Friday, September 29, 2006

late as usual

There, I finally put up a link for you, Jason. (At least you don't know my password.)

Everyone else, you should go visit my brother's site if you haven't yet! (Hint for dumb blondes like me: look under 'Kin' on the sidebar.)

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Just a little commentary

When studying overseas, it seems like everything slows down. The class schedule is less hectic, for one thing.

When studying overseas, it seems like everything takes more time. Meals take more time (especially if you're eating with others). Transportation takes more time... Take the bus and you have to go to the correct bus stop, wait for the bus (late in the evening this could be a l-o-n-g wait), and wait for the bus to get through traffic if it's a busy hour; then of course you may have to walk again to reach your destination, or take another bus... Studying takes more time. Obviously because it's in another language, and also because the professor may have a different style, or you don't know exactly what he or she is expecting.

Business takes more time. Go to the bank and you may have to wait at least half an hour... go to the post office and you'll almost certainly wait an hour minimum. In the case of the bank it's mostly just a question of quantity of customers. In the case of the post office... I haven't figured it out yet. Maybe the employees just enjoy taking their time. It was the same over in France. There I would get up to arrive at 8 a.m. sharp and only have to wait behind 3 or 4 people, but the hours aren't as exact here.

In some ways, life is simpler. In both France and Argentina my host families don't have a dishwasher. In France I hung my laundry over a drying rack, here Silvina hangs it on a line. Both Mme. Josianne and Silvina buy groceries during the week as they think of them and need them... of course, for a family who has to drive at least 15 minutes to the nearest grocery store, one that turns out rather expensive, this doesn't work. We almost never used the family's DVD player in France, and here Silvina just bought a DVD player (and I got to help her set up the Spanish subtitles! - because, of course, all the 'good movies' (= ones that she likes) are in English).

In France if we wanted bread or dessert or a snack, we bought it, and here it's pretty much the same, though I've tried a few desserts that almost turn out right and that mostly everybody loves (it would help if the stores had things like cocoa or chocolate chips... for the latter, have to guess how much I need, buy the bar(s) and chop 'em up). In both homes we rarely turn on the oven, maybe once a week.

And there's probably a heap more, but as I'd like to pick up my VISA tomorrow and don't know how long that will take, and as Silvina's mother is coming for dinner tonight, better get home and study a little...

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Mañana

Just to not go a week without saying anything. Tomorrow sounds like a good day to post, doesn't it? Because I don't have much time this afternoon, and the Internet is really crawling... at least on this computer.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

So much for that

Spring decided to leave us the day after it came.

Thursday the government suggested that Friday be a day of not driving autos (and taking public transportation instead, I suppose), since autos are damaging to the environment and congest the traffic. Apparently it didn't work very well, because traffic was horrible last night. When we took a colectivo in Cabildo, it took us as long to get from the street Olleros up to the street Juramento as I could have walked it.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Feliz primavera!

It's - the -- first --- day ---- of ----- spriiiiinnng!!

How's everything up in the Northern Hemisphere?

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

When walking...

Well, I did promise the post, so even though the university Internet turned very sluggish this afternoon, your BA correspondent is in the locutorio next door to her house in order to fulfill that promise. Besides, Silvina is cleaning and Emi is visiting with Ale. How am I supposed to study?

Speaking of studying, I realized today that there are only three midterms next week, one the week following, and then we just wait for the finals in early November.

The university is only a brisk fifteen-minute walk from our house, but fifteen minutes is nine blocks and plenty of time to see interesting things in Buenos Aires. By the way, whether you are out walking or in a colectivo, remember to keep track of both the name and number of the street. There are so many streets in Buenos Aires and the major ones are so long that they are numbered in hundreds, advancing a hundred with each block. So going from Cabildo 600 to Cabildo 5200 is 46 blocks... a good walk of perhaps an hour, depending on your rate and how many red lights you hit.

In France - at least, in Dijon - it is sometimes possible to walk by eye and not by the light. Don't try that too much here. Drivers are much less thoughtful and will bear down on you honking all the way. Of course, if you happen to be on the right side of the street you can often make it across before the traffic from the other side arrives, especially if you are crossing a street adjoining a larger one where the colectivos and some taxis and a few bold drivers keep heading through the first 15 seconds of red light, considered no man's land.

Streets that are tranquil in the afternoon are a little too tranquil when you are heading home from a class that finishes at 9 p.m., so if alone try to follow busier streets, even if it costs you a few blocks. If you walk with someone and don't like whistles try to make sure that someone isn't a girl who doesn't mind wearing a skirt that you wouldn't.

Despite afternoon and evening classes, if for some reason you leave on an empty stomach, there are plenty of little stands where someone is roasting peanuts and packaging popcorn and candy to sell... averaging about one a block on the major streets. There are also plenty of people hovering around subway exits and newspaper stands waiting to shove flyers and business cards in front of you. May as well take them, you'll feel generous and you'll probably pick up some with a blank back, which will save you from buying post-it notes.

As in France, there are plenty of dogs, and dogs leave gifts. Somehow Buenos Aires seems more dangerous in this aspect than in France. The best time to go walking is around 7 or 7:30 a.m., when the sidewalks have just been hosed off. You will often see dogwalkers with a group of dogs, anywhere from between four and twenty (well, okay, I've never counted...). This is a job invented during the economic crisis of 2002 and it sticks around. However, it sounds like some dogwalkers occasionally beat the dogs and take long smoke breaks in the park.

Consider it a great triumph when you are returning home one night and realize where you are not by street names or numbers but by recognizing the man at the newspaper stand one block from where you turn off. This means you're getting quite comfortable in Buenos Aires... at least in your little part of it.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Short

This is a pretty pathetic blog for an overseas student, isn't it?

As it turns out, next week is midterms week, so I have an excuse this time. Midterms in every class except Spanish, but sounds like they will be pretty short and straightforward.

Tomorrow will be more tranquil with only one class, and I promise that there will be something more interesting to read.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Wonderful day!

Happy 48th birthday to Mommy!

And congratulations to Daddy, who is retiring -- today is his last day at FedEx!!

How much lovelier can this Friday be?

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Next vacation

Thursday of next week is another día feriado. This time it's El Día del Estudiante! Clearly a tradition that the U.S. should import.

I would have had Wednesday through Sunday free (just think, a 2-day week), but as one of my two classes that meets Thursday also has a Wednesday section that doesn't get off, it seems better not to miss a chunk of the material, even if I already have some of the notes. A one-class day isn't that bad.

Actually, it isn't a holiday for all students, just for most high school and university students. Sounds like the Argentinian students go party for one day. Me? Midterms are coming, I plan to study! At least un poquito.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Las noticias

Not that there's much news to report.

Let's see... Spring is coming. I haven't worn a coat all weekend.

The student life continues. Studying and homework take quite a long time some days, but drinking maté with salsa music in the background is generally a good combination! For those who don't know, maté taken in the traditional style is like tea leaf pieces (from a plant that isn't tea) in a little wooden vase. Add hot water (not boiling) from a kettle, a little at a time, and sip it with a sort of metal or wooden pipe. At the beginning it's stronger than green tea, at the end pretty bland... needless to say, I prefer the beginning, but as long as there's hot liquid it's quite good. Better than tea but not recommended right before bed, unless you're one of those people who fall asleep on stimulants.

Getting used to the Argentine schedule now... that is, never getting up before the sun, having afternoon and evening classes, eating supper at 9 on average, rarely going to bed before midnight.

Castellano (Spanish is what they speak in Spain) is coming along. However, I was slightly disappointed to wake up from dreaming in English and realize that I can't recollect dreaming in castellano yet. However (only English speakers studying abroad are allowed to use two "however's" so close together) the subjunctive mode is becoming more natural, almost a daily occurrence. The Spanish subjunctive is more fun than the French because there is always a change in the verb structure, not just one that hides in typical endings and unpronounced vowels.

Well, that's all for today. Tomorrow is a day off and I just might be able to give you a quick description of classes... something promised long ago, when the Internet connection was more reliable and private.

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Comment in a Post

Since I can't visit the comments, I will just have to imagine them till I get to a locutorio sometime. But I did forget to include something yesterday. Why did the photography line take so long? There was one man sitting behind a desk, arranging numbers for us to hold against our chest, taking pictures, printing them off and then trimming them - by hand - with a scissors. How much it would take to pay an extra person to at least sit there and trim the photos, I don't know.

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

... Getting the VISA ...

We're on a roll here: second day straight of blog access and this is even a different computer! (#1)

Today is Wednesday, which means no classes (for me) and normally an afternoon visit to the university for Internet. Usually I get here before 5 p.m., at least on days that we (international students) don't have to visit Immigration to obtain student VISAs.

We had to arrive at the university at 8:30 a.m. to take a bus. However, we stood or sat around for probably half an hour before.... either before everything was ready or before the bus arrived.

First stop was a different office in town where we had gone the week before to get our fingers all blacked up. That stuff was hard to get off. They had bottles of lemony-something gel and it took at least three batches to get most of it off. They needed our fingerprints in order to give us today's form announcing that we aren't criminals. So we showed up at this building and formed a line that was constantly being broken by other people trying to pass. It didn't take long to shout out names and hand out the forms, but afterwards some of us stood outside close to an hour while they finished up with a few students. It wasn't really cold, but just enough to be a little uncomfortable.

Then we took the bus to Immigration. This was more interesting. First we had to sit and wait for them to call us up to the desks one by one to fill out a form and cross-check information; then go stand in line at the cashier's to pay the 200 pesos; then return with the receipt to the desk of the same immigrations agent; then go stand in line to have our picture taken; then return to seats and wait till our particular agent was free to finish up with us; ... only to receive a form that we're instructed to keep with our passport till the day we can come back to receive our VISAs. Somehow I thought this was just a two-visit process. Oh well, nothing like the joys of waiting! Those of us who finished first were lucky. We only had to wait about an hour for the bus to arrive to take the first load of students back. Many of the others were still standing in line for photos, some of them at least an hour. One girl hadn't even been called up for the first time when we left!

I just hope the day we go back is another no-class day for me, or I may have to resign myself to actually missing.

Now that's quite enough sitting for today, time to head back home!

Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Surprise

What a miracle! My blog works. I don't know what happened. Maybe it only works on the fourth and last computer?

Last week we enjoyed much warmer weather, which promptly changed back to nearly frigid cold on Friday. Today is a little better. Just think, spring is coming in less than three weeks!

Here's an event of the week. A good-sized wooden ladder has been sharing the house with Silvina and Emi and I. It has been leaning up against the wall next to the door... the only place for it in this quaint little house... in a relatively stable position. Well, guess what happened Saturday night. I was unlocking for Felipe, a friend who was leaving (both the house door and the gate to our set of houses), and as we went out the door I barely bumped against the ladder. We were just outside when crash the whole thing came down, knocking over a good-sized fan with it. It knocked the gas heater and came within inches of hitting the windows to the kitchen. Of course, nearly everything's funny at such a dark and early hour, so Ale and Emi and Feli and I all had a good laugh over that. Wouldn't you know that this would happen to happen the weekend that Silvina was visiting relatives in Rosario. She is going to have someone look at the heater, but so far it has been working fine.

That's all the time available for today. Tomorrow, who knows... maybe the same computer will be free!