zeynepyenisey

[zeynepyenisey]

Buen dia!

Happy Friday. It is currently 10:27am, and I am at Cafe Martinez drinking a delicious concoction of melted chocolate and coffee, and I had 2 medialunas. I had an appointment with the counselor Sarah at 9, so I thought I'd do my work bright and early after my appointment.

Warning: TMI. I found the best deodorant yesterday. It's in a massive can, and it's pretty cheap, but it smells amazing and is very effective. I'm pleased.

I also got acupuncture yesterday. Apparently I have a really unfortunate yin deficiency and my liver is not doing it's job. Come on liver. Why you gotta play me like that?!?!

I have a 4 page essay on Argentine history due in a few hours, and I only have one paragraph written. OOPS.

Chau, y'all. Hasta luego.

[zeynepyenisey]

I changed my homestay last night! 

I'm severely allergic to cats, and there was a cat in my first homestay. Because of that, I was constantly miserable at home and it was really starting to negatively impact my health. 

My new homestay is very nice and I am very happy! My room is really messy right now (as you can tell from the picture) but I'll clean up my stuff eventually. 

My bed smells like heaven and its full of pillows (I have a thing for pillows) so it feels like a dream bed.

p.s. I am currently eating a lollipop I bought for 2 pesos. I don't know how safe it is to eat, but it tastes nice!

Buen dia mi amigos!

[zeynepyenisey]

My host sister, brother, and sister-in-law took me to Lujan, a small town about 90 minutes outside the city of Buenos Aires. It felt really nice to get out of the city for a few hours even though it's nowhere near as busy and loud and obnoxious as NYC.

We saw a pony, many cows, a lady aggressively selling sombreros, and a lethal quantity of big flies.

We went to an asado, which is a traditional Argentine barbecue. I'm not going to lie, I was not very impressed. I'd rather have a big, juicy grilled steak, but the asado was nonetheless delicious.

[zeynepyenisey]

Happy Sunday!

Today was a total veg out day (again). I woke up at 11:30 to a bunch of messages from my friend Alexis saying "WAKE UP" and "HOW ARE YOU STILL SLEEPING." We had made plans with a group to go to the San Telmo flea market, but never talked about a time. I was knocked out so apparently I missed the departure time. Sigh.

With that said and done, I had nowhere to go so I worked on some internship applications, painted my nails, trimmed my own hair, and made plans to go to a steakhouse with my foodie friends Daniel and Nayana.

By the time we got to the steakhouse, it was 3:45pm, and they were closing for their siesta time at 4. DOUBLE SIGH. We ordered a few quick empanadas, burned our tongues on the hot cheese while trying to eat in 5 minutes, and walked down to Recoleta park when we got thrown out. 

I bought a potato shaped stress ball with googly eyes and red fuzzy hair and named him Papas (papas = potato in Spanish).

So Papas, Nayana, Daniel, and I sat on the grass and listened to a guy play the guitar for about 2 hours, then went to a cute cafe nearby for some coffee and medialunas. It's Chinese new year today, and we wanted to go to Chinatown to see the parade and fireworks, but naps > Chinatown so we all went home!

Relaxing, not-very-productive day. Bueno.

[zeynepyenisey]

It's Saturday! It's NOT Valentine's day! IT IS THE START OF CARNAVAL TONIGHT! 

I slept in until 2pm today, which was pretty cool. Something about Buenos Aires makes me sleepy in a good way. I sleep so well at night, and I can take AMAZING naps during the day. They're not just any regular naps - they're the naps where you melt into the bed and disappear into nothing and reappear in the land of golden slumbers. Muy bueno.

My friends wanted to go to Palermo Soho today for lunch, and I got lost on the way there. I went in the wrong direction and ended up in a very wrong neighborhood, but was able to find my way back pretty quickly.

We went to a Mexican restaurant since we have all been craving Chipotle since the day we got to Argentina. Honestly, the burrito I ordered was the most delicious thing I've had to eat in a LONG time. I had a steak burrito with cheese and lots and lots of fresh, chunky guac. It was so perfectly seasoned - I couldn't stop eating even though I was so full it hurt.

Then we went shopping and got ice cream because it's *not* Valentine's Day.

[zeynepyenisey]

I don't have any new pictures, so here is an artsy picture I took last week in Plaza de Mayo. Last night I was supposed to go to a live music event in Palermo, Hollywood (yes it looks a little like Beverly Hills) but nobody showed up. My friend Alexis and I split a cab, sent a group facebook message to everyone who said they'd go, but nobody responded. OH WELL. It ended up being a great night - Amelia came a little later, and the three of us went to a pizzeria called Kentucky. Of all places....Kentucky. In the 10 days we've been here, we have not gone to one authentic Argentine restaurant. *claps*

[zeynepyenisey]

The second day off class was very nice today. Very long....but enjoyable. We played a board game in Spanish class today, whick took me back to middle school. I discovered an insanely cheap restaurant with some friends during lunch. I bought a big tub of food for 20 pesos. 20 pesos is less than 2 dollars! ! Long live the amazing exchange rate!

[zeynepyenisey]

On Sunday (yesterday) I slept in until 1pm. I didn't get out of bed until 3, which I am moderately proud of. The relaxed pace of life in Buenos Aires is very nice, and I feel like I'm on a semi-permanent vacation while here.

When I managed to peel myself out of bed, I met up with my friends Amelia and Alexis, and we had brunch together at a very cute restaurant. The three of us had been craving pancakes or bagels or something American for days, so we found a place that has American brunch!

After we ate, we wanted to go to the zoo since we were very close to it, but it was closed by the time we got there. We decided to just take a walk around the area, and we managed to see some of the zoo animals through the fence.

Disclaimer: Argentine ducks are pretty ugly.

[zeynepyenisey]

This is my closet here in Buenos Aires. It’s so much bigger than the closet I had in my apartment in New York! I love having all the space in the closet even though it’s so big that I can’t fill it.

[zeynepyenisey]

This is my closet here in Buenos Aires. It's so much bigger than the closet I had in my apartment in New York! I love having all the space in the closet even though it's so big that I can't fill it.

[zeynepyenisey]

Friday night #1

I didn't take any new pictures yesterday, but last night we went to a Milonga, which is where tango dancers gather and just dance tango. After 30 minutes or so of a tango class, we all slowly went back to our tables and ordered drinks and didn't dance again. It was fun while it lasted!

[zeynepyenisey]

I think deciding study abroad was one of the best things I've ever done for my social life. Not in terms of having more time to go out and do non-school stuff (that's definitely NOT the case), rather meeting new people and instantly becoming friends.

The insanely small student population (66 people!!) at NYUBA creates an intensely close atmosphere in which we all want to be friends with one another after being thrown into a foreign country where we don't know anyone. It sounds like a fake friendship when put into words, but it's really not. I have a feeling we are all going to grow very close to one another in the next 4 months and stay lifelong friends since we are all experiencing this stage of life together.

In the past 3 days, I've met and become friends with more people than I have in my 5 semesters of college put together. 

This evening after another VERY long day of orientation, I went to a restaurant with some new friends to finally try Argentine Malbec. It's crazy how small the world is - one of the students I just met went to high school with my friend from middle school. The funny thing is, he doesn't even go to NYU; he's a visiting student from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. 

Upstate NY to Connecticut to Michigan to New Hampshire to Buenos Aires. 

I should also mention the 2 bottles of wine we drank only cost us $20USD. 2 bottles of wine in a NYC restaurant would be no less than $100. Muy bueno!

[zeynepyenisey]

Orientation week is ridiculously busy. From early in the morning to nighttime, we have a completely full schedule of a "Survival Spanish" class, Argentine history lectures, safety lectures, etc. 

Today we had a 3 hour bus tour of Buenos Aires, which was incredible. One of the stops was Recoleta Cemetery, which was one of the most amazing places I have ever been to. It was eerie and beautiful at the same time - and was a strangely comforting place.

[zeynepyenisey]

This lady walks around with trays of fresh baked (as in piping hot!) pastries and only speaks Spanish. If you say no, she still puts one in your hand and watches you until you take a bite. This morning she force fed me a dulce de leche filled donut. Then during lunch I willingly took and ate a cheese filled little puff.

[zeynepyenisey]

After a very long and pretty uncomfortable flight, being greeted by these two was like running across a beach in slow motion into the arms of a lover. Or orientation leader.

[zeynepyenisey]

UPDATE: i am on the plane and the hostess is RUDE and barely speaks English and doesn't like me at all.

[zeynepyenisey]

Waiting at the gate at JFK and I don't understand anything anyone is saying because I don't speak Spanish.

But there is a really cute guy standing right next to me so it's ok