I've been in Buenos Aires a week now but it feels like much longer. Last thursday I flew down by myself with very few difficulties. We spent the first night in a hotel getting used to the city and meeting others from the program. The next night we moved in with our host families. My mom's name is Silvia, she is a seamtress who works from home for a designer. She loves to sit and talk about politics and religion and anything else. Most of the time I just nod along because I don't have time to think of things to say but I think she likes having someone to talk to anyway. My dad, Ricardo, is an economics professor at a small public school here. He doesn't usually get home until late at night but when he is home he is always listening to music and chatting. My brother, Fernando is 24 and after my first night of meeting him he left for vacation in San Juan. He is friendly, helpful, and speaks fluent english (which might be nice in case of an emergency). Silvia's mom's cousin, tía Marta, also lives with us. She is 85 but still works and she always talks about how she acts and feels younger than her age. I have my own tiny room in their apartment with a tv and a big, bright window. We live on the 14th floor of an apartment that is close to one of the biggest streets in Buenos Aires so I am within walking distance of anything I might need.
My room in my house.
Orientation has been good, although sometimes boring. We are just starting the process of registering for classes. We usually only have a little bit of orientation each day so we have been spending the rest of the time walking around, getting the hang of the city and transportation, and shopping. Since a lot has happened in this last week, I'll just write some highlights and things I have noticed.
Weather: It's pretty cold here especially in the mornings and at night. When the sun is out it's really not that bad. It's funny to see the Porteños (that's what the people here call themselves) all bundled up because they think that 45 degrees is really, really cold.
Food: There's not a lot of variation in food here but it's ok because I like most of it. They love steak and eat it several times a week. There is also a ton of italian food meaning lots of pastas. There are thousands of cafés in the city which serve coffee, tea, medialunas (which means half moons and are sweet croissants), pizza, sandwiches, and empañadas. I love to get empañadas which are basically pastries filled with meat and cheese.
They do not eat breakfast here but the host families were told that American students like breakfast. So when i moved in my mom was like, "can you explain breakfast to me? What do you like to eat?" Every morning I wake up to toast,tea, cereal, and fruit left out for me. They usually eat a small lunch around 2, snack at 5 and then big dinner at 9 0r 10.
Tea and a ham and cheese sandwich in a typical café
Money: Things are generally cheaper here than in the states. Especially transportation: the subway and bus cost about 30 cents and a 20 minute taxi ride is about $4. Certain things, like technology are really expensive here.
Night life: The night life is crazy here! Bars don't really get busy until after 1 and clubs don't even open until later. It's very normal for a porteño to go out most or all nights until 6 in the morning and then work the next day.
I'm still getting used to the big city life but I like it a lot! I love knowing where I'm going and not getting confused by los colectivos (the buses) anymore. I like how the program forces us to be super independent and figure things out for ourselves. I haven't had any really embarrassing foreigner moments yet, or at least none that i've known about. Anyway, sorry this is so long. I'll try to keep it up to date.
Ciao!
Oh, if you want to send me any mail my address is:
Lizzy Van Oss
CIEE-FLACSO Program
Ayacucho 555
Buenos Aires, 1026 Argentina
but don't send packages because they don't easily clear customs.
