Happy September! (What?!)
Another week has passed here in Buenos Aires! I haven't gone on too many crazy adventures, but I did/saw a few things worth noting, I suppose.
Friday morning we headed to the DMV from hell (as outlined in my previous post) to finally apply for our Visas, and then headed to Florida Street to shop. We got a huge lunch so that was actually the highlight of the day in all honesty.
Friday night was La Noche Internacional (International Night) at the University of Belgrano, and because I'm currently taking Tango as a class, I was told we would be performing a choreographed number at the night...
Fantastic.
So in the two weeks leading up to the show, my partner and I practiced our moves and basically only mastered the final pose and opening sequence... but that's really all that matters in the end.
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| Kurt and I doing our final pose. #werk |
The dance was horrendous, I'm not going to lie. Kurt and I were the only ones who could regularly keep time or know when the musical cues were, so Kurt actually had to yell "vamos" mid-dance to remind everyone to start the final sequence. It was a mess, but it was an experience to say the least.
International Night should have had a lot more to offer, in my opinion. Luckily I got there early because of the tango show because I was able to try some of the food from each country's table. I even went so far as to ask the french girl at her table if the french toast they made was actually french, or if that was just the name... but again, that's another story. The USA table was seriously lacking on American food. They made brownies, which was cool, but guacamole? You're really going to make guacamole to represent the Americans? Believe me, we love our guacamole, but there wasn't anything more appropriate? Eventually the food ran out and people were pretty restless, but there were some performances by student groups that were pretty cool.
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| Brazilian students perform a routine |
After the night concluded a few of us went to this Mexican restaurant next to my house called Frida Kahlo's and I FINALLY got some spicy food! The chilaquiles were. to. die. for.
Saturday was another day with the group, and we headed to se El Ateneo Bookstore. I know what you're thinking, what could possibly be so great about a bookstore? Well I'll tell you. This bookstore is inside an old theatre! The actual theatre opened in 1919 and tons of famous people performed there. It was converted into a bookstore in the mid-2000s.
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| View from the second level towards the old stage |
It's really hard to believe when you actually walk in. Although the renovation and conversion happened in the early 2000s, they maintained the feel of the old theatre including the original architecture and curtain on the stage. I also think it's kind of awesome that the stage was turned into a cafe!
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| Standing on the 2nd level, where you can see the theatre boxes |
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| I could have spent forever here |
The atmosphere was really cool, and I ended up buying myself a book which I'm really excited about! During that day we also had a buffet lunch that was delicious, and then my roommate and I walked up and down the street we were on and did some window shopping. We also picked up flowers on the way home because it was our host mom's birthday! She was heading to her family's house to celebrate, so we went out for dinner with the whole group to celebrate one of the girl's birthdays from our group! I unfortunately had hurt my foot the previous day, so I headed straight home after dinner instead of out on the town, but I think it was a good thing in the end, being that my ankle was the size of a softball when I got back to my apartment... ouch.
Sunday my ankle was basically back to normal and my roommate, myself, and some of our friends headed to the San Telmo neighborhood of the city so we could go to the weekly sunday craft/antiques market. The market was super cool, but very crowded and sometimes to an uncomfortable level. I plan on going back again for sure because I saw some great gift ideas for people back home, but for some reason couldn't commit right there and then.
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| A side alley led us to these Antiques stands... a dream! |
I went with the specific goal of buying my mate, and after LOTS of looking, I finally found one and I couldn't be happier! It's currently in the kitchen curing since it's made from a gourd and needs to be cured prior to use.
I'm in love with my mate and definitely not sorry about it. I can't wait until the curing process is over so my roommate and I can have mate miércoles and all of our other mate days. I also can't wait to use it casually back at home, but I'm sure if I used it out in public people would think I'm doing some sort of drug. It's tea, I promise.
Other than that, I've just had classes all week. And classes are classes, I suppose. We're heading to a museum this weekend (in theory) but I also have my first exam and presentation due on Monday and Tuesday so I'll be in homework/study mode all weekend. Wahhhh. Hopefully something more exciting happens to me soon because I feel like my last few posts haven't been very eventful, I apologize.
As always, I miss everyone at home!
Besos,
- Meagan
