Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (MALBA)

Visiting this museum was one of my priorities upon arriving in the city. It's only two stories, but boasts several fascinating exhibits.

Jorge de la Vega

Le Parc Lumiére

Antonio Berni

Frida Kahlo

El Ateneo

(A stunning theatre that has been converted into a bookstore-- amazing!)

 Más...

UBA-FILO (where I'll be taking classes!)

La Casa Rosada

Puerto Madero

Hola Lulu!

New favorite salad in the world... (at Boulangerie Cocu)

Church in Palermo

Performance at la Feria in Recoleta

So excited about the ear cuff I bought at la Feria!

Lecciones

I can't believe I've only been here a week! I have already learned un montón:

• When in public (in a store, at a bus stop, etc.) a single utterance can immediately shatter the illusion that I am a local. Murmuring an improperly accented "permiso" as I try to move past someone in the subte will turn heads.
• However, a veces the foreignness evident in my friends' and my speech prompts kind strangers to take pity on us and respond helpfully to our (endearing?) cluelessness. Tonight a woman and her daughter accompanied us to the correct bus stop several blocks away!
• When in doubt, take a taxi.
• Although my host family sets the table with napkins each night, they seem to think I'm weird for actually using mine...
• You can take public transportation for 10 minutes in any direction and you'll feel like you're in a completely different city. (There are 48 barrios in Buenos Aires! See a few below.)
• Dulce de leche is a heavenly treat.
• I am not cut out for the nightlife here. (I prefer to be in bed, on my 2nd or 3rd episode of Spanish Grey's Anatomy, by the time people are beginning to bar-hop around midnight.)
• The swankier the café, the smaller the mug of coffee.
• Where there are medialunas and/or empanadas, there is happiness.
• Don't take the subte at rush hour unless you loathe personal space. 
• Unfortunately, just because there's no Spanish translation for "awkward" doesn't mean things don't get awkward. 

And classes haven't even started yet! Here's to lessons learned and more to come!

San Telmo 

La Recoleta Cemetery

The tomb of Evita Perón (in Recoleta). We happened to visit on the anniversary of her death!

Puerto Madero (photo by Caroline Zee!) 

Plaza de Mayo

Smile and nod

¡Hola! Me llamo Malissa, or Mal, as I'm affectionately known among many of my friends back home. Turns out that's not the most flattering apodo in the Spanish-speaking world, but nonetheless it serves as the inspiration for the title of this blog, which will provide a glimpse into my life as an honorary porteña. During my five months in Buenos Aires, there will inevitably be malentendidos, as I live with a local family and attend mainstream classes at the public university, all while relying on my still-less-than-fluent language skills (not to mention my tendency to use the Andalusian Spanish accent, which, to the great amusement of my host family, sometimes transforms my gracias into "grathias"). The first two days have been overwhelming to say the least; let's just say ¿cómo? is the most utilized word in my vocabulary and I respond with an all-encompassing smile/laugh at pretty much everything anyone says to me. However, I'm also hopeful that by the end of this grand adventure I'll be much more knowledgeable, or entendida, with an expert understanding of this amazing city and this country's culture.

I'm still unsure what direction I'll go with this blog (my main concern at the moment is which direction I need to take the subte each time I leave my neighborhood), and my sisters' suggestion that I keep a fashion blog may be slightly complicated by the fact that I don't even have a mirror in my room, BUT I will do my best to post updates of my new experiences and misadventures. Stay in touch!

Making new friends already!!