Slang, Elefante Blanco & Evading Taxes

In one of my classes we start out on Monday by watching a movie that has some historical or cultural significance and then have assigned readings for the rest of the week on similar topics.  This past week we talked a lot about the different villas in Buenos Aires.  The way that some people think of places with Villa in the name in United States might give them the wrong impression about the word here.  In Buenos Aires a villa is a place where very poor people live and it denotes a sort of shanty town.

We watched the movie Las Viudas de los Jueves which is about a barrio privado (private neighborhood) which is the opposite of a villa.  It's basically like a fenced in community, but to a bit of an extreme.  We had some readings regarding these private neighborhoods and the villas this week and had to pick out some Argentine slang.  I found a website that is basically a slang dictionary that I thought was helpful in understanding some of the things.  If you click on the link be sure to check out the comments section too, where people have added more definitions.

In the spirit of embracing the culture and because it was a great excuse to go see a movie a few of us went to  see Elefante Blanco this weekend.  I just texted CINEMARK to 70709 and got everyone 2 tickets for the cost of one which left me money to get a pancho (hot dog) and a drink.  It was in Spanish without any subtitles here so I was able to pick up bits and pieces and infer the rest through body language and the base knowledge I acquired in class.  It was a pretty good movie without understanding every detail - so I assume it's even better with English subtitles.  It is weird because they talk about how this is a pretty accurate portrayal of one of the villas and some of the students live relatively close to the one that this film is based on.

In other news of the weekend I found out what this sign means.  I was shopping at the mall and one of the sales associates mentioned the program to me.  I didn't end up buying anything at his store, but now I know that this Global Blue sign has some benefits.  Apparently if the store is displaying this sign it means that you can request (they usually will not offer I found) a receipt for anything over 70 pesos (Argentina Rules) and then you will have to fill out the form with your information.  The sales associate should give you a receipt and then attach it to the form.  When you get the form stamped at customs on your way out of the country you can find a Global Blue Refund Point and they will refund the eligible taxes that you paid on the item.  In Argentina I found that this is about 16%, so essentially it's a great way to save 16% off the cost of an item.  

Ciao,

Tim

Movies & Homework

Today was a day spent mostly going to a movie and doing homework in preparation for Monday's classes to begin.  A couple of the other students and I went to see Snow White and the Huntsman at a Cinemark that is really close to our houses in the Palermo district.

Here are some things that are different than the United States

• There is only one line that serves all of the people that are purchasing tickets and that line is about 75-100 people long.
• On your ticket your seats are assigned, we didn't have a choice of seats - so we assume that it seats people from best to worst seating which is predefined. 
• You then give your ticket to the ticket taker and go into the theater.  This process took more than 25 minutes.
• Once you get in the theater they wheel in a cart of drinks and candies in case you didn't have enough time to purchase them outside (more lines) than you can do it during the previews.
• Everyone clapped at the end of the movie.

I took a picture of the guy with the light-up treat cart with my cell phone.  We obviously showed up later than everyone else not knowing that it takes so long to get to your seat... so we were sat in the front row.

I had to watch a movie that was set in Buenos Aires for my homework and write a couple hundred words summarizing the movie and also had to complete some other things for class tomorrow.  

I was invited to a Rock & Roll dancing class by my host mom, so I think we are going there pretty soon...

I thought I would also include a picture of Mia... she is the puppy of the house here, and her little bark freaks Sadie out when she can hear it over Skype... and it's hilarious! 

Hope everything is going really well for everyone,

Tim