Dia 35, Back to that Politics class I don't enjoy, 21 de julio

Well, I am sorry to say that today was not a very eventful day. I woke up semi-early and did the usual morning routine. It was raining...a lot today. I went to class, (yes, walking the 8 blocks to school...in the rain) which was not fun. Again, it was a class filled with things I didn’t understand, and as always, the things I did understand I didn’t get the concept of in English. I tried paying attention though!... for the first hour of the class, but then...the headache came on. It was my second headache since I’ve been here, but it was worse, almost migraine bad, and I just wanted to sleep. So class I don’t like + headache + tired = Not happy Cambria. Sigh... the class was finally over and as we were all walking home, I discovered that apparently it was a day where no one wanted to be in class! The others discussed how it was a hard class to be in for four hours today, and since it was cold and rainy, how we’d much rather be in bed with a huge cup of coffee! I started missing my fireplace at home, with hot chocolate, and a great book...oh, that sounds good.

Anyways, after I got home, I was just not feeling great, and I don’t want to get sick while I am here, so I decided to take a nap, and I was in bed from about 6:45 until 9:00. I didn’t sleep much, but I took some Bayer (yes mom, aren’t you proud? Lol) and just laid there. I finally got up and ate my dinner which was perfect because it was this stew thing, so warm and good. =) I felt much better so I worked on some homework and Serri gave me control of her internet because she needed to finish an article for her internship.

And ...that was my day. I know, isn’t it lame? I wish I had more exciting things to share with you...OH, I remember, I think I mentioned a few updates ago that I was going to tell you about street vendors here (the ones not at the markets), so I suppose I can do that now...

To any of you planning on coming here (or maybe it’s like this in many South American countries) this might be a good thing to know. A lot of the times, when people are selling things, they just get on a bus or a subte and start announcing whatever it is that they are selling, tell you how much it is, then walk around and try to hand it to you to see if you’ll buy it. That’s easy enough to say no to. However, sometimes, when you’re sitting there, they just get on and don’t say anything. They walk around and just sit things in your lap. I mean, you might be having a conversation with someone, or listening to your music, and here comes an old man/young man/woman/child with a book/candy/hair ties/card/etc and they just set it on your lap. At first I thought maybe they were just giving things out? Which apparently can be a common thought, and maybe they are hoping you think that, so by the time they come back to get it, you’ve opened the package or used the product in some way, so you have to pay them. Most of the time, they just walk by and take it from you, if you leave it on your lap and don’t move, they pick it up, or you can just hand it back to them. However, it’s not even limited to the bus or subte. One night, when Adam and I were in McDonalds, a man came up and sat two pens on our table, said something really fast in Spanish, then walked away. They were really nice pens too! This was pretty early on in the trip, so we didn’t really know if he was giving them away or not. When he came back to our table, he said something and Adam just said, “Gracias”...I guess he was a bit confused also. So the guy said, “Diez pesos.” And then I realized, “Oh, he’s selling these!” So we said no and he left. One of these days, I might be tempted to just take whatever they throw in my lap and run. Okay, probably not, but again, coming from a U.S. view point, it’s like a breach of personal space when they just put something in your lap like that. But apparently, it’s really common here because no one looks twice when it happens. So…there you go…

So, as I wrote this update, it hit me that today marked my 35^th day here! Well, of course it would since that’s how I title all my updates. I can’t believe it’s been so long. 35 days seems like a really long time, and yet, I still feel as if I just got here. Of course, the streets are easier to navigate and the buses easier to track down, I walk through the big city as if I’ve been used to it my whole life. I really am starting to enjoy it here more than I was at the beginning (of course, that’s the whole idea right?). I am excited to see what the next two and a half weeks bring me! Thomas and I want to see at least one theatre show and hopefully we’ll be able to visit Teatro Colón (yeah! Look it up!). I don’t know what else is in the works, but more fun I’m sure! =)

More later from B.A.! Love and miss you all!