3 Lists
2013 November 4
It’s been another one of those times when I haven’t made a blog post for about 30,240 minutes, give or take. I have been busy/sick(ish)/lazy lately so there’s really no excuse, except for being busy/sick(ish)/lazy so… I’ll go with that. I’ve been busy/sick(ish)/lazy lately so I haven’t updated my blog in almost 3 weeks.
As a recent update, I just took 2 tests today and walked home from school. Because I have another one to study for tomorrow (economics), I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this today, so I’m not doing a traditional blog update on my last 3 weeks. Instead, I’m doing a blog post of 3 lists: “What I Will Miss in Buenos Aires”, “What I Will Not Miss”, and “To What I’m Looking Forward”. For those of you who wanted a traditional update, I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait, probably until after I return home November 9th. I promise, though, it will be one of the first 20 things I do when I return home.
What I Will Miss in Buenos Airez
-The people-
Well of course I’m going to put “la gente” as one of them. Although the people of Argentina can be frustrating and rude at times (and although I just stereotyped), they can be so nice and friendly once you get to know them.
-Being of legal drinking age-
And it’s not necessarily about the drinking, but about being able to go out with friends.
(Apparently I’m not holding back on the cheesiness on this post)
On the bright side, I only have until March 9 when I can go out again.
-Walking-
The first couple of weeks wreaked havoc on my feet. And I was breaking in new shoes at the same time. However, now that I’m used to it I love walking and public transportation. Driving is stressful, and now that the weather is nice I get to observe things like this everyday.
Actually a little disturbing…
-The weather-
I’m not looking forward to November weather in Iowa.
-Friends-
Both friends from here and all over the world.
Also a little disturbing…
Not too disturbing.
-My host family-
I won’t lie. I love my independence. If I were to study abroad again, I’d live on my own or with roommates. However, I will miss María, Luciano, and everyone else who has come through the house.
-La Universidad de Belgrano-
It’s a nice school.
-Maxi (and Martina)-
What a perfect, medium-sized dog to have in a city. And very obedient and loving to anyone willing to pet him.
What a… uhm… cat…
-Speaking Spanish-
I like speaking Spanish, therefore I will miss speaking Spanish.
-Food-
I’m weird when it comes to food. I will eat almost anything, but I don’t love food. I barely harbor any attachment or resentment to any specific types of food or dishes. That being said, I am somewhat (eencily) partial to Italian food, steak with red wine, and the foot-long hotdogs (panchos) with the mini french fries that you can sprinkle on over your ketchup and salsa golf (that ketchup-mayonnaise mix). I probably won’t miss empanadas. Overrated, unsophisticated, contemplated, fame-faded empanadas. Empandas can burn in Hell, or the oven. Doesn’t matter to me.
-Public transportation-
It truly is an efficient way to get around. Except for the colectivo (bus) drivers. They’re just jerks.
-Living in a city-
Because there is a large amount of people in one area.
-This interaction-
Argentine: “¿De dónde sos?”
Me: “Soy de Iowa.”
Argentine: “¿Ohio? Qué bárbaro.”
(“Where are you from?” “I’m from Iowa” “Ohio? Cool.”)
I usually go along with the conversation and let them believe Ohio. Most states in the union are cooler than Iowa, so it’s no use correcting them (not that I don’t like Iowa, but it’s the truth). Even better is when they assume that Iowa is like the Wild West Texas/New Mexico/México region and they think I grew up as Clint Eastwood.
-Club music-
Let’s face it, USA. Our radio/dance music is awful and it sucks and it’s boring and I hate it with a passion (goodbye half of my friends who I just lost). But these Spanish radio/dance songs are way more catchy, simply because of the cumbia-reggaetón beat that they all seem to have.
http://home/spencer/dontcryformeusa.com/public.youtube.com/watch?v=L8SlK1J71a4 — Parents, Grandparents, and friends of my parents and grandparents, you don’t have to watch the video. Just know that the beat is catchy.
And I don’t even like listening to this music in my spare time, but I can enjoy it much more at a club than the latest Ke$haCentGaga song that’s probably currently sweeping the nation while I’m away.
-Dogs-
Just. Everywhere.
-Tango & culture-
I’m the lamest person ever.
What I Will Not Miss
This is kind of a Debbie Downer list to make, so I’ll keep it short.
-Street signs-
They’re freaking hidden on the buildings, sometimes behind trees.
-Colectivo (bus) drivers-
They’re just jerks.
-Leche entero-
This is whole milk. Who drinks whole milk? Apparently Argentina drinks whole milk.
-Breakfast-
This kind of goes along with that “whole milk” thing.
-Mi celular-
My cellphone from Argentina. I can’t see the screen in the daytime, I can barely hear people on it when there’s noise, and it’s expensive to send a simple text message. On the plus side, I don’t have to charge it for about 3 weeks at a time. So basically using this is like living in 2005.
-The traffic-
I say this now, but what I fail to realize is that traffic everywhere pretty much sucks. Except… probably… Denmark? That probably a country with good traffic. Why not?
-Borrowing computers-
While getting my computer stolen has aided me in attaining enlightenment and the Buddhist tradition of letting go of material possessions, it’s really inconvenient. This square with blinking lights that I bought cannot pass for a computer.
I don’t even care enough to rotate the photo.
-Sharing a bathroom-
Usually I’m pretty good at sharing. But… you know.
And finally
To What I’m Looking Forward(because it’s grammatically incorrect to end that with “to”)
-Friends and family-
Obviously.
-Driving (kind of)-
I still prefer walking, but it is nice sometimes to not have to leave a half an hour in advance to make it somewhere on time. Also Eleanor, my RAV4.
-College life-
Yeah bro.
-Showing off the Spanish I’ve learned-
Mostly to my parents and friends that don’t speak Spanish. It’s less “showing off” and more “bothering”, but now we’re just splitting hairs.
-My new enterprise-
Learning Spanish? ¿Aprendas inglés? Call me for Spanish lessons! ¡Llámame para las clases de español!
-Breaking Bad-
I’ve seen half of the last season so don’t… tell… me… anything.
-My own computer-
On which I’ll finish this blog
-English-
Kind of. I guess it’s just sometimes easier.
-Planning my next trip abroad-
Anyway, there’s a lot I need to catch this up on but now is not the time. I’m hungry.