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