Advertisement
Published: November 2nd 2011
Hello and Happy Halloween!
I hope you're all doing well. I've been following the Occupy Seattle movement a bit and am proud of the demonstrators! Halloween is not really celebrated here. I had a job teaching four groups of teenagers about Halloween, U.S. slang and what it's like to learn Spanish for my students back home. I did the class with a great guy from the U.K. The institute where we taught does a Halloween party with games and costumes for the younger kids, but then brings native speakers to teach them about their countries. I loved being around teenagers again; I had missed their energy and spirit much more than I had realized. One kid said he and his friends tried to go trick-or-treating here. Since it's not something that people do, they didn't get much candy. So they decided to focus on the tricks and began egging houses of people who wouldn't open the door and give them treats! I told him that in the U.S. we really only focus on the treat part and there are very few tricks. However, my colleage, Phil, said that the U.K. is all about the tricks side! They play pranks
Japanese gardens
From up above, we could see most of the gardens below.on friends and neighbors for Halloween.
Daniel and I have both gotten a lot more work, which makes life here much nicer. I am teaching at several different companies. I have included some pictures of the view from one of the offices where we have the class. The students are very nice and it's great to talk with them about Argentina, compare stories and experiences. Daniel has gotten a couple of bicycle repair jobs. He has also found a community bicycle shop that loans people tools to fix their bikes (at the shop) and helps them if they need help. He is planning on helping there and will get a lot of opportunities to practice his Spanish as well! We're hoping it will be a good exchange.
Daniel is also working very hard on his Spanish. His bike repair jobs have sent him and us to the hardware and bike shop to ask about parts and tools. Today, he went on his own to the hardware store, purchased steel wool, and got a special adaptor from the bike shop. He did it all in Spanish and was understanding some of the other customers in the store
Costumes!
Do you see the swords he has?? Another guy had nails sticking out of his skin!! as well! Yeah!!
Last weekend we went to the Japanese Gardens and the Botanical Gardens. Both were very nice, and it was good to see a bit more green than we tend to find here in the big city. We were very surprised to find people dressed in crazy costumes at the Japanese Gardens! It was packed with teenagers dressed in video game and manga costumes. There were a couple of Resident Evil costumes with very real looking guns. We saw one guy (maybe 15 years old) all dressed up and his mom (or so it seemed) was taking pictures of him pointing the gun at the camera (and at her!) We were very surprised, but enjoyed the great people watching as we wandered around the gardens.
Last week we also moved to a new hotel. It's the same price, but has a kitchen, internet and breakfast served in our room every morning! We feel quite spoiled, especially after leaving a hotel that was considerably worse. . . It was so bad we started a list of "You know you're in a bad hotel when. . ." just to keep our sense of humor about it. We're
happy to report that the new place is clean, nice and friendly. It is our little oasis from the noise and crowds of the city.
One thing I've been thinking about a lot is what it's like to walk here. Since I work in different places around the city, I walk a lot. The shoes I brought here for work have heels, which I am not used to. I'm not sure it was the smartest choice to bring heels to a country where I'm already about 6 inches taller than most people, but. . . that's what I have. So, I am learning to walk in heels on the streets of Buenos Aires. The streets here are a bit like an obstacle course in any shoes, and so the heels add an extra challenge for me. The sidewalks appear to be maintained and repaired by the people who live in front of them. Each morning, there are people outside sweeping and hosing off their sidewalks. It's necessary to do it every day, or even more than once a day because of the trash, poop and dust that gathers. The dog walkers (and owners) don't regularly feel the need
to pick up after their dogs, sooo. . . watch out. As I dodge the poo, there are cracks big and small in the sidewalk, as well as random construction projects that send you around cars and through traffic. Since the traffic is kind of nuts here, it's always important to keep a look out for crazy drivers of busses, horses, bikes and cars, while navigating the streets. I have come to enjoy the challenge, though I have been lucky and haven't stepped in any stinky piles. . . yet.
Well, this is a very long post. Thanks if you're still reading. I started rambling a bit, so thanks for following along. The adventure continues. . . more soon! We love you all very much!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.062s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 7; qc: 23; dbt: 0.042s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
St. M's Joan
non-member comment
Trick AND Treat !
Hi Lizzie and Daniel. Love the posts and pics. Funny to see some of the places I saw just last Feb. Glad you're in new & better digs. I Trick AND Treated the kids at my door with a candy (like a lemon drop) in a shiny green wrapper all covered in chinese writing. Say wah?? (They'll have to taste it to learn it's a guava drop!) God bless Uwajimaya.!