No me gustan los machistos

Seriously chabones, why the hate? A few weeks ago I laced up my running shoes to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon playing soccer with the boys. There were no problems. We all laughed a lot. Clearly they thought it was comical to see a chica juega futbol, but for the most part I was accepted. After telling my friends how much fun I had, I recruited some friends and the four of us went back to the futbol pitch last Saturday. What a debacle. We were three ladies (Americano, Dutch & Norwegian) and two dudes (Americano & Dutch). My friend Michael semi-organizes "team world" (aka non-natives) and a band of local portenos always come to play. This week team world was missing a lot fo regular players and we picked up a handful of locals to balance the sides out. Before we even stepped on the field there were problems. Five or six guys kept complaining about all the chicas (seriously, there were three of us) and how it wasn't fair for us to all play at once. They wanted two of us to sit out and one could play for a few minutes at a time. I certainly don't mind sitting out if everyone has to take a turn on the bench, but they only wanted the girls to sit out. Additionally, there were constant derogatory remarks and inappropriate jokes. My Spanish is pretty rudimentary, but it wasn't difficult to decipher the meaning. Once we started playing it was clear that neither Cat, Fanny or I should expect to receive the ball. At one point I miraculously got the ball, only to be quickly tackled by my own teammate. SWEET. After a while we decided that this was not a fun way to spend an afternoon. I understand that in many countries it is not socially acceptable for women to play soccer or other contact sports with men, but is there really a need for open hostility? This type of event is so frustrating, but also reminds me that not too long ago things were pretty similar world-wide. I am so thankful to the incredible women in the United States and throughout the world who endured so much in their fight for equality. I have a lot more to say on the subject of equality, but I'll save it for another venue :) Right now I just think it's lame that dudes couldn't play with the girls.

The weather is finally starting to really warm up and we've had some beautiful days. Typically a week consists of three to four sunny days, a day of rain and overcast the rest of the time. It's still so strange to think that it's spring when intuitively I think of fall. I started a new Spanish course yesterday and so far it's going well. I cannot believe that next week is my fifth and last week of classes in Argentina. After that, I'll travel for a week and then leave for six weeks in Peru. An adventure for sure.

Thus far my trip is awesome. However, I'm constantly shocked by how fast my money disappears. It's almost like there is a hole in my bank account...is that possible? I don't have any extravagant purchases, but everything adds up pretty quickly. Oy vay.

I'm still trying to recover from last week's sinus infection. It's a slow and snotty process. Really should try to find some antibiotics, but I'm a bit discouraged by my previous adventure at the pharmacy. Anyone have a some good home remedies you can suggest? Too bad I don't have a neti-pot here :)

Time to get down to business and finish my tarea para manana. Also need to translate my cover letter into Spanish for the volunteer program I'm doing in Lima. I think that my cover letter may become much much much more basic in the process :) Hope you are enjoying fall and checking out all the pumpkins for me! Missing you all and hope to hear from you sooooooooon!!! Te quiero mucho!