The New Digs

My apartment is adorable. I found it on the internet, and of course, I approached it with a bit of trepidation. To secure the apartment, I had to wire $200 to a random guy who I had only spoken with on the phone. Eek. Practically until the moment I moved in, I was convinced I was going to get ripped off (everybody warns you about Argentinians taking advantage of tourists, etc...). But I didn't!



It's smallish by American standards, but it has a huge balcony that spans the entire length of the apartment and therefore has lots of light.



A view from the balcony:



I sit here and read the newspaper and do my Spanish homework. I've been schooled in the art of making yerba mate, which is a sort of tea that Argentinians drink out of special cup-like thing called....a Mate (accent on the second syllable, like the french name "andre", sorry don't have the accents worked out...)! The way it works, for those who don't know: you put the yerba mate, which is basically herbs and tea, in the mate. You then warm some water, being careful not to boil it. The mate cup comes with a wooden or metal straw which you sip from. You add the water to the cup, some sugar if you want, and sip. You can only have a few sips at a time, because the mate cup is quite small. Then you add a bit more water, pass it to your friend, she sips, and passes it back. The mate never gets cold because the water is kept in a warm thermos, and is only added a little bit at a time. It's yummy. See, even the TEA here is SOCIAL!!!!