A Lesson Earned Is A Lesson Learned

Lessons Learned: Week 1

1. Sometimes the cheapest bottle of wine is not the best option. Nuff said, amigos.

2. It's OK to not be doing something 24/7.  Coming from NYC, it's part of the culture there to be constantly on the move. This became all the more prevalent on Friday, when my friend Lorena came over and said, "Ay de mi, Jill, you do more in a day than most portenos do their entire life!"  This was after getting a cell phone and taking a pilates class in one day. It is hard, but I am trying to slow down AND be OK with it.

3. No matter the circumstances, it's always good to get out of your comfort zone.  I am going on 30, and have never done so many foreign (out of the ordinary, not "not in the United States") things by myself! Getting myself around, speaking with people (most here don't speak English, but that's why I chose Argentina!), figuring out my daily life- wow, it's been very discombobulating. But it's good. I did the same thing pretty much for almost 7 years in NYC- I'm liking this discomfort (for now). I am in Spanish classes 4 hours a day and I found out today that somehow they thought I was supposed to be in the advanced class, which brings me to my next point...

3a. Don't give up: I wanted to die during the first 2 hours of class today. Pierre, my French Canadian - and only- classmate- is like a superstar. He's like the Ronaldo of semi-private Spanish classes. The imperfect subjunctive ain't nothin' to that guy.  But I stuck with it, spoke and listened to Spanish for 4 hours straight AND read the entire paper today (La Nacion). Only took me 17 hours. I'll take it.

4. I guess I have to be super friendly again. Ugh. Putting oneself out there for rejection, etc is rough. But my good friend, Goire, gave me some fabulous advice the other day: "Who cares; just do it."

5. Adjust to the late culture: I went to a parilla (steak house) the other night with a new friend and we ate at...1am. Seriously. Restaurants don't even open many times until 8pm here and they close down at 3am. I am slowly training myself to eat lunch at 2 or 3 and have many more snacks/(ie Cliff Bars, LGS) during the day between meals. Also, a friend invited me out the other night to a club...which opened at 2am. I am working on importing a case of Redbull to accept the invitation next time. So if you want to go out to tango shows, clubs, bars...people are nuts here. AND they do it most nights and get up for a 9am start at work the next day. Amazing.

6. Electronic Dance Music is kind of enjoyable. Who knew!? They remix everything here (I've heard Beatles house remixes, no joke), and I am finding myself hanging outside the store/school/church (just kidding but barely) to listen.

7. Corks of Wine bottles (are you noticing a theme?) are not meant to go back into the bottle here. I don't know why, but they don't fit back in. Meaning, sink or swim, people. Finish the bottle or go home. (I mainly go home, Mom and Dad.)

8. If you accidentally wear see-through pants to pilates, you will get whistled at on the way there.

OK enough words. here are some pictures from the last several days:

This is the official logo of the town el Tigre, where I took a day trip last week. It's a big exportation port/center, as well as a place where people summer.  Boats are the public means of transport AND grocery stores arrive on boats, so if you're a home owner there, you can just kinda hang. Also, riverfront property/houses cost $60,000 USD there. Huh?

A casino alongside the river from our boat.

A famous parilla in San Telmo, an amazing neighborhood I am just getting to know (and the home of el Tango!!) For all those coming to visit, this is also home to an AMAZING market on Sundays. It goes for about 20 blocks. Lots of amazing local handiwork, and then of course, the random stall selling Winnie The Pooh socks.

Ay de mi! Puerto Madero es magnifico! It's a neighborhood right on the water and there are great restaurants there. Also, BA outlaws gambling so the only casino is on a boat in the middle of the river, so that it's not in city proper. One of the most expensive neighborhoods and a place at which to see and be seen.

I can't figure out how to rotate pictures in Spanish yet, but this is Recoleta Cemetery in the ritzy hood of Recoleta. Evita is buried here, as well as President Raul Alfonsin (1980s) , President Sarmiento (1860s/70s) and MANY other notable Argentines (first Spanish-speaking recipient of the Nobel Prize (for chemistry), etc.

The bad guy crack addict Swayze killer in Ghost??