Q: When is a disco not a disco?
A: When it's a supermarket.
Disco is a supermarket chain here. Marcela said it's one of the better supermarkets, and since I don't seem to have one in my neighborhood, when I was walking through the Recoleta on my way home from school I stopped by and thought I'd check it out. I found two wines that Hernan recommended and otherwise bought things that I don't need, like salami, black pepper and olives. I then had to wait in the slowest supermarket line I've ever been in, but it gave me an opportunity to observe people, mostly women, rushing to buy their groceries. I saw one woman who had two very nice loaves of bread, fold them in half and stuff them in her bag. I still don't get why no one has change here. My tab for my groceries was 59 pesos and some change. I gave the guy 100 pesos, which is a little over 30 dollars, and I think it's the biggest bill they have, but it's what you get if you change money or withdraw from an ATM. The cashier had to call someone to get change. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me that a supermarket in a nice neighborhood, which is one of the best chains and seems to be at peak business, should have change.
The other odd thing was that my bill (now I remember) was 59.40. The cashier asked me for 40 centavos, which I didn't have, so he held up one finger, I guessed to mean one peso, which I did have. So I gave him 101 pesos. I don't get how that was easier for him to make change with.
Ok, so I've only been here a little over two weeks, I guess there are still some mysteries in store for me. I can feel the beginnings of things not being so cute, but rather a little irritating.
But maybe it's the weather.
Once we got into class it started to pour. It rained for almost the whole three hours that we were in class. There was thunder and lightening too, which is kind of strange for winter, no?
I felt frustrated in class because again I felt like I didn't have an opportunity to say much, and when I did, I made mistakes because I was nervous about not being able to complete my thought before someone cut me off. It is frustrating because I know I really need the practice and I'm not getting it. My conversation partner didn't work out, Hernan likes to speak English, and in class, we are competing for the little time the students actually get to talk. Even though I really like Marcela's class, I still feel she talks too much and could structure the class so that we all had optimal talk time. For example, today we discussed this short story we had to read. The one that was so difficult for me to get started, but once I got past the first 3 chapters, turned out to be very enjoyable to read. It was a mystery, and in the end, I understood it perfectly.
So after our break, we set out to discuss it. I said, "poor Lazaro" and Marcela asked me why "poor Lazaro", and thus began the discussion. (Lazaro was murdered because he knew who killed Ricardo). Marcela asked a question and Mike told pretty much the whole story and what he didn't tell, Jonathan finished, and that was pretty much it. Anna asked a question, and I did get to say a little in response to her confusion, but basically, we read this short story which took me quite a while to finish, and in less than 20 minutes, we had finished discussing it. It seemed kind of like a wasted opportunity to me.
Tonight I'm supposed to meet Larry and his cousins and we're going to go to a queer tango milonga. There is a lesson first and then practice. I don't know how much I'll stay for the practice, but I do want to check out the class and see if I can find a teacher. But the truth is, I'm really tired after staying up late last night, sleeping with Hernan (I don't sleep well with other people) and walking home from the disco with my groceries in the rain in rush hour.
Maybe I'll take a little nap and see how I feel.
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