Cafés y Bailes

19-02-09 23:46
At a Café

(AN: Due to lack of internet, I’m a bit behind on publishing my posts. Don’t worry, I’ve still been jotting everything down, so please just have a little patience as I try to get everything up on the internet. I promise I’ve been writing way too much and you’ll get to read it all soon!)

Before I start recounting my week, a little side note: I forgot to mention that I went to the Botanical Gardens and the huge Parque de Tres de Febrero (also known as the Bosque de Palermo, or ‘Forest of Palermo’) Friday afternoon after class with my friends Kara and Jessi, and Jessi’s “host cousin.” It was really pretty and seemed to be a hotspot for cats because they were everywhere.

Sunday

I met up with my friend Amanda in the Recoleta barrio during the afternoon, which we spent walking around the feria admiring all the paintings and homemade crafts. We then grabbed lunch in a cute little café nearby, followed by settling into a ritzy movie theatre to see “¿Quién ser un millonario?” or “Slumdog Millionaire” Although I had already seen it in the United States, I was more than happy to see it again because it is one of the best movies I’ve seen in years. Plus, it was really interesting to listen to the parts that were in Indian with Spanish subtitles.

Monday

While some people might go bar hopping, my friends and I prefer to go on café crawls in order to find internet. On this day, we visited three different cafes (great excuse to get ice cream or empanadas) and finally found our late-night hang out spot at Persicco, the café on Aveneda Juramento that we have frequented in the past. Free internet + late hours + fantastic ice cream = our kind of place.

Tuesday

ISA arranged for an Intercambio, or exchange, for us to meet local porteños at a mate bar in Palermo. It was my first time trying mate, an extremely popular drink in this region. I would compare it to tea, except that it’s bitterer and contains a lot more caffeine to give these sleep-deprived porteños energy. Drinking mate is a social ceremony: after filing the mate (the hollowed-out gourd from which you drink, confusingly sharing the same name with the drink itself) with the mate herbs (and sugar or flavorings, if you so desire), near-boiling water is poured from a thermos and passed to the person next to you. Each person is supposed to drink from the gourd until the water is gone, and then refill it for the next person. Since I’m not a big drinker of coffee or tea, I was not a fan of the bitter mate so I just chowed down on tostadas (toasted breads) with dulce de leche and butter while conversing at a table with several porteños and estadounidenses (people from the US – after all, we aren’t the only Americans). We exchanged contact info, so I hope we have the chance to hang out with them again to spend to time with more locals.

Thursday
We all got out of class early because of a bomb threat to the school. Apparently this is a very rare occurrence, because my teacher said she had never experienced that during the 3 years she had worked there. Luckily, nothing happened, although we had to leave all our books and stuff behind since we were at lunch when we were told to evacuate. The highlight of the day was heading to the tango class again, this time as part of an ISA excursion, so the whole gang was there. After learning some new steps, we stayed for the salsa class as well, which was a blast, especially the warm-up song where we all sort of line-danced salsa moves.

Well, that was my week, and I'm looking forward to my weekend!
Coli