This has been a fairly busy week and to top it off, I´m just getting over a head cold. Along with studying spanish, my Biology classmates and I attended two seminars (two hours for each seminar) this week. There were nine scientific papers presented which meant we had to read all 9 papers. Por ejemplo....
My paper was titled, ¨Afforestation causes changes in post-fire regeneration in native shrubland communities of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina.¨
Some other papers were about the Andean Condors, ring-tailed coatis (raccoon family), plant-pollinator interaction, and a very interesting paper about Kulp Seagulls eating the blubber of Right Whales in the Peninsula Valdez. All very interesting studies that help us to better understand survey methods, data analysis, graphs to represent data, and local biology of Argentina.
Onward.
On my walk from the escuela (school) to the hostel I took a mental note of the different types of ¨things¨ one can buy on the calle (street). I don´t know if a high percentage of these were stolen, I´m guessin they were. You can´t leisurley stroll on a calle in Bs As. Besides swerving and dodging around vehicles, poop, and people, there are usually several pieces missing from the sidwalk. I´ve tripped more than I cant count. There are at least two people on every cuadra (block) aggresively trying to hand you a flyer. What I think is most facinating are the people selling random stuff. There´s señor hombre selling only tissue paper. Then theres la mujera selling socks and bras. You can also buy a plethora of toys and on my way home today I saw a man selling only womens electric razors. I could, technically, leave the hostel naked and buy everything I need by the time I get to school and it would cost me roughly 20 pesos or $5.
On the busiest sections of Avendia de Corrientes there are señor hombres selling bags of fried peanuts, etc. for 2 pesos, .50 cents. I´ve also noticed that Barney and The Simpsons are popular and believe me, the Simpsons is hilarious en español.
Wednesday was a full day. I had spanish from 1 to 4 pm then a field trip. W didn´t leave for a long time because of a protest (will explain in more detail later). When we finally got rolling we went to La Boca which translates to, the mouth of the river. This is a neighborhood known for their pinturas and rightfully bursting with pastel colors. Apparently there are only a few safe streets so it took us roughly 20 minutes to tour it. We passed two outdoor seated restaurants with live tengo dancing.
When we got back we were all tired (and I was ill) so we didn´t feel like walking back to the hostel. Instead, we took the subte (subway). I must stress that I have to be somewhat desperate to ride the subte. Once the subte pulls up, it´s a fight for all. You have to shove your way into the already sardine-like packed space. Once inside, it´s like playing bumper cars only some bumper cars are much larger and sweatier than others. Amy Flynn defined it very well, ¨it´s like surfing!¨
I got off near the hostel and picked up my laundry from the Lavanderia. I had it done for 10 pesos, roughly $2.50. On my way back to the hostel I pass a flora mercado and sometimes pick up vegetables and fruit from a verdularia (market of vegetables and fruit) for my dinner. But that night we went to a music show that was out of this world!
Tonight I´m having an ensalada con sauteed asparagus, mushrooms, garlic, and sauce. My amigo señor Julio gave me an alfajor con dulce de fruta, so I will indulge in this for desert. I will write about the protests later. Chau!
No comments:
Post a Comment