La semana 2.5

My faithful followers, What a weekend! It all began Saturday night after a terribly frustrating afternoon at Coy Aike. I felt like I was standing in the middle of a tornado, with everybody spiraling around me. I had no idea what was going on for 4 hours straight. I went back to the apartment and had a minor break down. I needed some American love,so I came to the internet cafe and read your beautiful comments, and while there I meet a cool dude! The worker of the internet cafe always greets me with a glorious smile, so I attempted a conversation and.... SUCCESS! He ended up sitting at the computer next to me, and we typed to each other in google translator. I stayed an hour after he closed, and just chatted. I know what you´re thinking...a romance is brewing. No! He has a girlfriend and I´m not interested, but I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to communicate with me and make me feel comfortable. Twas glorious, but I had to run, because I was invited to a party Saturday night by a girl who works at Coy Aike, Ines. Parties here don´t start until 10 the earliest, so she picked me up at 10:30 in a car with 2 seats but 7 people in it. The party was in a small courtyard between two apartment buildings. The boys hosting the party had decorated the courtyard with colored lights, balloons, piñatas, and a big statue of Santa Claus (Papa Noel). Don´t ask. We were some of the first quests there, so it was not intimidating, and everyone wanted to talk to the foreign girl. They wanted to show me their English "skills", and by that I mean they say "Hello, Goodbye" and then crack up laughing. I made it a point to be as outgoing as possible. There ended up being about 60 people including a bartender, and a dj. The hosts (a group of friends that all went to high school together) put on a concert, and there was salsa dancing and confetti! Argetines know how to throw a party! I tried the local alcohol, called Frenet. It is made out of yerba (herbs), and you drink it with coca-cola. It is bitter, but delicious! I´m going to try to bring some home for everyone to try. I also met a boy there who preceeded to dance with me allllllll night long, and I mean all night, until 5:30 in the morning. Parties typically end at 6 or 7am. We couldn´t speak, but we communicated through dance...or so I thought. I obviously didn´t communicate well, because now he thinks he is my boyfriend. Oops, I did it again ;) It´s amazing that he danced with me for so long, because I was by far the worst dancer there. Latinos know how to groove, expecially the boys. So that was Saturday. Sunday, I spent my day planning lessons, but at night I went to my first concert here. It was a reggae concert, and probably the best one I´ve ever been to. It consisted of 8 people, guitar, bass, keys, flute, drums, singer/ 2nd guitar, and 2 percussianists. It was just like the reggae we know, but in spanish of course. People were smoking ganja in the bar and drinking 40s that they brought with them, and there were little children there. I guess the laws are pretty relaxed. Marijuana is illegal though. I would say 80 percent of the people there had dreadlocks or as they call them here "rastas". Sexy. Needless to say I now have an addition to my body! That´s right folks....Katie Howe has ONE dreaklock :) A man did it in 5 minutes for 8 pesos (2 dollars). TA-DA! What a great weekend! Today at work was difficult. Every child in the kindergarten cried at least once. There was lots of kicking, punching, hair pulling, spitting etc. If I could speak to them, I know I could help discipline them and influence them in a positive way, but as for now, all I can do is say "STOP" and "NO FIGHTING" and pull them apart. I seemed to have had a positive effect on one of the bullys, Thiago Paz. It´s ironic because his last name means peace, and he is chaos. He loves me though. Today he shared all his toys, and only hit when someone hit first. I was very proud of him. My theatre lesson didn´t go so well with the teens. Most were too shy to participate, and this one kid mimicked me the whole night. I did the best I could, and I was proud of my work. AHHHH I have to go because the internet cafe is closing. PAZ Y AMOR!