Día de Campo

The ISA-planned excursions just keep getting better and better.
Sunday was our "día de campo" excursion, meaning our excursion into the countryside surrounding the city of Buenos Aires. It may not sound that exciting, but it was a great day.
(not to mention that our group keeps growing as well; a group of about 120 estudiantes estadounidenses crammed into 3 micros for this trip)

Our first stop was the city of Luján, about 70 metros outside of the city. Luján is the most visited city in Latin America, as it is home to an AMAZING french gothic church where millions of people come to worship before the small Virgin Mary statue each year. The story behind the church is that a group of gauchos, who were traveling through Argentina setting up new churches and temples, came through Luján with their animals and packs. As they were passing through, the animals stopped moving.
The gauchos believed the animals were tired, so they decided to rest for a day. The next morning, they tried to push the animals forward, but they wouldn't move. Believing the animals were too weighed down from the packs, the gauchos unloaded all their cargo, including the many Virgin Mary statues. Un-weighed down, the animals moved. So the gauchos repacked the packs differently and tried to push the animals on again.
It turned out, the animals would only move if the statues of the Virgin Mary were left unpacked and on the ground. Taking this as a sign that the land was holy, the gauchos decided to set up a church in this exact location.

We had about an hour to explore Luján, so we all headed directly to the iglesia. There was an actual ongoing mass as we entered, but because it is such a highly visited place, pictures were permitted. Which was great because I'm such a picture fiend :)
I decided to make an offering anyway though, feeling a little guilty about all the shots I was snapping. I would love to attend an entire mass service in Argentina. I'm not catholic and I probably wouldn't catch everything that was happening in a service entirely in spanish, but it would definitely be worth the experience.

After Luján, everyone loaded back onto the bus and we made our way to La Mimosa, an estancia (farm/ranch) a little further away.

We were greeted by the owner of the estancia and workers dressed in traditional gaucho garb who gave us delicious empanadas fritas de carne y huevo (fried, as oppposed to del horno, from the oven). We gathered in what I'll refer to as the backyard of la casa while we ate our empanadas and watched 2 couples perform traditional gaucho dances.
We then had an hour or so to explore the estancia before lunch.

Our lunch was an indescribable experience. An authentic asado, we were served chorizo, salchichas, chicken, and steak from the parrilla, this huge outside grill where we cook watch them as they cooked. Dessert was ice cream with boysenberries on top and, naturally, after-dinner café. After completely gorging (I swear my shorts were tighter) we sat and watched more gaucho-style dancing and then the dancers got everyone else to join in. dance party!

That was followed by a traditional gaucho past time; a game played on horseback that seemed kind of like jousting, but instead of charging another person and trying to unseat them from their horse, the riders charge what looks like a goalpost where a small (and when I say small, I mean tiny) silver ring is hanging in the center. The goal is to grab the ring with the end of the jousting pole. As the game progressed the ring gets bigger, but so does the pole, making the game more difficult.
And I was pretty distracted by the 4 year old gauchito riding around on a pony. qué lindo!

Before we left, we were given even more food. Medienda consisted of a fried torta (with sprinkles!) and an infusion of mate. It wasn't technically authentic mate, because we were drinking it without the herbs still in it, but it was delicious nonetheless.  And cue more dancing :)

Being on a beautiful farm outside of BsAs was like being back home again. There were cows, chickens, horses and soybean fields; dad would have been in heaven. Little things like this make me miss the rolling hills of Kentucky and the peaceful serenity of our log cabin, but I know I'll be there soon enough and missing Buenos Aires.

Clases a Belgrano

My first week of study abroad classes at UB is finally drawing to a close. It was strange, adjusting back to the 1 and 1/2 hour class-every other day schedule from the intensive month 5 hour daily classes. That being said, i'm actually really pleased with all of the classes I'm taking at Belgrano.

Lunes y Miercoles (Mon. - Wed.)

1. Español Avanzado B (which does not start until 2:30, oh yeah)
2. Narrativa de lo monstruoso (which I think is going to be a really insightful class about society's and literature's views of what is perceived as monstrous and abnormal in our society)

Martes y Jueves (Tues. - Thurs.)

1. Arte Argentino Contemporañeo (a really cool art history class which will be supplemented with visits to the AMAZING museos in BsAs and strolls around the city)
2. Cine Latinoamericano (because who wouldn't love to take a film class, right?)
3. Tango: the Art of Expression (the first class is about the history of tango and the second is an actual studio dance class. loves it!)

Martes y Viernes 

1. Historia de la Cultura = 8 a.m. (my only class with argentinos; both exciting and extremely daunting)

I haven't quite gotten the hang of the card swiping/attendance thing yet, but UB understands the fact that us extranjeros need a little lenience every now and then, so luckily the first 2 weeks of class are what  they call "shopping period." People drop and add classes constantly the first 2 weeks and attendance isn't counted until after those 2 weeks are up. Which is also great because textbook shopping here is COMPLETELY different than in the US. Back home, if the bookstore doesn't have your book they will order it for you and it will be in your hands before your next assignment is due. Here...everything's on BsAs time. You go to pick up your textbooks at the fotocopia (here, photocopies of books are wayyyy more popular than actually buying textbooks) and the person behind the desk might have your copies, or they might simple say "mañana." Everything is mañana...

And wouldn't ya know it, the first week of classes and St. Patty's Day would be the same week.

Not that we let that stop us. There were HUGE st. patty's day celebrations all over Buenos Aires last night, from Plaza de Mayo to Palermo. Me and Nicole ventured out around 1 a.m. (that's still considered early here) and first place we went was the irish pub next to Plaza Serrano. They didn't have irish car bombs (what kind of irish pub was this?) but they did have whisky and we got free beer glasses. And somehow, we ended up not being charged for our drinks, but neither are quite sure how that happened. 

After being harassed by some cute argentine guys, who were totally harmless btw (they wanted un besito (a kiss) if they could guess what states we were from) we made our way around Plaza Serrano where we found the rest of the girls and had a good ol' irish time :)

Though we definitely didn't get as crazy as the group on the pub crawl; at one point I witnessed one of the pub crawl director's chasing a large portion of the group and herding them back to the pack because they were wondering off aimlessly into the night.

The only smudge on a great first week was my little mishap this morning. After a short trip to the huge Disco supermercado a few blocks away, I was trying to open a package of cheese to eat on crackers for lunch. And being the genius that I am, naturally, I was using one of abuela's serrated steak knives. When cutting the package, the knife slipped out of my hand and reflexively, i tried to catch the knife by pinning it against something mid-fall. Unfortunately, that something was my leg, and I ended up stabbing my upper thigh. It was literally the funniest/scariest/most shocking thing to happen to me and for a pretty shallow wound, it certainly bled A LOT. The only good thing was that no one was home to witness my incredible act of stupidity. oh, my life. 

Life is full of learning moments; mine just happens to overflow with them. within the classroom, and without :)

SB2011 - Aventuras

First, some good news:
I have survived my first bout of Argentine sickness! (though, given my luck, I'm sure there will be many more...)
What we (we being my dad and I) first thought was a touch of food poisoning from undercooked hamburgers (from this sketch bar in Plaza Serrano; Michaela and Drew saw cheese fries and refused to go anywhere else) turned into something more serious as soon as me and dad headed out for Córdoba.
Cue the fever, body aches, upset stomach and inability to breathe through my nose.
Our sickness threatened to put a damper on our road-trip, but given the fact that we are, in fact, in argentina, driving through the beautiful countryside with the foothills of the Andes in the distance, we made the best of it.
We weren't really up to more than simply exploring the city of Córdoba, which is much bigger than either of us originally thought, but that in itself was an adventure. I may have found the loveliest avenue in all of argentina; divided by a small stream, both sides of the street are lined with beautiful trees (dark, almost black bark with light green leaves overhang the stone walls that line the stream) and stone bridges connect the 2 sides. qué lindo :)

We basically subsisted on crackers and sprite (Argentina has a curious lack of ginger ale), but on the upside, it was like a total body cleanse from all of the pan and azucar I've been eating as of late.

Which gives me a new resolution:
No more bread (or at least white flour) and
No more sugar (fruit does not count, as I firmly believe everyone should be allowed to eat as much of nature's candy as they like)

Dad flew home wednesday morning, and after packing up all my stuff to bring back to my lovely room here on Scalabrini (which I really have missed, it's my little home away from home) I completely crashed. And when I say crashed I mean full on passed out on my bed, shoes on, bed still made.
But luckily my doctor back home had the foresight to equip me with every possible medicine I might need while I'm abroad. Thank you, Dr. Meece.

Most of the girls returned from their spring break trips at various times yesterday and this morning, coming back from amazing adventures hiking glaciers in Calafate and racing down white rapids in Bariloche. We all met up at la feria en Recoleta to unwind from our weeks, browse the tents that lined the park and catch up on each other's great  experiences. I snagged some super cute earrings, but I really need to broaden my horizons (I have yet to buy anything other than earrings at these street fairs). We also saw a group of musicians playing Hindu music (I think it may have actually been prayers; someone told me that Hindu prayers are all in song form, but I don't know for sure)
Before we all left, we hit up the Museo de Bellas Artes. Art Musuems are always one of my favorite things to see on trips. I love art, but I also love the soothing silence and solitude of museums. I'm not big into abstract art, like geometric art and cubism, but there were some amazing romantic pieces that I fell in love with.

Spring break had its up and downs; but in the end the ups outweighed the downs. Yes, at one point I may have thought my immune system was turning against me and I was dying, but like most horrible things, my illness passed. But the beauty of Argentina remained. In its street fairs. In its art. In its people. and most importantly, in my mind and in my heart.

Besitos

Una Semana con mi Familia :)

So it may have seemed like I had taken a long hiatus from blogging, but I've had good reason.
My schedule as of late has been jammed packed with one of my favorite things: my family. A mere 3 weeks into my Argentine Adventure, my Aunt Karen, cousin Drew, hermanita Michaela and dad flew down to experience my Buenos Aires.
Michaela, Karen and Drew made it here early saturday morning, sans dad. Unfortunately, he hadn't made the flight because he purchased stand-by tickets and the flight ended up be completely sold out (although his bags somehow managed to make it here. airlines never cease to amaze/confuse me.)
They booked the best hotel in Palermo Soho for the week, the Palermitano. Situated smack dab in the center of Plaza Serrano, we were a short walk from cafes, restaurants and unlimited shopping all week. Not to mention that the desk clerks Pablo and Mateas were super cute and very attentive :)
Sunday, I took Karen, Drew and Michaela to la Feria at San Telmo, the huge street fair held on sundays. I showed them the Casa Rosada at Plaza de Mayo and we spent a couple hours just wondering around the fair. We met Kevin and Mark, 2 guys from Virginia who studied here and then came back to live here after they graduated. They now sell their home-made hot sauce at the feria. cuties :)
We also saw part of a movie shoot; we actually didn't know what it was til we were walking through it.
Dad finally made it down Tuesday night on a UPS jumpseat and after a long siesta, everyone was ready to see the city I'm already falling in love with.

We took the tren to Tigre, where we took a boat tour around the small town and we walked around the downtown area until Drew and Micheala complained too much about all the walking. The tren ride back was interrupted by a group of musicians in our car who brought out their drums and guitars and serenaded the tren. Michaela claimed the one with blonde dreads. If only he had smelled better...

We also took a taxi to La Boca. It's much to dangerous to walk around La Boca, so the only way to get there is by taxi. El Caminito is one street in La Boca that is tourist friendly and filled with street venders, cafes, free tango shows and the brightly colored building La Baca is famous for. The street venders were hilarious; we found the argentine version of Alan from the Hangover, complete with hand-on-hip pose.









Another vender was totally digging on Aunt Karen and took a picture of her, but then Drew got protective and put a stop to that like any good son would. We got to see 2 tango shows and Karen and Dad got extra close with the dancers.

And, even though it was only a week, we've already become regulars at a couple cafes and restaurants in
Palermo Soho.
Meridiano was probably our fave; every dish we ordered was amazing and our waiter, Federico, loved me. We even took a picture together (what was supposed to be a group photo turned into just a photo of me and Federico, and it definitely wasn't my fault.)

Now that the week's over, I'm actually a little sad they're gone. I loved girl time and shopping with Karen and Michaela and it gave me amazing opportunities to practice my spanish since none of them speak spanish. I feel like I saw more in one week than I have the whole 3 weeks I've been here just because I wanted them to see so much in the short time they had. Sure it was stressful, just trying to coordinate my schedule with all of theirs and be everywhere at once, but I loved having my family here. It gave me a taste of home in the place I'll be calling home for the next 5 months.