Day 16
Today we went to a small tourist area called La Boca, which is called that because it is the mouth of a (pretty big) river. But anyways, this place has been around for ages, but has been beautifully preserved because of the intense color of the buildings and because that is an area where tango is a big part of the culture. Like, studying music at Julliard (almost), or learning to cook in Italy. Like that, but more performance-for-tourists-focused. Anyways, it was pretty cool. It was an old neighborhood from the 1880s turned into a mixture museum and shopping district. If you see my photos on Facebook, each room where there was a shop was where 1 family lived. This was a huge immigration zone, so almost all of the families were pretty poor and couldn't afford anything bigger than those little rooms.
But yeah, here I almost finished souvenir shopping because there were TONS of neat things to buy.
Oh! I also got to try a freshly-made alfajor from a street vendor and it was even better than the boxed kind--Pretty similar, but bigger and fresh :)
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Day 17
Today we got up early and drove almost 3 hours to the Gaona's house in the country side. It was really big and really pretty. There are a few photos of the outside, but I forgot to take some inside. They even had one of those big plaster-type stone ovens outside that we used to cook chicken and beef for lunch, and I got to help Miguel keep the fire going long enough to get the coals hot.
The town was really small, but it was really nice to be in the country side with not much more than a park, a church, and an abandoned train station to see, and no traffic or sirens going all day long. That being said, Mercedes and I went exploring while the food was cooking and took some pictures :)
There was a little boy from the neighborhood, whose grandmother is friends with Martina, and the two of them came over not long after Mercedes and I returned from the walk. Once they arrived Mercedes and I were having fun keeping the boy (Josue) entertained while Martina and the lady talked and I didn't get anymore photos after that. He was (only) 4 yesterday, but today was apparently his birthday and now he is 5. :D
So yeah, once it was dark, we drove back to Buenos Aires, and when we got back Mercedes and I watched the first half of Frozen in Spanish before she started falling asleep from exhaustion (she had never seen it so I made her stay up to watch it with me and she fell asleep anyways.. :P ) :) Haha it was interesting because there was no option of subtitles in English, but I've seen it enough times and understand just enough Spanish that between the two I was okay to understand everything.
More and more I am realizing that, like one of my professors said about knowing Portuguese, I know a little more than enough Spanish to get me into trouble, and I don't think I know enough to get back out of it again. It has been really frustrating trying to understand when my brain is automatically trying to do everything in English, and it is making me severely doubt my previous desire to learn like 5 languages because it is a lot more work than even I had thought before. Which, in a way is a relief because it gives me a teeny bit more direction of what not to do with my life, but at the same time it scares me because with it being this hard, I am more reserved about trying to enter the job market and say "Hey! I'm pretty good at Spanish, so you should hire me as a liaison" or something like that and I have no clue what else to do with my life when I graduate next year...
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Day 18
Today we went to buy tickets for a short visit across the river to Uruguay. (eep!) We ended up getting ones only as far as Colonia because going all the way to Montevideo would have been really expensive, but I'm excited anyways! I thought it would be a few years before I got to go to Uruguay at all, and now we're going to go to a touristy spot, yes, but that's fine with me--it is vacation and we all are tourists :D
After that we went to see the House of Government, which is where President Kirchner does a lot of her work. Here, unlike in the US, the president doesn't live where she (or he) works. The president's house is about 15 minutes away, and she doesn't work on weekends, so tourists are able to visit during the weekend and explore almost the entire building, including her office. I got maybe 60 pictures today, so I'll post them online here in a bit.
After that, we got dinner and then came back to the house. It is definitely going to take getting used to when I return to the states to eat at normal meal times and to eat less. It seems like Martina is always trying to get me to eat something, and half the time I do to make her feel better (she worries I don't eat enough but I feel like I eat SO much!!). So if you come to Argentina and if you stay with people, this is your warning to come hungry! Haha.
But yeah, it's been really cool here and although I've been feeling a bit homesick the last couple days, I know I'll miss it when I leave. :)
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