week one: resumen
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week one, in review. should this be the 'omygodwereinanewcountry' entry? maybe 'goshthingsarebeautifulhere', 'whattheheckarewedoinghere',or 'ineedtoeatsomethingbesidessandwiches'?
these days have been kind of a blur. there's barely any time difference so there was no jet lag but i make up for it with culture and language lag. speaking spanish all the time wears me out, but besides that buenos aires keeps crazy hours. if we arrive for dinner before 9 we are the only ones eating... and the rest of the night is pushed back accordingly. in philadelpha, bars and restaurants and discos close by 2. in buenos aires they don't close.
so lots of the day is a whirlwind. some sections of this city are like New York, only compressed: cars and busses and people all moving very fast along their own paths on narrow streets. during the day we pass through this beehive from one calm place to another: hotel to cafe to internet-cafe to apartment rental agency.
the plan for long-term living is this: jeremy and i rent an apartment for a month or two with kate, so that all of us can get a feeling for where we want to live and hopefully meet some argentines who want to share apartments. kind of a jumping off point. finding a furnished apartment big enough for three of us and for only two months is a challenge. jeremy and i had to post pictures (here) of one of the frontrunners to show to kate. the search is exhausting and a bit frustrating, and we will be so happy to finally move in to a place of our own.
besides the apartment search we spend some time in internet cafes:
and some time in this city's many cafe/restaurants:
but last week was all about the apartment search. then saturday night we went out dancing and sunday we spent the day in the park drinking mate. there are photos on the numbers page (click 'recoleta'), and if you have time you can see a short video. monday was christopher columbus day ("Cristóbal Colón" here, which appears to be his real name), and finally the city was calm and the streets were empty.
one week and of course everything is still so new and exciting. i do miss everything and everyone back home (no offense to anyone, but i especially miss my cat). but being busy helps fend off homesickness; despite being unemployed there is still too much to do: finding an apartment, keeping in touch with everyone back home, working on our spanish, starting to plan our lives for the next few months. after half a year back home, for me the city and its attraction had become almost mythic. now i arrive again and see that somehow the reality is not so different from the myth.
antes era Weirder than I think I am
despues tenés viernes
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