Thoughts on a Month in Buenos Aires

Last night, during our weekly phone call, my parents informed me that it was my duty to update my blog. ¨Too many people have been asking about it and it´s driving us crazy¨ they told me rather melodramatically and I promised to update it, if only for their sanity. The truth is that after a month of renting an apartment and attending Spanish school here in Buenos Aires, life has taken on the routine of residing in a city rather than visiting one. In the first few weeks after I arrived I completely replaced my travel weary wardrobe and purchased long desired (but weighty) luxuries like separate shampoo and conditioner. I took the subway to every corner of the city and had fun discovering the nooks and crannies of my new neighbourhood. Now, I have a routine, I know the names of the cashiers at the supermarket, which paving stones to avoid on the walk to school, and the order of the stations on 3 of the 5 subway lines.
My days are mostly occupied with my Spanish courses. Until recently, I have been taking my Spanish lessons in the morning from 9-1 30 but now my lessons are in the afternoon from 2 45 -8 30. The Spanish school is very nice. It has high ceilings and an open air courtyard where we can sit during our break. The curriculum also deals with interesting and provoking topics that one is interested in discussing regardless of the language.
I feel that my language skills have progressed far above what my embarrassing attempts at learning languages in the past would have predicted but I am still far from fluent. In the class room I can understand almost everything that I read and hear but in the real world I am a little less successful. I still have trouble understanding extremely rapid speech and speaking (while correctly conjugating every thing) can be a bit of a challenge.

In another week or so my life here in Buenos Aires will change again. My father, who returned to Canada just over a month ago, has decided to spend a month with me in Buenos Aires working on his own Spanish and we are going to be room mates. It will be interesting to see how well we get along in the tiny apartment we have rented!