New apartment, new roomies, new job...

Mural of Che Guevara in San Telmo

Street tango

Mmmm... Malbec

2 of the roomies, Fer and Fede

At the Saturday farmer's market, across the street from our apartment

Christian (German), Lori, me, and Erin (American)

Sunday "feria" in San Telmo

Gaucho show at the estancia

Well, many things have happened in the last few weeks! I am officially in a new apartment (after living with Lori for a week), I finished my TEFL course (yay!), Matt arrived to BA a few days ago, and I got my first teaching job!

I had an interview last week with an English institute called Brooklyn Bridge, and they told me they'd most likely have a few classes to offer me. They called me the next day and asked me to come in for a training session and to discuss some classes they'd like me to teach. After all was said and done- I taught my first two lessons today! It was actually really fun. The first was a woman from Banco de Valores, and the second was a man from Bristol Myers Squibb. My second class was 4 hours long! It was only supposed to be 2, but I ended up filling in for another teacher who couldn't make the class. I must say, 4 hours sure flew by. The guy looooooved to talk. I'd say he's at a high intermediate level, and I feel like most of the time was spent listening to him talk and correcting his errors when necessary. I only have a few classes right now, but my schedule will gradually build up. I think I'll be teaching one class for Price Waterhouse Cooper, teaching their executives how to communicate via phone and email to people in the United States. Most of my classes will be similar to this- involving me teaching company execs. The companies hire the institutes, and the institutes hire teachers like me. I know Brooklyn Bridge also works with Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, and several other biggies. In the end, I'm hoping to secure 25-30 hours of teaching per week. I'm also going to send out some emails to a few tennis clubs in the city, and see what kinds of coaching opportunities they may have. I'm not sure how willing they'll be to hire an American female without Spanish fluency (yet), but so much of coaching is about showing, as opposed to explaining, so who knows?!

I'm loving the new apartment! Lori and I came to see it about 3 weeks ago, and instantly fell in love. It's a big old apartment in San Telmo, with 4 bedrooms total, 2 balconies, a big living room, a cute and spacious kitchen, and 2 bathrooms. Lori and I were sharing one of the big rooms, which has 2 single beds. She left Buenos Aires this past Monday, and then Matt arrived on Tuesday- taking over her bed in the room. I'm not sure how long we'll be sharing a room together, but let's just say that for the price we're paying, I'll do it for as long as possible! The other inhabitants of the apartment include Erin, an American girl working remotely for a marketing firm; Christian, a German guy studying here for a year; Fernanda (and Federico, her live-in boyfriend), a Chilean girl studying cinematography. Lori, Christian, and I cooked a delicious pasta meal one of our first nights here and chatted over a few bottles of wine and beer. What a small world- Chris is good friends with a girl who used to play tennis for Georgia, who I know as well! I never cease to be amazed with the smallness of this world. Needless to say, he's a very cool guy. His family is from Berlin, and he- like everyone else I've met here- offered for me to stay with his family if I ever want to visit his country. Hmmm... may have to take him up on that. Fernanda and Federico ("Fer" y "Fede") are great. Fer is an amazing artist, and Fede is an amazing musician. He plays an instrument called the "bandoneon", which is like a very old accordian. He often practices for a few hours a day, which is simply glorious to listen to. The American girl, Erin, has a pretty fabulous gig going on. She works for a creative marketing firm out of the US, and is able to live wherever she wants, as long as there's a good Internet connection. She's been bouncing around Latin America for the past few months, and is leaving tomorrow for none other than my beloved South Africa. And last, but certainly not least, the owner of the apartment, Marina, is amazing! She is like a free Spanish teacher, and insists that we all speak Spanish most of the time. She frequently comes by to stock up the cabinet with spices, bring fresh flowers, clean, or just hang out with us. She's always bringing brochures and giving us advice on things to do and see. I couldn't think of a better "house mom" to have.

Every Saturday, across the street from our apartment, there's a big farmer's market. Matt and I went this past Saturday, and bought quite the assortment of fresh goodies: chorizo, salami, ham, mortadel, queso fresco, French rolls, eggs, lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red & green peppers, corn, strawberries, apples, oranges, and bananas. Whew! It's all so amazingly fresh and delicious. And every Sunday, there's a "feria" here in San Telmo- a flea market, essentially- that runs about 15 blocks along the street right next to ours, ending at a square in the middle of San Telmo. Perfecto! It's quite possibly the most amazing market ever- especially for jewelry junkies like myself. My jewelry may need its own suitcase soon. There are also street bands and performers all over the place, and they're a blast to watch. I've discovered that it's just not possible to watch them without feeling a strong and overwhelming urge to dance. There are also tango dancers, of course. I'm not sure how I feel about tango, to be honest. I love watching it, but it's not the kind of dance that makes you want to get up and get going. I definitely want to learn a move or two, but I wouldn't say I'm jumpin' in my boots to become the next San Telmo feria street performer. Not to mention that there are so many other types of dances here that really get me going.

Speaking of dancing, I'd like to take a second to mention the complete and utter craziness of the Buenos Aires nightlife. Let me give you a generally accepted going-out itinerary:

7-10pm-ish: Nap

11-ish: Dinner/drinks at a restaurant or someone's house

1-ish: Lowkey bar

3-ish: Make your way to a club

8am-ish: Leave the club after watching the sun rise, perhaps get breakfast

No, I'm not exaggerating. I personally haven't quite made it to 8am yet; 6:30 is as far as I've gotten. The clubs here are insane, too. The nice thing, though, is that Argentinians aren't huge binge drinkers (unlike Americans). You rarely see anyone belligerant or out of control, and it's generally frowned upon to get absolutely smashed. Interestingly enough, however, it's completely legal to walk the streets with open bottles. On Matt's first day here, we picked up a few bottles of Quilmes (the Bud Light of Argentina) and sipped on them as we walked around. Smoking weed is also a common practice in the streets. I'll often walk past people on a major street and catch whiffs of Mary Jane all over the place. Speaking of, Argentina just decriminalized small-scale marijuana use, meaning that it's perfectly legal to enjoy a spliff or 2, as long as you're not dealing it in large amounts.

We went to an estancia a few weeks ago, which is a traditional Argentinian ranch in the countryside, and where the infamous "gaucho" originated. We rode horses, watched folk dancing and tango, ate massive amounts of beef and drank loads of wine, and watched the gauchos perform a show on their horses. The beef here is everything I expected it to be and more- pure deliciousness. I almost never ate steak in the States, but now I eat it at least twice a week! The weather here is amazing. This past week it was about 75 degrees and sunny every single day. And it's not even spring yet! Splendid.

That's all I have for now! Hopefully I'll continue racking up more teaching hours, and perhaps get a chance to coach some tennis down here. Speaking of- the US Open started on Monday and I was EXTREMELY happy to discover that we have full coverage of it here! YES. I'm loving my life down here more and more each day, and am making so many friends from varying backgrounds. There's simply nothing more fun than establishing a group of friends who all have such interesting and ambitious life stories. However, I will continue missing and loving my good ole' friends back in the US of A.

Sending my love to you all! xx

CTW