Two More Weeks

Tomorrow Cayla and her friend Danielle leave Buenos Aires, and I'm so glad they were here for the past week and two weekends! I saw them almost everyday, even if it was just for an hour in between be being slightly deathly hill and running to class and work. I tried to be a good little tourguide and tell them fun things to do. On Wednesday we went out with Gonzalo, Michelle and Gonza's friend Jorge to la Puerta Roja, Thursday we went to dinner with girls Danielle knew form home (at Desnivel, as a vegetarian I was dissapointed in this place), then to HHCC (where I was literally blowing my nose on the dance floor - cute), Friday I didn't see them cause I was sick and in class all day (also kind of had a melt down Friday night because I was so fed up with this dorm). Saturday: Aileen and I went to the Recoleta Fair to finish up souvenir shopping (SUCCESS except now how do I eat for the next two weeks? JK mom), I wrote the first draft of my Native People's paper and started watching Breaking Bad. Then C D and I went to the Konex for Cumbia Konex. The part with the live band was awesome but the DJ was a little lackluster and the crowd was shockingly a)small and b)still for a cumbia show...I had quite the adventure going home. I was waiting at the bus stop, with a crowd, for the longest. A boy around my age asked me for directions but I didn't know (I was lost myself). We chatted for a bit after he asked me where my accent was from (because it was so "distinct" aka terrible). Then a bus comes and everyone gets on it, leaving me all alone at this bus stop in the middle of Abasto at 4 30 in the morning. A few minutes later my friend was back! He said he got on the bus and then felt bad for leaving me all alone waiting so late at night so he came back to wait with me (no quise por vos quedaste sola!). Turns out I was waiting on the wrong side of the street anyway. So we had to walk to a new bus stop. At this point Osmer and I are practically best friends and trading life stories (he is 22, moved here from Peru when he was 12, he studied english for a year in HS but doesn't remember anything, he likes living in Argentina). I thought this was the sweetest thing in the world! Then the bus comes and I thank him for waiting with me and I get on it. I have to switch at Las Heras and the 10 was taking forever so I sucked it up and took the 59 and cabbed it from the bus stop to the dorm. I was chatting with my bus driver and we started talking about politics (he's an anarchist) and he was asking me all kinds of questions like what do I think about the US involvement in Latin America, what did I know about US involvement in LA's dictatorships, what do I think about the US surveillance scandal, etc etc. I like to think that I improved his view of Americans (not that he expressed any negative ones) and we had an interesting talk about about Pinochet, US funding to Argentina, the School of the America's (crazy how that is common knowledge down here and not at ALL at home). He even turned off the meter while we were talking! Eventually, he wrote down the name of a german documentary he said I needed to watch (it's called Zeitgeist for those interested), shook my hand and drove off. Two lovely (all Spanish! Even after 3.5 months I can't get over it) interactions with two lovely people in the middle of the night in Buenos Aires. I swear, some of the most interesting people in this city are cab drivers.

Sunday we went to a cute health food-y place in Recoleta and I had frozen yogurt and pineapple for the first time since crossing the equator. DELICIOUS.

I'm sad Cayla is leaving but so glad I got to see her and so excited to see how Valpo compares now after 6 years (she is headed to Chile tomorrow)! Having her here really made me realize how at home I am in this city, no matter how much it drives me crazy or kicks my ass. It also made me realize how far I've come with spanish when I was translating for all three of us when we went places!

And now, the final countdown (this time in two weeks I will be boarding a plane for Ben Gurion Airport) of my last two weeks in Buenos Aires and FINALS begin!