from sept 14 - ahhh so behind!

Let me start off by saying that I have these huge metal blinds for all three of my windows overlooking the street and at night, you lower them so they encapsulate you in your dwelling - I just thought it was odd that at night everything looked more...abandoned, but that's why...everyone has these metal blinds.  Apparently Rafael told me it's because of "Spiderman"...someone who could climb your balcony and get into your apartment at night...comforting, eh?  We dont seem to have this concern in North America.  Anyway, yesterday "Sunday" I had a great day!  Pablo and I met Sean and Aida (Jersey...wooo) in San Telmo where we were quite hungry - so we went to a Parilla and had Bife de Chorizo (the cut of beef with fat on it but it's quite tender).  They made fun of me because I wanted a coffee with my beef - haha!  After we ate, we went through San Telmo on a mission for hot water to drink the Yerba mate and wandered through some of the antique market.  Some of the antiques are so beautiful, I really hope people buy those things.  Pablo was explaining the different mate, the round bowls they use because some are made from wood and others are carved out of the fruit.  I need more info - but this woman came and yelled at us because Pablo was explaining it to us and not her!  What a crazy ol' bat!  We got hot water at a house where a woman charges one peso for hot water because it is right near the park - what a great idea!  I imagine lots of people would drink it longer if they dont run out of water and she probably makes quite a bit of cash!  We sat down on the grass and Pablo started preparing the mate.  You put the yerba in the mate and there's a long metal stick (bombilla) with holes at the end so the yerba doesn't get sucked into it.  You put sugar in with the yerba to sweeten it, then pass it back to the maker.  There are etiquette rules too i.e. making sure you pass it back to the person making it so they can make a new one for the next person.  Everyone walks around drinking it, even the police!  We all really liked it!  It was so relaxing to sit in the park - it seems to be a big social thing too - people sit around with friends and drink mate...I finally didn't feel so much like a tourist!  When we were done, we walked back through San Telmo and ran into 2 drum groups in the streets and we danced in the street following the procession...what sound!  Later that night, Rafael and I went for a super latedinner - like midnight!  It was nice to be able to talk to someone completely.  Today, (Monday), ...I had my first Spanish class.  I didn't do too bad, but when the text was thrown in front of me, there were many words that I didn't know.  We went over the text and she gave me some homework...I've missed homework!  After class, Sean, Aida and I went to the museum of natural science.  It was a lovely day and we had lunch in our neighbourhood before we went...my chicken wasn't cooked...but I got that fixed.  We walked to the museum...at least we found out where all the cats went in this city...they own the Parque Centenario...there were dozens of cats outside the museum!  I was thrilled!  There are so many dogs in this city that I was beginning to wonder where all the cats went!  The museum only cost us about 3 pesos - and I was surprised at how similar it was to the ROM, but smaller of course.  There was a section on mollusks and shellfish, dinosaurs, frogs and snakes, history of Argentina, reptiles, etc. all not necessarily specific to Argentina...but it was interesting to see that their dinosaurs discovered in South America are very different  than what we learned growing up in North America; except for T-Rex...he was definitely in both places!  Did I mention we walked to the museum and also walked back...prob about 4km distance in total.  We were pretty tired.  We walked around more looking for a place for dinner but the other two only had visa, so it was even harder looking for a place that would take visa!  After much searching, we found a place - I had a really good tuna sandwich - they called it Mediterraneo (even though a tuna sandwich is not Mediterranean) and the other two had cheese pizzas...so much cheese!  We paid about 17 pesos each which includes a drink.  But we had a dessert and it was panqueque dulce de leche....like a caramel crepe...que rico!!  It was soooo good...I found a little piece of heaven again.