June 3, 2007

Today I woke up at 9am, got ready, and had a breakfast that consisted of two media lunas, one tostada with dulce de leche, two cups of hot chocolate, and a few grapes. Fani gave me an apple and orange for later. I got ready for church and decided to leave my water bottle and the fruit home. I thought that after church, I would come back and change my clothes and try to catch up with some other people via cell phone because they were leaving for the day at 12 and I would not be done with church by then. I walked to the church and was 20 minutes early. I know I am usually early, but 20 minutes is a bit excessive! I walked around the block once and then decided to go in anyway. The minister say me and came right up and said hi. That was actually his word—hi—not hola. I hate how people can spot that I am American and then won’t speak in Spanish to me. He asked if I spoke Spanish and I said yes. However, he continued to speak in English to me even though I was speaking Spanish to him. He was very friendly and nice, however. His name is Julio. I asked him where the bathroom was (two cups of hot chocolate will do that to you) and he led me to an older room and asked her (in Spanish) to show me the bathroom. He called me “niña” which is a word that is used for little girls. I thought that was kind of funny! When I came out of the bathroom, people told me to sit down, so I did. The sanctuary is right inside the door of the church. I sat down and looked through the whole song book to see if I knew any of them. I found two songs that I knew in Spanish (Shout to the Lord that I learned from Patricia and Bueno es alabar O Señor from Mexico) and several songs that I could tell had been translated from other songs I know (Hymn of Promise). The minister told me that there is another American girl who comes to this church named Melissa. Well, she arrived and came right up to me and sat with me. Her name is Marissa, actually, and she has been here since February! Another friend, Colette, came and joined us, too. We got to talk a little before the service which was nice and then the service began. We sang a lot, which I loved, and read two Bible passages. I was able to follow along in my half-and-half English and Spanish Bible and they used the same translation (NIV/NVI) that I have! That is really exciting because in Mexico and other places I have been, they used a different version. Marissa has the same Bible I do! I could not understand all of the sermon, but I got the gist of it with the help of the scripture passages. Today is election day in Buenos Aires and so we prayed a long time for the future of Bs. As. and the people there. We sang a song that I really liked about God being in this place and asking him to move and change us—only the words are a lot better than how I put it! We had communion, too. After church, Marissa invited me to go with them to get coffee. We met another girl, Molly, outside the church. She was going to come, but got lost and could not find it without Marissa. We walked to a café on Cabildo, the main road near where I live. I had café con leche (heavy on the leche) and four packets of sugar. I really don’t like coffee, but I am trying to fit into the culture here. Everyone loves coffee here, so what is a girl to do? I also got three media lunas because they had a special with café con leche and media lunas. Marissa got that, too. Another girl, another Molly, showed up. We spent over 2 hours sitting outside in the sun eating our food, drinking our coffee, and just talking. It was really enjoyable. They were trying to decide what to do that afternoon and decided upon a feria (a little fair-like market thing with lots of little booths selling stuff) about an hour away that is supposed to be really cool because there are gauchos doing shows and other fun stuff. They invited me and I said I wanted to go. They tried to get it figured out (which bus to take, etc.) but someone said that the feria would be closed because of the elections today. Lots of things were closed today due to the elections (stores, restaurants, markets, ferias, etc.). They decided to go the feria at Recoleta because for some reason that one was still going to be open. We walked to the place where the bus would pick us up and met a boy named Pierce there. We took the bus (my first time) to Recoleta. You have to have coins to ride the bus which is difficult because no one has coins… ever! The girls told me that often you have to buy something in a kiosko just to get change! However, the bus ride is really cheap (80 centavos or about a quarter US), so I guess getting candy along with your ride is still worth it compared to other modes of transportation! We walked around the feria at Recoleta. Marissa and Molly wanted to try on some clothes and the lady said that they could buy them, try them on in the bathroom in the mall, and return them if they didn’t fit, so that is what they did. Neither Molly’s jacket nor Marissa’s pants fit so they both went back. We had to wait for the woman to bring them the correct amount of money and then we kept walking. I tried an alfajor (a little cookie sandwich with dulce de leche in the middle) at Marissa’s recommendation. It was good, but not wonderful. However, it made me wish for my water bottle sitting on my desk in the apartment! We had gotten separated from the other people, so Marissa called them and we met up with them on this grassy area where many Argentineans were sitting and listening to this man play the guitar and sing. Molly had brought mate to drink, just like the Argentineans. How it works is you have a thermos with hot water and a mate (cup) with a (bombilla) straw and yerba mate (kind of like tea leaves). One person is the servador who serves the mate to all the rest. S/he fills the mate (cup) with water and one person drinks it all, then gives it back to the servador. The servador adds more water and gives it to the next person. This continues until everyone has had some. Then the servador has some and repeats the cycle. When you don’t want anymore, then you say gracias when you hand the cup back. Marissa said that she and Molly like to go to the park and sit on the ground and drink mate just like the Argentineans. It was very fun, although a bit germy. You just can’t think about that part! After two rounds of mate, Marissa and Molly and I went to walk around more. I wanted to buy my own mate and bombilla and Molly was looking for gifts for people. I found a mate I liked and bought it and a wooden bombilla for less than 5 dollars. We walked around a bit more. We saw one of the people who dress like statues and stand really still until someone drops a coin into a can and then they move around. It was fun to watch. We walked back to the street where we could catch a bus. I was glad I was with them because they knew where they were going! We got on a super crowded bus and had to stand up. It was hard because the bus stops and starts a lot. We made it to the place where we should get off and Marissa and I walked a little bit together because we both live on La Pampa. She lives three blocks to the east of Cabildo and I live three blocks west of Cabildo. We are planning to go to the feria of the matederos (??) on June 24 together because that is the next Sunday she will be around. However, I found out from Fani tonight that that is when they are having their next round of elections so I don’t know if it will be open! We will have to find out! I stopped at a grocery store near my apartment and bought a bag of yerba mate for only one dollar. It is a pretty big bag, but it says it has ten servings. I think it has more than that, though! I want to get a thermos so I can take my mate to the park and be authentic. In the university, they have a free hot water machine (that looks like a Coke machine) with which to make mate. I have not seen anyone use it so I don’t know if they actually take their mate cups to school or not. They do take them to the parks. I came home and greeted Fani and told her all about my day and meeting my new friends. My Spanish is flowing much easier now after a week of practice. I can usually tell about my day with Fani only correcting me once or twice for using the wrong verb tense. I showed Fani what I bought. She liked it and said that she had seen her daughter, Federica, today because she came to vote. She fed me dinner… it was kind of like a ham and cheese pie. It was not my favorite, but it was okay. I also had a bowl of soup to start the meal (I have started every dinner since I have been here this way!) and flan for dessert. I really, really dislike flan. She has never asked me if I like flan because I would tell her not really and then maybe she wouldn’t buy it for me. Oh, well. All during dinner, Fani kept listening to the radio and checking the TV to see who was ahead in the election. She really wants this one guy to win. I don’t quite understand the whole voting process. There are three candidates and something about one of them having to get at least half of the votes to win. Her candidate, the most popular, is ahead, but he only has about 44% of the votes. Fani helped me fill my mate with yerba mate and hot water to cure it overnight. I went to my room and started writing about today and yesterday because I had not had time to do so yet. Fani watched TV in her bedroom. Tomorrow, I get to have my clothes washed for the first time. I am wishing that I would have brought a few more clothes. I am nervous because nearly every stitch I own in this hemisphere is going to be taken away tomorrow by a man from the laundromat and I will not have my clothes back until the next day! I guess I should have brought two sets of pajamas! Oops! I am just hoping that I get all of my clothes back and that they are still the same size and color! I am kind of afraid because Fani gave me a brand new orange set of towels and those are going in with my clothes. I really don’t want all of my clothes to turn orange! I know they are new because the first few days I used them, I ended up with orange fuzz sticking all over me and when I brushed my hair, my hairbrush would be full of orange fuzz. Say a prayer for my clothes tomorrow!