Well, today I do not have much to tell. It was more uneventful than the past few days.
I went to my Politics and Economics class where I understood nothing for the second time. Even when I understood what he was saying, I still did not get the point of it or how it fit into the class. I don’t see any objective of our class or some form of…form. It’s so very frustrating because I know that the professor knows what he’s talking about. And a couple others in the class seem to understand enough, or at least are really good at pretending they understand what’s going on. The profe even picked on me today (well, he did last week too) about how I nod and act like I understand but my eyes give me away. And then later in the class he mentioned how he hoped I wasn’t bored or something like that. Everyone chuckles and he moves on with class, but I would prefer that he not call me out. I get so so discouraged in that class! It is probably the most frustrating thing I’ve ever gone through. I wish I had some form of desire to learn more about politics and economics, but disliking those two things is NOT helping me get by in this class. I was threatening to quit the class today, to see if there is someway I can just not take that one class, and maybe take a different one at the Expanish School. I know I need to stick with it, but I don’t want to get by with a C in a class I can’t stand. Sigh…and it’s not like I haven’t been in it long. 8 hours of this one class is long enough for me to realize I don’t want to do it, let alone want to try to learn from it. Plus, the professor has an even more difficult accent than most Argentines do…yes, I realize, this is a learning experience for me and I need to learn wherever I can. I also realize that I shouldn’t be complaining about it…but I can and I will. =) I don’t know what I am going to do about it at the moment, but I do know that I would prefer no comments about how I need to suck it up or keep trying. That’s not what I need or want right now, so please don’t! =)
Other than that one class, everything else is going well. I went home right after class and talked with my housemate Serri. She’s really nice and lets me use her internet when she’s not home (like right now, so thank you Serri!). I had a wonderful dinner of…you guessed it! steak and mashed potatoes! They were so good! (However, they were not as good as your potatoes Grandma, no worries!). I then watched “50 First Dates” with my host mom. Our regular TV shows were not on, so we watched that instead. She likes that movie as well and talks about how “linda” (nice) it is.
I am now updating…and trying to upload more photos. It’s seriously taking about ten to fifteen minutes to upload five photos! And when I try to upload more than…oh, eight, it tells me it can’t do it. So sorry on the slow photo updating! I have some really great shots of Colonia at night that I want to share too! Oh well, I shall be patient on one thing if any! =)
Since tomorrow morning will be the start of my third week here, I think it is okay for me to admit that I do miss a few things from home:
1. DR. PEPPER!!! Oh my goodness, it’s like I am having withdrawals…at least they have Pepsi.
2. IHOP! I don’t know why, but I am seriously missing that pancake house. They don’t really eat pancakes here…well, they don’t really eat much breakfast. They don’t eat bacon, eggs, biscuits, and all the yummy stuff for breakfast. It makes me sad. Lol
3. Um…so at the moment I kinda miss the English language! Lol. I mean, I hear it here enough, but still, sometimes (especially after classes) I just need a little English to keep me sane.
4. My front and back yards. I realize now how I don’t use them…and I should. I don’t know what I’ll do (no mother, gardening is not an option, ha ha), maybe I’ll tan when I get back! But there are NO yards here! I mean, I am sure there are plenty out in the country where all the ranches are, but not where I am!
Umm… I can’t think of anything else at this moment…OH YEAH…my family and friends…but that’s a given right? Moving along…
So I brought up mate in a note a few days ago and was asked what it was…then I thought to myself, “Have I really not shared what Mate is with yous guys back at home?!” Then I looked back over my past updates and realized, “Oh my…I haven’t.” What a lousy updater I am to not inform you all on one of the TOP things that Argentina is known for! Sigh…maybe it’s because I don’t really like it that I haven’t written about it? Still, that is NO excuse. So yeah, Mate… is a drink. It is pronounced: Mah-tay. The word is actually two things. The container is called a mate. It is usually a gourd shaped cup (but can be many shapes I’m sure). The other is the drink itself. It is a bitter herb drink that people love around here. The mixture is actually called yerba mate and looks kind of like grass. It comes with a bombilla (metal or wooden straw that’s a bit different looking from normal straws) that you put in the mate cup first. Then you put in the yerba mate almost to the top. After that, you fill it up with hot water, then drink! It’s basically like a stronger version of tea and has a very bitter taste, some people put sugar in it, but I don’t think it improves the taste any. It can be a very communal activity here. (I don’t know if that’s the right word…but still.) It is very common for there to be a group of people sharing the mate, and there can be all these rituals to it as well, but I haven’t seen any other than what we did on our second day of orientation. There is a host who prepares the mate, and they pass it to the person on their left who drinks until more water needs to be put in. If that person does not want anymore, they say, “Gracias”, but if they don’t say it, they’ll get it again when it makes its way around the circle. After each person is done, they pass it back to the host who pours more water in it and then they pass it to the next person. But like I said, I haven’t seen this done anywhere yet. It might be common amongst families…but since it’s just my host mom and house mate here, we don’t drink it. When we walked around Uruguay, there were people carrying it around along with their thermoses. Thomas was drinking it at school today and I had a few sips…it’s still gross. However, that will probably not stop me from buying a small package and bringing it back with me to have some of you try. We shall have Argentine and Uruguayan rituals when I return! Yay!
Okay, I suppose that explanation gave me a bit of length to this update, so that’s better than nothing. I have my Spanish class tomorrow, which I like much much more than that other one. =) I had to write a leyenda (legend) for homework. We had the option of making one up or just writing one we new… I made one up about the mistletoe and kissing under it…why it’s a tradition. It’s not really that great, but if anyone wants to know it, let me know, I shall share…maybe. =)
That’s all for now! Goodbye from Buenos Aires!
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