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.

Weekend #1

Weekend #1 was as follows:

Friday
Already one week of school all done! Eric and I decided to tour the beautiful calle Florida near BA’s central plaza and it was full of shops. Anything you want: shoes, panchos, plates, flags, MacD’s, and even live bands.

Afterward, we met up with the rest of the Sol group to watch the movie Up in a cinema close to the Ricoleta cemetery and it was great. The movie theater alone was three stories, and the movie was muy lindo (catch term for anything good in BA, even better than Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious). Went out for a nice dinner and went back home for some Z’s.

Saturday
We went to the gaucho (cowboy) ranch today!!! It was increbily fun to see a totally different lifestyle, just 2 hours outside BA.

We went for a carriage ride, ate BBQ (I just ate enough meat to last me a year) while we watched a performance of "countryside" dancing. We also watched the gauchos play carrera de sortijas. The gaucho races full speed and tries to get a ring dangling from a clip by sticking a stick through the ring’s hole. We got to ride on horseback, which I haven’t done since I was young. Turns, out I’m allergic to horses because my eyes were burning after so much horse-loving. The whole experience was totally worth it, though.

Sunday
Today was election day, and since voting is obligatory in Argentina, I went with Susana to watch her cast her vote. She was done in less than 15 minutes. I spent the rest of the day re-touring BA (the cemetery and garden) with Ashley and her friends from Chile. We also went into the open-air market where they sold everything from matés to CD’s to jewelry. I walked to the theater to meet the Sol group and we watch a very odd play called “Aire”. In synopsis, it was clowns playing with air in different ways: bubbles, leaf-blowers, balloons, straws. You name it, they did it. Crazy clowns.

Week 1 (Tues, Wed, Thurs)

I’ve been having problems with blogspot, but I think everything is figure out now. So, let me catch you up on this week and later I will try to figure out pictures.

Tuesday
First day of actual class, and there are 10 other students in my class. We are at school for 5 hours each day and review grammar, read short stories, but always end up learning Lunfardo (the slang here). Sometimes it’s hard to focus because my class in on the 15th story and there is a great view outside the window. Here’s a picture of me in front of the school:

Then, we went on a tour of BA via bus. We visited the acropolis in Recoleta where the aristocratic families are buried, including the grave of Eva Perón (a famous 1st lady).

Then we went to Boca , the Italian neighborhood, where we passed la Bombanera (stadium where the Boca Juniors play) and walked down the colorful street called el Caminito. Last stop was la Plaza de Mayo where we saw the president’s house again. Here's my study abroad group in Boca:
When I got home for dinner, Susana had prepared milonesa (like a thin chicken fried steak), potatoes, and alphabet soup – so we could learn Spanish better. How cute!!!

Wednesday
After school we went to Chinatown (only lasts 4 blocks). It has a great arch at the entryway.

Then we just chilled in a bar (bar = anything that sells drinks, coffee, tea, or a beer) and I went home to celebrate my roommate (Ashley’s) birthday. Later, I went out with Ashley and her friends to a heladería (ice cream shop) and sportsbar where I saw the USA beat Spain. No way!!!

Thursday
Went to school, as usual, and tried to go to the Plaza de Mayo at 3pm to see the mom’s march around the square. However, we did not get there in time so Holly, Emily, and I went back home. Later, the three of us met Adriana at a chique café before tango lessons at La Viruta. The lessons were very informal but good, but we didn’t use those skills at the boliche (club) later on that night. We danced to 80s remixes, and all the Argentinas knew all the words in perfect English. It was so much fun.

School, Long walk, and Tango

The first few days have been insane, so I´m a little behind on the updates. I have a break in my school day and so now that I found the computer lab, let me tell you what happened yesterday (Monday the 22nd)...

After breakfast with the family Ashley (housemate) and I made our way to the Univ de Belgrano which was more than amuzing. First walk 10 blocks to the train station, assert yourself onto the train where the locals are packed like sardines, then walk 20 more minutes to school. The University is an office building with 20floors, not a college campus. Me on the 1st day of class:We took a placement test the 1st day and I landed myself in the most advanced Spanish class here... go figure. Also, Allison and Joyclin finally arrived in BA so we got to meet them (only 4 of the 6 people in our program arrived Sunday, but now we are all here).

We were totally free for the afternoon. Eric, Holly, Emily, and I went to Palermo to eat some old fashioned asado (BBQ) at Las Cholas. Then we split off, so Eric and I went downtown to the Botanical Gardens, which were ginormous! And full of stray cats; smelled of cats.
Afterward we got some alfajores (like oreos with dulce di leche) and drank tea in a bar for an hour or so until the group met up to go see the tango show. It´s great not having a busy agenda, and I might get too used to it here.

We went to Tango Complejo and learned to tango - the basics at least - then ate dinner while we watched an INCREDIBLE tango show. Really, "Dancing with the Stars" is terrible dull in comparison. And Giles is ungraceful when stacked against these tango masters. Tango in one word = Suave. There are parts that I don't like (since it comes from male violence and dominance themes) but overall I appreciate the style.

1st day

Today is the 1st day of school and I'm looking out over a glorious Buenos Aires from my bedroom on the 14th story of the apt complex in Belgrano. Here's a picture of the awesome view: My host family, Susana and Jorge del Llano are so much better than I could have ever imagined. They have actually been to Houston before (to visit their son) and shared memories of over the pic book I bought them. They didn't like the astronaut ice cream so much (I agree that it tastes like flavored Styrofoam). Jorge and I watched the World Cup Qualifiers while we talked about how Mara is a great player but a poor coach... finally someone has good sense on such issues! He was also very enthused to hear about ultimate frisbee. Here is a picture of us three:To me, Argentinians sound a WHOLE lot like Italians, since they put an emphasis on the last syllable usually. If you've been to Italia you know what I mean. They say I speak Spanish great but I have an obvious Mexican accent, which I think is awesome. But I want to challenge myself to adapt to a different Spanish, so we'll see how I am after a month in BA.

After settling in yesterday, I met up with the people in my program (6 of us total plus 2 directors) in the center of town and we went to go eat the best pizza ever (even better than Italy or NYC). When I got back home I went out again with my housemate, Ashley, to a pub around the corner. The place had a nice vibe and they played Los Cafres (a great great band) most of the time.

Overall, I am excited about the independence of this experience but, at the same time, wish I could share this adventure with someone close to me - besides vicariously through this blog. Anyway, I do thank everyone for thinking a praying about me, it means alot.

Program Calendar

Today I received my program calendar that details all the awesome activities we will be doing in Buenos Aires. I was surprised to find out that we are going to Iguazu Falls, which is like Niagara falls but between Argentina and Brazil.



Other excursions include a river boat ride, visiting Colonia (a town in Uruguay right across the river from Buenos Aires), and kicking back at the gaucho ranch (Argentinian cowboys).

I have Spanish class during the week, but my days are packed beyond belief with planned events. Tango lessons, yoga class (I wonder if this will be in Spanish), movie nights, and tours of the many neighborhoods of Buenos Aires. However, there is no "Boca soccer match" scheduled.... yet. But soccer match or no, I do plan on getting into la Bombanera and singing the Boca song:

"Boca mi vida, Boca mi pasión, sos el orgullo de mi corazón, sos la alegría de la Argentina"
(Boca my life, Boca my passion, you are the pride of my heart, you are the joy of Argentina)

T-minus Eight Days

COUNTDOWN = 8 DAYS
I am already so stoked about Buenos Aires that I can hardly stand it!!!

Overview:
I am going to Buenos Aires from June 21st to July 18th with the Sol Education Abroad program. I will be staying with a host family and taking Spanish classes at the University of Belgrano. In my free time I will be exploring the city, learning to tango, stalking Boca's soccer players, and drinking enough mate to fill the Rio de Plata.

Today....
I received my host family's information. I am staying with an older couple that lives really close to the university and I will have other students staying there with me. Apparently the family has WiFi so I'm bringing my lappy with me to keep in touch with all you still in the USofA. Also, I have Skype... and so can you!

More updates to come later and more excitement-building posts!