Not so chilly in Chile!

Well, after not thinking Chile was going to happen this weekend, I made it there and had the greatest time! So, after a week of rain here, they call it Santa Rosa because in the Catholic tradition every Saint has a day, and the end of August/beginning of September is named after Santa Rosa and they always have about a week of rain, and I mean RAIN until it clears up and then spring time comes! I find it similar to Groundhog´s Day in the states. Anyways, back to the Chile adventure. So I had a plane ticket for Thursday afternoon, but after trying to get in touch with Purdy, which is not always the easiest of tasks, I didn´t hear from her until of course, Thursday afternoon while my flight was taking off and I was in my apartment. So, I called the airline and for a small, or semi-small fee I booked a ticket for the following morning and was on my way to Chile! I first noticed I wasn´t in BA anymore when I caught a glimpse of the gorgeous, snow covered Andes mountains. I finally landed in the valley of the city of Santiago and went through customs. It only took two hours (as long as my flight) to wait in 3 different lines, pay my $140 reciprocity fee, and find Purdy waiting for me at the end of it all! We took the bus back into the city center of Santiago where Purdy´s apartment is. She lives in an older apartment building with another girl from Boston College.

During the winter months, Santiago is the third most polluted city behind Beijing and Mexico City. This is because of the fact that the 6 million inhabitants live in a valley and drive their cars and the pollution has nowhere to escape because it is caught in the mountains. Luckily, it had just rained so the majority of the smog was cleared out. Purdy, her friend Johanna from NZ, and I went to one of the two Cerros or mounts that are in Santiago. Cerro Sán Cristobal is the larger of the two cerros and we took a funicular, the funny name for the tram or acensor that takes you up the cerro to the top! At the top of the cerro is a large, white statue of none other than the Virgin Mary. Pope John Paul II took the funicular to the top back in the 70s to bless the Virgin and the outdoor Chapel that is at the top. There was a small gift shop where Purdy informed me that one could purchase "Virgin things," I didn't find out what those were. It was absolutely gorgeous. There were tons of flowering trees and you could see the entire city and the mountains that surround the valley on all sides. It was really peaceful and being so high up you couldn´t hear the city, it actually sounded like the ocean from the noise of the cars and the people. We descended the cerro and walked around the city a little bit. The buildings are not as high as in BA and some are brightly painted. We had a cup of tea in Plaza de Armas, the main plaza in Santiago, right around the block from Purdy´s apartment.

                                                          At the top of Cerro San Cristobal!

The Chilean accent is extremely difficult to understand, especially if your first language is not Spanish! They speak really fast and don´t include all the letters of certain words. According to Purdy, most Chileans don´t understand why someone would come to Chile to learn Spanish, since it is not the easiest thing to do. One of Purdy´s friends from Canada actually met her boyfriend, Juan in Santiago at a street show that makes fun of gringos. She is now fully fluent in Spanish and has a thick, Chilean accent. It just proves the point that the only way to learn Spanish is to have a Spanish speaking novio! It was Juan´s birthday, so Purdy, her friends, and I went to a bar to celebrate. I got to meet her friends who were all really nice and the bar had karaoke. So, of course I sang Hero by Enrique Iglesias with one of her friends! It was great and the Chileans seemed to like it, too! haha We spent the night dancing and went back to her apartment, much earlier than in BA! A nice change!!

We woke up the next morning and decided to go to Valparaíso for the night. We took a bus from Santiago and in less than two hours we were in the beautiful city of Valparaiso. The brightly colored houses along the curving mountains was such a sight and really reminded me of what you think of when you think about South America. We headed down the main center street of the flat part of the city and then walked up a hill or two and a bunch of steps to our lovely hostel. The owner asked if we wanted a dormitorio or a cama matromonial, obviously we picked the latter. We quickly threw our stuff down and headed back down the hill and over to one of the most famous trams in Valpo. By the time we got up to the top it was dark but the city was full of bright lights and the ocean glistened. It truly was so relaxing and great to share it with a friend! We started to get hungry so we walked back to a small little café that is known for it´s tea. I had a yummy salmon salad, since I haven´t had any seafood since I´ve been here! We each tried several types of teas, from coconut to rhubarb. We spent the rest of the night just sitting and talking, and enjoying the atmosphere.

In the morning, we woke up and had breakfast in the hostel with two Brasilian girls. One of which had been almost everywhere. She informed me her favorite place was Thailand, and least favorite included Caracas, Venezuela and Laus. Thailand sounded incredible...but that is for another blog ;) Purdy and I headed up the hill to Pablo Neruda´s house. He was a Chilean poet that had a love for the sea, and especially for Valpo. His house was 5 stories, each one getting smaller as they went up. After listening to the audio-guided tour, we took in the view and then walked into the gardens that were below his house property. There were big kid see-saws and so many different varieties of flowers and plants! I felt like I was in a tropical paradise for a minute!

Pablo Neruda's house!

Afterwards, we took the Valpo metro to Viña del Mar. Just about a fifteen minute ride around the bay. It was so crazy to me that in a matter of a 2 hour flight and a 2 hour bus ride, I went from the Atlantic to the Pacific. We hung out on the beach for a while, watching the brave ones that were swimming in the cold water. As the sun started setting, we gathered up our stuff, checked out of the hostel, and headed back to the bus station to go back to Santiago. On the ride home, the stars were so clear, the first time I´ve really been able to notice the southern cross and other constellations since I´ve been down here. Just the fact that I have never seen these stars before is so cool to me. NERD ALERT...but really, I find it crazy that I could have gone my whole life and never have seen what the other half of the world sees all the time! 

Vina del Mar

That night, we picked up some food stuffs for stir fry and hung out in her apartment, skyping some friends at Richmond and abroad. The next morning we got up and headed out to explore the other Mount, Cerro Santa Lucia in Santiago. We trekked up to the top of it and had a much more smoggy view of the city and the Andes. It was still really pretty and fun to explore all that is built up on the Cerro. Afterwards, we walked to an artesan market that is set up and I couldn't resist the $5,000 alpaca sweater....that's in Chilean pesos, of course, so just a mere $10. Purdy showed me the main campus of her school, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, a sister school to my University in BA! For lunch we headed over to Mercado Central, the large fish market in Santiago where there are several restaurants serving fresh fish! I had delicious grilled swordfish with a side of avocado! They love them down here so I am constantly making guacamole! After lunch, we headed back to her apartment, I packed up my stuff, and we took the bus to the airport. 

All in all, Chile was absolutely amazing and I am so glad, after some troubles with my plans at first, I was able to go and see one of my best friends and such a beautiful country! This week has been filled with getting forms, photocopies, and pictures for my Visa, as well as making final plans (and payments) for a trip to Salta and northwest Argentina! Expect a blog post later next week about my adventures!  

Broken toilets & broken foreheads

Well, time is certainly flying by here in Buenos Aires! I have already been here 8 weeks! Springtime is underway as I put away my winter jacket (let's face it, I never really needed a heavy winter coat here!) The stores have changed from their winter line to the spring line of clothes and gardeners all over the city have been busy planting flowers. I enjoy looking at the 10-day forecast and seeing nothing but high 60 degree weather! 

Well last weekend Brie was here! It was so nice to have a friend from home in Buenos Aires! I could finally show off some of BA and what I love so much about it to someone else! I got to hear all about her South American adventures and she got to see a little bit about my life here. Last Saturday, she and I went to La Cabrera for dinner. This is one of the best, if not the best, restaurant in Buenos Aires. The steak was absolutely delicious as well as all of the other food and wine we enjoyed. Now, after dinner we walked back to my apartment and had a few friends over before some of us decided to go to a friend who goes to UCA's friend's apartment (follow that?) for a previa. So, we hopped in a cab and headed over to his apartment. First of all, we only knew the one guy, none of his friends. We walk into the apartment and there are three guys, and the 5 of us look around. Perry asks Jen, "Which one is Greg?" and Jen replied, "none of them." Cool, great. Not only that, they really didn't speak any English. That's fine though, it was good for us to get our practice in and what better way to do it than explain Kings to them? Let's just say this card game doesn't really translate well. Trying to explain the concept of waterfall in Spanish was somewhat lost in translation. No worries, we still had fun and eventually our friend and some other people showed up. Brie had to catch an early flight to Bariloche in the morning so this is where we said goodbye. I was so glad we got to spend time together, even though it was short. Afterwards, we went to a boliche out by the river and next to the smaller airport within the city. It was gorgeous, the place was huge and had so many different parts to it all playing different types of music. 

Brie in BA!

This week I started my Spanish language class with Expanish. It was nice to be back and see some familiar faces, the only bad part is that now I have to be at class at 9 a.m. Tues, Wed, Thurs so I have a mini-week of classes, really I can't complain. Gabriela, my teacher, is really sweet and helpful. We mostly just do a lot of conversational stuff which is good practice and she corrects my grammar. 

After my morning photography class on Friday, Jen and I went shopping around Palermo and we found a Middle Eastern specialty food store! Needless to say, I stocked up on hummus! After deciding on making a fruit & nut salad with a yogurt dressing with hummus and veggies as a side for dinner. We headed over to the Disco, our beloved, neighborhood grocery store. I heard drums playing and Perry assured me that it was just band rehearsal at the school across the street from the Disco. As we crossed the street and looked inside the grocery store we see the doors locked and about five guys standing in the middle of it banging on drums. Seriously, what a crazy and wild strike guys! One of the guys wasn't even wearing an employee shirt, I think he was just bored and got the mass text from his friends about playing drums in the Disco that night. The sign outside the store said Hoy cerrado (today closed)...yeah, thanks I got that. Needless to say, we hit up the small bodegas around us and managed to get what we needed to still have dinner. 

Now, here comes the part about the broken toilet. So, that night we had a bunch of people over for a previa and we figured we'd make it out to a boliche eventually. So some of our friends brought friends and needless to say there were a lot of people here, but thanks to cement walls you honestly cannot hear a peep. Nervous Nelly aka me didn't want to get a noise violation (yeah right like that even exists here??) So as people are getting ready to leave to go out to the boliche down the street, Helen informs me that one of our toilet seats is in the shower. Seriously, it was in the shower and the flusher wouldn't flush. What the heck?? Perry, being brave and probably a little drunk, stuck her hand down into the toilet tank while I lifted the cover only to discover that the chain that connects the flusher to the thingamabob that refills the tank with water was broken (very technical terms, I know.) What the heck? Who decided it was ok to yank off the lid of our toilet? At this point in life everyone should know that is NOT how you flush a toilet. Either way, the plumber should be here this week at some point. Well, I never made it out of the apartment, it was already about 4 a.m. and I was really tired. 

I woke up reasonably early the next day 1, so I met up with some friends and we went to Recoleta to walk around the open air market that is there every weekend by the cemetery and Plaza San Martin. I got a hot dog from a street vendor for lunch and it was delish! After walking around the market, listening to the different guitar players and small musical groups performing for people hanging out in the plaza, we went to the Museo de Bellas Artes. It is recently reopened and free! It was huge so we only walked around the first floor but there was lots of Neo-Classical art from France and Spain. There were even some of Goya's sketchings and paintings, too. We had enough museum time and decided to go to Buller Pub. The only microbrewery in BA that is known for their honey beer. We each got the sampler and I loved all of the beers! They have six of their own and they were all delicious and unique, full of flavor. We decided to have a low key night so we went to the movies and saw Chloe. I'm not sure if this is out in the US or what but it has Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore and the girl from Mean Girls who knows when it is already raining. It was the worst movie I have ever seen in my life, thank goodness movie tickets are cheap here, and it was a short movie. My advice...DON'T SEE IT! 

Buller Pub! Home of the honey beer

Yesterday, we went to a Boca Juniors game. For those (most) of you who don't know the Boca Juniors are one of the local teams here in BA and it is who the great Maradona played for in his youth. They have a lot of history and even more pride in their team and the sport of soccer. They play at the famous, Bombonera where 50,000 soccer fans gather to watch their team. Unfortunately, the Boca Juniors haven't been doing so hot this season, but this was supposed to be a great game. They were plying Velez who is the top team right now. We stopped at a place in La Boca to have beer and pizza before the game and then headed over to the stadium. After going through about 4 police checkpoints, you finally make it into the stadium. We headed up the stairs and into the cheap seats which were just cement bleachers, no actual seats. Now, here comes the part about the broken forehead. So, Jen and I had to go to the bathroom, not an easy task. We had to carefully climb over and in between people to make it to the top. Let me preface, during the game when Boca scores it is customary for everyone to push the people in front of them, probably the reason they serve NO alcohol at the games, the fans are already rowdy enough without any help from Quilmes. Well, what happens when people get pushed? They fall on the people in front of them and it's a chain reaction. So they have chest-height metal railings set up for people not to fall too far when they get knocked over. Well, for this they serve a great purpose. But when you are just trying to go to the bathroom and you are climbing up through tons of people and you aren't looking up you smack your head on one. Yep, I don't think I have ever hit my head so hard. I can still feel the bump and small cut on my forehead. I turned around to let Jen know to watch out but it was too late. She did the exact same thing as me. We have been comparing bumps since. After recovering, slightly, from our incident we got to see the game and watch Boca dominate!! They won 2-1 and had possession nearly the entire game. Everyone gets so into it and is constantly watching the game, no side conversations. Just cheering for their team, "Dale Dale Bo! Dale Dale Bo! Dale Dale Boca! Dale Dale Bo!" I have never heard "puta madre" so much. Madre means mom and puta is a bad word, so put two and two together and they incorporate this into all of their cheers against the opponent and the refs. While everyone sways to the cheers, the entire stadium sways too, like the physical stadium. A little scary, but it's like you are on a bridge, it is supposed to sway. The game was so exciting and I definitely will be going to more, without any head injuries ;) 

Boca Juniors vs. Velez @ La Bombonera

Today is my day off, so I am just doing some reading for class tomorrow and waiting for our cleaning lady, Gladys to come at 3. I am meeting up with my PAL for tea & dinner tonight. He made fun of me for getting excited about finding really good green tea and says his mom drinks it. So tonight, Steph, Matias, and I will try tea at TeaConnection! I'm going to Chile on Thursday to visit Purdy! I'll blog about that next week! Love to everyone! Missing you!

National holidays & bosques

The Jardines Japones en Palermo

Well, I'm into my third week of classes at UCA and I have been enjoying my schedule so far, lots of time to explore the great city of BA! I got back from Uruguay and caught up on sleep...okay, maybe not you never catch up on sleep here! Last Thursday, Jen & I enjoyed our day off by making dessert empanadas and sangria! Afterward we walked to a bar Sugar, and hung out there all night because we met up with some friends from UCA. We ended up staying until the bar kicked us out...reminded me of being at the lodges 'til they turn the light on :)

Saturday, we woke up and ventured out to the bosques de Palermo and the gardens and plazas that line the lower half of the city closer to the Rio. We stopped in the Jardin Japones, it reminded me of Epcot with the Japanese display there. They were really pretty and tranquil. That night we went to a bar in Recoleta where a lot of locals go to play pool and hang out. The tables were long and wooden and reminded me of being at camp. 

So my gym membership expired last week and instead of renewing it I figured I would start running in the parks right down the street from me, it's free and a good way to get outside! I ran in the 3 de febrero parque and it was gorgeous! There was a huge lake in the middle and tons of people biking, rollerblading, running along the many paths. I can't wait until it gets a little warmer and we can go for picnics there!

Monday was Dia del San Martin, he is one of the most important founding fathers of Argentina and other South American countries. Helen and I took the subte to Plaza de Mayo (the end of our line) and noticed this enormous line wrapping around an entire side of one of the buildings on Avenida de Mayo. We walked to the front of it to see what was going on. We saw amateurs tango dancing and tons of newscasters. We later found out that they were all waiting to get free tickets to the World Tango Festival that is going on here until the end of August. We then walked down through San Telmo, seeing the usual weekend fair that was set up for the holiday. After doing a bit of shopping, we walked into the Catedral that is in Plaza de Mayo. Only to see another crowd of people around San Martin's tomb! Later that night, we went to the Recoleta Cultural Center to see a free tango concert. It was two men playing flute and guitar and they were playing some of their songs, it was excellent! The audience was so into it! 

So, on Wednesday we went to a show called Fuerza Bruta. This was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. I was expecting something like Cirque de Soleil (not that I've ever seen that, either) but this show was also in the Recoleta Cultural Center. So after classes, we took the colectivo to Recoleta, grabbed dinner, and went to the show! They herded hundreds of us, mostly a younger crowd, into a dark room. Then, they flash some lights, blow some gusts of air on us, glitter is in the air, and a man starts running on a treadmill type thing that they move throughout the crowd (we all are standing throughout the show.) It was just really fun and there was so much energy between the crowd and the few performers. They had this huge water tank with four girls swimming around in it and then the tank was lowered so that we all could touch it. Once the show is over, they turn on a shower that is above the audience and literally pour water on everyone. We all were just dancing and loving it! The show was just really bizarre and not what ANY of us were expecting, but it was tons of fun!

Some of Fuerza Bruta!

Well, I'm off to go see Brie! She is here in BA for a few days with her tour group! The weather is great, no more coat!! I love spring :)

Hopping borders for the weekend

So, I usually write on Sundays but this Sunday I was in URUGUAY! Yep, just some casual country hopping for the weekend. But, before I relay my adventures from the weekend I started classes last week so here is a run down of my schedule...a week in the life, if you will:

Monday: NO CLASS!! Perfect for long weekend traveling, recovering after a busy weekend, getting extra work done (extra work?? does that exist here??)

Tuesday: Nuevo Cine Latinoamerica 4-7: there´s a reading for every class, and then a short quiz, discussion, and the second half is watching a latin american movie

Wednesday: Procesos sociales y politicos 9-12 (in reality it´s 10-12 because that´s when the professor decides to stroll in, blaming it on his mujer of course) : this is my least favorite course becuase the professor doesn´t seem so thrilled to be teaching it and he is the most difficult to understand, but he throws in si, cierto, claro, ¿no? words that even my Dad knows (love ya, pops!)

After class, I head to the Bahía Bar for lunch, it is equivalent to The Pier at Richmond, or a fast food type place where you can get sandwhiches, coffee, and snacks. I then print/photocopy anything I need to for classes. Yes, you don´t buy textbooks here, instead you go to one of the several fotocopiadoras on campus where you tell the student working there your class and the assignment and they photocopy it out of a master book. Then, you pay for it.

Arte y Arquitectura 3-6: I really like this class. The professor teaches us about different art and architecture of Latin America and then compares them to other countries within L.A. and Spain/Portugal. Throughout the semester we´ll go on field trips to different landmarks & museums around B.A.

Thursday: As of right now, another day off. Soon to be filled up with my Spanish course at Expanish.

Friday: Registrando Buenos Aires 10:30-1:30: I´m getting art credit for this course at Richmond. It´s a photography course and the professor is great. She is really passionate about photography and we get to use our own cameras to explore the city...perfect!

Sat & Sundays: Exploring the city & travelling!

Okay, now on to the more exciting stuff...

Friday night I went to dinner with my PAL and his other students as well as some of their friends. It was a lot of fun and good practice for me considering I spoke Spanish the entire time. I met other exchange students at UCA, mostly from Germany. Everyone was going out after dinner, which ended at midnight, but I had to go home & pack for Uruguay at 5 a.m! Which, is what time I would´ve gotten back from going out.

So, how to get to the port on the border of La Boca and Puerto Madero by 7 a.m? Well, take a colectivo of course! Nicknamed Dora, I looked up what bus to take to get there. The five of us, with backpacks and ready for our Uruguayan adventure, got on the 152 colectivo towards La Boca. Now, let me preface this story by saying La Boca is NOT where you should go at night. Generally, it is the most unsafe neighborhood of Buenos Aires by night. So, as we are sitting on the bus and I am still wishing I was asleep as it is still dark out, we miss our stop and end up at the bus terminal. Only about 15 blocks away from where we needed to be. So, five girls, with bookbags, clearly foreign, in La Boca at 6 a.m. I see a woman sweeping the sidewalk and ask her if she knows how to get to the port. She tells us to follow the water. Okay, great except for the fact that there are NO lights along the water and the spooky fog wasn´t helping either. So we follow the lit street up a bunch of blocks until we cut over and eventually make it to the port where we see our friend, and tourguide, Leti waving for us :)

We took the one hour ferry ride over to Colonia, Uruguay. A small, quiet, touristy town that is located right on the Rio Plata. We had an hour walking tour of the town seeing the famous lighthouse, church, and ruins left from when Spain and Portugal fought over the land. 

The worst part was the exchange rate. It was 20 uruguayan pesos to 1 american dollar. So dividing everything by 20 was a pain, much easier to divide by 4 in Argentina. Also, despite their money being so devalued, it wasn't as cheap as Argentina, even though prices were still very low. It was nice to see such a change in living with cars that yielded for pedestrians, beaches, and no one was yelling Alemenias, as we walked by...much different from B.A. Colonia has a gorgeous coastline and at the end is the Plaza del Toros. Perry, Jen, Helen, and I rented a golf cart and took it along the coast to the old bullring. We rode around the residential neighborhoods and saw the sights in a fun way. The only frightening part was when a stray dog ran up to the cart and started to bark right at the wheels. We made it back, checked into our hostel, and then walked around before getting dinner at the famous El Drugstore in Colonia. After dinner, we went back to the hostel and were all exhausted from the long day, so we attempted to go to sleep in the home sweet hostel....with the mold...and the guy/girl (really, I could not tell) that we met, and the 3 other roommates that we never met that night. Being the spoiled brat that I am in my apartment in B.A...not having heat made it a little more uncomfortable to get to sleep. I felt perfectly safe in the hostel but I still thought it´d be for the best if I slept with my purse that night, yep, under the covers and everything.

Beautiful sunset in Colonia

We woke up at 7 the next morning, took our freezing showers, got dressed in a dark room, and got the hell out of Dodge. We walked back to the Colonia port and tried to figure out where to go for our bus to Montevideo. This was a challenge because everyone at the port tried to tell us something different. Since we were taking a bus I figured we should be at the bus terminal, so with 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave, we ran two blocks down to the bus terminal...only to find out no, we had to be back at the port. The truth was, that no one understood that we spent a night in Colonia from B.A. and then wanted to take a bus to Montevideo. Anyways, why did we think anything or anyone was going to be on time in this country?? About half an hour after we were supposed to leave, our bus came and everyone from B.A. got off the ferry and got onto the bus. After the two hour drive, we were ALMOST into Montevideo when our bus accidentally hit the car in front of us at the stop light. We had to wait for the police and everyone to exchange their info...luckily, no one was hurt :) We finally got into the city & took a cab from the bus terminal to the hostel. We checked into our 'treehouse' of a room. Literally, you had to practically climb on the roof to get to our bungalow of a room. Once we threw our backpacks down, I picked up a map and we headed towards the water and la ciudad vieja, the older part of the city where our hostel was located. The architecture was gorgeous as we walked further into the main plaza. I kept thinking there was an eeriness to the city, until we noticed that there were no people, anywhere. Also, every store and restaurant was closed. We didn't mind though, it was like our own personal tour of the city & the Atlantic/Rio de la Plata. 

Palacio Salvo in the Plaza Independencia in Montevideo

I assume that Uruguay is similar to Spain in the sense that Sunday is a day of rest and being that it was the afternoon, siesta was in full swing. We found one cafe that was open and had a long leisurely lunch. We then headed back to the hostel, watched Shutter Island (what a great idea, watch a scary movie when you are staying in a treehouse hostel room.) I asked the woman working at the hostel if Montevideo was always this quiet on Sundays and if there would be more to do on Monday. She got sort of offended that I was saying it was so quiet, but I sort of enjoyed the peacefulness of the city. It was a different pace from B.A. which is always bustling 24/7. We had a nice dinner at a nearby restaurant and then headed to bed, excited for the full day ahead and nice and cozy in our treehouse bungalow. 

We woke up, checked out of our hostel and headed back into the downtown of Montevideo. There were lots of more people around the city, heading to work, sipping mate, and just generally living at a much slower pace of life. We walked around and saw some churches, stuff about Darwin when he was in Uruguay, and all of the pretty architecture of the different buildings and the many gorgeous plazas. Montevideo had similarities to B.A. but I think the two cities are very different and shouldn't be compared as much as they are. After saying bye to Montevideo, we got on a bus headed back to Colonia and then a ferry back to B.A. and we were home sweet Argentina by 10:30. It was really nice being away for the weekend and coming back to B.A. and it feeling like a home :) I missed my city and I'm glad I was back. I miss you all and hope that as the summer ends for those reading this (minus those sharing the southern hemisphere with me) you have nice tans & are excited about the new school year & the fall! My mom asked me the other day if I liked Sevilla or B.A. better. I honestly, could never compare them, but I have to say, if it wasn't cold here...B.A. would be perfect...minus the fact that none of you are here! Besos a todos! 

Honeymoon's over

...NOT!!! 

So, I've now been here for a month! A whole month and I can't believe I am lucky enough to have 4 more!! I am honestly loving Buenos Aires every day, more and more. There is just so much to do here and every neighborhood, street, and corner of the city holds something new and exciting each day! 

Well, last week was orientation week at UCA. I arrived with my fellow Richmonders at 10 a.m. where the 150 international students met up and had a breakfast of medialunas and the best coffee I've had so far in the city! We had assemblies on Buenos Aires, acquiring our Visas, registering for classes, and studying abroad in general and being an 'extranjera.' We had orientation the next three days and it was more assemblies and an asado, or Argentina bbq at the agricultural campus across the city. I met tons of people from all over the world, mostly Europe, the U.S. and other South American countries. I start my first day of classes tomorrow (I have off on Mondays...let the traveling commence!!) and I'm excited to meet more people in my classes. We had to take a placement test for Spanish and I didn't place into the advanced, basically fluent, category so I will take a Spanish course once a week for no credit at Expanish once again. They are a great resource to have here in B.A. and I'm looking forward to working with them again! I registered for 5 classes but I will only be taking 4 at UCA and then the one Spanish course. I will have class Tuesday afternoon-Friday afternoon and Thursday morning or Tuesday morning I am going to work at an orphanage or children's home. I love volunteering at home and Richmond so I didn't want to stop doing that while I'm here. I will have a nice long weekend to plan trips! Speaking of trips, this weekend I am going to Uruguay! A small town, an hour away from Buenos Aires called Colonia. 

The weather last week was perfect. It was nearly 70 everyday! It was also winter break so everyone was off from school. The week was filled with lots of cultural events, free food (from orientation), and going out to the boliches because I had no classes and not a scheduled week, let's face it, orientation week was probably as low key as I have ever seen an orientation be. Monday, my apartmentmates and I went to La Bomba de Tiempo, a drum show in the Abasto neighborhood. They have the show every Monday night in an old olive oil warehouse factory. Everyone was smoking weed (not me, ofcourse!!) and we ran into some of our B.A. friends so we all just listened to the few hour concert and you couldn't help dancing to the beat in the red colored lights. On Tuesday nights at a club called Kika, there is a party called Hype and tons of internationals from UCA were there! I met more people that night who said they 'recognized me from orientation.' I didn't recognize them but it was all good. Wednesday was the asado with orientation and then later that afternoon while my apartmentmates were napping I ventured off into the neighborhood and went shopping and had ice cream in a cute little park where lots of children were playing soccer. Thursday was the last day of orientation and after registering for classes I spent the afternoon shopping at the great mall two subte stops away. That night, we met up with some of our friends from the Mendoza trip and our friend Leti for dinner and drinks at a nearby bar. We ended up staying for a really long time before going to another nearby bar and had the entire back room to ourselves with more friends coming, too. Friday, I slept in until past noon, not hard to do here considering I didn't go to sleep until 5 a.m. 

Some friends at our previa!

Friday night we had some friends over for a previa, or pregame and then headed to Club Groove, a boliche only a few blocks down the street where we got in for a discount because we knew one of the promoters. It was definitely the best night out so far. There was a live band as well as really good reggaeton being played. After dancing with some locals, one guy tried to get a kiss from me but having a boyfriend that wasn't going to happen. He didn't get the concept that having a boyfriend made a difference but I guess that is part of the culture having a novio (boyfriend) and an amante (lover.) Yea, not for me! I borrowed my friend, Perry's heals that night and lets just say my calves were killing me by the end of the night, and I was the tallest person in the club...sweet. I ended the night with a slice of pizza from a place still open at 5 a.m. and not to mention that everything is still open at 5 a.m. here. On Saturday, we woke up mid-afternoon and walked down the street to a waffle and ice cream place...perfect breakfast! Reminded me of Bonte in Morristown. That afternoon we took a colectivo to Avenida San Juan in San Telmo to see the Museum of Modern Art. Unfortunately, the museum has been under construction for a while so we walked through San Telmo and hung out in Plaza de Mayo at night for a bit. It is absolutely gorgeous at night with the Plaza all lit up. 

Plaza de Mayo at night!

We had dinner at Maie, a restaurant that I can see from my bedroom window. It was probably the best meal I've had so far here. Spniach and cheese ravioli with a delicious white wine sauce with ham and basil in it. A perfect blend of Italian and Argentina cuisine...what Argentina does best!! That night we had people over again and I ended up just staying in the apartment and then getting some sleep! Yesterday, we went for a walk down to Plaza Guemes at the end of our street and I finally saw my first Catholic church here!! We had coffee and an empanada at this delicious restaurant right in the Plaza. Today, we tried to go tour the Casa Rosada but unfortunately there were no tours today, only Sat & Sun. We went to the City Museum which is filled with old toys, other odds & ends donations, and an entire exhibit dedicated to mate! Speaking of which, on my way to the laundromat where I dropped off my bedding for pick-up tomorrow, I got a mate bowl and bombilla, the special straw used to drink mate that has the sifter at the bottom. Well, I'm really looking forward to my first class tomorrow afternoon but dinner is ready...eggplant parm! I made it, so hopefully it's tasty! Miss you all!! 

It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A.

Well, it's another rainy Sunday here in Buenos Aires, it's kind of nice though that it only has rained on Sundays so far because I woke up at 3 p.m. from being out the night before and I wouldn't want to waste a pretty day in the city. Last night, we ventured out onto Niceto street, a street about 15 blocks away lined up with bars and boliches. After surveying the crowds lined up at the different ones, seeing only old men at some, the boliche we chose was Wet. There was a giant disco ball outside the door so of course, I was sold. We walked inside only to hear none other than good old U.S. music....from the 80s. The place wasn't crowded when we got there at 2 a.m. but by 3 the place was full of mostly portenos (locals) and they crossed over to the popular reggaeton. The highlight of the night for me is when they started playing Y.M.C.A. and watching everyone attempt to do the hand motions, I was cracking up and it was great. 

It's been another great week here in Buenos Aires. The rainy weather from last weekend finally cleared up on Monday and the rest of the week has been sunny and high 50s. Perfect weather to explore the neighborhood and see the zoo, botanical gardens, and go to La Boca. I finally figured out how to use the colectivos (buses) here! They are great to use and with close to 200 routes, they really do go everywhere. I finished up my week at Expanish now my three week class is over and it is time to start orientation at UCA, tomorrow!! I cannot wait to start meeting other internationals and students at UCA. My PAL, which is my buddy that will help me with anything I need with UCA, Buenos Aires, Argentina in general, emailed me this week. His name is Matias, he sent me his email in English but I responded in Spanish so now that's how we are conversing...mucho mejor! He is from Patagonia but will be back in B.A. on August 5 and then we can meet up, I'm looking forward to that! 

So Tuesday was Dia del Amigo, Friend's Day. Doesn't it sound like a nice little hallmark holiday for friends to say thank you for being a friend? That's what we thought too, until we went to Siga La Vaca for dinner. A famous parilla libre in Puerto Madero, right next to UCA. After waiting two hours for a table, the five of us walked through the restaurant which felt like we were walking down the red carpet, tables and tables of guys whistling, saying things to us, and even clapping as we sat. We were all a little delusional from being so hungry, it was midnight at this point, and we just sat down and got up to get our meat. We had guys coming up to us talking to us, giving us their business cards. Dia del Amigo is clearly a day for single guys to go out and find women. Kind of like most of the nights here in B.A. but I digress. 

However, I ate a little too much because the next day I was in bed all day with a stomach bug. My apartment mates made sure I was well hydrated and I was as good as new on Wednesday. 

The six of us from Richmond were separated into two classes for our three weeks at Expanish. Last week, we had a highly competitive game of Pictionary en espanol. Unfortunately, I was on the losing  team so May, the other teacher told us to bring in facturas for the last day of class. What are facturas you ask? I was having horrible flashbacks of my math days thinking she wanted factorial numbers or fractions, but actually a factura is a cake or some type of sweet. Even though May is from Spain, she still has that Argentina sweet tooth. The last morning of class on our walk from the subte stop, we picked up some medialunas, Argentine croissants with honey flavor that are usually an afternoon snack with a cafe con leche. 

Friday, Helen and I ventured to the zoo and botanical gardens three blocks away from us. The botanical gardens was filled with palm trees and pretty plants and there were cats...everywhere! I have never seen so many cats, I guess that is where they all hang out in the city. The zoo was so much fun, it's a huge zoo right in the middle of the city. There are a ton of animals, my favorite were the llamas and the giraffe. Dinner that night we went to this great restaurant in Retiro for Sarah's birthday. It was another guys' birthday from Expanish so a bunch of us celebrated. Afterwards, we went to an Irish pub where the crowd was a bit older than us. They had a good band though and I got to talk to some internationals who had been here for a few months and gave some good advice about B.A. We ended up at a bariloche closer to our apartment in Palermo. I didn't stay out too late, 4 a.m. haha because I was still recovering from being sick that week. 

Saturday, we took a bus and finally got where we wanted to go! The buses are great, there are so many of them all around the city and they come every couple of minutes. Plaza Italia, which is our subte stop and one block away has almost all of the bus lines stop there which is great for when I want to get somewhere. We took it to La Boca which is on the other side of the city. It is where the famous Boca Juniors play at La Bombonero. I definitely want to get a jersey and get to a game while I'm here! We walked around El Caminito the famous section of La Boca that is filled with bright, multicolored apartment buildings. 

Street  performers line the street and there are tons of local artists selling their art. It was really unique and made an average photographer, such as myself, appear to be artsy and talented. On our way back to our apartment, we had an early dinner at a small cafe. I had pumpkin ravioli, they love pumpkin here! That night we went out to Niceto Vega which is a street lined with boliches. Today has been a relaxing day, doing some laundry, going to the grocery store, and watching a movie. Tonight, Dillon, who is one of the two boys from Richmond is coming over for dinner. He just got here two days ago because he broke his foot and was healing at home so he is finally here in B.A. right in time for orientation. I'll keep everyone updated on orientation and UCA! I can't wait :) Besos a todos!

Don't show up until 2 a.m.

I'm looking out my balcony window right now curled up on the couch with a cup of te verde and listening to the rain fall outside. It has been raining all morning and is supposed to keep raining until tomorrow night. We had plans to go to La Boca today, the oldest neighborhood of BA but because of the weather we went to MALBA (Museo de arte latinoamerica de Buenos Aires.) As I have been titled Dora, as in the explorer on the kid's tv show, I looked up the best route to get there which unfortunately included a 14 block walk in the rain and wind. Soaked, we finally got to MALBA. This is a smaller museum with a permanent gallery and then a seasonal exhibition. The exhibition that was there now included many photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, a New York City native. It was the first time his work, or that of a retrospective photographer has been displayed in Latin America. My personal favorite of the museum's collection was Frida Kahlo's self-portrait with a parrot and a monkey. It was really neat to see it in person after studying Kahlo so much in high school. 

Before the first night out in BA to a Boliche!

My Expanish class went well this week, this upcoming week is the last and then orientation! My teacher, Juan, is really nice and time goes by quickly in class because we are having a good time. I've learned new ways to say certain things and I finally can comprehend the accent and I'm starting to have it myself! I've gotten used to taking the crowded subway in the morning and during the lunch hour rush hour. As long as you just think of something else, or what you need to do later that day you don't even notice the heat as you are wrapped up in your winter coat and jammed in between people. 

This week was rebajas week which meant that all the stores were having their sales because of the changing of seasons. We walked on Santa Fe which is the main avenida one block up from our apartment and walked into all of the small boutiques along the way. The style here is very sleek and women like to dress up and look nice. Even at the gym, where most women's 'workouts' include wearing the newest and trendiest workout outfits and walking on the treadmills. There is a gym three blocks away that we joined this week but as a prerequisite you need to get a physical exam by the gym's doctor. Ok, sounds fine but they also give you an EKG which isn't routine in the states but only takes a few minutes here. The doctor asked for my family health history and everything was in Spanish until I needed to take the EKG and he just points to the exam table and says 'lie down, take off.' It was really amusing. The gym is really basic but nice considering all this delicious food we eat! 

The view from the restaurant of Plaza Serrano at night!

Friday night was the first night we went out in BA and we went to a boliche (disco/club) called Crobar. We didn't go until 2 a.m. and that still was on the early side. The place was huge, it probably held about 1.000 people and I left with my friend Perry around 5 a.m. but it doesn't close until 8 a.m....insane! It was a lot of fun though, they played mostly American music with  little bit of techno thrown in there. I slept until 3 the next day and then we ordered empanadas for takeout. It's a strange schedule here, so different from the states. We walked down to Plaza Serrano, which is a great little plaza ten blocks away from us filled with bars, restaurants, street vendors, and a fair during the weekends. It has a lot of character and the walk down to it was nice, too. So many stores and restaurants and pretty apartment buildings with plants on the balconies. Everyday here is a new adventure, the city has so many different smells, neighborhoods, things to see and places to explore. I'm really enjoying city life and each day finding out new great things about Buenos Aires!