New couch

Today I bought a couch for my apartment, which doesn't have a true couch (it's more like a day bed, and it's not very comfortable to sit on). It cost about $120 plus $15 for delivery. It arrives next Thursday.

Today I say for the first time the double-decker train that people have told me about. The train cars two-storey and have air conditioning, which most of the trains don't have. I take the train to work everyday, so I'm sure I'll get a chance to ride in one of the new trains someday.

A few days ago I started reading the latest Harry Potter book in Spanish. At 600 pages, it will take me a few weeks to read. At this point I understand everything I read except for an occasional word. Now if I could just understand spoken Spanish that well....

Funny subtitles

I was watching an interview with Will Smith today, and the subtitles were really badly translated. The person who wrote them obviously had no familiarity with American culture, nor did he understand Will Smith's accent very well. Some examples:

sign 'em, Dad = hijo muerto (son dead)
Tupac Shakur = dos paquetes (two packs)
while you was playing around = mientras usabas el avión (while you used the plane)

Now I know why I don't understand the jokes in foreign films with subtitles....

I've moved into my new apartment. It's not quite as nice as I'd hoped. I didn't actually see the apartment before I agreed to take it, which was really dumb. They showed me the apartment next door, which was supposedly identical except a little smaller, but that turns out not to be true. Live and learn. At least it's quite a bit cheaper than the other alternatives.

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th for all my friends and family at home. Of course, here in Argentina it's just a day like any other. The Argentine indepenence day is July 9th, which is this coming Sunday. I suspect that means that I don't have to work next Monday.

There's a bar here called "Remember the Alamo" that often has a lot of Americans in it. I'm sure they're having a big bash tonight, but I probably won't go. I go to an English/Spanish coversation group on Tuesday nights, and it's usually a lot of fun.

It's been unseasonably warm here the past week, with temperatures in the mid to upper 60s. I was dumb enough to wear a sweater today, and boy was I warm. It's also been so wet and humid that there's a some moss growing in the cracks in the sidewalk near my apartment.

Yesterday I went to see the Picasso exhibit that came to town last month. I'm not a big art fan, but I figure it's good for me to get some culture. Unfortunately, the exhibit was kind of lame. There were maybe 3 paintings, but the rest of it was just photographs of the master painter and some scribbled drawings on random pieces of paper. Disappointing, but at least it was free because it was Monday. This art gallery is in a fancy shopping mall downtown. Last time I went there they had some decent exhibits, including a photography exhibit that I really liked.