Mierda

One thing which I'm probably never going to get used to here is the inadequacy of the toilets. After taking a shit, it is necessary to look down at the bowl post-flush to evaluate whether or not there is a residual stain on the bowl. If there is a stain, which there almost always is, you have to clean it out. This entails getting some tp and scrubbing the crap off the bowl. If you’re going to do a good job, you have to go pretty deep into the bowl and the tips of your fingers inevitably become wet with toilet water. Not really sure why they haven’t designed better toilet bowls. Ok, that was pretty disgusting. Sorry.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve picked up on a few key words here in Argentina. These words are of equal importance to the phrases “like” and “you know” in the US. It is crucial to know these phrases because they often frame sentences or indicate a subtle sentiment.

Dale, pronounced dahlay- literally mean give it to him. It is used most often in two ways: (1) let’s go and (2) okay.

A ver, pronounced habayer- literally means to see. It is used for the phrase “let’s see” which I never realized is said so frequently.

Digamos, same pronunciation- literally means we say, which is also how it is used. It is used frequently as an interrupter when you’re explaining a concept and are looking for the words to describe something — a word to say during a pause.