La primera semana

Superbowl Sunday at an "American" bar

The ceiling at Club Museo

Dancing the night away

Puerto Madero all lit up at night

Me.

Surviving la primera semana (& class): Check.
I would have to call my first week (semana) ----- interetirinexcitissful. For interesting, tiring, exciting and successful.
Of course.
I'm learning a little every day - even if it's just a vocab word here or there. Spanish 24/7 is definitely frustrating and difficult sometimes. It's hard not to revert back to English with the other people in my program. Most of the time, that's what happens anyway. And even though it may not help our Spanish, it's nice to have a break, especially after a long day.
Classes are going well. I'm relearning the things that I forgot that I forgot, which is good (most of the time). Stepping stones for improving. There's nobody from my program in my class; I'm with students from other programs, or who are studying individually, which I don't mind because it allows me to meet different people.
On Wednesday night, I went to my first boliche, aka nightclub, with some people from my program. The boliche was called Museos.
We had a blast!
Museos has 3 levels and it was absolutely packed with people! It had disco balls and strobe lights and disco/80s/reggaton/techno/spanish music! We stayed for a couple hours danced the night away. We finally left around 2:45 in the morning - we had to leave early because we had class, of course. :) I definitely had a siesta the next day.
We're going out tonight to Puerto Madero, which is an upper-class barrio in BA. We're going out to dinner and then hopefully another boliche. Or two.
Today after class, I went to a Japanese garden in Palermo (another barrio) and just walked around. It was so peaceful and pretty.
I'm starting to get to know my way around the city. Kind of. I've only been lost 3 times and left my keys in the apartment once. I think I'm doing pretty well!
After being here for only 1 week, there are definitely some things that I miss and that I'm craving:
*a big, fat hamburger. scratch that. a big, fat cheeseburger. with everything
*a salad (kind of cancels out the hamburger, but whatever)
*iced tea. can't find it anywhere
*knowing where i'm going. and where i'm at
*my own bed - hard beds and lumpy pillows just aren't my thing
*coffee to go
*warm showers. sometimes the water's warm, sometimes it's cold. it's like a guessing game - keeps things interesting
*family/friends. of course
*dryness. praise colorado for not being humid!
*the mountains. (see knowing where i'm going)
*doing my own laundry

Ok. So just because I can, here are some things that I love so far:
*no matter where you are, there are at least 3 cafes on every block. maybe more! hello coffee heaven!
*warm weather. in february :)
*the night life
*the people i'm getting to know
*not having a cell phone that works. weird, i know. but it's kind of nice. (same thing with tv)
*the ice cream. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
*discovering new places
*walking everywhere
*fresh fruit
*sangria

Some things I might change/don't particularly care for:
*theres dog poop EVERYWHERE on the sidewalks
*cockroaches are real. i'm a believer. i've seen them
*the drivers are crazy
*pigeons
*the humidity. forget trying to straighten my hair. ever.

I'm intersted/excited to see what the next few weeks bring. So far, all I've got to show for this week are blistered feet - bad, and peeling shoulders from a sunburn. But I wouldn't trade it! :)
Right now I'm sitting in my room with the window open. There's a slight breeze and it's just after 8pm. The sun sets here around 9:30. It's fantastic. I've got a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and some Fontina cheese.
I'd have to say I'm pretty content.