What A Day!

Right now the majority of the Buenos Aires province is banging pots and pans out their windows, honking their car horns, or making some sort of noise. This is because there is a major protest against the government due to the tax that they have passed to the Senate. This is a tax that will hurt the Argentine farmers by hiking up land prices. Farmers are planning on not selling their grains in protest and police were needed to keep angry farmers away when they were discussing this bill in the legislature. The government here controls everything and protests are very common. The best part of the protest is that the people that sell tickets to the Subte left their booths and opened the gates. So, we got to ride for free on our way home tonight. :)

Amidst all of that excitement, today was a very good day. I had a quiz in class and it was a little difficult, but not too bad. It is getting harder to sit in class for 5 hours especially because I am so hungry. Yes, I know I am used to eating A LOT. I should’ve thought about that before I decided to come here where the portions are much smaller, but I am surviving. I have been taking snacks with me and eating when I can, which feels like is all the time. The best part of today is that I FINALLY GOT ICE CREAM! You all know how much I love my ice cream and how it is necessary for me to eat it every day. I think you should know I have survived 7 days without. Also, I have never had ice cream that was as good as the ice cream I had tonight.

The best ice cream ever!

Tango classes went really well. I would still place myself in the beginner class and I need lots of practice. I think it would be really fun to learn though! The Salsa class was way later and with the protests I didn’t want to be out in the streets so we stopped and got ice cream and came home for dinner. Our mom thinks it’s really funny to listen to us try and form sentences in Spanish, but is also very helpful. I still haven’t slept very well and am hoping that eventually I will be so tired that I will sleep like a rock. 

How to Tango

 The weather here has been really nice. Today was about 60 degrees and it is supposed to be like that until winter hits. There is a chance of rain on Saturday, but only in the morning. The people think its freezing. Have a good night! More tomorrow.

Relaxing

Today was my second day of classes and they went pretty well. I have two teachers so we had a new one today that we will have on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She is kind of hard to understand, but I made due. There are some other students in the class that talk the entire time in English and I have a hard time concentrating. It was kind of annoying.

After class we went to the ISA office to do our homework and use the internet since ours at home is off and on. After that we just walked up and down Av. Cabildo and looked at some shops. We stopped at a Café and had some tostadas and something to drink. This was very relaxing. We just ate and talked about everything that was going on. It was good to just hang out.

When we got home we had to study for our quiz tomorrow. We have been learning a lot of vocabulary and lots of different verbs. Since we have been trying to talk in only Spanish all the time it is taking lots of practice remembering certain words. Since today was a relaxing day we looked at some tour guide books to figure out the places we need to go.

Our mom is a very good cook and everything we’ve had here has been delicious! She is also very funny and dinner has been really fun and great practice for our Spanish and to learn about the culture. The Spanish that we are learning here is very different than what they teach you in the United States and is stuff they only use in Argentina. Big learning curve when you are used to something different.

Not much for today, but time for bed! More tomorrow after my Tango and Salsa lessons.

New Zoo, McGrew Zoo
(If I had a zoo, I know just what I'd do)

 

Today was the first day of classes and it went really well! We started class at 10 am and our teacher is really awesome. I think the class is going to be really good. We get 2 breaks throughout the 5 hours that we spend at the Universidad. We have from 11:30 to 11:45 to do whatever we please and 1:30 to 2:00 to eat lunch. Then we are done at 3 pm. I thought it was going to be very difficult to be there for 5 hours, but it seems to go by very quick. I understood about 95% of what the teacher said today so I think that I will be able to pass with no problems :) 

For lunch I had packed a lunch, but by the time I got to eat my sandwich it was not very good. So, I went to the cafeteria and bought an empanada for 5 pesos...Like 1 USD and it filled me up. I also had some oreos. I think I will forget about taking the sandwiches and just spend 1 USD for lunch every day.

Universidad de Belgrano

After class, I wanted to see more of the city so I took the Subte to Palermo and walked around. At the Plaza Italia there is a zoo and botanical gardens. We went to the zoo until it closed. They had some of the strangest creatures I have ever seen. I even saw a purple snake, but due to the lighting in the cage, I couldn't get a very good picture.

What do you get when you breed a rabbit and a deer?!

No, they are not plastic flamingos, they are very real.

This is just to prove that I was really there and my hair is crazy!

The purple snake. Not a good picture. (Sorry Mashie)

Tortugas!! (Just like Wayne and Gertie)

Tomorrow we will go to the botanical gardens since we didn’t make it today. We didn’t have to be home for dinner until 9 pm so we spent a lot of time walking up and down Av Sante Fe. There are a ton of shops here and it was very nice to get a feel for the city. I can’t wait to see what else there is to do! After we caught the Subte back to where we live, we stopped at a café and I had this very delicious almond ice cream with almonds in it.                                                                                          

"The Pregnant Lady"

"The Pregnant Lady" is what you do when walking in the streets to make sure that people don't rob you. Most everyone around here walks around like this, so don't worry I am not the only one that looks silly.

Now I have to do my homework for tomorrow. I almost forgot! Then eat and shower and hopefully get a full night’s sleep, which I have not had since I have been here. Ugh.

Estoy Muy Cansada Hoy (I am very tired today) 

This morning we took our placement exam and I placed into Intermediate 1 which is going to be alright I hope. By the time they had our exams graded it was time for lunch and we went to an Italian restaurant and I had a pizza. It was alright, but not as good as the local food here. Everything I have tried here has been so delicious. They eat A LOT of ham and cheese. It is on EVERYTHING!

I will attend classes every day for 5 hours. We start our class at 10 am and get done at 3 pm. We will find out tomorrow what kind of breaks we get. We had to go to the grocery store today to buy food to take in our lunch for this week. Our books for the class cost 65 pesos. That is comparable to 15 USD. I never thought I would get to buy a textbook that cheap. I also bought a SIM card for my regular phone for 5 USD. What a deal! The cards to recharge them are not that expensive either and have pretty good rates. This will be very helpful to communicate with the other students, the locals, and for calling taxis!

Lea and I have been practicing our Spanish all the time. We have been trying to speak only in Spanish and I find my English sentences forming like they would if they were written in Spanish. I am very excited to start classes; however, they say we have lots of homework and lots of studying to do. Yikes!

The weather here today was 100% humidity and would’ve have been chilly if not for that, but I love the weather here. My hair does not love the weather as you can see by the pictures I posted yesterday. There is nothing I can do with it. Oh well. I think it will get a lot colder here in June and July when winter sets in. The weather here at this time is not normal so we will see what will happen. I am just glad it is not hot! My only complaint is that there are a ton of dogs here and the smell walking to the University makes me want to lose my breakfast. They do not carry around little blue bags like they do in the United States :)

I know these posts are better with pictures, but taking pictures in this big city labels you as an American instantly and you become a target. So, when I am in tourist areas I will most definitely take pictures to show you all, but around where we live it is not exactly the safest thing to do. Things are very corrupt here and you have to be on the lookout at all times and protect yourself and your stuff. The police here will even rob you and leave you naked in the street. DO NOT PANIC! I am going to be fine.

I have not partied here yet. Since it is not safe to be out in the dark, the people here go out at 3 am and then stay out until 6 am so they can walk home in the light. We all know how much I love being awake at 3 am. NOT. The weekends is the most popular time to go out so that you can sleep all day on Saturday or Sunday. Kind of like in Manhattan, KS. I am sure I will go on a weekend when I don’t have anything planned.

I am very exhausted today and this afternoon I relaxed a bit. I feel like I am writing a lot on this blog, but there is so much going on that I want to write about and share! I hope all is well at home.

Un Dia Largo (A Long Day) 

Last night was a long night. We ate dinner around 10:30 pm which was an eggplant dish with soup and it was amazing! However, since I didn’t pack my allergy medicine and I was up all night sneezing and blowing my nose! So that made for a long day today. However, today was an awesome day! We woke up and sat in orientation for 3 hours. Yikes! Basically they scared the pants off of us to make us cautious while being here. It was interesting, but very good to learn about the culture and the way of life.

We then ate empanadas which are very popular here and are delicious. Then we got on a bus to take a tour of the city. I just love riding on buses without Dramamine :) It was a very nice tour through all of the different parts of the city and we got to get out and walk around quite a bit. And now I finally have pictures to share!

La Casa Rosada (Me, Kelly, Lea, Corrine y Alexis)

La Casa Rosada is like the White House. This is where the President works, but she does not live here. Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner is the President and she has been making lots of different that the citizens do not like. You are able to go inside of this place on the weekends. Can't wait to check it out, but the lines are very long!

El Caminito

 El Caminito is a street in La Boca that is very famous for its shopping and tango dancers. La Boca is not a very safe neighborhood, but they say that during the day it is a very safe place to do some shopping only if you go there by taxi. There are tango dancers that will grab you and then charge you 50 pesos to dance and take a picture at the end. It is the very colorful part of the city.

Puerto Madero (Megan, Me y Alexis)

Puerto Madero is one of the districts in Buenos Aires and is located on the riverfront of the Rio de la Plata. This is the part of the ocean that curves around the top of Argentina before it comes to land. On this walk along the riverfront there were many ships.

La fiesta del primer anito (Una otra abuela y Pupi)

When we got back from our large tour of the city we went to a first birthday party with our mom, Pupi. She has 9 kids and 28 grandchildren (very similar to my family). Although they weren't all there it was a very large family gathering and was very fun. We got to meet 4 of her daughters and 1 of her sons. It was a blast and a great day to get out and meet people.

Tomorrow we have our placement exam and I am getting sort of nervous, but am ready to start classes and find things to keep me busy! Oh, and I got allergy medicine today at the pharmacy so hopefully my eyes will stop itching and my nose will stop running. Buenas noches!

Deep Breathes and an Open Mind

This entire time I have been talking about spending 3 months in South America and how it is not going to be a big deal. I have traveled to other countries and as Dad said “It’s just another one of your adventures.” Even though I was nervous about coming here, it didn’t quite sink in till we hit the runway in Buenos Aires. Then there was a big “OH NO! What did I get myself into???”

So, I calmly told myself that it was going to be okay and I needed to put on my big girl panties. As I began meeting all the other people that are participating in the ISA program, they kept on saying, “It’s only 4 weeks.” Well for them it is just 4 weeks...I once again took some deep breathes and told myself to keep an open mind. Everything is going to be okay.

We waited in the airport for the rest of the students to arrive and then took a bus to the University where we met our host families. I lucked out and am one of the few that received a roommate. Her name is Lea and she is a farm girl from Nebraska. She is very nice and we have a lot in common so far! Our host mother’s name is Pupi and she is a very experienced host mother with ISA students. Her apartment is located in the Belgrano district, very close to the University and ISA office (about 4 blocks). Pupi made us lunch and then we headed back to the University for orientation.

Orientation went well and we met all of the people from the Summer 1 program. There are only a few of us that are doing Summer 1 and Summer 2, so that will be interesting. I found out that I do get to stay with Pupi during my Summer 2 and I might be getting a new roommate when Lea leaves. Tomorrow we head back to ISA for a 3 hour orientation meeting and then a city tour!

Finally getting to shower felt really nice! Remember when I said I was thrilled about having hot showers? Well they are most definitely hot and no matter how much cold you add, it is still pretty hot water. I guess that’s what I get for wanting hot showers every day! Oh and BTW there has been no observation of water flowing counter-clockwise. LOL 

Run, Run, Run

Well today was quite the day. I know I said in my last post that I would post from the airport, however, I am writing this from the airplane instead and it will be posted a day later. I have no idea why but I did not sleep very well last night. So this morning, I woke up really tired, maybe a little nervous and very excited. I got the rest of my stuff ready to go and then laid down for a nice 30 minute nap before we headed off to the airport.

I was so stirred up that my stomach was awfully upset and my head was pounding the entire way to Denver. I knew I was either going to cry, throw up, or both. Of course, both happened. By the time we got to the airport, I was ready to go and my stomach was empty and ready to fly to Argentina.

As dad and I are standing in the check-in line for my flight to Houston, I asked the girl behind me where she was flying to. Luckily, she was also flying to Buenos Aires and participating in the same program that I am! We then made the journey to our gate and waited for about 45 minutes before we boarded our flight.

The flight to Houston was scheduled to arrive in Houston at 8:22 pm with our Buenos Aires flight leaving at 9:00 pm. This seemed very doable. Then our flight took forever getting off the ground and the pilot told us we won’t be arriving in Houston until 8:35 pm. We finally walked into the airport at 8:45 and ran the entire way from C gates to E gates. We get to the gate, the guy is yelling at us and 4 others to get on the plane. He threw our boarding passes at me and we walked onto the plane at 8:57 pm. As I am trying to send my final text, the gate is pulling away and the flight attendant is yelling at me to shut off my phone!

Now I am sweaty, stinky, and ready for a shower!!! Only 9 more hours of flight time and then it’s a day full of adventure! BTW I made it...I will post later.

Long Time, No Blog

2 more days. In the last 9 days, I have been extremely busy and full of things to do to get ready. It has been exhausting and honestly I'm ready to sleep on my 10 hour flight from Houston to Buenos Aires. However, my time at home has been packed full of fun and has been a nice break from school before I leave. In the last two weeks I have taken a 3 hour ride with Dad on the Harley, watched my cousin graduate from high school, spent ubber amounts of time with my nephews, went to FoCo with my sister, spent the weekend with my mom, helped dad put out mineral and pull a well, spent some time with my grandparents and packed, packed, packed! I have most definitely been avoiding the packing, but I do think I am almost there. I should be doing more packing today, but instead I am going to spend some more time with my family and friends and will worry about the packing tomorrow. I am afraid I am taking way too much stuff anyways and I have to buy a bigger bag...oops! I will try my best to post everyday while abroad, but I can't make any promises. :) I will post from the airport on Friday!

More Exciting News

11 days left now until departure. Things have been crazy and awesome during the last couple of days. On Friday, I had a nice surprise from Caleb, when he showed up in the afternoon with flowers and completely surprised me. It was great to spend some extra time with him. I finished packing and moving to the storage unit (FINALLY) on Saturday morning. Immediately after taking a few more loads to the unit, I loaded my car (to the brim) and headed home to Colorado. It has been great to be home and spend time with my family! 

On Saturday, I received some emails from my program informing me of where I will be living during my first 4 weeks there. I will be staying with a mother and her daughter that live in the Belgrano district. They sound like amazing people and the daughter is an accountant that also does laboratory work. Their apartment is 10-15 minutes from where I am studying. I will share a bunk bed and a bathroom with another student that will be studying at the University of Belgrano. Some other exciting information, which you will understand why it is so exciting if you know me really well...there will be hot water all day long and I am allowed to shower once a day! I am more than excited to get there and I know I am going to have a blast!! Can’t wait to share more details!

And the Countdown Begins

In 15 days I will be embarking on what I'm hoping will be the summer of my life! Although I have had many other fun summers and traveled internationally, I have never had 3 months to immerse myself into a culture that I am sure to love. As I pack into a storage unit in Manhattan, KS and head home to Colorado for a few days (on top of learning how to run this blog), I am getting very anxious and excited. I will be studying Spanish at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires, Argentina on two 4 week programs. During this time, I will be staying with a family and a roommate from the United States. At least I hope so...I am still waiting on this information. In these first 8 weeks, I will be doing excursions and some traveling on weekends. My program ends on July 21, however, my plane ticket is not scheduled to fly home until August 9!! This will give me some more time to travel around. The plan is for my dad to meet me in Buenos Aires and we will tour some more of South America. The details on this are pretty much up in the air. However, this blog will keep you all updated on what is going on and serve as my journal for my time abroad. I will post as many pictures as I can. Get excited for more posts to come!