Today was the first day of classes. It was really an orientation and placement exam. I am a little intimidated by the fact that I am the only non-native speaker who is not a major in these literature classes.
SPAN 371 and SPAN 495 are literature classes dealing with Argentine writers and South American writers, respectively. We'll see how it goes. The placement test was not as challenging as I thought it would be. My reading comprehension is decent, just my speaking skills in a classroom setting are not up to par with natives. But I will try. Ensayer y lograr.
After the test, there was a short interview or a get to know you. I thought it was like the Spanish Inquisition--a little intimidating. Five teachers and their aides talking to you in a little desk chair about why you chose these calses. They were really nice though. Although I was nervous they can understood me and said not to worry. An odd thing that the teacher mentioned to me, however, was that in Argentina, teachers are called by their first name, and furthermore, it is perfectly acceptable to ask a question in the middle of the lecture if you don't understand something.
My packet of stories and poems is huge. We'll see how it goes tomorrow when classes start for real.
Showing posts with label first day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first day. Show all posts
04 January, 2010
31 December, 2009
Mar del Plata
A video of our first day in Mar del Plata, we're walking around Avenida Luro the main street to a fair, where some locals were doing a native dance called zamba. It's an indigenous dance in three-quarters time.
First day at the beach.
28 December, 2009
Some videos from the first day in Argentina around Calle Florida
I don't even remember what we were talking about, this
is the corner of Calle Florida and Avenida Córboda about
four blocks from our hotel.
The memorial at the Plaza de San Martín which
is about six blocks down Calle Florida. It reads:
"You, Argentinians, fight for democracy and your cause
is not only legitimate but also holy in the eyes of God
and of the free people of the world."
El Agua no funciona...
First let me tell you about the good things I did today:
After arriving in Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport at 6 am (local time that's 4am NY time), we (James, Maria, Michelle, Alex , Emma and I) took a cab from the airport to our the Liberty Hotel on the corner of Calle Florida and Avenida Corriente. We checked into our room, and met the wonderful conierge guy--Hernan. After about an hour of a cat - nap, James and I went exploring up Calle Florida, even though it was about 10am, local time, it felt like 1pm, because the sun was perfect and the breeze was better. We went back to Hotel Liberty, scrounged up a few compadres and headed out to some lunch. I ordered pizza, I know it sounds american but it wasn't. Pizza in Argentina is way different, more garlic, less sauce, different kind of bread. But it was good. I enjoyed it. I also tried the world famous mate, which is just supposed to be a strong tea. It was good, nothing too too special though. It tasted more or less like regular tea. Then we headed down Florida Calle a la Plaza de San Martin. We kept going and crossed the largest highway in the world ( Avenida 9 de Julio) passed through the neighborhood of Ricoleta. Everything there was pretty much closed, because it was a Sunday and a holiday weekend. Finally we reached the street fair at Plaza de Francia, where local vendors were selling everything from leather belts (I got one for 60 pesos), orange boxes, scarves and jewelry. We stayed there for a good half hour. and relaxed in the sun. Then we hiked up the Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Las Heras to the Botanical Gardens, on the way stopping at a MacDonalds to pee and get a bottle of water. I don't get why foreigners make fun of MacDonalds, the one here was nicer than a lot of the regular restaurants we've been to, there was a cafe and air conditioning, so I liked it. The Botanical Gardens were beautful, mad stray cats though which was weird, but we just walked around. And took another nap. We took the subway from Scalabrini-Ortiz to Catedral, which dropped us off basically where we started the day, near the Plaza de Mayo. Maybe it was all the short naps in between but we definitely felt like we covered a lot of ground. After an hour recuperation in the hotel (where we discovered that the running water was still not working in our hotel, did I mention that yet? None of us had a legit shower since we arrived, I know gross), we headed back out. Since they told us the showers would be working by 9pm, we figured we could shower after a night out in the San Telmo area (which is the ritzier area by the port). We had a quick bite at a restaurant called Havana Club. That's a lie there was nothing quick about it, we had a very leisurely but sweet waitress, who must've had a jetlag too, because it was a while before we got our drinks and sandwich of jamón y rúcula (thats arugula). We then walked the port and crossed the port over to neighborhood of Puerto Madero. We ended the night at a place called Spell Cafe, where we could enjoy the nice air in Buenos Aires by drinking ala fresco.
By the time we got back to the hotel at about 12:45am, we thought the water would be working. We thought WRONG. The water in our showers still was not working so I dialed "0" for the operator and tried out my Spanish skills, "El agua ya no funciona? No nos hemos duchado desde 6!" So the bellhop guy offered to open up a room on the second floor becuase apparently it had running water. So the four of us from 11 (James, Michelle, Alex and I) headed down to 2 to maybe clean off 2 days of traveling, and one day of trekking around the city. The faucet was so temperamental, we had to call again. This time they told us to wait for someone to come up. James worked his magic, though, getting it to work. But at scalding hot temperatures. HAHA you should have heard him through the wall. He figured third degree burns were worth smelling good. The girls gave up and called their friends on the 1st floor who had water. I called again and was guaranteed the water in our room would work by tomorrow morning.
"¿Es cierto?" I asked. Luckily the showers did work this morning and I will not smell. But what a test it was. Time for the orientation meeting. Pictures and videos to come.
After arriving in Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport at 6 am (local time that's 4am NY time), we (James, Maria, Michelle, Alex , Emma and I) took a cab from the airport to our the Liberty Hotel on the corner of Calle Florida and Avenida Corriente. We checked into our room, and met the wonderful conierge guy--Hernan. After about an hour of a cat - nap, James and I went exploring up Calle Florida, even though it was about 10am, local time, it felt like 1pm, because the sun was perfect and the breeze was better. We went back to Hotel Liberty, scrounged up a few compadres and headed out to some lunch. I ordered pizza, I know it sounds american but it wasn't. Pizza in Argentina is way different, more garlic, less sauce, different kind of bread. But it was good. I enjoyed it. I also tried the world famous mate, which is just supposed to be a strong tea. It was good, nothing too too special though. It tasted more or less like regular tea. Then we headed down Florida Calle a la Plaza de San Martin. We kept going and crossed the largest highway in the world ( Avenida 9 de Julio) passed through the neighborhood of Ricoleta. Everything there was pretty much closed, because it was a Sunday and a holiday weekend. Finally we reached the street fair at Plaza de Francia, where local vendors were selling everything from leather belts (I got one for 60 pesos), orange boxes, scarves and jewelry. We stayed there for a good half hour. and relaxed in the sun. Then we hiked up the Avenida del Libertador and Avenida Las Heras to the Botanical Gardens, on the way stopping at a MacDonalds to pee and get a bottle of water. I don't get why foreigners make fun of MacDonalds, the one here was nicer than a lot of the regular restaurants we've been to, there was a cafe and air conditioning, so I liked it. The Botanical Gardens were beautful, mad stray cats though which was weird, but we just walked around. And took another nap. We took the subway from Scalabrini-Ortiz to Catedral, which dropped us off basically where we started the day, near the Plaza de Mayo. Maybe it was all the short naps in between but we definitely felt like we covered a lot of ground. After an hour recuperation in the hotel (where we discovered that the running water was still not working in our hotel, did I mention that yet? None of us had a legit shower since we arrived, I know gross), we headed back out. Since they told us the showers would be working by 9pm, we figured we could shower after a night out in the San Telmo area (which is the ritzier area by the port). We had a quick bite at a restaurant called Havana Club. That's a lie there was nothing quick about it, we had a very leisurely but sweet waitress, who must've had a jetlag too, because it was a while before we got our drinks and sandwich of jamón y rúcula (thats arugula). We then walked the port and crossed the port over to neighborhood of Puerto Madero. We ended the night at a place called Spell Cafe, where we could enjoy the nice air in Buenos Aires by drinking ala fresco.
By the time we got back to the hotel at about 12:45am, we thought the water would be working. We thought WRONG. The water in our showers still was not working so I dialed "0" for the operator and tried out my Spanish skills, "El agua ya no funciona? No nos hemos duchado desde 6!" So the bellhop guy offered to open up a room on the second floor becuase apparently it had running water. So the four of us from 11 (James, Michelle, Alex and I) headed down to 2 to maybe clean off 2 days of traveling, and one day of trekking around the city. The faucet was so temperamental, we had to call again. This time they told us to wait for someone to come up. James worked his magic, though, getting it to work. But at scalding hot temperatures. HAHA you should have heard him through the wall. He figured third degree burns were worth smelling good. The girls gave up and called their friends on the 1st floor who had water. I called again and was guaranteed the water in our room would work by tomorrow morning.
"¿Es cierto?" I asked. Luckily the showers did work this morning and I will not smell. But what a test it was. Time for the orientation meeting. Pictures and videos to come.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)