On Friday everyone met their host families which was really exciting because we knew very little about them before arriving. I am living in a house, which is pretty rare in Buenos Aires, with a mom and her 21 year old daughter. Upstairs, the grandmother has her own apartment. Lidia, my host mother has 4 daughters and a 15 year old niece that spends a lot of time in the house as well. They are all really nice and funny. I am only understanding about every 3rd word, but Im sure I will be every other word at least by the time the program ends. Occasionally they slow down to explain to me so that I understand, but mostly the spanish is fast and leaves me behind.
The grandmother Marciela came down a few times on the weekend to talk to me. I only understood every 1oth word. I think she knew that, but talked to me anyway. I just nodded a lot. I will know when I have reached true fluency if I can understand what she is saying.
To enter their little community of houses there is a big gate, and then a 10 foot wide path with houses on either side. I will post pictures soon so that you can have a better idea of what Im talking about, but mostly people tend to live in apartments, so its interesting to see what is considered a house here.
I have my own room and a little room on the side which is a closet/study space. Although my room walls dont go to the ceiling, if I need complete silence I can go into the study area and get some work done.
A lot of people smoke in the house which is different for me. It doesnt really bother me much, it´s just different to sit down for dinner inside and have someone smoking a cigarette next to you.
Tomorrow is Lidias, my host mom´s birthday and Im not quite sure what is going to happen but hopefully I can get a lot of my homework out of the way before dinner. People tend to eat dinner around 10:00 PM or later, so I probably will have enough time.
Today was our first day of school and evertying was going perfectly until the subway. I got on going the wrong direction. I dont know why. But needless today I will forever know which is the correct subway to enter. And unfortunately in Buenos Aires, if you get on the subway going one direction, you have to go all the way back to the street and back down to the subway on the other side and pay again. Thankfully it is only $2.oo Pesos (about 50 cents), but that can add up over time.
That's all for now, expect some pictures soon! Hasta luego- Jamila
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