Al Capital...and a little about Argentina

I leave for the states in a week. It seems pretty imposible to believe that I have been here for 5 weeks already. I wish I could stay longer. The idea of starting up school again and having homework doesn't look very appealing to me. I will also miss Argentina and everyone here. The people have been very open to me and it has been fun getting to know them. Now, I feel more comfortable around everyone. Sure, I don't always know what they are saying and I can't always say what I want to, but I take it in stride. People have told me lately that my Spanish is improving--a statement that I was very happy to hear!

This past weekend I had the pleasure of going to the capital--Buenos Aires--with a group of girls. There were five of us and the objective of the day was to see all of the capital. This coming Saturday I am going to Tigre, so I did not have any other opportunities to see the Capital.
We started the day really early to catch the train to the city. I met Andrea and Karina (the Argentines of the group) in front of the Tiger Market, which is the gas station next to the seminary. We caught the bus to the train station and waited there for the rest of our group. While we were waiting, the train we wanted past. This was not a good thing because the trains usually are an hour apart in coming. Well, we finally found the other two girls. After they bought their tickets, we headed over to the platform to wait on the train. We were surprised to find a train arriving right before we got to the platform, so we ended up starting right away. The train ride over there was about an hour long, maybe a little longer, but it went fast.
Andrea and Karina had the entire day mapped out. We started off right away and went from one place to another. I don't even know how many places we went to but to name a few: Palermo, 9 de Julio Av., Recoleta, La Boca, Casa Rosada, Catedral Metropolitana, Plaza de Mayo, Cabildo, Puerto Madero, and el Obelisco.
The day was great. I saw so many places and had a lot of fun, but I was exhausted! We took the Pilar Express back to Pilar. This is a bus and has comfortable seats. I, of course, fell asleep. That evening there was a surprise birthday party for one of the girls here, Aline. I went for a while, but decided not to stay extremely late. It was definitely a full day.

...ARGENTINA...
What I have discovered.

• The Spanish here in Argentina is unique. There is a totally different pronunciation for some consonants and they call things by different names.
• They talk really fast, in my opinion.
• The people greet each other by touching check. Some people do this to both checks, other only the right side. I kind of like this greeting, because it makes a person feel like they belong more. Instead of a simple hello to everyone, each person is greeted individually.
• If you don't know what Mate is, you will learn in a heartbeat. Mate is everywhere and pretty much everyone drinks it from the same straw/cup. It is tradition. There are even mate stations in public places. Pretty much, if there is more than one person meeting, mate is not far behind. Mate is for sharing. Personally, I think it is too strong without sugar and not very good with too much sugar. Just like Goldie Locks, I like my mate right in between.

• Gracias does not mean thank you when you are drinking Mate. It instead signifies that you have had your share of mate and don’t want anymore. However, if you have the mate in your hand, it is yours. I learned this just this week.
• They eat four times a day: breakfast, lunch, merienda, and dinner. At the seminary, we dine at 8 PM for dinner; however, this is early for Argentines. They can dine anytime up to 11 PM.
• Here they eat a lot of pasta and beef. You will find a lot of Italians, which is where the pasta originates from. The beef is incredible. There are Carnearías everywhere and the steak is huge. It is also very delicious.
• Dulce de leche is native to Argentina as well. I heard that Argentines will take personal offense if you say you don’t like it. I don’t know if that is true or not, though. I like it more than caramel, which it is most similar to.
• Here people marry young, like 17-20 years old. If you are much older than that, they try and pair you with someone.
• Monedas, or coins, are hard to come by, but you need them to ride the buses. This creates a difficult problem when you take the bus every day, twice a day. That is when tarejas, cards, come in handy.
• Buenos Aires is actually a providence as well as a city, but they don’t call it Buenos Aires here. Instead, they call it capital. I am technically in Buenos Aires right now. So when I told some people I went to Buenos Aires, they just laughed at me and then explained why.
• Tango is big…especially in La Boca.