San Tarsicio

Thursday, August 6th

Thursday morning was my final day in Belgrano. As I was about to leave, Maria Laura popped into my room and asked me if I would be able to wait 5 more minutes because the guy who brings up the vegetables was coming up. I told her I could for 5 more minutes, but I really couldn’t wait longer than that. Florencia just switched from an hour and a half to one hour, so I really couldn’t skimp her on time.

Pues, she said just 5 minutes, but Argentine time, right? So at 9:45, I headed out and just asked the guy to leave everything by the door. I felt bad, but I couldn’t be late. Plus, the reason Maria Laura had left was so she wouldn’t be late for her psychologist appointment.

Anyways, I made it to Belgrano 5 minutes late, and then of course Florencia still took a bit to get there. It’s really cool though. In the mornings, she has to work with the Spain office, which does the graphic design, about projects because it’s their afternoon. Did I mention she’s 22? And working across continents. So cool!

At the end of class we talked about maybe getting together next weekend, after her final exams. That would be fun – she’s so nice! Class with Hernan focused on a listening exercise and then some phrasal verbs. It went a little slower, but was still fun. We took a picture at the end as well, and he got one with his camera. He was so nice; he had added me on Facebook last class, and when he realized he missed my birthday he sent me a Facebook message. Precious.

After leaving, I saw the best dogwalker picture – at least 10 dogs – but I didn’t get my camera out in time for a good shot. Then, I headed back to the apartment where I fixed my lunch. I’ve got this good meat and cheese thing going, with a couple of medialunas and some chocolate pudding to finish it off.

I also apologized to Maria Laura for leaving before the veggie man arrived and explained that I had class at Belgrano at 10. She seemed ok about it. Then I headed to the high school, where I chilled in the teachers lounge with the English teachers. They’re all really nice. Paz got there, and we headed to class. We started with reviewing more homework, but the kids were restless. So Paz had them work in pairs on an interview with a famous sportsperson. While they were doing that, I reviewed their names with her and happily got them all down. Course, it’s easier when there are two Camilas, two Nicolas, etc. I love that all of their names easily have nicknames. It’s endearing.

During the break we went back to the teacher’s lounge, where the coordinator found out her son at primary school had fallen down and really hurt himself, so she had to leave. Paz and the other teachers were also talking about the difference between American and British movies and how they find it easier to understand British ones.

The second half of class flew by, with the kids finishing up their interviews and then presenting them. The two Nicolas’ had lots of questions for me instead of doing their interviews, which consisted mainly of which sports teams I liked and what music I listened to. They reminded me of my brother John – just want to smile and ask questions instead of doing their homework. At the end of class they also reviewed a book they read over the holidays. Of course, only a few of the students actually read it.

After class, I finally got ahold of Monica and was able to ensure that she had received my email. Then, Paz and I walked back to my house just chatting about my stay and stuff. I was going to interview Maria Cecilia, the coordinator of the primary school, but I didn’t make it back in time.

Instead, I went to the House, where I chatted with my parents and just hung out. I only know like one person at the House now, so I felt almost imposing, but whatever, the Internet is free there.

Around 8, I headed back home, where Maria Laura was still cooking. I asked her if she could leave my dinner for me because I was going out. She said she was just going to order empanadas, and so she just gave me some money to pick them up myself. Now, she has only done this one other time, so it’s not a usual occurrence. But she gave me 10 pesos. Which if the dollar is about 3.8 right now, translates into less than 3 dollars for my dinner. The only thing I can get with that is 3 empanadas…sans drink. I wasn’t upset though, because the pizza party at Road was that night.

I went to the Roadhouse, where they were making pizza and serving drinks. Of course, I luckily picked up the cup with a hole in it and it took me about a minute of dripping onto my pea coat before I realized that there was a leak. So then I spent about 10 minutes in the bathroom scrubbing. I talked to various people, and everyone was nice, but there’s no real potential friendships there because I have less than two weeks. I did get to feel experienced when people were asking about the TEFL course and how the job search went. So that was fun.

Later, Jon wanted to make the last subte train, so I just walked back with him since it’s right by my house. We also decided to go to a tango class tomorrow since I inherited two free passes. He leaves on Monday, and then really everyone who came in around the time I did will have left. I’m sticking it out for another week though ;) I also talked to Justine about maybe going to a gym class next week. Mainly to prove to Rebe that I don’t fervently avoid gyms.