Final Thoughts: Chile and Home

I can't believe my semester is almost over and classes have ended! Where did the time go? This past week I went to visit my twin brother and his friend Connor in Santiago, Chile for a weekend... only a hop skip and a jump from Buenos Aires. Once I landed in Santiago, they picked me up from the airport and we went straight to this cute restaurant named "Como agua para chocolate" but had to sit next to the door. Then the worst happened. I put my purse from the plane with everything in it (passport, student visa, ipod, camera, wallet with all my credit cards and 100 dollars in cash, sunglasses etc. )on the back of my chair once we sat down to eat and lo and behold when I turn around to grab my camera it was gone. Someone had walked in to the restaurant and, since I was the closest to the outside door, grabbed my purse and ran-- without me even noticing! I had to go to the Embassy the next day and get an emergency passport but that whole trip was dampened because of that tragic experience. Other than that, we went on wine tours, skiing, to the beach town of Valparaiso and Viña del Mar. Here are some pics...


After my trip to chile I went back to Buenos Aires to get all of my things and say goodbye to my host-family I have come to know as part of my real family. This experience has not only opened my eyes to how similar people are across the globe, but strengthened me as a person by pushing myself past my comfort zone and becoming much more independent. I am really going to miss my life here and my family and friends I have made but will most definitely go back to visit or even live there in the future. If you are reading this blog wondering where you should study abroad or if you should study abroad, I highly recommend it and challenge you to choose somewhere that will expand your horizons whether the place speaks a different language or, in the case of Argentina, is MUCH more open and vibrant than the place I grew up. Go out and explore!! THIS IS THE TIME TO DO IT!



Here's my welcome wagon when I landed in DC! Mama, Sam, Francesca and my brother Andy.

An Argentine Experience

SO I made one Argentine girl friend and her name is Fiore. She has been begging me to come to her home town of Junin about four hours away in the province of Buenos Aires so finally this past weekend I said yes. After a 5 hour train ride we made it to the province and were greeted warmly by her mom-- the most bubbly, hyper person I've ever met. I didn't know the moment I stepped off the plane I would be a celebrity because I was the first United States citizen in Junin! I had to defend my country to the core being surrounded by people who like to consider themselves "americanized" yet have so many problems with our country and mentality. Other than that, I had a fantastic time going to Fiore's "quinta" which is a house about five minutes from her house "in the country" with a pool. We went shopping and hung out with her childhood friends. This was the first time I was truly immersed by the language because in Buenos Aires there are so many U.S. and English tourists that you speak spanish some of the day but could get by with English in most situations.

After this trip I made a concious effort to only speak spanish :)

IGUAZU WATERFALLS!

One of the wonders of the world, the Iguazu waterfalls lay on the border of Brazil and Argentina. Most people agree the view from the Argentina side is the best so I decided to not pay the $200 to cross the border. I went with my two best friends I met through the program, Irene and Eve, and we stayed at an amazing hostel with a swimming pool and night activities! Since we were only there for 2 days we went straight to the falls the first day. When we got there we took a boat to go under the waterfalls and got drenched. Turned out to be a bad idea because it was just turning into winter and we were freexing and wet for the hours that followed the boat ride! Regardless it was so amazing and there were soooo many rainbows! After that we went hiking on the island in the middle surrounded by waterfalls and saw the biggest waterfall called "La Garganta del Diablo" or the Devil's Throat. It was spectacular and I have never EVER seen so much water rushing down to a deep fog. I can't even explain it but here are some pictures.

Catadora de Malbec

Just got back from wine country in Mendoza. Amazing. It was absolutely gorgeous and I learned a lot about tasting wine. This was the second and final program trip and we left on Friday morning at 4am by plane almost to the border of Chile. We went wine tasting, hiking, biking, and white water rafting! The landscape was beautiful with the Andes surrounding Valle Grande and we ended the trip with a campfire and dancing.

Primo Connor comes to visit!

So my twin brother's best friend Connor is studying abroad in nearby Santiago, Chile. This weekend he decided to come visit Buenos Aires but his other friend wouldn't put him up so I told my host family my cousin "primo" connor is coming to stay with us! haha They were so excited and then once he came they loved him even more. He gets along with everyone and, according to my host family, looks "just like me!" We had a great time going out every night and hitting up Puerto Madero, Palermo, the Obelisco, Recoleta Cemetery, Tigre and Plaza Italia. It was great having a familiar face with me even though he wanted to do something every minute of the day. It was exhausting but really fun. Here's some memories:

Trip to Tandil

Went on our first program trip. Because malaria is currently spreading in the northwest near our originally planned trip to Jujuy, they changed it last minute to Tandil... four hours outside of Buenos Aires and known for one boulder they have that is balancing off a cliff. Riveting, I know. Check out the pictures. All-in-all good time and great company.

BOCA MI CORAZONNN

So during my time here I have found a fantastic pastime that happens to be the national pastime... soccer. To try to explain my admiration for this sport and the passion of the fans is near impossible but I will try. In the program we were able to chose an extracurricular and I chose to be in the soccer league. Made up of mostly guys (some american, most argentinian) we play every thursday at this indoor arena close to my house. We've become good friends and one of them had access to tickets to the Boca Juniors vs. River Plate game... the biggest club rivalry in the world.

The day we went we got to the stadium four hours in advance but was still extremely packed to get in. After two and a half hours we were finally making our way to the front of the line near the "Bombonera" (Boca's stadium) when the entire line began to push forward. Barracades were coming down and suddenly I could not move, nor did I have control of where I was going. Since I was the only girl in sight, man were fighting other men jsut to get to the front and the push got worse. All of a sudden I could barely breathe because I couldn't move my ribs which were being crushed by those around me and the police began to throw tear gas bombs. My eyes began to sting and I threw my head into the bodies around me to try not to breathe the air. Police on horses came through beating people in their path and broke the line up. Luckily, I was on the side allowed to get in to the staduim. The rest had to go home.

Once inside the stadium we were lucky enough to be under the roof of the tier above us. I say we were lucky because the small section reserved for River fans were the most hardcore fans of all. The tier above were throwing metal objects, cardboard boxes, and urinating on whoever was below (and not under the roof). I have never seen anything like it. Fútbol makes people crazy down there and weirdly enough, I LOVE IT! Por eso, soy de Boca.

Here's a song they sing

por eso yo te quiero dar boca mi corazon
yo te sigo a todas partes
gracias por salir campeon

quiero quemar el gallinero
q mueran todos los cuervos
y la guardia imperial.

Por eso vos vas a
cobrar river sos un cagon
eso no son los borrachos son los p...
del tablon.

Translation:
That's why I want to give you, Boca, my heart
I'll follow you anywhere
Thanks for being champions

I want to burn the hen house (River's stadium)
That all the pigs die (another opponent)
and the Imperial guard

You're going to pay River
You're a piece of shit
They're not the drunkards
They're the bitches of the entire league

You could call it passion, love, or just plain crazy-- but I love it. Here's a clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cm1to_089ng

CLASSES BEGIN

Can't write much cause this is my busiest week so far and we're about to eat dinner (yes, at our house and in this culture they eat at around 11pm) but here are the classes I'm taking.

Seminar on Argentine Reality (history, tango, family life, fútbol, etc)

Seminar on Service-Learning (I'm working in the biggest ghetto in Buenos Aires where the biggest crimes are gun violence and paco abuse-- a drug worse and more addictive than crack-cocaine... wish me luck!)

Radio Workshop at the University of Buenos Aires (making a radio program with argentine students... the UBA is free for everyone and the classes are HUGE! I'm excited about this one.)

Spanish classes (Grammar and listening/conversation)

and A TANGO CLASS! Since the beginner class was full I may have lied with my dance background and got into the intermediate class where the average age of the students is about 83. Can't wait.)

Here's a pic of what the UBA looks like!

EL FIN DEL MUNDO

This past week I went to the END OF THE EARTH in Tierra del Fuego at the southern tip in Argentina. If you didn't know already, Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world that stretches under Brazil and to the east of Chile. a big group of us went to Ushuaia to check out the glaciers and penguins and could see Antarctica from a telescope! Luckily we went when it was just turning fall so it wasn't as cold as it can be in the dead of winter. The first day we went on a boat tour of the islands that surround Ushuaia which are occupied by penguins and sea lions! There were also beautiful majestic views of the Andes mountains and a pretty lighthouse. Here's some pics.The next day we went to see the Glacier but it was too cloudy the entire weekend to get a good view at the top of the mountain. So instead, we went hiking in the snow with our tennis shoes and froze to death. I'll explain the rest of the trip through these pictures...

This was taken on the boat ride the first day... amazing! I've never seen penguins!


Sunset the first day we were there on our way back to the hostel. Magnificent.


Our hike the next day to see the glacier that was clouded over


A 4X4 tour on day 3 with the best parrilla lunch after we drove through the river!


Our last day we hiked for 6 hours to see even more beautiful views and wild horses! Here's a really cool tree formed by the intense wind...

All in all great trip and something I've never seen before. I highly recommend Ushuaia to whoever is in Argentina-- just don't go in the winter! Next week classes start = no more travelling for awhile. Stay tuned.

Dad and Barb do BAires

Weekend with dad and barb… very… interesting. They don’t speak a lick of Spanish so I am exhausted translating everything that is going on. One thing I have learned thus far in Argentina is to expect that nothing will ever work right so you’re not disappointed when it doesn’t. They, on the other hand, did not know this about the country that is broadcast to the world as the Europe of Latin America so, naturally, we had some obstacles. When the service in restaurants would take longer than an hour to get our food, or when the subway system shut down for no reason, I would have to explain the culture and how we’re not in the US anymore.

Other than that, we had a great time going to the Recoleta cemetery, out to great dinners, having a traditional Jewish dinner with my host family, and an amazing tango show that made me determined to take a tango class. Now they are at the border of Argentina and Brazil seeing the world famous Iguazu waterfalls.

Visas and Uruguay

Wow, a lot to say. Friday we all woke up at 4am to finally get our student visas so we can stay for more than the 3 month tourist visa allows. It was a verrry eye-opening experience: people had been camping out for days hoping to be of the first 500 they let in daily. If you're from any other country in South America you get into one line, but since we are American citizens we are treated as royalty. I was extremely embarrassed when we skipped the line of the people who had been there for hours and days and when straight to the front. Granted, it still took so long to go through the process just to get a paper I could have made at home saying I'm a student and resident. Because of our weak planning, we missed our 4pm boat to cross the Rio de la Plata to go to Punta del Este in Uruguay (only 3 hours away!) and had to take the 9pm boat which got us to our destination at 3am after the 3 hour bus ride after the boat trip.

Punta del Este was BEAUTIFUL and we stayed at a hostel run by hippies. Although we were only there for 3 days we managed to experience the nightlife and 2 of the beautiful white sand beaches. It is almost the end of summer so it's not as crowded as it was and such a great escape from Buenos Aires's hustle and bustle. Here's my new friends Eve and Alex on one of the beaches. Under that is a pic of the cutest hippy kid in the world who lived in the house we stayed at...

WEEK ONE: FAMILIES

WE JUST GOT OUR FAMILIES!! Our home-stay families came to pick us up at the hotel and when they called my name, I saw the nicest happiest elderly lady with her arms wide open waiting for me. Her husband is a replica of Santa Claus and supposedly they live in a Jewish orthodox neighborhood. Maybe I can get in touch with my roots while I'm here! I didn't know there were so many Jews in a Latin American country but I guess it makes sense with its high German population. Anyway, Marta and Osias helped me with my 3 heavy suitcases and situated me into my own room. I think I really like them. ALSO I've made friends with some other "flacsitos" or other people in my program and have realized everyone is from an ivy league school except me. Dear lord. Here's a pic of the fam!

IM HEREE!

Just landed. I don't know anyone here and had to make my way to the center on the city from the far away airport Ezeiza. It's a beautiful, dirty, crowded city and about 78 degrees. Once I made it to the hotel where we are all meeting everyone was already situated taking naps. No one knows me and I hope that changes soon cause i'm preeettty homesick! More to come.