Thursday, July 12, 2007

I got up at 8:45 today and really did not want to get out of bed. My room was cold and my bed was warm. Oh, well. It is weird to think that in two weeks I am going to bewanting air conditioning and now I want heat! I got ready and ate breakfast (two media lunas, two cups of really hot chocolate, and some tostadas with dulce de leche). The laundromat man brought back my clothes which was good since I was wearing my last clean shirt and last pair of socks (my favorites). I left the apartment at 9:45 to meet Tammy at a bank. I got there before her and sat and waited and people-watched. She came with her humongous backpack ready for Iguazú. I watched her stuff while she cashed her travelers’ checks. She had a bit of a difficulty because she hadn’t signed all of them when she got them. It was kind of ridiculous because if she had found them on the street and knew about travelers’ checks, she would have signed the first part and then went to cash them. As it was, anyone could have cashed them, but we don’t really understand why that should matter to the bank. She finally got her money and we went to our favorite clothes store, Como Quieres. We like the clothes here because they are simple, yet elegant. Tammy bought the shirt and fleece she had put on reserve the night before and she asked if she could take a picture of the Como Quieres saying painted on the wall. The ladies were nice and said yes and one who spoke English translated it for us because it is really confusing. We didn’t write it down and it was hard to remember so we don’t have the translation. The lady could say it really, really fast. It was quite impressive. Here is the full saying:
Como quieres que te quiera si el que quiero que me quiera no me quiera como quiero que me quiera.
Try saying that ten times fast!
After Como Quieres, we headed to Freddo to take advantage of the Thursday 50% off special. We each got a piece of cheesecake and sat and discussed the book that I have been reading. We had a hard time getting our waiter’s attention for the bill, but what’s new? It is always the most awkward part because you have to stare at them for a long time before they notice that someone wants to pay and leave. We were really hot (Freddo is always warm) and we were sitting in the sun. We left and headed to the UB. We went over our homework, watched an Argentine movie, and had a presentation today. We (Tammy, Will, and I) stayed in the room for lunch because Tammy had so much stuff with her. The movie was called El fondo del mar or “The Bottom of the Sea.” It was more difficult to follow than the other movie we watched. It was okay. The man in the movie did some crazy things. I liked how Graciana asked us if we knew the word “motor.” Of course, she said it with an accent, but it is still pretty obvious! The presentation was about friendships between girls and boys from the American and Argentinean perspectives.

After class, Tammy and I went to the computer lab and checked our email and then we walked down to meet the rest of the ISA group for her to leave for Iguazú. I stood there and talked for a while before leaving her with her roommate for the weekend whose name is Kay. It is her birthday today.

I went to ISA and replied to more emails (we were only in the UB computer lab for 10 minutes). Guillermo told me that he had just heard from Federico (one of the ISA leaders going on the trip to Iguazú) and that his wallet had been stolen in Retiro. How horrible! I left at 7 when the office closed and dawdled on my way home. I stopped in a couple of stores to look at clothes on sale. I found an Amber skirt that I really like. I wish they had it in a different color because the only colors they have are olive green and black. I already have black and the olive green would not be my first choice. We’ll see. I got home about 7:30 and talked to Fani and then she gave me my dinner. I had soup, good shredded carrots, bad big cucumber, a chicken patty with a fried egg on top, and fruit cocktail for dessert. I asked Fani if we could take another picture of us together because our first one is kind of dark. I want to get our picture printed and give it to her before I leave. She was really flattered that I asked for another picture and went and combed her hair and did something else in her bedroom. I put the camera on top of the microwave and we sat in the kitchen chairs. It worked perfectly. Fani told me at dinner that she hopes her next “chica” is half as polite, nice, and caring as I am. It was really sweet! She started getting teary-eyed as we talked of my departure and the arrival of the next student. I wish Fani lived closer so I could visit her and practice my Spanish! Fani cleaned up the kitchen and went to bed. I put my Córdoba pictures on the computer, typed some replies to emails for me to send tomorrow when I reach a computer with internet access, and then wrote this blog. I need to do my homework and work on catching up on my blogs.