the weekend

This weekend, Tova and I went out on Saturday shopping in "Once" (pronounced ON-SAY), an area with a lot of really cheap clothing stores. In the evening, we went out with our friend Luz to her boss' birthday party, which turned out to be quite an intimate gathering of only ten or so people. It was a really nice bar and we ended up having a good time with her coworkers - and the food and drinks were free, so we could hardly complain. There is a picture of Tova and I with Luz from that night. After, we went to two house parties. The first had some weird, we think halloween, theme, where the house was literally falling apart, or maybe that was just their house, we weren't really sure..... and the second was at some abandoned warehouse????, which was a really amazing set up, but unfortunately had a mix of retro music and electronica that is so popular here, and is honestly starting to get on our nerves!!! On Sunday, we went with Luz and Mavi to Mavi's mother's house in Martinez, a suburb of Buenos Aires.On Monday we spent the entire day tanning on the terrace of our hostel. The weather is getting gorgeuous here now. Every day is sunny and about 25 degrees. Absolutely perfect. Yesterday we had our test to get into the University of Buenos Aires' Spanish course, and we start classes on Thursday. We're pretty excited for that, and we'll have classes four days a week, which will definately help fill our schedule. So, we've been noticing some weird things here. First of all, the "rat's tail" hairstyle is totally in here. I know some of you may not have seen a rat's tail since 1995, and it was probably on a little boy, but here the rat's tail is extremely popular among young women, who usually have a short haircut (but not a buzz cut or anything), with this messy braid down the back, usually off to the side. Weird... I'm not sure either of us will be following that trend too soon.... Also, some customs here are totally foreign to us. For example, when we go to a restuarant with friends, they often think its totally okay just to sit and not order anything at all, just watch you eat and drink. And they can't understand how this would make us uncomfortale. Also, people here think nothing of backing out of set plans at the last minute, and always use the "I have no money" excuse for EVERYTHING, even when you know they do!!! Nobody picks up their dog shit, and I (Alice) have stepped in it on more than one occasion. Oh, and they have no concept on the escalator of walk-left-stand-right. It can be really frustrating, but we are getting used to it. Well, that is all for now. We'll let you know how the Spanish course goes.

love you all,


Alice and Tova