Che, hace un montón de tiempo que hablo con ustdes. Perdóname. Trataré de escribir más pero es dificil porque estoy ocupada cada día.
Pero voy a contarles sobre mis aventuras sin viajes! Mi vida en BUENOS AIRES! Finalmente....
Sorry my english speaking friends! I will just speak spanglish! My brain likes for me to write in Spanish. I have been trying to just stick to Spanish and I think my English is beginning to plummet. Anyways, I have been hanging around Buenos Aires more so I can actually see my beautiful city and the richness it has to offer. Lately I have been busy with un full de tarea y otras cosas pero tal vez estoy disfrutando todo! But let's talk about the weekend! Friday I went out for my friend Annie's birthday! We went to a musical here! Por el amor del Sandro (side note: Sandro was a super popular singer here en El Capital pero se murió dos años pasados) It was so funny and there was a lot of dancing! My favorite! Then we met up with other friends and enjoyed some.....Indian food! We found an Indian Restaurant in a Spanish speaking country. Finally spicy food! It was so good but unfortunately my stomach forgot what spicy food was like and was angry at me... but it was as always enjoyable!
Saturday, I went to the Lujan Zoo with some friends from the program. To be honest with you all, I went to this zoo completely blind, not knowing what it was about only knowing that you could touch the animals. Que raro. So I went and at first having the idea of "Que barbaro" and "Que suerte que haya tocado los animales" but the other half, I began to feel sentiment of the animals being drugged and caged. I mean it was an experience but I don't think I would give my money to do it again. But we saw the Catedral de Lujan and that was just gorgeous. It was a long trip home, 2 hours to be exact, but then Michelle, Katia and I were invited to my friend Juani's house to hang out with some friends. It was so much fun to just hang out with Argentines and not be in a sketchy bar or club. Those are the moments that matter the most. We ended up all hanging out until 7 am! Que loco! And the next day I had to get up for a project.....
Sunday, I had to get up for the Feria de Matederos. My partner and I had to look at the museum and feria and take pictures, observe, question what we thought was new, interesting and different. However, during this search, I found something with more value then a good grade. A new friend.
Her name is Gabriela and she is a folklorico dancer. This old man came up to me and said, you should talk to her. She can teach you the dances. So we talked and then she took me around and told me anything I did not understand, she would explain (she only speaks spanish). It was so great to just meet a complete stranger and feel so welcomed. We exchanged facebooks and numbers and decided to keep in touch..... and we did!
*Updates en mis clases: I am doing well at the moment. Got an 87% on my first test here. I have been working hard to study, but making efforts to see people and enjoy the company of my host family. I have been trying to hang out with my Argentine friends more because I prefer to speak Spanish. They are all so cool. But I do always enjoy the Flacso bunch, they are dear to my heart. I have the best of both worlds. Many great conversations were had this week and I feel extremely blessed to be here.
Friday, Gabriela invited me to her neighborhood (she lives a little outside the city) to dance Folklorico and to meet her friends. I graciously accepted and we took Colectivo 32 hasta Loma de Zoroma. It was a poorer neighborhood, many factory workers live there. Humble living but they all get by and always help each other. It was an interesting transition. The folklorico class was a neighborhood organization that this woman started 20 years ago (gratis) where the kids could have a place to dance and enjoy the time together. They all accepted me as family and told me I was always welcome. After I watched all the children dance, (they were all SO amazing) they asked me to dance for them. So I improved and they kept asking for more! It was incredible! My new friend, Enrique, taught me the three main Folklorico dances: El Gato, Chacarrera, y Samba. It was so much fun. After un full de baile, we ate pizza and had deep profound conversations in SPANISH. Accomplished! It was one my favorite nights in Buenos Aires.
Saturday, I woke up with an urge to eat tacos. I don't know why, but just had this urge. So I got a group together and we found and ate some delicious tacos en Palermo! It was glorious! After Cheri kindly invited me to la Feria de Libros para recorrer un poco y despues mirar un espectaculo de danza contemporania de su amigo! It was a great time. So relaxed but very cold! The weather has dropped a bunch and it has been very chilly lately. Unfortunately I forgot some warmer clothes at home so we all know where this is going to lead......
Sunday, Cheri and I finally found ONDA VAGA, a band Cheri heard about from her friend from Maine who was born in Argentina. It was a fun concert and free!!! But I had a birthday party to go to later, did not pay attention to my time, got stuck in SO MUCH TRAFFIC and they had to leave with out me. I was really upset at first because I really wanted to go but I understand why they couldn't wait. I also should have been watching my time a lot better. Oh well that is life.
Today I am a bit sick with a sore throat and cold. Por eso, estoy descansando en mi cama y quizas hago tarea...... quizas.....
Bueno Chicos, nos hablamos luego!
Disfruta la vida!
Besitos!
Monday, April 30, 2012
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Isla de Pascua y Sube
Che, escúchame. Tengo cuentos de mis vacaciones. Empezaré con Isla de Pascua!
As you all have heard (or are just learning) My uncle and aunt from New York came down to Buenos Aires to hang out and take me to EASTER ISLAND!!!!!!!! Increíble! But first they came to Buenos Aires, so I gave them a tour of parts they haven't seen (they have been before... but four years ago) They were also invited to dinner with my family (host family) pues traducé todo! It was fun to have them with me in Buenos Aires. Usually, I only see them once a year or sometimes every other year. It hard when I live in Chicago with my family and they live in Upstate. It was nice to talk to them about my family (on my dad's side) cause my dad rarely tells me about his family. I learned so much in one week then I did in 21 years of my life. It was nice because Monday fue un día feriado por Argentina. It was a remembrance day for the Malvinas. The Malvinas is a very sensitive topic in Buenos Aires. If you don't know what you are talking about, don't bother contributing en un conversacion con los porteños. (Las Malvinas= Faukland Islands) As you many know, England owns them know and Argentina is not pleased. They want them back, las Malvinas son Argentinas! They had a war 30 years ago para obtener las malvinas pero la Ingletera ganó. Esta guerra es como la guerra de Vietnam en los Estados Unidos. We all know how people about that in the States.
Anyways, my Uncle and Aunt came over again on Monday and shared Maté with my family again and it was amazing to have two different dynamics in the house.
The next day, I went to my grammar review then off to Chile with the family. We flew from BsAs to Santiago first to spend the night and make the trek to Isla de Pascua the next day (if you don't know, Isla de Pascua is 5 hours from Santiago, and since we didn't want to miss the any connections, spending the night was the easiest). We stayed in the Hyatt in Santiago and let me tell you, this was the first time I have stayed in a beautiful, expensive hotel with my own room.. I was in complete shock... Just amazing... Porque estuvimos en Chile, cenamos en un restaurante de pescado (porque no hay restaurantes para pescado super en BsAs) After that dinner, I thought I died and went to fish heaven. Such good salmon!
We woke up early the next day and we were off to Isla de Pascua. First in our car to the airport, my Aunt had me ask the driver to take us through Santiago so I could see the city for a bit (my first time in Santiago). One BIG notice, it is much CLEANER then BsAs. Un mónton! But then again very similar. When talking to the man, he thought it was rare to hear a North American speak spanish with in Argentine spanish. He was impressed, but still gave me a hard time for not studying in Chile... sorry man, Argentina won my heart.
But can I just say that Isla de Pascua is a close tie to Buenos Aires. I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!! Such a gorgeous island! With 5,000 people (a little more than Hope College's campus) and 6,000 Horses!!!! Que raro!!! So much beauty, cleanliness and MOIS *those heads out of stone everyone associates with the island. I think I was meant to be an islander. However, everyday on the island we hiked (LOVE LOVE LOVE) saw beautiful naturaleza, learned so much about their culture and got to know cool people. Mis tios y yo befriended the waiters, guides and other workers in the hotel (just taking interest, learning names and para mi, hablé en español con ellos) They became my friends and invited me out with them to their only club on the island (I will get to that later). Our guide, Roberto, was the coolest. He loved to tell stories about this grandfather (his grandfather was the mayor!) and practicing his English. His English was very broken but getting better! I spoke with him in Spanish and helped him with any doubts he had for the language. Re bien! I just realized from this trip how much I love being outdoors with no care in the world. If I could move right now and teach English to the natives with perfecting my Spanish and learning Rapa Nui (the indigenous language) I would in a heartbeat! We were so busy all the time. On our last day after a 5 hour hike, we went on a boat in the ocean to see a smaller piece of the island. When we were in the middle of the ocean the guide and I jumped in and swam around.... so refreshing! Later that night was a dance show called Kari Kari that we went to! It was so fun kinda of like a Hawaaiin feel! When they called people to dance with them, my uncle and I were chosen with various others and danced with them. Sorry guys that is not on tape. After I went out with the workers and had a lovely time hanging out with them!
However, I didn't go to sleep and had to be at the airport at 6 am con mis tios.... I fell asleep in every location... but made it back safely and made my connection with only an hour in between! But when I got to Buenos Aires and took a cab, the high way se cortado (cut off) because there was a storm on Wednesday and it was bad.. a lot of damage which meant no lights on the highway. Meaning we took the long way home but he did not charge my more (it was a flat fee). Bendiga a dios! Happy Easter to me! It was an exhausting trip but I had a lovely dinner with Hernán and Mariana (my host mom) and fell straight asleep.
When I mentioned Sube the in beginning, it is because I FINALLY obtained my sube card! It has been 7 weeks and I finally did it! No more buying single tickets or scrounging for monedas! FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been super nice to only use the card!!
Bueno, voy a escribir más luego.
Besos!!!
Chau!
As you all have heard (or are just learning) My uncle and aunt from New York came down to Buenos Aires to hang out and take me to EASTER ISLAND!!!!!!!! Increíble! But first they came to Buenos Aires, so I gave them a tour of parts they haven't seen (they have been before... but four years ago) They were also invited to dinner with my family (host family) pues traducé todo! It was fun to have them with me in Buenos Aires. Usually, I only see them once a year or sometimes every other year. It hard when I live in Chicago with my family and they live in Upstate. It was nice to talk to them about my family (on my dad's side) cause my dad rarely tells me about his family. I learned so much in one week then I did in 21 years of my life. It was nice because Monday fue un día feriado por Argentina. It was a remembrance day for the Malvinas. The Malvinas is a very sensitive topic in Buenos Aires. If you don't know what you are talking about, don't bother contributing en un conversacion con los porteños. (Las Malvinas= Faukland Islands) As you many know, England owns them know and Argentina is not pleased. They want them back, las Malvinas son Argentinas! They had a war 30 years ago para obtener las malvinas pero la Ingletera ganó. Esta guerra es como la guerra de Vietnam en los Estados Unidos. We all know how people about that in the States.
Anyways, my Uncle and Aunt came over again on Monday and shared Maté with my family again and it was amazing to have two different dynamics in the house.
The next day, I went to my grammar review then off to Chile with the family. We flew from BsAs to Santiago first to spend the night and make the trek to Isla de Pascua the next day (if you don't know, Isla de Pascua is 5 hours from Santiago, and since we didn't want to miss the any connections, spending the night was the easiest). We stayed in the Hyatt in Santiago and let me tell you, this was the first time I have stayed in a beautiful, expensive hotel with my own room.. I was in complete shock... Just amazing... Porque estuvimos en Chile, cenamos en un restaurante de pescado (porque no hay restaurantes para pescado super en BsAs) After that dinner, I thought I died and went to fish heaven. Such good salmon!
We woke up early the next day and we were off to Isla de Pascua. First in our car to the airport, my Aunt had me ask the driver to take us through Santiago so I could see the city for a bit (my first time in Santiago). One BIG notice, it is much CLEANER then BsAs. Un mónton! But then again very similar. When talking to the man, he thought it was rare to hear a North American speak spanish with in Argentine spanish. He was impressed, but still gave me a hard time for not studying in Chile... sorry man, Argentina won my heart.
But can I just say that Isla de Pascua is a close tie to Buenos Aires. I AM IN LOVE!!!!!!! Such a gorgeous island! With 5,000 people (a little more than Hope College's campus) and 6,000 Horses!!!! Que raro!!! So much beauty, cleanliness and MOIS *those heads out of stone everyone associates with the island. I think I was meant to be an islander. However, everyday on the island we hiked (LOVE LOVE LOVE) saw beautiful naturaleza, learned so much about their culture and got to know cool people. Mis tios y yo befriended the waiters, guides and other workers in the hotel (just taking interest, learning names and para mi, hablé en español con ellos) They became my friends and invited me out with them to their only club on the island (I will get to that later). Our guide, Roberto, was the coolest. He loved to tell stories about this grandfather (his grandfather was the mayor!) and practicing his English. His English was very broken but getting better! I spoke with him in Spanish and helped him with any doubts he had for the language. Re bien! I just realized from this trip how much I love being outdoors with no care in the world. If I could move right now and teach English to the natives with perfecting my Spanish and learning Rapa Nui (the indigenous language) I would in a heartbeat! We were so busy all the time. On our last day after a 5 hour hike, we went on a boat in the ocean to see a smaller piece of the island. When we were in the middle of the ocean the guide and I jumped in and swam around.... so refreshing! Later that night was a dance show called Kari Kari that we went to! It was so fun kinda of like a Hawaaiin feel! When they called people to dance with them, my uncle and I were chosen with various others and danced with them. Sorry guys that is not on tape. After I went out with the workers and had a lovely time hanging out with them!
However, I didn't go to sleep and had to be at the airport at 6 am con mis tios.... I fell asleep in every location... but made it back safely and made my connection with only an hour in between! But when I got to Buenos Aires and took a cab, the high way se cortado (cut off) because there was a storm on Wednesday and it was bad.. a lot of damage which meant no lights on the highway. Meaning we took the long way home but he did not charge my more (it was a flat fee). Bendiga a dios! Happy Easter to me! It was an exhausting trip but I had a lovely dinner with Hernán and Mariana (my host mom) and fell straight asleep.
When I mentioned Sube the in beginning, it is because I FINALLY obtained my sube card! It has been 7 weeks and I finally did it! No more buying single tickets or scrounging for monedas! FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has been super nice to only use the card!!
Bueno, voy a escribir más luego.
Besos!!!
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