Home again... thank goodness

First, I have a couple of quick thoughts on Buenos Aires. 1) It is true that people think Buenos Aires is European-looking. The buildings are absolutely beautiful and have such a wonderful history behind each of them. 2) The food in Argentina is NOT good. While I know I don't eat meat so I couldn't try the "normal" Argentinean foods, my carnivorous friends complained as well, so I knew it wasn't just me. 3) It is absolutely horrific that it is acceptable for your dog to poop on the sidewalk and you don't clean it up. In the U.S., this is seen as disgusting. In Buenos Aires, it's almost encouraged. Dog poop littered every sidewalk and I stepped in it countless times, especially at night when I couldn't see. Gross! 4) For me, the month was a good vacation. Having little responsibility, I could do what I wanted when I wanted. However, a month was certainly enough. For me it was the perfect amount of time.

Second, there were several changes that occurred from the time I left for Argentina on January 2 to the time I came back February 1. It amazed me how much life had changed in such a little time. 1) Public transportation prices rose. Agh. I gave the woman my money and she sadly told me the prices had gone up. Bummer. 2) My apartment has an new bedroom. Yeah... that's quite a change! I came back to find that a bathroom and storage closet had been turned into a bedroom... what a surprise! 3) I no longer have a twin bed. I have a large bed and a large dresser for all of my things. I was not at all expecting that.

Well, for the most part it feels so good to settle back into a routine. Seven weeks of vacationing around the world was grand, but it's time I crack down and get back to the real world



Monday: I arrived in Brazil. It was great to see everyone I live with again. After catching up on the latest news, we had a goodbye dinner for JJ, the guy who was staying in my room, and a welcome back dinner for me.



Tuesday: Got up first thing in the morning to go to work. Now that I'm back, I can't just spend, spend spend but am back on track with spending what I earn. Unfortunately, that's not much for a little while as most of my students are waiting until after Carnival to start again. Oh well. In the afternoon, I took a walk around the cemetery. I posted a video of it so you can see what a Brazilian cemetery looks like. They are beautiful. I also started back at the gym. Wow... after 7 weeks of not working out I was certainly out of shape. After running, taking an abs class and doing a trampoline class, I knew I would be in pain.



Wednesday: I signed up for PUC classes. I will be taking the night classes from 7:30-11:30 at night. On Mondays I will take a Politics and Cinema class, Tuesdays a Genocide and Contemporary Society class, Wednesdays a Social Service class and during the afternoons of Tuesdays and Thursdays a Portuguese class. In the afternoon, I had my interview for the Peace Prize Scholarship. I thought it went HORRIBLY. The skype connection was terrible and I couldn't get out the answers I wanted to get out. Oh well, I suppose not all interviews can go well.

Thursday: Got up bright and early for work again. Afterward, I worked out by running and taking a glutes, abs and legs class. I could certainly feel the Tuesday abs workout... AGH. Afterward I headed to the park to catch some sun and eat lunch and then to the Soccer Museum so I could meet some of the new American students at PUC this semester. It was a good museum and it was a free day so it didn't cost anything. I finished off at the gym with a step aerobics and abs class.



Friday: I woke up determined to explore a bit more of Sao Paulo. I made a list of things I wanted to do and decided that it was the perfect day to visit the Sao Paulo stock market. Nerdy, I know, but I'm a political science major so I feel like you can't really blame me. I hopped on a bus and the metro and landed at the right station. However, try as I might, I could not find the street. It seemed every person pointed me in a different direction. Instead, I ended up seeing Largo de Sao Bento. It's a beautiful church and school. I posted a picture of the inside of the church since the area was too dangerous to take a picture of the outside. While it may not have been my initial plan, it was a good alternative. Then I headed to work. I worked with a new student, a lawyer, that afternoon and things went well. Finally, I hurried off to the gym to take some more classes.