June 11th

Hola a todos!
Due to some internet problems I wrote this yesterday but am posting it today. Today was a very educational day. Because I do not have classes on Monday’s, my host mother decided to take me to her work. She is an English tutor for employees at different companies. She basically goes from business to business and teaches a wide variety of students, some nearly proficient, some beginner. We went to 2 different companies today. One was an advertising firm, consisting of four female students; one was a construction firm consisting of four students, one female. It was quite the role reversal going from student to teacher. They had many questions they wanted to ask me about my social life, family, where I come from, but mostly they wanted to hear and practice their English with a native speaker. I was very flattered to be invited to go along and I actually made plans with a few of the students to go out this week. They want to take me to the harbor and go on a boat ride, and also take me to see Shrek 3. I am very excited to go out with some natives here and we promised each other we will speak for half of the time in English and half of the time in Spanish.
I asked all of the different people what their feelings of Americans are and I actually got a consensus response. They don’t agree with Bush or any of his foreign polices (especially in reference to international trading and the war in Iraq), but the vast majority of people really like Americans. Obviously there are some who are better than others, we all know that one loud obnoxious American wearing a ball cap and zubas, but they really appreciate that people come here to learn their language and experience their culture. They take much pride in the things they do well and really take it as a compliment that people from all over the world want to experience their way of life. Plus, it doesn’t hurt that tourism is something that really helps their economy. Behind beef and leather sales, tourism related sales bring in the most capital. By the way, the clothes here are fabulous. I just bought a pair of Christian Dior dress pants for 40 bucks. My host mother, Maria, told me to tell my mom that when she comes she should bring a nearly empty bag. The week my mom will be here is considered one of the best shopping weeks, similar to Labor Day sales. So Mom if you are reading this, which I know you are, don’t bring many clothes.
On another interesting note, what South American people find most complicating about the English is the use of the word “got”. It is attached to many different words and has different meanings depending on the context. I figured verb congregation would be the most difficult, because that is what is most difficult for me in learning Spanish, but as it turns out, which for some reason I completely spaced on, we don’t conjugate many verbs. For instance, here the verb “to have” (tener) changes depending on the subject. If Ed is using the verb it is conjugated completely differently than if Lois and Karen (they) are using it. In English we have different conjugations for the verb “to have” in the present ( I have, you have, he/she has, they have, we have). The only difference is in the he/she form. Spanish, especially Castellano (the Spanish spoken in Argentina) requires different verb conjugation for six different subjects (I, you informal, you formal, he/she, we, they) and always changes depending on the time. I literally will sit and figure out verb conjugation when I listen because it is so difficult to conjugate off the top of my head. Wow, I had no intentions of giving a mini Spanish lesson. You all can compensate me for your first day of Spanish 101 when I return home.
Tonight I need to rest and go to bed early. I have picked up a nasty cold that is going around and I don’t want to feel crumby all week. I went to bed last night at 11 and slept until 12. Hopefully, with the help of some water and rest, I will be able to kick this thing in no time.
Oh, a few questions I have received from my devout fans, aka close friends and family, have been 1.) what does my host father do, 2.) what is the time difference here and 3.) what is the currency exchange rate. To start from the top, my host father is a security guard for a company that sells electronics. He is a very large man so I don’t think he has any complications at work. He doesn’t know any English because usually only those who need English for their job take the time to learn it. Next, the time difference here is 2 hours. Because Argentina is directly south from some parts of the US, some regions here have the same time zones as regions in the United States. It’s crazy to think that there is a bigger time difference between LA and NY than NY and Argentina. Lastly, the exchange rate is a massive 3 to 1 dollar to Argentine peso rate. What used to be one of the most expensive cities in the world is now rather affordable after a crash in their economy in 2001. It is not as cheap here as I was anticipating, but the dollar goes pretty far.
I love and miss all of you.
Christopher (I actually go by Christopher here because it is much easier for the natives to pronounce correctly)
PS I quit biting my fingernails.