First day in Buenos Aires

Living in a foreign country is a good way to increase your humility.  Because pretty much everything you do seems stupid.

Yesterday, I finally arrived in Buenos Aires after a grueling 13-hour red-eye flight.  I wasn't able to sleep at all, but on the upside, the flight attendants served me food!! and WINE! Those 3 ounces of wine were pretty much the highlight of my journey.  I convinced everyone I encountered that I spoke fluent Spanish, although I understood approximately 5 percent of what they said.  When the flight attendent came by to ask what we wanted for dinner, I just said "lo mismo" ("the same") and found that the lady sitting next to me had ordered teriyaki chicken.  Not bad.

The trouble started after I arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires.  I hadn't written down the exact address of my host family because my program's director had told me that there would be a taxi waiting for me.  As I left customs, I saw a bunch of people holding signs with names, but none with mine.  So after pacing back and forth, thinking maybe I just hadn't seen my driver for some reason, I decided to get another taxi.  This turned out to be fine (although it was quite a bit more expensive than the original taxi), but I still didn't know the address, so I told him (in my rudimentary Spanish) the name of the barrio and the street where I was living and asked him to drop me off at an internet cafe.

Apparently he thought I meant a real cafe.  Like, with pastries and coffee.  And without internet.  So I bought a doughnut and a bottle of water after ten minutes of trying to figure out the exact means of doing so, then sat down to see if I could find nearby wi-fi.  No luck.  I didn't know how I was supposed to pay for my snack, so I just waited with a profound look of confusion until a waitress came over and told me how much money I owed.  Of course hearing her speak Spanish caused me an undue amount of anxiety, so I didn't hear exactly what she said and misunderstood her.  She said it was 10 pesos and 86 cents, but I thought she said 86 pesos, which would be around 20 dollars.  But I gave her a hundred pesos anyways and awaited to see how much change I'd get back.  After not being ripped off, I asked the woman where I could find internet, and she gave me directions that I didn't really understand, but she made it seem like it was somewhere on that street.  I walked up and down Avenida Boedo probably 20 times before I found an Internet cafe.  Luckily I was only two blocks from the house and I finally made it there.

My host family is SO GREAT.  Pablo and Regula are tango instructors, and they also run a bed and breakfast that is attached to their house.  Juan is 13, but he is only here Wednesday, Thursdays, and the last weekend of every month (I think? I dunno they explained this to me but I only ever understand half of what they say), and the rest of the time he lives with his mom.  Moira is 5 and Cornelios is 3, and they are the cutest and friendliest little kids ever.  Last night I was in my room kind of avoiding them so I didn't have to deal with the stress of speaking and hearing Spanish, and I could hear the little kids and their dad singing to tango music at the top of their lungs in the kitchen.

Last night I was in my room wondering when dinner was going to happen, but being to afraid to ask, I googled it and eHow told me dinner would be between 8pm and 9pm, which turned out to be correct! Who knew?  Anyways, I had no idea what I was eating, although it looked like mashed potatoes with some vegetables on top.  I asked Pablo, and I think he told me it was mashed corn?  It tasted good though.

Today I slept until lunch time, so my family probably thinks I'm the laziest person ever.  I also didn't leave the house because I didn't know where to go and I don't have a phone yet.  About an hour ago, Regula knocked on my door and started telling me something.  I was really proud of myself because I thought I understood almost everything she said.  She said she was going to give me a tour of Buenos Aires so that I knew where everything was.  So I put on my coat (because it's winter here and it's actually really cold, given that I'm used to summer weather) and walked downstairs.  Well apparently she was going to give me a tour of Buenos Aires by showing me things on the MAP.  oops.  so currently I feel like the biggest dummy this side of the Mississippi.  But she explained some important things, like how Argentines conjugate their verbs weird (that explained part of the reason why I couldn't understand any of what they said) and how to use the bus guide (the most complicated thing in the world).  And I told her that I didn't understand much of the Spanish I heard and that I would probably ask the same questions many times.  Unfortunately I haven't really asked any questions, but instead I just nod and pretend like I get what's going on -- not the best idea.

I won't lie, this is a really scary experience.  It's really hard to not be able to understand what's going on around you, even more so than I thought.  I miss hearing people speak English!  But luckily I have a great family, and I'm pretty comfortable with this house.  Once I decide to leave the house, though.... welp, that'll be another story.

Pictures coming soon! Like, after I take them and upload them!