El Gripe

So school finally finished on Friday and what better way to celebrate than getting the flu!  Woo!  Everyone is getting it too.  I know at least 4 people besides me who had it this week and 4 other people who "weren't feeling well." Everyone's just spreading the love I guess.

But since it was the last day I mustered up some afternoon strength and went to say goodbye to the kids.  They gave Jeff and me a mug each with the St. George's logo on it.  And then lots of hugs and cheek kisses!  Good thing that's allowed in this country otherwise I would have some very concerned parents to deal with.  They kids were really cute though: "Miss, do you like it here? Why are you leaving?" I felt like such a traitor telling them I was going back to the States.

I also remembered that rumor I had forgotten like 4 posts ago.  For some reason everyone at the school thinks I'm technologically gifted.  I would just be walking through the hallway and someone would come up with a random question: "My computer's frozen.  Can you fix it?" Umm I'll give it a look, I guess.  And me, being so technologically savvy just held the power button till the computer turned off and then turned it back on. GENIUS!  I guess I should be flattered, but I just don't quite get it.   It might just be because I'm a little younger than them and they think I'm obligated to know something, but still, who started this rumor? I'm awful with computers, so it's good that most of the stuff was pretty basic.  Here are some of my frequently asked questions:

"Do you know how to move the pictures from the camera to the computer?"
"Do you know how to put a power point onto a CD?"
"Can you make a folder appear on the main screen?"
"Why won't it let me save this?"
"How do you look at the power point from a different view?"
"How do you open this?"

It's like talking to my mom at home ;)  I love you mom.

Anyway, I have approximately 20 days till I'm stepping on free soil. Hot, humid, sticky soil. In the meantime, Lauren Lynn get's here in 10 days so that will be fun. I would like to travel a bit, but we'll see.  Jeff and Sam are going to Brazil which I can't go to because I don't have a visa.  They require one for Americans because we require one for them.  Fair enough.  Can't get angry about that.  It's just that on their government's website they seem very, very bitter about it.  Here's a few snippets from their tourist visa page:

U.S. citizens traveling to Brazil are required to obtain a visa prior to entering Brazil.   This requirement is in reciprocity to the U.S. government demand that all Brazilian citizens hold a visa in order to enter the United States. Citizens of countries that do not demand visas from Brazilian nationals usually do not need visas to enter Brazil.

5. U.S. citizens must pay a non-refundable $140.00 reciprocity fee (as of June 2010).
(This is because the U.S. government charges Brazilian citizens who apply for a U.S. visa a minimum of 2 mandatory fees).
Payment is done at the Consulate on the appointment day.
Cash, personal checks and credit cards are not accepted for the payment of the $140.00 reciprocity fee.

7. All consular fees must be paid in U. S. Postal Service money order made to the Consulate General of Brazil

Thanks for the shout-out Brazil.  Also, I'm not sure if we make it extremely difficult for other countries to pay for their visas, but only accepting a U.S. Postal Service money order seems very picky.  Very, very picky. Especially since the only way to obtain one is to go to a USPS office and hand them a wad of cash.  Who still uses money orders anymore?  Well, besides my dad. So pretty much, if you are currently not in the USA and you are not my dad, then you do not stand a chance of paying for your visa.  I guess I'll just have to postpone visiting my friends until later.   I will make it someday!  I still love you Brazil!

I'll let you know if I figure out any travel plans soon!

La Boca

Another week done!  And as we inch closer to the weekend of the play, we've had more and more rehearsals to fine-tune everything as best we can.  Some of the kids really need help with their lines still, but a bunch of them have them down pretty well.  I got to try the Hydra costume on this week and I must say the art teacher did a really good job painting it.  I'm going to be so scary!   Haha.

This weekend I went up to San Isidro for Luli's birthday (Manu's sister).  It was a lot of fun and a good opportunity to practice some castellano.  Although trying to play Taboo in Spanish was quite a challenge.  I wasn't really much of an asset to my team, but the other team had Manu so I guess it evened out :p  Dinner was yummy, and for dessert Luli had 3 birthday cakes...good girl!  And a friend of hers decided to put what seemed to be a firework on the cake instead of a candle.  It was pretty funny watching her try to blow it out.  All the cakes had some form of dulce de leche in them too so of course I had to try them all.  Afterwards we all went to Kika, a discoteca in capital and then we went back to Manu's house after.  I cuddle with his dog Lupe on the couch.  Their other dog, Afra, is a big Argentina dog called a "dogo" that is really cool. 

Apparently they can be very dangerous though because some are very mean and aggressive, but his is really nice.  She just gets a little carried away sometimes and forgets how big she is.  So I didn't try cuddling with her. 

Then today Jeff and I went into La Boca to check out El Caminito, an area there with all different colored buildings.  It was really neat, it reminded me of a more colorful New Orleans.  La Boca is also home to the Boca Juniors, they team Maradona played on, rival of River Plate.  We opted not to walk to the stadium though because it's in a dodgy area, so we just got our fill of it when we drove past.  There is a small market in the area that goes on during the day so we walked around and looked at some really cool paintings.  And we each got a pendant made from different coins.  I got one from Argentina and Jeff got a coin from Portugal that's really cool.  Here was a German one I really liked: 

Almost got it for Nathan but it was a bit too pricey.  Sorry Nathan but I'm too cheap to be a good sister!  Then it started getting dark so we left.  It's too cold when the suns not out, plus we were told that La Boca is pretty sketch at night.  Just like Maradona. 

Here are some more pics from La Boca.  I guess my touristy outings with Jeff aren't helping the rumor mill much.  Oh well.

Statue ouside a museum in La Boca



kids playing soccer



Look out Hollywood!

So apparently my towering 5'3" frame is so intimidating that the prep school has asked me to be, not only a Titan, but the Hydra as well in their upcoming Hercules play.

It's pretty fun because I get to attack a bunch of 5 year olds and have my heads chopped off multiple times by Hercules; I even have some lines too: "DESTROY HIM!" which I'm sure Erika will find extremely fitting.  There's only one problem I've found so far, and it's that one of the 1st graders keeps hugging me when she's supposed to be killing me.  It's quite funny, I just hope she doesn't do it in the actual play. 

Also, I'm not sure if it's because I agreed to be in the play, but there is some strange rumor going around that I'm a good singer.  And, like most rumors, this one is definitely NOT true.  Quite the opposite actually.  But because of this rumor the music teachers here keep asking me to join their choirs or sing at the assemblies and such.  Which they would soon find to be a bad idea if it did actually happen, so I've finagled my way out of it by agreeing to play a piano piece at an assembly before I leave.  We'll see about that one.  But the conversations are always pretty funny because the teachers sound so confident in their statements that they've almost convinced ME that I'm a good singer.

-"Would you like to sing in the assembly this Friday?"
--"No, that's probably not a good idea."
-"Oh, but you are a very good singer."
--"Haha, no. I'm not actually."
-"No, but I have heard you sing before, it's very good."

Oh Reary? Well then, in that case, I think I like this place.  But seriously, I would never let anyone hear me sing, let alone do it in front of all the parents and students. And I plan on keeping it that way.