I have lots to update on!
So, Tuesday we learned how to tango, which was super cool. Tango is HUGE in Argentina, and they have dance halls where you can basically tango with strangers. We only learned the basics, but it was pretty fun. I didn’t step on too many toes, and the class was pretty relaxed. I would add pictures, but they’re all embarrassing. So no.
Wednesday, we had school and visited the Eva Perón museum. We learned about Eva’s life, saw her clothes, watched some videos of her speeches and funeral, etc. (Fun fact that you really don’t need to know: 3 million people came to her funeral.) Eva was the first lady of Argentina and wife of President Juan Perón, and the two are pretty controversial here. There are those who idolize them (i.e. those in the museum) and those who hate them. My host mother is one of those who is more “antiperonista” or “anti-Perón.” I was talking with her later that day, and she told me thatJuan Perón sheltered the Nazi’s during World War II? But anyways, it was pretty interesting.
Thursday, we had school again (bleh), and we had a free afternoon, which I spent doing work. Go me. I’m so exiting.
Friday was…interesting. Basically, I arrived to school an hour late and was very cranky.
1) The subway station was closed.
2) I was very confused, so I followed the huge crowd of people out of the station down a few blocks, hoping they were walking to a different station.
3) The group of people became super spread out, and I realized they probably weren’t walking to the same place. I thought the whole subway might be closed. Changed plan and decided I could walk to school.
4) Realized I would have to walk ten blocks through one of the most dangerous parts of the city. Changed plan again and decided the whole subway probably wasn’t closed.
5) Started looking for a subway station. Asked people for directions, but ended up scaring one or two because my voice sounded like death. (I became even more sick and could barely speak without squeaking like a pubescent boy on helium.)
6) Finally found a subway station, but there was some type of ceremony happening next to it, honoring the 20th anniversary of the AMIA bombing. It was the deadliest bombing in Argentina’s history and aimed at the Jewish community. Terrible stuff. But anyways, I stopped to listen to a speech for a few minutes because if you’re going to be a little late anyways, you might as well enjoy yourself and be a hella late.
Then, I finally made it to school. Yay. I barely made it through the day anyways because I couldn’t really… speak. Or I could, but I sounded like I’d been smoking three packs a day for the last seventy years.
Later that day we watched a tango show at a cultural center in the city, and it was AMAZING! The dancers were extremely talented, and the musicians were superb. (Especially the guy on the accordian! New respect for that instrument.) Watching those dancers leap and twirl and hearing the singers belt out beautiful ballads made me feel extraordinarily untalented.
My self-esteem crawled into a dark hole and cried in tones of deep anguish.
Today was lots of fun. There was no class, so I slept for twelve hours and woke up at noon. (Don’t judge me.) It was completely justified because my body needed to recover. My voice sounded a lot better today, so hopefully I’m getting better! The group met at a park in Palermo which was absolutely GORGEOUS. Some members of the group relaxed and played some soccer, while others rowed boats in the lake, etc. The other girls in the group and I went on a pedal boat! It was really neat because I think I only ever remember riding a pedal boat once before in my life, and I’m not even sure it was a pedal boat because my memory sucks. I don’t really know where I was going with that tangent. Anyways.
Later on, we rode in those little cart things with pedals (pedal cars?). I’m not sure what they’re called…Ours had two flat tires, a broken pedal, and a broken steering wheel, so it was basically a disaster. We ended up half-pushing, half-riding the cart and being super loud and obnoxious. We were so obviously American that some random little kid said “hi” to us in English. That’s pretty bad. But, hey, at least it was fun! Afterwards, we were free, so a few of us went to eat dinner at this kinda fancy restaurant (quasi-fancy?) and devoured their pizza. Argentina seriously has the best pizza– it’s extremely cheesy, and the crust is perfect. One thing I don’t enjoy about Argentina though is that they charge for water. Their tap water isn’t always healthy to drink.
And after that, I did what every Madeleine Lee tends to do, and I got lost! …Again. I thought I’d found the street which is adjacent to my home, but I ended up walking, like, ten blocks in the wrong direction into this sketchy neighborhood. By the time I’d retraced my path and walked another six or seven blocks home, I was exhausted.
And now I should probably stop writing and go to sleep because I have to wake up at 6AM tomorrow morning. We’re going to URUGUAY!!!
So pumped.
The Backpack Babe 