June 24--Tammy day!

I got up at 7:45 and got dressed so I would be ready if Tammy called. She called about 8:15 and we decided to start walking toward each other on my street, La Pampa. I grabbed a few last things, said goodbye to Fani (who couldn’t believe that I was going on in the 2-degree (Celsius) weather without something warm to drink first), and started walking. When I saw Tammy for the first time, it was like something in a movie because we were on opposite sides of a 4-lane road. We had to wait for it to be safe to cross and then Tammy started running across the street. I thought about running out to greet her, but decided we probably should have our reunion on the sidewalk! It was SO good to see Tammy! We decided to walk back towards Tammy’s apartment to look for a café. Not very many were open at 8:30 on a Sunday morning, so we had to walk kind of far, but we didn’t care because all we really wanted to do was talk (I know you must be surprised that we like to talk)! We found a café and ordered coffee and media lunas. I gave Tammy some chocolate and a cool necklace that is half of a moneda (coin). I have the other half. I enjoyed hearing about Tammy’s experience in Chile. We talked until it was time for me to walk Tammy to the UB for her city tour. “City tour” is how you say it in Spanish which totally cracks me up. We met another girl who just arrived, Jackie, walking to the UB, too, so we walked with her. I stood there and talked to Tammy more until it was time for them to leave. Gustavo (an ISA leader) was surprised to see me there. When Tammy got on the bus, I walked back to my apartment and ditched my winter coat and walked to church. I got there about 10 minutes early and the gate to the church was locked and the sidewalk inside the gate was torn up. I was kind of surprised and walked around looking for another way in. There was another gate, but it was closed. I stood there, puzzled, until a woman came up and went to the closed gate and opened it. I wasn’t sure if it led to the church or someone’s house, so I asked her and she said it was the church. I went in and sat and waited for Marissa and Molly to come. I talked to an old lady sitting behind me. I was a little worried that Marissa and Molly weren’t going to find the other gate, so I kept my cell phone on in case they called me to ask. They showed up right at 11 (and I turned my phone off), but the service didn’t start for another 5 minutes. Two more friends of Marissa (Pierce and Kim) joined us. We didn’t sing as much as the other time I went. A person from the congregation spoke and I had a hard time understanding him because he spoke in really long sentences while scanning the congregation with his head back and forth so I couldn’t see his face the whole time. The sermon was based on the whole chapter of 1 Peter, so it was also difficult to pinpoint exactly what it was on. If the scripture is shorter, I get a better idea (preview) of what the sermon is about. The gist of the sermon was that we are foreigners here on earth, just passing through. After church, Pierce and I went outside because we thought the rest of them were following us, but they had stopped to say goodbye and talk to people. We talked to a boy whose mom lives in Argentina and his dad lives in the U.S. He actually attended the same school (in Boston?) that Pierce did for a while! We were getting cold in the shade, so we went back in to wait for the girls. They came and we walked toward Cabildo together. We had planned on going to the feria at San Telmo, but Pierce and Amy wanted to go out for lunch and Marissa was invited to lunch by an older Christian woman named Ruth who lives across the street and Molly was going to eat lunch with some other friends, so I just went back to my apartment. Fani gave me hot chocolate (two cups) and set out the media lunas. She left to go vote with her daughter and I checked my email, changed my clothes, and did some stuff. Today is Jenny’s birthday, so I sent her a birthday email. Tammy thought she would be back at 2:30 so I thought that I would call her then (Fani said it was okay for me to use the phone with a phone card—yay!), only I was dumb and forgot that I don’t have her telephone number! I decided to walk to her apartment and buzz her instead. I walked there and buzzed the 8th floor apartment three times, but nobody answered. I decided to walk to the feria near Juramento and come back in an hour. On my way to the feria, I stopped at a bakery and bought two meringues. I walked around and looked at all the stuff and bought a few things. I saw the coolest thing ever! There was this man making tiny animals out of glass. I have never seen anything like it. I want to bring my camera there and ask if he will let me videotape him if I buy something. I walked back to Tammy’s apartment about 4 and called up again (to the 8th floor), but no one answered. I went across the street to the internet place to see if she was there. She wasn’t, but I got online and checked my email hoping that when I finished, she would be back. I sent her an email. It was very complicated because Tammy didn’t have a phone card to call me and I didn’t have her phone number! I went and tried to buzz up once more with no answer and then decided to try to find a grocery store (Norte) that is supposed to be close to the university. I ate one meringue on my way. I walked around and almost lost myself, but didn’t. It was after five by this time and I decided to head back home. I was about to Cabildo when my good intentions of saving the other meringue for Tammy disappeared. I ate it as I walked and made it back to my apartment about 5:30. I said hello to Fani and organized some things. I turned on my computer and saw that I had an email from Tammy. She said that she would love to see me again that night and that she would be in the internet café until about 6:30 and afterwards, she would be in her apartment. I told Fani I was leaving and asked her if I could eat dinner a little later. She asked if 9 would be good and I said yes. I hurried as fast as I could to the internet place, but Tammy was not there. I walked to her apartment and was just about to ring the buzzer when she called me! I told her I was down there. A man came and let me in and I waited in the entranceway for Tammy. Her “mom” said it was okay for me to come up, so I got to meet Sylvia and see her apartment. We sat on Tammy’s bed and talked (in Spanish). I showed Tammy the difference between “vos” and “tú” in the verb conjugations because Argentina is unique in the way verbs are conjugated. I am afraid my Spanish has been corrupted. Tammy is not a fan of the Argentine form of Spanish, so far! Tammy lives on the sixth floor, not the eighth floor, so I had been buzzing the wrong apartment all day! We decided to go to a café and we walked to one that was open close to her apartment. Because of the elections, a lot of things were closed. We sat down and looked at a menu and then decided to get a lemon pie out of the display case and split it. It was a little pie, not a full-sized one. Tammy said that she ate meringue pies in Chile that were very good. We had our “lemon pie” (which is how they say it in Argentina which, again, makes me laugh) and Tammy had a hot chocolate drink and Tammy showed me her pictures from Chile. It was fun to hear about her friends and see pictures of them. We had to leave about 8:45 so I could get back for dinner. We were going to walk halfway and then split up, but we were enjoying our conversation so much that Tammy walked me all the way to my apartment. And then, we were bad and sat on the steps of my apartment building and talked for another half hour so I was late for dinner. I felt bad about that, but very happy that Tammy is here! When I got upstairs, Fani was in bed with the lights off, but she got up and seemed wide awake and was dressed, so I think she was just resting. Macri had won the election. He was who Fani voted for, so she was very content. I ate my soup, (slightly overmicrowaved) pizza, and peaches with dulce de leche on them. Fani went to bed after I finished eating and I checked my email and read for a little bit before going to bed, as well. It was a very happy day!