Rain, rain, here to stay?

In my previous blog post, I talked about wanting to take advantage of my time in Buenos Aires.

However, as soon as I developed this crucial mentality, it began to rain. Not just rain, but pour. From Tuesday through Friday. A great way to welcome in the month of September. But honestly, September showers brings November flowers just doesn't have the same ring.

So, during the week of rain, I spent many afternoons and evenings sitting on my bed, with my window cracked, listening to drops of rain hit the patio behind the house. It was lovely. However, by Friday, I was antsy for the cursed rain to stop, so that I could return to exploring this wonderful city.

Therefore, on Friday morning Christine and I went to go pick up our visas. We had turned in the necessary paperwork months ago, but hadn't wanted to wake up early to beat the rush and get to the Office of Immigration at 8 am. Friday though, we bit the bullet and woke up to light rain, caught the subte and headed down to Retiro to become legal residents of Argentina. The process went fairly quickly. With some wild gestures, pointing, and asking questions to many uniformed Argentines, we finally figured out what to do and where to go. Forty-five minutes later, we exited the building into now torrential downpour to get back to the subte.

Since it was only 9:30, and class didn't begin until 2:30. We decided to go to Oui Oui, a French breakfast-place/cafe not too far from home. (http://www.blackbookmag.com/guides/details/oui-oui) We arrived at Oui Oui soaked to the skin but had a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs and BAGELS (my favorite part), as well as a "proper latte," according to Christine.

We trekked home to rest, then I trekked to class in the rain (everything is a "trek" when its raining). By Friday evening, however, the skies were still grey but they were not longer leaking!

On Friday afternoon, my friend Sam told me that one of her Jewish friends was also studying in BA and that we should meet up. Lo and behold, 10 minutes later there is a message in my inbox from Talia, Sam's friend, inviting me to a Chabad Shabbos dinner. So, I took the bus and headed over to Recoleta, where we had services then a dinner where I met about 15 other study abroad students from the USA.

It was so nice to have a Shabbat dinner, and before I knew it, I was eating chicken, yes chicken! So long pseudo-vegetarianism! Also, I was really excited to find other Jewish students here, and just in the nick of time- before the holidays. I assumed there would be a lot of Jewish exchange students here because of the huge Jewish population in BA, but the Rabbi told me there are only about 200 per semester that study here!

It was really reminiscent of being back in Columbus and a great way to spend a Friday night.