toast. I was SUPER EXCITED about using my strawberry jam. Dang it, I couldn’t open it. Oh well, it just meant two pieces of dulce de leche toast. I also made chocolate milk because it just sounded good!

I quickly got dressed, rearranged my braids, which look super ghetto now, and headed out. Into the subte, listening to a mix Morgan Meador made for me, and I made it to Betty’s house just a few minutes late. I sipped coffee as she described the Odyssey to me. She went to the Opera last night with her husband and saw The Return of Ulysses. That was fun, and then she talked about the business books she’s reading. We then reviewed superlatives and comparative adjectives. It got long though, and she was really confused. She’s seen it all before, but she had forgotten a lot. I caught her checking her watch a few times. But we got through it, and then I headed out.

I decided to walk home because the idea of a crowded subte didn’t sound appealing. On my way back, I passed a notebook store. I’ve been meaning, for like 10 weeks, to buy a notebook to put my “memories” in. I always pass this one store right by my house, but all the notebooks are tacky. This one looked more authentic, but when he started pulling out the options it was all standard. However, we were chatting, and so I went with a blue notebook with white binding that will remind me of the Argentina colors. Also, the ruled paper is what Lulu uses for school, so I’ve seen it a lot. Now, my trash becomes treasure and the ordinary becomes art.

At home, I did my Bible reading/Theology of the Body book reading (love it!) and made a sandwich. After about 10 minutes of effort, I managed to open the strawberry jar. Success! Oh, and I had some Pringles-esque chips. Then took a much-needed nap.

Upon awakening (or rather, since I didn’t fall asleep, just getting up), I changed into my green, going to Quilmes, jacket, and headed out. The subte was calm and I got a train ticket without incident. This time I had exact change. In the train, I was sitting behind this mom and her two little daughters. They were cute, but when I made my usual funny faces at them, their mom made them turn around. Not sure if she thought they were bothering me or not, but I still felt like a bit of a creeper. I also jotted down in my celeste book the various stops, and in that way I was prepared when we reached Quilmes.

Upon arriving at work, I actually had two students waiting for me. One of the students I hadn’t met yet because he kept skipping class (note: they’re both in their 30s). The Pablo who is always at class is kind of a kidder and likes to joke around. This guy was the opposite, and he quickly let me know that he did not want to focus on anything that could not help him with his business emails. Well, I was a little miffed because it was an affront to my teaching abilities, but I told him I would structure the rest of the classes around that. I was told to structure this module around media input, but he said he didn’t think that would help him. Since I get paid either way, I figure I’ll do what they’re legitimately interested in. Plus, there is the fact that I am 20 and they are like 30-something, and the age difference does show, even though I try not to let it.

Thankfully, I had planned complaint letters for this lesson, so homeboy was pleased. He at first was saying that the phrases I were presenting were too basic for him, so I just adapted and said that we would “formalize” them right then. I was satisfied with how that went. The second class, only one guy came. This was supposed to be the hour and a half class, but we finished with the complaint letter stuff in 30 minutes. He has attended all the classes as well, but unlike homeboy and more like Pablo, he’s chill. He didn’t follow up on anything I presented, so we sped through the lesson. We did a couple of role plays with business calls, and then we were done. Since we still had about 45 minutes, I apologized for finishing early but explained that I was expecting two students. We spent the rest of the time talking about random stuff, which he said he was fine with. He just likes to talk in English. We talked about writing, reading, some pieces he has written, he just saw the Harry Potter movie (jealous face), and how he was going to celebrate his birthday tonight. While I enjoy talking, I was really tired and quite excited when the time ran out.
I headed to the train station, where I had to wait for about 15 minutes because I just missed the train that leaves at the hour. Monica, my boss for my one-on-one students, called during that time and reminded me to not tell my newest student that I’m leaving in a month. She must’ve been pretty nervous about losing the girl if she called to tell me. I also asked her for the address because I had forgotten the card I wrote it down on, but she didn’t have it. Thankfully, I remembered the building number and the girls name, but nothing more. Oops. However, Monica assured me I would be able to figure it out.

On the train ride home, I attempted to read Agatha Christie but was rereading a lot due to tiredness. Which is quite unacceptable because I slept a lot last night. But the public transportation thing wears me out – it requires me to constantly be aware, etc. I was also sitting next to a sketch-o looking man. And I ate my granola bar.

Then I got on the subte and made it to the correct stop. Luckily, the building was near Lenguas Vivas, so I had already scoped out the area! However, the meeting was at 6, and it was already 6 when I got off the subte. Oops. I quickly walked, thankfully found the building and made it in at 6:15.

This is a HUGE circular building – 29 stories – in Buenos Aires. When it was created about 30 years ago, it was the talk of the town for its modernism. Nowadays it’s just another building. Flustered by my tardiness, I attempted to explain to the guards at the front desk who I was, why I was here, etc. The entrance reminded me of the memories I have from my mom and dad’s workplace in Houston back in the day. The guard asked for my passport, which I don’t carry with me, but she accepted my driver’s license. She inputted some stuff, and then I entered through the …I forget the word – that thing you walk through and it spins one of the bars. Anyways, I headed up to the 29th floor, hoping that Argentine time still applied.

I arrived and the glass door was locked. I rung the bell, and Patricia let me in and asked me to wait 5 minutes while she finished some stuff. Good, good, glad she was running late too. So I went to the bathroom and then headed to her office. We chatted, just doing the needs assessment. She was able to understand me without problem, but her pronunciation and sentence structures could use some work. I was excited because she just wanted to focus on conversation. Much more fun and easier than the other classes. She also has an AMAZING view of the river from her office, and since it’s on the 29th floor, she said that on clear days she can see Colonia, Uruguay. Cool!

I headed out and subte’d home. Haven’t done much else since except read. I think I’m going to nap, eat, then head out to salsa dance!

Salsa was so much fun! At first it seemed like it might be a little lame, I wasn't getting asked to dance, but from about 3 until 5 I rarely was off the dance floor. And even though I'm not that great of a dancer, everyone was really nice AND I got to speak in Spanish. When we got back I just crashed at the Roadhouse.