Super Bowl and Language Toll

2-02-09 0:11
Mi cuarto (My room)

Since last night was the Super Bowl, we were told about a bar that shows American sports in Recoleta, a barrio that we had visited during the city tour earlier in the day. About seven of us from ISA took the Subte and (after a couple “scenic” backtracks) arrived at Shoeless Joes. The cover charge was 50 pesos (the exchange rate is currently about 3.5 pesos per dollar, so about US$15), which was kind of bocha (means “a lot” in Argentine slang, or lunfardo), but oh well. Most of the other people were Americans so they were very passionate about the teams, making it a bit more intense with all the lead-swapping toward the end of the game. It was interesting to be sitting in a beautiful old home complete with elegant chandeliers converted into a bar. It wasn’t until the end that I remembered the game was being held in Tampa - really weird to be on a completely different continent watching something in my hometown.

Today was our Spanish placement level exam at the University del Belgrano, which took a really long time. All those taking the intensive month of Spanish (including those from other programs) to take a written exam followed by an oral exam, with lots of waiting in between. In the end, they split us up into about 15 classes, and I got placed in the second highest-level class (although it’s still considered Intermediate II here because there is only one advanced class).

I start class tomorrow, which lasts from 9:30 to 2:30 (5 hours) Monday through Friday. I’ll let you know how it goes! I’m really interested in what we will be learning. I have to say that even after a couple days I feel so much more comfortable speaking in Spanish. I’m still not speaking it as much as I would like because many of the students still revert back to English quite often but I find that I’m speaking without pausing as much. After dinner (described below for those food critics out there), Adriana (my host mom) and I watched TV for several hours and chatted about the shows. Some were in English but with Spanish subtitles and it was really interesting seeing how they would translate things either way too literally (example: [excuse the language] “let’s get shitfaced” should be translated to “vamos a estar borracho” or “let’s get drunk”; not, “vamos a camibar la cara” or “let’s change our faces”) or just omit things entirely.

Dinner - a pasta with white cheddar sauce, this awesome cheese and ham melted on a flat tortilla -reminiscent of pizza, I guess is the best way to describe it - and lots of sweet potato; desert was this pastry caked with sugar…did I mention Argentines like sweets?

TIP OF THE DAY
When using the bathroom, remember that many of the pipes cannot handle toilet paper and you must dispose of the paper in the garbage can. If you happen to forget often, it is possible that the toilet will not flush and threaten to overflow.

Bueno, voy a dormirme (well, I’m going to sleep)
Coli