Tuesday, November 23, 2010

weeks twelve and thirteen

On Thursday of week twelve I had soccer practice. I went to Lucas' house after for a glass of juice and at 10, I headed out so I would be back in time for dinner. As I turned onto my street I heard a kissing noise, so I turned to look. It was really dark, as my street isn't lighted, but I made out two women on my corner. I biked down my street until I reached the gate, and I looked at the corner and saw a girl waving. I was a little confused because I couldn't see very well. I wasn't sure if she was waving at me or what, so I waved back to see if that would do anything. She started walking towards me. She stepped into a patch of light and I noticed she was very fat, so I opened the mailbox to grab the keys. They weren't there. By this time she was close enough for me to see that she was in fact a he. I started ringing the doorbell like a madman. My dad was a little slow answering the door, and the transvestite prostitute got her question in, "Quieres algo?" (want anything?) I was flipping out. I think I managed to say no and then finally the door opened, and it left. As it was walking away I showed my dad and we shared a laugh.

My classmates and teammates had a good laugh at this story, too. They all know the kissing noise means run away. I didn't, but I do now.

On sunday I went to Buenos Aires for the first time since the day I flew in. I went with the German boy and his consejero. We met up with the AFS kids who were waiting for their bus to Iguazu Falls. We walked around a mall with them for about an hour until they had to leave. We ate at McDonalds inside of the mall, and the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese I had hit the spot. Then we left the mall to explore the city. Everything was very expensive, and I saw a lot of tourists. Most signs were in Spanish with English translations beneath. We walked a crowded street with vendors and their tables. I found an awesome pair of old sunglasses and asked how much. The guy told me 300. I said ok and then he said dollars. "Armani originals, 1200 pesos." Haha yeah right, thanks anyways.

We took the subway to a place where we could get a nice view of the skyline. It was quite nice. My friend's consejero said "Buenos Aires has many old buildings and new buildings" and we all laughed at how silly of a statement that was, but I got what he meant. Looking at the skyline there were very beautiful old buildings mixed in with very modern, fancy buildings. By the end of the day, we were all very tired. I was happy to return to La Plata. I called my house when we were close, so my dad would come pick me up from the bus station.

I was waiting for about a half hour, and my mom called me saying that he had left right after I called. I knew something had happened. He came running up and informed me that the car caught on fire when he was coming to pick me up. We walked to the car to get the chairs out of the trunk. The hood was a wreck, and the front windshield was shattered. "Are you ok!?" "Si." He said it started smoking first, so he got out. Anyways, we took a cab home.

So what happened with the soccer thing is this: I came into the picture past the deadline for adding new players, so Luis had been seeking an illegal way to get me into a game. I didn't have a DNI (an Argentine ID card) and there was no way he could put a passport number down on the roster without the ref noticing. So he said I needed to try to obtain one in order to be able to play. Yeah right, I thought. How could I get a DNI when I'm not Argentine? We tried, though. On Monday of week thirteen, we went to the government office for DNIs but they just sent us to Immigrations. Immigrations told us it is a really long process and it could be completed by April at the earliest. I wasn't going to give up, though.

We went to the league office that night, and spoke with the vice-president of the league. We told him the situation and he was sympathetic. I had prepared an entire speech for changing his mind, but he said everything I wanted to hear. He said they had never had this case before, and that the rules of the league all state DNI as the part you need to be officially rostered. He said there is a league meeting in early December with all the presidents of the clubs, and he would present the idea of making an exception for me to play with my passport. As I shook his hand and thanked him for his time, he said "I hope you play." It was nice knowing that I have him on my side. All I can do is wait. I've learned not to get my hopes up with the soccer thing anymore, but I have a feeling I will be good to go come next season in February. If I do end up playing, I will be the first foreigner to play in the Liga Amateur Platense in 97 years!

On Sunday, I went with my parents and Marco to see Gimnasia play against Velez. Velez is top of the league, so I was expecting to finally see my first goal in a professional game. The stadium is within walking distance, so we set off down the traintracks towards the stadium. All of the stray dogs in our street followed us; into the stadium even! I think there were four of them. 3 Left before kickoff, but one stayed with us in the stands throughout the entire game. The game ended 0-0, and I've still not witnessed a professional goal, but it was a very good game. Velez was an excellent team, and it was nice to see soccer at that level. After the game, Marco carried the dog home.

This is my last week of school before I get out on summer vacation. I'm looking forward to vacation, but the real work here is in the Language acquisition, and there's no break from that. This will give me some quality time to work on my Common App, though. It's hard to believe it's been almost 100 days since I left home. Time flies when you're havin' fun.

1 comment:

  1. You are not a voice crying in the wilderness. I am reading your posts. And whether home or on tour, do steer clear of overweight prostitutes of whatever orientation. MKG

    ReplyDelete