I just wanted to jot down a few ideas before I forget them.
It's really interesting to me how small of a footprint (waste-wise) my host family leaves compared to what I'm used to at home and school. My host mother in Madrid was the same way. For example, the trash cans. I don't even have a trash can in my room (I've started using a plastic bag because I often have to throw something away). There is one small trashcan in the bathroom, and one small trash can in the kitchen. They're both about1.5 feet tall. In the kitchen, we eat all the food except for bones (My host mom doesn't like to throw food away because she can see people starving on the streets). Other than food, there aren't many packages and things from food because people buy more fresh ingredients that aren't wrapped in boxes and bags etc. The milk comes in a bag so that doesn't take much space to dispose of. (Apparently milk came in a bag in lithiania too, back in the day). In the bathroom I throw away the hair that falls out in the shower and a tissue now and then, but that's it. Everything just seems more simplified. And it also doesn't seem like this family is constantly buying new things and having to throw out the packaging.
Also, the kitchen shows this minimalism. For example, there are 4 poeple living in this house and we have 4 glasses, 4 wine glasses, and 4 mugs. That's it. It makes sense, one per person. In these small apartments, it's not like my host mom is throwing dinner parties or anything. The kitchen is full of just the things they need and nothing more.
The other, completely different topic I was thinking about yesterday was what makes my spanish better or wise. "What" meaning, what conditions. Besides learning the language and such, in some situations I can speak faster and more accurately and in others I feel like I'm just running into a wall over and over again. Of course, whenever I'm tired, it gets much harder to get the words out and think quickly. I also notice that I sometimes speak better when I'm forced to. For example when I speak to younger people who talk faster. Sometimes I don't think so much, I just try to get the idea out at their pace and it works. Although sometimes they just speak to fast and I have to say "what" after everything they say. Of course then there are accents. When people have accents that I'm not used to it is very difficult to have a conversation with them. Some people say that when they drink, they speak better because they're more relaxed. I found that after I drink I had more trouble speaking. Maybe I was tired that night though, it's hard to separate all the variables. Sometimes I also have trouble forming sentences after I've been speaking spanish for a long time. Since it is exhausting for me to speak, after a day of struggle my spanish usually worsens. I guess that's related to being mentally exhausted (agotada=exhausted).
One third random thing: The other day my host sister gave me a comic book that she read as a young girl. It's called Mafalda, by Quino, a famous argentinian comic book author. Apparently there is Plaza Mafalda nearby with statues of the characters. My host sister told me I could ask her any questions I had about the book and its content. She said it showed a lot about argentian culture. I thought that was sweet that she was reaching out to me. I learned a lot of new words from just the biografy of the author in the beginning.
Ok one last update. To follow up on the honeymoon period ending etc: This is still a strange time because I still dont' have a fixed schedule and I'm trying to figure out how best to spend my time. But it's still nice becuase I just feel like I'm on vacation. Something that really helps to make me feel comfortable is that my host parents completely respect my space here in this room. They never ever come in here or even knock on the door to say something. They really try to make it like my apartment or something. Having that personal space and privacy makes me feel a lot more comfortable. It's a place where I can relax or hide if I'm feel exhausted and feel comfortable that I won't have to jump up and intereact with other people. I feel like that is one of the difficult things about studying abroad. You aren't in your comfort zone at all and sometimes you don't have a space that is really yours. Some host mothers will come in whenever, clean your room and move your stuff around or what not. With out this personal space, one can feel like they always are exerting themselves or have to be presentable. It's already stressful enough that you always have to be thinking al ot when you speak in the foreign language to all the people. Anyways, I just wanted to note here the value of this personal space, I think it has helped me through the post honeymoon stage. But nothing was very difficult about this post honeymoon stage in general. I feel like things get better every day as I meet new people, spend time with friends I've made and see new places.
Yesterday night I took my argentinian friend Carito to get some icecream. Apparently there is an icecream place right next door and we went so that I could try argentian helado for the first time. AYY QUE RICO! I had dulce de leche flavor, it was so rich and creamy of that delicious caramel flavor. Then I had una bola de tirimisu, which ahd pieces of amaretti cookies soaked in coffee and a creamy mascarpone icecream. It was some of the most delicious icecream I've ever had. Plus I got to talk to Carito about places to travel. I think I'll go with Tomas to Cataratas, the big waterfalls, and she said we can stop by her uncle's yerba mate farm if we want. How argentinian!
Today I'm going to an estancia, which is a little farm in the provinces. We are going ot eat asado (steak), mayne ride horses, swim, play music, and hang out with the gauchos! I'll try to take lots of pictures.
Luego,
Kati
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Talking with my Host Mom and the Park
Today I woke up as usual, got ready for orientation class, and went to eat my breakfast. These days I usually eat breakfast with my senora. We always end up having very deep conversation over breakfast. Today we talked about independence and relationships. Her father made this sculpture out of wood of two branches coming together in a swirl. It's called "Pareja" because couples have to be two independent individuals coming together in their commonalities. I agreed with her on this subject. Sometimes people get into relationships and define themselves by there partner, and that never seems to work out. Plus it can put someone in a situation where they have to act against the way they are (personality, values) and that is never pleasant. The interesting thing about having these conversations at breakfast is that I usually need to go fairly quickly to class but it is hard for my to smoothly end the conversation when they are so meaningful and deep. Anyways, don't worry mom, I always arrive on time in the end!
Today in class we had a practice exam for the one we will take tomorrow. We are getting placed into our spanish levels. The exam is very interesting becuase it doesn't just test how many words one knows or how many different grammatical forms one can make. It tests how much practical spanish one knows. For example, how to say "Hello, may I ask whose calling?" on the phone, or how to ask for directions. There are a lot of phrases that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't gone to Spain. I learned a lot of those practical phrases from living with my host mom, shopping in stores, going to classes at UAM, meeting spanish speakers etc. Things that you don't learn in an American classroom.
Afterwards I went with three friends to la Reserva ecologica. Apparently, the portenos tried to move the coast line and the land that was added to the edge of the cost just sprouted out with vegetation. Now the area is protected by the government and maintained. It is a beautiful park with paths, trees, coast line and sun. I went for a run around the park. Afterwards I sat with my friend in the shade of a tree just relaxing. I was thinking that I'll come to this park whenever I have class near by at IES. I can always come for a jog and then to read or something. It's really nice to sit in the grass and see the buildings of the city over the edge of the trees and feel the wind from the river blowing over you. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, but I will post some in due time.
Here is a picture of the type of trees they have in many parks. The roots are tall thin fingers that curl around everywhere.
Also, here is a random picture of a crazy dressed woman I saw walking around in the cemetery. Yes, in the cemetery.
The exchange rate, mas of menos igual as before.
Luego,
Kati
Today in class we had a practice exam for the one we will take tomorrow. We are getting placed into our spanish levels. The exam is very interesting becuase it doesn't just test how many words one knows or how many different grammatical forms one can make. It tests how much practical spanish one knows. For example, how to say "Hello, may I ask whose calling?" on the phone, or how to ask for directions. There are a lot of phrases that I wouldn't have known if I hadn't gone to Spain. I learned a lot of those practical phrases from living with my host mom, shopping in stores, going to classes at UAM, meeting spanish speakers etc. Things that you don't learn in an American classroom.
Afterwards I went with three friends to la Reserva ecologica. Apparently, the portenos tried to move the coast line and the land that was added to the edge of the cost just sprouted out with vegetation. Now the area is protected by the government and maintained. It is a beautiful park with paths, trees, coast line and sun. I went for a run around the park. Afterwards I sat with my friend in the shade of a tree just relaxing. I was thinking that I'll come to this park whenever I have class near by at IES. I can always come for a jog and then to read or something. It's really nice to sit in the grass and see the buildings of the city over the edge of the trees and feel the wind from the river blowing over you. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures, but I will post some in due time.
Here is a picture of the type of trees they have in many parks. The roots are tall thin fingers that curl around everywhere.
Also, here is a random picture of a crazy dressed woman I saw walking around in the cemetery. Yes, in the cemetery.
The exchange rate, mas of menos igual as before.Luego,
Kati
Monday, March 9, 2009
Fair with Aunt B's friend / Indie Scene
Uho, the exchange rate dipped down to 3.71 again... Hopefully we can get back up.
To pick up where I left off, on Sunday I met up with Aunt Barbara's friend Dee. She apparently is the woman that lives in my grandfather's old house in new york, who knew? She made plans with her husband to move to North Carolina, but first to live for several months in Buenos Aires, a city they had visited and loved. Recently, Dee's husband passed away unexpectedly. She decided to continue with the plan on her own.
I met Dee at the Feria de San Telmo. The feria was full of antiques and other little trinkets (one of Dee's passions), food, tango and music. Dee was there with her neighbor (a young student like myself). Since he is learning English and she is learning Spanish, they sort of met up and hit it off (even though they are about 40 years apart in age). It was nice to meet this friend and his family. I spoke in Spanish with all of them. Sometime soon we are going to get together, Dee luciano and I to cook! Luciano isn't big into cooking but he says he's into eating.
We got to hear a band at the fair (with 4 accordians, 3 violins, and 1 bass) playing tango music by Carlos Gardel, the most famous tango singer in BA.
One thing that is so great about cities is that there is always so much going on! This fair happens every Sunday in San Telmo. Although there were a bit of extranjeros there, there were also a good number of portenos sitting in cafes, strolling around and enjoying the sunday afternoon. There are countless events going on right now in March. My friend went to check out a circus at the same time I was at this event. I saw the pictures and it seemed really cool. Luckily I will have a chance to go this weekend.
After the Fair, I met up with my friend Jesus to check out a movie. It was an indie movie that Jesus found out about online. We went to this tiny library run by these young portenos. They had resfreshments and live music from a band that some of them were in.
I spoke with one of the guys there named "Nacho, like the chip." It is interesting to see that a lot of the people my age that I meet speak English. The friends of the IES assistent I went out with all spoke english as well. Nacho said it was fairly common when kids are young to learn English in school. But of course, we spoke in spanish. Then the movie started and I had my philosophy major friend to talk about the indie movie with afterwords. There was apparently a lot of metaphors about female body in a male dominated culture. Besides the interesting themes that the movie presented, I was interested in thinking about the differences between what I got out of the movie and what my friend did. I was characterize him as a more "artsy" thinking, not that I really know what that means. But I am more analytical in a way. After my friend described to me what he saw in the movie, I could see it too, and I was interested in discussing the subject and themes. But on my own, this form of transmitting these ideas doesn't really speak to me. Some of the metaphoric portrayals of ideas in artsy movies or literature don't get the message accross to me. It was interesting to realize this about myself. Not to say I can't appreciate art, or I won't try to see this messages, but that maybe there is a difference in the way people's brains are wired and some mediums of communication work better for some than for others.
Bueno, afterwards I came home, chatted with my host mom and went to bed. My host mom is very supportive and always asking me how I am doing here in BA. She is checking to make sure I'm adjusting comfortably and she always supports my enthusiasm. We have had very meaningful conversations about people and values. She lives her life mainly through the church but she is very respectful of those who aren't religious (like her 4 children).
Today I went to UBA to register for classes. In many ways the facilites resemble UAM (university in Madrid). There are no fancy buildings like at Lafayette, just basic concrete facilites covered in posters and flyers. There were lots of students around making their schedules and such. I picked four classes to check out: A seminar on recient argentinian history, social geography in Argentina, Argentinian History III, argentinian thought and latin America. I'll check them out and then select just 2 of the 4. Classes don't start until the 23 though.
Afterwards I walked home. I love walking around this city and just running into unexpected spectacles, such as the man covered in wine flour yerba mate ect. the other day. Here are some pictures of random things I have come across in this city to wrap up my post today
Luego,
Kati
To pick up where I left off, on Sunday I met up with Aunt Barbara's friend Dee. She apparently is the woman that lives in my grandfather's old house in new york, who knew? She made plans with her husband to move to North Carolina, but first to live for several months in Buenos Aires, a city they had visited and loved. Recently, Dee's husband passed away unexpectedly. She decided to continue with the plan on her own.
I met Dee at the Feria de San Telmo. The feria was full of antiques and other little trinkets (one of Dee's passions), food, tango and music. Dee was there with her neighbor (a young student like myself). Since he is learning English and she is learning Spanish, they sort of met up and hit it off (even though they are about 40 years apart in age). It was nice to meet this friend and his family. I spoke in Spanish with all of them. Sometime soon we are going to get together, Dee luciano and I to cook! Luciano isn't big into cooking but he says he's into eating.
We got to hear a band at the fair (with 4 accordians, 3 violins, and 1 bass) playing tango music by Carlos Gardel, the most famous tango singer in BA.
One thing that is so great about cities is that there is always so much going on! This fair happens every Sunday in San Telmo. Although there were a bit of extranjeros there, there were also a good number of portenos sitting in cafes, strolling around and enjoying the sunday afternoon. There are countless events going on right now in March. My friend went to check out a circus at the same time I was at this event. I saw the pictures and it seemed really cool. Luckily I will have a chance to go this weekend.
After the Fair, I met up with my friend Jesus to check out a movie. It was an indie movie that Jesus found out about online. We went to this tiny library run by these young portenos. They had resfreshments and live music from a band that some of them were in.
I spoke with one of the guys there named "Nacho, like the chip." It is interesting to see that a lot of the people my age that I meet speak English. The friends of the IES assistent I went out with all spoke english as well. Nacho said it was fairly common when kids are young to learn English in school. But of course, we spoke in spanish. Then the movie started and I had my philosophy major friend to talk about the indie movie with afterwords. There was apparently a lot of metaphors about female body in a male dominated culture. Besides the interesting themes that the movie presented, I was interested in thinking about the differences between what I got out of the movie and what my friend did. I was characterize him as a more "artsy" thinking, not that I really know what that means. But I am more analytical in a way. After my friend described to me what he saw in the movie, I could see it too, and I was interested in discussing the subject and themes. But on my own, this form of transmitting these ideas doesn't really speak to me. Some of the metaphoric portrayals of ideas in artsy movies or literature don't get the message accross to me. It was interesting to realize this about myself. Not to say I can't appreciate art, or I won't try to see this messages, but that maybe there is a difference in the way people's brains are wired and some mediums of communication work better for some than for others.Bueno, afterwards I came home, chatted with my host mom and went to bed. My host mom is very supportive and always asking me how I am doing here in BA. She is checking to make sure I'm adjusting comfortably and she always supports my enthusiasm. We have had very meaningful conversations about people and values. She lives her life mainly through the church but she is very respectful of those who aren't religious (like her 4 children).
Today I went to UBA to register for classes. In many ways the facilites resemble UAM (university in Madrid). There are no fancy buildings like at Lafayette, just basic concrete facilites covered in posters and flyers. There were lots of students around making their schedules and such. I picked four classes to check out: A seminar on recient argentinian history, social geography in Argentina, Argentinian History III, argentinian thought and latin America. I'll check them out and then select just 2 of the 4. Classes don't start until the 23 though.
Afterwards I walked home. I love walking around this city and just running into unexpected spectacles, such as the man covered in wine flour yerba mate ect. the other day. Here are some pictures of random things I have come across in this city to wrap up my post today
Luego,
Kati
Sunday, March 8, 2009
City Tour and Lost en el Sur
The exchange rate is leveling a little, still pretty good though.
Yesterday I went to a parilla (steak place) with the IES program and we had a grand feast. I was in heaven trying all the different foods. We had mozzarella sundried tomato crostini with real olive oil, roasted vegetables with bread, empanadas, grilled cheese, zuchini fritters, papas fritas, asado of course, potato cheese sticks, spinach ravioli, cheese ravioli, beets, wine poached pears, flan, helado chocolate, and some sort of delicious raisin egg bread. It was DELICIOUS!
After we went to lunch, we went on a tour of the city. We drove around various areas and heard about the history and context of many areas. Porto Madero is the new part of town and it is very ritzy. We also drove through the shanty town which is mostly inmigrants. The houses were made out of chapa, corrugated metal sheets. People we outside cooking, washing clothes, playing. It was sad to see the state of their houses and the neighborhood they lived in. Close by were then the huge modern apartment buildings of Porto Madero in contrast. In Porto Madero is this new bridge called the puente de mujeres (womans bridge)
We also saw the Casa rosada, and the balcony where Eva gave her speech!
After the tour I went to a cafe with my friend Jesus. We decided we wanted to go check out the feria de Mataderes which we read about in a cultural events listing online. We started out on our journey walked to the subte and going to a barrio we had never been to. The neighborhood turned out to be a little less festive than we thought. We walked for about 2-3 hours trying to get to this place. It was honestly like Harry and Kumar's trip to white castle, a long journey to get somewhere and in the end, we landed on a nice sloppy pizza. It was delicious. Ironically we journeyed very far south to get to this fair and ended up having pizza in a place about 5 minutes from both of our apartments. The journey was fun though and we got to see a different part of town. When we finally arrived at the fair, it was completely empty, just a bunch of empty stands. So we turned around and went back to our barrio. We bought this pizza. It was a perfect end to the night.
Plus it was a beautiful night last night with a slight breeze but warm. There was this beautiful sky:
Yesterday I went to a parilla (steak place) with the IES program and we had a grand feast. I was in heaven trying all the different foods. We had mozzarella sundried tomato crostini with real olive oil, roasted vegetables with bread, empanadas, grilled cheese, zuchini fritters, papas fritas, asado of course, potato cheese sticks, spinach ravioli, cheese ravioli, beets, wine poached pears, flan, helado chocolate, and some sort of delicious raisin egg bread. It was DELICIOUS!
After we went to lunch, we went on a tour of the city. We drove around various areas and heard about the history and context of many areas. Porto Madero is the new part of town and it is very ritzy. We also drove through the shanty town which is mostly inmigrants. The houses were made out of chapa, corrugated metal sheets. People we outside cooking, washing clothes, playing. It was sad to see the state of their houses and the neighborhood they lived in. Close by were then the huge modern apartment buildings of Porto Madero in contrast. In Porto Madero is this new bridge called the puente de mujeres (womans bridge)
We also saw the Casa rosada, and the balcony where Eva gave her speech!
After the tour I went to a cafe with my friend Jesus. We decided we wanted to go check out the feria de Mataderes which we read about in a cultural events listing online. We started out on our journey walked to the subte and going to a barrio we had never been to. The neighborhood turned out to be a little less festive than we thought. We walked for about 2-3 hours trying to get to this place. It was honestly like Harry and Kumar's trip to white castle, a long journey to get somewhere and in the end, we landed on a nice sloppy pizza. It was delicious. Ironically we journeyed very far south to get to this fair and ended up having pizza in a place about 5 minutes from both of our apartments. The journey was fun though and we got to see a different part of town. When we finally arrived at the fair, it was completely empty, just a bunch of empty stands. So we turned around and went back to our barrio. We bought this pizza. It was a perfect end to the night.
Plus it was a beautiful night last night with a slight breeze but warm. There was this beautiful sky:
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Graduation Tradition
I forgot to mention that when portenos graduate from school (this guy graduated from medical school) they get covered in eggs, wine, flour and yerba mate by their friends. We stumbled upon this ritual in the middle of the sidewalk...
First night out with Porteños
Exchange rate: 3.723, just keeps going....
I had my first experience with real Argentinian night life anoche.
During orientation yesterday I went up to one of the program assistants and starting talking ot him in Spanish. After our little chat and after class, he came up to me to ask if I wanted to meet up with his friends that night. I immediately thought of what I learned in class and I was not sure in a different culture what this meant and involved etc. I immediately used my friend justin for protection and I said that I was gunna go somewhere with him initially so would it be ok if he came too. I ended up going with two friend, justin and jesus, to a bar with this guy leandro and his friends. We got there and we had a great ol time! All of his friends knew a good bit of english so we swapped slang terms and curse words and laughed at each other saying them. They also taught us a lot of frases and sayings. At one point, tv programs came up and we realized there were a lot of the same programs in BA as in the US. For example HEROS (Heroes), House (Dr. House), Dancing with the stars (bailando con las estrellas), Lost (Perdida), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Sabrina la bruja adolescente) etc! It was fun to hear them say the show in spanish and then we put it together and said "OOOOOHHH, dancing with the stars!!" or whatever the show was.
It was also very interesting to see how important small sounds are in helping one understand a word. There is this band called Keene and the portenos were saying keeeeen and we couldn't figure out what they were talking about, but somehow, when i figured out the band was keene and told justin that's what they were saying, he immediately understood me. The portenos were all frusterated cause they couldn't figure out the difference in the way they said keene and the way I said it. It's true, I don't even know what the different was, but some small change in tone made all the difference.
I also talked to my host parents last night during dinner about music. My host mom really likes all these american singers (opera singers, norah jones, elvis, ect). She is so suprised when I don't know one of the names. Some time we say she knows more about the US than I do. It is interesting though to see what tid bits of information are known here and in Madrid. My host mother there received a lot of news about the US through television. Mostly when I was there, it was about the election, but at times they reported more on Obama and Hilary than on their own concurrent elections!
Time for breakfast!
Luego,
Kati
I had my first experience with real Argentinian night life anoche.
During orientation yesterday I went up to one of the program assistants and starting talking ot him in Spanish. After our little chat and after class, he came up to me to ask if I wanted to meet up with his friends that night. I immediately thought of what I learned in class and I was not sure in a different culture what this meant and involved etc. I immediately used my friend justin for protection and I said that I was gunna go somewhere with him initially so would it be ok if he came too. I ended up going with two friend, justin and jesus, to a bar with this guy leandro and his friends. We got there and we had a great ol time! All of his friends knew a good bit of english so we swapped slang terms and curse words and laughed at each other saying them. They also taught us a lot of frases and sayings. At one point, tv programs came up and we realized there were a lot of the same programs in BA as in the US. For example HEROS (Heroes), House (Dr. House), Dancing with the stars (bailando con las estrellas), Lost (Perdida), Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Sabrina la bruja adolescente) etc! It was fun to hear them say the show in spanish and then we put it together and said "OOOOOHHH, dancing with the stars!!" or whatever the show was.
It was also very interesting to see how important small sounds are in helping one understand a word. There is this band called Keene and the portenos were saying keeeeen and we couldn't figure out what they were talking about, but somehow, when i figured out the band was keene and told justin that's what they were saying, he immediately understood me. The portenos were all frusterated cause they couldn't figure out the difference in the way they said keene and the way I said it. It's true, I don't even know what the different was, but some small change in tone made all the difference.
I also talked to my host parents last night during dinner about music. My host mom really likes all these american singers (opera singers, norah jones, elvis, ect). She is so suprised when I don't know one of the names. Some time we say she knows more about the US than I do. It is interesting though to see what tid bits of information are known here and in Madrid. My host mother there received a lot of news about the US through television. Mostly when I was there, it was about the election, but at times they reported more on Obama and Hilary than on their own concurrent elections!
Time for breakfast!
Luego,
Kati
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Hangin with the Host Fam
That exchange rate is still climbing! Up to 3.72!
I ate another delicious lunch today for 2 dollars, empanadas de pollo y carne. Then for dinner I had a delicious plate of pasta with sundried tomato sauce, ay que rico. I also bought four mini pastries today to share with my host family. I thought it would be a good way to bring everyone together for a little and it worked. The father was at the gym but my sister, mom, a friend of the family and I all shared the pastries and chatted for about 2 hours. I also got to see the mom and friend drink Mate. There is a sort of ceremonial way to drink it, where you have a thermos of hot water and one person drinks it and fills it up for the other. You keep taking turns drinking the mate and refilling it with the hot thermos water. It was interesting to see.
Last night I got to watch Boca (famous Argentine soccer team) win their match with my host father. He was watching the game on tv, so I sat down and joined him. We had a great time watching and chatting and I learned some futbol lingo. He said I had clearly studied in Spain becuase I said "portero" instead of "arquero" for goal keeper. But he straightened me out.
I asked my host mom how she made this delicious sauce last night and it sounded like a good recipe. She used the cheapest cut of meat, which is also the leanist, and first browns the steak. Then she makes a sauce out of purees onions, soy sauce, mustard, vinagre and water. She puts this mixutre into the pan and cooks the meat for 45 minutes. It becomes really tender and delicious after this time. Hmmmmm.
I walked back from class today, about an hour and a half, to my apartment. I checked out this old huge theatre that was transformed int oa bookstore. It was pretty cool. I got to read all the signs on the street and take part in to hubub of the streets. I looked in the store windows at all the delicate pastries and cakes. I kept an eye out for some good cake decorating ideas. There are a few I want to try out next chance I get.
Overall it was a great day. Lots of Spanish, meeting new people, seeing new places and hangin with the fam falso. But now it is time for bed.
Luego,
Kati
I ate another delicious lunch today for 2 dollars, empanadas de pollo y carne. Then for dinner I had a delicious plate of pasta with sundried tomato sauce, ay que rico. I also bought four mini pastries today to share with my host family. I thought it would be a good way to bring everyone together for a little and it worked. The father was at the gym but my sister, mom, a friend of the family and I all shared the pastries and chatted for about 2 hours. I also got to see the mom and friend drink Mate. There is a sort of ceremonial way to drink it, where you have a thermos of hot water and one person drinks it and fills it up for the other. You keep taking turns drinking the mate and refilling it with the hot thermos water. It was interesting to see.
Last night I got to watch Boca (famous Argentine soccer team) win their match with my host father. He was watching the game on tv, so I sat down and joined him. We had a great time watching and chatting and I learned some futbol lingo. He said I had clearly studied in Spain becuase I said "portero" instead of "arquero" for goal keeper. But he straightened me out.
I asked my host mom how she made this delicious sauce last night and it sounded like a good recipe. She used the cheapest cut of meat, which is also the leanist, and first browns the steak. Then she makes a sauce out of purees onions, soy sauce, mustard, vinagre and water. She puts this mixutre into the pan and cooks the meat for 45 minutes. It becomes really tender and delicious after this time. Hmmmmm.
I walked back from class today, about an hour and a half, to my apartment. I checked out this old huge theatre that was transformed int oa bookstore. It was pretty cool. I got to read all the signs on the street and take part in to hubub of the streets. I looked in the store windows at all the delicate pastries and cakes. I kept an eye out for some good cake decorating ideas. There are a few I want to try out next chance I get.
Overall it was a great day. Lots of Spanish, meeting new people, seeing new places and hangin with the fam falso. But now it is time for bed.
Luego,
Kati
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