Blisters, Tango, Puppy, and Playing Hookey

Yesterday was a crazy day. First of all, the subte was on strike. I talked to Vale and Marcelo about it the night before and they explained how the subte used to be run by the national government and so there used to be police, switched to the city government because it only runs in Bs As, and how now they would like police back. The question is pretty much, who’s budget? So anyways, the subte was not running, which means all~3 million Portenos needed to take the colectivo, drive, go in taxi, or walk. It was also raining. Needless to say, the streets were overcrowded. We FLACSitos had the task of completing the 1st step to get our student visas. Alyssa and I met up to photocopy each page of our passports and then we headed to our bus stop after asking at ever cuadro where to find it. We waiting around 45 minutes, 6 busses passed, but all of them were too full to fit anyone more. We tried to squish onto the step of the last door on the bus and hold onto the doorhandles, but there were even too many people doing that and we would’ve fallen off. So. We had to walk…. Which equaled a lot of blisters. Looking down, I can count 5 on each foot . Anyways, it didn’t matter that we were late for our assigned time because the whole city was late. Anyone who didn’t walk took about 30 minutes to go 2 blocks.
After Visa stuff (where the workers loved to say my name.. “char-eel? Line? Leen?”), we headed over to UCA (la Universidad catolica de argentina), which is near San Telmo. More walking.. but by that time the rain had stopped and it was another gorgeous day. At UCA, we listened to a presentation explaining about the university. UCA is pretty similar to private universities in the US it seems. Very impressive accommodations, a lot of staff dedicated to international students, social clubs and activities. The closest to a campus life Argentina gets. We had the opportunity to talk with some professors about different classes and subjects which was helpful, but I still have no clue what classes I’m gonna end up with. Right now I’m pre-registered for philosophy at UBA (the public university that is the most prestigious and a little terrifying!) and 2 literatures at UCA. I’m still holding out for IUNA though. The rest of my classes will be at FLACSO. Since I placed in Advanced Spanish II, I need at least 15 credits and 5 classes. Of those, 4 have to be language courses (2 cred each) and 1 class needs to be Direct Enrollment (UBA, UCA, or IUNA).
Anyways, after we were done with that, we walked back to FLACSO. Clay lead my group past the monument so I could get a closer peek, and we saw some marches—some in favor of the new congress, others not. It’s pretty hard to tell which is which a lot of the time and to understand what each side wants, but I’m starting to understand Spanish better, which means I can ask Vale more questions about the politics. She’s been really good about that, giving me her opinion, saying she believes something completely, but that everyone has different views so she encourages me to ask others who think differently as well. It was a long day at FLACSO, but after pre-registering for UCA, I went to lunch (~3pm) with a group. While we were eating and chatting there was another parade of horses and soldiers outside the window. Oh and now I know what not to order: migas. A miga is a type of sandwich here… and for the grand majority, EVERY food is so good! Especially the sandwiches. But picture what your mom might’ve packed you for lunch in 3rd grade and you’ve got it..white bread without crusts cut into a square with a cold cut of ham and cheese. The jugo de pomelo (grapefruit juice) I got was just delicious though, which made up for my disappointment. After eating we had a few minutes before the workshop about the volunteering class (aprendizaje y servicio), which is the most popular FLACSO course offered because it gives the opportunity to get involved in the community. Theres about 10 different organizations that, outside of class, you are matched with to work alongside for about 4-6 hours a week. If I get into the class I most definitely want to work with las madres de la plaza. But anyways, before that, Clay Annie Katya and I went to La plaza de congreso and hung out for a while. A young guy made his friends take a picture of him and me haha. Then after the workshop, Alyssa and I rushed home as quick as we could, taking the colectivo for about 20 minutes. It was just enough time for me to change my shoes and scarf some leftovers from the fridge before leaving again, by way of another colectivo, for the optional FLACSO activity at a tango milongra. This was such a fun time!! Our huge group walked into this dimly lit dance floor with the best dancers I’ve seen in real life. We all scavenged for seats on the outskirts of the floor so as to blend in as much as possible, but before I could sit down un Viejo (elderly man) grabbed my hand. I told him I didn’t know how to dance tango, that I learned it once when a tango group (Tami Tango) came to my school, but he said don’t worry, let’s go! I’m so glad he did, because that served as my ice breaker and it was really fun! After our dance, he moved onto another and another one of us, which was really kind of him considering the majority had never seen tango before. Soon the lights went out and there was a show with the 4 pairs of professional dancers. I took video almost the whole time because it was so amazing! After that the room divided into class for beginners and for advanced dancers. We all crowded around and learned (I re-learned) the basic step. We stayed there into the dim hours of the night, catching a dance once in a while but mostly just watching the Argentines who know how and I mean really know how! They’re so fluid and beautiful.

After that a few groups, energized by the great experience, decided to keep the night going. We spent most of the night on this beautiful terrace with candles. And later I made some new friends! One American mountaineer who decided to venture from Patagonia to Bs As after his friends went back to the states, and the others a group of portenos. Since the night was pretty and calm, we wanted to walk, and we ended up meeting that group. One of the guys gave me his card so that we could add him on facebook and one of the girls who I talked to for a while (and who told me I speak well!) put her number in my phone. She studies at UCA and told me to take classes with her. So fun! On the way home, a stray dog befriended me. He followed me about 2 hours until I got home, where I explained to him I had to go inside and that he should keep looking for food. He gave me puppy eyes for a long time and then he lay down outside my door to wait. He was great company, but not as loyal as he promised because this morning he was not still waiting. Anyways, I’m playing hookey from FLACSO right now because I didn’t want to travel. Although the activities today are more fun than mandatory.. but I think I’ve gotta go out later anyways to do something else with my VISA. Should probably figure that out.