HOLA!

Tomorrow marks the one week mark in BA (Buenos Aires)! Que lindo! (How great) My mind is constantly in Spanish mode even after such a short period of time. Before I got here, I was told that a lot of sleep was going to be necessary because it is exhausting translating from spanish to english back into spanish. I will attest to this statement - it is truth my friends. Exhausted would be correct. However, I love it! I love the fact that I am actually getting to use Spanish on a daily basis and will one day be good at this language! This might be a good time to mention that my host mom, Inez, does not speak a lick of English. We communicate though and it is great! She tells me all the time to relax and it is not important if I don't understand.

Inez is precious! She is the cutest little thing. She is 72 so she is kind of like my argentine grandma. We live on a really busy street - 6 lanes or 8 if you count the area where cars park/ the crazy drivers here drive in anyway. Seriously, I was warned by Mrs. Uhlig that when you are riding in a car here you would cross your fingers and say ," Lord if this is my time.." and it is true. It is as if the big white lines in the street do not even exist. It cracks me up. I was in a taxi the other night and could not help but laugh and think of Mrs Uhlig. And I am not sure if this is true but so far I have not seen a speed limit sign...

Continuing on the subject of cultural differences, here is a list of the things I have noticed so far:

• They love bread. Bread is a staple at every meal. I swear I do not understand how they are all so small because they eat bread like it was going out of style. Although I would not be able to pass up the bread either when you pass by a bakery in the morning. Smells wonderful. One look in the window of the bakery and you want in.
• Currently it is spring which means shorts in America. Not here. They are still rocking the boots and coats thinking it is cold.
• O I like this one - Bidets. I had never seen one before so when I had my first tour of the house I asked Inez what it was. Our apartment is pretty small mind you - think New York - so why you would waste space with such an object I do not know. I probably don't want to know.
• Turkey is an unknown meat here. There is no such thing. Ham, ham, ham, steak, salami.
• Dog poop=EVERYWHERE. If you dream of being a professional dog walker, this is the place for you! Seriously I have seen so many! As many as 10 dogs at once. I saw a man this morning with a belt on for dog leashes. Priceless. I thought that only existed in the movies.
• On the outsides of the windows there are these cool dark wooden blinds. From the street it gives a really neat look.
• Garages are super neat! Most everyone lives in a apartment here. There is one garage door and a pole with a green and red light on it. When the light turns red, a loud beeping sound warns pedestrians to stop on the sidewalk because a car is about to come out. All the cars for that apartment are kept underground. They just go right over the sidewalk and onto the street.
• It is very italian based. Pizza, ravioli, lasagna, gnocchi, etc. Also, green olives seem to be big. Every slice of pizza has a giant green olive in the middle of it... The spanish they use here, Castillano, has a lot of Italian influences. Chau, buenisimo, etc.
• Everything takes a lot longer here. Lines exist but not everywhere. And where there is a line, it usually moves really slow. Earlier this week when we were trying to set up our phone plans, we went into the same store three days in a row, twice a day for at least an hour and half each time.
• Do not, I repeat, DO NOT cross the street when the pedestrian sign says stop! Buses and cars will literally run you down. There is no concept here of pedestrians having the right of way. They do not stop.
• When I went into the supermercado (super market) I had to get my backpack zip tied while I was shopping. I might add I forgot to take out my wallet before hand... dummy.

Ahh there is so much I don't even know what else. Plus this post has already become pretty long. We have all year though right? haha. right.

This week has really just been a week of me settling in. I started classes on Tuesday and it is going well. (Did you know public universities are free here?! But hard to get into.) My stint team came on Wednesday. They are wonderful! Looking forward to spending the year with them. There are so many things I could go into but I will spare you from reading a novel. I had been trying to blog all week but was having issues logging on. Now that it finally worked I am unleashing the thoughts I had been storing up.

Tune in next week! This could get interesting my friends! As they say here - Chau! (Cha-ow)