Upchuck Online: We're Half Way Through... Where's the Time Gone??!!

Time is flying by, it seems like we arrived just yesterday! Amanda and I are finally starting to make friends- they are texting me and inviting us to things.

We asked our friends in the lab about peñas- places where Argentine folk music is performed and you can get something to eat. Andrea (our friend from the lab) was really sweet and went to the trouble of arranging a night to go out and inviting everyone from the lab to come. We went to a nearby restaraunt called Alfonsina's- we had pizza, locro, and humita (will blog about locro and humita later).

Sebastian- a friend from church- came along. He likes my guitar a lot and jokes about me giving it to him (half the time I don't know what the hell is going on so I just smile, nod my head, and say sí). I've since learned the verb dar (to give) and the word regalo (gift). I've also learned that taking your index finger and pulling your bottom eyelid down while looking at someone means "I'm watching you" or "watch out" - I did this the other night when a bunch of us went for ice cream. My guitar was placed in a safe spot and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was moving it- I pulled my eyelid down and he caught my meaning and laughed. Snaps for me because I made my first chiste (joke) in this culture and it was funny (but you had to be there).

(from the left: Andrea, Martín, Evangelina, Valeria)

The plan was to go to a peña but there was a group from Brazil setting up at the restaurant so we stayed and listened to them.

We stayed until like 2:00 in the morning- we were tired and goofy towards the end. Amanda looks normal but Sebastian and I couldn't take a good shot to save our lives.

(There was a protest earlier that day- they set off all kinds of noise bombs and blocked the road. I was told that protests happen often and are usually effective because they clog traffic and cause havoc with bus systems in the center part of the city. Because we are part of a BYU program we aren't allowed to get close (I guess common sense also suggests that it isn't a good idea to get involved since we aren't citizens here)- we were walking to the lab and took this photo from across the street. As much as we wanted to, we kept our distance and didn't go over and ask what the protest was about.)