Well, my Wednesday night was great. It started off after class with a bit of shopping. Unfortunately, it´s becoming a tradition of my with some of my friends Nikki and Clarissa. I haven´t purchased too much, but have made it quite the habit to go to various stores and try on dresses, skirts, shoes and accessories. So much fun! It´s so much fun to have spare time since, for the first time in years, I don´t have a job. One month with no job = a beautiful chance to relax and enjoy life.
That night, Clarissa headed out for a bar around 11:30. We took the 152 bus (by far my favorite bus in the area... it takes me everywhere!) and met up with some other friends at a bar/club called Sugar. With drinks at only 5 pesos until midnight (1.25 USD), it was full. It was a great way to meet new people and practice my Spanish. Unfortunately, it was more of an American bar so we had to watch out for the Argentinean guys waiting to pounce (over the night, Clarissa and I came upon quite a few of them...) but kept our guard up and stayed close to the American group. I was home by about 3:00 am.
Yesterday, Thursday, we looked at some more stores. Clarissa was hoping to pick up some new shoes and I was, as usual, just window shopping. I´m hoping to save most of my money so I can go to Iguazu and Mar del Plata in the next couple of weeks. Last night I was exhausted. Clarissa and I headed to the movie theater to watch Sherlock Holmes (I actually enjoyed it!) and then I headed home and was in bed by 1:30 am. By 7:30, I was up for my last day of class the week. Five hours of Spanish class and now I´m free for the weekend with tons of plans!
As for one of the things I reflected on today, I was amazed at how much I am starting to appreciate the inconvenience of Latin America. Life in the U.S. is completely and totally about convenience. Here, life is different.
1) Transportation. In the U.S., everyone has a car. If you want to go somewhere, you can just hop in and drive. In Argentina and Brazil, some have cars, but the majority use the extensive public transportation system. Buses run 24/7, metros line the grounds of the cities, and trains carry cars of passengers convenientally around for onlly 35 US cents here in Buenos Aires. Not as convenient, but certainly more ecological and economical!
2) Shopping. Here in Argentina, malls and super centers are not very popular. There aren´t Walgreens or super Targets on every corner. Instead, you buy groceries at the grocery store, hangers at the hardware store, shirts at small boutiques medicines at the pharmacies and snacks at the kioscos. It´s not quick and easy to run around and buy everything, it takes time to visit each and every location.
3) Laundry. There aren´t convenient dryers in hardly any households. Everything is hung up to dry and then hand pressed with an iron. Some homes have to hand wash all clothes too on a wash board. Saves on the electricity bill!
4)The elevator at my university stops on the 7th, 11th and 17th floors. From there, you can walk up or down the stairs. It takes a bit more time, yes, but it means less stops for multiple people and a little more walking up or down some stairs.
Yes, sometimes inconveneince drives me nuts. If I want to go home at 2 in the morning, I have to be extra careful and it can take more time to use public transportation. Or, if I am searching for my class at PUC (my university) and they book the class in the wrong room and I can´t find the real class and no one knows where the class, I miss the class. If I need to buy an adapter at 8:30 at night, none of the hardware or electronics stores will be open so I will be out of luck. Over all, though, after a bit of adjustment, the inconvenience is starting to grow on me. While inconvenience isn´t really convenient (I jsut thought it had a ring in the name) it isn´t too bad. With some planning ahead (extra time before the first day of class, buying groceries during the day, etc), most things aren´t a problem.
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