I made it! I arrived at the Buenos Aires airport at 11am yesterday. After making my way through customs and waiting what seemed like an eternity for my luggage, I got into my first Argentine taxi and headed to my hotel. The taxi driver was extremely chatty, and I have to admit I only understood about half of what he said. But he told me about some good places to go and gave me a bit of advice about getting a cell phone. It turns out “Claro” is the name of a cell phone brand and doesn’t just mean “of course.” I was wondering why he kept saying that!
My hotel room was decent, though the elevator took a bit of getting used to. It was tiny- the porter and I barely fit with all my luggage! After a shower and an extensive nap, I set out to explore. The city is really cool- there is a lot of old architecture, and trees and parks litter the busy streets. Street vendors sell magazines, snacks, and flowers. I had a pizza at a quaint café- (yes I felt foolishly American ordering pizza but I wanted to wait for some advice before venturing into the more unknown parts of the menu). I finished up my evening with a bit of New Moon (okay more like 300 pages of it but I had to finish it) and turned in for the night.
This morning, I took advantage of the continental breakfast and set off for the apartment of my host family. It is located in Recoletta, a really nice part of the city. (lucky me!) Lucia, the woman I’ll be living with, greeted me downstairs and helped me shove my luggage into another miniscule elevator. Quite unlike American ones, these elevators require that you manually close the door- if you forget once you disembark, it won’t work and nobody else will be able to use it! Something I must not forget…
The apartment is quite quaint, with a beautiful balcony overlooking the neighborhood park. The blinds that descend to cover the balcony window are open and close automatically with the touch of a button! My room is mint green and has a nice closet and small desk. And I was lucky enough to be able to pick up a neighbor’s wi-fi.
Lucia took me on an extensive tour of the neighborhood, starting with a local café where I had a tomato and chicken sandwich- and that is exactly what it was: bread, a slice of tomato, and a slice of chicken. We continued on to see various parks, an old cemetery, an ornate church dating back to the colonial period, and the local mall. I was proud of how well I kept up with her Spanish (or Castellano as they call it here)- I’ve been able to understand most of what she says (though there have been a few smile and nod moments). The area is beautiful, and I am so excited to be living here! I’m all moved in and can’t wait to see what tomorrow brings.
