el gripe, Macs, and an angry Jew.

All over the city, people are scrunching their scarves up over their mouths and noses hoping to avoid the coughs and sighs and sneezes of strangers. Even school's out for swine flu. All the universities and schools have closed to stop the spread of H1N1. So the exam I have on tuesday? NOPE. NOT GUNNA HAPPEN. Sin embargo, I'm still waiting to find out if I'm going to have to do something else, like a write a paper or something to make up for it. Celeste (home-stay mom) doesn't seem to think so, there's one vote of confidence!

Also good news in my academic world. I handed in my 28 page research paper! It only took me 3 trips to the locutorio, including several realizations of documents saved in the wrong format, files too large to e-mail, and a portable hard drive not compatible with a PC.

IF YOU ARE A MAC USER AND YOU PLAN TO LIVE IN ARGENTINA AND PRINT THINGS, BRING YOUR OWN PRINTER. AND PROBABLY A STASH OF INK CARTRIDGES. BUT DON'T WORRY, THEY HAVE PAPER.

Another exciting/crushing incident this morning was being followed down the street by a strange man after I tried to take a picture of the Jewish temple on my street that I included in my project on religious diversity in Belgrano. I had a feeling it would happen. I snapped the photo ever so quickly and turned right back down the street but he chased me down and made me erase it. For those who aren't aware of some of the events surrounding the issue of Jews in Buenos Aires here's an incredibly blunt version of what happened and what it means for nice little girls trying to write research papers:

Late 1800s: Jews from Russia settle in Argentina and start farming in the Pampas.

More Jews come, and lots move into the capital city, Buenos Aires.

WWII: Juan Perón opens Argentina's doors to protect Nazi sympathizers. Jews stop coming to Argentina. But not for too long.

1992: Israeli embassy in BA gets bombed.

1994: AMIA community center gets bombed.

Temples throughout the city crack down on who gets to come to services.

Nice, non-Jewish American girls who just want to learn and take pretty pictures and write interesting things get put on the black list and chased down the street.

Es una lastima. But even so, my paper is done and 6 copies are fresh out of the copy machine and properly bound waiting to be read by anyone who is interested. Though it's in Spanish, so I guess that somewhat limits my fan base back home. Now I don't have to think about it ever again.

Wait. Scratch that. I don't have to think about it, ooh for about another 2 weeks until I start filling out my honors thesis application forms and it becomes my life again for the next 8 months. Hot damn!