I am in a very large city right now. And, like any large city (or anywhere, really) there are restaurants and pickpockets. These things are fairly normal to me. I have seen McDonalds, or McCafe's, and Starbucks all around Buenos Aires. I even walked into one today. I take comfort in noticing these things because they remind me that although my home is far away, it is not in a completely different place. I felt reassured when I saw my first Starbucks today...Isn't that weird? Today I also learned a great piece of advice. Blend in in order to avoid being targeted by pickpockets and other shady types. Luckily, my hair is dark and curly. So I can kind of pass for a porteño (native of Buenos Aires) because there is enough physical variety that I have not been able to pinpoint a cookie-cutter porteño. The one thing I didn't think about when I considered the "try not to stand out too much" advice before, was that I can give myself away immediately. All I have to do is open my mouth. So, I think the most important piece of advice I received during my orientation today was to avoid speaking English loudly, or at all, while in public spaces. That is weird. It makes total sense, but it will take some time for me to be at the point where I can speak Spanish idly and constantly communicate complete ideas. Luckily, other people are in the same boat. There are times when we just have to be quiet because we cannot speak that well in Spanish. At some points, people had to shush me because I was in the middle of speaking English, but were around. However, since I spent a good part of today speaking Spanish, the language is coming to me easier. I am starting to think of how I would say things in Spanish before I say them in English.
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