November 2, 2018: Going to the theater + having a productive day!

Julie and I made lots of progress on our paper and I learned incredibly disturbing things about the US healthcare system in the process!

Reaction to a very ~interesting~ play

When I was in my first waking stage of the day, I dreamed that I was hearing a door creak open and closed repeatedly. It turns out that was the sound of men drilling on my roof in the real world that I had so creatively incorporated into my dream. The noise was overbearing and would not stop. Then they started hammering. I decided today is a day I will not be spending in casa.

This is how my day started. Putting my arm and head through the same hole.

I took my time getting up and then went downstairs to eat breakfast. At 10:30am, Cassie and I went for a run. It was nice and sunny out, but it got colder and uglier throughout the day so I'm glad we ran when we did. I quickly showered when I got back then walked to Cafe Martinez to work with Julie.

We were able to add about 3 more pages to our essay and we made a solid plan moving forward. We're about halfway done, woo woo! While we were there, I ordered the wrap vegetariano and it was GOOD. It was a wrap with arugula, basil, cherry tomatoes, some type of black olive tapenade, and that white kind of cheese that always goes with those ingredients... brie, maybe? It came with a little salad too. 10/10, will eat again.

I left the cafe around 2:20pm and decided to take a nap because of my abrupt awakening this morning. I napped for just over 1.5 hours but didn't feel super fresh when I woke up. I didn't want to be a slacker though so I resumed work on the essay.

Here is some disgusting information about US healthcare:

- 44 million people are uninsured and 38 million people have inadequate healthcare

-Our healthcare system literally commits civil right abuses (for example, the 10 year life expectancy rate for white people with cancer is 60%, but only 48% for black people)

-We spend a TOOOOOON on healthcare (adults reading this, you already know) and yet we achieve the same - or worse - levels of success as countries who spend a ridiculous amount less than us

This may not be of any interest to you, but this is a topic I previously knew nothing about. Learning about it has opened my eyes!! The only good thing about not having learned anything in this class is that I get to teach myself everything. I feel proud that I've researched and learned so much about the Argentine and US system and now I have something to share / talk about in an informed way!

I worked on my essay from about 5:00pm to 6:30pm and then did a mini workout in my room. Around that time, a conversation broke out in our program groupchat with a guy joking to jump off his balcony because of all the work he has to do. Then one girl offered him her 12th floor balcony. I stepped in and said, "Let's maybe not make jokes about suicide." The people who participated in the "joke" apologized and realized they were in the wrong. I just figure that there are people in the groupchat that may have considered suicide, and I know for certain there is one girl whose very close friend committed suicide. I hate when people think it's okay to joke about that. The girl whose close friend committed suicide reached out to me to thank me for what I said. I think it's always important to stand up for what is right - even if you may be scared of angry reactions.

After that interesting situation I facetimed Cassie and we tried to figure out flights to Chile. We finally bought tickets!!!!!! I am so excited. Now I will be able to say I've been to 3 countries in South America! Chile and Argentina have a long history and I've heard lots of things about Chileans so I'm excited to be surrounded by that culture. I feel very fortunate to be able to travel so much.

I ate dinner at 7:45pm - chicken and very yummy rice - and then got ready to go to the theater to see a play with my class. This play was interesting to say the very least. Like the last one, it was very difficult to understand not necessarily because of the language but because of the dramatic Shakespeare-y way it was performed. Despite my low level of understanding, it was very funny and I'm glad I saw it. It was also good to be social and see my classmates. The area in which we saw the play is right by Plaza Lavalle and the buildings that always look incredible during the day were equally as cool at night. They were lit up and looked very beautiful in the darkness.

The building where we saw the play - beautiful!

I got home around 20 minutes ago at 11:30pm and now I'm just gonna read a bit for my essay and then hit the nay-nay, I mean the hay.

Song Recommendation of the Day: "Ahora Dice" by Chris Jeday ft. J. Balvin, Ozuna, & Arcángel