Progress

My level of Spanish is laughable, but regardless I'm exceptionally pleased with my progress. Today was our move-out day and as we were standing on the side of the road with three massive suitcases and four smaller but sizable bags no cabbie would stop for us. One passed by giving us the "call me" signal with his thumb and pinkie held up to his face. I don't know why, but eventually I got one to stop for us and I managed to convince him (in Spanish!) to take me to the hotel despite his protests. This is a rough translation of what transpired between us:
"Armenia and Costa Rica?"
"You mean you're going to the airport."
"No, hotel. Armenia and Costa Rica."
"With all those bags? No way, there's no way I can take you both and all that stuff."
"No only these two"
"No lady, the car is too small, I can't fit it all."
"No man, only me and these two bags (I said bags in English b.c I have no idea what that is)"
"Uggggghhhh, okay I'll show you it won't fit." He gets out and opens up the trunk.
"See, it's too small. There's no way you're stuff is going to fit in here."
"It's okay, it's okay." We put the biggest bag in the trunk and stuff all the smaller ones and the printer in the front seat. He begrudgingly gets in the driver seat and takes me to Armenia and Costa Rica.
"Okay, this is where you want to get out?" I realize that the hotel is one block further up.
"Uuuuuuhhhhhh, one more!" I make a shoo-ing motion forward and he drives up the block.
"Here?"
"Yes, the building red! Hotel Craft." And success! He parks right in front of the doors and even lifts my bag out of the trunk which easily weighs about as much as him.
It's the moments like these that make me feel the best about myself.

The Saddest Little Bistro on the Block

Ciska Bistro opened up a little over a week ago a couple of blocks down the road from where we live. We walk by it everyday and have watched its build-up to opening day since we've been here, therefore we both feel a little mater/paternalistic towards it. We've been there since the beginning and now we're watching its first forays into the world of dining. It's just so sad that it can't be taken seriously. They're obviously looking to attract some American coin, as evidenced by the American flag they've stuck up in the window next to the menu, but they've made the kiss of death mistake. They've stuck up photos of their food! And the food doesn't even look good! No self-respecting eater would stop by, see the American flag, look at the food, and think, 'I need to eat a meal at this establishment'. So like the laissez-faire type of parents, we cringe every time we walk by and hope they'll grow out of the tacky phase before they go bankrupt.

Pounding the Pavement in BsAs

Buenos Aires is far larger than I ever gave it credit for before I came here. So far I've already worn down a pair of sandals and a strap on a bag broke... from swinging too much when I walk. There's Capital Federal which is pretty enormous, and then there's greater Buenos Aires which encompasses all the suburbs. Just to walk to the subway takes 20 minutes and then depending on whether you're going north or south you're journey could potentially be extremely time consuming. There are 4 lines that run east to west and all meet up at about the same point on the only line that runs north to south. So the average round trip includes two line transfers at the terminus of whichever lines you're riding on. Therefore I travel by cab. And luckily they are very cheap, but sometimes I think some cab drivers take the long way to make up the difference. But whatever.