Mar del plata

Mar del plata was so much fun and another great adventure. We were supposed to leave Buenos Aires at 1:30am but there was an accident outside the city so our double decker bus didn't show up until 3:00am, true argentine time. On this bus there are two levels. The bottom level is for "first class" with chairs that recline all the way down, and then the top level is for not first class...Those seats did not recline so much, I mean they did but not really enought to get comfortable. Those 6 long hours on the bus was the first time I couldn't just fall asleep anyhwhere. I thought about bringing my blanket but at the last minute didn't, maybe that was the difference. :) Should I not have shared that with everyone... So our hostel was 3 blocks away from the beach. It was the first time I had ever been to a hostel and it was the greatest experience of my life. We met people from England, Denmark, France, Brazil, Paraguay, Germany, and Argentina. That night we had plans to go out and find new bars/clubs but we had so much fun with everyone, we just stayed in the backyard talking until 3:00am. We also made a communal dinner with the 6 of us. We only spent $5.00 per person and ended up having more food than we needed. The first day we went to the beach and most the girls just layed in the sun all day. They said the water was too cold. But for me the Atlantic Ocean was warmer than anything I'd swim in at home, so I was in the water practically all day. Fun fact...it was the first time I'd been in the Atlantic Ocean. I had also brought my soccer ball along. So when we met up with the kids from England we played for a good hour on the beach. Then the next day was even better. The Argentine guys we meet at the hostel were surfers. So they came down but the surfing was terrible so they just hungout on the beach with us. We ended up playing 3 on 3, girls against guys. It was so much fun, and we definitely gave them a run for their money but we lost 4 to 5. We then took the long journey home Sunday night, and arrived back in Buenos Aires at 1:00 monday morning.

left to right:

Lucho, Nicole, Camille, don't remember, Lauren, Lipi, Bri, Me, Molly, Branca

                                                                Hostel del Mar

 

So that Monday we got back there was a reggae night at a outdoor club/bar and there were drum circle performances. It sounds wierd but apparently it's really cool. Here's a link if you have any interest:

http://exposebuenosaires.com/la-bomba-del-tiempo/

And I say apparently because the group was supposed to all meet up and go. We were even meeting the English kids here because after Mar del Plata they were going to Buenos Aires for 10 days. And most of the group did except for molly and I. I had looked up the address online, found the bus we needed to take and the exact stop to get off at. But for some reason google gave me directions to the opposite side of the city... And we were already late, so we did not make it. But instead we walked home and found a great ice cream place. After the show everyone left to go to a bar, so we ended up meeting them there. Our new argentine friends also met us there and we hung out until 2:30 again. It's so much fun to practice spanish and be able to carry on real conversations. Lipi, one of our friends is a salsa teacher and Lucho is a martial arts expert. On friday it was Lipi's birthday so he invited us out with all his friends. It was so much fun. We went to a bar/club that played nothing but spanish music. We danced all night until 4:30am, when they kicked us out. Then saturday and sunday I did nothing but lay in the sun all day. Every weekend there's a Recoleta fair with hundreds of handmade clothes, jewlery, art, and food. There were tango performers, just dancing away in the park, as well as a puppet show. You could just sit for hours watching everything around you. If you ever come visit, you will need to check this out.

This has basically been it. Molly and I have been walking to class instead of taking the bus for the past few days. It's about an hour walk but I love it. I think mostly because class doesn't start until 10. If it started any earlier I don't think I could get myself to do it. And what I really love here is that walking an hour is no big deal. But at home if i saw that where I needed to go took an hour, I would have said, screw that I'll take the bus or "brett can i have a ride"...  :) (Brett thank you by the way). I'm currently on my last week of spanish class and have finals on thursday and friday. Then I leave for Patagonia on Monday. I'm so excited! Then in two weeks I officially start my semester. I signed up for 5 classes:

1. Culture of Latin America
2. Literature of Latin America
3. Tango!!!!!
4. Cinema
5. Advanced Grammar

Classes, adventures, and Argentina

So it's been awhile since i wrote my last blog but it's just been crazy here. I started classes a week ago. We have one spanish class, 5 hrs a day. We had to take a placement exam and were placed into either basic, intermediate 1 or 2, or advanced spanish. I was placed into intermediate 1 and at first I was ok with that. I knew I could have done better on the test to place higher, but that seems to be the story of my life. However I'm only a 1 1/2 weeks into the class and it's terrible. Well i don't want to say that because that's just too negative. But it's slow and repetitive. All we have studied is Present, and two past tense forms. And for those who don't know. We learned those my second year in spanish. So a nice quick review is all that is needed. My only concern is to get up to par by march so i can take my real classes in spanish. So i'm going to have to stick it out and practice on my own. But one great thing is that we have maybe 30 min of homework a night. I don't remember the last time I had this little of hw. It's Great!!!

But besides school I have made a bunch of new friends from all over the country. One girl grew up in France, moved to Washington DC when she was 13, and now goes to school in Canada. I've been out a few times to the bars and boliches (clubs) and they are a lot of fun. Friday night i went out with a bunch of friends to a bar and we talked until 2:30am. Then I was planning on going home because I had to leave at 8 for a group trip. But my roommate and I had talked earlier and even though we were going out seperatly we wanted to meet up by the end of the night and take a taxi home. So I got ahold of her and she said she was going to crobar, one of the biggest clubs in Buenos Aires. Coincidently my group was as well. So I decided what the heck, it'll be fun! We arrive and there's a 50 pesos cover fee. I was kind of hesitant because that was my taxi money home but I figured i'd meet up with molly and be able to split a taxi home. But as I walked in I realized it would be practicly impossible to find her. There were two full floors of dancers, with a VIP section and a crazy strobe light. I ended up sticking around until 4:30am, with no luck in finding molly. Luckily I ran into a friend from class and he loaned me money to get home. I had no idea how far away i was and how much money i needed. But that's what adventures are all about right? So I finally get home and alseep by 5:00am...

That sat morning I needed to be at the train station at 8:45. The ISA group was going to El Tigre. Which is a river town. Basically the only way to get to your place is by taking a ferry. Anyway Molly and I were planning on leaving at 8:20. But I was so tired I slept straight through my alarm. Lukily I woke up around 8 otherwise we wouldn't have made it. I woke molly up twice before going out to get coins for the bus. And both times she fell back asleep. So when I went out I bought her coffee and when i walked into her room, I'd never seen someone get out of bed so fast. She apparently came home at 6:00am and found out later she never was at the club in the first place. We made it to the train station in time, met up with our group and then took an hour train ride to el tigre. To get to our destination we had to take a taxi ferry, that took us up and down the river and then eventually to our almost deserted beach. Here are some pictures:

This was friday night

El Tigre is very famous for rowing. There must have been 50+ wooden boats along the water. The bigger boat behind was full of food, water and soda. The boat would bring groceries straight to the docks along the water. 

And this was the beach we got to lounge around on all day. 

We spent the entire day on the beach just hanging out, eating, drinking smoothies and laying in the sun. And even though it was a lot of fun, I really had a difficult time just sitting and doing nothing. I'm just not that type of girl who wants to sunbathe all day. I was ready to play some soccer or go expore the woods behind us. There were also a lot of boats on the water towing intertubs and water skies. But it was a successful day because I did not get burnt at all!

I was so tired from the night before that there was no way I could go out. I went to bed early and slept a whole 11 hrs. The next day Pilar, my host mom, took us to the pool with her kids. It was a lot of fun playing and goofying around with the kids. The rest of the week was just school nothing too exciting. But on wednesday a group of us went to the ecological reserve. It's about 850 acres of low land right by the city. And if you look one way you can totally forget that you are even near a city. But as soon as you turn around the 20 story buildings quickly remind you. It was a lot of fun though. We walked about 3 miles through the trees seeing all sorts of birds, lizzards, and wild dogs. My favorite were the parrots. (say sarcastically) However the great thing about this adventure is that the path was covered in gravel, but big gravel. (I don't know how else to explain it). But basically large enough for me to step on and roll me ankle. So I rolled my ankle once no big deal. But then at the end we decided to take a short cut through an already beaten down path. However to get down to the field we had to slide down a hill. Normally no big deal, but it was just steap enough that is was difficult to walk down unless you did it at a little run. So that's what I did. But when I got to the bottom, I stepped on rock and rolled my other ankle. But this time I face planted. So when i woke up the next morning, I had two slightly swollen ankles, and two bruised and scrapped up shins/knees. The sad thing was that it wasn't even a great story to tell when everyone was freaking out in class. Oh well.

I woke up to thunderstorms and pouring rain this morning. It was great. First time i'd seen rain, and I mean real rain in a long time.

This weekend should be fun too. We are going to Mar del Plata, basically a beach town. We are leaving tonight at 1:30am and taking a bus (with beds) there. There are 6 of us in our group. But then there are a bunch of other kids going was well that we know from class. We are staying in a hostel right on the beach and then coming home late sunday night. Will be a fun adventure

The Grand Tour

Domingo fue interesante (Sunday was interesting). My host mom woke us up at 8:30, made us toast and we got on the bus at 9:30 for our 10:00 Orientation.  And when I say "us" I mean my roommate and I. Her name is Molly and she is from Ohio and pretty awesome. She plays soccer and snowboards. So we had been on this bus (#41) the day before so we knew where we were going. But apparently different #41 buses have different routes. I thought I had figured out the bus system fairly quickly but I guess not. We finally noticed and got off in another city. we were already 30 min late for our meeting. So we found a taxi who took us directly there. However I was in such a rush I didn't look at what he gave me in change. The taxi ride cost 11.75, but when I gave him twenty he only gave me back 2.25. That's my mistake and i guess i learned. The orientation was alright. Mostly just scaring us to make sure we stay alert at all times. For example a main way people rob you is by "accidentally" pouring mustard or mayonnaise on your backpack and then offer to help clean it off. Once you take off your backpack they steel it and run...The ISA office suggests to tell them you like the mustard and run away :) And never talk in english in public areas. Thieves always prey on the Americans.

One thing that I have noticed is that there are no clocks anywhere in the city. Not even in the classrooms. And bus stops only have the number of which bus will stop there. Times the buses come? forget it. Buses can come anywhere from 5 min. to 40 min. Or 3 buses with the same number will all come it once. I never knew a bus system could be so tricky. But at the same time it's kind of fun figuring everything out...and scary. I have to go to the downtown police station to get my student visa on Wed. all by myself. So far I've either been with a group or my roommate. And to get there I need to take a bus, two subway lines, and walk 10 or so blocks. And if it's anything like the last two days I will need to be leaving two hours early so if I get lost, i'll have some extra time.

Then after the orientation we had almuerzo (Lunch) with empenadas. They are like thick croissants with different fillings in them. For example I had one with Ham and Cheese, and the other with chicken. But there were also meat, Italian, caprese, and vegetarian. Then after lunch we went on our  city tour. The first stop was el cemetario de Recoleta. It's about 5 blocks from where I'm living. It's beautiful and enormous but it cost 5,000 a month to stay there...weird statement huh? Here are some pictures.

We then stopped at Florida St. where no cars were allowed for about a mile and you could see nothing but an outdoor market. There was the normal clothes, earrings, jewelery, purses, and shoes all brightly colored. But then there were also tango dancers, mimes, and Argentina food. It was just fabulous. You could spend a whole day there. Then we drove around the city a little more and went to La Boca soccer field. Everything is painted blue and yellow in honor of their team. Then just a block away there is an entire neighborhood with colorful painted walls. There is so much culture to be taken in. But then only a few blocks away from that are the worst slums in Argentina. It's really interesting how the area can change so quickly. After dark it is not very safe according to our tour guide. Here are some pictures of the colorful neighborhood.

We went to other places but these were my favorite. 

I would like to say that I was able to be in buenos aires more than two days without getting burnt...but that would be a lie. I was probably in the sun no more than 2 hours on and off and somehow still burnt my shoulders. My host mom lectured me (in spanish) about fair skinned people like me need to put on sun screen but then gave me Aloe.

My First day

So my parents really wanted me to start a blog and I wasn't going to do it at first but I had some extra time. So here is goes...

I left Friday morning luckily without any complications. As we left for the airport an ISA representative called to tell me that my flight was cancelled from Dallas to Buenos Aires but turns out she was mistaken and all was good. I flew from Seattle to Dallas and then had a 3 hour lay over. However because of the weather we boarded an hour late. Then once on the runway it took another 30 min because three trucks were needed to de-ice the plane...again. Then the 11 hour flight started. I was holding it together pretty well until i started to think about my grandpa and how friday morning was most likely the last time I would say good morning to him, and goodbye. I love you Grandpa.

So I arrived in Buenos Aires at 10:30am. There were six or so other students on my flight, so once we landed we all got together and hung out until the rest of the students arrived. We finally left and met our host families around 2. I'm not going to lie I was pretty disgusting. At this point I had been traveling for about 24hrs straight and i forgot to put deodorant on the morning before. So you can imagine... There are 60+ students in the program and everybody here is from all over the country. There are people from CA, OH, OK, AL, TN, KY, ME, NE, TX, CO, GA, and IL.

So my host mom...her name is Pilar and all I can say is that she's adorable. She's about 5 ft. but full of Argentine flair. She's a single mom with two boys who are 7 and 8 years old. But I haven't meet them yet because they are at their dad's place this weekend. There is also a maid Julia that lives there 4 days of the week, who cleans and makes our bed weekly. I live on the 6 floor of an apartment building with a bus stop right in front. And I was so excited to find out that the place did have an elevator, so I didn't have to carry my two ridiculously heavy bags up six floors. But this elevator is so much cooler. It's one of those really old ones that you have to open the gate on that floor and then the other one to the elevator door. Then shut both, push the button and so on. Pilar gave us our own keys to the place which all of a sudden made it feel so official. I have a room about the size of a dorm room (but don't have to share it), with a twin bed, closet and a desk in it. I also have two big windows that open and bring in the noise, smell, and wind of buenos aires. Me encanta! (I love it). Here are some pictures.

The view from my room. 

Two blocks away there is a large park where people have picnics, play soccer, run, and roller blade. There are some bikers but roller blading is a bigger thing down here. I'm pretty impressed on how much i can actually understand. Pilar speaks spanish and english but for the most part speaks only spanish and I can understand about 85% of what she says. The only problem is I'm lacking conversational skills, but i'm working on it. I learned two new words Ché which means "hey, what's up" and Dale! which means "ok, let's do it!" I also learned that pedestrians do not have the right of way here and I mean "DO NOT!" And buses rule the road. It's not quite as crazy as Rome driving but I would still never want to drive here in the city. So I've been taking the buses everywhere. Each trip only costs 1.20 pesos which equals to about 30 cents U.S. So you know how normally, if you are stopped at a stop light, it's normal to inch your way forward waiting for the light to turn green? Well here they inch a few feet forward. And at one point a lady was crossing right in front of a bus when he "inched" forward and he started yelling at her for getting in is way.

So my first night I was so exhausted. I took a siesta (nap) from 6-8, had dinner at 9 and then was asleep by 10:30. Normal night life doesn't start until 1:00am and the music starts playing in clubs at 3:00am. It's going to take a while to get used to this.

My first post...

I have 20 hrs before I leave and I haven't packed a single thing yet