New Beginings

I arrived at my new home yesterday after a scenic taxi ride -- the driver, doubtlessly, took a couple of wrong turns only so that I could see the entire neighborhood and not because he wanted to jack up the fare a little bit. Not that it was a big inconvenience, because it only cost me about $6.50 U.S. and it saved me the trouble of lugging 50 pounds of stuff 30 blocks. I think Thomas and Mr. Guo would agree ... this is econoooomics?
Inside joke.

Anyways, the taxi ride was also interesting because the driver and I had a profound conversation. At first we talked a little bit about soccer, or, should I say, he lectured to me -- the uncultured American-- about soccer, as often happens when I engage the natives in discussions about sports, at least until they realize that I too can wax poetic about the intricacies of Riquelme´s game. And that I, unlike Mr. Driver, know that the game started at 10 in the morning, and not 6, although I didn´t point that out as he continuously made excuses for not actually ¨watching¨ the Brazil game.
This conversation was cut short as we drove past an Angelina Jolie billboard and he asked me if I had seen her newest movie. I haven´t. He told me that she was a ´jamon´, which literally translates into Ham, but most have a connotation similar to ´babe´. He then told me that she was ´desmasiado sexy´(too sexy), and had both a sexy face and a sexy body, although she could put on a little weight, because she is becoming very skinny. I arrived at my new home knowing a little too much about my driver´s preferences in women, but he helped me with my luggage so I let him keep the change.

My new family seems really nice, and there are 10 people in the house instead of 3, so it is a bit different. The house mother is young, and everyone goes out together to listen to live music and go to the clubs, apparently. Dinner is a very social event. Everyone gathers around the table to eat and talk, and afterwards drinks either a coffee or tea and talks some more. It´s pretty nice. We eat at 10 every night, too, which is later than my last home, but I´m sure I´ll adapt. I´ve been told that Sunday lunch is also a big meal, and her older son who doesn´t live in the house comes over, and they usually barbeque. The only downside to the new living arrangement is that I am in a less-hip residential neighborhood, and much farther from the center of town. The plus-side of this is that the homes must all have backyards, because there is far less dog crap on the streets.

On the way over to school today I bought a few things I needed, like towels, shampoo, and 3 Dave Matthews Band tickets, so that should be exciting. Well, the concert should be exciting, the towels and shampoo are pretty ordinary.

I´m going to go grab lunch and take care of the rest of the stuff I need to today. My indoor soccer league starts tomorrow. Take care folks, I´ll try and check in this Sunday or Monday with the cooler pictures from this past weekend and another update.