A Musical Weekend

This past weekend, has, so far, been one of the best in Buenos Aires. Friday I don't really remember what I did. I woke up very late, as I was not able to fall asleep the night before; I think I spent the day studying Spanish and walking around a bit. I went to Talpiot (the MO Tzioni shul) with Jason, a British friend. We met Tal, another British friend there, and after a Carlebach Kabalat Shabbat we went to the house of a ex-physician-turned-zipper-factory-owner. His married son, who went to a different shul, happened to bring home Tal, an Australian friend, and an Israeli tourist. The meal was, as usual, delicious and the people were very nice, and I discovered that my Spanish has improved a bit more than I thought it had. I sat next to the father of the house, but even though he spoke both English and Hebrew, I tried to speak only in Spanish, and I even successfully told over the Sol a Kakas Mar story entirely in Spanish (ask Sabba).
Shabbos day I returned to Talpiot, where I had arranged to meet an American from West Orange and UPenn who is here studying abroad. We met and went to a lawyer's house for lunch, where no one but the two of us spoke English. I felt a bit bad, because 85% of the time we were engaged in conversation amongst ourselves (though there was another guest, as well as the host's mother, to keep them company). After lunch we walked to the Recoleta Cemetary, and then I walked her home. This past weekend was easily the best conversation I've had in months, and I forgot how much I enjoy it.
On Saturday night the Ministry of Culture hosted a 'Night at the Museum' where all the museums in the city were open and free until 2am. I went with Jason to the newly opened Anne Frank museum. At first is was a bit rough, as everything was in Spanish, and some of the presenters spoke faster than anything I have ever heard before, but at the end of the tour we were shown a series of videos meant to provoke debate, with a question at the end of each about freedom of speech and how far it extends to whether or not video games cause violence. At first I thought that I was going to sit out from the discussion, as people were talking a bit fast, in Spanish, and though I can understand and communicate, my Spanish is not good enough for debate and discussion. The presenter, however, picked me out because of my kippah, and when I mentioned the language barrier she acted as a translator and I was able to contribute to the discussion, which was loads of fun. She actually had quite an impressive command of English and a knowledge of issues of political philosophy, especially for someone still in high school (I happen to be skyping with her right now).
After leaving the Anne Frank museum I met up with Maetal, her mom, and her sister, Maya, who at this point won't let me out of her sight and we went to the natural history museum, which was, um, ok. Not like the AMNH or the Smithsonian. There were a few dinosaurs, some really poorly done dioramas, but it was neat. Ish. To be honest the rest of the night was a bit of a disappointment; after the museum I was supposed to go out with a bunch of Argentines to get a taste of the nightlife, but after taking along bus ride to some nightlife area and milling about debating what to do we ended up going all the way back and sitting in one girl's apartment for a bit until we decided to go home at 4. A bit dull, but I got to borrow "The Secret Life of Oscar Wao," one redeeming factor.
Today I spent the day in Rosedal reading said book, and listening to a free wind quintet concert, which was excellent. I now really like the bassoon.
Tonight I am going to a jazz concert with Jason, and then we shall see.
Chao!