so as time is officially starting to wind down for anna and i here in south america. for example, we are going away next week and are quite sad that we will be taking what should be the last 20 hour bus rides of our lives. well, we said after we bussed for 68 hours across the united states that that would be our last long busride over 10 hours, so i guess you never know what will happen.
anyway, our time is definitely coming to an end in both south america and in buenos aires. and, finally, as of this week, i can finally say that ive been busy here in buenos aires. about a month ago, having given up on the idea of working, i decided to join the local gym. it has prvided me with much needed hours-away-from-home-or-cafe-or-aimlessly-walking-around-but-not-really-so-much-because-it-rains-so-much. these hours, for most of the world, would be taken up by their jobs. but for me, and apparently for the other 20 or so people who are always at the gym when i am, the gym served this purpose. that is, until last week.
in a former blog, i had described the horrid job market here in buenos aires for the efl instructors, and in doing so i mentioned a woman who had seemed to want to be taught by both anna and i, but who instead opted only for annas services. i was heartbroken. however, early last week, she announced to anna that she was indeed relieving her of her duties in favor of my more writing oriented approach.
i met her at her house the first day. she has an american husband, 3 cats, 2 kids under 4, 2 maids, 3 stories to her apartment and more rooms than they know what to do with. i think the cats have a room. the kids have a drawing room. there are three computer rooms and generally more than what is necessary. apparently the apartment cost 90,000$, which is not so much for something like that. so, under normal circumstances the house gave off all the cues that i would normally take to mean that the residents are rich beyond belief. but, given that the husband makes american dollars, who knows. still, the woman was willing to pay 10$ per hour for english lessons. a) she speaks pretty fluent english. b) the schools pay, at most, 5$ per hour. rich? maybe. the first lesson went ok. she served me coffee and had had croissants for me to take as well. she wrote some paragraphs. i checked them, and that was pretty much that. aside from an occasional interruption from her husband, who works from home, and the occasional getting up to go talk to the maid, things ran pretty smoothly. the next day, when i arrived, she was in teh shower and everyone else in teh house was sitting down to lunch. i was invited to join and also to fake-oogle at some of their older daughters artwork, which predictable looked like a bunch of squiggles, but i ooed and aaahed enough that she liked me and elected to sit next to me at the lunch table after announcing, quite callously, that she did not want to sit next to the maid. after a parental lecture about how princesses (i think that meant, 'older people') find more tactful ways to say mean things about people, lunch was served. there was meat soup, arugula salad, tomato/broccoli salad, pureed squash, baked salmon (with sesame sauce), baked chicken, and potatoes with peas. after eating, my student and i went to one of the vacant upstairs rooms to have our lesson. there were only 15 scheduled minutes left and she spent 10 of those yawning ostentatiously and telling me that it wasnt my fault. the next day i arrived and she was alone, but the kids were there and all 3 cats were there. apparantly the baby likes to pull the tail of one of the cats. cats are not too understanding about these things, but are also difficult to move when they are comfortable. so, the cat stood its ground, but didnt attack the baby. still, my student/the mother was very worried that it would happen so every time the baby began to crawl over to the cat, which was every time a second passed on the clock, she interrupted the lesson to go distract the baby by rattling things and blowign raspberries on her stomach. as they slobbered on each other, i drank coffee and did my best to position the other lingering cat in very awkward locations that would interrupt the lesson further. it was unnecesary, however, because the hour and a half passed without us doing hardly anything. then, she said that she might want to have more lessons with me, but she didnt know. still, she paid me. i figured that meant it was over, but she said she just wanted to pay me now while the money still had meaning to me (implying that i wouldnt need her 30$ once i got back to new york). but little did she know that i a (as of now) unemployed in new york as well! anyway, we said goodbye. she was nice and her house is nice and her family is nice. and so ends my very extensive and life-altering phase as a freelance efl instructor here in buenos aires. but, you can bet that will look different on my resume...
