It's cold and wet. And every time I mention it I receive a bewildered look and some comment about how this is pretty normal English weather right? DOESN'T MEAN I LIKE IT!!!
Waiting for spring to show up.... shouldn't be too long now....
Tuesday
A combination of said weather and the aforementioned exhaustion led to a failure to leave the house on Tuesday. Which I thoroughly enjoyed. I actually had quite a productive day! Finally managed to get through the backlog of conviven emails which I've been trying to sort out for a couple of weeks now and applied for some part time jobs. I figure it'd be good to fill some more of my time, if I can get some plata while I'm at it that's a double win!
Wednesday
I decided that after 3 weeks, it was high time I discovered some culture so I looked up a few museums and picked based on distance. The best way to learn about a city is to walk around it so I took a wander to the Evita Peron museum in Palermo. For anyone who doesn't know... Argentina is obsessed with Eva. The socialist wife of Jaun Domingo Peron who came from modest beginnings to become an icon for aid and socialist change. An interesting history. The museum was very interesting and I now feel like I understand a bit better why they're such a talked about couple. However the museum lacked any kind of objectivism and I left wondering how they could afford to carry out all their changes. I've also heard about some controversy surrounding their government, which passed unmentioned by this particular museum. I guess I'll just have to go to another.
The museum didn't take as long as I expected so I bought some deliciously sweet (and oh-so-sickly) pastries to eat whilst wandering through the nearby botanical gardens, whose primary inhabitants seemed to be couples who probably still lived with their parents, and stray cats. To be fair if I was a cat in a big city, I'd probably hang about in the park too. Much nicer.
We've had some turtles for Ellis, here's some more cats for Charlotte. Enjoy. (A few plants and statues thrown in for those of you who enjoy that sort of thing):
PDA seems to be a big thing here; most couples seem to live with their parents until they're 30 or something. Which makes buses and parks very attractive to the young and amorous. Everyone else seems pretty oblivious. I guess I'll get used to it!
Some, however, are less oblivious to a passing extrajera.... I received rather more attention than I would have liked. No I don't want to talk to you. I'm not sure I want your compliments either... Hmm. Such is life. A fair complexion in Latin America is bound to attract comments.
In the evening I headed out to yet another CS meet, this time in the bar of a youth hostel. It was completely empty when I arrived, so I settled to chat to the barman with my free beer (courtesy of CS arrangements).... Who turned out to be French. WIN. Still difficult but I value the practice nonetheless. Several more showed up later, mostly Columbians and Brazilians. Turns out Portuguese is pretty easy! Especially knowing some French... Maybe I'll try pick some up...
Also got asked by one of the Brasilians if I was Argentinian.... PAHAHAHAHA.
An enjoyable evening, chatting and drinking whilst listening to various types of dance music; Salsa, Samba, Cumba, and everyone's favourite - Reggeaton.
Thursday
I arrived at conviven early to plan some lessons and listened for a while as the American girls chatted away about swim teams, parties, and people I didn't know. I didn't mind so much just observing through lunch.I'd made some clocks with moveable hands for our lesson on time today which I was supremely proud of! Though hindered by my lack of blutack once again!!
I was surprised by our first class when all 3 teams of 2, when divided wanted to be in my group for the word matching game! No idea why that was! But anyway. Was glad when I got a calm pair.... some kids at the other end of the room were proving raaaaather tricky to handle. Not my problem. ;)
Class 2 was harder. Scott took the younger kids and left Maddie and I to teach the rest, though there was a clear ability divide here too which made life difficult. The most difficult thing is trying to teach numbers. It's essential but difficult, especially when half the class are expert and the rest lagging behind on counting to 10. It was a slightly haphazard class but it seemed to go ok. I think the older ones at least like to have some things written down so I might incorporate more of that in future.
Got to get some supplies and do some planning for next week; we're starting art classes so I was thinking maybe we could make some calendars. :)
After work I chatted with Andres and we decided to go out to yet another CS night (free pizza was the deal breaker). I'd put our names down pre-emptively on the entrance list - housemate points!
The place was cozy, and only half full when we arrived but it soon filled up and we found ourselves surrounded by people from all over the world. I'm pretty sure Andres is now convinced of the true value of CS and I'll get him to sign up soon. Come to the coushside! We have pizza... Or something like that. ;)
We were also given a free mystery shot... I think mine was blue. It smelt like straight tequila... Fortunately it tasted a lot better! Though all the boys on my table were pussyfooting around drinking it. Pfft. Wasn't that bad. Though I did end up dancing to Reggaeton not long after so maybe it was pretty strong! Stumbled the 3 blocks back to the flat with Andres and had a drunken conversation about Spanish speaking in the kitchen. Seems he's impressed with mine. WIN. All in all, a good night.
Yaaay for the cats! :) One of them really looks like a possibly stray cat that is wandering around Harcourt at the moment.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're having an amazing time out there!
xx