La Pura Vida

Start of an update

Friday night. Stayed in to spend time with mis padres – will miss them if I decide to leave Buenos Aires for the Independent Study Project. For all the times I feel confused here, am sure about the love in this house. Always appreciate that though sometimes when I’m exhausted at the table hard to show it. Just chatted with madre about Christmas traditions. No real pine trees here – not the season for it as Christmas falls in the middle of the summer! They have a small artificial one that they add a new ornament to every year. Presents in this country are opened right after midnight – no waiting around. I told her that we wait until the morning to give Papa Noel time to fly. Here they tell the kids “oh he came when you were in the other room” or something like that. Not the same dream time of sugar-plums. She never dressed up as Papa Noel because she’s always remembered a traumatizing experience from when she was little and her aunt dressed up as the cheery man. “You tricked me!!” This family goes over to her cousin’s house for dinner pre-gift-opening-time – a luxurious place with a garden. Deck the table with rich food... fruitcake (staple here too apparently), tortas de helado (ice cream cake)... Oh Christmas. She got a far away look in her eyes as she explained that this holiday is also full of reminiscing – “always makes me remember the absences.”

I feel stable finally after probably over-thinking a lot since our return last Saturday. (See the trend? I blog when the clear thinking/positivity returns...) Today was brilliantly sunny – woke early and had time to enjoy it from the apartment room as stretched and drank coffee. Class on social organizations in Argentina sort of hard for me to follow...less because of the language than because of the teacher’s jump around style. Enjoyed lunch at a previously hidden-to-me cafe above a bookstore close to the University of Buenos Aires. They had wheat pizza! Later, convinced my Spanish professor to let us go outside (way too gorgeous to be in) so out we went. Upon returning home went for a great run (finally, the last couple have been less than fun) down the street Malabia to a cat (and family)-filled park.

Trip to the North! Time for some kind of recap. Where to begin.

The Flecha Bus: Amazing. The rides were one of my favorite parts; I’m looking forward to riding south on Wednesday. Unlike all other buses I’ve ridden in Argentina, these have plenty of leg room, very comfy seats, movie watching equipment, and people that come around offering snack trays, mate/coffee/tea, dinner, breakfast... felt taken care of! Exciting to sleep on the bus and wake up/start October with a view of the sun rising over the Andes mountains. Goodbye city life.

Actually, with that teaser, I’m going to end it til next time. Esta chica tiene sueno. I plan to write more this weekend, as I work to get things taken care of before the next trip – hasta luego!

posted by Colleen @ 8:36 PM