Lines, lines, lines (Day 2 in Cordoba)

Somehow I managed to get up pretty early this morning (at least for me anyway). I had lots to accomplish and wanted to get started right away. It was a beautiful, sunny day, so I made sure to put on some sunscreen before I went out because I knew that if Argentina was anything like Spain, random senoras in the street would tell me "ooo hija, I hope you put on sunscreen because you are very white." :)

My first stop was the shopping center, appropriately called "un chopping," to pick up a SIM card for my old cell phone. After I got that set up I went to the Plaza de San Martin where all the banks are located to change some money and to make a deposit at the hostel where I'm staying in Buenos Aires. If I had known how crazy the lines were going to be I would have brought all my money to change so as to never have to go through the process again! I stood for about 30 minutes in a line, only to be told I couldn't change money if I didn't have my passport on me. Luckily, I found another place that was willing to change the money anyway (after another good 20 minute wait of course). Then I had to head to a specific bank to make the deposit. After waiting about 30 more minutes I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to do. Fortunately these two guys behind me were extremely nice and (mostly) instructed me on what to do. Then when it was my turn at the kiosk thing the lady who was helping everyone disappeared so I was kind of just standing there until a girl about my age came up and basically did it for me (though I believe she was motivated more by wanting to get me out of there than by good will).

Feeling a little better having accomplished those tasks, I headed to the bus station to buy my tickets to Mar del Plata, the beach town where I'm heading on Thursday night. I thought it was going to be an easy task, but I soon discovered that there were about 40 different companies selling tickets and the vendors were generally pretty miserable people. It's kind of surprising because everyone has told me that the people in Argentina are the nicest people you will find anywhere, but I haven't really gotten that sense yet. Except for the one incredibly nice man who helped me in the bank and then pointed me in the direction of the bus station, most people simply seem to tolerate my questions and maybe respond with a polite smile and a short answer. My Spanish is fine, but people seem kind of impatient when it is difficult for me to express my thoughts. So far, I think the people in Sevilla are much nicer, but maybe I'm just still a little nervous and self-conscious about being in a new place with a new kind of Spanish.

I got lunch at a bar close to my hostel, and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a young boy (obviously Argentine with the mullet he was rockin') sporting a Jerome Bettis Steelers jersey!! I wanted to take a picture but I thought that might be creepy. After lunch I was too exhausted to go to the zoo so I think I'm going to go on Wednesday instead. I came back to my hostel, took a nap, showered, and then went out to the patio of the hostel (where it is much cooler than in my room) to read the second Twilight book. As I was reading, my friend Marcelo called me and asked me if I wanted to do something, so in about 15 minutes we're going to get some food and maybe see a movie.

Tomorrow, as mentioned in the last post, I am going to Villa Carlos Paz to hit the lake, so by the time I write the next post I should have some color (hopefully brown, not red). Hope you all are safe and well. Hasta manana...

Kate