Bed time at 6..... AM

Hola a todos!
today (a hot and sweaty day) i walked the 10 blocks to the hospital to meet the coordinator of the volunteers. The hospital looked like it was from out of a horror movie! Giant cement building with close to no windows. Any ways - she began to explain to me the type of work i was going to be doing - with was talking and feeding patients and playing with children - and i explianed to her that that is not what my program lady said i was going to be doing.... SO... the GIC program is placing me at another hospital where hopefully i am going to be observing and shadowing the residents. i should know by tomorrow.
I wandered about today for about 4 hours or so and i crossed the biggest avenue in the world! This street is 18 lanes wide! I almost felt like i should run across it just to make sure that i wasnt caught in the middle when the light changes! (you never know with traffic here) I had my first helado (ice cream) today :) and actually it was a McDoland one - BUT it was called tres suenos (three dreams) and it had carmel in the bottom of the cone and came with a big piece of chocolate stuck in the side. Also, they dont have chocolate at MCDs - it is dulce de leche flavor! (wow, that was the longest description of an ice cream cone ever!)
I have already learned that the correct way to act around Argentinan men is to be as mean and rude as possible. For some reason they decide that they need to make kissing noises at you..... not sure. And today i had several men say either "gringa" or "linda" to me.... not sure which. One means white american girl and the other means pretty girl.... hmmmm.

Things that i have learned thus far:
1.) make sure there is water before you take all your clothes off or before you start brushing your teeth
2.) do not make eye contact and smile at random people - they might decide that you are interested in them
3.) dont cross the street just because everyone else is... chances are you are not supposed to be crossing and might get hit by a suicide cab driver
4.) Police are not the same as in the US - they are ususally pretty shadey and are bought off all the time
5.) never take the small papers that people hand to you on every street corner - they are ALWAYS porn cards

Last night i went out with some of the kids from my residencia. It was hard at first because there were like 15 people in our group and we just stood there.... (i'm working on my patience). We soon split up and first we went to a bar with a live band, and next we went to a dance club. Pretty fun night actually. The good thing is that cabs are pretty cheap and girls always get in for free or for a discount! Last night i think i only spent 50 or 60 pesos - which is like $15. For 3 cab rides, 2 drinks, and a cover charge. We left our house at 1:30 and got home at 5:30..... its going to take some getting used to! I have no idea whet people do from 9pm till 1am when we go out....!

THe exciting thing that happened today was that there was a protest on the street outside my building. They were students protesting something about a left-sided government from what i could tell. They had big drums, huge signs, and everyone was chanting something. THe police were there shortly and then the swat looking team came with shields and everything! The protesters moved out into the street and closed down a major intersection for hours! It was crazy thats for sure.

Love you, take care

Megan