All the websites here are in Spanish (por supuesto) and it took me quite some time to read over and decide how to write a new post (this is also because I am unfamiliar with the set up of blogspot, which I hope to learn in due time). However, the word nuevo stuck out, and entrada means entry, thus here is my new entry (mi nueva entrada)!
I'm going to keep it short, because I am about to acostarme - go to sleep. Orientation week has been early mornings and long days and pure exhaustion in this heat.
I arrived safely at Ezeiza (an international airport here) on time and with all of my luggage. Despite not being able to sleep at all on the plane for my overnight flight with travel time accumulatively of over 17 hours, I was excited to be in Buenos Aires, and had the weight and stress of traveling lifted off my shoulders.
My homestay family is absolutely wonderful. The mother, mi Mamá Marina, is a beautiful and kind woman originally from Uruguay who has a son and a daughter (both older than me) that speak perfect English (oh, how I would be so pleased to speak perfect Spanish at age 21... espero...). Their house is just as lovely. There is the main house, and then a large courtyard that belongs to just them with a beautiful stone grill of glory that I know my brothers would most likely salivate over (particularly Michael). My guess is this is for asados - Argentine BBQs. Across the way of the courtyard is a separate room also belonging to them; this is where my wonderful friend, and now roommate, Susannah and I live. Can you just imagine that? Our own room that includes a gorgeous counter top as a 'breakfast bar' of sorts, a mini fridge, a dining table for eating and studying, two beds, a window seat, a fireplace, a piano, lots of storage space, gorgeous windows looking out into the courtyard, and, of course (AND MOST IMPORTANTLY) air conditioning. This place is a holy hell, that's how damn hot it is (beautifully so).
So beyond having pure luxury as my accommodations (I am still overwhelmed with how lucky I am and how kind the family is, and I don't doubt that this will stay true 'til the end), life is crazy here. Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, is a huge city. It is very much like New York in this way, and today (MY FIRST FULL DAY HERE, WAIT, I JUST REALIZED THIS. I FEEL LIKE IT'S BEEN A WEEK IN JUST TODAY -- no joke) I realized that if I didn't have the training of big city life from NYC, I would be in a whole different state of mind. The amount of people walking around and traffic everywhere is nothing new. A part of this realization made me believe that because of this, I am able to observe other things, such as more culture specific things, since I am not walking around cross-eyed tourist crazy by how busy everything is. This I appreciate.
I can hardly remember what some of my observations were from today, because like I said (or more appropriately, freaked out about), it's only been one full day, and it all seems like a daze. We did get a bus tour on this first day of orientation throughout parts of more northern, eastern and slightly southern Buenos Aires. Los barrios - the neighborhoods, are all very unique in their own way, which is akin to New York City. I found myself making lots of comparisons with BsAs and NYC - walking down Santa Fe Av. felt like 3rd Ave, East of Union Square; every corner had people handing out flyers about their local business and the deals that were going on at the time; there are places to eat EVERYWHERE, as well as insane shopping, where Florida Street is akin to 5th Avenue in all its glamour. Then I tried to talk myself out of this. Buenos Aires is not a city to be compared to. Yes, it has certain structures and patterns like any other large city, but that's just the way of any metropolitan area. Buenos Aires is so full of rich history that the country is incredibly proud of, and my goodness is it absolutely gorgeous here. Some pictures will be coming soon, te prometo (I promise)!!!
That's it for now. I'm off to sleepy sleeps. And I guess this seems like a lot of text, but boy, I haven't even told you the beginning of anything it seems. Today (as I will reiterate) was such a long day, an adventure in itself, the doorway, the port, la puerta to other adventures yet to come.
Buenas noches a todos!
No comments:
Post a Comment