Unas Cuentas

So it is our fourth day here and after a few days just hanging around the house we are finally out and about.
On tuesday we went to this large shopping center called Jumbo (u pronounced like 00). It was pretty big with tons of nice clothing stores and one big store like walmart and another similar to home depot. We went there for a cultural assignment. Our team had to observe the people and then ask three people three different questions about Argentina. At first it was nerve racking but I found that I can speak pretty well with the Argentines. But I asked them at what age they normally get married? If religion played a large role in their society? And just what they enjoy doing in their free time? Many said that religion played a role but none of the people I talked to considered themselves religious. The average age of getting married was around 20 (or they just move in together at this age). Sports, shopping (there are a ton of clothing stores), going to movies, and basically the same things that people do in the U.S. It was really fun and a great way to finally get out and learn about Argentina.
We have drank a lot of Mate, which is a very traditional tea here. When people have guests over they drink Mate together. However, you only have mate with people you care about. It is a sign of affection. There is a certain way that you serve mate and you pass it around the circle and drink from the same bombilla (straw, pronounced bombisha). We also learned how to make tortas fritas, which are similar to sopapillas or fry bread. There are a lot of people here and in general I would say that it is a modern city. Of course there are a lot of old buildings but the people are definitely eager for modern things.
The accent here is very distinct. They drop the "s" from most words so instead of mas o menos (which means more or less), it is said like ma o meno. All y's and ll's are pronounced with a sh sound. People said that also it is harder to understand people from buenos aires because they speak with a different accent. It is similar to the Boston accent in the U.S. Well the computer is about to die. Can't wait to share more stories :) :)