Chau, Argentina

I cannot believe I leave tomorrow! I remember before I left in February, I thought, "June 25th, that is so far off....it will be summer...." Well, now that day is tomorrow and I will leave my host family and life here in Argentina and return to Minnesota, weird....

I am SO excited to see my family and friends and have summer, but I feel like I am leaving a part of myself here. I'm really going to miss my host family and Argentina. I hope I return soon and hopefully my family will visit Minnesota in the next few years. My host Mom told me last week, "No es adiós, es hasta luego" which means, "It's not good-bye, it's see you." I know changes are part of life, especially at this age, but some are definitely harder than others. I have learned how to speak and write well in Spanish (and I have definitely gotten worse at writing in English), but I have learned the most from the people I have met in Argentina as well as the students on my program and I've gained skills that I otherwise would not have learned at the university.




















I am going to miss walking on the streets of Buenos Aires, greeting people with a kiss on the cheek, feeling uncomfortable in the colectivo and subte because there are too many people, hanging out with my host family, speaking in Spanish, walking in the Plaza de Mayo, buying candy at a kiosk so I will have enough monedas (coins) to ride the bus, eating brie pizza at my favorite cafe, drinking mate, people-watching, seeing people make out on the street corners, mojitos, staying out late, watching television shows dubbed in awful Spanish, watching fútbol, talking to random people on the bus or in stores, café con leche and medialunas, cute clothing shops on Santa Fe, the Ateneo bookstore, sitting in cafes and talking for hours, reading the newspaper, thinking in Spanish, Argentinean history, dinners with my family....So Argentina, "No es adiós, es hasta luego." I will return soon.


See you in less than 2 days, Minnesota.

Chocolate chips and soccer

Mate. Cookies. Argentina won the soccer game! Definitely a good day. Also, before the game I ran to the market to buy some flour for the cookies and I found chocolate chips! I have been searching for them ever since I made them the first time...of course I finally found them during my last week here.

It has been really fun to be in Argentina while the World Cup is going on. There is so much excitement everywhere I go about the Argentinean soccer team and news about the World Cup are always on the front cover of all the newspapers. People start talking about the game a few days beforehand and always ask where you are going to watch it and make sure you know what time it starts...it is nuts! The city is always bustling with people and lots of traffic but when the soccer game is on, its like there has been a nuclear bomb in the city...busy streets are deserted and everyone is inside at home, work, cafes, anywhere where there is a television, watching the game. A lot of smaller stores close for a few hours during the game, too. Crazy!!

Summer? Yes, please

I CANNOT WAIT FOR WARM WEATHER. It is June 21st; I should be wearing shorts and dresses instead of my fleece, jeans, and scarf. Minnesota: please have hot weather when I return...

Mate

Ah, yerba mate. I remember learning about this drink in Seniorita's Spanish class back in high school and thinking, "One day, I want to actually go to Argentina and try this" and now I drink it nearly every day with my family. Mate is like a very herby-tasting tea, drunk from a small gourd and a metal straw or bombilla. It is passed around in a circle of friends/family and after one finishes the gourd, it is passed back to the brewer. The brewer then fills it up with more hot water and the gourd is passed to the next person. When someone no longer wants to drink any more mate, they just say "gracias" to the brewer which signifies that they don't want any more.

Drinking mate is such a social thing- people drink it while studying, watching television, in the car, at work, in the park, literally anywhere and everywhere. It is very common for people to carry around their gourd and a thermos of hot water and refill their mate gourd as they please. My Mother and I drank mate together the other day while watching a movie/ talking and that's when she explained to me the etiquette of drinking mate. She told me if someone comes over and there is not a lot of food in the house, there is always mate to share with others. She promised to show me how to prepare it before I leave so I will bring some home to MN! It isn't really sweet but if you like tea, you get used to the herby taste, I really like it!

Today:

I cannot believe I have 3 full days left in Buenos Aires...I leave Friday night around 8:30 p.m. and I am sure I will be running around/packing on Friday before I take off for the airport. Anyway, today I went to Tigre with my host parents and my mother's nephew for the day. I actually went there in the beginning of the program with some friends but it was nice to get out of Buenos Aires for the day- we had a long lunch near the river and walked around the markets for awhile. At lunch, I almost screamed because I noticed a cockroach on the table right after we were served our food. I absolutely DETEST those bugs and as soon as I saw it, I jumped out of my chair and my parents asked me what was wrong. I could barely speak, I just pointed to the table and said, "CUCARACHA!" Their faces immediately changed and they started looking for it on the table. I refused to sit down until it was out of site, so Ignacio took care of it. AH, they are so nasty!

Tomorrow is the soccer game....Go Argentina!!!!

Less than a week....

I was planning on doing some traveling after my program ended (June 14th is when most of the group left), but I have actually been spending time with my host family in Buenos Aires. I have been exploring/walking around neighborhoods, shopping, and going to some museums but then I got a little sick a few days ago...I am pretty sure it was an ear infection, so the last few days have kind of sucked. Plus I was kind of sad about my friends from the program leaving, so that didn't really help. I think it must've started out as a cold and spread to my ears or something, but luckily I had packed away some antibiotics!

One of my dogs, Toppy:

This past weekend:

Hm. I didn't sleep well because my ear kept me up, hence I was really crabby/tired. However, I did manage to fit in some fun things! My sister, Paula, works in various schools around Buenos Aires, mostly in poorer neighborhoods, and gave me the contact of one of her friends that works in a villa, or neighborhood. I contacted Alicia and ended up meeting up with her on Saturday and she took me to a villa on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. It was about a 30 minute bus ride to get there and I had a great time- the villa is pretty poor and every Saturday, teachers/helpers come out to lend a hand with the kids with their homework and lead activities. When I first got there, Alicia introduced me to all the other teachers and helpers and they asked which subject I would like to work on with a child. When they found out that I spoke English, they placed me with Lucas, a 13 year-old boy who was working on his English homework. I have never really tutored before, unless you count helping people with their homework a little in college, but I dove right in! I corrected some of his exercises and explained how to use the present tense. It was difficult at first because I didn't know what level he was at, but after awhile, it went pretty smoothly. I explained it in Spanish and then wrote down examples of sentences in English and Spanish so he would understand. I liked helping him and would like to try more of it in the future. It was really cool to watch him understand a concept and then apply it to his homework. After helping Lucas, the other teachers handed out a map of all the countries and had the kids draw in the countries that are still in the World Cup (they obviously take their soccer seriously here...). I played with a 5 year-old boy who had glasses that took up his whole face and of course, he didn't listen to the directions, so he just colored wherever he wanted. He was adorable! Afterwards, I went back home and Juan, my brother, and I ordered sushi and watched a movie. I haven't had sushi in MONTHS, so I loved every bite. I went to bed early and woke up around 10 today. For father's day, my parents made lunch at the house and Juan and Paula came over. We ate cheese fondue with various meats and bread, it was so delicious. Also, my Mom's nephew from Salta is taking a class in Buenos Aires for a few weeks, so I went to the airport with my parents to pick him up. Other than that, I just hung out with my family/drank mate. And my ear is almost better!

End of program/last week:

In my last post, I mentioned that my group went to a small town outside the city for the night as a kind of "closing" orientation. It was really nice- it was fun to spend time with everyone and catch up with people that I haven't really had the chance to talk to in the past month because of our research project. I chatted with one of my professors, Nuria, about my grades, my final paper, and how I thought the semester went (I did really well on my research project, which is super exciting). Other then that, it was very relaxing and one night, we had a big group dinner at a local parrilla. It was a fun dinner- we gave out our secret buddy gifts and told funny stories about one another from the semester. Before giving out our secret gifts, we had to impersonate the person we had in front of the whole group and everyone else had to guess who it was. Some were hilarious...this one girl is from Long Island and she always makes fun of the accent there. The person that had Bri spoke in a "Long Island" accent and everyone knew it was her!

Anyway, we got back to Buenos Aires on Friday morning and later that night, I went out to dinner with Sam, Ally, Freddie, and Freddie's family because they had just arrived to Argentina to travel at the end of the program. We went to a Spanish restaurant called Club Espanol and the food was AMAZING. I had bife de lomo (steak) with potatoes and the decor was gorgeous, too. I wish I had taken a few photos from inside the restaurant!

Sam on her birthday!

The girls after dinner

Last Saturday, it was Sam's 21st birthday as well as the Argentina vs. Nigeria fútbol game. We watched the game at my apartment and made mimosas and ate medialunas (croissants). And Argentina won!! It was fun to watch and later in the afternoon, we ate lunch at Ateneo, once a beautiful theater that has been converted into a huge bookstore and café. To celebrate Sam's birthday, we cooked a delicious dinner at Freddie's apartment and hung out there for a few hours. As I mentioned earlier, Freddie's parents and brother visited Argentina and rented out an apartment while they were here, so we were able to use that. We went out to a bar later and met up with some more SIT friends and hung out there for the rest of the night. Then on Sunday, we had our closing dinner with all of the SIT students plus their host families and a few students even brought their parents from the U.S. that were visiting. It was a nice evening as well and there were so many people there! All of the students and their host families spoke very briefly and some of the families were so sweet. Later, almost everyone from our group went out to a bar to have one last drink together. One of our directors even came and we hung out there for awhile. Since a lot of people left the next day, I said good-bye to them which was really sad. I think if a random person would have walked by the bar, they would've seen about 15 Americans, crying and hugging one another...we were quite the scene!

Host family at the final dinner (minus Paula and Sebastian)

Two of my good friends on the program left on Monday so I hung out with them until they left and that was an even more difficult good-bye. I still cannot believe that the program is done and that our ISP is finished and almost everyone is home now....I was so used to seeing all of those people nearly everyday so it was a hard adjustment for me for a couple of days. Some of us are planning on having a reunion in New York some time next year, so hopefully that will happen. Anyway, the night my friends left, I was feeling kind of upset and my host Mom gave me a glass of wine before dinner and was like, "Have some wine....you look like you kind of need it." Otherwise, I have been hanging out in Buenos Aires, visiting sights/purchasing last minute things. Tomorrow I am going to Tigre with my parents for the day and Tuesday is the next fútbol game, so obviously I will be watching that!

Besitos.

DONE!

I am finally done with everything and it is such a good feeling. I had my presentation today and it went well; my professors even told me I spoke really well and my adviser for my project came, which was really nice. No more school until September! I am glad I presented today and got it out of the way; tomorrow is another full day of presentations. I thought it was amazing to hear some of the other students speak today, too- in the beginning, some of them could barely speak Spanish and today, they all gave a 20 minute presentation entirely in Spanish! They were pretty interesting but they got a little long, especially after listening to 11 of them....I was so antsy after the last presentation that I pretty much ran out of the building.

Closing Week
It is the final week of the program and tomorrow (Wednesday) will be the final day of presentations (thank god!). On Thursday, we are going outside the city to have a closing orientation with just the students on the program. We are going to evaluate the program, talk with the directors of the program, and receive grades. I am looking forward to a relaxing mini trip with everyone, it should be fun. We get back Friday and it is my friend's birthday on Saturday so we are all going out to celebrate! Sunday is the final dinner with our host families and all the the other SIT students. I cannot wait to meet everyone's host families- it will be fun to put a face to all the stories we have told one another about our family members. The program officially ends on Monday and almost everyone is going home, CRAZY! From now until Monday, my friends and I are going to squeeze as many activities/places to visit/favorite bars and cafés in before we all leave.

I have mixed feelings about heading home- I am going to miss it here but I'm starting to miss my family and friends. I'm also looking forward to summer in Minnesota. I feel like my seasons are out of whack- I left in February, where it was freezing at home but when I got to Buenos Aires, it was summer and now it's fall here. When I get home it will be summer....weird. I also cannot wait for peanut butter and fresh fruit and vegetables. I don't understand how people here are not 300 pounds, there is so much bread, fried food, sweets, pasta...sounds like the South beach diet a little, right?

Speaking of food, off to dinner and then a movie.

P.S. Last night, a few of us decided to go to a movie after preparing for our presentations and we ended up seeing the new Sex and the City movie. I thought the wedding scene in the beginning was hilarious but the rest was just AWFUL!

Besos.

Mini vacation

The last few days have been hectic- I transcribed all of my interveiws/wrote my analysis and conclusion/met with my advisers all week and finally finished on Thursday. I have to make a few more corrections, but for the most part, it is DONE DONE DONE! Such a good feeling. On Thursday, I met with my Spanish teacher to edit my paper and later and I finished the paper around 4. Some kids from my program had bought bus tickets to Iguazú and on a whim, I called the bus station and booked a ticket, too! Within half an hour, my ticket was booked and I ran home and packed/got money. The bus left around 9 that night and I went early to get my ticket from the booth.
The Retiro bus station is confusing/dangerous, especially if you don't know what you are doing. Luckily I had been there a few times, so I knew how to get around there. However, I had always had my ticket beforehand, so I had to find the ticket booth. I was walking around, looking for signs to tell me where to go but was still kind of confused. All the sudden, this guy, dressed in a red shirt with a clipboard came up to me and asked if I needed help. I realized his accent was weird, and it turns out, he is from New Zealand and is working in Argentina for a couple months. His job is to help travelers reserve a hostel for their next destination. Anyway, he helped me find the booth I needed and I met the girls at the bus a little later. Since I was so frantic beforehand, I didn't realize how much I packed until I met the girls at the bus and they looked at my pack and said, "What did you bring?!" I brought enough outfits for three days when I all I really needed were some t-shirts, comfortable pants, and sweatshirt. We were gone three nights, but since the bus ride was about 15-16 hours each way, we spent two nights on the bus. On the way to Iguazú, we watched the worst movie ever, 2012. Basically, it's about the end of the world and everyone in the world dies....uplifting, right? People on the buses have the worst taste in movies because on the way back to Buenos Aires, we watched Planet of the Apes and Terminator 4. Ah.

Iguazú
We got to Iguazú around 2ish on Friday and took a bus to our hostel/checked in. And by hostel, I mean a hostel palace. It was one of the nicest/biggest hostels I have ever stayed at and it was fairly cheap, about 48 pesos (which is like 12 american dollars). We shared a dorm room with 6 other girls and even had a private bathroom. After getting our room, we took a bus into town and found a place to eat since we hadn't eaten lunch/hadn't eaten much since the bus food was kind of gross. We ate around 5 and bought some food for lunch/snacks for the next day. There wasn't much to see in town so we headed back to the hostel and had some wine and talked to some other students staying in the hostel. My friend, Freddie, ended up seeing a mutual friend in the hostel. One of her friends from school in the States is studying in Buenos Aires on the Butler program and some kids from that program were at the same hostel as us. Small, small world. Around 8, we all went back to our room and fell asleep around 10 to a movie. We were all exhausted from the bus ride and wanted to get up around 6:30 the next morning to make it to the park right when it opened.
On Saturday, we made it to the park a little before open and it turned out to be a beautiful day! Iguazú is right on the border of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina and is one of the biggest waterfalls in the world. A lot of people like to see the falls from the Brazilian side, too but in order for Americans to get into Brazil, we would have to apply for a visa, which can be a hassle. First, we took a train from the entrance to Devil's throat and there were man-made bridges across the river. All of the sudden, these enormous waterfalls appeared and they were just stunning. I can't desrcibe it well, and looking at picutres doesn't do it justice- it was just breathtaking...the amount of water and sounds the falls made was crazy. I learned that when Eleanor Roosevelt saw Iguazú Falls for the first time, she exclaimed, "Poor Niagara!" In any case, we stayed at this stop for awhile, mesmerized by the water and took a bunch of photos. Then, we took the train down again and there were more walking trails that leads to other falls. There are also different places people can view the falls and they were all awesome. I really liked the way the park was set up and of course, I took a lot of pictures. We stayed there until 2:30, checked out of the hostel, and caught our bus at 4:30 back to Buenos Aires. And here I am! We got back at 9:30 this morning and now I'm trying to get everthing organized for next week.

It was a great mini getaway and I am SO glad I eneded up going, even though Thursday was so crazy. If anyone has a chance to go, it is definitely worth the trip.

Some pictures:

On the way up






















Cataratas (Waterfalls)

A sí que bueno.

Great news--I had some interviews last night and they went pretty well. I talked to two guys that are part of the "board" of the organization...basically they are two of the four individuals that make most of the decisions for the group. ALSO, a few of the guys I talked to have visited Minnesota. One of them said, "Oh, Minneapolis, what a great city. Minnesota is really pretty!" He definitely won some cool points in my book....I feel like whenever I tell people I am from Minnesota, they just give me a blank stare. I also chatted with some members of the group and made a few contacts, so exciting! I am going to start to transcribe the interviews and then I can finally integrate them into my paper and maybe, just maybe....knock out a "rough" final draft this week.

I have been pretty lazy lately- mostly research stuff, grabbing lunch or coffee with some friends, walking around the city, and hanging out with my host family as much as I can. I feel like a part of their family and I think it's going to be really difficult to leave them. I guess I'll just have to visit again. Yesterday, we had a big Sunday lunch with my parents, the three kids and their significant others, and the main source of entertainment, Juli (Julian), my oldest host brother's baby. He has gotten so much bigger since I got here and is so CUTE. My oldest brother, Sebastian and his wife, Vanessa, are heading to Atlanta in a few days to visit Vanessa's brother for a few weeks. I made cookies for dessert, which turned out pretty good. I miss really awesome, baked goods back in the states. I mean the dulce de leche is good here and so is the ice cream, but nothing can beat a good, buttery cookie or bar. Also, my family's oven is a gas oven and it kind of freaks me out. Weird, right? I always make my host brother, Juan, light it for me because I just envision myself lighting my hair on fire. Like I said, freaky.

Besides hanging out today/conducting interviews, I slept a lot and went out with some friends to a Chinese restaurant in Belgrano. Belgrano is another barrio, above Palermo, and it is supposed to be even fancier than Palermo and more expensive. I would like to check it out during the day because they supposedly have a really cool China Town here (another thing to add to my "to do" list in Buenos Aires). The Chinese food was SUPERB. It was a nice break from meat, pasta, and pizza...

Lately, I have been envisioning what my life will be like once I return back home. It feels weird to call Minnesota "home" after living in Argentina for almost 4 months because I have formed a new home here. I have gotten so close with some people and it's weird to think that I won't see see everyone everyday. I also imagine myself speaking in Spanish to my family and friends, it seems so normal but I don't think there are many people in Duluth that would understand it....I suppose my Minnesooooootan accent will come back fairly quickly, ya know?

A few pictures that I downloaded recently:

Colonia, Uruguay
























Lindzy, Rachel, and me in Palermo (last weekend)










Bicentenario (Bicentennial) in Buenos Aires




Happy Memorial Day to all you American folk.

Besos,
Abita

Can this paper just write itself?

The past two weeks have gone by fast. Way too fast. In a way, I want the next two weeks to be over because that would mean my paper would be finished...but I cannot imagine being done yet. The majority of the kids in my program are heading back the day after the program ends, but there is a handful that is going to stay. I will be here for about 12 days, so I am starting to think of where I want to go...so far, a few kids and I have been brainstorming and we still would like to visit Mendoza, Córdoba, Iguazu, and personally, I would LOVE to make it to Chile, but we'll see....

So this paper. I actually have about 15 pages which I'm happy about; I won't be stuck writing 30+ pages the last week (thank god!). However, I still haven't had interviews yet and that will be a pretty big section in my final paper. But good news- I am going to an event on Sunday that my group is putting on!

Quick summary of the past 1 1/2 weeks....
1. It was the Bicentennial this past weekend in Buenos Aires, celebrating 200 years of independence (Argentina broke free of Spain's rule in 1810). There have been events all month and this past weekend, there were free concerts, ballet and tango shows, booths, and food set up in the Plaza de Mayo and near the obelisco. Basically, the city was CRAZY busy the entire weekend. I checked it out during the day and listened to some live music, but after awhile, I left...it was too much to handle. There were so many people that it was uncomfortable and it was hard to move anywhere!
2. I usually work on the paper for a few hours every day during the week/meet with teachers and advisers.
3. I hung out with Rachel and her friend, Lindsey when they were in BA. It was great to see her and we actually checked out the bicentennial events together and went out for dinner a couple of times.
4. I am actually going to make dinner with some girls in my program for my host family tonight. SO excited. Pasta with veggies and cheesy-garlic bread. YUM.

I'll post some photos from Uruguay, bicentennial, and everything in between once I upload the pictures!

Muchos besos

Hello, stress.

I. AM. STRESSED. I have had a hard time getting everything organized for this research paper but I think it is finally starting to come along. I forced myself to start today and I actually wrote a little bit of my introduction and background information...Now my plan is to write until I can no longer form sentences and go to bed...

My parentes threw a dinner party at the house on Friday which was fabulous...We started out with cheese and fiambres (cold-cuts) and drinks. For the main course, my Mom made her famous "pastel del choclo," (looks like a solfeé but with corn, cheese, minced up veggies, and then it's baked). Basically, really incredible. After the main course, we had dessert, which consisted of two kinds of cake. We were not done...My parents then brought out champagne and lemon ice cream and mixed them together into a drink for everyone. I have no idea how I didn't throw up from eating all that, but needless to day, it was delicious! It was a fun night, but by the time everyone left, it was almost one in the morning so I went to bed.

On Saturday, I researched some more articles for my paper, caught up on some laundry, and later, I went swing dancing with my friend, Sam. After swing dancing, people started to tango and we watched them for awhile. It is really fun to watch good tango dancers, they are incredible and it always amazes me that they don't trip on their 4 inch heels and break their ankle. I think that would happen to me even if I didn't wear heels...They make it look so effortless, too but it is so HARD! Afterward, we met up with some more SIT kids at a bar near by and hung out for a few hours.

I read some more on Sunday and later, I went to my friend Freddie's place because her host sister and brother's girlfriend had an opening for their clothing line PLUS amazing cake. The girls come up with their own designs and get them screen printed onto shirts. They were pretty cool but I didn't fall in love with anything I found. It was a unique experience; their sizing is really small and seriously, some of the tops can only fit a person that has no hips and/or has never gone through puberty. And then there was amazing cake. Weird contrast, right?

I will be working on my paper all week and some of us have planned to do one or two fun things each day as a break so we won't go crazy. Writing and staring at a computer screen, let alone in Spanish for an entire day can make anyone want to jump off a cliff....

So, my plans for this week besides this paper:
-Visit the Museum of Fine Arts (Museo de las bellas artes)
-Visit the Bicentennial Museum
-Go to a park and read
-Meet up with Rachel on Wednesday!!!!
-Cook again for my family
-Shop
-Eat at Matildas, my favorite cafe in San Telmo (they make fresh sandwiches and have awesome baked goods. I think I like it so much because it reminds me of a coffee shop in the U.S...)

Buenas noches.

ISP period has begun!

Since classes are officially over, I have begun the ISP part of the program. For the next 4 weeks (actually a little less now!), I am going to be investigating a Jewish organization in Buenos Aires. It is called JAG (Judíos Argentinos Gays) and I am going to investigate why it started and will eventually interview the director (hopefully) and some members. I have already started to read and dig through books and websites. This past week, I have been researching background information, writing and revising my proposal for the project, and I have met with my adviser. He was actually the one that suggested that I investigate this organization. I am SO excited to investigate; it''s going to be cool to use everything I have learned thus far to interview individuals and learn about this organization. It's due on the 8th of June, so it is going to go FAST.

Other than trying to fill my brain with as much background information as I can, not too much is new. Since all of the other students have started their research projects, I don't see everyone in the program as often either. I went to a funky bar last night, called Carnal, with some girls in my program. It was fun but I came home early because I had to get some stuff done for today. At the bar, it seemed like all the men were either thirty and/or had nasty beards...not really the best combination...

My host parents are having a huge dinner party here tonight so they have started to prepare some food already...should be fun! I will probably work on my project a lot this weekend because I really want to get as much done as I can before I meet with my adviser again PLUS Rachel comes in a few days and I want to be able to show her around. I also would like to go to some parks in Palermo and go running on Saturday or Sunday. My friend's host Mother is having a party at her house on Sunday. The daughter and son's girlfriend are launching a new line of clothing, so that should be awesome to see!

Sorry for the short post but I should finish reading and send my adviser my work! Happy Friday!

Also, here is a link to more photos I took in northern Argentina:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2037362&id=1282380112&l=f7239dada9

Patagonia, Salta, and blood sausage

I don't even know where to begin, I'm sorry this has taken me so long to update. I have gone on two trips in the last month and whenever I have some time to blog, I never want to sit down and write. So, brace yourself for a summary of what I have been doing for the last 4 1/2 weeks...

I have gone on two major trips with my program since I last posted: Bariloche, a city in Patagonia as well as Salta and Jujuy (up north).

Patagonia:
My program is centered around human rights and social movements and the trip to Patagonia was focused on one's right to land. We visited a couple of Mapuche communities, whose right to land has been violated and there have been instances where the government even tried to take their land away. The Mapuche are an indigenous group of southwestern Argentina and south-central Chile. One day we visited a community outside Bariloche and a woman from the community shared her story of how she stood up to the Argentine government. Here is a picture of her and the group listening on:









Patagonia was stunning; I saw some of the most breathtaking views of my life and the lakes and mountains were gorgeous. However, Bariloche was pretty touristy and I would love to visit a smaller town in Patagonia with less foreigners. We had lecture almost every day there as well with a group of lawyers that worked in Bariloche and we went on a few hikes outside the city. We also were able to experience the "real Bariloche." We visited a few neighborhoods right outside the city and saw some of the poorest communities I ever seen in my life. It was such a weird contrast- going from the center of the city, with beautiful hotels and shops to communities with run-down homes and buildings. It was a nice trip and I ate some of the best chocolate. After dinner, we trekked over to one of the many chocolate shops and sampled different kinds... I was definitely in chocolate heaven!

A few more pictures:

Hiking

Up North:
I actually just got back from Salta last Thursday after a two week trip with my program. We had lectures on gender and sexuality as well as human trafficking on the border of Bolivia and Argentina. We took a bus to Salta and returned via plane. The bus ride to Salta was about 20 hours and it was actually not as painful as it sounds- we left around 5 and the seats fold down to a bed, so we all slept through the night. Actually, my seat didn't go all the way down because it was broken, but it was still comofortable. We were also served my personal favorite, "mystery meat" with hard bread. It was disgusting and when I told my host parents about the "carne misteriosa," they thought I was nuts...

Like the Patagonia trip, we also had lectures and for one of the classes, we visited a soup kitchen, also called a "comedor." We had the opportunity to talk to the women that worked there, helped them make bread and prepare food, and of course, played with the kids. The soup kitchens are in very poor areas of the city and the women that worked there made meals for up to 100 kids each day. Also, one of the first days in Salta, we visited an archaeology museum and they had three Incan mummies that were discovered around 2000. The mummies were young children that had been sacrificed in the Incan empire and were in excellent condition. Before they were sacrificed, they had huge celebrations and marches in the city and it was thought to be a great honor to be chosen (Sounds pretty awesome huh?). Even though it was kind of creepy to see such small mummies of children, I loved the museum and thought the exhibit was fascinating.

For another lecture, our group split into two groups and I chose to visit the hospital in Salta to talk about female reproductive rights. I had envisioned that we would meet and talk with various doctors and listen to their experiences and perspectives on women´s rights. The lecture actually turned out to be really strange...The first part of it made me think I was back in sex-ed class in high school- painfully awkward and funny. About half way through the lecture, the woman pulled out lyrics for a song and not only did she turn music on, she started to sing along. I totally lost it and some kids in my program started to sing along as well. She also talked about abortion and how the majority of Argentinians are against it. I thought it was interesting to hear her perspective but did not feel like getting into a debate with her about abortion...I was happy to get out of there after that lecture!

Another part of this trip included a home-stay in a rural community outside Salta. My friend, Josh, and I stayed in Gobernador Sola with Rita and Javier along with their son. Rita is the head of the primary school near by and also the secretary of the community. Her husband, Javier, works in Agriculture and is the vice president of the community as well. Rita's mother, Rosa, came to the house everyday to work but she lived down the road. There were mountains on either side and the town was tucked in between; it was stunning. There was an elementary school near by as well as a church, but otherwise, it was an endless landscape of fields, mountains, and more mountains. I thought that we were going to be working in the field and killing chickens or something, but we ended up talking to the family and hanging out.

One day, we helped pick choclo, which is essentially corn, and helped Rita make humitas, a traditional Salta dish. Basically, its mashed up corn, sauteed onions and peppers, and cheese wrapped up in a corn husk. SO GOOD. Another day, Josh and I visited the school and played with the kids and later, they schooled us in soccer. Let me tell you, that altitude difference makes you TIRED! We went to bed the first night around 10 or 11pm and woke up the next morning at 11 and we still took naps later that day.

One of the last nights, we had the opportunity to go to the town meeting and listen in. It was really interesting; they talked about how some wealthy people from Buenos Aires are buying their land and beginning to build homes there. Another interesting topic they talked about was "el tren a los nubes," or "the train to the clouds." It's a train that starts near Salta and runs through the mountains, offering the riders amazing views of the Andes mountains and landscape. However, the bathrooms on the train dump their waste right onto the land, which in effect, ruins their land and crops! The people I met in the community are some of the nicest people I have ever met and I hope in the future that I can return. Overall, it was a nice break from reality and it was cool to gain a different perspective on their lifestyle. Oh, and kind of a funny story from our trip: The grandmother, Rosa, and I became good buds. She thought Josh and I were a couple and kept telling him, "Be careful; make sure other men don't look at Abigail." Of course, it was a little more dramatic in Spanish, but you get the idea...

Here are a few pictures:









A few more things...
1. I am DONE with class now! Actually, I have to finish a ten page paper (almost there) and then I start my independent research project for the last 4 weeks. I am going to focus on a Jewish organization here in Buenos Aires and conduct interviews, so it should be really fun. I am also looking forward to setting up my own schedule and having some more time to explore the city.
2. I tried blood sausage at dinner and I LOVED it. My Dad told me he wouldn't be offended if I didn't like it but I kept asking for more. He told me I was a "vampiro." I definitely don't want to know what it's made of because if I really want to eat it again, so please don't tell me...
3. Rachel comes to Argentina in a week, I am so pumped!
4. My friend, Mercedes is studying abroad in Brazil and she is actually from Buenos Aires originally. Also, her boyfriend is studying abroad in Buenos Aires. Last Saturday, I was in Recoleta and all of the sudden, someone touched my arm and said, "Abbey!" Lo and behold, it was Mercedes! So random. This city is huge and without planning to meet, we ran into one another. I love when things like that happen.
5. I made chicken parmesan for my family tonight and it was a big hit. I guess my irrational fear of burning the apartment down and being sent back to the states was a little over the top...
6. I miss Swedish fish. And peanut butter. Whenever I go to a market, I always look, only to find lots of dulce de leche. It's good, but I mean, nothing can beat a good peanut butter and banana sandwich.
7. I am sleeping in tomorrow!

Besos.

Thank god tomorrow is Friday

I have a Spanish test tomorrow, so obviously I have chosen to write a post than review grammar and prepare for the oral section of it. I actually had kind of a crappy day- Spanish class was frustrating because none of us understood an article we had to read for class and I was tired/crabby all morning. After Spanish, I wanted to buy a salad for lunch. Everyone else in Buenos Aires was also on lunch break too; I went into three stores and didn't buy anything because the line was too long. Then I had one of those classic "the subway closes right when you get to the door" moments. It was just one thing after the other! I finally found some tasty pasta, so that did take care of part of my crabbiness. Oh, and my computer cord no longer works. It doesn't charge my computer anymore, so I'll have to pay a little visit to the Apple store this weekend. Oy! Besides today, I have had a great week, so I will fill you all in on that:

On Monday, we went to Monte Chingolo, a community outside of Buenos Aires. The place offers classes and programs for children as well as young adults who have kids of their own. It was really interesting to visit- it is in a poor area and most of the kids never make it to high school. We spent the day there and some of the kids in my group helped paint a mural and others played games with the kids. I opted for the playing- and I got to play soccer! Before I came to Argentina, that was one of my goals, to play soccer, so now I can successfully check that off my endless list of what I want to do here. A few girls and I played with some of the boys there and they were fun, although, they definitely don't see too many female soccer players that often. I also played with some little kids and just had a really fun time. Tuesday, which I know call "empanada day" (we have empanadas every Tuesday because we have class all day and our lunch break is short), was pretty uneventful- lots of class, caught up on some homework, and bought a fresh alfajor. And this wasn't just any ordinary alfajor- it had heaps of dulce de leche inside (much more than usual), AMAZING.

A picture of the mural we painted at Monte Chingolo

Wednesday was el Dia de la Memoria in Argentina; a day that commemorates when the military dictatorship took over the country in 1976. There was a march that started around 2 or 3 and people of all walks of life marched, and by all walks of life, I mean 50,000 children, young adults, and the elderly! It was really cool to participate in; there were a lot of participants with faces of the disappeared with their names on it and another sign that said, "NUNCA MAS," which means, "Never again." There was a huge banner that went on for a mile (at least it seemed like it) with thousands of people's names and pictures of the disappeared on it. I found it interesting that although there were scores of different groups, all of these people were marching together in the same place, together, as a reminder of what their country used to be and how one can still see its effects on the country.

Okay, I should definitely review for Spanish and get to bed at a reasonable hour, so I am going to listen to some Frank Sinatra and study; a little Sinatra can go a long ways...

Muchos besos.

Whew, another week under my belt! I have been busy with class/exploring, so this is going to be a long post. Classes last week went well, I have a paper due on Tuesday to finish up and a lot of Spanish homework.
Last week: On Monday, we showed up to Spanish class at UBA and our teacher was not there. After about 15-20 minutes, she came in and informed us that all of the teachers were on strike! The teachers, already underpaid, were promised a raise and only ended up getting a 4% raise. Monday was also the first for registering for language classes at UBA, so they decided to go on strike. However, even though we take classes at UBA, we are not directly enrolled there, so we will continue to have our classes. Anyway, since our teacher wasn't able to teach that day, we had the opportunity to interview students as well as teachers about the strike. An Argentine student told me that she agreed that the teachers should get a higher raise but she didn't find the strike to be surprising because they happen so frequently in Argentina. I thought that was interesting because back at home, it seems like there is a lot of media coverage when a group goes on strike.

In our History class, we just learned about the Process, or National Reorganization Process (1976-1983), in which the militaristic government attempted to eliminate those against the dictatorship, particularly left-wing revolutionaries and liberals. The government kidnapped, tortured, and killed thousands of their own people in illegal detention centers around the country. On Wednesday, we were split into groups and my group visited Olimpo, a detention center located in Buenos Aires, in the middle of a neighborhood. We watched a video there about the history of the place and were also given a tour. It's hard to believe that the government used that facility during the dictatorship and it was right in the middle of the city, let alone a neighborhood. Olimpo was only open for about 8-9 months and during that time, about 500 people "disappeared." Also, the government destroyed all of the cells and any evidence that it had been a detention center. It was a lot to take in, but I am glad I was able to visit Olimpo because it showed me a different side of Argentina's history and that it literally happened in public space. Below is a map showing detention centers scattered across Argentina. They are all in yellow and this map only shows about half of them.
After visiting Olimpo, I grabbed lunch with some friends at a cafe near our school- all of us were wiped out from the afternoon and starving. I was really in the mood for chorizo, which is an excellent sausage. I ordered "bife de chorizo," as did two other girls. Well. . . when we got our plates, we learned that that "chorizo" and "bife de chorizo" are definitely NOT the same thing. We got a huge slab of steak, which the three of us could have split! It was tasty, but I mean, who wants to eat a whole cow for lunch? Needless to say, I did not want anything to eat for dinner that night. (The picture below is what we ended up getting!)

On Friday, I had a lot of class- three hours of Spanish in the morning and then my history class for two hours (in Spanish). I was drained at the end of the day and some friends wanted to go out later, so I took a nice, two hour nap after school. I think that nap was one of the best decisions I made that week. A friend and I met up with about 8 other kids from our program at a bar and we hung out there for awhile. It was fun and then later, we headed to a boliche (dance club) for the remainder of the night. It was so fun; they played some weird techno music as well as American songs. I was back home and in bed by like 4:30 and my host brother told me that I came home early...I guess I'm an old lady to them!

Funny side story:
Boliche means dance club. Bariloche is a region of Patagonia. I have said countless times, "I want to check out a bariloche!" Oh, and I did say this to one of my host brothers. . . ah! After class last week, a friend came up to me and said, "Abbey, I now know the difference between a 'boliche' and 'Bariloche' " I have never laughed so hard and it was comforting to know that others have mixed up those two words!

On Saturday, I went to Tigre with three friends and one of their host Moms. Tigre is a very touristy town, about 6o minutes north of BA. We took the train, which cost a hefty $1.10 (roughly 30 cents). We walked around town for most of the day, checked out a museum, and also took a boat tour on the river. Tigre kind of reminded me of a very touristy town in Florida- lots of shops, restaurants, and people walking around. It was great to get away from the city and get some fresh air, too. Great weekend! A few pictures from Tigre:

Soccer game!!

First week of class is done! Wow, things are really starting to pick up on this side of the equator. Last week, we started our lectures and Spanish classes, so I am starting to get in the swing of things. Classes are going well- they are pretty interesting and the homework isn't bad. I guess it's just weird doing homework again because I haven't had it for so long. Last week, we watched Juan Jose Capanella's Secreto de sus Ojos which was fabulous! I highly recommend it- it's a wonderful Argentine film adapted from Eduardo Sacheri's book. Basically, the protagonist, Ricardo Darin, becomes obsessed with solving a murder that happened years ago. I don't want to give much away, but it's a combination of a drama+romance+action, which equals amazingness. Plus, it won an Oscar for the "Best Foreign Language Film of the Year."


Good weekend- last Friday, I was so tired from the day that I actually ended up staying in with my host Mom and watched a movie- I know, I know, I am lame, I'm in such a cool city and should stay out until the wee hours of the morning. However, I don't see how I would have lasted! On Saturday, I hung out with my family in the morning and then met up with my friend, Sam. We walked to Palermo Soho from her house, which was about a 15 minute walk. There were so many stores, cafes, and restaurants and it was fun poking around in the shops and looking around. There were some really nice things but after awhile, it was kind of overwhelming with all the people, plus it was pretty warm that day. I got a large purse that I am going to use to put my books and computer in, so that was exciting. Later that night, some girls from my program and I went to a tango club where they teach people how to swing dance and obviously, how to tango. There were tables on the outside for people to sit/talk/eat and a huge dance floor in the middle. It was AWESOME! They call swing dancing "baile rock" but it's pretty much the same. I had a great time and by the time tango dancing came on, I was too tired to learn. It was fun watching other people dance, though- there were some really amazing couples. I think I got home around 1:30 and I ended up getting home before my host parents- I need to stay out LATER!

On Sunday, I slept in, had lunch and hung out with my host brother, and later in the afternoon, I went to a futbol game! Here, futbol (soccer) is a religion. I am definitely in the right country- I am surrounded by people that love soccer. In Buenos Aires alone, there are like 4 main teams and the two main ones are La Boca Juniors and River Plate. We took a bus to the stadium and met up with the rest of the group at a gas station near by. Finding the bus was very easy- there was a huge line of fans dressed in black, red, and white River jerseys, so we knew we were heading in the right direction. The bus ride there was the most interesting bus ride I have ever been on- fans were singing weird songs (I wish I had known them!), banging the windows and stomping their feet, and of course, two guys were yelling profanities out the window. The game was intense, too. People continued screaming their strange chants, clapping, crying, and wooping. I love how much passion they show for the sport and whenever a team scored, the fans went wild. We were cheering for River and they ended up winning 2-1, so that was exciting! In futbol, there are certain etiquette rules. For instance, fans from the opposing side left first and we weren't allowed to leave until the other fans were totally gone! Crazy, futbol fans. After the game, I took the subte home and I was exhausted. I guess that's what running around and screaming profanities in Spanish can do to you.

A few more things:
* I really love riding the subways here. My only complaint is that in the morning, it is extremely crowded and since it has been hot and humid here, the ride is very uncomfortable in the morning. Just when you think there is no possible way more people are going to fit into a car, they shove like 10-15 more people on.
* I have been loving the ice cream- it's such a delicious snack on a hot day. The other day, I had dulce de leche and raspberry ice cream, SO GOOD.
* I feel like I understand what people are saying more than last week.
Time to finish off some reading and homework.

One last thing...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JARED!!! Have a wonderful day!

Small Town Girl in a Big City

Classes have finally started! I am excited to get back into a routine because I haven't really had a set schedule in a LONG time. We just finished our seminar about human rights and social movements and we have a lunch break right now. We are taking this class at a research building in Almagro, which is about ten minutes away from my apartment. Our Spanish class at the Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA) and we have it four times a week for three hours. The university is located farther away from my place so I have to take the subway. I have have never realized what a small town girl I am; I have gotten so used to being in Duluth and my schedule at the U, so it's kind of weird to adjust to living in the city. I think in a few weeks, I will get more used to it but it is so different from Minnesota. Anyway, my Spanish class has eight people and our professor, Cecilia, seems really cool. She taught us some Argentine slang, the vosotros form (which I have never really learned before), and we did some exercises, too. Yesterday, after class, I ran a few errands and bought some more minutes for my phone. Cell phone plans are different here- you have to buy cards with minutes and the minutes are applied to your phone. Once you run out, you just buy another card.

Every Sunday, my host Mom has her oldest son and his wife over for lunch. She also invited my parents and brother because they were still in Buenos Aires, so they were able to meet my host family! It was so sweet of her and it was really fun. It was also the first time I met their other son, Sebastian, and he and his wife just had a baby in January. His name is Julio and is adorable! My host brothers speak very good English and my host Father speaks a little, so they were able to communicate with my parents. My host Mom does not know English, so the rest of us (minus my parents) were able to translate. It was so weird going back and forth between English and Spanish and after that afternoon, I was tired. All of us had a really wonderful time and I am so glad that my parents were able to meet them!

Mi familia americana/argentina

My host parents also recommended a fair to check out later that day and it was very similar to a flea market. They played some jazz music there and there were a lot of awesome jewelry stands, which I really enjoyed! I bought a pair of earings and a bracelet to add to my collection...

I have been having a great time but lately, I have just been feeling so exhausted from always trying to speak/listen to Spanish. At first, it was kind of frustrating because I felt that I could not understand anything. I tried to make sure my sentences came out correctly and made sense. I feel that I can speak but listening is extremely difficult. The accent is different from what I am used to and it seems like they talk really fast. Now, I have just started to let go and relax when I speak. It has helped so much and I don't care as much when I make mistakes. When I cannot think of a word/phrase, people can usually guess what I am trying to say. Alright, back to some more class...

Here are some pictures from the trip to San Juan/Mendoza and orientation:

Mom and Dad in San Juan

Valle de Luna

Jared and Dad at Valle de Luna


Alysa and Sam during orientation

Estancia- where we stayed during orientation

Hitchhiker, Argentine meat, and an earthquake, OH MY!

I traveled with my parents and Jared since Thursday and I got back to BA on the first. It was bittersweet leaving them but I so far I have been having a great time! We left for Mendoza last Thursday (early afternoon) and upon arrival, picked up our rental car, and drove to San Juan. San Juan is about 2 1/2 hours or so away from Mendoza. We also stopped at a winery (bodega) on the outskirts of San Juan and even got a tour of it. Our tour guide spoke SO fast but she was adorable; she kind of reminded me of an excited dog that has way too much energy. We tried some really good Malbec, Cabernet, and dessert liquor, too. We got dinner around 8sh and since Argentines don't eat until 9-10 p.m, we were some of the first customers there! They prepared the meat in a glassed-in room over a large grill and it was awesome. We tried asado, which is their version of a barbecued meat. I have a feeling I am going to eat the same amount of meat that I have eaten thus far in my life while I'm in Argentina. After that, we headed back to the hotel, which definitely made my top ten "most sketchiest/narstiest hotels list."

Terremoto- The following day, we hung out around San Juan and at night, there was a huge festival in town, so we walked on the main street for awhile. That was definitely one of my favorite experiences- there were a lot of floats and weird costumes and kids spraying this shaving-cream type stuff at each other. Note to self: Don't wear a cute dress when kids spray that stuff at people. Later that night, while I was in bed (I wasn't sleeping very well and was semi-awake around 3:30 am), I felt my bed shaking and thought that I was dreaming or feeling dizzy. However, when I sat up in bed, I realized that the whole bed was moving. I woke up Jared by yelling for him and he told me that it was an earthquake. The whole room was shaking and we could hear stuff in the bathroom rattling around, it was nuts! We both kind of stood in the doorway together until it stopped but it was the strangest feeling I have ever felt. At breakfast the next morning, we saw that there had been a huge earthquake in Chile. I cannot even imagine what it was like there if we could still feel it in San Juan! We didn't watch long, but it looked like there was extensive damage in Chile.

The next day, we drove to San Augustine. We planned on getting to la Valle de Luna (kind of like a national park) around noon, but that definitely didn't happen. We got kind of late start and about an hour or two into the drive, we picked up a hitchhiker. He had an empty gallon bottle for gas because his car ran out and we decided to pick him up- actually, my Dad decided it would nice to help him out. I was less than pleased- I was napping and was sprawled out in the back, resting my head on my Mom's lap. That meant I had to get up from my nap and move- I was not a happy camper. I didn't feel like talking, so it was kind of awkward and he smelled, too...ugh. However, this is when our adventure really started- somehow, when we stopped to pick this guy up, there was a fork in the road and we took the wrong way. My Dad asked if we were heading in the right direction, and of course our hitchhiker told us that it was. About an hour or so later, we realized we were going the wrong way when we talked to the police at a checking point, so we dropped the guy off at the gas station and had to drive back and get back on track. Ah, aventuras argentinas.

We eventually made it to San Augustine, which was a really tiny town. We checked into a hotel/hostel and decided to explore the area. We visited a little museum, called el museo de las piedras (rock museum) right outside San Augustine, too. A man greeted us, who actually turned out to be the owner and gave us a tour. One of the rooms was full of rocks from Argentina and everything else under the sun. It was pretty cool and it was fun to learn some of the words in Spanish. The other room had insects that can be found in Argentina, which, surprise, surprise, was my least favorite room. There was one particular small case on the wall that had poisonous insects. When I asked him what would happen if one of them bit me, he told me, "You die." He also told me that I shouldn't wear flip flops around there because those insects could bite me easily. Thanks, rock man, for scaring the crap out of me....definitely had a hard time sleeping that night. Just to be safe, I made Jared close all of the windows in our room and slept with the blanket over my head.

Sunday- we finally made it the la Valle de Luna! It was really beautiful; it was a caravan tour and we stopped at five different sites. It kind of seemed like we were on Mars, the scenery was that reddish color and it there were awesome rock formations. It was fun and after that, we drove to Mendoza which took the rest of the afternoon. By the time we arrived, all of us were exhausted and headed to bed. I left the next day for BA and my plane ended up being delayed a few hours in Mendoza. Ah! It was still backed up because of the earthquake in Chile because the airport in Santiago was still closed. However, I ended up befriending a really nice Canadian couple (Walter and Marge, cute, eh?) and we hung out until we boarded our plane. It really touched my northern Minnesota heart when Walter said, "Oh, you betcha!" I felt like I was in the movie Fargo.

Finally, on Tuesday, I met my group! I was pretty pleased with myself that I arrived at our meeting place on time. We picked up a few more students at the airport and one of the girls lost her luggage. She had to go through Sao Paulo, Brazil and somehow, the airlines lost her bags; I felt so bad for her! I would've been a mess if that had happened to me. We then drove about an our outside Buenos Aires to an Estancia. It was so gorgeous, it reminds me of a bed and breakfast. Imagine a bed and breakfast meets ranch meets forest. We had the majority of our orientation there and the directors, Nuria, Brenda, and Katie, talked about safety, behavior, and all that jazz. It was awesome getting to know the other students and I had a great time there. We ate some amazing food and my love for dulce de leche just keeps growing.

Last part of orientation/host family:
1. Tango/Parrilla- we had a tango lesson! A couple taught us the basic steps and after our dance lesson, we had a typical Argentina meal- meat and cheese and empanadas, meat (of course), and ice cream.
2. All of us received information about our host family and we mapped out where everyone was staying. I am living in Almagro, which I am pretty happy about because it's close to class and a subway line.
3. We paired up and had to explore a barrio and use public transportation. My partner, Sam and I went to Recoleta and we didn't get too lost!
4. I met my family- my host parents, Cristina and Jorge also have three children (2 boys and a girl). Only one of the boys, Juan, still lives here and he is 23. They are adorable and I think it's going to be very fun! My Dad has a really difficult accent to understand, so hopefully I'll pick up on that. Another embarrassing/slightly hilarious story: When I met my host brother, Juan, we greeted one another with a kiss on the cheek. It's polite to say, "Mucho gusto," which basically means "Nice to meet you." Well...I ended up saying, "Me gusta," which means "I like." I have NO idea why I said that, but I did. As soon as it came out, I wanted to hide in my room! Must of have been a combination of feeling flustered/meeting all of them for the first time...
5. I went to the supermarket with my host Mom and she helped me buy a card with minutes for my phone. We bonded later and painted our nails/watched tv/chatted. Que bueno.
6. My host brother and I got ice cream later and hung out in the park near our apartment. It was really relaxing day. Also, my host Mom invited my parents and brother over for lunch tomorrow! Look for pics soon!