High Time For an Update, I Be Thinkin

So the last three weeks was our shopping period for classes and after checking out probably 10 classes I finally have all of them selected and I love them all (how great are the first two weeks of classes? There's such a sense of promise and that first reading always gives me such a thrill):

With the film track I'm required to take two classes with my program, Spanish and a Film Seminar, both of which are pretty blah, although the Seminar's been cool because we constantly have to see Argentine films for it, and I've seen some really amazing shit! Also, our final project is going to be to make a short (five-ish minute) film, which I'm SO excited about. At first, I wanted to make something funny. I was thinking about crafting an open letter to Buenos Aires as if she were an older sister who can sometimes be totally cool and caring and other times a raging cunt, but I decided to make something a little more emo, about panic and tranquility within the city, and as a foreigner, how one's levels of tranquility are put out of balance and how being caught off guard is the only way to get a sense of equilibrium. I was thinking about this because I had the first panic attack in my life three weeks ago, and as terrifying and awful as it was, what calmed me down was, interestingly enough, sitting by an enormous, painfully loud machine just outside an auto body shop. It was probably one of the most interesting experiences I've ever had.

As for my other classes:

-I'm taking this class at the film university called Contemporary Thought, and every class is such an experience. The section leader is great, and really clarifies and contextualizes our readings, and I can totally understand everything she says. The main professor, though, is without a doubt the most terrifying person I've ever encountered and every class I sit there cringing and on the edge of my seat. He'll get really off topic and talk about cats and quote his grandma, and will be talking at a normal voice and all of a sudden scream out a word and make the whole class jump. It's so fucking funny. Everyone in the class is smiling the whole time until he asks them a question, at which point they're all like, "Oh fuck. Oh fuck," and get really nervous. Usually with classes like this, the first week it's typical to start off with something relatively benign, but not this professor. Our first lecture and our first readings were about PAIN. This guy, if people walk in, I'm not exaggerating, a minute late, he'll stare them down as if he's thinking about how he's going to cut their body up, and he'll whisper over and over again, "So late, so late, so late, so late." He'll ask a question to the class and if no one raises their hand or answers it, he'll shout the question. The people in the class are really funny too. With the exception of my friend and me, they're all Argentine people and, as is the style here, will constantly raise their hand and challenge the professor. What's funny is that even when he's super off topic there will always, without exception, be someone to refute him. Last week he was talking about how the elephant is the world's most kind creature, and the symbol of a whimsical animal. This guy in my class raised his hand and said, "In fact, elephants can be quite violent," launching an argument between him and the professor, who refused to believe him whatsoever. It ended with the student frustratedly sitting back and shaking his head.

-I'm taking this class called Semiology and Communication Theory, which is really interesting. It's all about studying systems of signification and how things get meaning. The professor and the section leader are both these really insightful women who are so articulate and engaging. The people in the class piss me off though. It makes me feel like I'm back in high school because there's a group of people who always sit in the back and throw things at each other or put things down girl's shirts flirtatiously. What's funny is that they're all really sharp and will often take breaks from throwing balls of paper at each other to refute the professor. They make me feel so stupid because I'm just struggling the whole time to understand the readings first of all because they're in complicated academic Spanish and second of all, because they're just complicated in general. But so I'll be sitting in class and scowling at this one guy who's the worst and such a douche and I'll be thinking about how much of a tooly moron he is when all of a sudden he'll raise his hand and say something that shows that he not only got the readings but has been contemplating what's problematic about them. Damn!

-My third class is also at the film university and it's a dream come true. It's a 20th century art class, and it's the type of art history class that everyone wants and wishes they could have. The professor is brilliant and so so knowledgeable and a great lecturer too. The class is two and a half hours long and he's so engaging and interesting that it flies by. He fills his lectures with images, with great stories about the artists' lives, and with placing their art within a greater context, whether it's historical, ideological, philosophical, etc. I'm really excited for this class, and the only thing I'm scared of is that we have to give a ten-minute presentation in front of the class as our final. Oh well, though, I'll deal.

In general, I've been really happy. About three weeks ago I was awfully depressed and going through an existential crisis (pff surprise, surprise, right?), but now I've been rediscovering Buenos Aires and feeling that I'm really starting to understand it as a city. With that, there are so many things about living here that I don't like and that infuriate me, but I've become a lot more accepting of them and try to laugh it off. One is that, for no particular reason, there's a major shortage of change here and it makes me want to kill myself. People constantly will not have change for you and breaking a large bill (and by large, I mean the equivalent of $30) is impossible. It's also without a doubt the loudest place I've ever been in my life. Being in the street is like being in the middle of a riot pretty much every day, with all the cars honking for no reason, buses' brakes screeching so loudly, stupid remixes of tango and opera songs fucking blasting out of music stores, etc. The main thing that I've been coming to terms with, though, is the fact that my sensibility is just really incompatible with living in a Latin city. I'm way way WAY too neurotic and need to have things run on time and run smoothly. For anyone who's ever been to Latin America, it's never like that. My professors will show up a half hour, sometimes 45 minutes, late to class, waiters will take centuries to bring your bill because most people like to lounge in cafes and restaurants for two hours at a time, and buses, on top of driving like maniacs (people here pretend that lane lines don't exist and will go 40/50 mph on small, narrow streets), also have such inconsistent schedules.

Regardless, there are so many wonderful things about Buenos Aires that make me, albeit momentarily, overlook what drives me insane. First of all, it's a gorgeous city. There are all these colonial buildings and modernist architecture, and lots of parks with trees everywhere. My neighborhood especially, because I live a block away from the botanical gardens, is so green, and always smells like flowers, and in the mornings, the sunlight is piercingly white. Looking down the street, it's as if there's a white screen where the sunlight's coming down. It's so beautiful. Second of all, the people here are really quirky. I was walking down the street last week and this guy wanted to ask me for directions so he leaned out his window and, to get my attention, said, "Hey, hey you! Skinny guy! Is this street Arenales?" Hahaha People are really blunt here and it's great. My friend here, when people have asked her for directions they've been like, "Hey, you! Chinese girl!"

I'm also really excited because the Buenos Aires International Independent Film Festival is starting this week and since I'm studying film, I have to pay four pesos per movie (the equivalent of $1.30!!!!). All of the movies seem so interesting and they're from all of these different countries and after reading the description of every single one, I've chosen about 15 I'm going to see over the course of the next two weeks. Some of them sound fucking sick!

Ok I'm going to head out. It's 5 PM and I'm still in bed because I was out last night until 7 AM. Quick story before I go, though: Some of the clubs here play the BEST MUSIC. One club I went to I heard: Hanson, Backstreet Boys, Pussycat Dolls, Mika. Another one: Bittersweet Symphony, Oasis, Nirvana, Radiohead, Sublime. Another one: Missy Elliott, Ying Yang Twins, Dr. Dre (The Chronic), Snoop Dogg, and Ludacris (When "Move Bitch" came on, I started jumping up and down, like, "Oooooh girl this my song!")