Its finally starting to get warm and sunny here more often which is good. Technically the first day of spring was two weeks ago but it was pretty cold the beginning of last week but was really nice all weekend. I have really been missing things from the U.S. lately and found a few things that I havent seen the whole time I have been here. On Thursday Rachael, Lizzy, Liz, Jared, and I went to a place called Pura Vida which is a smoothie and health food cafe. It was so good to have a wrap with healthy vegetables and hummus in it. Its so hard to find something healthy that actually tastes good at a restaurant here. Lizzy, Rachael, and I went back on Friday morning to have bagels which are pretty hard to find here. I hadnt had a bagel since I left the states, so I was pretty excited! After the bagel place on Friday I went to el Museo de Bellas Artes which is a European art museum in Recoleta. Along with the European art, it also had a modern art exhibit which was really colorful and abstract. After the museum, I decided to take the subway to go to a bookstore my literature professor recommended my class goes to find a book we have to read for class on Wednesday. Of course I went there on two different subway lines and the store didnt have the book I needed. I went to several other bookstores who didnt have it either. All of the store workers who I asked about the book kind of gave me a strange look (like why would you want that book?) and I have no idea why. Luckily my friend found it online and sent me the book in a pdf through email. Friday night, I went to my Italian friends' apartment to hang out before they were going out to a boliche. My friends Klaus and Stefan are from northern Italy but their first language was German, and they also study in Austria. They can speak English, Italian, German, and Spanish. They had never learned Spanish before coming here and manage to take all classes with Argentine students and speak better than me. I guess its easy for them because Spanish and Italian are pretty similar. It was really neat because there were people there from Germany, Italy, one guy from Costa Rica, another from Colombia, the U.S., and then my friend Brenda from here. Everyone spoke entirely in Spanish which was really good. Usually when I go out with my friends from the states we speak English, so I was glad to get the extra practice. I was talking to the Colombian guy, but had a difficult time understanding him and times because he used some expressions I was not familiar with. He also asked me if I liked Latino men and I told him no, especially Argentinian men because they are really forward and annoying. He then continued to tell me he liked my eyes and asked for my number! I dont understand why men here just cant tell when you are not interested. It is really hard to get away times. They will follow you around and annoy you into talking to them. Later on in the night, I went to a local bar with Brenda to meet up with some of her friends. It was a neat place with a terrace on the roof. I met a girl name Yammy (pronounced Shammy here) and her boyfriend Leo and another girl named Flor. Flor asked me about the United States and what I liked about Argentina. I told her I liked how relaxed the culture is here and how people arent always rushed when doing things. People dont seem to be as stressed out here about every little thing. However at times that can be frustrating when you really want to get something done. For example, when you just want pick up a package at the post office and have to wait an hour and then have to pay for the package that the person who sent it to you already paid for.

On Saturday I went with Brenda to buy tickets to see Phantom of the Opera on Sunday and then we had lunch near the theater down town. I got a turkey sandwich which was also really exciting because turkey is pretty rare to find here. After lunch, I had a few free hours and decided to get ahead on the 600 pages of reading for my history exam on Thursday. That night I went to Pilar which is suburb on BA with Liz and her boyfriend Franco and one of Franco's friends. Franco's soccer team had won some kind of tournament and him and his friends rented out what was like a hall in the U.S. for a party. There were a ton of people there! They bought some ridiculous party decorations and those abnoxious glasses with a moustache and nose for people to wear. I met a lot of people and spoke in Spanish alot.

We returned on Sunday afternoon and Liz and I went to lunch. Last night, Brenda and I went to see the Phantom of the Opera. It was in Spanish but I was actually able to understand most of it mainly because I have seen it in English. The music was beautiful, and the cast was very well done. Overall a great week! I have a lot o f reading to do for class this week. Chau!