week 1 status: still alive

Hello
I can't believe I've been here for a week and a half! Wow, the Boston cold seems so much further away than that.

I took this weekend to do some (more) exploring the sprawling city with various friends. One day my friend Breen and I went to the Recoleta Cemetary, where all the well-to-do Argentinians are buried (such as Eva Peron). It was so quiet and peaceful in there, almost like a little vacated town. The cemetary is layed out almost like a town with tombs lining skinny alleyway-like streets.

It was a cross between creepy and majestic and was quite intesting to see the contrast between upkept tombs and those in disrepair. Thankfully for this little gatito, one of them provided him a nice, cool marble napping spot. Can you see him in there?

I also went to the Japanese and botanical gardens which were both spectacular! Although I think I liked the Japanese one more because of these reasons
1) it had a better layout with water and bridges for prettiness and easy exploring.
2) The Japonese Garden had a little concert and "learn to do some Japanese dances" entertainment show. Contrary to what one may think, there is a huge asian population here in Buenos. Mind you, they are pretty marginalized (they run all the kioskos- little shops like QuickieMarts- and the Argentines call these little shops "Chinos", the word for a Chinese person....ok, i'll end the social commentary now!)
3) The botanical garden was ruled by cats and in the Jardin Japones I did not see one gato in sight! yess!

One thing that I love about Argentina are their leisurely lunches. We can easily eat lunch for three hours and think nothing of it. It is so nice! This leisure no doubt stems from Argentina's disregard of time. No one really cares if you're late, or if you eat dinner until 2 am (like I did last night), or if you stay out until 7 am and spend your morning somewhere in between sleeping and lounging. The way Carolina, the director of FLACSO put it was "How many Argentines on the staff at FLACSO wear a watch? Not one!" As you might have guessed, I am adapting quite well to this mentality.

Other than that, I've been doing a TON of walking because I can't get enough of the glorious weather here (85 with a slight breeze and sunny). Also, it's the best way to get to know the city, a daunting task! I've found many parks and I love to meander or just sit in them to observe the people and how they act. I've also been doing a ton of eating (duh) as I have been blessed with a chef host madre and the ice cream and fruit here are fantasic. I do miss oats and PB and cereal and helping my real mom cook lovely meals and...oh, the list could go on for what I miss! But, all in all, I am adjusting as best I can and trying to not get worked up about little things such as the fact that they do not use saran wrap for leftovers here (just stick 'em in the fridge uncovered).

This week is more "orientation" and signing up for classes- aka its still vacation time and my friends and I can play in this big city some more!

un beso grande :-)

PS These are just two pictures from a park I found while walking around just to make you jealous of this beautiful weather: