Dia 2, Walking and Learning, 18 Junio

I am currently sitting on my bed in my hotel room, watching CNN in Spanish (which I do not understand!) and it is only 10:17 at night. In B.A...that's probably the lamest you can get! I am so so so tired and wiped out and enjoying life, but I'm so tired, lol. At 6:00, I looked at my watch and was like, "What?! Only six o'clock?!" It felt so much later...and what is even crazier is that it's only 8:17 at home! How strange to think that.

Well, I would like to start off by telling you about my dinner last night. My friends, my family, you have NOT experienced a great dinner experience until you eat dinner here in B.A. We left the hotel around 8:45 and traveled by subte (subway) for the first time. I kid you not, the subway is the same here as in NY and in London, the look and smell of it anyways, lol. Then, by the time we finally got to the restaurant, it was well past nine. From this point on, I have no idea what time it was...just that we finished dinner around MIDNIGHT or later...yes, later. Let me explain...

We get there and there is already bread on the table (something I have noticed about bread before meals, it's not warm bread...it's cold and hard ish on the outside, soft on the inside...not the best, lol. Anyways, then about...oh a while later they come by and ask for your drinks....then after that, we sat, and talked for about twenty minutes. Now, the meal was a fixed meal from our group, so we didn't get to order. We had a "traditional" meal.

After about thirty minutes of eating bread and talking, our first entre' was brought out. A plate for each table, there was chorizo (a type of sausage, which was actually very good) and blood sausage (which was too black and scary looking for me to try!) and some other type of meat, it looked kind of like chicken, but a bit different...and it tasted, fine... I didn't ask what it was, and maybe I didn't want to know. Then, we sat and talked for a while longer...then, the next part of the meal...A big plate of steak. Oh yes, I don't know what kind...I'll try and figure it out later, but just a plate full of these slabs of meat (yes, I took pictures)... so I was like, YUM. And what's even better about Argentine steak is that it's so good, you don't need steak sauce. I've heard that they get offended if you ask for it, lol.

Okay, so then, I was full. I didn't even eat that crazy much, but I ate well and was definitely ready for bed. We talked for quite some time, and then...oh yes, the waitresses brought out the MAIN course. I was like, "AH!!!" Bigger steaks...however, it was one per plate. I couldn't eat it all, but I took a bite and I promise it was the best tasting meat I have ever had in my entire life. Mind blowing great, amazing, wonderful (insert your own descriptive word for "fantastic" here)...My main thought was, "Dad really needs to be here for this!"

THEN, we talked for a while longer...and they bring out the dessert! Helado americano y dulce de leche!!! (American ice cream and...dulce de leche ice cream, literally translated sweet of milk, there is no word in English, as well there shouldn't be!) It was a beautiful dessert. The ice cream was good, it didn't taste anything like american ice cream, but that's what they call it. The dulce de leche ice cream was just amazing. It was smooth and creamy and had a hint of a coffee taste to me (although others said it didn't). Dulce de leche is something very common here. They have it in cake, ice cream, little desserts (kind of like our Little Debbies) called "Alfajores" (I'm bringing a box back with me!). It's such a great thing...

Then, finally....we talked for a while longer and finally left. After about three ish hours of a dinner. A HUGE thing in Argentina in the importance of connecting over a meal. Talking and eating are both very important things, and it shows during a meal. Not all meals are like this (I mean, we ate breakfast like normal, lol) but with a group of friends or family, it's an always thing. So yeah, next time you have a late meal, just think, "At least it wasn't three hours long and ended after midnight"... lol.

Moving along. Today, I woke up feeling refreshed and wonderful, however, I only had about 6-7 hours of sleep because of how late we got back and the fact that one of my roommates in the hotel decided to call her boyfriend who decided to not believe her that she had been at dinner that late and proceeded to ask her question after question about who she was with and were there any boys in the hotel or in her room (there are NO boys in our room, no worries, lol)... and they talked/argued for about 45 minutes, which kept the other two of us awake. Sigh...and we woke up at nine. So yeah. I was still a bit tired.

The first half of our day was spent at an orientation program for Expanish where we learned the basics of getting around the city and what not. We also learned some forms of slang here and what NOT to say, etc. So it was informative, but long (almost three hours). We had lunch around one (empanadas!!! with cheese and meat, so good!)

Then, a few of us just went exploring, walking around. We met back at the Expanish school around three for our "tour" of the city. We took the "south side" tour that took us to La Boca, San Telmo, and Puerto Madero. Definitely Image Search "La Boca" or "Caminito" if you want to see one of the poorest, yet most beautitul neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. It's a colorful neighborhood (literally) filled with music and artists...it can be a tourist trap, but it's worth it just to walk down the streets (there are two). There was live tango dancing and music, free, just on the side of the street. So cool.

After our three and a half WALKING tour of these places, lol, we were so so tired. It was only about seven thirty, but we were hungry and so tired from walking, so a few of us stopped and got dinner (way too early for a porteno [a native of B.A] to eat dinner) at this Italian/Argentine restaurant and had *ta-da!* steak and papas fritas (french fries!). It was pretty good, definitely not as good as last night, but still good. A strange thing about many restaurants in Arg (and maybe in other countries?) is that there is a "service charge" for eating there...so, it's basically like a cover charge at a club, or something like that. At this particular one, it was only 5 pesos (which is a little less than two dollars), so they tell you (tourist books) that you don't really need to tip much. And apparently, tipping isn't necessary in Arg, and when people do tip, it's only about 10% if they were good, lol.

After dinner, we walked around a bit more, then went back to the hotel. And now, here I am typing this all out. =)

Tomorrow, I meet my host family! I don't know what all is in store. We have to check out of our rooms a little before eleven and then off to meet the family. Since my location will change (and as far as I know we don't have wi-fi in my house, unlike some of the other homes in the program, sad) and I will be starting school on Monday, I do not know if I will be able to continue to update like this, but I hope I get to! It's easier than writing it in a journal everyday, but we shall see.

Other:

I did find out that they do, in fact, deliver ice cream! Woo!

And I cannot do my own laundry. When we asked about doing our own, the group coordinator made a somewhat funny face and was like, "No, not here, they do your laundry". It's one of the things that has helped add to the economy since it was basically destroyed in 2001. The delivery system, laundry system, and also, there are workers that pump the gas, not the car driver. Also, what is crazy, gas is SO CHEAP here...less than a dollar a gallon for unleaded, yes...think on that. But really, not as many people drive here as in the US, so I suppose that adds to the difference.

Anyways...I guess that's all. I will try and update again soon! Love you all and if you really read all of this you're crazy but I will never doubt your love! =)