Settling In

As my fourth day in Buenos Aires comes to an end, I finally have some time to start a blog of my experiences- largely thanks to the raging thunder and lightning storm outside preventing my housemate Frances and I from going out. Hopefully it'll cool the summer air a little- but I'm thinking not.

Where to begin?

My life has been pretty non-stop since I arrived on Tuesday with the rest of the UCEAP Argentina program. The first couple of nights we stayed in a hotel in el centro (downtown) near the Expanish office where we had our program orientation. With early mornings and long days of learning about local customs, safety, and the nature of the intensive language program, we haven't had a lot of time so far to explore on our own. Nevertheless, we were able to take a walking tour of the downtown, seeing notably the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada (Argentine equivalent of the White House).

Casa Rosada in Playa de Mayo

We also had a city tour by bus in order to orient ourselves beyond the downtown (Buenos Aires is huge, with lots of barrios, or neighborhoods). On the bus tour we visited La Boca (home to the popular Boca Juniors futbol team) and specifically El Caminito- a touristy block of colorful buildings where poor immigrants used to live and where now exist lots of souvenir shops, cafes, and art galleries. Additionally, we ate our first traditional Argentine steak dinner and enjoyed a brief tango lesson.

El Caminito

Yesterday evening we all moved into our respective homestays- where we'll be for the rest of the program. I live in an apartment in Recoleta, which is known as the Upper East Side of Buenos Aires- very fancy. Our homestay host is a wonderful woman named Alicia. She works downtown and has four grown children (and many adorable grandchildren!). Although she seems busy she has been preparing wonderful meals for us and is more than willing to help us with our language skills (we only speak spanish with Alicia!). My housemate Frances and I went out to a super hip bar in Palermo where I tried the favorite cocktail of the locals, Fernet and Coke (Fernet is a spirit that tastes like Jagermeister but stronger) and we talked with porteños (locals of Buenos Aires) until the bar closed. It was so much fun to practice spanish and meet locals- I only hope it counts as homework when school starts on Monday!

Culture shock: Things to note-

Thursday was a national holiday- the whole city shut down and there were scarcely any cars or people on the usually bustling streets. The thing is, this holiday only came to exist two weeks ago, when the government decided to create a holiday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of some battle. Apparently the creation of new holidays is common and can happen at any time!

The daily schedule is so different. People don't eat dinner until 10 pm and it can last for a few hours. When young people go out to the boliches (nightclubs) they don't arrive at the club until around 2 am and party until 8 am (I have not experienced this yet- but I'm sure it will be soon!!).

It is so HOT! It is currently summer in Argentina and the daily temperatures are around 85-95 degrees F during the day and not much cooler during the night. Air conditioning exists, but not in most places (or often it's broken) and not in my apartment. The good news is it'll be cooling down in the next few weeks.

Overall, though I only just arrived and I am still adapting to the climate, the culture, etc., I can already tell I am going to love it here. This city is beautiful, and I cannot wait to settle in and continue to explore my new home for the next few months.