I apologize for the lack of posts this week. Since I got back Monday morning my life here has either been quite boring or upsetting, with the former not giving me anything to write about and the latter not motivating me to write at all. On top of my normal class work I had two oral presentations, a debate, and some quizzes. I still like my classes and feel like I am learning a lot, but at the same time I am extremely glad that this was another four-day school week! However, after having such a wonderful weekend and feeling as if Sunday was the best day of my trip, I feel that it was almost inevitable that something would happen to ruin my Argentina bliss. Tuesday was quite a bummer; my purse was stolen out of the Program Office in Casa Verde. As had pretty much become the usual routine, after class Caroline and I left our stuff in the office while we went running in Parque Sarmiento. The program directors assured us that somebody is always in there and that our stuff would be safe. Many students do this, and on Tuesday specifically there were at least five of us with our belongings in there. However, when Caroline and I returned my purse was gone. Thankfully I’m quite careful and don’t carry much cash, my iPhone, my passport, or my debit card with me; therefore, all I really lost was about $140 pesos ($35 USD), my driver’s license, Zulema’s house keys, and my camera. The last two were obviously the biggest problem, and it’s been no fun dealing with replacing those. The police were called and I was forced to stay on campus forever, but once we discovered my purse was gone I had no hope of ever seeing it again; if the U.S. police couldn’t recover my purse that was stolen out of my car last summer, I didn’t have much faith in the UNC police. The nice thing is that the program directors feel really bad and are doing all they can to replace my stuff. Susana (second-in-command of the program) called Zulema for me and explained what happened and told her that they’d pay for her to have her locks replaced. Also, she wants to compensate me for my camera. I talked to her today and she said that she is communicating with the UT program directors to see if it is ok with them to give me money to replace it; therefore, if I don’t receive anything it is purely the fault of Americans. So in the end it really isn’t that bad, and I am extremely aware that it could be much worse. So besides school, talking to police, and replacing my stuff I really haven’t been up to much this week. Today after my classes I had quite a bit of time, so I decided to walk around. I needed a new purse before tonight, and I was determined to find an extremely cheap one. It actually ended up being a very much needed, enjoyable afternoon. After my little streak of bad luck, walking around today reminded me how much I really do love it here. I walked along the pedestrian streets near the plaza and browsed the items that the vendors were selling. Amongst the scarves and hats and movies and Messi jerseys (futbol craze is already rampant here – I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like on Saturday) I stumbled across an artist and was immediately mesmerized by his work. Although I’m not an art expert, I thought his paintings were beyond wonderful. Additionally, my respect for his talent increased exponentially when I joined the crowd that was watching him in action. Quite obviously homeless, he created his artwork solely with spray paint, newspaper, and his hands. I wish I would’ve had a camera and I would have videoed some of his techniques; his style was truly unique, and taking the time to watch him work made my afternoon. If I would have had more pesos I am quite sure that I would have bought one of the paintings! My afternoon around town ended with me finding a purse at a vendor near Patio Olmos. It only cost me $35 (less than $9USD), so I felt like my shopping adventure was a success! I returned home and showered, napped, and then packed for the trip this weekend. I am about to leave to go meet up with the group for our big excursion to Salta that was organized through the program and won’t be back until Monday. I will take many mental notes and Susana said she’s going to lend me her camera, so hopefully when I get back Monday morning I will have plenty of stories and pictures to once again share with everyone!
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