Mi casa! Another trip to the grocery, more confusion.

Well, I thought I´d try to run during the day, to make mom feel a bit more at ease. So I headed out in running attire, but instead was distracted by all the stores and such. I remember I needed a watch. I didn´t get one, but I did get a little alarm clock. I´ll need one next week when I start my Spanish classes. They´re at 9am.

In the grocery... I re-scoped out beer prices. I´m still not exactly sure how big these beers are, but they are 32 or 40 ouncers. Price for the most common beer, Quilmes, $2.90 pesos, less than one dollar!!!!! Oh and how about beers you all are familiar with? Heineken, Warsteiner... $4.60 pesos ...about $1.50 US!!!! Amazing. I promise to not drink too much beer!!! I haven´t really been a beer drinker in a number of years, but it does sound and taste refreshing in this hot heat. And plus, I still cannot find where to buy Jack Daniels. No worries though.

Also, in the grocery... maybe I´ll make an omelet today? Si! The eggs are not in the refridge! What? Nope, just on the shelf. Ok. I got some mushrooms finally. I still have red peppers, onions and tomatoes at mi casa (little, by little, the Spanish creeps in). Perfecto! Maybe I´ll grab an orange too, for the walk home? Great!

Omelet/egg-veggie mess (still yum!)

Want that orange Matthew?

WRONG!!! Cashier, after ringing up my eggs and mushrooms, says ¨Spanish, spanish, spanish, spanish..... blah, blah.... and more spanish.¨ I reply, ¨No entiendo.¨ (Which means, ¨I don´t understand.¨) Was she asking me what it was? That can´t be. It´s an orange. Maybe she needed to know the price? I did, by accident, remember the price, I think, per kilogram (???). So I said, ¨dos six (in Spanish though), zero.¨ She responded with, ¨Spanish, spanish, spanish....more spanish.¨ And took my orange away from me. Oh. Okay. No orange for me. Odd.

I also got some big ol´d chicken breasts from this tiny store that only sold chicken. I wondered, would they be in business long? Jajajajaaa. Just kidding, it´s just that there´s a lot of beef here. I got two breasts, si? Large ones. They came to 7 pesos total. About US $2.50. Sweet.

I´ve also been checking out real estate offices. Well, they´re usually closed, but they have some advertisements in the window. Sure, I can´t really make out what they´re listing; bedrooms, kitchen, etc., but they are in US$. Prices are like $14,000 to like $80,000. Woah. Some of the pictures are really nice too. And I can tell they´re in neighborhoods folks have suggested to me. Craziness. When I learn more Spanish, I´ll update ya about this crazy talk.

Oh!, and I found a gym close to my house, like two blocks. It would work! Now, after these past experiences of the hour, was I about to go in there and ask questions like, ¨Hey, do I need a year´s membership?, Are there initation fees? How much does it cost? What´s the monthly rate? Can I use the gym by the week? Day?¨ No. So I grabbed a flyer and passed it by. I´ll figure all that mess out later.

And finally, below are pictures of my place. And other interesting things, including the indoor above-ground pool I spoke of yesterday. Picture requested by mom.

First, my house keys and some coins:
Window slash ¨wall¨ in hallway:
Uno mas:
My kitchen counter and yummy cafe:
The bass I brought, and casa gato:
Dog, Pollo (pronounced: Poe-show), that won´t stop humping my leg. He also likes to sleep under my bed. Except, you know what, there´s really not enough room for him. So to hear him try and get under or out from underneath sounds like, ummm, I don´t know. Sounds like someone beating on the floor beneath me with a hammer. Crazy.
Door to roomie´s room:
My front door:
Also, my front door:
Looking up from front door:
Headin´to the entrance:
Entrance/exit still ahead:
Still:
Front door of building:

Looking back:

Floor of building hallway:
Hallway light:

Hallway plant:
And last, but not least, a detective shot of the indoor pool (sorry for the lack of clarity):

Tonight, I´m off to see some more parts of the city, but now with local friends, Julieta #1 & 2. Hopefully, I´ll see, hear, experience more with these Spanish speaking natives... always helps.

Bye!

Oh and it´s ¨Chau!¨, not ¨Ciao!¨. My bad. Hee, heet. I doubt this´ll be the last time I screw up my Spanish interpretation....