Thelonious and McKosher

I have come to the conclusion, in my 3 weeks in Buenos Aires, that people tend to be less intelligent than I give them credit for, more specifically, American study-abroad students. We got another mass e-mail about a week ago reminding us of the long list of Do Not Do's that they lectured us on when we first got here. These are things like, "be careful about where your bag is in clubs, cafes, and restaurants" and "don't cross the train tracks that go through an empty industrial wasteland by yourself". Things that one would assume are simply common sense are, apparently, not. Already 5 girls have been robbed. One of them was on a subway with her bag open. Really? I understand that Podunk, Midwest is not the same as 7 million person South American city, but when someone spells out for you exactly what you shouldn't be doing, and then you do it? Really? What did you expect? Okay, rant over. It is just so frustrating to realize that the rest of the world has very good reason to hold the Dumb American stereotype to be true. Maybe I will tell people I'm Finnish. I could pass for Finnish.

As the weather has been somewhat miserable for the last two weeks it has become a daily struggle to find something to do out of the apartment that does not actually involve being outside. Thus far I have come up with museums and malls. But museums cost money except on Wednesdays. And there is a limited amount of time that I can spend looking a piece of art that can only be the result of an LSD trip before I have to either leave or go get an overpriced coffee from the museum restaurant as I wait for, well, who knows, time to pass, classes to start, Prince Charming, a routine. Oh to have a routine... Anyway, I know, malls seem like a lame thing to occupy ones days with whilst living in Argentina, but I have 5 months left, weather is like Warsaw in March (grey and rainy) and though I'm just as excited as the next girl to wander through a maze of mausoleums (probably more actually), I think I'll wait until the chances that the Phantom of the Opera is holing up in one go down to a mere 50%.














That said, the malls here can be pretty spectacular. The other day I went to Abasto, a mall housed in a converted market building. It is spectacular. The photo cannot do justice to the awe-inspiring architecture. Abasto is also home to a children's museum and arcade thoughtfully named "Neverland"... Maybe a name change wouldn't be completely out of line. Oh well, the ferris wheel and merry-go-round are more than enough for me to overcome my reservations. Abasto is also home to the only kosher McDonald's outside of Israel, the McKosher you could say. Though I am generally opposed to McDonald's, I think I might just make an exception for this one.

This past week has been the week of discoveries close to home. I discovered a vibrant Jewish neighborhood mere blocks from my apartment, the only McKosher outside of Israel, the 3D realization of an unfortunate stereotype, and a jazz club called Thelonious Bar that is literally 3 buildings down from my apartment. It is a longer walk to go do my laundry than it is to go listen to really good jazz. According to my guide book, "if you are looking for the best local jazz, this is the place." Though it is the first jazz club I've been to in BA, the others would have to be pretty fabulous to top this one. The couches are cracked black leather and the defining lighting fixture involves about 40 individual light bulbs hanging from the ceiling like a bouquet of dried roses that are all dying at different speeds. BA is recently smoke free indoors, but every time I visualize Thelonious Bar my imagination adds a smoky haze. It is just that kind of place.

I start my first full week of classes today and am a little frightened. Last week I went to two classes and found that in one of them I understood about 15% and in the other about 85%. I don't feel that bad about the first one though as one of the Argentine students told me during a break that even they can only understand about half of what that particular professor says. I had forgotten that English isn't the only language that can be mumbled. He also looked a bit like Vernon Dursley, so it's probably for the best that I don't take that class. My ideal schedule would involve one 4 hour class at UBA on Tuesdays and one on Wednesdays and then one mandatory Spanish class with the program on Thursdays. Can anyone say "four day weekend"?
Here's to crossed fingers that I can understand 2 of the UBA professors.

After my challenge last week I am proud to say that Gramma was in fact the first non-undergrad to comment (yay Gramma!) followed closely by.... and this one's a shocker.... Dad! (Though how your comment wound up on the first entry I'll never know...) Anyway, just in case anyone else is curious, here is the easiest way to do it. Click on the link that says "__ COMENTARIOS". This will bring up a window with all other comments at the bottom of which is the option to leave your own. :-D Mystery solved.