Muchos verbos: dolor de cabeza**

Humbling. That seems the best way to describe my efforts to learn Spanish. We've grown accustomed to eating later, waking up later, and even the humidity is getting a little easier to deal with. But, for me anyway, there just seem to be too damn many irregular verbs.

Or it might just be that teachers have a hard time being students.

When she's not studying, Z plays badminton in our bedroom...or at least with these ceilings, she could

In any case, we've decided to stay for the remainder of the month in our shared flat in el centro, a mostly business district that seems to me a bit like downtown Oakland dotted with old European architecture. Or, after dark, like something out of Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Early this morning it rained like it meant it, and apparently serious flooding is not uncommon in certain areas of Buenos Aires.

En la lluvia*: llueve (it rains--present tense), esta lloviendo (it is raining -- present progressive), va a llover (will rain -- one kind of future tense), llovió (did rain -- one kind of past tense)

No doubt there will be more street demonstrations this evening -- they seem to be part of the porteño cultural landscape. Empanadas will continue to be our snack food of choice though our opinion of salsa blanca filling (read: Elmers glue, only less flavorful) has not improved on greater acquaintance. The coffee, we are happy to report, is strong and dark.

A Thai peanut-coconut-milk-eggplant-with-peppers-and-tofu dish I whipped up

Back to those pesky conjugations. Ever wanted to say "I refuse to buy coffee at Starbucks!" en español? Here's how, ¡Me niego a comprar en Starbucks!

According to my teacher, Buenos Aires leads the world in per-capita visits to psychotherapists. Why is that? My money is on the lack of sleep and a morbid fixation with steak. But I could be wrong.

An altar our housemates erected to bring suerte to the Peruvian contender for best foreign picture at the Oscars -- sadly, it lost, but we hear the Argentinean film that won is very good and are trying to figure out how to see it with subtitles...

So, to sum up,

Buenos Aires es una cuidad muy linda. A los porteños, se encanta el carne. Y ellos no duermen. Elizabeth y yo vivimos en un barrio con mucho ruido, pero pensamos el tango es un baile fantastico. Nosotros bebimos muchas cafe y vino blanco. Español es dificil. Yo tengo dolor de cabeza. ¡Yo necessito un helado dulce de leche!

*This asterisk is a handy reminder to click on all our links, especially those containing Soul Train performances from the 70s. There is really no excuse for not watching The Dramatics at the height of their powers.

**This asterisk indicates that my editor regards this post as "grouchy."