July 16-17: The last blog

I went to class at 9:30am (July 16), after not getting any sleep. I found out I got a 10 (out of 10) in my class! Our professor also made us chocotorta (only the best dessert EVER). YAY! After class, I went to the store with Nicole to buy mate and two giant containers of dulce de leche to bring home (to of course make chocotorta). I then took a nap from 12:30-6:30pm. I officially decided I'm an idiot for not getting facebook information for the people I met last night, but they live close to the club, so I thought maybe they'd be there again Friday night. We had rice soup and veggies for dinner. I packed and did some organizing, then went to a bar in Plaza Serrano for Nicole's 21st birthday. Around 3am I went to Club Araoz (boliche) again, in hopes of finding the guy I danced with on Thursday night for 3 hours and forgot to get his facebook info (STUPID STUPID STUPID). The taxi driver and I had a fabulous conversation in Spanish, again, about how cold it is outside and me not wearing a jacket. GUESS WHAT BUENOS AIRES, IT'S NOT THAT COLD. I'm kind of sick of instantly standing out as a tourist just because I'm not wrapped up in 5 jackets, scarves, gloves, and borderline snow gear. Anyway, either my 3 hour dance partner wasn't there or I never saw him (MUY TRISTE), but I ended up meeting a group of people from Columbia who were really nice. It's funny how the people from Columbia, Peru, etc, are SO NICE in comparison to some of the other Argentine creepers (this is just a ridiculous generalization, and obviously I've met MANY wonderful Argentine people, but I haven't yet met a creepy person from one of the other Central or South American countries). We hung out and danced until about 6am, then hung out at their apartment until 11am. One of the guys was SHOCKED when he found out I spoke English... guess my Spanish is getting really awesome and I'm really starting to blend in here! It was an awesome way to spend my final evening in Buenos Aires. Spending over 5 hours with someone who knows less than 10 words in English = a significant increase in my level of Spanish fluency. YAY! One of the guys took the subte all the way home with me to make sure I made it safe. After I got home at noon, I took a shower and finished packing (yeah, I'm definitely going to have to check two bags, one of which will probably be over 50 pounds... god damn you heavy dulce de leche in glass containers). I can't believe my one month here is over. NO QUIERO REGRESAR A LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS! NO QUIERO! What a sad sad day. Well this is obviously my last blog... time to finish packing and say my goodbyes. :( See you all in a couple days.

July 15 Day and Night

Got up early and went to class for my FINAL EXAM! It wasn't too horrible. There were definitely a couple I didn't know, but overall it went well. The oral part also wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be, and we out out an half hour early. Me, Nicole, and Karen went to get empanadas and ice cream (I've decided since I've already gained at least 5 or 10 pounds here, I might as well eat as much of the fabulous ice cream as possible in my last 3 days). I went back to the school to buy an over the shoulder bag (my replacement for wanting to buy a new backpack) then I went to la calle florida to, of course, buy more stuff. AFTER 4 WEEKS OF SEARCHING, I FINALLY FOUND A SWEATSHIRT! NO WAY. I was fairly sure there wasn't such a thing as a sweatshirt here. I wore my new peacoat today (which is black, wool, and goes down to my knees) and I was surprised how few people looked at me as a tourist! I guess that coat was the key to looking Argentine. haha. I also bought a couple touristy things, another t-shirt (I swear, it's the last one... but they're SO cheap...), and a MATE CUP! I decided mate (the national drink of Argentina) is ridiculously awesome. I had it for the first time yesterday in class. One of my teachers, Vera (who is the best teacher EVER), brought in her mate cup and let everyone drink it for a couple hours in class! I decided I just had to buy a mate cup and yerba mate to bring home. Mate culture is a big thing here. Everyone passes it around, and it's a major part of Argentine culture. After I got home, I started packing (NOOOOOOOOO) which royally sucked. How can a month go by SO FREAKING FAST. Not fair. I've also gone on a ridiculous music downloading spree... it's not my fault the Spanish raeggaeton is impossible to get out of your head! :)We had potato torta (I think) for dinner. Later, I went to the bar with a bunch of friends. However, being a Thursday night, everyone was at Club Araoz (Lost), so Abby and I decided to go there instead. We danced from 3am until now (and it's 6:40am). I met some people from Brasil and Peru! I love boliches! I decided it's not worth sleeping yet, since I have class in 3 hours. All we're doing is getting our exam back and eating chocotorta though! YAY! Then I'll take a nap, finish packing, maybe see some more of the city (but I've basically done all the necessities of things to see and do in Buenos Aires), then go to a boliche one last night before I head home.

July 13-14

July 13- Went to class from 9:30-2:30pm, and then came home and finished my homework. Me, Jacob, and Lewis went to La Boca (the most dangerous, yet incredibly famous Buenos Aires barrio) to visit Boca Juniors Stadium and see all the beautifully colored houses. We were planning on going to a tango show there as well, but none of them were open. Lewis and I took a taxi about 15 minutes away to a different neighborhood and made reservations for a different tango show. We were there really early, so we rode the purple subte (one of the lines I hadn't ridden yet) then went to a bar and got a drink. This was the best drink I've had, ever. It was a mango milkshake with vodka. It really doesn't get any better than that, especially for only 20 pesos. We went to the dinner and tango show at 8:30pm. It cost just over $100 USD including tip, which included unlimited drinks (Lewis drank an entire bottle of wine) and we got to choose an appetizer, main entree, and desert from a list of options. I had a caesar salad, giant steak, and vanilla ice cream with raspberry sauce and kiwis. It was SUPER high class fancy awesomeness, but Lewis and I apparently didn't get the memo that we should probably dress up. We were probably the only people wearing jeans. The tango show started around 10:15pm and went on for at least an hour (see videos and photos on facebook soon). It was a really incredible show. We went back to the same bar following the show, due to incredible vodka milkshakes, and hung out for a while. We made it home around 1:30am then went to bed.

July 14- Today was my last day of class lecture. After class, I spent a couple hours walking up and down Cabildo (the main street in Belgrano) to find a black peacoat (the most ridiculously popular, cute, warm jacket here). I finally found one that was actually less than 500 pesos after about 2 hours of searching. I came home, took a shower, and studied for my final (which is tomorrow). We had delicious meat and rice for dinner.

July 12

Today was COLD. I went to class, then left right after to visit Puerto Madero. This barrio is the safest in all of Buenos Aires, and it's very beautiful (see facebook photos soon). I walked around the entire city for about 2 1/2 hours to see all the parks and ports. I tried to go to the ecological reserve on the river, but it was closed today so I might have to try to make it back there another day. There's nothing much in the way of fancy activities in Puerto Madero, but it was just a fun place to spend the afternoon, despite the intense cold and wind. I got back home around 6pm, then did my homework and spent quite a long time defrosting my hands and ears from the afternoon in the port. We had delicious pasta for dinner. The past few evenings my host family's grandchildren have been over and they are completely precious. I'm fairly sure their Spanish is better than my English. haha. But I'm very glad my Spanish has improved SIGNIFICANTLY. It's a shame I can't stay longer and actually become completely fluent. I'll just have to return someday. My host padre Luciano told me when I come back we're going to visit Ushuaia! But I have to come back in September because that's the best time to see the penguins! It was a good day today. Tomorrow is going to be quite action-packed!

July 11

So much for just a nap. I slept until about 12:30pm (which was only about 5 hours), then got up and went to get some ham and cheese empanadas for "breakfast". I did some homework, then watched part of the Spain vs. Netherlands world cup final game. Michael and I went to get food at a restaurant and finished watching the world cup final. I had a GIANT steak and a coke for 40 pesos (10 USD)... how amazing. I love the cheap and delicious steaks here, though I REALLLLLY miss mexican food. The first thing I'm eating when I get back is a giant plate of enchiladas and chips and salsa! And some peanut butter (you can only buy peanut butter here in chinatown). Spain won the world cup, and it's awesome how excited everyone gets when it's not even Argentina that's playing! I've decided I basically love soccer. After the game was over, we got an alfajor from Havanna, and I bought a couple boxes to bring home for everyone to try (they're dangerously delicious). I also got some raspberry and apple sorbet, then went home and finished my homework, and searched desperately online for the spanish raeggaeton songs that the boliches play... that I can't get out of my head. I also planned out what I'm going to do for my last week here (sad...). It's going to be a very busy week! I have so much to do still in Buenos Aires and a final on Thursday! Tonight we had asado for dinner (grilled meat, lots and lots of meat). Luciano surprised us with limon bols liquor after dinner. yummmmmy. Time to shower and get some sleep.

July 10 day and night

Since nobody wanted to go to the club on Friday night, I decided just to get a good night's rest (for once). I got up fairly early today and went to el Tigre, which is probably one of my absolutely favorite places I've visited. I took the train from near my house to Retiro, then another hour long train ride from Retiro to Tigre. I got there around 11:45am, then walked around to figure out where on earth things were in the city. I did an hour long Parana delta tour, which was way freaking awesome (keep your eyes peeled for a couple facebook videos). Tigre is a city on the Parana River, near the Delta. There are people that live "in" the delta, so the boat took us up all the small channels to see all the houses and motels. After the boat tour, I went to look at the amusement park, used the CLEAN bathrooms in the casino (god it was nice to finally have a very clean bathroom), and then took the Tren de la Costa. I just rode the train to the end, and then on the way back, I got off at THE BEACH. yes. the beach. how beautiful. It was really cool because the train basically followed the coast and I got to see a lot of parts of the outskirts of Tigre and some more indigenous neighborhoods. After I got back from the train, I went to the Puerto de Frutas, perhaps the most giant of all markets. This market went on for many many blocks, and I bought a couple more argentine CDs, since they are SO cheap here. I probably barely touched the tip of the market and was there for a good couple hours. I found a hamburger and hotdog stand near the parana river, and got a GIANT cheeseburger for just over 6 pesos. that's like...... REALLY CHEAP in USD. And this burger was comparable to the biggest burger you could get at red robin or something of the sort. FANTASTIC. I left Tigre around 5pm and made it back to the house around 7pm. I took a 2 hour nap, then we had chicken milanesa for dinner (one of my absolute favorite foods here). A big group of us went out tonight around 12:30am to a bar in Plaza Serrano (Macondo Bar). We hung out there for a little bit, then Karen and I decided to go to a nearby boliche called Tazz Soho. This boliche was WAY awesome. We got a drink when we got in, which was the best drink I've had here by far, and the club had 3 floors. The first floor was the bar, lounge, and pool tables. The second floor was basically the same, and then the third floor was a bar and dance floor. I ended up losing Karen at some point throughout the evening, but I was having a good time dancing and the dance floor was so crowded it was impossible to find her. The club kicked everyone out around 6am, then I tried to get a taxi home. Well apparently the taxis only go on very main roads at 6am, so I started walking towards a main road (which ever way that happened to be). I ran into some people from Buenos Aires who I recognized as being friends with one of the guys I danced with in the club. They started talking to me and I walked with them to the main road, and one of the guys also got me a taxi. How awesome of them. They were super super nice people and I'm really glad I ran into them. The taxi driver and I had a nice conversation on the way home. We talked about the weather, since he was shocked I was only wearing a t-shirt, and then about school, and the United States. He said I speak very good Spanish. YAY YAY YAY! What a fantastic evening. I love Buenos Aires. It's now 7:15am. Time for... a nap?

July 9

Today, I got up around 12:30pm and had some "breakfast". I took the bus to the Feria de Matederos (a giant market) and a bought a couple leather items for people. I walked around and looked at all the vendors, and had a GIANT... and I mean GIANT, piece of cake for 8 pesos. 8 PESOS! That's just over 2 USD... WOW WOW WOW. I took a picture of it, and some guy started laughing at me... and I literally had to explain to this guy in Spanish how freaking awesome a monster 8 peso cake is. A picture of my massive piece of cake will eventually show up on facebook. It was basically like one of those specialty giant chocolate caramel cakes you see in a really expensive restaurant... but bigger... and much cheaper. haha. and instead of caramel, it had dulce de leche. People here put dulce de leche on everything. Anyway, I asked someone for information on which bus would take me from the market to Plaza Italia. They told me bus 55 and where to catch it. Well, lucky me, I caught bus 55.... IN THE WRONG DIRECTION. So I get on this bus that takes me to the near freaking edge of town where I'm pretty sure we weren't even in the city anymore... great huh. So the bus reaches the end of it's route... and we definitely didn't pass Plaza Italia. Soooooo.... yeah.... I caught the bus going the other direction... and literally had to ride it for a good hour and a half to get back to Plaza Italia to take the subte home... I had no clue where I had ended up... thank god for having a nice bus driver (which seems to be quite rare) to tell me where I was going... but it was an adventure nonetheless. And I got to see many parts of town I had never seen! And all of this was about... ehhhh.... 4 pesos. YAY. 1 USD to ride the bus for an entire afternoon. I literally spent so much time on a bus I didn't even get lunch. So by the time dinner rolled around at 9pm, I think I ate a good 1/2 or 3/4 of a pizza. I still have yet to understand WHY there is a green olive on every slice of pizza... I was planning to go out to a boliche tonight, since we couldn't get into one last night... but nobody wants to go. GRRRR. And I'm definitely not going to one of those places alone. That's a recipe for disaster. Hopefully someone will change their mind in the next hour or so. For now, homework.

July 8

Got up and went to class. Took an exam on the subjunctive and command verb tenses. and got a 10! sweet! Then, I took a half a day off and took the subte to the Fundacion Instituto Leloir (Todd's friend Guille works there in a lab). I got there WAY earlier than I was expecting, so I just walked around the looked at the naval hospital and other buildings, it was a hospital/research type of area. I went to meet Guille around 12:15pm then we went and looked around his lab a bit. I went with him and his lab group to get food, and then we all watched a seminar. The guy who spoke did his powerpoint slides in English, and spoke in Spanish. I was surprised how much I could actually follow, even with out the slides. Science terms in Spanish are really quite similar to English, and some terms don't even change at all. After the seminar, we went back to the lab and talked for a couple hours about my research, grad school, the education system in Argentina vs. the states, and he also talked me through a couple research papers his students wrote and presented. I also got to hear about their current work and see some in situ hybridizations. After I left the lab, I went to a nearby science museum for an hour, then went home. After dinner, a few of us went to a bar in Plaza Serrano, then met up with some of the people we met at a house party the first night here. We tried to go to a couple boliches, but with July 9th being a holiday, the clubs were so packed we couldn't even get in at all. I was going to the bathroom and this girl slammed the door open and hit my head so hard, that now there's a giant lump. Yeah. How nice of her. Stupid drunk girls. Instead, we went over and hung out at their apartment until 6am (if you want the details about this fabulous experience, ask me haha). Had a ridiculous time trying to get a taxi home. It was quite a fun evening. I slept until about noon on the 9th... time to get ready for my day and visit some other part of town.

July 6-July 7

July 6- After what seemed like the longest day of class ever (not like 5 hours isn't long to begin with), I went to the Chacarita Cemetery. This place is quite similar to the Recoleta Cemetery (if you read about or saw my photos of that place). Chacarita had all the giant house-sized above-ground "gravestones" just like Recoleta, but here, you could go underground to see all the crypts and tombs. It was basically rows and rows of post office box looking tombs. Talk about WEIRD. And the place was empty. On the walk home, I got a 1/4 kilo of ice cream (... but the ice cream is just SO GOOD here... it's impossible to stop eating...) and took the subte to Pueyrredon. I went to the Museo de Bellas Artes (for not very long... so boring...) then ended up walking all the way to Plaza Italia (which I must say, is a much longer walk than I was expecting... it took a good couple hours... in the dark). I went through a beautiful park though, so I plan to go back there sometime in the daylight. I did my homework, and then we had empanadas for dinner.

July 7- Class was so much better today (we have a not so good prof Mon and Tues, then a really great prof Wed-Fri). After class, I took the bus to MALBA (museo de arte latinoamericano de buenos aires) and got in for free (Wed is free with student ID)... and I'm SO GLAD it was free... my god I hate museums... I just feel like it's necessary to visit the famous ones. This one was odd. Lots and lots of nude photos... Argentina is definitely a lot more... accepting... than the United States. Nude photos everywhere and playboy style magazines sitting out for everyone to see on the street corners. Weird. Anyway. Now, I am done with museums. After that, I went to nearby mall and bought a few CDs by Argentine artists and a book in spanish called "diccionario de la ciencia" or science dictionary. hahahaha. yes. I would, I know. :) I also had fabulous white chocolate ice cream and stood in awe of the giant crowd that literally formed in the middle of the mall to watch the Spain vs. Germany world cup semifinal. A TV store put a giant TV out near the entrance of their store and everyone just crammed around to watch it. WOW. I walked around some more near the area I walked around yesterday, took some photos of the Galileo Planetarium (it was closed by the time I got there), and FINALLY found the paseo de rosedal (which was also closed by the time I got there). But at least now I know where everything is near the 3 de febrero park so I can go there another day right after class. Did my homework... ripped CDs onto my computer... uploaded facebook videos... dinner... shower... bed.

p.s. In addition to putting up all my Iguazu photos on facebook, I've also uploaded two videos to from when I watched an Argentina World Cup game in the Plaza de San Martin, as well as 3 videos I took at Iguazu Falls (since the pictures don't nearly do justice). Enjoy!

July 1-July 5

July 1- We left around 6pm for the bus station. Our bus was from 7:40-11:30am ish. talk about a longggggg bus ride. it was nice though, because the buses here are "coche cama" .. which is basically like airplane first class. the seats turn into beds. we got dinner, breakfast, drinks, etc, which was quite awesome.

July 2- we arrived around 11:30am in Puerto Iguazu then went to our hostel. The hostel was really nice, with computers, pool, ping pong, etc. We ended up in a 6 person shared room with a bathroom, but it was HOT with no air conditioning (puerto iguazu is on the border of brasil, argentina, and paraguay... so it is like the rainforest, and very humid). We got settled, then went to get lunch and explore the (tiny) town of Puerto Iguazu. I personally really liked the town. It reminded me a lot of the small quaint towns in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, where the people are really friendly and you don't have to worry about being hit by a bus. We had dinner and watched the Uruguay vs. Ghana soccer game (YAY URUGUAY!). We walked to Tres Fronteras in the dark (with no clue where we were going), and eventually found it. This is where you can stand on the Argentina side, and see Brasil and Paraguay (the three countries are separated by a river, and at tres fronteras each country has a statue with their flag colors on it). We also went to a market... of olives. Not kidding. I've never seen so many olives in my entire life (see facebook photos). They eat olives on everything here, especially pizza (but they are the green ones, which I personally am not a fan of).

July 3- We got up early and went on a full day excursion to the Argentine side of IGUAZU FALLS. Going with a tour guide was basically pointless... he only slowed us down, but that's ok. Basically, this place was the most incredible, beautiful, fantastic place EVER. If you don't have facebook, now is the time to make one to look at my photos. It is impossible to describe the falls in words. While at the national park, we watched the Argentina vs. Germany game (where, as you might know, Argentina got slaughtered 4-0)... and I'm fairly certain people actually started crying. Yes. soccer is that important here. That afternoon, there was an optional excursion where you could go on a boat on the river and under one of the waterfalls. I opted not to do it, since it was basically paying 100 pesos to get wet... and I'm glad I didn't since apparently it wasn't really worth it. I, of course, spent my money more wisely in the gift shop (haha... hey... i bought shirts for my whole family)... anyway. what an incredible day. BEAUTIFUL park. I strongly encourage everybody to make it a point to visit this place someday. After we got back from the park, we went to Tres Fronteras again to see it in the daylight. So cool. We were basically standing on the border of the three countries (if I had more time, i could have traveled into paraguay, but the ferry didn't run on Sunday... and I tried to get my visa for Brasil friday when I got there but of course the consulate was closed AGAIN because of the soccer game). We went to the same restaurant we went to to watch the game on Friday. We got delicious beef, veggie, rice meals... and I had 3 daquiris... all of which cost less than 20 USD. how freaking awesome is that. Also, the waiter must have thought I was cute because he put a slice of peach in the shape of a heart on my peach daquiris. haha. In general, the people in Puerto Iguazu are more similar to the people I met in Costa Rica. It's a smaller town, the people are more indigenous... and everyone is SO NICE. I love it. so much fun.

July 4- We got up a little late, and hung around the hostel in the morning. We went into town, had some lunch, and packed up our stuff. We caught the bus around 3pm... yay for another 18 hour bus ride. I wish we would have had more time to either go into Paraguay, or see the Brasil side of the falls.

July 5- Our bus got back around 8:45 this morning... there was a lot of traffic coming into Buenos Aires. I was about 20 min late to class, but no biggie. I'm exhausted. Sleeping on buses is just not a viable alternative to a real bed. Today, I'm just going to unpack and catch up on some sleep.

YAY for a great trip. I took a bajillion photos... see facebook. and I'm really not kidding. If you don't have facebook, you need to make one to see these photos. :)

June 30 and July 1

Well. I got sick. FANTASTIC. Sore throat and stuffy nose... YUCK. Yesterday, I gave a presentation in class, then went to look at the medical school after class. I took a couple pictures, but it was a super sketchy part of town (which I didn't know before going there alone) so I got back on the subte and went home. Last night, our group did a tango lesson, which was a slight epic disaster. That dance, while some people can make it look pretty and elegant, is definitely not the dance for me... it's off beat and I kept tripping over myself because I was trying to dance on the beat but my partner was dancing tango how it's supposed to be danced... ugh. Never again haha. But at least I tried it. I braved the pharmacy in Spanish last night, which was an interesting experience... trying to get cold and throat medicine using a variety of Spanish words and charades. A group of us went to dinner (at like 10:30pm) and the waiters were laughing at our attempts to use Argentine gestures (for instance, there's a gesture to get your check, say "I don't know", say "f*** you", etc etc).

At least my throat feels better today... now it's just a stuffy nose, which isn't too horrible to deal with. I got a 9 on my test in Spanish today (they grade on a scale of 1-10 and 4 is passing). Now I'm packing because Michael and I are going to IGUAZU tonight!! We are leaving in a couple hours, and it's an 18 hour bus ride. At least they give us dinner, breakfast, wine, movies, etc etc etc. Hopefully I'll sleep a ton and feel better tomorrow. The weather is supposed to be 75-80 degrees F in Iguazu which will be very nice. Stay tuned for a blog when I get back about Iguazu and a ton of pictures on facebook!

06/29/2010

Today was probably the most uneventful day thus far. Went to class and decided I was WAY too tired to do anything today, despite getting a full night's sleep. Woke up with a sore throat, but at least it isn't getting worse. When I got back from class, I did most of my homework then took a 4 1/2 hour nap, which was very much needed. We had a yummy cream of wheat style meal, that was corn, with meat tomato sauce ish stuff in it. Very good. Now I have to write my presentation for class tomorrow. I'm doing it on the Patagonian region, mainly because I want to talk about the pinguinos (which I'm slightly distraught I won't get to see while I'm here). I'm also deciding whether I want to visit Ushuaia next weekend for 3 days... it's expensive, and VERY cold (it's the end of the world... the world's southernmost city...) but dang would it be awesome... the alternative is doing some full day activities in Buenos Aires and going out to the boliches with my amigos... any opinions appreciated. $700 for 3 days in -5 degrees Celsius weather riding behind husky sleds and boating around the beagle channel (look it up on a map... it's closer to Antarctica than Buenos Aires) by myself, or exploring the city some more... I can't decide... Now to finish my presentation and sleep some more.

Some things to know before you go to Argentina.

- There are only 2 or so stop signs in all of Buenos Aires. They are not obeyed, ever. Red lights aren't really obeyed either, especially by taxi drivers.
- If you don't move, taxis and all other vehicles will run you over. Pedestrians do not have the right of way.
- You will get fat. The food is delicious, and horrible for you. Plus, dinner is at 9pm, and it's not odd to eat in the middle of the night.
- Clubs (boliches) don't get started until about 3am, and keep going until 7am at least. Also, be prepared for some very aggressive men, who think dancing with you means they can kiss you immediately, even before knowing your name. It's not mean tot be creepy, it's just their culture.
- Soccer is life. The entire city shuts down for a game. Not joking. Every restaurant and store closes. The streets are deserted.
- Marijuana is "mas o menos" legal. Smoking pot or cigarettes can and will happen anywhere, at any time of day. In front of police officers. Your hair and clothing will smell like cigarette and pot smoke for WEEKS following your stay.
- It's not uncommon for people to be carrying around bottles of alcohol around on the streets and drinking. At any hour of the day.
- Eating a meal in a restaurant takes a good 2 hours. You must close your menu to be served, they will not split the bill for you, a tip of over 10% is basically not allowed, and it takes a great deal of effort to actually find the waiter to get your check.
- A lot of people might think you speak Portuguese. Not a clue why.
- Some elevators only stop every 5 floors.
- Dogs wear clothing most of the time.
- The keys are RIDICULOUSLY difficult to use. Buenos Aires is a giant land of skeleton keys.
- "Whisky" is the equivalent of "cheese" when someone takes a picture of you.
- If you watch a soccer game at the plaza, you will get stepped on, punched, elbowed, and trampled. It's that crazy.
- Despite looking similar to everyone else, some people will just KNOW you are American, and proceed to give you an English menu at a restaurant, then try to rip you off.
- You will get extraordinarily lost. Probably ever day.
- The bus system is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
- You can get lost, and ride around on the buses for an entire day... for less than 5 pesos.
- Never try to go to a boliche the night before a holiday. Bad, bad idea.
- If girls really have to use the restroom, like really bad, it's apparently acceptable to use the mens restroom.
- You have to unlock doors from the inside to get out of your house or apartment. So if you are hanging out with your friends at their apartment, and you want to leave, DON'T FORGET TO BRING SOMEONE WITH YOU WHO HAS A KEY. Otherwise, you'll get to the lobby, realize you can't get out, come to find out you don't have any of their phone numbers, and forget what floor they lived on. And then, you freak out.
- If you are claustrophobic, the subte and buses might not be your best mode of transportation.
- You can get a giant piece of cake at a market for 8 pesos (2 USD). And a giant slab of steak at a restaurant for under 40 pesos (10 USD). And a 1/4 kilo of ice cream for 10 pesos (~2.5 USD) or less at most places. And medialunas for 3 pesos (75 cents). And a fifth of whiskey for 10 pesos (~2.5 USD). I have yet to understand how this entire country is not obese.
- There are cats EVERYWHERE. And the dogs are INCREDIBLY well behaved, besides doing their daily business all over the street (which I've learned to accept as normal life in Buenos Aires). You will step in dog shit. There is no way to avoid it unless you walk everywhere staring at the ground.
- The people are really quite nice. I've met some really awesome people from Buenos Aires and other countries. Also, the guys are much more... chivalrous... than in the US. I know I said that the guys won't stop kissing you, but that is just their culture. I mean, you kiss people on the cheek as a greeting every day... so kissing is "mas o menos" a hug in the US... I think?... Once you get past the kissing issue, the guys really are super nice and awesome. A lot of guys won't even get on the bus until the girls get on first.
- The Argentine equivalent of Playboy and Maxim magazines are sitting out on the streets for all to see. There are also "transvestite parks"... yeah... I guess it could be worse: Brasil has transvestite bathrooms.
- The stop lights go from red to yellow to green, then back to yellow then red.
- You will fall in love with this country and never want to leave.

More to come later!

06/28/2010

Today was a good, yet quite uneventful day. Got up and went to class from 9:30-2:30pm, then went downtown to the Brasilian consulate to try to get my visa. Unfortunately, Brasil played Chile in the World Cup today, so that means that the consulate was closed. hahahaha. THEY CLOSED THE CONSULATE TO WATCH THE SOCCER GAME! Wow. Brasil pounded Chile 3:0. I found out that the hours for the consulate are during my class time anyway, so I am just going to try to get it in Puerto Iguazu this weekend. If I can't get it, oh well, I'll just have to see the Argentine side of the falls... which are still spectacular. After finding out that the consulate was closed, Michael and I went to buy our bus/hostel/etc from the travel agency for Iguazu. We're leaving Thursday after class, and returning on Monday morning right before class. It will be AWESOME. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for pictures! We got a snack, then came home. Finished my homework, ate dinner... now trying to decide what to do tomorrow. Maybe I'll go to el cemtario chaquarita or puerto madero... SO MUCH TO DO AND SO LITTLE TIME! I LOVE ARGENTINA.

06/27/2010

Short blog for today. I got up around 12:30pm (which, remember, was only about 5 hours of sleep) and got ready to go to the game. A bunch of us went to the Plaza de San Martin to watch the game on the big TVs like I talked about in my previous blogs. There were SO MANY people and it was absolutely CRAZY! Basically, we got trampled when Argentina scored because everyone started screaming and jumping around and singing! Pictures and videos will be on facebook soon. We beat Mexico 3-1 and play Germany on Saturday!!! YAY!!!! Vamos vamos Argentina!!!! (let's go Argentina). Why can't the USA be this excited about futbol (soccer)?! It's such a bonding and exciting sport! Everyone from the entire country comes together and it's so much fun to be a part of! At the game, our group also got interviewed by the news and a couple of the other girls ended up getting on TV! When I got back from the game, I spent some time relaxing and looking up information on getting a Brasilian visa (which I'm going to make an attempt at tomorrow). For dinner, we had asado (grilled chicken, sausage, and steak) which was absolutely delicious! Now, I'm going to do my homework for tomorrow then FINALLY get a full nights sleep.

06/26/2010

WOW. what a day. what a freaking day. So after being up for about 40ish hours straight, I got 5-6 hours of sleep then got up to go to URUGUAY!!!!!!!!! A big group of us caught the 8:45 ferry (but we had to be there by 7:30... and left the house at 6:30am) and it took an hour on the fast boat to cross the parana river delta. We spent the entire day hanging out in Colonia del Sacramento! We walked around, took pictures of the beautiful little town, had a DELICIOUS lunch, and much more. We had a guy take a pictures of our whole group in one of the plazas, and the world they use for "cheese" is "wiki" or "wiki wiki"... SERIOUSLY. HILARIOUS. Probably one of the funniest things thus far. For lunch, 4 of us split 2 chivitos: steak with sunny-side up egg on top, potatoes, fries, and bacon. oh yes. how wonderful is that. While we were at the restaurant, we watched the Uruguay vs. South Korea world cup game. They won (of course) and their fans are just as crazy as Argentine fans, just in smaller numbers. It was AWESOME to see that game in their country. I bought some souvenirs, and then we all went to the top of the lighthouse (yes dad... I know you are jealous)! We had GIANT ice creams (helado con conoprole) which was the best ice cream I've ever had, and probably will ever have (good thing, it cost quite a bit). The Uruguay exchange rate is awesome. So Argentina is about 4 pesos to the dollar, and Uruguay is about 20 pesos to the dollar. At 3:30, USA played Ghana in the world cup, so some of us watched it at another restaurant (yes, every restaurant has a TV, and the station is of course the world cup). We just ordered drinks (one person had to get food because they wouldn't let us sit there without ordering something) and watched the game. We didn't know that the place was only open for lunch though, and by the time they closed, the game was still going on. However, seeing as how Uruguayans LOVE soccer, they let us stay in the restaurant, a good hour or two after closing, to finish watching the game. How cool is that. We gave them a giant tip for letting us sit for so long (and nobody really tips here, and if they do, its 10% at very most), equipped with a mix of American, Argentine, and Uruguayan money. We caught the ferry home around 7pm, but this time it was a 3 hour slower boat. The ferry is basically an airplane. Check your bags, go through security, customs, the seats are airplane seats, have food, sleep, walk down a long walkway into the terminal, get your bags, customs again, etc. After we got back, we went to eat around 1:20am at a cafe and then went to Lost, the same club I went to on Thursday night. WHAT A NIGHT... as you can probably tell since I'm writing this and it's currently 6:38am... and I just got home. Facebook me if you want the nitty gritty dirty details about the club... wow... met a lot of people tonight: the good, bad, aggressive (well that implies every man who walks the streets of Argentina for the most part) and everything in between. I love Argentina! Time for some sleep before going to the plaza tomorrow, well I guess today, for ARGENTINA VS. MEXICO!!!!!!

06/25/2010

Well, today was a long, long day. After getting home from the club at 5:45 am, I took a shower and ended up laying in my bed for about half an hour before going to class. Class went well today; my teachers really like playing games which makes the 5 hours go by much faster, especially when I've been awake for WAY too many hours. After class, I recharged my phone with pesos, got some cash, and a bunch of us bought tickets for the ferry (buquebus) to go to Colonia, Uruguay tomorrow morning. We also went to Palermo Soho to talk to the travel agency about going to Iguazu, and will have that all taken care of by Monday. Still deciding on the Brasil visa... its either $100/$140/$200 depending on the website, and it's just to see the Brasil side of Iguazu Falls... worth it or not? hmmmmmmmmmmmm. After we went to the travel agency, we printed off our buquebus tickets, and got a milkshake and medialunas at a cafe near Plaza Italia. We had mashed potatoes and something else delicious for dinner, though I don't know the name. Now it's time for shower and bed. Got to get up early for Uruguay tomorrow. And oh yeah. As of 11pm tonight, I will have been awake for 39 hours straight. Major sleep time.

06/24/2010

Today was fantastic (as you can probably tell since I started writing this at 5:48am my time). Got up, went to class. Class was a little difficult today, but mainly just because I got my class changed to 9:30-2:30 and I'm adjusting to the teacher change and making up homework from the first day. I had a delicious milanesa de queso (cheese, fried, goodness) and "sprite cero" for lunch. After class, I went home and tried to get tickets for the ferry to go to Colonia, Uruguay this Saturday. After an hour or so of the website being stupid, I gave up. Michael and I walked up and down the main street in Belgrano... had a cuarto kilo (1/4 kilo) of ice cream, and some medialunas de manteca (buttery, sweet, pastries). We went to la calle florida (really awesome street market for miles downtown) and I exchanged my jacket (thankfully), as well as bought a few Argentina shirts for the family. We tried to buy tickets for the ferry again, but still not working. We decided just to get them in person tomorrow instead. I got some diet coke and peach fizz "wine" at the supermarket and some of us had a couple glasses of wine. I did my homework, and had dinner at 9 then some DELICIOUS jello (and I don't even really like jello). Four of us went to a club called Lost tonight (the hot spot on Thursday nights). We got there at 1:45am.... and get this... it was basically empty... except for the breakdancers... the party really didn't get started until 3 am at least... and I danced until 5:30am... for the last hour or so with a sexy Latin boy whose name I still don't know (the men are VERY aggressive here)... then we took a taxi home. I had one single drink, which was relatively not too expensive, that consisted of at least 2/3 if not 3/4 alcohol. One drink was plenty. Now my clothes and hair smells like cigarettes and pot (everybody, and I mean everybody in this country smokes whenever they want, wherever they want, including inside buildings... and marijuana is basically legal). Gross. Either way, it was a fantastically fun evening of not a single ounce of sleep! It's now 6:02 am... time to shower, drink a TON of coffee, then go to the last day of class this week!

06/23/2010

Today, I got up and went to the university for my first class at 11am. We had class until about 12:15, and talked about what the class would be like and bought our book. We had a half an hour lunch, where some of us in the class went to a nearby cafe. I had two empanadas (meat pies) and a coffee for about 5 USD. After lunch, we had class for another couple hours, and talked about two different verb tenses. We had another short break and went to the cafeteria in the university. For the remaining part of class, we spend working on conversation with the verb tenses we covered earlier. After class, I bought a shirt at the bookstore (which turns out is too big... they wouldn't let me try it on, and I can't return it) and talked with the travel agency about going to Punto Tombo (to find out there are NO penguins at this time of year, at all). Then, I walked up and down the main street in Belgrano for a while, bought some delicious pastries, then took the subway to la calle florida (big street vendor place). I FINALLY bought the Argentina soccer jacket I wanted, but when I got home I noticed the writing on the back that says "Argentina" is crooked, so I'm going back tomorrow to try to exchange it. I also bought a Spanish periodic table, aka the coolest thing EVER. We had chicken and potatoes for dinner. Exhausted = bedtime.

06/22/10

I noticed this morning the hair straightener I purchased here yesterday is 110-240 volts, HELL YA, it works in Argentina and the United States, all I need is an adapter for the outlet. YAY. Also, my padre Luciano let me borrow an Argentina phone. If for some reason you want to contact me: 11 3773 0598. I also have my regular phone though, which is better for international calling/texting. Anyway. Today was CRAZY. Got up and went to the university to take my placement test at 10:30am. After the placement test, we all sat around and talked for a while, then got our results. I placed into intermediate II (there's beginner, int I, int II, and advanced) which I'm quite pleased with... basically the equivalent of 300 level college Spanish. Unfortunately, I got put into the 11am-4pm class (which puts a slight hamper in my day and trying to travel), so tomorrow they said I could try to change classes (hopefully to the 9:30-2:30 class). After that, a few of us went to the travel agency to get prices for a few trips. We were wanting to go to Iguazu, Calafate/Ushuaia, and possibly Mendoza. I decided Mendoza isn't worth it, since the bus ride is so long and I really, really hate red wine (many wineries in Mendoza). I REALLYYYYYY wanted to go to Calafate (where the glaciers are), Torres del Paine (a glacier park in Chile), and Ushuaia (the end of the world, the southernmost city in the world, aka basically Antartica... and... where the penguins are). Too bad a ticket alone is about 850 USD (2500 pesos) and from June 15 through August, it's so cold and harsh that they don't even really do glacier tours in Calafate or the train ride excursion to Ushuaia. I'm actually quite disappointed. At least that means I have to come back to Argentina in the summer sometime :) ... We're definitely going to Iguazu for a weekend though (only about 200 USD for hostel, bus, breakfast, dinner, transportation, etc). Maybe we'll come up with another fairly cheap weekend trip... I NEEEEED to see the penguins, maybe Puerto Madryn or Punto Tombo... not so far south like Ushuaia, where I'm fairly certain it's cold enough for some emperor penguins. Around 2:30 we left for the game. I've learned pedestrians really don't ever have the right away here. Ever. It's going to be a miracle if I don't get hit by a car at some point because the drivers really don't give a crap if you are in the street when they want to drive (and there aren't really cross walk signs, or stop signs, at least that are obeyed). Trying to take the subway to the game was jam packed crazy. Because today, Argentina played Greece in the world cup. We went to watch it in the Plaza de San Martin in downtown Buenos Aires. They set up this gigantic screen outside and the entire city shuts down (stores close, the streets are empty)... and EVERYONE, and I mean everyone, piles onto this hill to watch the game. and it's NUTS. Completely, utterly, INSANE. (see facebook pictures). And of course, we won 2-0. The first goal Argentina scored, there were confetti cannons, one of which went off right behind me and covered me head to toe in confetti (yeah... facebook pictures). After the game, 5 of us went to a very late (6:30pm) lunch at a cafe. They gave us menus in English... we were shocked. But then we realized there were also Spanish menus and that the waiters had somehow guessed we were all American even though we didn't say anything when we walked in. lame. I had a submarino (hot milk, and you put a chocolate bar in it) and a steak, ham, and cheese "sandwich" ... which isn't actually a sandwich that can be eaten with your hands. The guy behind the bar was staring at us the whole time, laughed when we noticed the Spanish menus, etc, etc... he wouldn't stop staring. THEN, they tried to scam us. They charged us 176 pesos for an approx. 150 peso bill. Yet, us being smart Americans, figured out that the bill wasn't right, and confronted the waiter, who went back to the bar and talked to the guy who had been staring at us the whole meal, then came back with our 150 peso bill and said NOTHING. YAH. we win. No scamming Americans. So after the odd lunch experience, we took the subway home. This super adorable dog followed me home almost all the way from the subway to my house. Maybe he'll be there in the morning waiting for me to get up. I decided I should try to clean my clothes of the confetti from the game. Well, there was confetti in my hair, in my hood, down my pants, in my underwear, under my t-shirt, in between my boobs, in my socks... you name it, confetti had found its way there. It took quite a while to clean up and it's still all over the floor in my room. For dinner,  we had some pretty incredible spaghetti, then sat around talking for a couple hours. No wonder my Spanish is getting so much better. I'm going to bed early tonight (granted, this means 12:30am). First day of class tomorrow!

p.s if you don't have facebook (ahem), you need to make one to look at my pictures. or use someone else's facebook to look at the pictures. seriously. some of them are quite incredible.

06/21/10

Today, I got up around 10:30, then went to look for a travel agency place to figure out my upcoming adventures. Today in Argentina was flag day, so all the shops were closed. I then bought a new hair straightener, due to the fact that mine gets extraordinarily hot even with the volt converter (and another girl in the group had her hair straightener actually catch on fire.... i decided not to risk it)... 250 freaking pesos. not cool. oh well. It's also nice that the girl who left today, left the blow dryer that she bought here. Jacob (freshman guy in the group who doesn't speak much Spanish) and I went to Lujan today. It was about a 2 hour bus ride from the plaza. We saw the gran basilica (WOW... facebook pictures soon, but they don't nearly do justice... the place rocked). We couldn't find the zoo after we saw the basilica, so I practiced my Spanish in getting directions. Most people here speak to me in fast, normal lingo because apparently my Spanish is so much better it actually sounds decent. After some nice guy gave us directions, we took a bus a few miles out of time to zoo lujan. Now, for this experience, you've GOT to see the facebook pictures. yes. it's real. I touched an elephant, baby tiger, BIG tiger, and lion, held a vibrant pretty bird (not sure what it's called), and rode a dromedario. seriously. yes. real. wild animals in some sort of petting zoo. I also had a camel give me an entire face kiss. Pretty awesome. We caught the bus back around 6:30, but it was so crowded we were sitting on the floor. I was expecting the same fare as getting there, but neither Jacob nor I had colectivos (coins)... only dollar bill type money.... WELL, guess what, the bus doesn't take dollar bill type money........... GREAT. The bus driver let us on anyway, well, not exactly, we were already on the bus and driving before he realized we didn't have the kind of money we needed, haha, and his Spanish was very very odd... I told him to speak slower because I didn't understand.... he was a jackass and spoke faster in some sort of Spanish-Portuguese mix. So we sat on the bus and everyone looked at us weird. The bus driver got off at one of the stops, bought us tickets, and had us pay him back. Quite an experience. We made it back for dinner, and had some delicious breaded chicken thing and salad and talked about what we did today. My host parents also said how much better my Spanish is after just one day. How awesome is that. My host padre Luciano also is letting me borrow a cell phone for local calls or text messages, which is great. After dinner a couple of us went out for submarinos (a better version of hot chocolate) and alfajores (the best, most fattening dessert ever) because today was a COLD day. Time to sleep now. Placement Spanish exam tomorrow.

06/20/10 - Day 3

Today, I woke up 5 minutes before we had to leave for orientation. We still made it on time. We met Claudia, the site director for the program here, and she gave us a map, and then we took the subway downtown. We saw many sex hotels (yeah... weird I know) and an actual porn cinema (also strange), and the broadway-style theaters, the obelisco, the supreme court, and many other parliamentary buildings. Claudia told us a story about the obelisco, when a few years ago Argentina did an AIDS campaign and put a giant condom on the obelisco (see google images for this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Condom_on_Obelisk,_Buenos_Aires.jpg)... let's just say a lot of things are accepted in Argentina that are way out of line in the U.S which is really interesting and awesome... We went to two different street markets, and had lunch at a FANTASTIC restaurant. I, of course, had steak. Now, this steak was massive (pictures on facebook soon) and yes, I ate the whole thing... and it was only 37 pesos (less than 10 dollars). Talk about awesome. Claudia left to go back to Belgrano, and most of the group stayed out and did some more shopping at the street market. Around 4:30, two of us went on the tourist city bus tour (a little expensive, and cold, but worth it). We sat on the open top deck of the bus and it drove around for about 2 and a half hours to all the touristy places in town. very beautiful. again. see facebook pictures. Dinner this evening was pastries and coffee, literally. super delicious. and then we had 1/4 kilo ice creams (that's quite a large amount of ice cream).. yummmmmmy. We came back to the house and ate ice cream and talked for a few hours. We hung out at the house and went to bed around 2:30am. Big day tomorrow!

Day and Night 2

Today, after sleeping for 7 hours and getting up at 12:30pm, a group of us took the subway to Pueyrredon (la recoleta district). We went to el cemetario de la recoleta.... WAY FREAKING AWESOME. This cemetery is where all the rich/famous people are buried and all the tombs are above ground. Most of them you can see inside and see the cophens, or the staircases leading underground to the cophens. The tombs are extremely extravagant (see facebook at sometime in the near future for photos). After that, we went to the market and looked around for a while, had lunch around 4pm (delicious ravioli.... HUGE italian influence here), then went back to some shops and the market. I bought a leather purse (leather is super important here) and then we walked through the recoleta district some more. We went to the University of Buenos Aires law school (super beautiful), saw the Museo de Bellas Artes from the outside, and saw a cool solar powered giant flower statue thing.  We made it back to the casa around 8:15pm, then relaxed before dinner. We had asado for dinner (grilled meat, veggies, deliciousness), and alfajores for dessert (cookies with caramel in between, covered in chocolate... so good... definitely needing to go to the gym when I get back). We left at 10:45pm for "una milonga", where we watched locals tango and a live band in an old abandoned building, super cool. We got back at 2:30am... now time for shower and bed. Orientation tomorrow. Buenas noches.

Night 1

So I'm expecting a quiet, laid back night on my first day here.... but of course it's Buenos Aires, so the following story should be somewhat expected. So after my nap, a few of us that live in the house went to lunch (3pm). I split a pizza another girl... quite delicious. The england/algeria world cup game was on in the restaurant (the place reminds me of wings, but much more upscale). After this, we all just walked around for a while, got "Guia T" (city guide to the bus system), and made it home around 6pm (meals here take quite some time)... relaxed for a couple hours (remember it gets dark early here in the winter), then had dinner at 9pm (same time every night... and doesn't end until around 11pm). The dinner conversation is always lively and funny, and generally discusses liberal issues not accepted in the U.S. (sex hotels, transvestites on the street corner... the usual). After a fantastic dinner (great convo, great food... fries and beef), we all went to a going away party for Jacky (a guy who's been here for 5 months, leaving today). Now, since it was mine and Caitlin's first day here, we weren't really planning on a long extended evening. This idea... of course didn't last. We partied the night away at another student's own apartment, with people from the U.S., Argentina, France, and Italy.... we taught them the drinking game flipcup and had a great time....the girls kicked the boys asses at flipcup... por supuesto (of course). This was a party unlike any other, equipped with entertainment such as a fight (in a language containing english/castellano/portugues/frances), extreme drama, crying, laughing, music, dancing, yelling, stumbling... the American drunk times ten... at least. The shenanigans lasted (for me, Caitlin, and Michael... who all live in the same house) until 5:00am where we were BY FAR the soberest individuals.... for the rest of the crew.... probably more like 8 or 9am this morning. I noticed my ability to speak castellano significantly improves after a few drinks... haha. We walked home (not too far) from the party... made it home by 5:30am... then SLEPT. Lets just say... that was a FANTASTIC first evening.... I'm sure there will be many more to come. It's 1:30pm here now... and we're about to leave for El Cemetario de la Recoleta. Chau!

Day 1

So I'm fairly certain that was THE longest flight of my life from Dallas to Buenos Aires. In total, including Seattle to Dallas, 24 whopping hours. Business class from Dallas to Buenos Aires = awesome. FREE drinks (alcohol included), a 4 course meal, and reclining seats... not like I actually slept with all the turbulence, or the fact that I'm fairly certain it's just impossible to actually get a good nights sleep in any kind of airplane seat. Customs was super smooth, got my bags, paid (probably) way too much for a taxi and spent an hour in traffic getting to my host family's house. My host parents are really nice, quite funny. There are a lot of students living here, the host family basically runs a "residencia para estudiantes" or residence for students. I've met 4 people so far, 2 of which have been here since January and leaving this weekend. But we're going out tonight and they're going to show me around the neighborhood: in English, thankfully, so I actually know where I am and how to get places (the accent here is very odd). I NEEEEED to sleep so bad but I can't fall asleep, plus I want to be able to sleep tonight. I'm having quite a difficult time standing up straight, probably because I was sitting for HOURS on end and have intense jet lag. Beware, if you travel this long, to a country in which it actually takes effort to carry on a conversation, your brain will be overloaded and confused to the point where your English doesn't even come out quite right. haha. So far so good though. :)