A Wednesday

Sorry, I think we neglect to just write about everyday things, what’s on our minds at any given time, our philosophies, complaints about the world. You know, the stuff of blogs.

The following, and I warn you that it may be boring, is what I did today. I probably got to sleep around 1 AM last night, slept poorly due to the beginnings of a cold, and woke up around 7:30. I ate my fibritas and yogurt, then took my new bicycle to work. But I didn’t ride it. I walked it to work. It has a flat back tire that seems to resist all repairs. I stopped at a gas station on the way, but they didn’t have the right kind of pump for my valves. But that’s ok because it probably wouldn’t have held the air anyway. So I got to work only a little late for my 9:00 class. My student Tuiti is a really sweet guy, who took my bike away with him in his truck, to bring to his childhood friend, who is a bicicletero (this is the word for a guy who fixes bikes). He fixed the brakes and gears and patched the tire for me last week too, but I guess I need a new tube. So then I walked home but texted Lou to come meet me at the Municipal building for some tourism. We went to the top floor where there is a terrace open to the public, if accompanied by a guide. We enjoyed the view on a beautiful day, and witnessed yet another protest of something or other at the government building, featuring fireworks explosions and drums. Due to the haze we couldn’t see the mountains too well. The haze was produced by the famous Zonda wind that comes a throughout the Winter. So what we hear is that this big warm wind comes from Chile, and in crossing the Andes loses its moisture. Somehow this results in a very warm day or two, followed by crappy, cold weather for a few days after. The air pressure always does funky stuff too, so people get sick. I get headaches. But then again, I always get headaches.

When we got home I took a 30-minute siesta. Lou awoke me with food and tea. Then I headed back off to work, sans bike. I soon realized that I had worn too many sweaters today. I’m so used to wearing half my wardrobe at once, that I was unprepared for sun. I had a student for an hour-long class, then got a lift to my other class of four engineers and a recent medical graduate, then walked back to the first institute for another hour-long class, in which I subjected my private student to a romantic Bryan Adams song, much to her delight. She said, “THIS is how I want to learn!” (side note: last week I used one of the greatest songs of all time, “A Boy Named Sue,” in another class, to mixed reactions). After that, I returned to the other institute for my conversation class, which sometimes has two people but usually, like tonight, has one. Carlos and I read an article about globalization. 8 PM I was done with work for the day. I walked home. The hallway on our floor is quite pungent, meaning that Louann has been cooking something very un-Argentine. Although the cuisine of this country is strongly influenced by that of Italy, I don’t imagine that anyone else in my building will be having butternut squash and sage risotto.