Looking Back

Argentina, especially Buenos Aires, is very different than the rest of Latin America. They are a very proud people, and very European in their looks, customs, and ideals. BA is a city of immigrants, but really the people all mesh together to form one culture. Everyone is an individual but at the same time everyone is very uniform. More like the "chili bowl" as opposed to "salad bowl" analogy of culture.

I really enjoyed Spanish class more than I thought I would because I learned about culture and history as well as improved my language. Unfortuantely, I picked up the porteno accent. My "y's" sound like "sh" and I do not fully pronounce my "s's" when I speak Spanish. I remember most of the people there asked why I had a Mexican accent if I was from the US, but by the end of one month my accent was nearly the same as everyone else.

Politics are very huge in BA, and it is not uncommon for people to argue about political issues, then kiss each other on the cheek and ask when they can visit again. Politics is driven by the people and since their culture is very idealistic, they trust that people will do good. Thus Latin America leans more towards socialist ideas (process-oriented) as opposed to being efficiency-oriented. I saw my fair share of Communist and "Leftist" marches while I was there.

Even if you spoke the language perfectly and had the accent down pat, there are a few ways for a porteno to tell you are a North American:
1) Walking and eating / drinking. People in BA savor their food more and think of eating as a social event. Thus not sitting down to eat is unusual.
2) Being a vegetarian. People in BA eat lots and lots of beef. All different parts / cuts too.
3) Leaving the club before 2am. Young people usually do not even go OUT until 2am and stay out for hours. It is more common to see people out at 6 or 7am, but not 10 or 11am because they're all back home in bed.
4) Expecting "customer service" or "benefit of the doubt". Trusting strangers or going out of your way to help someone you do not know is not a common practice here. It makes me miss Texas.
5) Being germaphobic or claustrophobic. Even during the swine flu scare everyone still kisses, drinks after, and touches each other. And their "personal bubble" space is definitely smaller than what I am used to.

All in all I loved the experience: the city, culture, history, and people of BA. To wrap it up in Spanish I would say "Me paso muy lindo" ("lindo" is the catch-all for anything and everything good). I hope to return again and I have been keeping up with my host family and friends I made. Until then "hasta luego".

Last Week (Part 2)

Thursday
We had our final exam for Spanish class and the rest of the class presentations. I felt good about my exam and learned about Carlos Gardel (the most famous tango singer), Patagonia (like the Alaska of Argentina), and even more about meat. I think I'll become a vegetarian for a bit once I get back to the US because I have had it up to my eyeballs with meat here.

Emily, Holly, and I met some other girls in our program at Cafe Tortoni (the oldest Cafe in BA) to have tea and one of their famous desserts. It was heavenly! They also have shows in the evening but we left because we had our program evaluation to do. And when we went outside, there was another leftist party march (we saw one Wednesday night also).

Later that night the whole group (Allison, Jocelyn, Eric, Emily, Holly, and our directors) met up at Las Cholas to have one last meal together after doing our program evaluation. Afterwards we met a lot of other North American students from our University and spent most of the night hanging out together.

Friday
Last day of school! We met up in the classroom, received our final grades, and then bid each other "Hasta luego" (you rarely hear "adios" in BA, it's usually "until later", even if you may never see each other again). I got an A in the class and was very satisfied with the education I received. Emily and I went to this cafe with an Empire State building theme and did a little shopping before heading home. I sat in the park and read my poetry book for awhile then went home to say goodbye to Ashley because she was leaving on a trip to Juyjuy (northwest part of Argentina) that day. Here's a picture of us drinking mate:At midnight the whole Sol group met up again to see a percussion show (like STOMP) since the theaters are opening up again after the "worst" of H1N1 is over. Too bad WHO says that 1/3 of the world's population will get this unstoppable sickness in the next 10 years before it dies out. I wonder if that's true. Since it was our last night in BA we stayed out all night and had a great last time as a group!!! I'm really going to miss the people and the city.

Saturday
I decided not to sleep and went to the grocery store to buy more mate to take home with me, and bought Susana's favorite flowers for one last thank you for all she and Jorge have done. Later I went to the small market by my Subte stop and bought some last souvenirs for my family and friends back home. We ate lunch as a family and visited until Adriana picked me up to take me to the airport. It was surreal to be leaving, a month goes by too fast esp. when in that environment.

Last Week

Last week in BA. Don't cry for me, Argentina!!!

Tuesday
What a hectic day! I haven't felt rushed my whole stay here but Tuesday was a different story. I had my class presentation today about the Boca Juniors soccer team, so we took a field trip to La Boca for the day. Two girls gave a presentation on the sights and history of the Boca neighborhood, and after walking through the colorful streets again I led the class to La Bombanera where the Boca Juniors play. I talked all about how the team is the team of the common man, the immigrant, and the working class. I talked about Boca's famous players, including Maradona (who is like a deity in Latin America). We also visited a local printing press that prints books and poetry of local authors. They bind the books with recycled cardboard so it is very cheap but a great way for the "everyday person to express his/her ideas".

It took forever to get back from Boca on the bus and then even longer on the Subte to the complete other side of town for my yoga lesson. I was a little late but yoga was incredibly relaxing and I like having a smaller yoga class. Besides, Flor my instructor is one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met. We also had a cooking class right after yoga and there we learned to make empanadas! I plan to make them for my family in Houston once I return, although making the dough is very very messy.
When I got home I gave Sergio, our apartment's night security guard, my extra empanadas and told him about my day. He's always the first to hear about my day and is incredibly nice. Susana says all the girl student who have stayed with her fall in love with Sergio. I don't doubt it.

Independence Day & Iguazu

July 9th is National Independence Day, well one of two. On May 25th, 1810 Argentina declared independence when Napoleon overthrew Spain's king. They declared independence again on July 9th, 1816 because they still wanted to be free once Spanish rule returned to Spain.

Thursday (07/09)
Eric and I met at the Casa Rosada (I've been here so many times now) and hopped on a bus to La Boca, the colorful Italian neighborhood of BA. The trick is to stay in the colorful section because Boca is also home to the poorest of poor in the city, and some 3rd world status slums.

There was a huge open-air market, street performers, painters, and tango-dancers. I now know that tango in BA in like swing dancing in America. It used to be very popular, but if you were a foreigner going to the USA and expecting to swing dance at a normal club you have been mislead. You can take swing dance lessons and there are professionals, but it just is not popular anymore. Same deal with tango.
Later we visited the old Puerto Madero. We sat down in a park where tons of local families were are playing with their kids, ate the best choripan ever, and shared mate. I felt like a real portena!
After that we really wanted some alfajores (they have triples decker ones near the botanical gardens) but ended up drinking more mate and watching the sunset at a park near Plaza Italia where tons of people our age were playing soccer, roller blading, or just chatting. It was a wonderful independence day.Friday

Today we left early for the airport and flew 2.5 hours north to Iguazu Falls, which is a national park on the border to Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay. The plane ride was the most turbulent I had ever been on in my life and I was so glad when we landed.

We explored the little town but mainly Eric, Emily, Holly, and I spent some quality time reading, watching Spanish TV, and chatting away. Somewhat boring but it was good to get a rest before the big hike in the morning.

Saturday

By far the best day I had in Argentina. I love the city but I love nature more, and rainforest is amazing! The first stop in Iguazu Falls National Park was this waterfall called "La Garganta del Diablo" (The Devil's throat). It was pouring by the time we walked to this colossal waterfall and it felt as though it were raining up and down at the same time, and it was freezing. The Devil's Throat is about a 3/4 circle of rushing water and when you look down into the falls you cannot see the bottom. Truly like its name suggests.
The sun came out afterward and the rest of the day we hiked up and down all the trails to see the rest of the waterfalls. There was one point that showed a "panoramic" view and it was waterfall after waterfall after waterfall for what had to be miles. I've never seen anything like it. And to think I could literally pick up a rock and throw it to the other side of the river and it would land in Brazil or Paraguay.

We also saw coatis - little rainforest raccoons that are very mischievous and just about as rampant there as squirrels are in College Station. It was an incredible experience.

Sunday

We left Iguazu and Emily, Holly, and I headed straight for the San Telmo market once we got back to BA. San Telmo is really just a town square where they sell lots of antiques but there are other artisans selling their goods for blocks and blocks leading up to the main square. It was shopping central and I have never seen so many people. There were also some great street musicians (I love this part of BA), including this band called Libertanz, a gypsy-like band. Holly bought a CD she liked them so much.

When I got home I told Susana, Jorge, and Allison all about my trip and showed them pictures. Susana is from Missiones (the northeastern-most state of Argentina, where Iguazu is) and so I told her that Missiones said "hello". She thought it was hilarious.

Week 3

Apparently the last 2 weeks of blogs I wrote in BA did not upload (there can be many Internet issues abroad), and it took me until now to realize it. I am terrible sorry to keep you waiting, so here is the last part of my trip:

I was disappointed that we were not able to go to Uruguay over the weekend but the Zoo and River Boat tour were fun. This week was a short week at school, since Thursday is Argentinian Independence Day and Friday my group leaves for Iguazu Falls.

Monday
Today at school was normal and after school Emily, Holly, Jay, and I went to Chinatown in search of peanut butter. Apparently, portenos consider PB&J one of the strangest food concoctions on earth but we, being North Americans, were craving it. We found some Skippy brand peanut butter in the "International Food" section of the Chinese grocery store and also visited some neat urban art sites. Many things are closing down due to the Swine Flu including theaters, some sporting events, and even our tango lessons this week. So Monday night I spent at home with the family and played cards with Susana.

Tuesday
After school Jeff (tour guide Jeff, as opposed to director Jeff), showed us the Casa Rosada (President's house, again) and the Congressional Building. We also walked down Corrientes, one of the main streets in the city, and ended up at El Ataneo - one of the coolest libraries I have ever seen. It was an old fashioned theater, now turned bookstore that is 3 stories and has a coffee shop where the "stage" is. There was also a whole section of books dedicated to soccer, where I spent most of my time. Wednesday
We discussed the interpretation of dreams in class today, since we read a story by Borges and he likes to mix dreams and reality in his writing. It was exciting to talk about psychology in Spanish, (I knew more than I thought since most of the terms are Latin anyway) and my teacher ate it up. After school Eric and I tried to take a bus to Boca but ended up meandering and eating pizza in a cafe instead. We planned to go to Boca the next day since we had no school.

A Very Educational Weekend

Weekend #2 in Buenos Aires was very interesting and we got to see new sights within and outside of the big city....

Friday

Class field trip! We went to the center of town, ate lunch, and stopped in a bookstore where I found a book by my favorite author: Gustavo Adolfo Becquer. Then we toured the Manzana de las Luces, which includes an old church, my professor's old high school, and 1st government building. The kicker is that they're all connected by underground tunnles which were used to resist the first and second English invasion of Argentina.
In the afternoon the Holly, Eric, and I met Jeff and his friend (Jeff) for a tour of Puerto Madero, which used to be the actual port part of BA. However, as the boats got bigger they could not enter the port and now-a-days Puerto Madero is a nice little "slice of America". We also saw an excivation site of an old boat buried underneath Buenos Aires. National Geographic is doing a special on it, and we got to see it first hand!

Saturday

Emily, Eric, and I met Jeff and went to El Tigre, a collection of islands with tons of rivers to connect them. There are no cars, just boats so it's like a small, country-style Venice. We took a river boat tour to see the houses and stopped by the market too. That afternoon we had traditional BBQ and I ate parts of beef that I had never planned on trying ever in my life: kidney, intestine, stomach, etc. I tried but did not like it, but at least the people here are not wasteful with their food.

Sunday

I went to mass at the round catholic church a few blocks from my house. Because of the swine flu we did not greet each other with a kiss, were not allowed to hand hands during the closing hymn, and did not drink from the communion cup. H1N1 is becoming a national phobia but even more a national joke because it really is not a pandemic. It is not bad at all, but the goverment is using this "health crisis" to distract the citizens from policial issues following the recent election.

Another result of H1N1 is that we could not longer take the boat to Uruguay but instead got a personal tour of the zoo outside the city. I have always loved the zoo, thanks to my animal-loving family, and impressed the tour guide with my zoo knowledge. I also learned alot of animal-related Spanish vocab. The zoo was very spacious and well kept although there were not more than 20 exhibits. Quality over quantity, right?
Apparently the lady who owns the zoo also owns an ice cream shop called Munchi's, and makes fresh ice cream and dulce de leche from the cows she keeps at the zoo. There is a Munchi's near the train stop by my house so Eric, Holly, and I visited it. It was the best ice cream I have ever had! Even better than Italian gelado (gasp!).

Politics, Art, and More

Here's a rundown of what happened during my 2nd week in BA:

Monday
Talk about the elections most of the school day. PRO won the majority vote in this legislative election and Christina Kirchner's (current president) party lost - showing that she lost most of her support in just 2 years.

After school we went to a yoga class that was amazing! Got to use some new equiptment and just relax instead of trying to run around all afternoon. At night we went to a concert of the improv percussion group call "La Bomba del Tiempo" (Timebomb) and it was incredible!!! The live music here in Buenos Aires is to die for. Tuesday
Learned lots of grammar and more politics in school and then relaxed at home or around town during the afternoon on Tuesday.

Wednesday
Watched a political documentary about the 2001 economic class during school. In the afternoon we visited the MALBA (an art museum) which contained many modern pieces, which are the more common type of art in Latin America. A few blocks away was a huge metal flower that is solar powered, thus it opens and closes as the sun rises and sets. It was aweseome!
Thursday
Took my first Spanish test and it was pretty hard, but I think I did well. After class we hustled to the main town square (Plaza de Mayo, by the pink President's house) to see the Madres de la Plaza. These are the women of the "disappeared" generation that was against the dicatorship in the 70s, who march every Thursday in memory of the goverment to took their children. We also went down the street to see the Obelisco (looks like the Washington Monument).
Later in the evening we went to tango lessons at La Viruta and stayed for salsa lessons afterward. I'm getting better at tango, but still prefer the rhythm and energy of salsa. Another thing that's improving is my Spanish. I'm even starting to develop the "porteño" accent (porteño = person from Buenos Aires), according to my house mom.