Sorry for quoting such a cliche lyric, but it just came to me, like most cliches things, which most people reject using, pop into one´s mind. However, it´s rather fitting for the situation.
So, what have I been doing lately. Well, for one thing, I speak pretty good spanish right now. As I was telling Dad the other day, I was hanging out with a friend in a park, and we were just talking, back and forth, about this and that. After a while, it just kind of hit me, that I was having a good conversation with someone, completely in spanish. It was a cool feeling to remember back in April and May, when having a conversation was incredibly stressful, and you kind of wanted to run the other way. Much like Adrian back in the States, I feel that I´m in the sponge stage. Instead of hearing a super long word, I can now pick out each sound, and that super long word turns out to be a sentence. At this point, seeing as I can hear the words, I can start to figure out words via context clues. However, sometimes, like Lindsay said, it´s very easy to just block out the words that you don´t understand, because you understand the general idea of what the person is saying. I need to start really training my ear to pick out the words and make sure I really listen, rather than just pull out the main idea. All in all, it´s very cool. I´m learning. I remember just being amazed watching Holly and Lindsay speak this foreign language after they came back from their studies abroad, and now, I´m part of the cool kids group. When we all get back, it´ll be the United Nations of Spanish Speakers. I speak like a Porteño, Holly like a Mexican, Lindsay like a Colombiana, Adrian is Colombia, and Juan Felipe rounding out the group with Salvadorean.
So, I´ll clue you all in on my plans now. Here´s how it goes down. Classes end the first week of December. Now, it would be possible for me to come home in early December, and start school back in Minneapolis in January. However, when thinking about this, I get sick. December will be the start of 4 glorious months of summer vacation with my friends. There is no way I could leave warm sunny Argentina at the start of summer, to return to cold, miserable Minneapolis at the start of a grueling winter. The mixture of reverse culture shock and change in lifestyle/temperature would put me over the edge. So...I´ll be staying in Argentina until around March or April. After classes end, I plan on getting a a job at a hotel as either a bellboy or a catering worker. Lots of English-speakers come down here, and hotels look for extremely handsome, well-versed native english speakers, so it looks like I have that job all wrapped up! It´ll be nice to make some tips in greenbacks. Haven´t seen any of those in a while.
Besides that, all is pretty well. Being down here, I see business ideas left and right. So many possibilites for tourism and so much new money available. I think it´d be interesting to come back here after graduating and seeing if I could get something set up. Like Dad said, after 4 months at a nice hotel, I very well could meet some successful local business people who are looking for business students. That, OR, get a job with a US company down here, and get paid in dollars. If you can make around US$30,000 a year, you´re living REALLY well off. Steak and wine every night of the week if you wanted.
Probably time I should wrap this up, but one thing, can SOMEONE please send me SOMETHING! I don´t even care if it´s just a random postcard. I´ve been here for seven months, and the only letters I´ve received came from my University´s Office of Transcripts. So, I pose a challenge to those who read my blog. Maybe you know me and are a friend, maybe you´re a fellow study abroad student, or maybe some blogger from England. Either way, I´d love to get some mail. If you write me, I´ll write back!!!
IES Buenos Aires
c/o Patrick Jones
Carlos Pellegrini 1069, Piso 13
C1009ABU, Buenos Aires
Argentina
I´ll try to write a little more often. Feels good to let ya´ll know what I´m up to. Two friends and coworkers from the Loring are coming down to my part of the world. Brett is currently in Peru, and is slowly making his way to Buenos Aires. Brittney is somewhere in Europe, but is meeting Brett in La Paz and joining him on his way to Buenos Aires. If either of you read this, prepare for greatness! Buenos Aires is absolutely amazing. You´re going to be here during, in all likelihood, the most beautiful time of the year.
Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina
