Hello, again

Well. I can't believe I've been here a week! On one hand, it seems like it's been much longer. On the other, well... you get it.
Orientation week #1 was good, except for having to wake up semi-early every day. I am never okay with that. But I've definitely gotten a better sense of what my semester is going to look like, having been to the UBA-Filo campus. It is one of the craziest "campuses" I've ever seen... A ton of political and social activism everywhere, murals coating every wall and a mind-boggling idea of organization. There was a bomb threat on the day we visited! Ah, well.
I spent the other day walking around the city with my friends Alex and Ileana, which was great. We walked so damn much, it reminded me of New York. A lot of things here remind me of New York, and then my associations just get blown away when, for example, I see families with their young babies eating mountains of steak at 2.30 AM in a cafe. Anyhow. When we were strolling around, we witnessed our first street tango performance. Extremely impressive... we all caught the tango bug. More on that later. We also went down to Puerto Madero and looked at the nasty river, though it was still pretty beautiful with all the ships and docks, etc. We went to La Plaza de Mayo, as well, and it was one of the most powerful experiences I've had in a while. The mothers and grandmothers of the people who were abducted by the government in the 1970's gather to walk around the Plaza, holding huge photos of those who were taken from them. Seeing a troupe of people with "lost" signs for their family members... we could tell that it was partially just a ritual, partially an expression of genuine hope that they might see their loved ones again.
An interesting side note: that entire day, I was wearing a dress with knee socks under my tall boots... truly, not that fascinating and certainly not an outfit I haven't worn before. Not scandalous (I promise!) But for some reason, EVERYONE was staring at my knees. At first, when Alex and Ileana noticed the gawkers as well, we all just figured that it was los creeperos who drool over anything with two eyes and two legs. As more and more people passed us, it became completely comical how everyone would look at my face, then -- bam -- eyes glued to my knees. Trust, they are nothing special. It was ridiculous and I believe one man even crashed his scooter because he was ogling my rodillas. Oh, Argentina. Enough on that, I just thought it was pretty hilarious and an unwarranted source of attention.
Finally went to a tango class with my program, and it was magical. I am completely entranced by the grace and discipline of tango. It's swift and sexy, but also very controlled. I must become a tanguera. The teacher took a liking to me because he could tell I was a dancer and recommended that I pursue it while I'm here... don't have to ask me twice!
There are a few more things I planned to post on since it's been a while, but this one is getting very long and I want to go make some tea. Must prepare for the long night ahead: tango show at midnight and some bar hopping in Palermo.
Ciao!