Spring Break, sort of

Greetings from back in Buenos Aires!

The last week or so has been very busy, especially considering that I decided to move out of my homestay and find an apartment all in about twelve hours. My friend Catherine and I spent a very stressful few days calling and emailing realtors and looking at apartments before finding one in the barrio Almagro, which is much closer to everyone else and will thus save me many, many pesos of cab fare. Tomorrow we move in, although I won't be living there yet because I paid the rent for housing and meals here for one more week and I'd rather not pass up five more home-cooked meals. I will definitely miss Beatriz and her grandmotherly demeanor :( as well as the very convenient proximity to both school and the gym, but I am looking forward to living on my own. I think it will work out for the best that I am still in the homestay for the first week of classes and soccer tryouts this week because I can walk and won't have to worry about figuring out the colectivo system while I'm already stressed (as stressed as one can be in this rather laid-back country).

After our apartment was reserved and our blood pressures had returned to normal, we headed to Villa Gesell for a few days at the beach. It was a five or six hour bus trip, which included snacks (yay), to the hotel that we stayed in for an impressively low price considering it was right on the beach and wasn't a hostel. The first two days were rainy and cold, but we made the best of it and did some late night ocean-swimming when the finally rain stopped. We had a very fun group, which consisted of most of the usual BC group plus Catherine from Richmond and Memo from UC Irvine. When the weather turned around we did the usual beach days, burning thoroughly everywhere that wasn't sunscreened multiple times... it turns out the sun is very hot in southern Argentina, possibly due to the lack of ozone? Memo, Ben, Catherine and I played some pretty intense beach volleyball, and the second day two Argentines joined us and more or less made us look like complete rookies. I was completely covered in sand afterward, which was fun. The body surfing was also excellent because the waves were pretty big but not so much that it hurt (mostly). I did lose a hairtie and a solid thirty seconds' worth of breathing to the surf though, to convey how difficult it was to stay upright in the waves.

Unfortunately, we had to come home Friday so that we could go with the other part of the BC group that attends the University of Di Tella to an estancia. It turned out to be a very cool trip involving a pool, lots of horses, and traditionally dressed gauchos (cowboys). We continued exposing our skin to what was probably dangerous amounts of sun, enjoyed an asado for lunch and watched a performance of various regional dances. We even got to join in on the last one, which I'm sure made us look like complete fools but no one seemed to care. Next was a demonstration of gaucho games, which involved the gauchos riding horses at a full gallop and trying to put a small stake through a metal pin with a hook that was fastened to a wire line above their heads. I was thoroughly impressed; even at full speed, the torsos of the men never moved and they succeeded almost every time in getting the pin off on the little stake. Finally, while it was too late to ride the horses, we got a ride in a horse-drawn carro through part of the estancia and watched as the rest of the horses ran after us upon being turned out for the afternoon. The trip was a really nice break from the city for the day before we start classes (finally).

Fun fact: I'm tired and uncreative at the moment, so I'll leave you with some probably uninteresting notes about tips and things. One only needs to leave a ten percent tip, or propina, at restaurants; this is excellent because, not only does it save money, but also makes the math much easier since we are often in a huge group when we eat. It's also nice not to have to decide how much to leave since it is more or less standard. There is also no need to tip cab drivers, which comes in handy when I take taxis more often that I would like. However, clever and dishonest cab drivers can take advantage of the fact that making change is very difficult here by switching a 100 peso bill with a counterfeit and giving it back saying that they "don't have change." Some of the theft tricks here are really smart; if I weren't the one at risk I would definitely be very impressed.

All for now, more after soccer tryouts and classes start and I'm in a new home (?!). I hope all is well elsewhere in the world!