Necesito dormir

After powering through the day on only two hours of sleep and one glass of mate, I'm exhausted. Making some American friends at The Spot, a nearby bar last night, was definitely worth it and we not only met a fellow Chicagoan, but another journalism major!

At work, I finished publishing all the advertisements and releases for Mobilis Amoblamientos and Espacio Forum and feel incredibly accomplished to have this project completed. Entercomm's regional manager of a couple of Latin America's location was at our office today and I had the opportunity to meet him. He complimented my Spanish for a 20-year-old and was impressed at my comprehension of office lingo and more. Lastly, my work friends are curing my mate calabaza for me! Mate cups are handmade and kind of like a clay jar, so it's not healthy to just start drinking your daily caffeinated beverage out of that. After a failed attempt at curing the mate last night, my mate will finally be usable after tomorrow thanks to the office's help!

Observations of the day

• Child exploitation: A huge issue here. Not that it doesn't occur in the United States, but families exploit their children as a primary manner of obtaining money to live if they are homeless or in poverty. The same few families live on my Subway line, by our bus stop and more. They stay in the station a lot of the day and send their kids on various trains to do things like juggle, sing, make faces or distribute and re-collect valentine cards in exchange for pesos. The children stay on for a few stops, and just get back on in the other direction, hand their parents the money and keep going. They even learn attitude at an early age, often giving disgruntled looks if you don't comply with what they want. The next most popular thing is to beg at the doorways while breastfeeding a baby, in hopes that people will give you more money. It depresses me like no other that poverty is in such a state here where birth control is not even an option, and these people see no choice but to exploit their children.
• Cues: As much as I understand Spanish, you still space out sometimes and don't hear everything people are saying or even mumbling. I've come to realize how important body language and cues are across cultures and in social conversation. Lunch at work can get pretty loud and fast-paced, and especially when tired, my focus level is not at 100 percent. Twice today, I realized only through eye contact and nodding that I was being asked a question, because my co-workers were asking questions with vocabulary mentioning specific locations in Argentina that I had never heard of before. It's cool to see the components of language blend together and realize the significance of nonverbal communication firsthand.
• PDA: PDA is short for public displays of affection, and is once again incredibly prevalent in Buenos Aires. Or any big city for that matter. Whether you're on public transportation, at school, at a restaurant or at a park, it is never uncommon to see couples rubbing in your face that you are not in a relationship. Qué lástima!

Back to 500 Days in Summer in Spanish. Hasta luego!