Tuesday, July 17, 2007

I got a bad night’s sleep because I couldn’t fall asleep until after 2. I got up at 8:15, got ready, and ate breakfast at 9. I had boiling hot chocolate (so hot it almost made me late), one salt media luna (there are two kinds: salt and butter/sweet; needless to say, I like the sweet kind better), and tostadas with dulce de leche. Fani was going to go to the hair cut place, so we left together. We separated at the door of the apartment because she was going the other way.

I met Tammy at the bookstore at the corner of Juramento and Cabildo. We took the subte to Callao (pretty far away). The subte was exceptionally crowded for the morning and we stopped for a long time at several stops. We eventually made it there and after leading Tammy in the wrong direction for three blocks, I got us turned around the right way and we headed to the bookstore. It is called El Aturneo (or something like that) and is the same chain as the one we met at in the morning. It is in an old theater and was amazing! Gwen and Rachel would have loved it! Tammy and I had homework to finish so we went to the café that is on the stage area and ordered a piece of chocolate raspberry cake to split and Tammy had coffee. We did our homework and ate quickly. Tammy walked up to the counter to pay because we didn’t want to waste time waiting for the waitress. We walked around and took pictures. Tammy tried to find a Christian novel, but didn’t have much luck with asking one of the men who works there (after she caught him!). He tried to give her books about religion which was not what she wanted. I missed out on the conversation where she asked another guy for a Christian novel, but said that she did not want a book about Jesus. I know what she meant, but it sounds funny. We tried to find a bathroom that was unlocked and after asking a lady, went to the bottom floor before leaving. I wish we would have had more time to browse, although that might have proved dangerous for my suitcase.

We walked back to the subte, got on, and arrived at Olleros with plenty of time to spare. We walked to school and then talked to people in the hallway. Tammy showed pictures of the bookstore to some girls. Graciana told us what was going to be on the final. It sounds hard, but after the last test, I am not worried about passing. Unlike Tammy, my grade will not transfer. We went over a new grammar topic and then went over homework. During lunch, we sat at our usual table with our usual people. It was a really warm day today. I only wore a long sleeved shirt and had a zip-up sweatshirt with me. Our classroom was warm, as well. We worked on exercises in our workbook. Oh, something funny was when Graciana had us all practice saying the vowel combination “eu” as in Europa because we all say it incorrectly. We were all saying “eh-oo” together and she said we sounded like monkeys! Nothing else of note occurred during the class session, but I have a very funny (embarrassing for me) story to share.

Will, Tammy, and I were headed to our favorite café to eat cake and do our homework, but Tammy and I wanted to go to the bathroom first. Now you have to understand that the bathroom at the university has been out of soap for the last three or so days. I walk into the bathroom and say in a booming voice, “Sopa!” Now, if you don’t understand Spanish, what you are missing here is that the word for soap is “jabón.” What I yelled was the word for “soup.” And to make matters worse, guess who was following us into the bathroom! That’s right, none other than Graciana, our profesora. I was laughing so hard that I was crying. One of the girls from Grace, Megan, was laughing really hard, too. Graciana tried to tell me what the real word for soap was, but, of course, I already knew. It was not that I did not know the word for soap, but what had happened was that I was so enthusiasmed that I shouted out the first thing that came to mind. Yes, I know I should think before I speak, but I’m a lot funnier this way! I was laughing all the way down the elevator. Oh, we weren’t paying attention and rode to the 17th floor before heading down!

We walked to Pan y Canela and ordered our favorite cake. We found out this morning at the bookstore that it is called El Porteño. “Porteño” is the word for someone who lives in Buenos Aires. This particular cake has a brownie foundation with a layer of dulce de leche, then chocolate fudge/mousse, and then meringue on top. Very good! Our favorite waitress was not there and so we are going to have to go back again. ¡Qué lástima! What a pity! Seriously, we are having a hard week! Hehe! We did our homework. It was hard and I don’t know how much we got right. We finished right at 7 and Will went home and I went over to Tammy’s “departamento.” I saw all the souvenirs she bought in both Chile and in Argentina when I wasn’t with her. She has a lot of stuff to pack! I also got to see the video of her Chilean family whom she gets to go back to Chile and visit for 5 days when she leaves Buenos Aires! I am so excited for her! I can’t remember if I already wrote this yesterday or not. I also got to thank Silvia for the magazine about Evita and tell her goodbye. She is nice and friendly. Tammy walked me to the door (so she could let me out) and I had to power-walk home (again!) because I left at 8:12. I went as fast as I could and made it back at 8:34.

I hurried up and greeted Fani. Her sister is here at our apartment. I must have missed this part of the message! She was lying in Fani’s double bed and I went in to meet her. She had her hair in rollers. She was really sweet. Her nickname is Titi (I think). Fani told me she wanted me to eat right away because she was tired. I had really hot soup, carnalones (my favorite!), and a huge piece of chocolate cake with layers of chocolate mousse and a strawberry on top! It was good, but I couldn’t eat all the cake. This was my third piece of fancy chocolate cake in the same day! I saved part of it for later. Fani’s hair looks very nice, by the way. I told Fani about the soup/soap incident in the bathroom. She cleaned up the kitchen and told me goodnight. I took a shower and it was warm! It was not hot, but it was definitely warm and I did not shiver or have goosebumps in the shower! It’s funny because Fani told me she wanted to go to bed, but I could hear them in her room watching TV and talking for almost two hours! I organized some things, checked my email, and wrote this blog. I am going to read for a bit and then go to bed.