And it was ok. I survived. Somehow in a week I managed to overcome my initial fear and get a cell phone, meet people, feed myself (SO WELL) and find an apartment. I'm really glad that I had that feeling of anxiety and awkwardness. I feel like no study abroad experience would be complete without it. I'm also sure that this is not the last time I will feel it. I still have yet to start school.
I'm still staying at a hostel until I move into my apartment today. Initially I hated the hostel. The rooms were hot. I felt like an outsider because everyone at the hostel seemed to know each other. I couldn't find an apartment and I felt like I was going to be stuck here forever. But in the week that I've stayed here, I've come to love it. I've met some amazing people from all over the world. I danced salsa, merengue and samba (really badly) the other night and last night there were free empanadas and live music. We sat and watched the crazy brazilians from my dorm (WHO I LOVE) dance more than I thought was possible. I'm a little sad to be moving out, but at the same time, I am really excited to move into my great apartment. It will be nice not to have to share my room with 7 other people and my bathroom with who knows how many people. (20+?)
My apartment is great. I have my own room and bathroom and I share the HUGE apartment with two other people. My one roommate Ingrid, seems really sweet and she and I have gotten along really well so far. It's in a neighborhood called Belgrano on the north side of the city. It's a quiet, leafy neighborhood where it seems everyone is constantly having their dogs walked.
THE WEEK (or just last few days) IN REVIEW
Friday
On Friday I went to Recoleta cemetary. This is a huge tourist draw because it's where Evita is buried along with tons of other famous argentines like former president Domingo Sarmiento. I loved the cemetary. There were so many really beautiful tombs and statues. And, of course, I had to see Evita's tomb. I feel like a lot of tourists expect her to have her own tomb with a big EVITA sign and some sort of crazy statue/lighting/eternal flame/random dove release. But I feel that in comparison with some other tombs in Recoleta, hers is relatively modest. She's in the "Familia Duarte" tomb, which I think is a really interesting reminder that she wasn't always THE Evita. For a long time, she was just Eva Duarte. I find it hard to get caught up in the cult of Evita, but I will say that seeing people come and pay homage to a person who was so loved in politics is an interesting study in cross cultural politics. I can't really think of an equivalent we have in the US.
Saturday
On Saturday I was going to go back to Recoleta to the market, but I decided I was pretty tired from being an intense American tourist. So I went to San Martin, a nice area not too far from where I'm staying. It's a pretty quiet neighborhood with a big park and some monuments. I also saw the San Martin Palace. All of the monuments and architecture here is so overwhelming. I feel like every time I try and summarize everything I've seen in a given neighborhood, I completely fall short.
Sunday
On Saturday night I met some guys who just arrived at the hostel from the US and we were all planning on going to the San Telmo market on Sunday, so we decided we should just go together. I liked the atmosphere of the market. It was touristy, but not overly so. We had a great time and got food at a restaurant right on the street of the market. San Telmo is the traditional tango area, and I was a little surprised that I wasn't able to see any tango there. I'm sure I will at some point in my stay. After all, I did JUST get here.
Monday
On Monday we went to La Boca. I'll admit that this isn't my favorite area. I feel like it's very geared toward tourists and just feels totally insincere. It's the neighborhood where, after WWII, a lot of spanish and Italian immigrants moved and built makeshift tenements out of corrugated metal and painted them with the leftover bits of paint from the ships. It looked cool, but it's definitely devolved into kitsch over the years as it's become a tourist spot. The one thing I did like was that in all of the restaurants you can sit outside and watch tango and gaucho dancing. The video above is of one of the performers, a little girl who was SO FIERCE. I was a little obsessed with her. All of the dancers were really incredible. It definitely made me want to take tango lessons at some point while I'm here.
At night we went to a Parrilla in Cañitas called Las Cholas (real name) and I had vino tinto and asado. As God intended. I also tried fernet for the first time. I definitely get how people think it tastes like "black licorice flavored listorine" (actual quote from wikipedia). But I didn't hate it. I mean, I could get used to it.
So that's about it for the last few days. All of my pictures can be viewed at this link:
https://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=275666&id=519073612&l=7a389ff238
