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Published: February 4th 2008
Una Mesa Grande
This was the table that Mariano had prepared for us in his backyard! Where do I even start? So much has happened since my last entry that I don't even know where to begin to cover it all! But here it goes. When we left off, I told everyone we would be going to the beach this weekend, but plans got pushed back since Carnaval, which is like their Mardi Gras, starts tonight! So were saving the big beach trip weekend to Uruguay for this coming weekend: Feb. 8-10.
Alright, I've been attending intensive Spanish classes for a week now, although to be honest they were not so intensive as we thought they would be. We only had class from 2-4pm everyday and it was basically an introduction to the city and the language of Buenos Aires. You see, here they speak Castellano a dialect of Spanish. So some words and letters are pronounced differently, such as "y" or "ll" is pronounced with a "ch" sound. So our professor taught us all about the different phrases, the dialect, how to use the bus system, the subway, and other little things that are good to know. But now that class is over and my real classes begin on Monday. But my schedule is
Una Mesa Grande 2
All of us fit at the table, suprisingly! basically the same for the rest of the semester. I have class from 2-5p Monday through Thursday, no class on Friday, and I have one morning class on Wednesday from 10am-1pm but it's the Introduction to Argentina, so we will just be going to museums, plazas, historical buildings/sites, etc.
So what else have I been doing for the last week besides going to class? Well, last Friday night we went to a club called SAHARA and danced the night away (some of us were even on a stage most of the night - including me). Then on Saturday we all went over to Mariano's parents house for dinner at 10pm, who are the owners of the two Residencias we are staying at. We arrived by bus and were welcomed to the house and led to the backyard with a pool! (even though none of us brought our bathing suits) and they had a long long table completely set up for ALL 20 of us to sit at, including many kinds of wine, beer, soft drinks and water. They had cheese puffs and dip, Choripan - which is just summer sausage, halved and put on a sub roll (it's really
Alicia Dancing
One of the maids at our house is really cool, we got her to dance with us at the party! good with mustard), as well as chicken and corn, BBQ beef, and veggie empanadas which are like miniture calzones! And that was just the APPETIZERS! We didn't know they had an actual dinner of steak sandwiches with all the fixings waiting on us after that, but somehow we managed to stuff it down. And for desert, they served us a neopolitan-like ice cream with fresh sliced peaches and chocolate drizzle. Later our profesor and contact in BA- Ruben, our professor from CofC and his wife, Dr. Friedman, and another professor from the university down here all arrived. And to top it all off, Mariano had really good latin hip-hop music playing the whole time and by the time we left we were all up dancing in the backyard. Then he took all of us by taxi to a really cool dance club called Esperanto where we finished dancing the night away again until 4am in the morning! And that was only one night!
Finally, on Sunday night four of us decided to go to a little sub-neighborhood in Palermo called Las Canitas, for a very nice dinner at a restaurant called Campobravo. Two of us order grilled salmon and
Maurice
This is Mariano's dog, he was really funny. potatoes, mine came with an almond cream sauce and Natalie's came with a brown Malbec (which is their national wine) sauce. Both were scrumptious! John and Amber decided to split a mini grill made for two people that was pilled high with steak, ribs, chicken, sausage, and INTESTINES! Although, they didn't know they were intestines until after they had eaten them! Natalie and I split a bottle of white wine, and John and Amber a bottle of red or Malbec wine. Then we ordered desert, some helado or ice cream and some chocolate mousse. Then we finished off the night of amazing dinner, conversation, and friends with a champagne toast!
During the week we took it easy and just went out for a couple of drinks at some bars at the plaza near our house (Plaza Serrano) and talked and hung out some more. We also have found the three closest malls to our house and our school as well as what resembles a Wal-Mart down here, called JUMBO, so as far a shopping and house needs I'm set. We also went and laid out in a couple of the parks after class some days and soaked up some
sun, which was nice, so hopefully I'll come back with a tan before summer even starts at home. Which brings us to tonight! Like I said earlier, Carnaval, their Mardi Gras, starts tonight, and goes for the next month until Easter. Some people are going down to Puerto Madero, by the river, where they are supposed to have live music, dancing, food, and fun in the street. And four of us, including me, are going to dinner and a traditional Tango show first and then meeting up with the others down by the river. So all in all it has been a very good week. I am more acquainted with the language and with the city now, and feel like I am going to be right at home and not have too much trouble getting around. Classes start Monday, don't know what's in store for tomorrow, but were going to start planning our beach weekend, plus I have to find a hotel for my parents to stay in when they come down for their spring break, as well as a dance studio where some of us can take tango lessons, so that by the time we come back we will
The Girls and Marro
Marro is Mariano's business partner for the residencias be Professionals (yeah right!). I probably left a lot out, but if you have any questions or comments just send them my way, either on this website or by email! Until next time, Hasta Luego!
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Sheila Gillespie
non-member comment
Enjoying reading your blog!
Sounds like you are having a great time. What an adventure! I'll be checking on you often.