Note: There are highlights of this post at the bottom for anyone who either doesn't want to or doesn't have time to read my ramblings.....
Spanish School
We have been attending Spanish school these past few days which I have found useful in that it makes me feel more comfortable trying to communicate although I'm still pretty terrible with the pronounciation (I can't get my head around "ll" being pronounced "shya" amongst other things). The class is small and consists of a Norweigian couple studying Spanish for two months (very committed), two English backpackers doing the travel thing before starting their careers as lawyers in London and an American woman who has just given up life as a Corporate Lawyer in a top tier firm in NY (yes, I must be subconsciously drawn to lawyers.....).
Most useful phrase so far? Quiesera..... which means "I would like..." and can be used for ordering meals, buying tickets, shopping etc so it's great. We have also learnt some pretty funny things as well, the best one I think was todays clarification that the word for husband/wife (esposa/o) is very similar to the word for hand-cuffs (esposas). Mark thought that was very appropriate.....
Sight-seeing
Unfortunately, it's been raining quite a bit since we arrived so our sight-seeing had been reduced to a quick walk through the main area (floridas and Plaza de Mayo). However, today was a beautiful, warm day so we visited the Cementerio de Recoleta. The cemetary was unbelievable, there are so many ornate musoleums the resting place of Eva Peron (Evita). It's one of the biggest attractions in the city so we headed there to have a walk around and it was lovely, if not a bit creepy.
Buenos Aires is a nice city and similar to Melbourne in some respects. It also reminds us a bit of Shanghai in parts.
The people here are so lovely and have been helpful when we've been lost etc. Something I found interesting is that the men are very respectful and wait for a woman to enter/exit a door, lilft, subway before entering. I can't say chivalry is dead, that's for sure.
We've found it quite easy to get around as there is a subway (called the supte which I think is cute) and it's dirt cheap (25c each trip). We've foudn this the easiest way to get to school and downtown. They also have heaps of buses which we took today for the first time, they are also cheap (25c-50c a trip) and I think we've got them figured out so will be using them more.
There are loads of cafe's and restaurants so there's no shortage of food. However, meat is in everthing so I'm not sure it's the place for vegetarians!
We are getting adjusted and starting to enjoy ourselves and make plans for the next leg of our trip but we are hoping to do a few things here before we leave in about a week's time, maybe a football match, a visit to La Boca and/or a cycling tour of the city. I'll keep you posted.
Trust you are well! Please feel free to email, we love to hear how things are going at home.
C
Highlights
- We're finally getting over jet lag
- Spanish school is good for gaining confidence to use the language (and learning funny things like the word for husband/wife is similar to the word for hand-cuffs)
- We visited the cemetary and it's beautiful. A strange tourist attraction but beautiful.
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