The past few days, I’ve been feeling pretty good about my Spanish. I had drinks out several times this weekend, I ordered food with no problem (I didn’t necessarily get exactly what I wanted, but it was tasty anyway), I had a few fairly substantial conversations with taxi drivers, and I even did some shopping. […]

My love of outdoor markets is bursting here. Today, I went to two of them, and they were great, and both really different from one another. I headed first to La Boca, which is a neighborhood in the far southwest of the city. It sits right on the Riachuelo river, but apparently most of the […]

The rumors are true: Buenos Aires knows how to party. It’s been a great weekend. Last night I went to a great, enormous bar called Acabar with a bunch of folks from my Spanish class (and their girlfriends and friends). The place had super cheap food and a great wine and beer selection, and games. […]

Years ago, when it was already way uncool to like Michael Jackson in the U.S., I spent an evening at the friend of a friend’s place in a little town in France. The only phrase the girl knew in English was, “I love Michael Jackson,” which, honestly, didn’t need to be said. Every inch of […]

You walk into the Cine Café because you’re hungry—really hungry. You’ve been in class all morning and just walked 35 minutes in thick crowds, and you see empty tables, so you jump on it. Huge, unframed posters of Laurel and Hardy line the walls. Everything else is yellow, soothing, almost gold, and the place smells […]

It’s cold today (finally?) in Buenos Aires—about 50 degrees Fahrenheit—and it made me realize that the new $14 jeans I bought are, apparently, made from tissue paper. Also, the zipper doesn’t go up or down. Curious. I went to a mall today that made me forget, immediately, that three weeks ago I bought underpants on […]

Tonight I had my writers’ group again, and this time we met over in Palermo Viejo (“old” Palermo, which is, in all, a really huge neighborhood divided into sections within sections). It’s a good ways from my apartment, but a nice walk, so I left early and stopped to get dinner just a few blocks […]

When learning a new language, and practicing it outside of your small, chilly classroom with your thoughtfully slow-speaking teachers, success comes down to expectations. I expect certain statements, certain phrases and questions, during specific interactions. For instance, at the grocery store, I expect a few pleasantries when I reach the register. I expect to be […]

This morning I woke up to rain for the first time in Buenos Aires. I spent a lazy morning reading, and then by the time I headed out, the rain had stopped and it turned into a really nice, if overcast, day. I walked down to the park surrounding the Recoletta Cemetery and had lunch […]

“Speak properly, and in as few words as you can, but always plainly; for the end of speech is not ostentation, but to be understood.” – William Penn