IN CLASS: It doesn't seem much different from the US. There are those kids in the front row answering every question the professor asks, and there are kids in the back row drooling on their notebooks and nodding in and out of sleep. A lot of students at University of Buenos Aires go to school part time and work full time, which seems like hard work to me. There seem to be way more class hours here.
VEGETARIAN NIGHTMARE: People eat meat, meat, meat, and I am a vegetarian . . . so things have been interesting. On my second night I ordered Chinese takeout - really excited to discover tofu on the menu. It was tofu . . . however, it was tofu in meat sauce. I find the food delicious but heavy - lots of pasta, crepes, and dulce de leche (which I've developed an unfortunate addiction to).
LOST IN TRANSLATION: My Spanish is slowly getting better but I've definitely made a few mistakes. I told the hair stylist to "sacar" all of my hair (take out) instead of "secar" my hair (to dry). The confusion finally ended when he brought out the scissors and I started screaming. Everyone is really friendly and will help me out if they see me struggling.
LATE NIGHTS: The night life here is amazing. Go to dinner at any of the amazing restaurants at 11 p.m., and then go to a boliche (nightclub). Now it feels normal to eat dinner at 11:30 p.m. I went to dinner at Club 647 (club647.com), and then went to Niceto (nicetoclub.com), which had a live cumbia band. Once every month the Buenos Aires Design center (designrecoleta.com) turns into a boliche. I went to a Calle 13 concert, a reggaetón band from Puerto Rico. I love the song "Águas de Março" ("Waters of March") which is in Portuguese and apparently pretty old-school, but I heard it performed live by an Argentine at an open-mic night in Recoleta, and I'm obsessed with it (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waters_of_March).
JENNIFER EHRLICH
