My new nickname and tango (and some other stuff including address)

Thought I would share with all of you a continuous problem with my name. In Argentina (and most Spanish speaking countries) the /th/ sound does not exist. This makes saying Bethany very hard. Elizabeth is a little easier (they just say elisabet), so that is what most of my teachers call me. However, throughout the last month and a halfish I have received a few new nicknames from the Argentines: Bety, Betch (the laundromat lady and I got into a 10 minute discussion on how to spell my name and somehow that is what the final outcome was), Elisa, and my favorite so far: Eli (pronounced like Ellie)! I realize that this is my dogs name but it's kind of a cute nickname for Elizabeth that I had never thought of before. This is now the name that the same laundromat lady calls me and what my tango professor, Bengochea (his real name is Gerardo but I think his last name is cooler), calls me.

Speaking of tango: Today I went to a tutorial for tango because yesterday we didnt have class due to the feriado (holiday) for the fallen Malvinas troops (it was the 30th anniversary of the Malvinas War). Bengochea pretty much thinks I'm horrible at tango (which is probably true) so I spent most of the time dancing with him. Dancing with him (me being the girl instead of having to switch back and forth) was so much easier because he actually knows what he is doing. He was also able to work one-on-one with us correcting our cadencias (turns) and our walking style. Unfortunately for the final at the end of the semester Ill have to dance with an American boy (who is also just learning).  The thing about tango which is really hard for me, besides giving up control to the boy and just following blindly is standing so close! I am not really a touchy-feely person and tango is a dance in which pretty much there is no space between the man and woman.  Even though dancing is 100 times easier this close, it is still a little uncomfortable.

After tango, I had my dreaded fiction class. This class makes me feel so frustrated in not only my Spanish ability but also my reading ability (reading comprehension has never been a strength of mine and in Spanish it's a lot harder). I start meeting with a tutor next week (who I think will be my teacher, who I dont understand in the first place, so we'll see how that goes).  After class I met with my history tutor, Christian. He was nice, but talked a little quickly. However, I think I understand a little more the differences between anarchists, socialists, sindicalists, communists, and nationalists. (Side note: reading history is a lot easier than reading fiction-not sure why)

On another note, I got a pin for speaking in Spanish today! Pins are given to people who within FLACSO speak Spanish even when others are speaking English. Today, I went into FLACSO with a mission to not get yelled at for speaking English, like I did last week. It paid off and now I have a pin!

Christa and I decided that from now on we are only speaking spanish with the exception of really important or deep conversations. I think this will be challenging but good for both of us and will help us be fully immersed. I do think my Spanish is slowly but surely getting better. Today I was able to send emails in Spanish, facebook chat with Ines in Spanish, and recount my Patagonian adventures to Marta and Ariel making few errors :-) Keep praying that I improve and dont get as frustrated!

Tomorrow I only have one class! Then 4 day weekend (which I have every week but its still exciting)!

Here is my address here (if you wanted to send me a card) Thanks to Caitlin and my guardian angel I have gotten a little bit of mail (:

Elizabeth Schundler
CIEE-FLACSO

Ayacucho 555 

(1026) Ciudad de Buenos Aires 

ARGENTINA