Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Today I had to get up early for class. I had forgotten how much I dislike getting up in the cold and dark. It makes me kind of sad to realize that I will have to get up early every day next year and for the rest of my life (minus summers!). I got up at 7 and got ready and then I had breakfast about 7:30. I had a media luna, two cups of really hot hot chocolate, and tostadas with dulce de leche. I left for class about 8. I got there a little early and the door to our room was locked. We were having class on the third floor today instead of the tenth floor. I like having class in the morning better, maybe just not quite so early. We had two twenty minute breaks. During the first one, I ran upstairs (literally) to the twelfth floor and checked my email. During the second break, I ate my peanut butter bread concoction. I had made out my list the night before of things that I want to do while I am here, but I didn’t think I was going to have anyone to them with today. However, it worked out well because Will changed his mind about where he was going today and he wanted to go to almost the same places that I did! We decided to go together, so after class we walked to a road further from Cabildo to try to catch a colectivo (bus). We saw five “60” buses going in the wrong direction, but none were coming our way. We decided to take the “118” instead because it goes almost the same route. We rode for quite a while and then got off. Will wanted to try to find a statue of some men hauling a tree that commemorates the laborers during the time that Perón was in power. We walked about four blocks in the wrong direction and then turned around and walked back a different direction, but we never did find it. We found the engineering school and we wandered inside because it was a cool building and then we found out what it was. Will wanted to go there and see it. There were a bunch of old machines. We left and went to Recoleta Cemetery. At the entrance, there was a map with the names of the people buried there. We found Evita’s grave and two more that my guide book suggested that you visit. We wandered around getting distracted by taking pictures. Will is even more excessive than I am in the picture taking department! We saw lots of stray cats. It was creepy to look into the tombs and see the caskets stacked up there. I wasn’t really a big fan of that part. Some of the tombs were really cool though because you could see pictures of family members, dolls, and flowers inside. We saw lots of tombs with statues on the outside. It was like a village… only for dead people. We found both of the tombs from the book: that of the Paz family with many angel statues on the outside and that of Rufina Cabeceres who was buried alive. She was probably in a coma when they buried her and a few days later, they heard screams coming from her tomb. When they opened it, there were scratches on her face and coffin where she tried to get out. Her mother paid for the tomb to be redone and now there is a glass wall so you can look in and see her coffin (in case she comes back to life, or so my book says) and a statue of a girl with her hand on the door of the tomb. Don’t worry, I took lots of pictures! We tried to find Evita’s grave, but with little success. We wandered up and down the rows, but we couldn’t remember her father’s name in whose tomb she is buried. Eventually we found it by the group of people gathered around. There were roses stuck in the metal grating covering the door. Children had written her notes for what would have been her 88th birthday. I peeked inside and could see several caskets and a doll. There were plaques all over the outside of the tomb commemorating her and her father. We wandered back to the entrance, taking pictures all the way. We left and walked around the cemetery on the outside to find a metal flower sculpture whose petals open during the day and close during the night. We had to walk for a while, but we found it and it was gigantic! I was expecting a small sculpture, but this was enormous! We had to walk way out of our way to cross the street on a special bridge for pedestrians. We saw the law school on our way. While we were taking pictures of the flower, a family came up and asked us if we spoke English. They wanted us to take a picture of them in front of the flower. I asked them where they were from and they said Missouri. One of their daughters is studying here, but at a different university. We asked them about the laborers statue, but they didn’t know about it. We decided to walk to the U.S. Embassy to see it. We walked for a long way through pretty parks taking many detours for Will to take pictures of statues. He is from a small town in Kansas and I think he is overwhelmed by the numerous statues. He wants to get a picture of every one we see! We eventually made it to the embassy. We passed the Japanese gardens on the way, but decided to come back another day when it is lighter. We took pictures of the embassy and then walked through some more parks. It was really pretty compared to the city part of the city. We decided to try to walk back. It reminded me a bit of Beijing because Jenny and I walked so far that day and Will and I did not walk that much today, but we walked a really long way. I would like to know how many miles it was. We made it all the way back to Cabildo and decided to stop at our favorite cheap ice cream place. We had been walking about an hour and a half to get back! I had peach and raspberry. Will had dulce de leche granizada (granizada means with chocolate chips) and banana split (which is a flavor of ice cream here… like banana, kind of). There are some words here that crack me up because they are English words. For example, “check out” and “check in” (like in a hotel) are used in Spanish. Also, “lemon pie” and “cheesecake.” “Riverplate” is the name of one of the soccer stadiums here. All of these words are said with an accent, but they are still funny. We left the ice cream place and walked to our apartments. Our legs were really tired after walking all that way and then sitting at the ice cream store. I stopped at the store and bought more bread for tomorrow. I got home and Fani greeted me and got dinner ready almost right away. I put away my clean clothes while she was heating up the food. I had soup, cucumbers and carrots with some green things that looked like three-leaf clovers, arroz con pollo, and peaches with dulce de leche. I certainly prefer this dessert to flan! Jessie called me during dessert because we are going to meet tomorrow after my class. I have not gotten to see her since she has been here and I am really excited. After dinner, Fani cleaned up and I finished putting my clothes away. I got ready for bed and typed up this blog entry. I am really tired. Will and I talked in castellano (the word here for Spanish) all day and I feel like I walked a million miles. I am going to head to bed early even though I don’t have to get up early!