Visitantes!

Cool stuff I did last week:
-Went to a gallery opening at Cultural Center Borges - there was tons of people, wine, cheese, coke and fernet, pastries, cake, sandwhiches, babies, paintings - it was really cool. Then, the next day I saw illustrations from one of the artists in the newspaper.
-Saw photographs of the Pope in this fancy church and met the photographer.
-Skipped class on tuesday to go to the museum of modern art with Michelle and meet up with a boy from Couchsurfing at the Gato Negro. He has been backpacking in South America since november and had a lot of fun and interesting stories to tell - especially a good one about being literally chased by an angry mob out of Bolivia and being an illegal alien in Argentina for half an hour.
-Watched the Argentina vs Colombia game which was extremely uneventful.
-Went to like 5 San Telmo bars in one night with girls from the dorm and Gonza and didn't order anything anywhere.

AND NOW CAYLA IS  HERE IN ARGENTINA!
On Saturday I met up with her and her friend Danielle where they are staying at Danielles family's home in Recoleta. I was talking to them about my experiences here (for example: everyone thinking I'm Argentine and not believing I'm from the states) and telling them about typical argentine things (for a silly example: only drinking coke and fernet and saying the first time you hate it, the second time your intrigued and the third time you're addicted). Then Danielle's cousin Nico came to pick us up and we went to a previa at his house in Belgrano. First of all, his first friend who walked in the door says "Whose the americans? (pointing at me) You don't look American, you look Argentinian!" Check one. The next group of girls who walk in bring coke and fernet. Check two. Upon seeing the bottles, the boys turn to us and say "You know what they say about fernet...it's like sex for a woman...the first time you hate it..." CHECK THREE. What can I say? I've been here a while. Add in the chin "IDK" movement and all the i's were dotted. Anyway, the previa was really fun and we played this dumb drinking game (this one kid could NOT wrap his head around the fact that I was going to go out without drinking) called Tomanji if anyone wants to download the app (get it? like Jumanji). Same kid said something pretty interesting to me and Cayla - he was like "thinks must be easier for you two in the States." When asked to elaborate he said "looking like you look" and i was like "being latina? why would it be easier?" and what he said was to the effect that it must be easier because of the stereotypes of latina women and the images in the media - his example was "Sophia Vergara" (who is gorgeous but painfully whitewashed / forced into a "latina" stereotype - I heard she was naturally blonde and had to dye her hair to play her character on Modern Family). Of course I had to be that chick and get all Macalester and explain why this wasn't true. Luckily he didn't think I was a freak after that and seemed to understand what I was saying. Anyway, more and more people kept coming- they are friends from either all going to Jewish day school together (I die) or going to the UBA medical school together and so we all ended up at this warehouse near the Planetarium at a party for the UBA med school. So basically we were at a school dance? But where everyone was going to be Drs? I swear to god. So anyway then the kids we came with were trying to teach me bachata and like...that just didn't really work out but it was fun anyway - at least I was dipped until my head was on the floor or whatever. Then coming home was an adventure because I had to ask a doorman how to get to the 10 which was like 8 blocks away - Cayla and Danielle got off in Recoleta and then closer to the dorm Macarena got on with her friends so that was HILARIOUS. She was speaking flawless english to me and kept hugging me. Then I get off the bus and theres a cop car and a thousand people in front of the sketchy nightclub on the corner of the dorm and I found Charlie just standing there watching everyone in the middle of the street. What a night.

Today was Sunday so Cayla and Danielle came to the San Telmo market and we walked around for hours and bought some souvenirs for friends and family (only 2 more people to go!). I love that market. We had some good conversations with people there and I really feel like I can speak spanish! I am still limited in terms of vocab and time frame but I can get by and speak pretty fast. I also found a new little restaurant on Defensa with really cheap french fries, do you know, that's good to know. For reference.

I'm so so so happy Cayla is here! It's so nice to see her and meet her friend and hear about her life this past semester. She is like the definition of Buena Onda especially now that I am entering the home stretch. Having her here makes me really feel like I know this city and what to do and that I have really made a life for myself here, which is reassuring.

Now I just have to motivate myself to get some homework done? Apparently I have a presentation and a final this week?

Also this week in Global Affairs - North and South Korea have agreed to meet, Austria has pulled all it's UN troops from the Golan Heights due to increased threats (but Birthright thinks its okay to send kids there now? Literally the day I read this article Chloe was in the Golan watching bombs explode in Syria, so that's not ok), and there are new reports of rape war crimes in Colombia.

Also, although this is a white country, the neighborhood where I live and the events where I find myself are less so, and more and more and more I love looking around and being in a latin country.