Alex is back from the states, and brought me a laptop!! YAY!
And thank god that my neighbors have unlocked wireless.... I've been sitting in the living room, near the door, so I can get internet. Mine is coming tomorrow or Monday!
So I've been having fun on it, and showing my host family all the pictures and stuff. I just video chatted and showed them that. They're all amazed!!
Tomorrow is the first day of spring here, and that's celebrated by all the colleges not having classes, and instead, all the students go get drunk in the park. I'm excited.
Besos
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Taco Tuesday
I had my first Taco Tuesday experience last night, and wow, was it crazy. It all started when a class mate and fellow FLACSITO invited me with him to go have some tacos after class, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. So we walk into California Burrito Company (it looked JUST like Chipolte... exactly... same idea too, and spicy food...which is UNHEARD of here.) We ordered our drinks, which came with 2 peso tacos (66 cents each) and began the night. One margarita led to 4 more and the entire restaurant filled up with Americans. Everyone in the place got wasted and we ended up playing flip cup with the owner. It was a shit show. From there we went to another bar...then to a boliche (dance club). To make a long story short, I left the boliche at 3 am... It was Tuesday. I´m a winner.
The best part was today when I was talking with my host mom. She totally justified the whole situation for me... she said (in spanish though) "well, i know you are here to study (I have a test in my University of Buenos Aires class on Thursday and chose to party rather than study) but you are also here to meet people, and that takes time, and sometimes you have to give up some things in order to meet people and get accustomed to the culture. That´s what you did last night"
Well said Mariela.
I´m going to go "study" now... that might or might not involve a bottle of wine. (shared with becca.)
Alex comes back tomorrow and I´ll finally have a laptop!!! YAY! I just need to get internet connection in my house, but then I´ll be set!
The best part was today when I was talking with my host mom. She totally justified the whole situation for me... she said (in spanish though) "well, i know you are here to study (I have a test in my University of Buenos Aires class on Thursday and chose to party rather than study) but you are also here to meet people, and that takes time, and sometimes you have to give up some things in order to meet people and get accustomed to the culture. That´s what you did last night"
Well said Mariela.
I´m going to go "study" now... that might or might not involve a bottle of wine. (shared with becca.)
Alex comes back tomorrow and I´ll finally have a laptop!!! YAY! I just need to get internet connection in my house, but then I´ll be set!
Monday, September 17, 2007
WHO WHO eee!!! (Jujuy)
This weekend, FLACSO, our program took us on a trip to Northwestern Argentina. We left Thursday night, and after a 4 hour delay (I wasn´t surprised) we finally took off. We flew into Salta, spent the night there, then took off early in the morning for Jujuy. We did random tours, seeing how the native people used to live. Apparently it is the poorest region in Argentina, which was very apparent. The people lived off of hardly anything, but they were very nice and welcoming (I´m thinking it´s because we had money.) Every afternoon we visited the ferÃa, where the locals sold Andean sweaters, hats, socks and other souvenirs (for really cheap). The animal of the area is the llama, (pronounced Cha-ma) and I even ate some!! Llama steak is amazing! I also tried coca leaves and coca tea... yeah, made from the cocaine plant. Yes it was good, and no, sadly, I didn´t get any type of buzz.
Saturday was by far, the best day of the trip. We started with a very long bus ride up and over the mountains. it was absolutely beautiful and reminded me so much of Colorado. We were in the mountains and it was hot and dry and the air was clean. MMM. First we went through the canyons (which reminded me of both Colorado national monument and Glenwood springs) then the mountains changed, and it was all bare, freezing and windy. We were at an altitude of 4,170 meters, which is over 12,000 feet, so the air was really thin. They let us get out and walk for like 20 min, so I took a little hike, sat on a rock on the top of the mountain, and enjoyed the world (and views) around me. We continued up a little more, crested the mountain (yes dad, I said "...and top it out) then descended into a valley of salt flats. Here we got out, learned about how they extract salt, then a little about the history of the area...then it was play time. It was really hot and everyone was lathering on the sunscreen, cause the sun reflected off the salt, just like skiing (at this point, I was appreciating my Arab skin...). After, we went back over the mountains, had lunch, then went "treking" (hiking..kind of). It wasn´t even really hiking either. I give props to FLACSO though for making us actually get up into the mountains. There were people wearing flip flops and skirts. It made me laugh. It was beautiful hiking though with amazing views, and amazing trails. It was such a tease; it made me want my bike SO bad!! It was very obvious who was athletic and who wasn´t, the air was very thin, but the group was definitely divided in half. All in all, the day made me appreciate how much I love Colorado, how much beauty I live in, and how lucky I am to appreciate the environment around me (rather than just bitch the whole time about how much it sucked to be hiking).
I also got to meet a lot more people from my program and actually spend time with them. I realized how cool some people are, and how cool some people think they are. That´s how it goes though.
Conclusions from the trip:
1. A big group of Americans = obnoxious.
2. I am more athletic than I realize (even though I might not be in shape)
3. I come from a pretty cool place
4. I LOVE WINE (OK, I knew that before)
5. The guys in my program are all really cool and nice, but NONE of them are datable...and that´s probably a good thing considering how much drama and gossip goes around!
6. I am LOVING studying abroad and being away and learning about myself!!
Saturday was by far, the best day of the trip. We started with a very long bus ride up and over the mountains. it was absolutely beautiful and reminded me so much of Colorado. We were in the mountains and it was hot and dry and the air was clean. MMM. First we went through the canyons (which reminded me of both Colorado national monument and Glenwood springs) then the mountains changed, and it was all bare, freezing and windy. We were at an altitude of 4,170 meters, which is over 12,000 feet, so the air was really thin. They let us get out and walk for like 20 min, so I took a little hike, sat on a rock on the top of the mountain, and enjoyed the world (and views) around me. We continued up a little more, crested the mountain (yes dad, I said "...and top it out) then descended into a valley of salt flats. Here we got out, learned about how they extract salt, then a little about the history of the area...then it was play time. It was really hot and everyone was lathering on the sunscreen, cause the sun reflected off the salt, just like skiing (at this point, I was appreciating my Arab skin...). After, we went back over the mountains, had lunch, then went "treking" (hiking..kind of). It wasn´t even really hiking either. I give props to FLACSO though for making us actually get up into the mountains. There were people wearing flip flops and skirts. It made me laugh. It was beautiful hiking though with amazing views, and amazing trails. It was such a tease; it made me want my bike SO bad!! It was very obvious who was athletic and who wasn´t, the air was very thin, but the group was definitely divided in half. All in all, the day made me appreciate how much I love Colorado, how much beauty I live in, and how lucky I am to appreciate the environment around me (rather than just bitch the whole time about how much it sucked to be hiking).
I also got to meet a lot more people from my program and actually spend time with them. I realized how cool some people are, and how cool some people think they are. That´s how it goes though.
Conclusions from the trip:
1. A big group of Americans = obnoxious.
2. I am more athletic than I realize (even though I might not be in shape)
3. I come from a pretty cool place
4. I LOVE WINE (OK, I knew that before)
5. The guys in my program are all really cool and nice, but NONE of them are datable...and that´s probably a good thing considering how much drama and gossip goes around!
6. I am LOVING studying abroad and being away and learning about myself!!
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Mendoza... where all the good wine comes from
First of all, Alex's mom was in town this past week! I was so happy, she brought me down some peanut butter (much needed) and some other stuff...which was amazing! Alex and I went out to dinner with her mom and her mom's friend on Fri night, and after we went to a Tango show. It was so so so cool! I can't even explain it, but it was an unforgettable experience!! I couldn't go out afterword though because I was leaving for Mendoza the next morning (my plane left at 6 so the taxi was picking me up from my house at 4...yeah, AM).
I found out that Christy was studying in Mendoza, and she invited me out to come spend a few days with her, and Alex's mom invited me to Mendoza with them, (for a few days later) so timing just worked out perfectly... I would fly in Saturday morning, spend Sat, Sun and part of Monday with Christy, then spend Mon, Tue and part of Wed with Alex, then fly to BsAs on Wed afternoon (just in time for our trip to Jujuy with our program.) It was a flawless plan and a good time was going to be had by all....
But being in Latin america, there were flaws. I got to the airport at 4:15, exausted, and the line for my airlines was LONG LONG LONG, ridiculously long. Note: the day before, Alex had told me that my airline had gone on strike, so I called the airlines, and they said that there was no strike, and that there would be no issues... WRONG. So I'm standing in line at the airport, and look up at the screen, and see that my flight was CANCELLED. Of course it was!!
I walked over to the booth for another airlines, which had NO LINE, and asked them if their 6:30 am flight had any room on it. It did, and I paid for my ticket. I texted Alex to let her know what was going on, I mean it was 4:30, she was still out partying! She informed me that her mom had fallen, broken her arm...and she was with her mom in the hospital. She was glad I got my new flight, and she'd see me in a few days (or so she thought).
The 2 hr plane ride went by real quick, cause I slept through the whole thing. When I turned my phone on in Mendoza, I had a text saying that Alex's mom couldn't fly for a week, and they wouldn't be coming to Mendoza. Great. Oh well, I was in Mendoza and I was going to enjoy it. I walked out of the airport and saw mountains, and NO buidings. It was one of the best feelings ever. The air was clean and it was quiet. I took in a good deep breath and headed out to go see Christy.
Then on Sunday, we rented a car (I just love to do that in Latin American countries) and we went on our self-guided tour through the Andes. IT WAS SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL. I had read everywhere that it was a beautiful loop, so we did it. We saw some huge peaks, and beautiful lakes. It was like driving over trail ridge road, with even better views... (a lot of it reminded me of driving in CO) about 1/2 of the drive consisted of winding, dirt roads. We got to see the water place (think of El Dorado or Deep rock) but it was nestled in the Andes. Absolutely amazing. We had lunch and more good wine and returned to Mendoza.
Monday was even better. We had the car for another 1/2 day, so we decided to tour the vineyards. I mean, we wer at the home of Malbec, how could I resist? We dressed up for the occasion, in our sun dresses, though you could tell Christy was from the south, and I clearly wasn´t. It´s all good. We started our day at Chandon, who´s Argentine branch was the the first branch out of France. There we took an English tour and learned all about how to make chapagne... absolutely amazing. After the tour, we had a wine tasting where we got to try a few varities of champagne and wine, accompanied by cheese. YUM!
Next on our agenda was Bodega Familia Zuccardi. This bodega was starred in both our guide books, so we had to go. However, despite Christy and my map reading and navigational skills, it still took us over an hour and a half to get there! The roads weren´t labeled (at all) and the map wasn´t even close to being to scale... recipie for failure. Although we arrived at the bodega about an hour late, our reservation for lunch was still valid. We walked down a small dirt road, through the vineyards to a beautiful restaurant, where we were served a 4 course lunch, all you can eat, from the parilla (grill) with (all you can drink) wine to go with each course. It was absolutely amazing. Needless to say, we were both very buzzed/drunk for the wine tour. It was in spanish and a little less exciting. I got to try wine at its different stages, straight out of the barrels, COOL!
We had to rush home so I wouldn´t miss my bus (that I was now taking, because I was going home early because Alex and her mom weren´t coming, so my flight would have been 2 days later). I dropped Christy off at home, then went to go return the rental car. The rental guy (a cute old man) asked how I was goign to get to the bus station, "taxi" I replied...
"No, Te llevo" (No, I´ll take you!) So I ran to the hostel to pick up my suitcase, ran back, and he was waiting with my stuff loaded in the car, and a bottle of wine for me, as a gift. So cute, (I had bought wine at the wineries too, so I had A LOT of wine with me). So I BARELY made my bus, like it was starting to pull out (THE ONE THING THAT LEFT ON TIME) but I made it.
My 14 hour bus ride didn´t seem that bad, thanks to my reclining seat, 2 meals, and 2 movies.
Overall, it was an amazing trip and although it didn´t all go according to plan, my time there was perfect. It was nice to get out of the city and have a change of pace (and weather) that reminded me so so so much of being back in Colorado.
I leave tonight for Jujuy, which is a province in Northwest Argentina, with my program. It should be a very fun trip, although I´ll be traveling with about 50 americans!!
Besos a todos!
I found out that Christy was studying in Mendoza, and she invited me out to come spend a few days with her, and Alex's mom invited me to Mendoza with them, (for a few days later) so timing just worked out perfectly... I would fly in Saturday morning, spend Sat, Sun and part of Monday with Christy, then spend Mon, Tue and part of Wed with Alex, then fly to BsAs on Wed afternoon (just in time for our trip to Jujuy with our program.) It was a flawless plan and a good time was going to be had by all....
But being in Latin america, there were flaws. I got to the airport at 4:15, exausted, and the line for my airlines was LONG LONG LONG, ridiculously long. Note: the day before, Alex had told me that my airline had gone on strike, so I called the airlines, and they said that there was no strike, and that there would be no issues... WRONG. So I'm standing in line at the airport, and look up at the screen, and see that my flight was CANCELLED. Of course it was!!
I walked over to the booth for another airlines, which had NO LINE, and asked them if their 6:30 am flight had any room on it. It did, and I paid for my ticket. I texted Alex to let her know what was going on, I mean it was 4:30, she was still out partying! She informed me that her mom had fallen, broken her arm...and she was with her mom in the hospital. She was glad I got my new flight, and she'd see me in a few days (or so she thought).
The 2 hr plane ride went by real quick, cause I slept through the whole thing. When I turned my phone on in Mendoza, I had a text saying that Alex's mom couldn't fly for a week, and they wouldn't be coming to Mendoza. Great. Oh well, I was in Mendoza and I was going to enjoy it. I walked out of the airport and saw mountains, and NO buidings. It was one of the best feelings ever. The air was clean and it was quiet. I took in a good deep breath and headed out to go see Christy.
I found out later that her mom wasn´t able to travel for a week and that they wouldn´t be coming to Mendoza. Well fuck. Then I found out a little later that day that they would ALL be going home, to the US. So nobody would be coming, and I was stuck in Mendoza for a few days alone. Todo bien... almost.
The rest of the day was really relaxing... I found a hostel to stay in, then Christy and I walked around Mendoza for hours, talking, and seeing the sights. There is a huge park, with a huge lake and rowers and runners, and rollerbladers with fanny packs. I swear, this country LOVES the 80s and 90s. We went out for Middle eastern food, and had great conversation over a great bottle of wine. It was a lot of fun to catch up with my old friend!!
Then on Sunday, we rented a car (I just love to do that in Latin American countries) and we went on our self-guided tour through the Andes. IT WAS SO SO SO BEAUTIFUL. I had read everywhere that it was a beautiful loop, so we did it. We saw some huge peaks, and beautiful lakes. It was like driving over trail ridge road, with even better views... (a lot of it reminded me of driving in CO) about 1/2 of the drive consisted of winding, dirt roads. We got to see the water place (think of El Dorado or Deep rock) but it was nestled in the Andes. Absolutely amazing. We had lunch and more good wine and returned to Mendoza.
Monday was even better. We had the car for another 1/2 day, so we decided to tour the vineyards. I mean, we wer at the home of Malbec, how could I resist? We dressed up for the occasion, in our sun dresses, though you could tell Christy was from the south, and I clearly wasn´t. It´s all good. We started our day at Chandon, who´s Argentine branch was the the first branch out of France. There we took an English tour and learned all about how to make chapagne... absolutely amazing. After the tour, we had a wine tasting where we got to try a few varities of champagne and wine, accompanied by cheese. YUM!
Next on our agenda was Bodega Familia Zuccardi. This bodega was starred in both our guide books, so we had to go. However, despite Christy and my map reading and navigational skills, it still took us over an hour and a half to get there! The roads weren´t labeled (at all) and the map wasn´t even close to being to scale... recipie for failure. Although we arrived at the bodega about an hour late, our reservation for lunch was still valid. We walked down a small dirt road, through the vineyards to a beautiful restaurant, where we were served a 4 course lunch, all you can eat, from the parilla (grill) with (all you can drink) wine to go with each course. It was absolutely amazing. Needless to say, we were both very buzzed/drunk for the wine tour. It was in spanish and a little less exciting. I got to try wine at its different stages, straight out of the barrels, COOL!
We had to rush home so I wouldn´t miss my bus (that I was now taking, because I was going home early because Alex and her mom weren´t coming, so my flight would have been 2 days later). I dropped Christy off at home, then went to go return the rental car. The rental guy (a cute old man) asked how I was goign to get to the bus station, "taxi" I replied...
"No, Te llevo" (No, I´ll take you!) So I ran to the hostel to pick up my suitcase, ran back, and he was waiting with my stuff loaded in the car, and a bottle of wine for me, as a gift. So cute, (I had bought wine at the wineries too, so I had A LOT of wine with me). So I BARELY made my bus, like it was starting to pull out (THE ONE THING THAT LEFT ON TIME) but I made it.
My 14 hour bus ride didn´t seem that bad, thanks to my reclining seat, 2 meals, and 2 movies.
Overall, it was an amazing trip and although it didn´t all go according to plan, my time there was perfect. It was nice to get out of the city and have a change of pace (and weather) that reminded me so so so much of being back in Colorado.
I leave tonight for Jujuy, which is a province in Northwest Argentina, with my program. It should be a very fun trip, although I´ll be traveling with about 50 americans!!
Besos a todos!
Spring time in the city
The cold weather has finally left and it is springtime in the city. I absolutely love it!
I moved into my new house, with my new family, last Monday. They live in Recoleta, which is arguably the nicest neighborhood in BsAs. This is the neighborhood where the 4 seasons is....Louis Vuitton, Dior etc... and the Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried. Let's just leave it at that... it's really nice, and really safe.
My new family is AMAZING!!! I live with a young couple... and their 6 year old son, Oli (pronounced o-lee). He's adorable, and my parents treat me really well. I'm their first student, so they're really excited about everything, including EATING DINNER WITH ME. What a concept!? So they put their son to bed, then the 3 of us eat together and just talk. It's so amazing. I have a small room, but with my own bathroom connected to it. Its so nice. I live 11 blocks from school and about 6 from the (really really nice) gym... so I can walk, instead of taking the subway! It's just beautiful!
So it's been a lot warmer lately, but it's also really humid!! Like I will walk to class, and be COVERED in sweat...like I did walking in Costa Rica. It's disgusting. I just hope that the "summer time" here isn't that humid, but I have a feeling it will be. My body just has to adjust to the heat.
I took a walk around my neighborhood last week and discovered all the amazing gardens and grassy areas that are like 2 blocks away from my house. It was fabulous! There's a little cafe on the corner, with a patio, so I can sit out, and study, while being in the sun and having trees and grass around me. It's almost like being at home, minus all the noise, Spanish and pollution around me ;)
I'm in Mendoza this weekend (the wine country, on the very western coast of Argentina) visiting an old friend, Christy Tucker. We used to do triathlons together, since we were 7. She's studying abroad in Mendoza, and timing just worked out.... It's a long story, and it will all be in my next blog... expect it by Wednesday.
I moved into my new house, with my new family, last Monday. They live in Recoleta, which is arguably the nicest neighborhood in BsAs. This is the neighborhood where the 4 seasons is....Louis Vuitton, Dior etc... and the Recoleta Cemetery, where Eva Peron is buried. Let's just leave it at that... it's really nice, and really safe.
My new family is AMAZING!!! I live with a young couple... and their 6 year old son, Oli (pronounced o-lee). He's adorable, and my parents treat me really well. I'm their first student, so they're really excited about everything, including EATING DINNER WITH ME. What a concept!? So they put their son to bed, then the 3 of us eat together and just talk. It's so amazing. I have a small room, but with my own bathroom connected to it. Its so nice. I live 11 blocks from school and about 6 from the (really really nice) gym... so I can walk, instead of taking the subway! It's just beautiful!
So it's been a lot warmer lately, but it's also really humid!! Like I will walk to class, and be COVERED in sweat...like I did walking in Costa Rica. It's disgusting. I just hope that the "summer time" here isn't that humid, but I have a feeling it will be. My body just has to adjust to the heat.
I took a walk around my neighborhood last week and discovered all the amazing gardens and grassy areas that are like 2 blocks away from my house. It was fabulous! There's a little cafe on the corner, with a patio, so I can sit out, and study, while being in the sun and having trees and grass around me. It's almost like being at home, minus all the noise, Spanish and pollution around me ;)
I'm in Mendoza this weekend (the wine country, on the very western coast of Argentina) visiting an old friend, Christy Tucker. We used to do triathlons together, since we were 7. She's studying abroad in Mendoza, and timing just worked out.... It's a long story, and it will all be in my next blog... expect it by Wednesday.
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