Today I started my day off with a wheat or oat flavored yogurt. And it wasn’t half bad. I ventured on my first colectivo ride to the UCA (Universidad católica argentina). The campus was very nice. All of it looked very new and it was in a barrio (neighborhood) called Puerto Madero which is right on the water. There is a long walkway along the water that is very pretty. I think this is the university I am going to attend classes at. The other one is the public school which is more prestigious but more chaotic and has a reputation for being more academically rigorous. I pre-registered for about 15 classes and in the next two weeks I have to attend all of them and choose which ones I want to keep. I am aiming for one direct enrollment, but they told us to pick from a lot of schools and keep our options open. My schedule for next week should be a bit brutal judging from the fact that I will have to be taking 3 times as many classes as I normally take. After my orientation at UCA, I met up with a good friend from high school who was rapping up her trip around South America. She and I shared some fantastic travel stories, and went through life updates. It was a bit odd having two parts of your life come together. But it was a well needed break, with someone I knew and knew me—not like the getting to know you game I have been playing for a week with the 130 students in my program (to make it even more challenging half of it is in Spanish and half in English with them).
I went out for coffee after registering for classes with two friends from the program. One is from Portland as well (and also was a Presbyterian deacon!?) I headed home and chatted with my host father about their previous students and the argentine economy (mostly I just listened and occasionally asked questions or responded with a si o que bueno, que estrano or things of this nature). I need to learn more phrases in spanish that say I AM LISTENING. I have resorted to doing the ever hated “umhum” in times of dire need. Tonight we had my host brother and his wife and his “yankee” (or exchange student) over for dinner. We had milonesa, fried eggs and French fries. It was very delicious but probably not very good for you.
This weekend is my final weekend of academic freedom. I plan to use it accordingly to buy myself a coat, go on a run, get some documents for the visa process that I start on Monday and do some walking tours.
(My host mom says to add that I am living with crazy people—in Spanish. But really they are very nice.)
No comments:
Post a Comment