viviendo

hi!

i'm gonna try something new and categorize all the things i've been up to in these past two weeks.

OBLIGATIONS:
ha. as if..
but actually though last week we did indeed have one very, very important task, all sarcasm aside. IMMIGRATION... gasp. it was pretty rough. cassidy and i had appointments at the same time so we made the trek together, two connecting subte rides and a confusing cab ride away. pros: we got to skip our argentine history class. cons: the warehouse looking establishment seemed to be low on oxygen and smelled of vomit. we waited for an hour, submitted our photo and forms, waited another hour and paid 500 pesos, then another 30 minutes for a little piece of paper. we finally were freed and continued with our duty free life!

HOMEFRONT:

honestly couldn't be better! here at Aguilar 2190, elena, mimi and i are doing great. we have decided to turn over a new leaf and become super organized, put together betches. so far that just hasn't really happened.. well i did clean my room (with a little help from our maid)! also, after scouring my local Disco grocery store, I found PASTA DE MANI (natural peanut butter)!! here in argentina, the magical goo that is crushed peanuts and salt just is not a thing. they do, however, have an entire aisle dedicated to dulce de leche alone! priorities, people. here's the happiest breakfast i've had in weeks: 

except to be honest the pb here is almost a liquid.. eh. As for my original home front, I was so happy to be able to facetime with so many of my homies this week! I surprised my sweet Granna & Papa with a call - Papa got a hipster haircut, you know, the kind with longer hair on top and shaved on the sides, LOL! They were babysitting my sweet puppy Pip so I got to see all three of my favorites! Last night, I facetimed my brother, just in case he forgot what I look like. aren't we cute?? 

and of course, i talk to my mom and dad frequently as well. in a month we'll be chillin in mendoza!! can't come any faster. To continue the chronicles of neely living with her worst allergy, here's a loving family photo of me and mimi... update: she enjoys sitting on my shoulders while i walk around - yesterday morning she scratched me SO HARD that i thought i might become some sort of mutant superhero.. catwoman II? but alas, I remain in the same form, with just a bit of cat DNA in my bloodstream. thanks, cat.

But speaking of communicating with my memphians, I GOT SNAIL MAIL PART II!!!!! my wonderful best friend/neighbor/cousin (?) Hannah sent me the sweetest letter all the way from Fort Worth! When I get letters sent to the house, Miguel the doorman hands it to Elena, who takes it and runs (literally) around the whole house yelling "CORREOOOOOOOS!!" (letters!!) If you liked Blues Clues' 'mail time,' you would LOVE Elena. Who doesn't love mail, though? Be expecting some un-monogrammed letters soon, friend! (why am i so weird)

THE CITAYYY

SPRING HAS SPRUNG PEOPLE. and not a moment too soon. I'm a pretty shitty photographer but check these out - we have a park in belgrano pretty close to cass' house that's full of people playing with their pups, picnicking, and most importantly, drinking mate tea. The beautiful warm weather is finally upon us!!! stay tuned for the purple flowers bloomin on the trees that canopy over the old cobblestoned streets.. ah, basking in the beauty. maybe i'll come home not looking like a total ghost?? o and yes, I am indeed representing all y'all fellow cowboy boot wearers down here. 

  

As for BsAs' economy, take a look at the front page of Clarín last week.

to translate, the exchange rate via the blue/slightly illegal rate has increased to 15 pesos per $1 USD. dang. keep in mind that when we got here it was barely at 12 pesos. this is madness. although i am at the benefitting side of this, I still pray for this city, this country, and all the citizens during this instability. and yes, they are blaming the "vultures" of the USA for not letting them pass go & collect (much more than) $200 post-default. Goodness. If only my friendly neighborhood exchangers would accept ANY of my american bills - they're pretty picky about bills that aren't crispy, or bills that are tainted with any visible tear or pen markings. sheesh.

SCHOOL:

I passed my Argentine history exam!! Yahoo!! Cass and I had another exam on Tuesday in 'History of the Ideas and Processes of Argentina.' Oh, how we studied, and oh, how we ROCKED IT! Leaving that classroom at 9pm has never felt so glorious, let me tell you. We even celebrated our hard work paying off by sharing a bag of peanut M&Ms, which to our dismay only yielded about 8 pieces. My favorite class is on Thursdays from 3-5:30. I love it because our teacher is not only super chill/lets us out early, but also because he takes us to museums and treats us to coffee! This Thurs we went to the MALBA, the modern art museum. We had to pick one piece to write about for homework due next Thursday. I picked this one - it has a real live aquarium in it, which is pretty cool for a piece painted in 1968! it's gotten pretty nasty since i've last seen it... SMH malba workers...

I really liked our museum trip though, because cass/jordan/i decided to lunch beforehand in their adorable yet swanky cafe. a caprese salad and two bottles of chardonnay later... we were extra ready to enjoy the art :) Our professor is such a sweetheart and took our whole class for coffee and sweets afterward.. in the same cafe.. with the same wait staff that just laughed at the three us for returning so quickly.

SOMETHING NEW:

So for the first time in Argentina, I got a mani pedi! Pretty exciting, right?? It was delightfully cheap, just 20 american bucks. It was also kind of terrifying: my nail technician put a POWER TOOL to my feet... as if they were that bad!

See that magazine i'm reading? It's called Hola. It's the biggest, most legit magazine Argies read. I opened it up, expecting to see the lady president doing something lavishly annoying, or maybe even that hunky actor everyone loves. What i actually saw was far cooler: MY COUSINS!! what the f?? Here they are, Rachel, left, and Molly right, sandwiching Molly's pal, business partner, and birthday girl Hilary Swank. Why I can't be as cool as them... argentine magazine, seriously??

Another cool thing we tried out this weekend was Thursday night. After our predictable pregame at ex-pat owned Magdalena's, along with a couple creepy encounters with some older men, our friends Ben and Ponzi joined us to San Telmo, home of the Sunday street fair and the HIP HOP CLUB! It was so cool y'all. I felt like I was in a movie- a mass of dudes dressed as thugs (or maybe they are real thugs, but who's to say) formed a circle for a dance-off. Some of these guys had some serious moves, from smooth footwork to head spins! Definitely a different way to spend the night/morning.

That's just about all the news I've got for y'all today. I'm about to go to spin class (which is pretty much the same anywhere in the world). Keep in touch, people! Love you all!

besos!