I´m still in shock after just signing up for my 10th class. Yes, 10. As I´ve explained, registration here is nuts - rather than having add/drop, you just have lots and lots and lots of drop, after signing up for far too many classes.
Last night I also had my first Freddo. Freddo is the king of all things ice cream. Heavenly. Wonderful. There do not exist enough positive adjectives to describe it. I got a white-milk chocolate swirl and strawberry icecream. The chocolate what wondeful, though Iwas a bit underimpressed with the strawberry. I like more fruit and less sugar, and this was very heavy on the sugar. Next time I´m going to try the Dulce De Leche - as I´ve mentioned before, people here are REALLY into Dulce de Leche!
One of the things I keep thinking about is the differences between BuenosAires and the US. Most of them are fairly straightfoward - the language, the haircuts, etc. Mullets are seen as cool and everyone speaks Spanish with BEAUTIFUL Italian accents. However, there are so many other differences, it´s impossible to describe them all. So... a few
(1) The Gym. In the US you go to the gym to work out. You wear grungy clothes, get very sweaty, and don´t go too close to anyone else. Here nobody seems to get sweaty, they all wear really cute stylish outfits, and generally make me look like I don't belong.
(2) Couples. As I've mentioned before, many students/young people live with their parents until a much older age, well into their 20s. Therefore, they do not have much privacy, and get very affectionate in public. As such, it is normal to see people making out on line in the movies, in the park, in the middle of the sidewalk, on the subway, etc. It's a bit much for me... On a similar note, sexuality is very much out in the open. Whether it is the condom advertisements at almost every bus stop or the highly seductive advertisements for every other product, people here are more open about sexuality. Similarly, magazines like People and Cosmopolitan have racier articles and pornography is openly advertised at nearly every corner kiosk.
(3) The general relationship between girls and boys. In the US, I have lots of friends who are boys. This isn't as common here. Continuing on the subject of boys, I also received my first comment from men in the street this week. It would have been moderately offensive if the boy hadn't been 12 years old. While it was really funny to hear a young boy say something to me (I couldn't understand exactly what he said), I also saw as a really interesting social commentary, that boys so young know that this type of comment is common.
(4) The milk. Skim milk doesn't exist. In addition, it is very common to drink boxed milk, the kind that you keep on the shelf until you want to open it. It doesn't bother me, but I'm a bit confused as to how a country that produces so much (delicious) beef does not have a lot of fresh milk. Also, the popcorn. I haven't tried the salty stuff, but at the movie theater you can order sweet popcorn, which is very similar to carmel corn.
Okay, that's all for now. Lots of love to the US!
~Becca
(2) Couples. As I've mentioned before, many students/young people live with their parents until a much older age, well into their 20s. Therefore, they do not have much privacy, and get very affectionate in public. As such, it is normal to see people making out on line in the movies, in the park, in the middle of the sidewalk, on the subway, etc. It's a bit much for me... On a similar note, sexuality is very much out in the open. Whether it is the condom advertisements at almost every bus stop or the highly seductive advertisements for every other product, people here are more open about sexuality. Similarly, magazines like People and Cosmopolitan have racier articles and pornography is openly advertised at nearly every corner kiosk.
(3) The general relationship between girls and boys. In the US, I have lots of friends who are boys. This isn't as common here. Continuing on the subject of boys, I also received my first comment from men in the street this week. It would have been moderately offensive if the boy hadn't been 12 years old. While it was really funny to hear a young boy say something to me (I couldn't understand exactly what he said), I also saw as a really interesting social commentary, that boys so young know that this type of comment is common.
(4) The milk. Skim milk doesn't exist. In addition, it is very common to drink boxed milk, the kind that you keep on the shelf until you want to open it. It doesn't bother me, but I'm a bit confused as to how a country that produces so much (delicious) beef does not have a lot of fresh milk. Also, the popcorn. I haven't tried the salty stuff, but at the movie theater you can order sweet popcorn, which is very similar to carmel corn.
Okay, that's all for now. Lots of love to the US!
~Becca
3 comments:
Hi Becca: It's a beautiful Sunday on lbi. Read you latest blog and found it to be very interesting. Sounds like everythig is fine with you. Keep them coming.
Love you - yaya
How many classes did you sign up for?
Try Munchis ice cream, leaves Freddo in the dust. There is one store where Florida ends in Plaza San Martin, of course they also deliver.
Eat a lot of dulce de leche, is what keeps the country going... and where most of that milk ends up. We don't really drink milk as a beverage like in the US, we just use it in cooking and so on.
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