Saturday, July 14, 2007

Summary of today: walking, eating junk food, and spending money.

I got up at 9am and was really tired. The street is always so loud on Friday and Saturday nights! I had a hard time falling asleep because I could hear people chanting and yelling in the street. Anyway, I got ready and had breakfast (two fresh media lunas, two cups of boiling hot chocolate, and tostadas with dulce de leche). Fani got sad because I will be leaving one week from today. It is getting harder and harder at mealtimes because she is so sad. I can’t say that I share her sadness although, of course, I will miss her. If only she lived in Indiana, I could visit her and keep up on my Spanish! I got my things together and left at 10:30 with Fani. We walked a block together and then she turned to go to the grocery store and headed to the subte. I took the subte to Plaza Italia where I walked about 10-15 blocks to get to the Japanese Gardens.

I had a bit of trouble finding them, but asked a man selling food for directions. I entered with gardens and walked around. It was a bright, sunny day, but was kind of cold. I wore my winter coat, scarf, and gloves. I love this weather in July… not! There were a lot of teenagers in the gardens chasing each other and annoying the people who actually went to see the gardens. I don’t know why they would pay to get in when if all they wanted to do was chase each other around, they could go to the free park next to the gardens. I wasn’t super impressed until I went in a building at the back. There is a rock from Hiroshima inside that was found 200 meters from where the atomic bomb hit. It is there as a reminder to preserve the peace. Apparently Japan and Argentina are good friends. I also saw huge goldfish! By huge, I mean that they were about 18 inches long and really fat. A boy was feeding them and I took some pictures and videos of them. I found some cereal in my backpack and crushed it up and shared it with them, too. There were cool bridges over a pond that connected to a little island. The gardens were definitely not a main attraction of Buenos Aires, but I am glad that I went to see them.

After the gardens, I walked about 15 blocks to Recoleta where I went to The National Fine Arts Museum (Museo de Bellas Artes). It was free to get in. I had to leave my backpack at the front desk, so I put my wallet and camera in my coat pockets because I did not want to leave them. I wasn’t super impressed by the museum. It was a nice museum, but I am not a big fan of art museums. The best part for me was seeing original paintings by Degas, Renoir, Monet, and Van Gogh. The most unusual piece of art had to be a square of about 15 lightbulbs by 15 lightbulbs. They were set on a timer to turn off and on and change colors. It was very strange. There were also the “modern” works of art that looked like a toddler had painted them. One painting was a rectangle that was painted dark red at the top and a lighter shade of red at the bottom. It looked like a testing strip for wallpaper! I thought it was interesting that there were Braille explanations for all the sculptures, but not for the paintings. I amused myself by reading them and found that I could understand the Braille except for the accent marks. It was weird because I had to spell the word in my head before understanding it instead of just kind of understanding the word as I went like when I read English Braille.

I left the museum and went to the feria near the museum. It is part of the Recoleta Feria and is called Recoleta Paseo. I bought a grey Amber skirt from a man. I asked if I could try it on and return it if it didn’t fit. He was very nice and gave me a plastic bag for me to stand on in the bathroom “so I didn’t get my socks wet.” I went back into the museum, left my backpack, and went in and tried it on. It fit perfectly. I collected my backpack and went back and told the man that it fit. I walked around for a couple of hours and ended up buying another skirt. It is purple and grey and has a flower made out of fabric on the front. It is unique and actually looks like it might be from another country unlike my Amber skirts. I debated for a while before buying it, but I like it a lot and I will probably never be here again. (This is what I always say and it always works because I go to a different country each time… hehe!) I saw some huge things of cotton candy and bought one after debating the cleanliness of the machine and the man making it. I decided I didn’t care and bought some. I was messier than a two-year-old eating it!

I walked to a bus stop and waited for the 118 bus. I got on and actually got to sit! When I arrived back in Belgrano, I started walking to the Juramento feria on my way home. I got distracted by the bakery that sells the meringues I like and stopped and bought one. I only have a week left to consume South American sugar! I walked around the feria and spent more than a half hour talking to my friends at the glass-making booth. I asked the man how he learned to make the tiny animals and he said that he had a friend who worked in a chemistry lab and he let him come in and play around with the glass and he learned to make the animals just by messing around. He said that he has always been artistic. I headed back to Cabildo and walked down to the grocery store, Norte, where I bought some cheap white chocolate to take to school (seven cents a square). I had to wait in line a long time because not all of the people in the fast lane had ten or less items, as they were supposed to.

I then had to stop at McDonald’s because it was on my way home. When I got up to the dessert counter (this is separate from the food counter), I saw that they had raised the price of the ice cream cones 50 cents since the last time I was there so each cone now costs $2 (pesos). However, there was a sign that said you could buy 2 cones for $3. Being the thrifty person I am, I always like to get the best deal possible, so I just HAD to get two ice cream cones. (They are small.) I got two dulce de leche cones and went upstairs. I found a seat under the stairs leading to the next floor (how many floors does this McDonald’s have?) and sat and ate my ice cream while looking out the window at the street (this was so all the skinny Argentineans would not notice the American slob eating two ice cream cones!).

When I finished, I headed home because I was really tired. When I got back, I could not get the door to our apartment unlocked which was really odd. I tried a couple of times and then I heard a voice inside say something. It was not Fani, but I knew I was on the third floor (the rug has returned). Fani’s daughter, Hilda, was there with all seven of Fani’s granddaughters! Fani had told me something about how her other daughter, Federica, had a birthday party in Belgrano today and that her granddaughters were coming. I had assumed she meant the two daughters of Federica, but she meant ALL of them. They all kissed me hello and I went and put my things in my room. I was putting my new grey Amber skirt away when Fani came in and saw it. She liked it a lot and asked to take it out to the other room to show Hilda. She oohed and ahhed over it, too, which I thought was kind of funny because although I like it a lot, it is not really that pretty of a skirt. I talked to Hilda and Fani. Some of the girls were watching TV in Fani’s room and some were running around. I could tell the little ones were tired and all of them were getting bored of being there. I got home about 6:30 and they didn’t leave until 8. They took turns singing and then some of them did a little dance show. Fani told me it was my goodbye party. Hilda took a picture of me and all the granddaughters and they all kissed me goodbye and left.

Fani got my dinner ready. I had lukewarm soup, pizza made in the oven (hurray!), and whipped cream stuff that is supposed to taste like dulce de leche. Fani got sad during dinner again. She cleaned up the kitchen while I brushed my teeth and washed my face. She told me goodnight and said her usual, “Apagá la luz, Marilu.” (Translation: Turn off the light, Mary Lou.) This is a phrase that they say here; I don’t know why. It makes me smile. I was really tired so I got on my pajamas and crawled into my bed. I wrote this blog, I’m going to read for a bit, and then I am going to go to bed. It is only 10:20!