Mi casa

My home away from home is located in el barrio (neighborhood) Palermo. Great location with lots of cafes, shops, farmacias, parks & any store you can think of within walking distance. The subte (subway) is a two minute walk from the residencia and conveniently takes us to our campus in about 30 minutes. (Side note: the line I take here is also the green line as is the one I take in Boston!) We live on a street parallel to a major street in BA which makes it very convenient to navigate around since everyone knows where it is.

The street we are on (it's a cul-de-sac which makes it very cosy and quiet)

Our home!

Eight of us live in Elda's residencia. She spoils us with her comida deliciosa.

the eight of us with Elda

We usually eat around 9:30-10 which is really weird since we eat lunch at 12. Needless to say, we're always quite hungry when 9 rolls around.

And the smell of her cooking stretching throughout the house is also quite torturous.

Here are some things she has made us thus far...

Pizza (yes home-made pizza- it was kind of like deep dish, with less sauce and less cheese and more toppings.) Fue delicioso.

Tomatoes stuffed with rice and tuna- was interesting and is a spanish thing. Also the quiche looking thing is called torillas (tor-tee-jas) with egg and potatoe. If you want a traditional tortilla in the sense that we think of it, you have to say "tortilla mexicana"

There is also a park really close to our house that is great for running in! I had heard that no women run in BA so that made me nervous. It's definitely true to an extent. Women don't run on the streets (however I do run to the park). There are women running in the park, but definitely more men running than women. However, I am just grateful I found a place to run, and it's so close!

my roommates took pictures of the park while I was running.

I'm off to run now and will post more blogs later tonight!

Bienvenidos

Allo amigos y familia,

After a stressful day of traveling, a teary goodbye (literally had to ditch my parents to stop crying), & a messy situation with a hostel losing my reservation all within the first 24 hours of leaving LA, a week later I have finally settled into Buenos Aires.

I have been having the most amazing time here! Let me give you the background of my time here... Well, I am in the "early start program" for CEA study abroad. Meaning that 11 students came to BA early to take intensive spanish courses before the rest of the students studying abroad come in the beginning of February. Funny story, I am the best spanish speaker in the group. The girl that hasn't taken spanish since high school. It's kind of funny but I have to say I am grateful for my high school education after seeing that after all of this time it has stuck and I am still comfortable (semi) with the language. It was the best decision I ever made coming early. 8 of us are living in Eldita's Residencia. It's pretty much like a big homestay, she cooks (AMAZING FOOD) for us everyday. She's the sweetest mujer en todo el mundo (lady in the world)! I really like all of my other 7 housemates. 4 girls and 4 guys live here all together. It's a great group and we have become very close all living under one roof. It's nice that we will be comfortable with each other, Spanish, and Buenos Aires when the other students come.

For those of you that don't know, it is summer here in Buenos Aires. VERY hot here! The past few days have been better, but it is still really really hot (ranging from the 100s-80s).

A typical week-day for us is getting up around 8 eating a light breakfast (with terrible coffee! it tastes so weird, apparently they process it differently here). We take the subte (subway) to class and it takes about 30 minutes. It is soooo crowded on the subway everyday and apparently it only gets worse in March (since it's summer, apparently everyone leaves Buenos Aires and goes to Uruguay or down the coast to the beaches). We have class all day until around 4. After class we usually go on tours of barrios (neighborhoods) or to the parks. I have found a perfect place to go running!

The weird thing about Buenos Aires is that we don't eat dinner until at least 9:30. Generally, dinner is from 9:30-11. The culture and people here run very slowly and late. I will post separately about the food (since it deserves it- it's so great).

The weekends are a bit (VERY different). Generally, people eat dinner around 12-2 on Saturdays and Fridays. And I don't mean its the young crowd doing this. Families, grandparents and grandchilren, friends, children, anyone and everyone is out until 3 in the morning on the weekends. It's crazy but its kind of an interesting culture since I've never experienced anything like it. The club/bar scene starts at 3 am. That is when they open. Needless to say, people generally get home around 5-8 am. Yes, yes you read correctly. It's a different experience, to say the least. Thank god for siestas and being able to sleep in late!

Stay tuned for some specifics on Buenos Aires experiences! (and pictures!)

Chau, (yes they say ciao like the italians, but spell it chau instead!)

Ellen