* Until recently, I'd felt like I was treading water with Spanish, rather than swimming... completely surrounded by this beautiful language but only using it for the most basic of functions ("¿nos da la cuenta, por favor?" "perdone, señor, me puede decir como llegar a..." and the occasional "soy de Colorado... acabo de graduarme y estoy viajando por suramerica antes de ir a la escuela graduada..."). It seemed the only people who were actually interested in spending time talking with us were other travelers who spoke English. But on Saturday night, we signed up for dinner at the hostel; the cook turned out to be a culinary student from BA (Eileen), and she brought a couple of friends with her (Arturo and Gabriel). I ended up talking to them for about an hour. Arturo is an artist, and he showed us some of his work. Gabriel was wearing a Kid A shirt, so we started chatting about music and I asked him to recommend a few Argentine bands (he wrote down a list of about 15). I also made friends with one of the receptionists at the hostel. So I'm feeling much more satisfied!
Lucas Marti
