Finding a home in Buenos Aires

        As of tomorrow, I will have been in Buenos Aires for a week. So here is a post to let everyone know I am still alive and doing well, even on a different continent. I'm starting to feel much more relaxed now that I've gotten used to the chaos of a big city. The first week has been exciting and intimidating at times too.

        I stayed in a hostel in Palermo Soho (a neighborhood) for three nights. It was interesting, to say the least. Some hostels are nicer than others and some are more social than others. While some hostels have a problem of being TOO social, (constant partying, etc) the social life in my hostel was nonexistent. People didn't really spend time there (it was rather small) so it was hard to meet people at first. Eventually I met some nice people from Brazil, France, and England. We sometimes had breakfast or dinner together.

This is the all-girls room (shared with women from Uruguay and France)

This is the coed room (shared with people from England, Canada, and Brazil)

The bathroom in the all-female suite

        The rooms were fairly clean but I shared a room with 5 total strangers, both girls and guys. I don't really enjoy sleeping in a room with people I don't know, I discovered. The last night I stayed in a different room with 3 other girls. But I survived and now appreciate my current living situation much more. The highlight of the hostel: making some friends and staying up late chatting with them. The low points: having my towel disappear (forever), and discovering multiple stains like these on my sheets:

blood? yuck.

         After my time in a hostel, I am VERY appreciative of the room I have now. I had to search for a "departamento," as it is called here, while I was staying in a hostel. I found one that seemed promising and went to visit it in person. When I liked it, I decided to move in the very next day! I now have a private room in an apartment in Palermo Soho. I love the neighborhood because my street is filled with cafes, cute shops, and restaurants. There are plenty of people walking around and it feels safe and well kept. There is a subway stop or "subte" three blocks away. There is also a grocery store three blocks away. I live above a cute little restaurant/cafe. I share the apartment with Mariana and Martin, who are both from Argentina. They are both very kind and friendly.  Mariana is a fashion designer and Martin is a drummer (he performs and also teaches lessons in the house).
These are some pictures of the house that Mariana took:

This is one of the beds in my room (there are actually 2)

This is our small but functional kitchen. I light the gas stove with a lighter.

This is a little courtyard, where the stairs to my room are located. I sort of have my own little tower.

This is one of the balconies.

This is the living room, which also has a projector for watching movies.

This is a little desk in my room.

Here are a few pictures of mine:

My apartment is the top part of this building. The bottom is a cafe called "El Pinguino de Palermo" (The Penguin of Palermo)

The little rooftop area

A clothesline (there are no dryers here)

a little grill

my room is the little white building just beyond the rail

the view of the street

These are the stairs that go from the main courtyard to my room (pictured), all the way to the roof

         So, all in all I am finally feeling settled! Mariana, Martin and I have had dinner together a couple of times now. Sometimes we cook together and sometimes we cook separately but eat together. I'm trying to get used to the dinner time here (9:30 pm roughly) but sometimes I eat a little earlier if I'm starving. It helps to go for coffee around 4 or 5 because I can have a little snack and sustain myself until later. I'm having lots of fun cooking and shopping for groceries because it is so cheap here. Restaurants are still pricy but you can find good deals on groceries. For about $12 USD, I got all of this:

Tea, crackers, eggs, butter, soy sauce, lentils, a bell pepper, green beans, butter, and a tupperware container. Not bad!

Anyway, thanks for reading! I'm off to go to a walking tour with some of the international students. Might as well embrace my inner tourist.