Corte la luz = No Electricity

So in my last post I know I mentioned that the city loses electricity for 3-4 hours a day, usually during the morning. What I failed to mention is that we are now losing our electricity at our house in the suburbs for hours a day too. It doesn’t sound like it would be a big deal during the day, but it makes the weather even more unbearable because we can’t even use fans. The last couple days I’ve been wanting to explore the city after classes but literally the only thing I have energy for is taking my hour bus ride home and laying in the shade or in the pool (which is about the size of a baby pool and is probably about 85 degrees from the sun but feels cool compared to everything else…) until the electricity comes back. The other thing about the electricity going out is that all of the traffic lights in the city (obviously) go out. Cordoba is a lot like Boston in the fact that even though it’s a smaller city, it is still busy nonetheless. Another thing about Cordoba is it’s made up of so many one way streets that are sometimes 3-4 lanes wide. Now just imagine what that looks like everyday at around 9am when the electricity goes out and all of the traffic lights are blinking. And I’m just trying to sprint across the street in my flipflops/heels (you can’t wear sneakers here if you don’t want to look like a tourist) without getting hit by a car. I’ve almost lost a shoe at least once a day trying to cross the street quick…good thing that I don’t really know anyone in this city (yet). I’ve never so badly wanted those stupid “walk/don’t walk” lights from back home, telling me when its safe to cross...

Another thing about the busses that I’ve noticed this week is how even though it takes so long to run a relatively short route, the bus drivers barely even stop when it’s only one or two people getting off the bus (aka me because I live way far out from the city so no one gets off at my stop usually…) People literally have to be standing on the second to last step as the bus is slowing down, and the bus driver opens the doors while it’s still got some good speed. You have approximately 3 seconds to leap off the bottom step before the bus speeds up again, in which case if you haven’t made the leap, then it looks like you’ll have to try again at the next stop. Considering that Cordoba is a pretty laid back city and not rushed, I’m surprised about this…but maybe the bus drivers just think its funny to see people leaping off the bus. I mean I think it's funny to watch when it's not my turn...

On Wednesday night I met up with a couple kids in the centro (center of the city) so we could go to this so called “fiesta” together. Another lesson learned – just because someone says it’s a fiesta, doesn’t always mean a big party. Pretty much all a fiesta means is food, beer and wine, no matter how many people are there. That was fine with me anyways because I was really in need to meet some kids my age. I saw Pascal from my Spanish classes, and he introduced me to his friends who are also students studying in the city from Germany (Marco, Elena & Christian). We had a goodbye party at Karin’s house for a german student who was finishing her stay. I tried my first lomito (pretty much a hamburger with a way better meat, thinner with more flavor). I also had a drink (or two…), I can’t remember the name of it now but oh well. It's some drink that Argentina is known for. The night was a mixture of speaking English, Spanish, Spanglish and German (and I threw some Hungarian in there…they were impressed since practically no one can speak it haha). They filled me in on the night life in Cordoda and it sounds like its going to be a blast. However, I’m probably going to end up going out with my sister, Jemenia, because the boys are going to Igauzu falls for 5 days. It’s good to know I at least have some kids my age who know some English…

Thursday night I went to my host mom’s sisters house (so my adopted aunt? I guess…haha) for a family dinner. On the way there there were 7 of us adults in Pepe’s tiny manual car. I wish someone could have taken a picture of this… they were blasting some Spanish music and everyone was singing. It was so much fun. At the aunt (Alejandra)’s house, there was so many different family members I can’t even remember. We had churri pan for dinner which is my favorite food so far. It was a make-your-own sandwich bar with amazing fresh bread, a sausage like meat, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, mayo and some Argentine sauce that I can’t pronounce or spell that’s pretty hot. Ahhh so good. It was really cool to see such a big close family that all lives so close to each other. I live relatively close to my mom’s side of the family, but not close enough that all the cousins (even the older ones in their 20’s) all make it out to the weekly meals. Everyone welcomed me into the family like I was one of their own and they wanted to know everything about me which was so stressful because I get nervous trying to speak Spanish in front of more then a couple people. It’s enough pressure just talking one on one…but it turned out okay. I can’t wait until it becomes easier for me to join in the conversation without sounding like a fool with my misconjugated verbs and messed up vocabulary…haha they said I speak well considering I’ve only been here 5 days, but I’m sure they were just being polite.

Friday I missed my bus by 2 seconds so I had to wait an extra 45 minutes for the next one in the beating hot sun. The worst feeling is feeling gross and sweaty before your day has even begun. I carry deodorant and hand sanitizer around with me 24/7 hahah I feel like such a mom. After class, I was so hungry because my host family doesn’t eat breakfast in the morning…so around 2pm I got some empanadas from a little hole in the wall shop around the corner from my class. I was pretty proud of myself using my Spanish all by myself…it makes me nervous but I need to practice. I am still in disbelief at how cheap some things are here. It was 5 pesos for 2 empanadas (and I was full after two…) and that’s less than $2. Crazy!

Waiting for the bus, once again a bunch of people were asking me questions about which busses passed. The last one to ask me was this really old woman. I told her I didn’t speak Spanish well, and she took the opportunity to test me on my knowledge. She spoke very slow in Spanish, asked me questions and carried conversation (while I answered what I could, but mostly just nodded my head like I understood even when I didn’t…) for a good half hour at the bus stop, and then she sat next to me on the bus and chatted until she got off 30 minutes later. I was exhausted from trying to translate and react to the entire conversation but I really liked how she took the time to try and communicate with me. In broken Spanish I told her about my family, why I was there, what I was studying. I swear, people in this country (mostly strangers) really want to know what’s going on in your life, and I’m not used to it. I could never imagine an adult in the city of Boston wanting to stop and chat about the things going on in my (or any other stranger’s) life. It was a breath of fresh air for sure. Before she got off the bus, she told me that I am learning fast and that it was a pleasure to talk to me and kissed my cheek (its tradition here to kiss on the left cheek when you meet/greet someone). I love how friendly people are here, it makes you feel like you’re home even when you’re so far away. Although I am still skeptical to a point that I’m not naïve. I don’t want to live out the American girl stereotype...

chau, besos <3