todavía no gatitos

Time has started to fly by. Although the five-hour class periods have proven to get more and more boring, the excessive length is truly not that bad. Obviously I would easily give up these Spanish classes for, well, just about anything in the world, but it’s no longer a death sentence.

Uruguay is officially booked! Two weeks from right now I will be sitting a ferry taking me across the Río de la Plata. Yes, an overnight ferry/bus journey to Uruguay. I was a little hesitant at first but we get to save a night in the hostel PLUS we will be on the beach by 10AM. Not too bad. I have also begun planning weekend trips to Chile (for Lollapalooza!), Iguazú, Rosario, and Córdoba, and I hope to also squeeze in a trip to Mendoza before winter sets in!

Wednesday after school I went with Abbie and Paloma to the Jardín Japonés. It was a gorgeous,

sunny, 80-degree day…perfect conditions for an Asian landscape. On our way back we decided to be daring and take the Colectivo back to Belgrano. HOWEVER, we ended up getting on the right bus, but going in the wrong direction, and ended up in Puerto Madero…VERY far from Belgrano. The buses in BA don’t loop their routes like in most cities, so we were essentially stranded.

Feeling much more comfortable and familiar with the subway system, we sought out a Subte station and took two separate lines before finally arriving home! Luckily, public transportation in BA is very cheap ($0.27 USD for the Subte and $0.31 USD for the Colectivo), so no harm no foul. I guess the only way to familiarize myself with the Colectivo system is to take these joyrides and find my way back.

No, Harumi hasn’t popped yet. We found out the other day that cat labor can take up to 8 hours, so that will be fun. She was due on Friday, thus is now huge, uncomfortable, and meow-ing constantly. Silvia and I like to feel her stomach and feel the kittens move, but I guess earlier today when Harumi was sprawled out on the floor, Silvia could SEE one of the little fetus cats move!! Eek!

On Saturday Allegra and I had lunch at an organic restaurant called Natural Deli. The menus are seasonal and their muffins are the bomb. I love the pace of life here in Argentina. When you go to a restaurant or a café, you find that no one is in a hurry. They really savor life and relationships here, always greeting with a kiss on the cheek, spending hours in cafés and restaurants, eating slowly…the list goes on and on. Los mozos don’t even bring the cuenta until you flag them down and ask for it. At first it was a little unsettling, since I’m used to rushing out of a restaurant as soon as I finish my meal. But I am learning to live like a porteña, and savor life like they do here.

It has been raining nonstop for the past few days but today the sun came back out so I went to Las Barrancas de Belgrano—a park near my apartment—and laid out while “doing” some homework. I was out for an hour and a half TOPS and I got so much color. Sorry Northern Hemisphere for stealing your sunshine! When I got back from the park I chatted with my dear friend Meredith, who I miss ever so dearly.

Tomorrow night I am going to a percussion concert called La Bomba with some of my friends. I’m really excited; it looks like a lot of fun! Here's a video of one of their shows:



Chau y besos,
audgentina.

¡que bárbaro!

Attention all followers: I made it to 5am. Almost an official BA party animal!

palermo, parques, y polleras

Ten. Days. Is that really it? It feels like years have gone by since I last nommed on a TomBasMozzPaneen from Naples. But alas, I have many, many more days until I can savor that sweet taste in my mouth once again.

I’m definitely getting over the whole five-hours-of-class-five-days-a-week thing. It’s like I’m in high school again. However, I am very grateful that UB’s Spanish summer courses (yes…it’s summer here!!) do not come with an MPS-like homework load. By 3PM I manage to escape the dreariness of the university to soak up the sun in one of the nearby parks. It doesn’t get dark until 8-8:30ish (with the sun still fully shining until at least 6 or 6:30). And with temperatures in the 80’s every day without a cloud in the sky, who wouldn’t want to lie out by the lake at Parque Tres de Febrero after class? I. Love. Summer. I think that it is safe to say that I am not missing the Northern Hemisphere one bit. Well, except for Naples’ paninis.

Learning how to tango was interesting, to say the least. My incredible lack of both dexterity and short term memory made it very difficult to complete one set (is that the correct dance term?) of moves (again…what’s the right word?). Clearly, the dance world is not ready for my expertise. We were in a room with at least sixty or seventy other beginners, and the boy to girl ratio was about 1:25, so it’s safe to say that I am by no means a tango aficionado. Well, at least not yet.

After (not) tango-ing, I returned home for dinner and then met up with some friends for the night. I attempted to party like a local Argentine (aka staying out until MORNING), but failed by coming home at 4:30. When I told Silvia (my host mother) what time I came home, she responded: ¡Que temprano! (How early!) Yes, my host mother said this. I. Am. Lame.

However, the next morning I had an appointment to get my Argentine Criminal Record. Let’s just say I was a little…weak…(shout out Formica fam!) and thus was “unable” to make it to my 8AM appointment. The office is literally located on the opposite side of BA, requiring me to leave my house at least an hour prior to my appointment. How DARE they expect me to make it on time (…or at all) on a Friday morning? That was just an unreasonable request, if you ask me. Buttttttt, I was able to reschedule for Monday morning (at 9AM…that extra hour of sleep is KEY when you have to sit through five hours of Spanish grammar excersises).

This weekend I was able to explore the neighborhood of Palermo. I found this sandwich place in my Fodor’s Buenos Aires book (THANKS MOM!), which was AMAZING! They have so many different sandwiches and salads, and I was able to satisfy my smoked salmon craving. This weekend I also attempted to party like an Argentine, but again failed. One day I WILL come home when it’s light outside, ¡te lo juro!

I have joined a yoga studio where I will be going 3-4 times a week. IDEAL location: right around the corner from my apartment and a block from UB. I also happen to love (…LOVE) the yoga instructor so...I’m excited!

After yoga today I went to a park with a few friends and we began to plan our Spring Break (…even though it’s not spring) trip to Uruguay! We will be sticking to the beach cities (Punta del Este and La Paloma) while it’s still summer; hopefully in the fall or winter I’ll be able to go back to see Colonia and Montevideo.

Courtney Durham wants a shoutout…so here it is.

I have a midterm tomorrow…didn’t class JUST start? Ah, the downfalls of taking a month-long class for semester credits. Harumi, one of the cats in my house, is pregnant and should be having kittens any day now! Maybe I'll try and smuggle some back to the US.

Chau,
audgentina.

no soy porteña

My two month academic hiatus has officially come to an end, and while I don't officially start classes until mid-March, I have to endure five grueling hours of intensive Spanish five days a week. It's not too bad so far, but I'm being reminded everyday of how screwed I'm going to be when classes actually start, and I'll be taking a full course load of PoliSci classes...in Spanish...with Argentines. Ugh.

Yesterday was our first day of class, and we spent the mayoría of class going over el español rioplatense: the Spanish spoken in Argentina and Uruguay. Everyone warned me about the thick Argentine accent, but I didn't realize that it's more than just the accent that makes el español rioplatense difficult to understand. I might as well erase tú from my vocabulary, forget everything I knew about second person singular present verb conjugations, and change my Y's and double L's to a "sh"/"j" hybrid sort of sound. I still feel ridiculous when I attempt to sound porteña, yet when I (attempt to) speak (relatively) normally, I stick out like a sore thumb.

The past two days I have gone with my classmates to Confiteria Chantilly for our (35 minute) lunch break where they have the most delicious empanadas I have had in BA--which is saying a lot, considering I have been fed empanadas every day I've been here. You take your meals para llevar, and since we can't eat in class (starvation), we often find ourselves downing our empanadas while we power walk back to UB. And since eating while walking is something that is practically never done in Argentina, I am really struggling to blend in as a porteña.

I got a cell phone! However it took two full days to connect to the network and I still am having issues with it...such as remembering my own phone number.

I have yet to venture on the Subte (metro) or Colectivo (bus). BA is big and I am small and I don't speak porteña so I figure I'll just wait until someone can guide me through the overwhelming labyrinth of mass transit before I end up God only knows where. I say God only knows where because I actually don't know enough about BA to figure where I'd end up.

BA is new, big, exciting, and fun, but I still can't believe I'm here! There is so much I want to do already, both in BA and in South America, and I cannot wait to finally get into my routine and explore everything!

Learning how to Tango tomorrow...oh boy. I can hear everyone laughing already.

Chau,
audgentina.

shots from the city tour

Tango in the streets of San Telmo.

Buenos Aires street art in San Telmo...otherwise known as aesthetically pleasing graffiti.

Colorful buildings in La Boca.

La Boca.

"El Gaucho Argentino."

Puerto Madero.

hola!

After an extra-long winter break—aka extra quality time with my beautiful friends and loving family (!!)—I am finally in Buenos Aires!  I still cannot believe that I am actually here, and that I will be here until December.  This has always been such a distant fantasy for me, so it’s hard to believe that it’s finally a reality!

The trip down was not as bad as expected; just one eleven-hour flight and I managed to sleep the entire time.  The flight itself, however, was pretty eventful; a passenger ended up getting ill mid-flight and upon arriving in BA was immediately rushed out of the plane to the waiting paramedics.   We got in a little after 11am and I was with my host family by 2.  After taking a much needed shower, my host mom, Silvia, (also known as Cydney’s host madre!! MISS JEW MI VIDA) walked me to the ISA center for our first orientation meeting.  Afterwards, I went with Kendall and Annalise to “Forest Gump Bar” (very Argentine…I know) where we split a $20 AR (around $5 USD) bottle of wine…I’m loving the exchange rate.  After a delicious dinner tart with my host family, I met up with some kids in my program to explore what Buenos Aires has to offer at night.  Let’s just say it is MUCH different than what we’re used to in Delaware, Ohio.

My neighborhood is absolutely beautiful; the sidewalks are lined with so many lush trees that it creates a canopy over the streets.  Today we had a city tour of Buenos Aires which was so incredible but also very exhausting.  We were able to see many different neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, including Palermo, Recoleta, and Puerto Madero.

Now I’m off to take a quick “siesta” before dinner.  Missing everyone dearly! XO