Friendly people

Hola! Well, this week lacked the excitement of the weekend in Bariloche but here are some highlights...

Wednesday night a friend from the program and I went out with my host brother and two of his friends for a drink. We went to this interesting bar/boliche thing called Business, but it wasn't very busy as it was Wednesday. A bunch of other girls from the program eventually met up with us as well so it was fun. The place was playing Madonna and such the whole time though, and it is a bit annoying to be constantly hearing American music in restaurants and stores instead of something more "cultural" like tango or Rock Nacional. One of my host brother's friends is called "El Gordo" (fat one). And Fran is called "El Chino" because his eyes get really squinty when he smiles. Apparently in friend groups here everyone has a nickname based on appearance and no offense is taken at all, which I find a little bizarre. Anyway, Fran and his friends had class the next morning but we ended up going home "early" for them at 3 AM! It was fun to be with people our own age, and we learned some good slang words and got some advice on classes.

Last night, I spur of the moment went to the practice of the women's soccer team at UCA, one of the universities we can take classes at here. I was a little nervous to go, because I was going with two girls from the program who play soccer in college in the U.S. and I didn't know what to expect from the Argentine players. Turned out I had nothing to be worried about...it was the most relaxed, weird practice I'd ever been to. First of all, it was in this tiny, hot gym on the top floor of a YMCA, because field space is hard to get here, especially for girls. The coach, Martin, was probably 30, and was super soft-spoken and chill. Only 4 Argentine girls showed up, none of whom was at all athletic. They practice indoors twice a week, and outdoor 8 v. 8 games start in April, but I don't even know if they usually have that many people. Practices are basically optional, and none of the girls had played organized soccer before college, because there is really no club or high school system here for girls. During practice we played hand ball, did a bunch of calisthenics, and jogged around a bit. If they hit you on accident or kicked the ball at you they freaked out and apologized profusely. It was super interesting, but I don't know if I want to be practicing in a tiny gym all the time so I'm going to check out some other teams. It is just bizarre the lack of options for girls here given that soccer is the national obsession. People look at you really weirdly in the street if you're carrying cleats or a ball, and my host family keeps proudly announcing to everyone that "Dana juega al futbol," like it's this exciting, exotic thing. It made me really grateful for the opportunities and cultural acceptance female athletes have in the U.S. I just take it for granted at home.

Today was a great day. It was super sunny out, and I got up early and went for a nice run. In the afternoon I headed out to walk around by myself. I went down to Ave. Corrientes, which is the theatre district. It's a bit like Broadway, with a bunch of cool old bookstores thrown in. I bought this Argentine history book someone had recommended and Rilke's "Letters to a Young Poet" in Spanish, although I don't know how much of it I'll understand. I also got some more brochures about a French 35 mm film series going on and other cultural classes. After that I crossed Ave. 9 de Julio, the crazy 14 lane one, with all the midday traffic. I was so hot I gave in and stopped at this Mega McDonald's, where I had planned to get some soft serve ice cream but ended up buying this Starbucks-esque coffee drink at "McCafe," this weirdly fancy little enclave inside the regular McDonald's. Then I made my way over to the Plaza de San Martin, where I intended to continue plodding through Monday's newspaper (I get through about 2 articles every half hour) and start my book. I sat down on a bench in the sun and awhile later this middle-aged businessman sits down next to me. Someone else stopped and asked me the time, but I didn't understand what they said, so the man answered. Then he asked me where I was from and we got into this big conversation about the city, politics, everything. It was really cool to talk to someone random and hold a real conversation. It got awkward, however, when he asked me to go to dinner with him. I said no of course. Then he asked me how old I was and seemed somewhat shocked/disturbed to discover I was 19. Anyway, it was still cool. He left, and literally two minutes later this guy my age stops to ask for the time. Then he starts a conversation, eventually asking me if I wanted to go see this cool lake in Palermo, the next barrio over. Had to say no to that as well. THEN, this 60 or 70 yr. old woman sits down and starts talking to me (w/o the time ruse). She randomly started telling me about traveling in Europe and all this stuff and asking me what I was doing in BA. When she learned I'd be here until July, she launched into this litany of places to see in the country. Then she starts whipping out all these pamphlets and maps and giving me directions to various tourism centers. Apparently she likes to get info about the city to give out and enjoys going to cultural classes and presentations herself. When I was confused as to one of their locations, she insisted on walking me the couple of blocks there. She talked to the people working there, explaining that I was a tourist from the U.S. and that she wanted me to have all the necessary information on the city and such. She was treating me like her granddaughter or something. We then walked to two more tourism offices, and in the second one we sat down with this travel agent like woman who explained literally 20 different pamphlets, printed me out a list of tango milongas, and gave me her personal number. The original woman from the park also had two heavy shopping bags in her purse that she kept shoving all the books and pamphlets in for me. All this took like 2 hrs, and then we walked back to the plaza where there was this cool exhibition going on called "Buddy Bears" or something. Basically, there were about 100 big ceramic bears in a circle around the plaza. Each one was for a different country, and they were all painted somehow to represent the country with its colors, dress, etc. I think it's a traveling show from Berlin put on by "La cultura por la paz" or something. Anyway, it was really really cool and there were a bunch of people there taking pictures with all the bears. I got a picture with the lady ha. I didn't get much reading done, but talking to locals was way way better! People here are generally so friendly, it can be almost unnerving. In the U.S. you just don't expect random people to strike up a conversation with you on the street. It's cool that people are so interested in tourists and eager to share their city with you. Unless they are creepy and want to rob and/or kidnap you. It can be hard to judge haha.

Tonight we went out to a milonga called "La Viruta" to take a tango lesson. It was actually in the basement of the Armenian Cultural Center, in the Armenian district of Palermo. It was super crowded and hard to see the instructors, and we only got through the basic step and one variation. But it was still fun and I got to dance with some good Argentine men. I also danced with this British kid who introduced himself as Mateo instead of Matt because he assumed I was Argentine. We were both speaking broken Spanish for about 20 seconds until we realized we both actually spoke English! He's traveling around South America for 3 months after high school with a bunch of his "mates", staying in hostels and just exploring. Later in the open dance we girls danced with these really old men who were super intense and got kind of annoyed we didn't know what we were doing. Well, it's almost 4 AM y estoy muy cansada!! I guess I'm going to have to get used to this. Chau!