To recap on my fracasa of the whole immigration situation: I didn’t receive my stamp of entry when I left Punta del Este, Uruguay in February, thus Argentine Immigrations wouldn’t grant me a student visa because I was technically nowhere, and I waited 3 1/2 hours at the place for them to tell me this. Marcela, our program vice-director or whatever, tells me to basically flee the country for a day so I can get said stamp to obtain said visa. Well, alrighty then. “Ever been to Colonia?” she asked me.
So early Saturday morning, before even the butt-crack of dawn, Emma, Lily, Layla, Ben, and I take the SeaCat Colonia (rawr) to…Colonia, across the Rio de la Plata from BA. Oh wait, that’d just be too nice and easy for me, wouldn’t it? We go through immigrations, and Emma and Lily get stamped sin problemas. Then it was my turn. Frack. The lady gets up to ask her superior about me lacking a stamp, and I had been hoping she’d ignore it and focus on munching on a morning alfajor or something. But NOOOOO. She tells me to go to the window next to her booth and take care of it there. Emma and Lily look at my perplexedly and I want to strangle something. The old guy comes up to the window minutes later and says I need to pay a multa (fee) for evading the law…even though it was their fault, and I made damn well sure he knew that. Well, in the best pissed-off rant I could muster in castellano. He told me it’d be 300 pesos, which is $79USD and what I would’ve paid for the visa anyway, and our ferry was leaving in 20 minutes so I was like, FINE. I finally got stamped out of Argentina and into Uruguay and we ran off to meet Layla and Ben at the ferry.
During the ride, I got a little seasick, and the nature-y video of caves and its inhabitants–including bat-eating cucurachas and drippy yellow goop from stalactites– didn’t help para nada. Arrived and roamed along the main street, a little worried that nothing would be open since it was Labor Day here, and people actually take the incentive not to work. But we managed to get lots of yummy foods, walk barefoot along a beach and rocky areas, scale a faro (lighthouse), and walk unevenly on the city’s cobblestone streets. Hurrah! Colonia is pretty much the most beautiful South American city I’ve seen thus far (aside from my beloved Buenos Aires, por supuesto). It’s rather quaint, yet has that cursi touristy-vibe, with old-ish buildings and cute streetways. And the beach to the river is linda. Not to mention the perfect 75-degree weather day we had, on top of so much sol! I got way tanner, though that’s not exactly first on my priorities list (for once in my life)…
Lighthouse
View from the top
Calle de los Suspiros (Street of Sighs...que sexual)
Unfortunately, I was a real smart one and used half of my camera battery previously, so it died before the end of our day trip. No matter. I was totally nervous coming back into Argentina, and watched carefully to make sure they didn’t screw up this time. We got back home (Buenos Aires) and went to the Festival del Dia de la Ciudad at Plaza Italia, where there was a horded mass of people. I feel like half of Capital Federal was there to see Caetano Veloso, this really rad old Argentine acoustic guitarist that sang in castellano, Portuguese, and English (well, his rendition of Billie Jean was in English). (Layla and Emma insist he sounds like a Devendra Banhart, but idk who that is.)
Caetano Veloso
It was really quality music, and what was astounding was the unanimous silence shared among the crowd. People did NOT say a word, until he finished the song. This was an outdoor CONCERT with fifty billion people in attendance, young and old and tall and short and even babies were silent during his set. Wow, I dig the respect factor here. Afterwards, the entire mass migrated to my hood of Palermo Viejo, and all the restaurants were crowded. Ay dios.
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Today was my one-on-one meeting with Mariano about my final presentation. Nick asked him in class where we were meeting, just for clarification. Mariano quipped “¡Ya te dije, en el telo afuera! ¡Con tu cocaina!” (I already told you, in the telo outside! With your cocaine!) Oh, that sassy creature. *For the gringos: a telo is a clandestine hotel that people use exclusively for bonking (garchar-ing), and the rooms even come with different themes of your choosing! And yes, we have one of those RIGHT across the street from school!* And Nick is doing his class presentation on Wednesday over Paco, the popular (not in a good way) form of cocaine here, and he joked about bringing samples for the whole class. Yes, La Lengua is seriously the best class ever. Anyway, Mariano encouraged me (nicely, to my surprise) to speak up more, since our class is full 0f “parrots” and everyone loves to talk, it’s especially hard for shy little me. But it was a nice chat (aesthetically and academically).
In Pop and Mass Culture, which is the bane of my existence on Mondays and Wednesdays, we listened to the Beatles, which I cannot complain about at all. LOVE LOVE LOVE them. Though, we listened to a song I wasn’t as familiar with, “She’s Leaving Home,” which is ironic because it seemed like the story of my life.
She (what did we do that was wrong)
is having (we didn’t know it was wrong)
fun (fun is the one thing that money can’t buy)
Something inside that was always denied for
so many years (bye bye)
She’s leaving home (bye bye)
As for my visa fiasco, I told Marcela I got the stamp, and she said she’d have to talk to the omniscient lawyers about me not having to go through the visa process again–not that I can, because it takes months to secure another appointment for it. THIS SHOULDN’T BE A BIG DEAL. ETRHJGSERKGBJDKFV anyway, I’m good now. I’m legal, and safe, and…stamped.
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Well, this week are our NYU-sponsored trips to Córdoba and Iguazú. It’s going to be so much fun, I’m about to spaz thinking about it. It’ll be the first time I’m not with my group of friends, which will be weeeeiird, but I certainly have Kaarin and Lily and more to have fun with in Córdoba. Plus, Lily and I are determined to go skydiving. I’ll let y’all know about it if I survive.
Hasta domingo!
