Time to settle down...

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...for a while!!

Bueno, aqui estoy... or maybe I should say aca estoy! I've been in Buenos Aires for just over a week now, and it's fair to say I've fallen head over heels for the place... it didn't really take long! But let's starts at the beginning shall we? Beware tho, this may turn out to be a long one, so make sure you're sitting comfortably!!

I left LA on Monday 14th July, and was flying with LAN, a Chilean airline, which apparently is the best in South America, and I would back this statement. I only have one bad thing to say about them, and that is they let me down on the size of the plane. I already knew what seat I was sitting in, as that had been allocated way back when I booked my ticket: 36L. At first I thought nothing of this, but the more I did start to think about it, the more I wondered how big the plane would be. I think the biggest I had been on was where there were 10 seats across (3-4-3). And to my mind, L was the 12th letter in the alphabet, so I was expecting a ginormous plane. Therefore, you can guess my disappointment when I boarded to realise that the seats were lettered alternately A, C, E... so it was actually a fairly average size of 2-3-2. I say average, we had plenty of space, so I soon got over disappointment. Especially when I started playing with the inflight entertainment system. There were over 50 movies to choose from, more than 150 television show episodes, entire series of TV programs, games and I don't know how much music to choose from. It was brilliant! I ended up watching 3 movies on the first leg of the trip from LA to Lima (a Ryan Reynolds and Isla Fisher one, which I think was called Definitely Maybe, 21 and Penelope with Cristina Ricci, James McAvoy and Reese Witherspoon. I then had time to watch 2 episodes of My Name is Earl before getting bored and started to play Tetris. As we began our descent into Lima, they didn't turn of the entertainment, so I began to play the Berlitz game. This turned out to be a "game" where they teach you words and phrases in whatever language you want, and then you get tested. I chose Thai for the hell of it, and was pleasantly surprised that I remembered more than I thought I actually ever knew!! I was just getting into that when they turned off the entertainment systems mid-way through the refuelling at Lima. As it was only a quick stop-over, just over an hour, we were kept on the plane as they refuelled, and let off just the people who would b staying in Peru and let on the new passengers.
By this time it was midnight in Lima, and we had left LA 2pm ish. I had banked on getting some sleep on the flight from Lima to Santiago de Chile, but for some reason, I thought it would be a long flight... it turned out to be 3 hours. When they announced that they would be serving breakfast 1 1/2 hours before landing, I gave up any hope of getting any decent sleep. Instead I added some albums to the music player playlist and dozed, whilst listening to a mixture of Amaral, Juanes and Chambao.
In Santiago everyone had to leave the plane, as most of us had different destinations. I had 30 mins to find my connection to BA. Luckily it took me all of 5 mins to find the gate. The connecting flight, being an internal one, was just on a "normal" plane. I say normal, the size that I'm used to for flights within Europe etc. But it was fairly empty, so I had 3 seats to myself, a blanket and pillow and just tried to get some sleep (after eating the 3 tier sandwich that was handed out...)
Needless to say it was an extremely tired and bleary eyed Emma that arrived in BA at around 9.30am on Tuesday! Customs was a doddle thankfully, and before long I was standing in line to get a taxi to take me to my hostel.
I had booked the hostel through HostelBookers - a website that I had been using everywhere. But it turns out that this one hostel I had booked in Pangea didn't accept bookings from that website, but had happily taken my 10% deposit. I complained, and they relented, and gave me a bed. However, I didn't think I would stay long. The area wasn't the nicest, it's only saving grace was that there was a Subte (Tube/Metro/Subway whatever else you want to call it) station just outside the hostel. However, on arrival, none of that interested me! I was shown my bed, I waited long enough to put the sheets on it, take my jeans off, and fell into bed!

When I awoke, feeling slightly more human, I consulted the map that I picked up at the aiport, and not really knowing what to do, I decided to check out the shops!! I consulted my Rough Guide, to see what malls they recommend, and picked one called Abasto, which wasn't too hard to get to on the Subte. And off I went to navigate the Subte...
The layout of the Subte is unique to any other kind of underground transport I've ever used. Whereas most places have at least one line which loops to connects the other lines, here there are 4 lines (A,B,C,E) which go from the centre out, in seemingly straight horizontal lines, and never overlap. Then there is line C which goes from the main train station in a vertical line, and this is the only line which connects with all the others. Occasionally you can walk to connect to other lines. But basically you often have to go in the contrary direction to where you want to go, only to then go back on yourself, on another line. That being said, it's dead easy to navigate.
Therefore, I arrived at Abasto sin problema, and basically bummed around. I bought a mobile phone, I could have bought just a sim card, but was feeling extravagant, and I quite like having both my UK and my foreign fone working simultaneously. However, here it's not as simple as buying the fone and using it. The girl at the shop informed me that it could take up to 3 days to connect to the network. Fair enough, could she at least tell me my number? No, I would be sent an sms when my phone was connected, telling me my number...

But anyway, on Wednesday, appeared to be suffering from jet lag as I didn't wake up til gone 1pm. I had breakfast with 2 Danish girls from my room. Luckily for us the hostel served 24 hour breakfast! After that, I was on a mission. The company I did my TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course with in Thailand last year has a base here in Buenos Aires. My plan was to turn up and ask if they could offer any kind of job assistance...
As luck would have it, they were more than accomodating. Not only did John, the Director give me a list of school in both BA and Argentina, but also information on healthcare, accomodation and a facebook group. Armed with this information, I meant to head to an internet cafe to send of my resume to various companies. However, when I realised that my C.V was on my memory stick, that I had left in the hostel, I decided instead to head to Calle Florida, a huge pedestrianised street that is the main shopping area of BA. To get there I walked through la Recoleta, one of the posher parts of the city, which is where the TEFL school was. Compared to where my hostel is, in Entre Rios, La Recoleta is a lot nicer, although there are no subte stations actually in the area itself, but I'm getting used to walking now!!
Whilst I didn't manage to send my CV to anyone, I did start looking through the accomodation information, as Craigs List was listed as a good source of finding shared appartments. I think I sent 6 emails asking to see rooms, and had already received 4 responses within a few hours.

On thursday, still jet-lagged, I really wasn't up for much, but I did manage to send my cv to a whole ton on English schools and institutes. I also arranged to see 4 appartments over the next few days. My first appointment was that evening, and the girl listing it had given directions as Acoyte. It took me a while to find where this was, and eventually had to use Google Maps, as it was just on the edge of my map, pretty much where the subte ends. But I decided not to let distance from the centre affect my decision. However I didn't need to, because whilst Paula, the girl letting the room was really nice, the apartment was tiny and just not worth the money she was asking. So that was a no.

Friday I had to move hostels, and I can't say I was all that fussed. The people working there were nice, but it just wasn't a very friendly place. I had managed to get a bed in the Hostel International in La Recoleta. From all accounts I was lucky to get a bed at late notice (I only booked it late on Thurs) as most places were sold out. I was trying to figure out why it was so busy, but lots of people come here for the weekend, especially at the moment when parts of Argentina are on their winter holidays. Also, lots of Brazilians come here for long weekends as the Real is stronger than the Peso at the moment.
So anyway, moving hostels meant I had to check out by 12. Given my current sleep patterns, that required me setting an alarm. But, despite being tired I managed to get up and out on time. I had decided on the subte, as the hostel was only a 10min walk from a station. However, it seemed that with every step my bag got increasingly heavier! And then, when I was waiting at a zebra crossing for the lights to change I saw all this green gunk go flying over my head onto th road. A few drops landed on my arm, but when I looked around I couldn't find the source. Nonplussed, I carried on walking. Then just a block from my hostel a lady came up to me to tell me that my bag was dirty and offered me a tissue. As my hostel was so close I declined and went to check in. Once I got into my room I assessed the damage. My bag wasn't dirty, it was covered in this green gunk. And it stank to high heaven. I have no idea what it was, but it took me a good 10 mins to clean it off. Luckily it wasn't on my coat or handbag, but I did realise later that my jeans were also liberally splattered.
I had 2 places lined up to see that day, and the first one was near the Congreso building. I knew this area, so didn't have any problem finding it. It's right on the subte network, and whilst the street the flat was on wasn't the nicest, the flat itself was nice and big, in a old building. It was kinda dirty, but this I put down to 4 guys living there. 2 of them were leaving, so there were 2 rooms available. This place was definitely a maybe. The next place I saw was a bit further out, but the neighbourhood didn't seem to bad. However the room that was to be let was a studio attached to the main building by some narrow iron steps with no lights whatsoever. There was also no kind of heating or cooling device in the room. Whilst the American girl letting it (also called Emma!) was really nice, I was kinda put off by living with a couple. So that was another no.
That left one place left to see on Saturday. Back in the hostel I was looking through the book shelves for anything in English. The only thing I found was kids reading book called Trout Summer. Never one to judge a book by its cover I settled down to read...

On Saturday I had to be up fairly early as I was seeing the last flat at 12. This one again was a little bit out from the centre, but the flat itself was really nice and Ally, the girl letting the room was really nice. And it was the cheapest! However, as Ally had other people seeing the room, she said she would let me know on Sunday. Whilst it was definitely my number one, the decision wasn't mine to make.
There was a cinema not too far from my hostel, so I had decided to go to an afternoon showing of the new Batman film. However, when I realised how close the cinema was to the Recoleta Cemetary, I decided to catch a later showing and go and explore the cemetary. Once I had bought my ticket (to the English language version of course!) I set off to explore. If you were wondering by the way, why the only fotos I've put up are of the cemetary it's because I haven't really done many touristy things... I figure I've got time! And both my memory cards are full, and I haven't got round to copying the contents to a cd. So anyway, when I got to the entrance, I got distracted by a load of market stalls, and set off to explore... It turns out that on Saturdays there is an artesan fair there. And the majority of the wares are beautiful. I could have easily have bought half the jewellery on display, not to mention the leatherwork. So it was probably a good idea that I didn't have much cash!! However I did promise myself that when I find a job, and get my 1st pay packet I'll treat myself!!
After all that window shopping I made my was back to the cemetary. As you can see from the fotos there aren't graves, but tombs and individual mausoleums. This is the most exclusive cemetary in BA, with a long waiting list. Evita is buried there in under her family name of Duarte. But her husband Juan Peron wasn't deemed worthy of a place! The strangest thing for me about the cemetary tho, was that lots of the tombs had glass doors so you could see the coffins lying in rest... There was a guided tour available, but I arrived too late, but did pick up snippets of information as I bumped into at various points. I was just wandering aimlessly taking fotos of cats. But as it's open daily and free I'm sure I'll be back. It was a calming place to be, and given my fascination with cemetaries, it's hardly surprising I chose it to be one of the 1st places I went!!
As for the film, well it was long, but I loved it!!

On Sunday I had a lovely lie-in, and when I did finally surface I got chatting to some guys in the TV area of the hostel. One was from Mexico, the other from Patagonia. After they both complimented me on my spanish (one even said that I could pass for a spanish person, which I've been told a few times here, and obviously pleases me no end!!) I ended up going into the centre with Gustavo. He's a history teacher in Patagonia, and knows BA well, so it was like having my own personal tour guide!! The main reason for going out tho, was to buy the Sunday papers, both the English and Spanish ones, as Sunday is when they advertise all the job vacancies. I spent the afternoon curled up on the sofa deciding which jobs I wanted to apply for!

Once again on Monday I had to change hostels, and chose one, not too far from Congreso. Despite getting a bit lost in the rain, I soon found the place. It's called Vi Luz y Entrè and without doubt it's the nicest place I've been in here. And to make things even better they had overbooked, which meant that I got to stay in a private double room for 2 nights. And there is a kitchen here, with a supermarket right opposite, so I no longer have to eat out every night.
I spent the afternoon replying to the job offers in the papers, and the big news was that I had received an email from International House San Isidro, one of the places I applied to before asking me to ring up for an interview. As I got the email late, I decided to wait until Tuesday to ring.
The evening, after cooking for the 1st time in ages, I just stayed in chatting with people in the TV room.

On Tuesday I was rudely awoken by my fone ringing. When I heard the message left, it was another school asking me to come for an interview. I decided to grab some breaskfast, before ringing Intl House about the interview. I spoke to Celia the director, and she basically said she had been waiting for my call, and could I get there as soon as possible. As I was still in my pyjamas, and San Isidro is 30mins by train from BA I said I'd do what I could, but it was over 2 hours later that I arrived. In that time I had tried to arrange the other interview, but to no real success as halfway through the call the fone went dead and I couldn't get back in touch by fone or email.
When I got to San Isidro I had a quite informal interview with Celia, and the long of the short is I got the job!! Whilst I don't have as much experience as they would like, they're happy to train me on the job. Even better, the winter holidays start on Friday here (25/08) so I've two weeks to sort everything out. I've also decided to look for a place in San Isidro to live, as I don't fancy the commute. I'm going to look at a house on Friday, so who knows, by the weekend I may have both a house and a job!!

But anyway that's it. A fairly longwinded but also brief description of my first week in BA. Sorry it's been so long, and in the next few blogs hopefully there will be more pictures the beautiful city I can now call home, plus more info on my job. Until then....

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Photos

Recoleta Cemetary
There were cats all over the cemetary... I think I may have taken more fotos of the cats than the tombs...

Recoleta Cemetary
The Duarte Tomb. It's most famous enterrant: Eva Duarte - Evita

Recoleta Cemetary
The Duarte Tomb. It's most famous enterrant: Eva Duarte - Evita

Recoleta Cemetary
The tomb of the guy who founded the National Bank (amongst other things)

Recoleta Cemetary
Sign on the walls outside the cemetary.
[i]Here rest those who came before us on the path of life. It's a place of respect, and should be respected, so don't place posters here or graffiti[/i]
Well words to that effect anyway, I just liked it!

Comments

[Byl]

CONGRATULATIONS
As, of course, your blog entries are far from being in real-time, I'm sure you that you've been elected to be the mayor of BA by now, but I'm sending my congrats on getting a job so quickly! Now, find someone to take you on a motorcycle tour of Argentina during the winter holiday!!