Six weeks in Buenos Aires!

It is hard to believe that we have been here for 6 whole weeks!!! Both of us wish that we were speaking Spanish fluently and understanding everything! However...we are speaking and conversing with others who will speak slowly. Progress is being made and we have learned so much, but it doesn't seem like enough. Sometimes I feel like my brain cannot absorb one more conjugation, exception, irregular verb, past imperfect tense, future formal tense, etc. We have a lot of fun in class and the 4 hours pass very quickly. Since we don´t get out of class until 6:00pm the evening goes by rapidly and soon it is midnight. Of course it doesn´t help that dinner is not until 9:00 at the earliest.

Last week our Spanish class shrunk to only 3 students because the other 3 left to travel or return home. We also have a new instructor that we like a lot. Alejandro is very very patient and is spending a lot of time asking us questions in Spanish and making us reply in Spanish in the present, past and future tenses!! Takes a lot of my brain energy to quickly conjugate the verb , get the prepositions, articles, adjectives, adverbs and nouns all in the correct order in the sentence. When we speak English we never think about that. Enough about class.

Last weekend we had our best dinner yet at a restaurant we just happened upon. The food was great and we sat outside along with many other people. The weather here in the evenings is perfect for outdoor seating and there seem to be no mosquitoes. Quite lovely and very relaxing. That is probably one of the best things about the people here. They are in no hurry and always seem to be enjoying being with friends or family. In fact they always greet each other with a kiss on the cheek, even men meeting other men!! Quite refreshing to see and not have others speculating they are "gay" , weird or????

One week ago Sunday our priest friend spent the day driving us all around some of the different neighborhoods in BA. We ended up in Puerto Madero which is an old warehouse wharf district that is being rebuilt with shops, restaurants, condos, etc. We went to a buffet that was over the top. The meat, fish, pasta, pizza, gourmet dishes were never ending. Not to mention the salads, appetizers and desserts. Quite an impressive array of food beautifully displayed.

Paul started having some severe heel pain two weeks ago, made a trip to the doctor on Monday, had a x-ray and was diagnosed with plantar fascitis. He spent the last two weeks limping, walking only when absolutely necessary, icing his foot and taking Advil. Later he picked up some orthotics the doctor had made for him and already he is doing better. No overnight quick fix for this ailment (I had it a couple of years ago) but less pain is always welcome. As a result of this, Paul has been taking the bus to school since it stops right in front of the school. I still take the subway because I enjoy the 8 block walk to school from the station. Then after school Paul takes a taxi home which is a quick trip and then 45-60 minutes later I arrive. Tango lessons are on hold.

We continue to marvel at all the little "negocios" (shops) of various sorts that are along the streets. We will take some more pictures to try to show you the variety. There are many many bakeries with so many delicious looking goodies, fruit and vegetable shops that have a beautiful array of veggies and fruits, hair/nail salons galore, small hardware stores, lots of shoe stores, and clothing for women. Oh, also many many veterinary places that sell pet supplies, pets and have a veterinarian on site. Just so different.

The ice cream shops have a huge variety of flavors, sizes of cones, containers, etc. The cones are quite short but they really pile on the ice cream. A favorite flavor of mine is dulce de leche con nuetas which seems to be a favorite of many natives too.

Last weekend we took a commuter train outside the city to Tigre a small town on the edge of a large delta of rivers off of the Rio Plata that separates Argentina from Uruaguay. The delta spreads out for miles and is a maze of rivers where people have summer homes and resorts. There are tour boats but we took the local boat bus and went out to an area where three resorts are on an island. At one we sat and had a long lunch sitting right on the edge of the river. There was just constant boat traffic just like on the Fox River in Illinois near Chicago. During the week the river is quiet, but on the weekend it was like a superhighway. Kayaks, dinghys, ribs, ski boats, cruisers, boat taxis and the boat buses just keep coming. The water was high due to recent rains so we got our feet wet sitting at our table from the wakes of the passing boats several times.

Paul thought he was ordering a "Chorizo" sausage for lunch and it turned out to be "Chorizo of Bife" which is a ribeye cut of beef. Down here the eye of the ribeye is huge as this was. We both enjoyed it. The town contained an amusement park and huge market area where all sorts of hand made crafts are sold. It was interesting taking the commuter train through the subburbs and back. It gave us a good look at living conditions in the metro area of Buenos Aires.

Last Thursday we had an unfortunate accident when a glass of wine fell on the back or our laptop, but we have a back up which this is being typed on. But it will take us some time to get some pictures back and on the blog. Sorry.

The lastest news is that we just rented an apartment for March. It is in the neighborhood of our school and on a busy street but high enough and facing away from the street so we think it will be much quieter. It has A/C, Internet, Cable TV, bath and a half and our own kitchen. So we are pretty excited about this.

Take care, more later.