Che Boludo

Bueno. This week went by super fast. We had more in depth and interesting orientations, including Argentine political history lessons, individual meetings with an academic advisor, and security briefing from the people at the U.S. embassy. On Tuesday my host brother came with two of my American friends and me to Palermo, which is a short subway ride from my barrio. We walked through the lovely botanical garden there and then visited the Jardin Japones, which I think is the biggest Japanese garden outside of Japan. After that we had a quick lunch at a cafe, where I ate a delicious brie and arugula pizza. Wednesday morning we visited the Universidad Torcuato di Tella, which is one of the most prestigious and expensive private colleges in Argentina. It was nice, but I decided not to take classes there because it is about a 50 min. subway ride / walk away and supposedly is set up very much like colleges in the U.S.

Yesterday all we had planned with the program was a short academic meeting with an advisor, so in the afternoon my friends Ed and Hanna (from Wisconsin) and I went back to Palermo to see the BA Zoo. But first we stopped for lunch at another of my guidebook-recommended restaurants. The Rio Alba was a nice parilla, but a little more expensive than we had anticipated. It is interesting that in Argentina there is a kind of cover charge for cubierto (silverware) and bread that gets added onto the bill at sit down restaurants. Also, you have to buy mineral water if you want water, they don't serve you tap water automatically or even if you ask. Anyway, Ed and I shared this huge rack of shortribs served on a sizzling minigrill. I have never eaten so much meat in my life, but it was delicious. Meat doesn't come with any kind of side here unless you order it, so it's always pretty much straight steak whenever you get it. On the way to the zoo we saw Barney wandering around charging people to take their picture with him (as you can see in the picture..which I did not pay for of course). The zoo was extremely interesting. First of all, you could get way closer to the animals and there was much less fencing in general than in the U.S. Also, feeding the animals was encouraged, with stands to buy general food and little holes in the fences to stick your hand through. The general scene was groups of children throwing food pellets and hitting animals in the head. They also had some interesting cages and set-ups for their "rainforest" building and other themes. There were random kangaroo-like things, cats, birds, and ferrets running around everywhere on the paths as well.

After the zoo I headed home to get ready for the big family dinner we were having. My host mother Claudia invited her other three children and their spouses over to get to know me and eat the summer sausage and wax cow filled with cheese I had brought them as a gift. Her mother was also here, as were the 1 and 4 year old kids of her youngest daughter. Needless to say, it was a lot of people, and I was a little nervous. I really had a great time though, and especially enjoyed trying to talk to the kids, because I was having a very hard time understanding the rapid fire conversation of the rest of the family and keep everyone's names straight. Everyone loved my food, and my host mom made a big show out of explaining it and cutting it up, which was funny. Everyone also wanted to see where I lived in an atlas and talk about various states they had seen in movies. We had crackers, meats, pate, and cheeses with some kind of Argentine beer for an appetizer, and then Claudia brought out homemade empanadas (little pastries filled with meat, onions, egg, etc) that we ate in the living room. On the outside they look exactly like little pasties (Mom).

This morning I successfully took a bus over to Puerto Madero, the fashionable new area along the Rio de la Plata where the Universidad Catolica Argentina is located. We had a little orientation and then signed up for classes manually, filling out forms, flipping through pages and pages of schedules and speaking with faculty advisors for two hours. It was kind of a mess and very stressful. The buildings are absolutely beautiful, very new and modern with outsides that look like brick warehouses along the water. I plan on taking at least 2 classes there, but I'll have to see how the shopping period goes. The education system here is completely different, in that students have to pick a major right when they enter college and then take pre-set classes pertaining to that major the whole time. There are no electives / the concept of liberal arts and literally all the times, days, and teachers are predetermined for them. That makes it a bit hard for international students to enroll. Also, if you take a fourth year poli sci course, for example, that means you'll be with students who've had three entire years of only poli sci, which is a bit intimidating. As much as I'd like to be fully integrated into regular classes with Argentine students, the classes set up specifically for foreigners are starting to look more and more appealing...

This afternoon I've just been resting and packing for my trip to Bariloche tomorrow. I did go for a run in the park I've gone to with Fran, which was really relaxing and interesting as always. I got lost coming home. I also picked up my laundry (at laundromats here you can't do your own laundry, you have to just drop it off and then you pick it up all clean, dry, and folded in these big bags). Very interesting (and nice I guess, if you're not OCD about color separation / not drying certain things, which I am to some extent). My Castellano (what they call Spanish here) is definitely still improving, although there were points during the week when it was just too much and I just had to go away from people and stop talking. I'm getting more used to the weird voseo commands (contame, accent on the a, not cuentame, for those of you who speak Spanish) and learning more slang words everyday (che boludo is a greeting like "hey stupid," but used with friends). Well, thanks for reading, chau.

Finally photos

Hola mis amigos. It's been a busy first weekend in BA. Friday we had our last day of intensive orientation, where we learned a lot more about the different universities in which we can take classes and also our upcoming trip to Bariloche, a beautiful place in the southern lakes region of Argentina. Check out the sweet hotel we'll be staying at...www.amancayhotel.com.ar/English/index. Friday night after eating this meat and potato dish with my family at 10:30 I met up with some people from the program and we went out to this bar on a trendy street of bars, clubs, and restaurants across from the famous Recoleta cemetery. It was so weird to be able to order alcohol at a restaurant! I had some kind of dark artisan beer from Argentina. We sat outside and watched all the beautiful people walking by for awhile. Then we went to a 1:30 AM showing of Frost/Nixon in English with Spanish subtitles. I had wanted to see an Argentine film but apparently the movie theatres here show movies from the U.S. almost exclusively, which is really too bad. When the movie got out we decided to try and walk back to our apartments because it seemed well lit, but we ended up getting really lost, walking onto this dark, dead street with sketchy looking men lurking around, freaking out, and calling a taxi. Then the taxi driver misunderstood the first address, went way the wrong direction, and we thought we were getting kidnapped for a second or something haha. But I eventually got home...around 4:30!...so it was okay.

Saturday I slept till noon, and when I got up neither my mother nor my brother was awake! Around one I met up with my friend Katie who lives nearby and we walked about 25 minutes over to the Plaza de Mayo to meet up with two other girls. The weather was a little cooler so we sat in the plaza amidst the flocks of disgusting pigeons for awhile. Then we went to the famous Cafe Tortoni nearby, where the author Borges and other important Argentine literary and political figures have gathered for over a hundred years. We had a leisurely lunch, and I got to know a girl Kara from Boston who loves Euchre, Anna Quindlen, and Mass in foreign countries, so I think we'll be spending some more time together! After lunch we went to the beautiful Metropolitan Cathedral on the Plaza de Mayo, which looks like a government building from the outside, with its big concrete columns. We happened to get there at just the right time, so we saw the changing of the guards at the tomb of General San Martin, a national hero and the liberator of Argentina, Chile, and other South American countries. Our next stop was the Casa Rosada, or Argentina's equivalent of the White House. This is where the president works (but she doesn't live there). It was so unlike the U.S., because you could just walk right up to the building and go in for a free tour. The tour was in Spanish and I didn't understand a lot, but the various rooms inside were gorgeous. On my way home I stopped to get some photocopies made of my passport that we need for our visa or something. I went to this little open air Libreria, where a single man and his little son were working. I didn't have enough cash and they didn't accept credit cards, so I said I'd come back Monday, but the guy insisted he do it right then and said I could just come back and pay him on Monday. It was in my neighborhood and I came right back after getting more money in my apartment but it was really nice of him and characteristic of the little family-owned shops in the barrio. Saturday night for dinner we took the subway out to Palermo, a trendy barrio a little farther away. After wandering around in the rain for awhile we settled on this parilla called Don Julio that was recommended in my guidebook. There were a lot of locals there, but we also saw some other people from the program. We met some girls on a different program from NYU and this one girl had just been almost robbed at knifepoint when a man pushed her into a doorway and tried to take her purse. She screamed and sprinted away but the guy cut her hand. It was really scary. Two girls on our program have also already been robbed. I feel safe most of the time, but we keep hearing about all of these incidents, most of them in "safe" neighborhoods, not when people were alone, and not very late. Anyway, the restaurant was awesome. They bring you a glass of complimentary champagne while you wait for a table. Then there was bread and these great spice sauces for it. We got a bottle of white wine, and I had the beef tenderloin, which was excellent. Everyone who got steaks loved them. There were six of us at dinner. We got our food around midnight and then just sat around talking and relaxing for another hour of two, as is the custom. It was really rainy, so we decided to just get taxis home. When I got home around two, I was quiet coming in, but Claudia and Francisco were up and wide awake. I stayed up looking at pictures of family trips with Fran and listening to his favorite American music (Bryan Adams: Summer of '69 ha) for another hour. Then he was going out to get these alfajor cookies at some little convenience store for Claudia and himself. They wanted to get me one, but it was past 3 and I insisted I had to go to bed!

This morning I woke up and went to Mass at this cathedral near my apartment called San Nicolas. Claudia and Fran had gone last night, so I went by myself. It was very interesting, although I didn't understand most of it due to sitting in the last row, extreme traffic noise, babies crying in front of me, the echo in the huge room, and last but not least, of course the Spanish. After church I met up with two girls from my program so we could do this picture project we were assigned in our Spanish class. We had to go around taking pictures of our barrio, Recoleta, with certain themes and we'll have to present them tomorrow. Then we got lunch at a cafe called Carlitos near the cemetery and I had delicious ham, egg, onion, and ricotta crepes. I had never talked to the other girls before but they are from Barnard and Penn. It is fascinating the kind of social/fashion/overall personality differences between students from the coasts vs. the midwest and public vs. private schools. My three best friends I've made so far are from the midwest of course! After our lunch I walked through the cemetery by myself for a bit and bought this delicious ice cream cone from the well-known Freddo chain. I also wandered through a Sunday feria (fair/open air market of sorts) by the Recoleta Cultural Center. Then I walked around trying to figure out my way home without a map. I'm really starting to get my bearings a little bit. I stopped and walked through a grocery store, studying all the various kinds of foods and the few American brands. I bought a Spanish language Newsweek at a kiosk and some plums from a street vendor. It's so fun to just explore by myself, as I've never been somewhere long enough to actually get to know the place without a guide and a big group. I'm now feeling confident using my Spanish at stores and in various social transactions with locals. I absolutely love my area and walking around the lovely parks, plazas, and tree-lined streets. Sunday mornings are eerily dead here, and there was barely anyone out when I was walking around. Now I'm back in my room relaxing and chatting with Fran. I hope to go to bed early for once tonight, because I have another busy week ahead! Maybe I can get the Oscars on TV here. Oh, and I also (hopefully) added some photos to prove I'm actually here!

revival of the awkward moment for jordan: When the two girls and I were taking pictures in this park, there was this group of Argentines our age standing around dancing and clapping. This one guy had a boombox and a stick of incense. All of a sudden they made a train and came over to us, circling us and grabbing at us to start dancing. They were just going crazy and shouting and touching us. We asked them why they were dancing and one girl said, "Por la alegria!" (for happiness). We didn't know what to do they just surrounded us and kept singing and jumping around. One guy started to dance with me and the girl took a picture of us in which I look absolutely traumatized and we're using it for the "tension" theme for our project. But it was sweet.

Ravioli and Wine

Hello again. Today was a long, tiring, yet really great day. We had an essay placement test at 9 this morning that could have gone better, but oh well. After that we had a long break so I went with some people to get pastries at this little bakery, and then we walked back to the Plaza de San Martin that we saw yesterday with the tour guides. At 12:30 we had another long session on academics, but at 2 we were done for the rest of the day. I wanted to try a restaurant out of my guidebook just to do something recommended. Other people were kind of hesitant, but I convinced a group of about 10 to go try it with me. My guidebook describes Juana M as "a hip basement restaurant with minimalist chic decor, down to earth parilla (grilled meat) fare at good prices, and the best salad bar in the city." It definitely lived up to the description. For about $12 I had ravioli filled with pumpkin and chicken in a spinach cream sauce, unlimited salad bar that had every vegetable, sauce, dressing, and side you could think of, and a third of a bottle of fantastic white wine. Everyone absolutely loved the place, and we spent a leisurely two hours enjoying our feast and some English conversations. I think I've found a few good like-minded friends in the group now who I can definitely see myself spending a lot of time with. After lunch four of us decided to walk to the Plaza de Mayo, which is very famous and right in the heart of the "centro" by the Casa Rosada (where the president works), the legislature, etc. We took a detour there down the pedestrian-only, touristy, shopping streets of Lavalle and Florida. It was 104 degrees today, and the streets were just ridiculously crowded with people. It was dirty and noisy and hot but super interesting. It reminded me a lot of the crowded outdoor shopping aisles in China. When we got to the Plaza we sat on a bench and people-watched for awhile to rest, because my feet were literally bleeding in my new shoes, which was very painful and unfortunate on a day when we walked probably 10 miles. It was my first time taking the subway on our way home, and it wasn't nearly as complicated or unpleasant as I was expecting, so I think I could take it alone fairly confidently now. When I got home I rested for awhile, drank a ton of water, and talked with Francisco. Around 9:15 we left to go running in a park. The program directors are always telling us not to go in parks at night because they're very dangerous but Francisco explained that in this park there'd be a ton of people running because the heat is more bearable after the Sun goes down. We took a bus to the park, which is on the border with Palermo, because I hadn't taken one yet. The system of stops is very confusing, you have to have coins (which are extremely scarce in the country--when I bought a drink the other day I just didnt get my thirty five centavos in change because no one has any), and the buses themselves are dirty and hot. However, we got to the park, which was actually like 3 big parks separated by roads, without incident. There were probably hundreds of people there--running on the wide paths, walking dogs, playing soccer under small lampposts, playing the drums, lying in the grass watching the stars or the crazy traffic whizzing by on all sides. It was unlike anything I'd ever seen. A little bit like Central Park. Parts of it get sketchy around 10ish apparently, and Francisco made us avoid the last cross street after our second loop around. We ran for about forty minutes, and I barely felt tired there was so much to look at. We walked home through another park and the well-known strip of posh restaurants and bars across from the Recoleta cemetery. Francisco kept quizzing me on directions and bus stops, and I asked him random questions about the city and how to say certain things. We've really become comfortable with each other and he is very patient and companionable. We were passing people seated at an outdoor restaurant and Francisco suddenly got very excited and quietly told me to look at a blonde woman sitting near the street. Turns out it was Lilita Carrio, a famous Argentine politician and leader of the Coalicion Civica opposition party. There was a policeman standing guard about four feet away against a wall. I had just done this assignment about important Argentine political/social figures and cultural references, and literally the last name I had looked up on Wikipedia before we left was Lilita Carrio! So that was really cool. When we got home around 11 we had dinner, a ham, cheese, egg, and onion torte, with Claudia. I am now exhausted but it was a really fun day. I absolutely LOVE what I've seen of the city so far, and I am not by any means a city person. I was completely overwhelmed after one day in New York. But Buenos Aires has so many trees, and so many different styles of architecture, and so many historical plazas and statues, it's totally different. I'm feeling more and more comfortable and familiar with my neighborhood. This experience is going to improve my terrible sense of direction and map reading skills significantly! Also, the fact that everything is so late and punctuality doesn't exist is kind of refreshing, and I am the most schedule-oriented, plan ahead person ever. Argentines live in the moment, for the present day, and at this point in my trip, that's all I can really do as well. I can honestly say I am perfectly content sitting here right now and I'm not worrying about my Spanish or the chaos of enrolling in classes or when I will start to be homesick or anything. I had a great day, and tomorrow I will wake up and have another one. The city is doing wonders for my attitude! Well, it is very late again. Actually, very early for here...Francisco just left to go out with friends...but late for me. Chau!

Dia tres

Hola!

I'm typing now in my bed sweating profusely with the fan blasting and the window open because it is SO humid here. It has been incredibly hot...not that I'm complaining. I don't even know where to begin...I'm having a great, great time so far. Yesterday was the first day of orientation with the other students in my program. All of the orientation activities are being held in this old Italian palace, about a seven minute walk from my apartment. A lot of other kids have to take long subway or bus rides to it, so I'm lucky. Basically at orientation, which was also today and continues for the next two weeks, they talk to us in Spanish about safety, the family stay, class registration, etc. It can get pretty boring, but we get breaks to wander around / eat and the information is usually very useful. The food highlight of yesterday was the ice cream (which is more like gelato) we had at a cafe after lunch. Today in the morning we went on a guided walking tour of the surrounding area, which was really interesting and focused a lot on the French architecture of the wealthy district Recoleta, although I didn't understand a lot. The food highlight of yesterday was the ice cream (which is more like gelato) we had at a cafe after lunch. I've met some more friends in the group, which is a relief. UW has the most students in the program actually, but I only knew one of them beforehand at all. I would say most of the students speak significantly better than me.

I absolutely love my family situation. Claudia, my host mother, is so accommodating and funny. I already feel totally at home. I got up, ate breakfast, and left this morning before anyone else was up, and I was quite proud of myself for making it to orientation alone, on time. I set the table at dinner and they insist I tell them what I like, choose things instead of saying "no me importa," etc. I've met Claudia's two grown daughters briefly as well as her mother. Her husband died 15 years ago. I love eating together (we didn't eat dinner last night until 11:30!) and trying to communicate. Francisco, my host brother, always laughs at me, and they are very patient about repeating things and speaking slowly. I tried dulce de leche after dinner tonight and it was really good. They drink yogurt out of a cup, put mayonaise on a lot of stuff, and eat an apple or bannana for dessert. Last night Boca Juniors had a game on TV and Francisco asked me if I wanted to watch it with him, so of course I did. He is quite the rabid fan and insisted we wait until halftime to eat. Tonight we spent quite a bit of time showing each other pictures of our friends, and he answered all my questions about the subway, where to buy certain things, etc. He also had thought Wisconsin was a city, and he made me show him Mequon, Madison, etc. in an atlas. I have this book of Argentina colloquialisms, swear words, and useful expressions and he thinks it's hilarious. Anyway, it is so nice to have someone my age around, and I told him I didn't want to impose but that I'd love to go on errands, meet his friends, go play soccer with him--whatever--once in awhile to get to know the city better and spend time with locals, not just out with other Americans acting touristy and speaking English. He promptly asked me to go running in this park in another part of the city tomorrow afternoon with him, as I'd expressed interest in finding a less populated place to run.

Well, I should be in bed, I have a placement exam at 9 tomorrow morning. Sorry for getting carried away and writing so much. Today when I skyped with some people Spanish slipped in a couple of times and it was weird to speak in English. Also, right before I fell asleep last night I caught myself unconsciously thinking something in Spanish. So I know I'm already improving, although the effort it takes to function all day in another language is giving me headaches! Hasta pronto, todos. Chau! 2 awkward moments (for you, Jordan): My host mother's mom came over to meet me. My host mother insisted I bring out my little album of family photos, which she loves to look at while telling me how young and lovely my family is. Anyway, her mother opens the book, squints down at all of us in a row at a football game, points to my face, and says "Tu padre (father)?" My host mother felt terrible and kept telling me her mom is almost blind.

My apartment building is very old and stately looking, and it has an elevator that looks more like a dumbwaiter that goes up to a tiny foyer directly in front of each apartment door, not a hallway or anything. I have to use four different keys that look exactly the same to get in (one for the outside door, one for the elevator, one for the actual door, etc.). They are all very large and antique-looking. You also have to relock every door after you go through it. I got stuck in this little box between the elevator and the apartment door with no air and no lights for ten minutes trying to open the door. So then at night Francisco made me practice unlocking and locking each door. I'm sure he thinks I'm an idiot because I couldn't figure it out for so long. Then he left me outside, went off to have a drink, and told me he'd call in a half hour to make sure I'd made it upstairs.

Estoy aqui!

Well, I'm here. Finally. I don't have much time to write because I'm at this cafe and my host mom dropped me off for a bit because they don't have internet in the house. The flights were long but uneventful. I've already met some cool people on the program who I can see myself traveling with. When we arrived in BA this morning around 10 AM here we waited outside in the sweltering heat for almost an hour for taxis to arrive and take us individually to our host families. Unfortunately I was wearing jeans. My taxi driver was CRAZY and my seatbelt didn't work so I was quite nervous. The drivers are really bad here. We drove into downtown on the Avenida 9 de Julio, which has like 14 total lanes of traffic both ways! My apartment is pretty much right in the middle of everything, a great location. There is a ton of traffic noise and people walking and old, tall apartments surrounded by stores and cafes. It is the steretypical city feel, but more charming than I expected. My host mother Claudia is so nice, and was so welcoming initially that I barely felt nervous or awkward at all. My room has a desk and lots of closet space. I share a bathroom with Francisco, my host brother who is 20 and a student at the Catholic university in BA. He also seems very nice and eager to speak English ha. They were very amused by the cheese and sausage I brought. They have a maid, Olga, who is in the house from the morning till like 4:30 every day, cooking all the meals and cleaning. It's really weird because they don't seem that wealthy. Claudia introduced her as part of the family, and they really seemed more like friends than employer / employee. The maid looks about 90 years old, no kidding, and my host mother is older than I expected as well.
This cafe I'm at right now, La Mala Cara, is playing American music right now, sadly. Sheryl Crow is not really setting the mood I want at the moment... Well, I have a very scheduled week of orientation and Spanish tests coming up. I also have to figure out if I'm going to be able to steal someone's WiFi or something, otherwise my Skyping might be very limited. Hasta luego!

Night before

Well, I can't believe I leave tomorrow already. I don't know if I'm more nervous or excited. Had a minor panic attack when we just realized ten minutes ago my flight leaves at 12:30, not 2:00 as we'd been planning for. Also had some problems keeping my luggage under the 50 pound weight limit, and I can't take a couple things I'd like to. Exciting news....one of my best friends from Madison, Danny, just bought his ticket to fly down and visit me over his spring break / my birthday in March. He'd been saying he was going to come for a long time but I never took him seriously! So that's something really nice and unexpected to look forward to about a month in. Hopefully he can also bring anything I forget! Thanks for all the support these last couple weeks and the positive feedback on my blog. Some people asked me about commenting, and I think the easiest way is to select Name/URL and just type your name and leave URL blank. I changed the settings now so that comments should appear automatically, I don't have to approve them. I expect this first week to be crazy busy and stressful, and I'm also going to try to avoid contacting people right away and getting really homesick. But I will try to post at least something saying I got there safely and whatever. Next time you're reading I'll be in Buenos Aires! Ciao!