Week One

I have now been in Buenos Aires for one week and it has definitely been one rollercoaster of a week. Buenos Aires is one interesting city to visit. It has everything - glitz, glamour, dirty streets, beggars all live not far apart. It is quite a busy place (much busier than what I am used to anyway) and doesnt seem to sleep. Having dinner at 9 or 10 is the norm and you dont go out at night before 12... Over all I think the city has a positive and exciting vibe - you dont always know what it is going to happen next.. The people I have met have all been very friendly and helpful.

Spanish - yes. hmmm. Definitely has made for some interesting times. My homestay is with a woman (Bianca) who has been really great. She is about 60 and ever so helpful (I think she was trying to tell me the other day that she has adopted me as her son..). However when I arrived (last Saturday) She knew no English and I no Spanish. You can imagine.. Needless to say lots of handsignals have taken place, pictures drawn, phrase books perused - lots of fun. So yes, a rather steep learning curve. The course is going well. I think learning and understanding how to use the verbs is going to be an important key in learning this language. What has become apparent, though, is that it seems very unusual for someone (especially one who has attended university) never to have learnt a foreign language..

Health: yeah barely a day here and I was already feeling off. Put it down to Jet lag etc. however my stomach bowels still are not 100 per cent (I wont go into too many details...) after 6 days. Dont know. Trying to make sure to stay hydrated.. It hasnt stopped me from doing too much though it hasnt helped my appetite. It will improve.

My camera. I wasnt sure if I was going to share this but, yes, after just 3 days into my travel of 1 year I have managed to loose my camera. There was only a 5 minute envelope between using it and then noticing it gone. Either I put it down (not likely) or it was deftly pilfered from my pocket. I was not impressed - this happens to others not me. Apart from being angry at myself for not being more careful there wasnt much more to do about it. Hopefully I have learnt something. After looking around BA for a new camera I have realised that someone now has a rather good camera in their possession - I couldnt even find it in the shops. Too expensive. Ellectrical good are very expensive here - especially imported. So Im not sure what I will do now. Will have to down grade a bit though I will try to stick to Olympus - I have spare cards and a battery suited for this camera. This really limits me so I am not sure. Might try the local version of ebay here - if I trust it.. (save over a 100 AUD)

Well I think I will stop there. It is 9.20 and time for dinner. Dont think I will eat too much though.
(if you picked up the lack of apostrophes in this blog, welldone. They dont work on this keyboard..)

Chau