Week Uno En Argentina

My week has been full of empanadas, sleep deprivation, bad spanish (self induced), and brisk days. I know I said this in my last post, but I love the weather here. The Argentine winter provides a perfect backdrop of golden sunlight in the afternoons and chilly breezes in the morning to explore the city in. I've decided that I want to live in a place that is perpetually fall.

We began school on Monday and while I am not really enjoying it, it provides a good opportunity to practice and learn the language, which I definitely need. The coffee is pretty bad though.

Our class structure is set up so that we have language class every morning from 9-1 and then either a lecture or outing in the city during the afternoon. I'm sure most of you reading won't be surprised to learn that I strongly prefer the outings, though the lectures we've had so far have been really enlightening as far as educating us on the political history and climate of Argentina and I appreciate them for giving me a better perspective and context of the country. I took lots of notes if anyone is interested. 

I'm getting more used to being in this city -- it sometimes doesn't feel that different than Boston. I've started spelling a lot of English words wrong when I write since I'm constantly thinking with Spanish pronunciation and phonetic spelling in mind. It's also still taking time for me to adjust to the Argentine cultural standard of kissing everyone you meet and talk to. It's used as a greeting and goodbye and is much more intimate that home. I kiss my professors and Ceci every time I see them after being away. It's the same with strangers -- meet someone in a bar and chat for a while, then exchange a kiss on the cheek as you leave. It's different but something to get used to since it is considered really impolite not to engage in. The best comparison I can come up with from home is someone reaching out to shake someones hand and them blatantly ignoring it. And so I shall adjust. 

The ground was cool too. 

We went on a walking tour of the Recoleta Cemetery on Tuesday. Many rich aristocratic Argentines from the late 19th and early 20th century are buried there in elaborate and tall mausoleums. It was very active during the height of Argentine prosperity, and the rich competed with each other for the best mausoleums to show off their wealth and status. And they really, really went all out. 

It contains over 4,500 mausoleums winding and wrapping around within itself, creating an eery and beautiful labyrinth. After our official tour my roommates and I wandered around it together. Many of the mausoleums have glass doors that you can look into and either see the fancy coffins or the narrow stairways that lead underground. Others had fresh flowers and were really nicely maintained by the deceased's family. It's really beautiful and also a little creepy. There's a pervasive feeling of being lost as you wander around since most of the crypts are over 10 feet tall, and the tons of stray cats padding around silently add to the weirdness. 

I added two pictures I took from the tour below, but think that this photo I found on Flickr illustrates the maze-like quality of the cemetery the best. I would recommend google images as well if you're interested in seeing more.

We also toured the Teatro Colon, the main opera house in Buenos Aires. The photo on the right is of a costume that was on display during the tour. It was a really beautiful place, and we got to sit in the main theater and watch some musicians rehearse for a performance later in the evening. The inside of the theater has seven different levels, which really astounded me, since I'm used to seeing three at most. When the theaters full, it can house 2,400 people sitting and 300 standing.

Our tour guide also pointed out black metal grates and screen along the walls near the front of the theater. She said that behind these is where the widows would sit and watch performances since it was not socially acceptable for them to be seen out in public while they were in mourning. I thought that was really interesting... just stick all the sad ladies behind a black metal grate at the theater to hide them from the public. Weird.

I put some more photos of the theater below. One is a selfie and the other has half of my finger in it. I was on my game today. 

Onwards! 

PS: Watching Argentina advance to the finals of the world cup was indeed amazing and I didn't write about it since I don't think I could do it justice, plus I know that there is more to come on that front!