I have only lived here for two days and yet I feel like I´ve been here for a long time. Each day there is something knew, and I expect it will be that way until I leave. Every night (atleast the last to) we eat dinner around 11:00 or 11:30 and then go straight to bed around 12:00. It´s very different, but I like the relaxed style. I usually wake up around 9:30 or 10:00 and Ago is already at school. Then it´s just me and Mani and sometimes my host mom. My host family is super nice. My mom is always making sure that I am good and my host sisters explain a lot. I think that my Spanish is improving already but who knows. It´s mostly hard to understand people because in Argentina, the people pronounce their y´s and double l´s like they are j´s. Also, they slurr over their s´s and talk super fast! But I read some English from Ago´s school book and she said it was just as fast. I usually can communicate what I want to say but I know my grammar is wrong.
I´m writing down everything...new words, customs, etc.
Here are some differences:
-There are stray dogs everywhere who don´t have homes.
-They have four meals! Merienda is between lunch and dinner and you eat dairy or maté to ensure that you are saved.
-There are concrete ¨ditches¨beside the street for water to run through. The water is for the trees and so is not there this time of year.
-The yards are very small and all of the houses in the city have gates around them for protection.
-When you ring the doorbell to be let through the gate, a live video of you appears inside on the doorbell telephone.
-There is a lot more English on the TV, signs, labels than I thought. It´s just English, no Spanish in some places. (But the TV channels in English have subtitles in Spanish.)
Yesterday I went with Ago to her English institute and listened in on the English class. It was interesting, much harder than my spanish class. Now, I am going to go to school with Ago to meet her friends. They also talk really fast but we´ll see. I miss home but not terribly. So far so good!
I was surprised at the amount of English in Italy and Greece as well. And they also had stray dogs.
ReplyDeleteI like the small yards. Less work and you can have great little gardens (which might actually be more work...)but it's cute!
What is an example of something they might say different in English?
You made mistakes of your own in your post (to instead of two, and knew instead of new) You're silly!
You're so lucky to be there, especially during the World Cup. I'm stuck at work all day and you're traveling the world...well Argentina...San Juan.
Molly - Your webmail has a new look. Click on "Horde" when you open it. Send me an email through someone else's account if you have trouble.
ReplyDeleteBryn, yeah, the small yards are nice for that. In Ago´s English class, the teacher makes sure that they say eldest, not oldest. It´s really hard to write in English when your mind has been in Spanish all day! I know it sounds weird, but I start reading my writing in my head, in a spanish accent. Yeah, I feel lucky!
ReplyDeletePop, thanks for the update.