Since the summer is almost here and the classes are slowly ending, one by one, we have had more free hours. When we don't have to study, we either sleep, play card games or invent new games to play, or just talk and boludear to pass the time. We've drawn each other on the board, some of us even draw on the tables, A little while ago we arranged a hamburger day. We all brought stuff to make hamburgers: bread, meat, tomatoes, salad, mayonnaise... And of course soft drink, because it was hot that day!! I just felt really happy that day, because I really felt like I belong in here, in that class. It doesn't matter if the subjects are too difficult for me, or if sometimes I get annoyed because we have some of the loudest kids in our class - I wouldn't change them for anything.

Almost two weeks ago we held a science fair in our school. That was the day that I noticed I've seriously improved my Spanish, since I was selling cookies and other goodies and just having normal conversations with people without having to constantly look for words. Realising that has given me even more confidence to speak, even though I still have a lot to learn!!

Last week I went to Buenos Aires with my host mother and sister! We didn't do much sightseeing, mostly shopping, but either way I got to travel a little bit. Not exactly a cultural visit, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I even made a small list of things that I noticed while being there:

"Cambioo!"

Buenos Aires is full of people who stand in the middle of the busy streets yelling "cambio!" which means "change". From what I know, these are the people who you can go to if you want to change euros or dollars at the unofficial rate, also known as "blue rate". In a block full of street shops you could easily heard over ten people yelling cambio during the busy hours.

Protests.

It was the first time I've actually seen a protest in Argentina, and during our stay that lasted for about 4 days, I saw two of them. I don't know how common they are in the big cities, but I have to say that they were not aggressive or disturbing in any way. 

Amish person and an exchange student spotted!

I saw one for the first time in real life. I wish I could have gone to talk to him! I also spotted out an exchange student, Austrian boy who was in our hotel with his dad and host family. Turned out he had his exchange year already two years ago through AFS, and now he was there to see his host family again! And the host family's child is in Austria through Rotary at this very moment, apparently ;) 

Good looking nurses.

I saw a lot of people who wore plain-coloured clothes. It didn't take long to realize that they were the people who work in hospitals and clinics. For some reason I found everyone who wore those clothes to be extremely good looking. Don't ask me why!

Clothing.

Now that clothes have been mentioned, I also noticed one other thing. The people of Buenos Aires, los porteños, dress generally better than rest of Argentina, or even Finland. A significant amount of men wore clean and neat collar shirts and business suits. Women wore fancy shirts, blazers, high heels and dresses, and many of them had their hair like they had just walked out of the hairdresser. Paper shopping bags are part of the cityscape - almost everyone carried at least one in their hand!

Skyscrapers.

Never seen ones before. Plenty of them in Buenos Aires. Also what striked in my eyes was that obviously the current situation of Argentina's education has not effected Buenos Aires as much as other places. New skyscrapers and apartment buildings being built you couldn't really see that this country has debts. In my host city you can a lot of buildings that have their foundations done but are not even close to being ready - they are just left there when this country ran out of money.

Pink trees, grass and parks.

I was surprised grass there was. Here in Neuquen there's not much grass areas, because the soil is so dry, so seeing grass and a lot of trees cheered me up! There isn't lakes near Buenos Aires, and you most certainly don't desire to take a swim in the brown ocean water, so it's commong to see people shirtless and in bikinis in the parks. Necessity is the mother of invention!

Fishing.

Totally normal activity despite the condition of the water. It was adorable seeing a father teach his son to fish near the Ezeiza airport :) The area is apparently popular place for fishing, because there was a lot of seats that had a places to put your fishing rod.

Taxes.

I swear, no matter where you go, there's always at least three taxis in the immediate surroundings. The use of taxi service is common, and it shows - at daytime 1/3 of the car population is taxis. in the night time it's the other way around. 

Culture.

Where the overall Latin America is known for the whole "mañana, mañana"-culture, where everything is done slowly and without any signs of hurry, Buenos Aires is almost like the opposite of it. The people are constantly on the move, having a lot of plans. Things are done fast. There's always something happening. 

Even though I was really tired after our little trip, I have to say that I do enjoy Buenos Aires. The city has personality culture written all over it and the people are helpful. Definitely worth visiting!

Wow... Now that I think of it, I've done quite a lot. I haven't been writing to my diary lately so it's hard to recall all the things I've done. Thank god I've taken plenty of pictures!