So, clearly I've really been on top of this blog. In my defense, I started school about two weeks ago, so I've been intensely committed to my studies. Among other things.
Three weeks ago I moved into my apartment. I live in a great area in Belgrano in a huge apartment with two roommates. I can't believe how incredibly lucky I got with this apartment and my roommate. Especially since it found it on Craigslist. (oops)
On March 9th, I started classes at Di Tella. The classes are 4 hours a week and I'm taking 4. I'm not used to 2 to 4 hour classes, so the first couple of weeks were pretty tiring, and I definitely survived on coffee. I decided to change my classes around in light of some new offerings I didn't know about before orientation. These are my new classes.
1. International Conflict and Security
2. Latin American in the International System
3. Argentine Foreign Policy
4. Origins and Evolution of the Peronist Movement in Argentina
So far I haven't had much trouble understanding my teachers when they lecture. The classes are interesting, but there is constantly a ton of reading. I guess I should have expected it, but it's hard to get back into the swing of things after being off for over two months. What's really nice is that a lot of the reading is in English. It's not that I can't read in Spanish, it just takes a lot longer. So, I'm pretty glad for the English readings.
I thing my favorite class is 4th one, about Peronism. We haven't actually started talking about Peronism, but the professor has basically taken the week to give us a general introduction to everything we need to know about Argentina. I should mention that the class is only for exchange students, so there are a lot of things about which we're pretty clueless. He explains stories in the newspaper, he talked about what all of the provinces are like and lets us in on our own bias. It's been really helpful.
So, this blog post is clearly not as interesting as the last one, probably because I've stopped touristing around Buenos Aires and had to grow up and start my life here. Which has been nice. Moving into my apartment was like coming home after a week long vacation.
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Fitting In
I meant to post this weeks ago, but apparently it never got published. So, here it is.
On Tuesday I moved into my apartment in Belgrano. It's SO NICE to have a permanent place to stay and not have to share a room with 8 people and a bathroom with 20+. Belgrano is a quiet, leafy neighborhood on the north side of Buenos Aires. I share my apartment with two other people. The only roommate I've met so far has been Ingrid, and she's really, really nice. She showed me around Belgrano a bit and helped me settle into my new apartment.
On Friday I went to orientation at di Tella (the university I'm attending here). I changed some of the classes I'm taking and I'm really excited to see what they're like. The people at the school seem very helpful and they're even having a party for us next week. The only issue was that my study abroad advisor at UM never sent them the information for my health insurance. This is pretty typical of UM study abroad.
So, that's the summary of interesting things for this week. The rest is just some random thoughts I've had about my experience so far in Buenos Aires.
1. Walking in Buenos Aires is not for the unexperienced or the faint of heart. Especially when crossing the streets. I don't think I've ever lived in a place where you had to pay more attention when you were walking.
2. Oddly enough, it seems like what we would call a mullet is pretty fashionable here for guys. I don't know. I don't get it.
3. In Buenos Aires, you can get just about anything delivered. Today I had my groceries delivered for the first time and it was AWESOME.
4. When I come back from Argentina, I have no doubt that at least to some extent I will have adopted an argentine accent. I find that when I don't say certain words in the argentine accent here, people tend to not understand me. E.g. Olleros, Plaza de Mayo, Callao
5. I think the process of me acquiring a taste for Fernet is going to be a long one. But I will persevere.
6. Ideally I would like to take a colectivo (city bus) to school, but the system is ridiculously complicated. I'm determined to do it. I bought a "Guia T", the guide to the colectivos, but I feel like it just made me more confused. But I'm going to do this. It's going to happen.
7. I haven't felt the peso issues as much as I thought I would. I've become a pro at going into the bank and handing them a bunch of 100 peso notes and asking for small bills with coins. And playing dumb to get small coins at the subte station. And playing dumb when I need to buy something at a kiosco and I only have a 50 peso note. I got kinda thrown out of a Citi Bank last week but it was only half my fault.
On Tuesday I moved into my apartment in Belgrano. It's SO NICE to have a permanent place to stay and not have to share a room with 8 people and a bathroom with 20+. Belgrano is a quiet, leafy neighborhood on the north side of Buenos Aires. I share my apartment with two other people. The only roommate I've met so far has been Ingrid, and she's really, really nice. She showed me around Belgrano a bit and helped me settle into my new apartment.
On Friday I went to orientation at di Tella (the university I'm attending here). I changed some of the classes I'm taking and I'm really excited to see what they're like. The people at the school seem very helpful and they're even having a party for us next week. The only issue was that my study abroad advisor at UM never sent them the information for my health insurance. This is pretty typical of UM study abroad.
So, that's the summary of interesting things for this week. The rest is just some random thoughts I've had about my experience so far in Buenos Aires.
1. Walking in Buenos Aires is not for the unexperienced or the faint of heart. Especially when crossing the streets. I don't think I've ever lived in a place where you had to pay more attention when you were walking.
2. Oddly enough, it seems like what we would call a mullet is pretty fashionable here for guys. I don't know. I don't get it.
3. In Buenos Aires, you can get just about anything delivered. Today I had my groceries delivered for the first time and it was AWESOME.
4. When I come back from Argentina, I have no doubt that at least to some extent I will have adopted an argentine accent. I find that when I don't say certain words in the argentine accent here, people tend to not understand me. E.g. Olleros, Plaza de Mayo, Callao
5. I think the process of me acquiring a taste for Fernet is going to be a long one. But I will persevere.
6. Ideally I would like to take a colectivo (city bus) to school, but the system is ridiculously complicated. I'm determined to do it. I bought a "Guia T", the guide to the colectivos, but I feel like it just made me more confused. But I'm going to do this. It's going to happen.
7. I haven't felt the peso issues as much as I thought I would. I've become a pro at going into the bank and handing them a bunch of 100 peso notes and asking for small bills with coins. And playing dumb to get small coins at the subte station. And playing dumb when I need to buy something at a kiosco and I only have a 50 peso note. I got kinda thrown out of a Citi Bank last week but it was only half my fault.
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