A relatively quiet day, which while there is still many things to be done, a slight heat fuelled malaise set in! Some further Rosetta Stone exploration was made, and I am learning to say that the children are running and ask what things are, although it is not a good sign that I cannot remember how to ask such questions now! I think I may have a very limited short term memory, eclipsed in its uselessness only by my lack of a long term memory!! Anyhow…

For lunch we went once again to the Kensho restaurant, as this is my only significant source of food at the moment. We decided that we would just take the Subte today, but as the green line Subte line that we use is located at Plaza de Mayo, we had a look there first. I had walked past and taken some photos previously, but I had no idea what it was. I admit that I still have little appreciation of the history of this place, I am working on it (and forgetting it almost as quickly).

Casa Rosada

General Manuel Belgrano

Pirámide de Mayo

We headed straight home on the Subte as we bought some supplies for the following day, as the restaurant told us that they would be closed on Monday, and close every Monday. So we got a couple of vegan wraps, and some drinks to take away. These went straight in the refrigerator when we got back! Woohoo for thinking ahead! 🙂

Okay, so let me tell you a little about the Subte (map) from initial observation. The Argentine subway is made up of 6 main lines, and these are identified by letters; A, B, C, D, E & H. I think that they may follow a similar structure to vitamins in which some appear to have gone missing! Anyhow, we use the D line as this gets us from Catedral, our closest station, to Palermo, which is the closest and least foul smelling stop. Do not get me wrong it is not as if all of the stations smell, but we did overshot Palermo the other day when we weren’t paying attention and got off at Ministro Carranza, and the area has changed in its feel quite significantly and there was that stale smell of urine lingering in the air around the station.

The station platforms, are all underground, and do not have the cooling properties of AC, but instead often feature a number of fans (maybe up to 3) connected to the ceiling that one can stand by in the hopes to blow the sweaty smell of your armpits (and other foul and noxious body parts if you are lucky enough to have them) into the nostrils of other, to be, passengers at a rapid speed. However, I am always slightly grateful when I locate a prime spot underneath one of them! 🙂 The trains are relatively frequent, perhaps with a few minutes wait in-between, to be honest I am usually in a slight haze of bliss at the fan experience to notice significant delay.

The trains themselves are pretty sparse affairs, much like the rolling stock in Milan; they are a couple of metal poles inside and a range of plastic seats provided for comfort, and it all fairness, they are not too bad. My hearing is not the best, but the high pitch squeal of London underground trains does not seem to be as significant on the Subte.

When on the train, it is not uncommon to be provided with a range of local experiences. One day we had a guy with an electric guitar playing some really enjoyable melodies, we’ve had a guy with some sort of mouth based keyboard thing, and we even had a female juggler. Once these people finish their little performance, then they will travel up and down the carriage in search of money from their appreciative audience. Which seems to draw a mix of responses. The electric guitar guy got a great response, with may people opening their wallets and purses, juggling lady fared far worse. I think that she had a harder crowd to please however, so she should not take it too badly! Another type of train dweller are those that either just hand out a piece of paper, I am assuming that the text written on it explains something tragic, and requests donations to support them and their family. These rarely appear to generate interest from people. There are also those that travel with goods, and hand them out to people on the train to check and consider, and then they go around collecting their handouts in the hopes that people will purchase the items on having handled them and determining the wonderful quality of them, I am sure! The final type that we have seen so far are the plain outright beggars. There is a guy that was on the way there and back yesterday, who appears to be blind and carries with him a stick and a cup, the stick for directional assistance and the cup for donations. Although, they may both double up for all sorts of things, I thought it rude to ask!!

In the evening we went to see a movie; Monsters Inc 3D in castellano. I thought it would be a good idea to start watching movies in Spanish, just to become a little more familiar with the sound of the language. Monsters Inc also gave us an advantage in that we have both seen it, and it the language is slightly less complex than a movie geared solely for adult audiences.

When we left the auditorium it was raining pretty heavily and we jogged (on and off, my poor right calf muscle is still suffering) home, a journey of about 15 minutes. Home and stripped off! Spanish practice and to sleep. Another day!

I forget to post the other day this really fascinating building that we saw. Have a guess as to what it is:

Guess What This Is?

You May Be Surprised

I will tell you tomorrow! 🙂