Easily the best day in Argentina to date, yesterday the ISA group and another group from Maryland took the train to El Tigre, The forty minute standing-room only for some of us whizzed by as I shared an ipod and conversation with two of the ISA students.
Upon arrival, the sun and excitement fueled my energy for the day. We walked from the train station to a massive transportation boat (think a boat in the Jungle Cruise ride at Disneyland but bigger) and took said boat for 45 minutes down the beautiful river to a small beach area where sand, sun, and lush greens surrounded the area.
I never thought I'd go swimming, since our advisor described the place as "chocolate water that you definitely shouldn't drink," but hey, it's me, and I ended up jumping off of decks and lazing around the river with most of the ISA group. After drying off, we laid out in the sun and I kept having to remind myself that it was January. This trip continually feels like it's just a weeklong summer vacation, and I think the reality of school, routine, and cultural immersion will eventually help.
After getting lunch at the beach shack and sharing an awesome beach day, we were only halfway done with the excursion. The boat took us back around to a marketplace area, where we were allotted an hour for shopping and wandering the plaza. I set off with Laura (she's a Laura Kelly, I'm a Kelly Laura), and after perusing a few little tent shops, I ended up buying a mate cup/straw, a necklace, and starfish earrings, all for around 60 pesos (25 bucks). We then went on a bus, where it was luckily air conditioned, since the awesome day in the sun was soon turning into an extreme sunburn.
We stopped at some restaurant along the river? I couldn't tell because it seemed like the ocean to me (dumb Kelly moments), where we could see the entire city of Buenos Aires across the water. After croissant/cookie snacks and hot chocolate where you stirred the chocolate into the hot milk, we hung around the park area overlooking the water. I don't know if it was being able to speak English the whole day, interacting with everyone in the program, being outside all day, and experiencing El Tigre, but I was finally so at ease and relaxed with the idea of living in a new city for a duration of four months.
We returned back to the city by bus, and Jess and I hopped on the subway home. I really need to get the bus system down, because the subway is a peso more expensive every trip (while that seems super minimal, it will add up). My house mother was away to her vacation home, and with her permission, I had a few friends over for some drinks and conversation before we headed out to the bars for another student's birthday. After many failed attempts at getting onto the bus towards the club, we all split a taxi and ended up only paying 5 pesos each.
The Shamrock bar was a relaxed place, but unfortunately we infested it as the proper Americans we are with loud English and taking up all of the tables. The bouncer ended up not letting some of the students in, since already there were about 30 of us in there. It's frustrating in a place where we live with mothers, and the whole group can't wind down all together in one place since anywhere it's hard to get a group of 30 in.
Because our friends were denied and the night was continuing, we set out in pursuit of another location. After probably around an hour of figuring out where we were going and finally getting on a bus to get there, we ended up back in Plaza Cerrano near my apartment in Palermo. The waiting around hit me hard, and I struggled to keep my eyes open as time ticked on.
We managed to find a good table at a bar, and around 12 of us sat around with good conversation for a few hours. Finally, at 445am, I hurt I was so tired, and luckily a guy in our group was able to walk me the 10 blocks or so back to my house. It seems ridiculous that I was out until 5am, but on our way back the streets were surprisingly crowded (think equivalent to a night in NYC at 2 am on a Saturday in the summer I guess?). Today I was kind of frustrated, since I slept all the way until 2pm in order to catch up on all the sleep I'd been lacking.
Jess and I lazed around an empty apartment, having similar pasta for lunch and watching a movie or two independently. I love that the sundays here are so close to what Sundays are like back home, and I can just unwind after a buys week in my own space and at my own time. I tried doing my nails today, but I definitely wasted 7 pesos (like not even a dollar) on the absolute worst nail clippers I've ever tried. The clip part wasn't sharp enough, so after much strain I ended up simply bending the metal of the nailclipper than actually cutting my nails. I'll have to grab one at the farmacity tomorrow. I'm probably heading to bed earlier tonight (its 845pm now) after dinner and will update as soon as I can!
Also- Photos!
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