Looking Back part 2

Here comes part two as promised. I finished my last final today and am officially packing now. Let's just hope I can fit it all in the bags without going over the weight limit. It's going to be hard after accumulating so much junk over the past 5 months. The good news is, I'm all done with souvenir shopping so I shouldn't be adding anything else in the pile.

I left you off with the last post leaving Mendoza for Buenos Aires. I moved to a new host stay then, and the new host mom, named Muchy has been very welcoming and kind. So after doing some random sightseeing for a few days, I received a text Friday inviting me to go to Mar de Plata for the weekend. My friend Samara's host mom was going there to visit family, and she offered to drive us for free! Surprise trips are the best!

Mar de Plata is the main beach town for the province of Buenos Aires about a 5 hours drive south of the main city. Basically everyone who is anyone goes there once it warms up. To give you some perspective, the town's population is about 650,000 in the off season, and well over 2 million in the summer months.

When we got there the first thing Samara's host parents did was drive us to the port where all of the fishermen go. Of course it stunk like fish horribly. They parked the car about 20 feet from some big brown rocks, and then after a double take we realized they weren't rocks, but rather gigantic sea lions (or sea wolves as they are called here)! They were absolutely everywhere and they have no fear of people. In fact they would frequently be sleeping on the port docks where the fishermen would go to tie up their fishing boats. The sea lions were smart and knew that fishermen often dropped food, so they were basically just waiting for a feast. However, it makes it hard for fishermen to tie up when there are gigantic hungry animals in your parking spot. So, the fishermen somehow trained a bunch of dogs to chase off the sea lions whenever the fishing boats approached.

Later in the weekend, we attempted to get some quality beach time. I say attempted because it was surprisingly chilly, with lots of wind and clouds, but I still jumped in the ocean (which the currents here bring water straight from Antarctica, so it was also cold). We still had an awesome time and thankfully on Sunday we had a few hours of sunshine in order to get properly burnt like everyone should on a good beach weekend, something about that hole in the ozone layer here seems to make the sun feel even more intense.

Sunday evening, we went four wheeling on the beach, which was an absolute blast. We then continued our traveling tradition and ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner after failing to find a sushi restaurant. I think I'm addicted.   Monday was a holiday, so the roads were packed and we took a back route home. The middle of nowhere Argentina looks an awful lot like middle of nowhere United States if you were interested in knowing. Overall a really fun and cheap surprise beach trip!

I don't have much time left here, so this will probably be my last post from Argentina. Be expecting another post, two at the most summing up my whole experience, it really just depends on my motivation level when I get back. I am definitely going to miss going on so many adventures, but I am definitely ready to go home. I miss everyone so much. I'm just hoping to bring some warm weather with me!

Thanks for reading!

Scott

Looking Back

Well buckle up readers, it's going to be a long one. I should have posted a few times the last few weeks with all of the activities I have been doing, but I was lazy. Don't worry (I'm sure you are), I will make up for it in this post I hope.

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure of going to Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza is a province on the far western edge of the state, almost directly West of Buenos Aires and bordering Chile along the Andes mountain range. If any of you are fans of Malbec wine, there is a very good chance it came from Mendoza. This province is famous for its natural beauty and wine production.

Naturally, after a 14 hour bus ride the first thing me and my travel buddy, Samara, did was take a wine tasting tour on bikes. The weather was sunny and hot (perfect for me) and the scenery from the bike ride was gorgeous, with snow-covered mountains in the background and vineyards as far as the eye could see. We visited a more tradition vineyard (Bodega in Spanish) first which definitely had the highest quality of wine; it didn't hurt that they also gave us more wine than any of the other vineyards. After visiting two more vineyards, our tour guides led us to a local beer garden to enjoy some empanadas and a pint of ice cold beer. Altogether it was a wonderful day, and an excellent way to escape the craziness of Buenos Aires. We also met some very interesting people from all over the world, including some really cool Canadians and Israelis. We finished off the day with frozen margaritas at a Mexican restaurant. And if you are wondering, no I did not stumble home, I walked just fine lol.

On Sunday, we had to get up bright and early for a tour of the Andes mountains. We were more or less awake (In the case of Samara less) for the ride to the mountains. We drove over 250 miles that day, and saw some of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen in my life, including the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, Mt. Aconcagua (pronounced aconcowa). I could talk forever about how gorgeous the area was, but I will let the pictures talk for me. Strangely, our bus driver had a very big obsession with Lynyrd Skynyrd and other Southern Rock so while driving through all of this we listened to Free Bird, Sweet Home Alabama, and Fortunate Son several times (his playlist was on repeat). Not exactly awe inspiring music, but I enjoyed it. 

The picture of the sediment structure/building and bridge is called Puente del Inca and used to have a hotel/ ski resort built next to and on it, but a rock slide destroyed most of the structures. The colors are formed by sediments rising up, a lot like stalagmites in a cave. Only locals now are allowed to go near the area now to prevent any more damage. Many locals will place rocks in the water for a few days and then once they become multi colored they take them out and sell them to tourist. Pretty sweet deal. 

The highest altitude that we reached was about 10,000 feet, and it was pretty cold. We ate lunch at a very cozy restaurant built in a valley really close to the border with Chile. Crossing the border is a long process, but thanks to a relatively new process it is much easier than before. Around 100 years ago, a railroad was constructed through the mountains, but was very expensive to upkeep due to constant rock slides, so it was abandoned in 1990. You can still see the old tracks running near the highway, but large segments have been destroyed by landslides. 

On Monday, we went river rafting in the Mendoza River. Not thinking ahead, we did not bring a change of clothes or a towel. It was hot in town, and we didn't really connect the dots that we would be going back up into the mountains again where it was colder. We did, and the river was snow fed. The rafting experience was amazing, and definitely at the top of the list in terms of most fun activities I've done here, but we were freezing cold. I was literally shaking when I got off the raft, but without a doubt it was worth it.

On our final day we just wandered the city looking to entertain ourselves before the bus picked us up. Without a doubt, it was an amazing weekend, and Mendoza may be my favorite place in Argentina just in terms of the beauty of the city and the vast amounts of activities you can do there outside. This was also my first time staying in a hostel, and I definitely think it is the way to go to travel cheaply. We paid under $10 a night and the place was not too shabby.

This was part 1 of my November experiences, look for part 2 sometime in the next few days. I actually have to go back to reality a little this weekend and study for a final that will be on Monday. Thanks for reading!


Scott

Schools Out For Summer!

So far I've been enjoying my new found freedom from classes. This Friday, I'm changing host family's as my amazing host mom here is heading to the US this weekend. I'm a little bummed that I have to leave this apartment early, but it will be really interesting to live with another family for a few weeks to compare and contrast.

The final countdown has begun. After some very hard goodbyes this weekend, it finally hit me that the semester is coming to an end. The city feels a little empty without most of our group back in the US, but there are so many things to do I am keeping myself occupied. This week one of our group members has her family in town, so we went back to el Tigre to go kayaking. The weather was absolutely perfect, and I actually managed to go swimming! Being in the middle of such a huge city, it is easy to forget how tropical this area can be. Palm trees, colorful birds, and beautiful scenery filled out excursion, and I think we all enjoyed Tigre more this time around than the last. It was a much smaller group and it felt like a much more intimate experience. Plus, the train to get there only took about 50 minutes and cost only 1.50 Pesos (about 20 cents in US dollars) each way. We will definitely be coming back.

Right now I'm torn between thinking I have no time left in the city and thinking I have a ton of time left. December 7th seems really far away, but 3 weeks and a few days seems really close. I think part of it is the fact that it is so warm here. It does not feel like November in any way, shape, or form. We now constantly talk about what our first meal in the US will be, and most if not all of us are getting antsy to go home. I have definitely been playing Christmas music in my room, and may or may not be listening to it while writing this post.

Recently I have been feeling a lot of writer's block for these blogs. I feel like I have a ton of things to say but at the same time nothing comes to me when I go to write a blog post. I will probably have one more post describing my various adventures, and then start talking about the culture in general plus reflections. So, if you have any questions about Argentina please leave them below or message me on Facebook, I would love to answer them. I feel like after 4 months, I have a pretty good grasp of the culture and the people or Argentina, or at least Buenos Aires.

Before I finish this post, there is one observation that I would like to write about, the contrast you see in this country. I'm certainly familiar with contrasts in neighborhoods; you can see that in just about any major city in the US. There are rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods, good parts of town and parts where you lock the car doors as you drive through. In Buenos Aires, the contrast between the rich parts and the poor parts are huge, but they are also pushed right up next to each other. Some of the worst parts of town are literally across the railroad tracks from the nicest part of town. Here are both neighborhoods below, sorry the quality is not great but for obvious reasons I did not go walking through the bad neighborhood, namely for my mother's heart not to explode.

Some of the other contrasts were also incredible. In a matter of less than an few hours, I can go from the heart of one of the largest cities in the world, to a quiet beach town, or a tropical river delta, or rolling hills and great plains similar to the ones I'm used to seeing in KC. Living in Buenos Aires, it is easy to think that this is how the rest of the country lives, but it is far from it. Of course, you can see the changes in geography in the US as well ranging from Hawaii to Alaska, but it feels much more condensed here. This country can offer almost anything you can imagine for fun, whether you liking dancing at a club until the sun rises or exploring glaciers, you will find some of the most beautiful places you could ever imagine.

Speaking of beautiful places, this weekend I will be going to the Andes Mountains to see the tallest mountain in the Americas. Look for lots of pictures and another post next week!

Thanks for reading

Scott

Weekend Update

Well the past couple of weeks have not been full of adventures like the ones I had earlier, but they have been fun nevertheless. This past Sunday we went to a river community north of Buenos Aires called El Tigre. Before we got there, our director gave us a very quick tour of a beautiful Gothic cathedral built near the city. Once we arrived, we took a boat tour to see the whole area. Most of the people living in the area are not connected to the city by roads. They live in raised houses on the various islands created by the huge river delta that spans throughout the area. The area was beautiful, with lots of palm trees, and even some beaches on the river shore. During the boat tour we could not stop cracking up over the voice they used to give the tour in English. The tour had a prerecorded message explaining the trip in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. The other two languages we fine as far as we could tell, but the English voice was some weird combination of an Asian man and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Once we finally stopped laughing, we did learn a few interesting things about the area. Since most people are not connected by roads, they have to use boats for everything. A boat comes every school day to pick up kids to take them to school. Even more odd, they have big boats loaded with groceries that are basically floating supermarkets that go from house to house selling everything that people need. After the tour we had more Carne Asado, then went to a gigantic street market, and then went home.

The semester itself is winding down, and I only have a week left of classes. The last week was kind of crazy with finals and projects, but this week looks to be much easier. I have one final and then I am essentially done. After this week the only thing I will have left is my final for my class with local students. For local students you have a short break for a few weeks after classes are done to take your final. I would personally rather just get it over with, but at least it gives me an excuse to enjoy the city without having any classes. The final itself looks to be a little intimidating. The final is oral and given to three professors who can ask you about any reading or theme from the semester, in Spanish of course.

Before I take the final, I will be going on one final big trip in two weeks; Mendoza. It is a beautiful province very close to the Andes mountains and known to be the wine country of Argentina. We will be going river rafting, wine tasting, and also going on a day trip to the Andes mountains. I am so excited!

That is it for now. Thanks for reading!

Scott

Iguazu Falls!

This past weekend we finally took the trip to Iguazu falls in the very northernmost part of Argentina. All of us have been looking forward to it for a while, and it is definitely one of it not the highlight of our activities that we have done. Our fearless leader Raul planned everything and it was an absolutely perfect region.

Iguazu falls is in the province called Misiones in the extreme Northeast of Argentina. The area is very tropical, with numerous major rivers and rainforest throughout the province. It borders Brazil to the East and Paraguay to the West. To get there, we took at bus ride for about 18 hours each way. The trip was long, but most of it was overnight so I slept through a very large portion of us. These also weren't you everyday bus seats. Our seats were recliners with foot rests, so it was easy to fall asleep.

On the way there, we stopped at a town called Posadas to meet up with our tour guide, Nacha. We first went to an Estancia (farm) where a family produced Yerba for Mate (herbs for the tea that is crazy popular here). At the farm, in addition to their Yerba plant they had a pool, cabins, lots of food, and puppies for us to relax and play with. We spent a few hours there enjoying nature and swimming in the pool, and then had Carne Asado (grilled meat) for lunch. After that we were headed to the San Ignacio ruins.

The San Ignacio mission was the largest Jesuit mission in the region. The province is called Misiones because it had dozens of missions throughout it, all run by the Jesuits. I am a little fuzzy on my history, but the Jesuits ran this missions with the native people, called the Guarani people in the 1600's to the early 1700's. If you have ever seen the movie "The Mission" starring Robert De Niro, this is exactly what the plot is about. They even filmed the movie here. Anyways, the Spanish kicked out the Jesuits from the region in the 18th century and the missions fell into disrepair. A fire later destroyed most of the area, but impressive ruins still outline the mission.

After touring the mission, we took a drive across the province to our hotel. We stayed in cabins right on the edge of the Jungle, and it was a very nice hotel. We were very tired after a long day of traveling, so we didn't do a lot Friday night.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to head to Iguazu Falls National Park. It is a series of waterfalls fed by the Iguazu river and in the middle of the tropical rainforest. The falls are breathtakingly beautiful, and the surrounding nature only further amplifies the view. The waterfalls are not impressive due to their height, but rather for how massively wide the waterfalls are. Panoramic photos can't even capture all of the falls. I took over 200 pictures in one afternoon, and if you know me, you know that is a ton for me.

We had the opportunity to explore all over the falls. We took trails giving viewpoints from all angles, including on top of and even underneath the falls. We also took a boat adventure straight into the falls, and experienced their power firsthand. We were all soaked by the end, which felt great because of the heat, and we were all exhilarated by getting to experience such beauty.

The park itself was full of tropical animals, and we saw over a half dozen monkeys climbing trees and napping. The most pervasive animal was the Coatie, an animal very similar to a raccoon, but with a longer snout and slightly different coloring. Coatie have no fear, and I saw two of them run right up to a girl eating a pizza and grab the slice right from her hands. You have to really watch your stuff.

We left the park that evening to go look over the point where the borders of Brazil, Paraguay, and Argentina all meet up. It was a beautiful area, but after being spoiled with the waterfalls at Iguazu we were all a little bored with it. We then went back to the hotel to swim for a while before dinner. The pool was freezing cold, but we were determined to swim since most of us hadn't been in a pool since coming here in July.

On Sunday, we visited a Guarani reservation to learn about the indigenous population. Then, the long sad bus ride home. After 18 more hours on a bus, reality smacked us hard in the face at 8 AM Monday morning when our warm tropical paradise turned into chilly Buenos Aires. However, the weather here just took a temporary dip and should be nice and warm in a few days.

Iguazu falls was probably the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life, and is definitely up to par with anything Hawaii has to offer in terms of scenery. This trip was definitely the adventure of a lifetime, and I had an amazing time. Now just three more weeks of classes before I go from student to full time tourist in Argentina. It is getting really difficult to motivate myself for the home stretch, but so far so good!

Thanks for reading!

Scott

PS, the internet is not cooperating with me right now, so if you would like to see more photos, please check out my facebook page.

Un Techo Para mi Pais

This past week has been very busy. Thankfully the weather suddenly became gorgeous and it is near 75 and sunny almost every day in the long range forecast. It makes it really nice to find a park to read in or just explore the city. I am also hoping not to return to the US all pale and pasty, but we will see on that one. After this week, I only have three weeks of classes left in my semester, then I have almost a month to take a final exam, travel, and just enjoy life in Argentina. Time is flying by, and I only have about a month and a half left here which is crazy to think about.

This weekend, our wonderful director, Raul, offered us all the chance to participate in a weekend activity called "Un Techo Para mi Pais." The name of the organization literally translates to "A roof for my country" and it is a non-profit that sends groups into impoverished areas to build houses for families in need. It seems very similar to habitat for humanity, although the need here is much greater.

When Raul told us about the activity, I was very excited but anxious at the same time. He told us we would be split up and probably the only Americans in our group, which I was very excited about. I knew this weekend would be an awesome chance to practice Spanish. My construction vocabulary in Spanish is lacking however, so I was a little nervous about comprehension. Thankfully I had no problems at all and was actually surprised at how easy it was to communicate with everyone there no matter the theme we were talking about. This weekend definitely improved my confidence in talking with native speakers about anything.

The second thing I was anxious for was seeing what the neighborhood was like. Up until this point, I mainly stayed in the richer parts of Buenos Aires, which are very beautiful and safe. However, this weekend we were going into the heart of the poorest neighborhoods in all of Argentina. The poverty in these areas were unlike anything I had ever seen, and it was heartbreaking to see so many young, beautiful children walking around the streets knowing that they will not have the same opportunities that I have been blessed with. At the same time, the people there were in no way depressed or mopy. On the contrary, they were eager to talk to me about anything, and even gave me the nickname "Mr. America." They were also ready to help build the house and incredibly hard working. Without them, the house wouldn't have been nearly as easy to construct.  A strange thing that I saw in the area, was that a lot of people had horses to get around. There were horses puling carts all over the place, and even kids were riding horses everywhere.

The first morning, we played an icebreaker that was rock paper scissors with rankings depending if you win or lose. Everyone starts as an amoeba, and if you win you become a crab. If you are a crab, you can only play other crabs and rock paper scissors and the winner becomes a bunny, the loser an amoeba. Next you become a gorilla, and then if you can win as a gorilla you win the game and can leave the area. No matter your rank, if you lose you become an amoeba again. Well, yours truly was the loser of a group of nearly 40, so as punishment they wrote "Ameoba" in big black letters across my forehead. Needless to say, if me being an American wasn't a conversation starter, this certainly was.

The house itself was very simple to construct. First, we dug holes for 15 wooden support pillars in the ground.

After digging 7 holes and placing the pillars we hit a minor snag; someone in the group hit a sewer line with their shovel and broke it. Thankfully the flow was very slow and the smell was fairly contained, but the idea of what was in that hole was disgusting. We lost most of the first afternoon waiting for someone to help us fix the problem before we could continue digging.

After the problem was fixed, we were back in business. We soon placed the prefabricated floor over the pillars and next we had to put up the walls. From there, we nailed everything together and then began assembling the support beams for the roof. After that, we nailed the metal roofing in, placed the windows and door, and finally painted the house.

When we were done, the family we had built it for was incredibly grateful. They were an older couple, and the wife was deaf, but she still communicated her gratitude without any problems. The family had cooked for us, helped us build, and talked with us for three days, and I have to admit it was a little sad to leave the neighborhood Monday evening.

The whole experience felt a little bit like summer camp. We slept in sleeping bags in a big gymnasium, we stayed up late playing random games, and even had a bonfire Sunday night minus the s'mores. The experience itself was truly incredible, and I feel like I got to know a completely different side of Argentina. I would highly recommend doing something like this to anyone staying in Latin America for an extended period of time.

For me, the hard working weekend is over and I get to relax this next one in the tropical rainforest near Iguazu Falls in the extreme North of Argentina. Be expecting a ridiculous amount of pictures.

Thanks for reading,

Scott

Fuerza Bruta

This Friday we went to a show called Fuerza Bruta (Brute force). We were not really sure what to to expect, but we were told it was like Cirque du Soleil combined with a rave. When we got there we were ushered into a large dark room with no seats. The crowd was gathered towards the front of the stage. The show began and honestly it is way easy to show videos of it than describe it, and thankfully I took a ton of videos. Unfortunately, the bandwidth is terrible here so I can only put up a few videos. The first one was of a man on a treadmill. They put chairs and people on it going towards him to make it look like he is going down a city street. It was really interesting to watch.

 

The next video is supposed to represent the man running on the treadmill's dreams (I think) It was really cool and I'm not sure if you can tell by the video but the women are way up in the air going along the walls. 

 

The final video is of a pool of water they lowered just above our heads and the bottom is made of clear plastic. There were 4 or 5 women above doing different things in the water to make the ripples go in different patterns. 

Honestly the videos don't do the show justice, but just know that every member of our group absolutely loved the show, and none of us were really sure what it would be like beforehand. If you are ever in Buenos Aires, I would highly recommend seeing Fuerza Bruta.

Thanks for reading!

Scott

Gaucho Ranch

Today makes the beginning of 12 weeks in Buenos Aires, and I have a little more than two months left before I go home. These past few weeks have been really busy, and it looks like it will stay that way until most of our group leaves the first week of November. By the way, busy is good. In addition to the Gaucho ranch, we also went to mate club (like always), went bike riding in the ecological reserve built on the shore of Rio de la Plata, and went to an amazing show called Fuerza Bruta. Fuerza Bruta was in some ways like Cirque de Soleil mixed with a rave, but it is very difficult to explain without seeing it. I'm going to make another blog post about it very soon with videos. It was way cooler than any of us expected it to be.

Anyways, this past Sunday we went to a gaucho ranch. A gaucho is basically the Argentine version of a cowboy, including their near mythical pop-culture status in the history of Argentina. The ranch we went to, called an "Estancia" in Spanish, was called Santa Susana Estancia and was the home of a family of gauchos. It was similar to a dude ranch in many ways.

Right when we got there, I could not help but buy myself a gaucho hat.

Next, we got to go horseback riding. We were all really excited for this part, expecting a trail ride. However, there were a ton of people there and very few horse so the trail ride was a field that we rode in a circle around, and the whole trip took at most 15 or 20 minutes. We enjoyed ourselves though, since most of us rarely get to ride a horse, but we were a little disappointed we did not get to go on a real trail ride.

After touring a tradition gaucho home (full of creepy old toys) we sat down for a huge feast. Lots of our favorite foods from Argentina, and after a salad to start the meal, we did not see a single fruit or vegetable for the rest of the meal. Choripan sandwiches, steaks, and as much wine as we wanted to drink. After the meal, there was a traditional Argentine culture show where we watched Tango and many other local dances.

33 chickens and untold cows gave their lives for the wonderful feast

Finally, the gauchos put on a horse show for everyone to end the day. They each held a wooden stick about the size of a pencil and tried to stick it through a ring hanging in the air as they rode the raced their horses down the field. The rings were tiny, about the size of a key chain ring, and after successfully getting the ring, the men would give them to a woman in the audience in exchange for a kiss. After the show, the gauchos offered a horseback ride to any of the girls that would like to join them on the horse, once again in exchange for a kiss. Argentine men are smooth, especially gauchos. I'm fairly certain at least one member of our group was wooed.

Wooed

Look for more updates to come soon. Thanks for reading!

Scott

Colonia, Uruguay

Hello again! This week has been really fun and busy so far. My motivation level do do homework is going down as we start doing more and more touristy activities. On the bright side, 9 weeks of classes down, only 6 to go. I also reached the halfway point in the trip! It is crazy to think I have been here over 10 weeks now. I have a really busy October ahead of me so I have a feeling it will be November before I know it.

Last Sunday, we went to Colonia, Uruguay for the day. The town has about 25,000 people and was a nice change from the normal 13 million people I share the city with. The trip there was actually pretty fun as we took a ferry across the Rio de la Plata. The ship was huge and on the inside basically just looked like a gigantic airplane cabin. The trip took about an hour as we were taking the "fast boat" there. On the way back, the trip was on the "slow boat" taking three hours. The ship was full of things to entertain us though. It had a small arcade on it and we could stand on top of the ferry on the upper deck to enjoy the view of the river. About halfway through the ride, they had a small concert in atrium of the boat, and once it became dark they invited people to the top deck for an astronomy talk. Overall, traveling by boat was really nice to get there and back.

Colonia itself is a very old city with a lot of colonial history. The city was sporadically controlled by the Portuguese and the Spanish, with the British trying every so often to play there hand in the area as well. So, there is a mix of Spanish and Portuguese culture throughout the city, although the population speaks Spanish. The city itself also was directly between Buenos Aires and Montevideo Uruguay, two major Spanish cities competing for influence and power with the Spanish government. When we first got there, we were given a walking tour of the remnants of the fortress that was built to protect the town as well as the oldest neighborhoods in the area. We then took a bus tour of the entire city, and the white sand beaches mocked us throughout the entire trip as it was way too cold to swim or even enjoy hanging out on the beach. 

Uruguay itself is a relatively small country, with under 4 million people. I do not know a ton about their history, but I know that they share a lot culturally with Argentina, which is not surprising given the proximity and how much larger Argentina is. But mate is just as popular there as it is in Buenos Aires, as well as meat and the mythical idea of a gaucho (South American Cowboy)

After the bus tour, we went to eat lunch at a delicious Uruguayan styled restaurant. After talking to our tour guide, we all decided to order a "chivito." This delicious dish is special to Uruguay and is a sandwich with a slice of beef, a few large pieces of bacon, and a fried egg all smothered in cheese with lettuce and tomatoes. The sandwich is huge and everyone had trouble finishing it. If you ever get the chance to try one, try one. All of our group felt that it would be even better with a little bit of spice added to it, but alas, in this area of the world spicy food is a rare find. We finished off the trip with a quick walk through a local artisan market and then rushed back to the ferry to go home.

Tomorrow we are going to a gaucho ranch to ride horses and eat lots of carne asado (Argentine meat). Prepare yourself for lots of pictures.






Thanks for reading!

Scott

Phrases and Slang

As I have mentioned before, the Spanish here is very distinct from many other Spanish speaking countries. I am slowly learning a lot of the slang they use down here, although there is still a mountain left to learn. Like the last post, this one is more directed towards people with some background in Spanish, but I promise it won't be as confusing.

One of the first differences I noticed was that no one used the world "aqui" down here (I means "here" in English). Instead they use acá, pronounced exactly as it looks. They mean exactly the same thing at appear to be interchangeable. Everyone will understand you if you say aqui, but you won't look like a cool native. I have heard this is very common all the way up to Ecuador.

Every country seems to have its own way to say "cool"or "great." In Argentina the two biggest words I hear here for it are "genial" and "bárbaro." Genial seems normal enough but bárbaro literally translates as "barbarian" or "barbaric." It is a really fun word to use, plus you look like you really know your stuff when you use it correctly.

Probably the most common phrase I have heard here is "De Donde sos?" This means "where are you from" but for someone not used to the "Vos" dialect of Spanish I talked about in the last post, it make take a few times before you figure out what they mean. Most of the time they assume the United States already if you have been talking for a little bit, and want to know what state you are from. Unless you are from Miami, New York, Texas, or California, prepare yourself for a disappointed or confused look on the other Argentinian's face when he/she has no idea where that place is. Unless there has been a movie about the place, they probably have not heard of it, which is completely reasonable because I have no idea about the provinces/states of other countries. I do take the time to make sure they understand Kansas City is in Missouri, no matter how long it takes. I will not be called a Kansan! 

"Tomar" (meaning to drink/take) is one of the most useful words down here. I am yet to hear a native speaker use the word "beber," which we were all taught in school for the word "to drink," and this also works for taking medicine, a cab, the bus, the subway, a test, etc. When in Argentina, avoid at all cost the word "coger" (meaning to take, as in to take a taxi) because it has a completely different meaning here. Somehow a weird thing called culture mutated such an innocent word in the rest of the world and made it mean "to f***" in Argentina. You will get lots of giggles from people best case scenarios, or mean looks depending on the crowd that hears you. Thankfully, the locals are a vulgar folk, so it is not the absolute worst faux pas you can make. But people will think you really, really like that bus if you keep saying you are going to "coger" it.

Just today in my Latin American Cinema class I learned what may be now my favorite Spanish insult, "imberbe." It literally translates as beardless, basically calling someone naive, immature, and young. It was famously used during some serious political protests in the 1970's, so I guess nothing hurts an Argentinians pride like the lack of facial hair apparently.

There are a billion other ones, and I may add more as I can think of them, but I at least wanted to get a list started and also make up for missed blog posts. This Friday I am going to the Eva Peron museum and we are finally going to Uruguay on Sunday! The weather was absolutely awful the last 6 days, with highs between 45-55 and tons of rain every day. I have been told that this was the last gasp of winter, so I am hoping Spring will stick around for good.

Thanks for reading!

Also, Go Chiefs!

Scott

Observations of Buenos Aires

Well the last two weeks have been fun. Lots of classes, homework, and cultural activities. We have toured some historic parts of town, and been to a ton of street markets, where I successfully haggled again! The weather has been much better than August, with it getting up to over 90 degrees on Tuesday. However, winter isn't through with us yet and a cold front moved through Thursday keeping it down to around 50 for the next week or so.

After being here nearly two months, I have finally gotten a handle on the local accent and dialect of Spanish. This country is very distinct in many ways. First of all, they call Spanish "Castellano" here instead of "Español." Probably the biggest difference between Spanish from Mexico that we learn and Argentinian Spanish is the fact that they use "Vos" instead of "Tu" when conjugating verbs in the "you" form. Instead of the usual conjugation, you usually keep a verb in its infinitive form, knock of the r at the end and replace it with an s while adding an accent over the last vowel in the world. I try to use vos but it is very hard to remember to conjugate differently after learning one way for years. 

The other major difference in accent is that the "ll" is not pronounced as a "y" sound like in Mexico but rather with an English "J" sound. They also pronounce the letter "y" the same way. Example, the word for an American (Yankee) would be pronounced Jankee remembering that I am using a J as an English speaker would, not with the "h" sound that a J has in Spanish. Sorry if that was confusing, but that is learning another language for you. 

The other points of distinction for the local accent is that people from Buenos Aires are famous for talking very fast and have very sing-song accents. For the next entry, I will try to compile a list of slang words that they use down here. 

Next Sunday, September 22 I will be headed across the River to Uruguay! It will be very nice to escape the city for a day.

 Thanks for reading!

Scott

Futbol

Spring seems to have finally arrived! It is going to be 75 today and I am writing this out on the balcony of my apartment. The locals haven't entirely caught on that it is warm yet; there have been lots of jackets and scarves around the city. Now is my time to shine sticking out like a sore thumb of Americana.

Week 6 is now officially done and I am a third of the way through my classes! we are getting two new members to our group this weekend, so we will start doing more touristy things on a more regular basis. If the schedule that they gave us is right, I will be in Uruguay in two weeks (although it doesn't seem that Argentinians are very strict with calendars, so we will see).

This past Sunday I finally saw a professional futbol (soccer) game at River Platte Stadium in my neighborhood of Belgrano.  The team is called River Plate (in English) which is odd because they still call the river here Rio de la Plata. I have no idea why.

 

 The stadium was really nice and the house was packed. There was more security there than when I had gone to other NFL or MLB games in the US, and we got borderline TSA levels of pat-downs. Also, they weren't going to let me in because my camera had batteries. I was really confused and thankfully the unintentional clueless foreigner schtick made security just let me through. Someone later told me that people throw the batteries at the field.

We were in the cheap seats, but still had a decent view of the field. When we took our seats, we figured out we were in the visitor sections by a major context clue. See picture below.

That is not just a fence, but a fence with barbed and razor wire between us and the rest of the stands. Soccer games are famously rowdy in Latin America, and to supersede any problems the stadium just decided to not allow the away team to sell any tickets and just sold them to River fans. The game was fun, and I learned a lot of new fun words that I can't repeat on this blog, as well as some fight songs. The intensity of the fans was awesome, but I would put it on par with any decent NFL game that I have been to. The difference I would say is that they keep it at a more consistent intensity throughout the game whereas in American Football the fans go absolutely crazy during big plays and then quiet down to let their offense work. Here everyone sings for most of the game. We all froze and River lost 2-1, but we made up for it by getting delicious Choripan sandwiches after the game. 

I am still undecided whether to be a River Plate fan or a Boca Jr. fan (the other major club in Buenos Aires). I'm leaning River, but we will see how I feel after I have seen Boca Jr.'s stadium. It seems like the dynamic between the two teams is kind of like a cubs/white sox dynamic between the two teams. With River being the richer team and Boca Jr. being the one supported by a lot of working class and poorer people.

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading!

Scott

Lujan Zoo

Week 4 finished and still going strong. Today I went with a few friends to the Lujan Zoo about 1-2 hours outside of Buenos Aires. Surprisingly, the local bus system took us all the way out there, for only 16 Argentine Pesos (about $2.00 USD). The bus itself was pretty nice, and I definitely will be using it again to go on other day trips outside of the city. It was nice to relax and get some fresh air without hearing a single car horn, and I got to eat another choripan sandwich. 

The zoo itself had my feelings torn. On the one hand, it was absolutely full of cool animals that you could take your picture with, like a lion cub.

Also, an elephant, which we got to feed bananas.

Not to mention a full grown Lion.

To top it off, I got to feed a bear some peaches.

The zoo itself however, did not really feel like a zoo. It was almost like a carnival. A really cool and fun carnival, but still a carnival. However, to re-affirm its awesomeness, one of the turtles gave me a little goodbye pose for our amusement.

This week itself has been really fun. I am now Facebook friends with nearly 10 locals! I can definitely feel my comprehension skills improving as I acclimate more the the accent here (very strong and fast), but I still feel that I need to be speaking a little bit more so I can impress everyone when I get back.

That's all I have for this week, I get to try and obtain a student visa this week, so I'll let everyone know how that goes next week.

Thanks for reading!

Week 3

This week has been very busy. I am taking classes five days a week plus we have done an activity every day this week. I am having a blast and I am really starting to get more comfortable in the city. I can now successfully take the bus and the subway without getting lost, although the bus is still a work in progress if I am going to a new place. Here is what my week was like:

Monday: La Bomba

This is an outdoor concert in the middle of the city every Monday night starting at 8 and ending around 10. The concert is about two dozen drums playing and the music is really exciting. Some people dance to the beat, others watch and enjoy the music, but most (myself included) awkwardly sway from side to side while listening to the music. There is a video on my Facebook page if you would like to see what it is like.

Tuesday: Mate Club

Talked about this  a few times already. It is one of my favorite activities to do here because I get to practice Spanish and meet lots of locals.

Wednesday: Tango Lessons

Well, if awkward shuffling wasn't enough for me this week, I also had the opportunity to return to the dance floor for my second Tango lesson. The lesson was easier this time, so there may be hope for my two left feet, and I had a good time. Women have to do a lot more fancy moves while dancing, but guys have to lead them through gestures and pushing and pulling to let them know what the next dance move will be. Leading is fairly hard.

Thursday: Pizza

My mother should be proud of me. Instead of going to watch the big protests against the government before the elections this Sunday, I met up with my group at a Pizzeria. It was the best pizza I have had down here and I finally got some pepperoni. However, this 8 AM class on Thursdays may kill me if I don't kill it first.

Friday: Teatro Colon and a breather

This theater is a little over 100 years old and was absolutely gorgeous. It was one of the last classical opera houses built before the World Wars went and made us all modern or something like that. I will probably have another blog post dedicated to just the theater soon, but today we went on a tour and got to see how the theater looks from the President of Argentina's box. It wasn't too bad at all. Symphonies, Ballets, and Operas regularly perform there and I hope to go see a showing soon.

Now I am going to enjoy a day without any homework or anything that we have to do. Thanks for reading!


Scott

Classes

I have successfully survived two weeks here as well as five days of classes. My schedule is entirely in Spanish, so I was a little worried about how well I could understand everything, but so far so good. I am taking one class with Argentine students (International Relations) and three other classes with international students. Classes here are definitely different than in the US, but not drastically. However, the campus layout is way different than what I am used to. No dorms really, very few extra curricular activities, and as a whole the school for better or worse is basically a school and nothing more. Here is a picture of the campus.

It is really interesting being in a skyscraper for classes, and we have incredible views of the city from just about any classroom. The school is in the middle of the Belgrano neighborhood, and is called Univerisdad del Belgrano. Luckily, Belgrano is the same neighborhood that I live in so it is only  two subway stops away.  Here is what the neighborhood looks like right now. I will be doing a panoramic once Spring finally arrives and the trees start blooming.

Classes themselves look to be lecture based and relatively notes heavy with less of a focus on homework. Classes are also less discussion based than back home, although questions are still welcome. The entire classroom is more casual than back home, with teachers often arriving between 5-15 minutes late for class. Teachers also have their cell phones on them and do not seem to care if students do as well. Attendance is strict though, and if your attendance is less than 75% then you cannot take the final and you fail the course.

Interestingly, projectors are not very popular in classrooms. Every single one of my teachers either just talks to us or goes old school and uses chalk and a blackboard.

This university is a private school, but the country is full of public universities, which are free for all Argentine students. After talking with some locals, they even told me that generally public schools are viewed as more rigorous than their private counterparts. I was told by them that the main reason people go to private schools is that classes are much less likely to be interrupted by the relatively frequent strikes that hit the public system.

Well that's about all I can think of at the moment. Sorry if this post was a bit boring, but now that I am in the swing of things, we are going to start exploring the city more, so the next post should be better. Once again, comment any questions or comments if you want to know something.

Thanks for reading!

Scott

Post 2- The Second post

Porteños, literally meaning people living in the port, are what natives to Buenos Aires are called. Having been here a little over a week, I feel that myself and my group feel that we are experts at describing what exactly porteños are. They are mostly incredibly nice people that are willing to help you navigate the city when you will inevitably get lost (12 million people and no GPS are not a good combination, ignoring the language barrier). One of the first questions I get asked from family and friends back home is what is different about the people and culture here versus back home in the US. Well here are a few of them.

1. Porteño time- this is a word we like to use when referring to what time we should meet somewhere. So if we are supposed to meet somewhere at 1:30 pm, in porteño that means more like 2:00 to 2:15 or possibly later. Schedules are not nearly as strict here, and it kind of makes sense that people are always running late given how crowded and expansive the subway system is.

2. Porteño time (alternate usage)- In Buenos Aires, the party doesn't get started until 2-3 in the morning, and will be going strong until sunrise. Our first night out took a while to recover from, and we made it home early (5:30 AM)! Lunch isn't usually until 2-3 pm and Dinner has been in the 8-10 pm range. Naps are essential to surviving, so take them whenever you get the chance. 

3. Smoking and personal space- Our first night out at the Boliche (dance club) was a little different than we expected. The music was great, everyone was dancing, and we all had a great time. However, we were all thrown off by the fact that there were numerous people smoking on the dance floor. Be prepared for smokers, and  for a very small personal bubble. Whether it is in the subways or the dance floor, people like to get warm and cozy together here and pack untold numbers of people into spaces no matter the size.

4. Sharing is caring- I have found that most of the porteños that I have met have been excited to share their culture and knowledge with us. They are a very social group of people. Street vendors will chat with you about the history or background of their products if you only ask. Mate is also an incredibly important and social aspect of the culture. Sharing a cup of tea with random strangers sounds gross to many people squeamish about sharing a straw, but it doesn't seem weird at the moment. Maybe it is the people or the atmosphere, but it is a very enjoyable and relaxing activity (that is until the caffeine hits your system).

There are countless other characteristics that I am leaving out, but for times sake I will leave this as my first impressions after a week with porteños. Thank you for reading this and give me any feedback or ask any questions if you want to know something else about my experiences or culture in Argentina. I will probably start focusing on specific topics for blog posts from now own now that I have gotten a feel for the city. Thanks!


Scott

First Week Out

Hello. I'm starting this blog to both share by trip with those that care to learn about it and also as a way for me to remember all of the little details that I can look back on with this blog. I am spending a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina and will be taking classes and living in the city at the University of Belgrano.

One week in I can say that I am completely overwhelmed and exhausted by the size and culture of this city, but in a good way if that makes sense. My group (Sol Abroad) has kept up very busy, and all of us 10 "Sol mates" (get it?) look forward to any opportunity that we can get to sleep. I live with a host mother, Sofia, and my roommate is also an American studying through my program, Johnny.

This week we have gone on a city tour, tried mate for the first time, gone to a mate club, tried tango classes, toured recoleta cemetery, seen La Rural festival, gone to a dance club, and countless other random activities. Navigating the city so far to meet up has been particularly challenging, especially considering that none of us have a GPS and we cant really use our phones to help each other out due to a lack of minutes. However, we are all getting more confident, and I am beginning to clutch my map a little less tightly with every ride on the colectivo (bus system) and the subte (subway).

One of the most striking things about this city is the crowds that are absolutely everywhere. Personal space is very tiny if any at all when walking the streets of the city, and all transit is completely full, with little to know breathing room as you can see below.

Despite the crowds, people are surprisingly nice on the bus and subway. Numerous people have helped up find the correct stop, and everyone immediately offers their city whenever an elderly person or child walks in. I have also seen several people walk up to and offer to help blind people cross the street.

I find myself slowly acclimating to living here, although I still have quite a ways to go before I feel comfortable navigating the city. Thanks for reading and I hope to be posting again soon!

Scott