Goodbyes, Tango, and Uber Moto

One thing I really appreciate about my Spanish program is that I have the opportunity to meet people from around the world. Many of my classmates come from countries like Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Brazil, and more. The nature of the program is shorter term Spanish lessons. So, even though I'm intending on doing the program on a longer term basis, many of my classmates have only signed up for 1-3 weeks.

When I began this trip, I anticipated that my main challenges would be navigating the cities or struggling to apply my Spanish. However, I've come to realize a more subtle challenge: meeting so many interesting people and then saying goodbye, knowing that I may never see them again. This makes being social difficult while traveling knowing you are entering into transient relationships. Nevertheless, I still enjoy connecting with others.

Last Friday, I bid farewell to some friends I've met the past two and half weeks. I went out to dinner with one group and visited a bar afterward. Perhaps I will see at least some of them again in the future.

Outside of that, I would say that the theme for this week was "Tango." On Thursday, I visited a local restaurant where patrons can eat and tango dance. Believe it or not, I even tried tango dancing myself! Later, on Sunday evening, I went downtown to watch a tango show complete with music, lights, etc. The show lasted about an hour. I went with some students at the school. I told them that this wasn't my regular form of entertainment, but it's fun to explore the "artsy" scene every now and then.

I've been adjusting to life in Buenos Aires for a little while now. I'm continuing to explore the "carne" cuisine, which is quite delicious. I've eaten so much steak in restaurants and at home that I'm starting to cut back on it. Additionally, shopping on local markets on the weekends has been enjoyable. I've been picking up interesting and unique items that are difficult to find in the United States.

An interesting experience happened earlier today. I went out to do some shopping and walk around a park. It took me about an hour to reach the park, and by the time I was finished walking, I was a bit tired. So, I decided to get an Uber. Here, there's a feature that that allows users to request an Uber motorcycle, where a driver picks you up on a motorcycle. It might exist in the United States too, I'm not sure. Regardless, I somewhat impulsively decided to give it a try.

When the motorcycle arrived to pick me up, I sensed it might not have been the best idea. I tried explaining in Spanish that I hadn't done this before. In fact, I think this was my first time ever on a motorcycle. The driver handed me an extra helmet and held my water bottle inside his jacket pocket. He did not speak any English, but I think he figured out what I was trying to communicate. I told him, "despacio," which means "slowly." We went off. Although we probably were not going that fast, it felt like he was zipping through Palermo. Throughout the ride, he kept saying "tremblando." When I arrived safely at my apartment, I looked up the meaning of the word and found out that it translates to "trembling" in Spanish.

I'm set to go to Ushuaia in a few days. Many consider it to be the city "at the end of the world." It will be a neat weekend trip.