Realizations

My Brazillian roommate, who speaks little Spanish, just typed me a message on google translate. That's what we've resorted to when trying to speak to one another gets too frustrating.

Today I took a long walk down a very long and very crowded street, just to see what was around me as far as restaurants and stores. I discovered a few things.
1. )Things you'll find on every corner are McDonalds, BurgerKing, a pizzeria and a magazine kiosk.
2.) I found a store that sells hair products (!!) Shampoo and brushes and stuff.
3.) I learned another word for hair.
4.) The double L sound, which is pronounced as a Y in Spanish, is pronounced as a J here
"cabello"= CA-BAY-YO= CA-BAY-JO "vanilla"=VA-NAY-YA= VA-NAY-JA
5.) whereas things get more crowded around 5/6pm in the US, they seem to slowdown here as far a traffic and crowds
6.) There seem to be very few two way streets, but it works somehow. Definitely makes crossing the street easier.

So while I was walking, people were doing their normal soliciting. Shouting at shoppers from the sideline and what not. And a lot of people were saying"cambio" which means change, and I feel like they're referring to money, but I'm not gonna ask, because it seems shady the way that they're low key about it, plus why would I not just do that at the bank or something? Anyway, one particular guy said:

"[something inaudible] bonita"
I just kept walking and pretended not to hear him like the other solicitors, so he started walking with me, kind of behind, but catching up.
GUY: "Eres bonita"
TB:"Oh, thanks. Gracias" (Still walking, scoping out a place to duck into)
GUY: "[Something something]"
TB: "Sorry, no intiendo. I speak English"
So then, in the best broken English ever:
GUY: "Do..you...want to.. kiss me?"
*mental pause* WHAT!!? {Mad Black woman voice}
TB: "No, Gracias" *waving my hand in defense*
Then I went into the next store, waited for him to pass, and wet the other way. I'm sure he was just being nice or whatever, but I was already trying to get away from him. After he said that, I was done.

That was interesting. A few minutes later I headed back to the Hostel. The thing about this hostel is that they don't give you the key to the outside door. You have to be buzzed in. And if you leave the building, you have to turn in your room key, because they don't want you to lose it. So if you're downstairs at the door and no one's at the front desk, you'll just be standing there ringing the buzzer until they're back from the bathroom. Guess what? It was only about ten minutes before someone was leaving and opened the first door, but you have to be buzzed into two doors, so I was just standing on the stairs between the two doors. Then my roommate showed up at the entrance, so we both sat there and had a broken Spanish conversation about what we bought that day. She showed me some BA tee shirts she'd bought for her family (she's 28) and I showed her my toothpaste. She thought that was funny. Then after another 10 min, someone else left and we got into the 2nd door. When we got upstairs to the desk, there was no one there and no one in sight, so she just went behind the counter to get our room key which wasn't on the rack. She ended up finding it on the register.

I went back out today to get food before it got dark. I went to a place on the corner and ordered the "Hamburguesa Americana" American Hamburger. Cheese, Bacon, Mushroom, Fried egg, Onion Rings. Sounds good on paper. While I was inside the restaurant, what started off as the most violent winds ever, turned into a ridiculous rain storm. Have you ever seen an entire city sprint at once? It was crazy. People were running in every direction like friggin' Godzilla had showed up. I watched in horror from inside the restaurant, where they had to put a post in the door to keep it from flying open and smashing someone in the FAYCE. When my food was up, which I ordered "para llevar" (to go), the waiter had to tap me back into real life. I could see the walk signal from inside the restaurant, so I waited for it to turn before I went outside, so i wouldn't just be standing in the violent storm. I thought I was bracing myself, but there was no preparing for this. As soon as I stepped outside, I was washed forward, by the aggressive mix of wind and water. It was the like the best and worst water park you've ever been to. After I regained balance a little, I did a determined jog across the street, trying to keep my hamburger dry, stepped in a few deep puddles, and made it back. When I walked in the door, the guy at the desk chuckled a little. I was soaking wet. The burger ended being fine, but for the surprise twist, there was no bun... ?

TB

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