Joana's photoshoot - Pics from Brazil...

These are the pictures Joana took while we were in Campinas, Brazil. Just remembered to put them up : )

Tigre Adventure

Tigre & Mate (Ma-tay)

Sunday night at about 11:58pm I got a text from one of the IFSA staff asking if I was interested in joining the Tigre biking/kayaking trip the next day. I emailed him earlier that day asking if someone cancels if I could go (IFSA has cupos-caps, on how many students can go on trips offered by them). I was stoked to go! We met near a subte stop and then headed over to Retiro- the train station on our bikes. We boarded the train and got off 25mins later at Santa Lucia, where we biked along the mar de plata and had a break filled with alfajores (amazing chocolate sandwhich dessert) and mate (pronounced ma-tay).

It's a popular cultural drink that has tons of caffeine. It is made by someone who has a mate, and is filled with yerba mate-greenish herbs of somesort, and is drunk through a filtered bombilla- straw- usually piping hot. The maker of the mate always tries the mate first before handing it to their right. When that person is done (you should hear a noise from the straw when there's no more liquid), they give it back to the mate maker and they fill the mate up for the next person to drink. You never say gracias when handed the mate- unless you are finished- gracias here means 'thanks I don't want any more'. Mate is drunk usually with friends or alone. It's more cultural- students drink it during breaks during classes or when studying, and many have it in parks or their casas while conversing with friends. People bring mate in their bags everywhere- they bring water in a thermose and the yerba mate in a seperate container. There are few people who don't like mate, and I for one love it!

After our break we biked for about 2 hours taking one break, and stoped for lunch when we finally reached Tigre. Tigre is the main shipping area - Puerto de los Frutos- is where many fruits and other food and products get shipped and imported. Its the mid point between BA and other cities. Our bike ride was absolutely beautiful! We got to see a lot of the barrios-towns- leading to Tigre, as well as the Rio. The ride was a bit rough with mostly cobble stoned streets, but they added the old worldand European flare. We then picked our life jackets and headed off to choose our kayaks. I for one have never been kayaking, so I was really excited to learn. It was really pretty navigating through small ravines in the river. We even stopped for a few minutes to take a dip in the water. My arms got a pretty good work out, and I was exhausted by the time we were done- and then we had to carry the kayak back to the shop- phew! We then headed to the train station a few blocks away with our bikes and took the train back to Retiro (it was a great opportunity for the nap I needed before class).

Today I started the last teir of my Castellano class- which will go on for 10 weeks. And found out I have tons of reading to do! Oh dios mio! but I'm excited to be learning more about spanish grammar, because I'll actually be using it everday. After my classes Nora and I met up with another Cser named Lucia. We ended up going to her house to chat and drink mate on her balcony, which is on the 13th floor overlooking BA(amazing!), and she was delightful! We had a great conversation over mate, and were able to practice Castellano, and she was able to practice some of her English.

This will probably be my last post till next week after my trip to Igauzu Falls and Corrientes: ) I plan on going for a jog in the morning and doing some homework and Parque Cetenario in the early afternoon. I get out of my internatinal marketing class super late tomorrow, not looking forward to that, but interested in the material.

A month in Buenos Aires

I can't believe I have been in the beautiful city for more than a month already. The time went by quickly, I feel as though I am accustomed to some things, but I am still learning a lot every day. My comprehension and speaking has been improving! Thank goodness. I love learning new words and being able to use them that very day while talking. There definetely are some people that are easier to converse with than others. When I find someone who I find easy to talk with and comprehend it's hard to stop me from talking and asking questions. I also don't have to think as hard now when talking, conversation in a different language is starting to come more naturally. I still have my moments where I feel relieved when finishing a sentence, but it isn't as bad as it was the 1st week I was here. My friends were making fun of me before that I would get really nervous, and when happened I couldn't say what I wanted to say, and when I was done with whatever it was I was saying I would sigh in relief. Ha! With my host mom, professors, students, IFSA staff, Csers, I always talk in Castellano. When I'm with my friends Nora and Bex we do both- we try to make ourselves converse in Spanish as much as possible, but when we are more tired we talk in English. And pretty much with most of the other IFSA students I speak english, but I'm usually not with them, so it's not that bad. I love the fact that now I actually have a few castellano speaking friends, and I get to facebook or skype chat with them! So when I'm doing homework or on the computer I get to practice too. ANd its nice that I can look up words while doing so. Wordreference.com and freetranslation.com are pretty much always on my screen.
I was having an extremely good week last week. Maybe it was the weather, being able to meet more people, or the realization that my spanish is indeed improving in such a wonderful city.
School is enjoyable for the most part so far, I'm getting a little bit of homework, but nothing too overwhelming. Classes seem pretty good, as well as the professors and my peers in the class. I have my marketing class on Tuesday, and I really hope I like it because I need to take it. I also have 1 international biz class to test out and possibly a History/ Practice of Tango class (if I pass the oral exam which is on Monday- ahh!).
Weekend: I don't have classes friday! That's quite nice (don't worry parents- most portenos don't have class Friday). I spent my Friday and Sunday 1st running and then chillin in Parque Cetenario (its 15min walk from my apt). I've been running around the park for weeks and I just realized how great it is. See pics! I got some Friday too while I was there. My homework and Canga (towel type thing) , that's all I needed. I met up with Nora after my appointment with the volunteer coordinator and tried some new dessert- Boudin with nuts- it looked better than it tasted, but I'm happy I tried it. Saturday was great. Bex, Nora, and I met up with a Cser named Diana at Avenida Mayo and ran into a Greek festival, which we enjoyed for a few hours. We then headed to Plaza Francia where many people hang out over the weekends and listened to some Ska, reggae, salsa, and drum music. We had our first parilla (a type of restuarant where the specialty is grilled meat) experience yesterday for dinner. We got 2 large cuts of steak and an unlimited salad bar for a pretty good price. The food was riquisimo (excellently flavored)! MMmmm.... By the way- Aregentina is known for their meat (which they eat too much of), wine, dulce de leche, and chocolate. We then met up with some friends at a bar and then headed to a boliche around 3am.

This is a short week because it is Semana Santa and Pascau (Easter). Which means I don't have school Thursday, and 3 friends and I will be heading to Igauzu Falls and Corrientes (NE Argentina) for our days off. Long bus rides, but it'll be worth it! Super excited!

Weekend adventures and this week...

Over the weekend I went to the Palermo zoo, which was great! There were a lot of animals walking around, literally right next to us, a parrot who kept saying 'hola'. That night we met up with some Csers, Luji, Juan, Fede, and some others and went to dance the night away to cumbia, reggaeton, and some techno. Woke up a few hours later to head to Tigre. About an hour and a half away. Its a beautiful place outside the city known for fishing, rowing, its amusement park, and large ferria. I ended up meeting a portena by the name of Flavia while I was waiting for my friends, and she said she would be our tour guide that day: ) It was nice strolling around Tigre and chatting with Flavia. Sunday was a chill, very productive day.

I ended up really liking my geography class that I was testing out Monday. And I've been liking my Cuentos class. And the Castellano is required. So far I have 4 classes that I know I am taking, CASTELLANO, CUENTOS LATINOAMERICANOS CONTEMPORANEOS, MARKETING TACTICO Y OPERATIVO, Y GEOGRAPHY GENERAL and 1 still in limbo. (between international marketing or a history/courses in Tango.

The professors seem to be pretty nice, and sympathetic to foreigners- Yankees teehee(americans). One of my professors even emailed all the extranjeros and offered a sincere hand if we need any help. Other students in my classes seem really nice and helpful, so I'm thankful for that. One girl, Elizabeth, helped me find where the photocopiadora (place where we print off everything- including our 'books'- handouts 4 class) was- which without her help I would have never found!

A few classes I tried out I found I don't want to take anymore because they wouldn't transfer for credit, the prof was too difficult to understand, the material didn't interest me. It's nice that the extranjeros get to test out their classes for a few weeks until we decide if we want to keep them.

I love having my one class in Universidad Catolica Argentina (UCA), because its in Puerto Madero- which is by the ports, and its lovely there. See pics. My other classes are at San Salvador (USAL) and the IFSA building, they are right in the heart of the city- surrounded by the hustle and bustle of the portenos. It takes me about 30-40mins to get to my universitites, and give or take 20 mins between all of them. I spend my time in the Subte reading the free local Diarios (newspapers) or people watching.

Extremely delayed blog!

Recoleta Cemetery, then Montevideo, Urugauy ( sorry formatting is horrible!)

School has been eating up a lot of my time these past few weeks. I'm happy that orientaion from IFSA is over though, it was really tedious, and seemed like we were trapped inside all day when all I wanted to do was explore the city.
I'm in a period of 'shopping' in which the extranjeros-foreighners- are allowed to test out as many classes from the 4 different universities as they wish. So far I really like my 1 class called Cuentos Latinoamericana Contemporanea. It's quite interesting and I really like the teacher, although a lot of reading. It also satisfies a lot of reqs from UofI. I am also planning on taking a marketing class, a required Castellano class, a geography or psychology class (which is also pretty interesting, like the teacher, but a lot of reading), and either a International biz class-if some1 would help me find it- or a history of tango class.

Which by the way, this past monday, I went to my 1st tango class! It was really fun, a little frustrating, and a bit close. The dance is all about 'getting into someone's space and getting there without knocking them over', more or less.

Urugauy was great! If I could describe it in one word- tranquilo- it was filled with mate, smokers of all sorts, and amazingly good looking people. Everyone we met there was extremely nice, and willing to help you out. We arrived early Friday morning by ferry/then bus. We spent Friday walking around ciudad viejo (old city), walking the Rambla-bay area-, checking out the centro and all the plazas. I tried a Chivito for dinner- Uruguayan steak or chicken sandwiches- that are really yummy. We met up with Tanya, a CS that night and went to one of the popular bars in the area. We then retired to the Art Hostel we found earlier in the day to chat with everyone there (Oso-from Hawaii, Veruta-Uruguayo, X-Uruguayo, David-Chilean, Patricia and Dueno-owners, John-chicago, and some people from Germany, and Argentine, a Brazilian. On Saturday we were told to take a bus an hour away to go to a gorgeous beach in Penar. It was worth the drive, this beach was extremely secluded by sand dunes and beautiful trees, and a great place to spend the entire afternoon. We then met with another CS name Juan. We went to a going away party of his (he's going to travel the world for 9 months) and then went to a boliche. It was nice meeting all his friends and expereincing a party Uruguayo style. The boliche was a blast too, great music and fun dancing. They play cumbia, reggaeton, and some techno. While waiting for our bus home in the morning we met Leonardo, this intriguing Uruguayo who helped us find our way home and had a great convo with us about Uruguayo ways, foreigners, traveling, and philosophy...
Sunday we woke up late, considering we didn't go to bed until 8am. We went with Oso, Veruta, and Dueno (who all btw work at the hostel) to an enormous ferria (fair/market). Where there were streets upon streets of anything you can imagine buying. From toilet seats to tvs to pop (popcorn). I found most of the stuff junk, but people were actually buying things. I ended up buying a bananna to munch on. Ha! For dinner we had an asado-we were invited by the hostel. It was great food, and the preperation was even better. They, as well as many in Montevideo, don't have a backyard, a grill, or any way to make a bbq, so they do it in the streets. They light a fire and move the embers with a stick under a grate where the meat is. When the meat is done, they cut it on a large cutting board for all to eat with thier forks. We all looked like vultures piercing the meat with our forks. It was delish! We then headed back to BA, which we were all exhausted from a great weekend in Montevideo.

We met back up with Juan and Ivan, and their friends to see one of their friend's sing at a bar. Her name was Nadia, really sweet girl who sings well. This was a fun night full of conversation and new people, and of course castellano.

Last week Nora and I headed to the Recoleta cemetery where the graves of Juan and Eva Peron are. See pics! It was really peacefull here, and all the graves were amazing to look at and read.

My birthday was a load of fun! We spent the day at a ferria in Recoleta with Ezequiel and we then headed over to his friend's home and celebrated 3 birthdays at once (Ezequiels, his friends', and mine). We had hamburgers for dinner, and were served an amazing homemade chocolate tart cake. MMm... It was really nice to be sang happy birthday in Spanish (3 times) on my special day. Everyone there was really sweet, and we had many good conversations, all while practicing my Castellano. Claro!(of course). At 2am we headed to my 1st boliche and had a lot of fun dancing and singing until 7am! It was a great bday.

Wednesdays are 1/2 off for cinemas, so we headed to see some interesting movie with Heath Leddger and Jude Law. The movie was really trippy, but I enjoyed it. It was called somehthing imagination. it was in English, but it was still fun to go to a cinema here. We went with Zac (an american whose been studying here for 8 months), Lucas, Federico, and some other of their friends. We met them through Bex (our awesome American IFSA friend).

1st Weekend Adventures in BA

Puente de las Mujeres

Nora, Izequiel, Estaban

Puerto Madero

UCA- one of my Universities- in Puerto Madero

Barbeque

Ave. Florida

Casa Rosada

Plaza de Mayo from balcony that Peron gave last speech

Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo

Saturday I took my laundry to the Lavaderia, and paid 16 pesos for 2 loads of laundry, and I came back a few hours later to pick up my nicely folded clothes (3 weeks worth)- that was a surprise as well as an accomplishment. I went for a walk around Caballito- my neighborhood- and went to the store to do some shopping- I got a few yogurts and some snacks, but had to wait 15-20mins in line! I got a little sandwich as well as 2 pastries from this cute little Panaderia a few blocks from my house.

Nora and I met up at Plaza de Mayo, went to Casa de Rosado- Place where Peron gave last speech and now holds some important presidential meetings. We then walked down the famous Florida Ave which were filled with mini markets of people selling bracelets to artwork of smashed glass... We also got dulce de leche ice cream from Mc D's- which was super cheap (barrata) and really tasty (saborosa). We headed back to the Obelisco and people watched until it was dinner time, when we ordered una pizza mozzerela chico. MMM...

That night we went to a mini boliche (club) with an American friend on our program, Bex, and her one friend, Zack who's from Cincinatti and has been in BA for 7 months, and his 2 friends, Lucas and Fredo. We then headed to a cute log cabin-style bar near recoletta. Which I didn't get back till 7am!

After a good 4 hour sleep I woke up to go for a jog- which Im trying to do more often, took some pics of Caballito for a Castellano class homework assignment, and headed to San Telmo to meet up with some other couchsurfers by the names of Izequiel and Estaban. We then walked to Puerto Madero all while speaking in Castellano and had some mate'! The most popular drink here- its like tea but has 10x more caffeine then coffee, and its def a cultural hang out type of thing. They explained 'the rules' of sharing mate with friends- because its passed around in a group-like whats considered rude, and what you should do, etc. People have this all the time- they carry a thermose, the yerba mate leaves, the cup, metal straw( bombilla) with strainer.

Now I am off to jog again and go to orientation, classes at UTDT start tomorrow at 8am! Yikes.