Everywhere is walking distance if you have the time.

Really, Buenos Aires isn't as big as it seems, now that I'm starting to get a decent mental map of it. Or maybe that's just what I'm telling myself to excuse my fear of the bus system. Here's a picture of the view from my balcony:
Not bad... my room faces north and I took this photo facing east, toward the centro and pretty much everything I've seen of the city so far.

What I'll probably remember most from orientation is sitting around on the entrepiso, a floor which consists of four computers and three big comfy couches--perfect for lounging during the awkward times between orientation workshops. A highlight of orientation week two was a workshop on Aspectos Culturales, in which we got talk to local college students about what it's like to live here. It was interesting to hear what they had to say about cultural norms, school, gender roles, preconceptions about Americans, and more. Besides that, we mostly dealt with registering for classes, which was a complicated ordeal. Because I'm taking classes from two or three different institutions, they all start at different times: some this week, some next week, and some the week after. It's kind of nice because I can gradually figure out my schedule (at the moment I'm registered for 10 classes so I'll be dropping at least half of them), but it's going to be confusing to figure out the "shopping period" (drop/add, basically) for each one.

I'll probably have to adjust my habits a bit now that classes are starting. My schedule Wednesday through Saturday has been, more or less: go to orientation or out to do something else, come home and take a nap around 7 or 8pm, wake up and go to dinner around 10pm, then go out from there and come home between 4 and 7am. The naps are pretty key to getting through the day/night. Liana and I joined a gym this week, so we've started adding in gym trips between napping and dinner. Going to the gym is making me feel more at home here, and it's nice to be working out again.

This past week I met a few more of the people living in the resi(dencia), and I've gone out with some of them, which has been fun. I've had my first several clubbing experiences, and it's more fun than I expected. The clubs play an interesting range of genres, from electronica to Latin pop to 80s and 90s American hits. On Friday night at Pachá, they played the Final Countdown and I was so happy that fellow Arrested Development lover Liana was with me to appreciate how amazing it was.

On Saturday, we had an asada (barbecue) at the resi, so I ate lots of delicious meat and hung out with a bunch of the kids who live here. Afterward, I went with Liana and Hannah to the Museo de Bellas Artes. We only covered the first floor because it's pretty overwhelming and since it's free to enter, we can go back as many times as we want. I saw a lot of stuff I really liked, including a really interesting exhibit of Alejandro Sirio's work.

Sunday was a lazy day that didn't begin until after 2pm (pretty typical for a weekend day here, even among the adults). Liana and I went over to Hannah's host mother's house and the three of us baked chocolate chip cookies. The cookies turned out kind of awful (we made a few substitutions that didn't quite work out) but we had a good time just hanging around. Just being in a home instead of a dorm was nice for a change.

Interesting random sidenotes:

• I have never seen so many mullets in my life. By the time I get back to the States, they'll hardly faze me.
• The McDonald's here are surprisingly snazzy. They have these McCafes with decent coffee (so I'm told) and pastries and things, and they generally have an ambiance unheard of in US McD's.
• I saw a Kiosco in the mall today with a sign that said "OPEN 25 HOURS." If anyone can figure out what that means, let me know.