My time here is dwindling down to nearly nothing...I can't believe that I have been here for two months already. I feel very sad about leaving. I've made my bucket list with the last couple things that I want to do before I head home. My flight leaves next Saturday at 9 p.m. I will probably be freezing and very depressed the whole way home...I guess I better make the most of it while I'm here.
On Tuesday, Aidi and I went searching for this burger place after school, but it was closed. We went window shopping and tried on boots at a few stores...the thing here is like colored tie-up military style boots. I really like these red ones, but no one has my size. But its fun to check out all the shoe shops and see what kinds of goodies they have. :)
As you already know, last Wednesday we went to the Evita museum. This time we had an even better tour guide who was very thorough in his explanations of Evita. I really enjoyed what he had to say and I was very interested in the things he had to say. The girl we had last time left a few things out, so its a good thing I snuck into the second trip, huh? I took more pictures of Evita's dresses and things...she had excellent fashion, and she was tiny, too.
I know that I used to be pretty hard on Evita because I figured that she slept her way to the top and she used her social works programs as a way to ensure her spot at the top, but being here has shown me that there is a lot to Evita. I'm not the only one with mixed feelings...a lot of people around here love her for some things but blame her for others. I've really learned to respect her, because no matter how she came to be the first lady, she was a strong, powerful, confident woman. She paved the way for women in politics...she won women the right to vote here in Argentina, and she herself had a very strong role in Argentinian politics during her time as first lady...not only was this a first for Argentina, but for the whole world. She was so respected that she went to Europe after World War II to meet the pope and provide assistance to rebuilding countries after the war...this was a first. She has done a lot of amazing things, and as a woman I have a lot of respect for the fact that she started as an illegitimate daughter in the country to one of the most powerful woman in the world during her time. Being here has made me wonder what would have happened if Evita had lived longer...maybe Argentina wouldn't have had so many hardships. Hard to tell.
Afterwards, Aidi and I went window shopping, again. This time for clothes...which is fun, but I basically want just about everything I see in the window. Hahahaha. I know I've said this before, but I just love their boots, sweaters, scarves, and coats. We don't dress nearly as cool as the people here.
On Thursday, I got to eat a real, authentic U.S. style cheeseburger. Aidi and I skipped out on dinner with our families to go to this place called The Office. It was opened by a man from California and its American style burgers...and I loved it. We had these delicious cheese fries with bacon on them and of course, a cheeseburger. So good. After that, we were invited to a house party. A kid in my class lives in an apartment with two other boys, and they were having people over. It was actually really fun. It's funny because he technically lives in a home stay, but his señora kind of makes a business out of hosting international students, so she lives on the first floor with the girls, and the boys live alone on the sixth floor. They go down to her apartment for breakfast and dinner. I guess she heard some of us and she came up to see what the heck was going on...the whole thing was pretty comical. Some kids were hiding in the closet, and she like used her spidey senses and opened the door and was like, "What are you doing in the closet?" and they laughed and she laughed. She really didn't care that the boys were having a party...she just said turn the lights off when you guys all leave. Haha.
Earlier on Thursday, we went to my new favorite place in Buenos Aires, The Tea Connection. Their tea is SO good. They come in the cutest little pots and they have all kinds of flavors. I love it. I also worked on my project for my class...a girl in my class, Tina and I chose to do Cristina Kirchner.
Friday marked the day of my presentation about Cristina Kirchner...I was kind of nervous because my teacher likes her and I didn't want to offend him or anything. I guess we did alright...Tina did history and presidency and I did her like social life and new campaign. I talked a lot about her fashion, the magazines she has been in, her plastic surgery, and things like that. My teacher didn't like that part...although I find her clothes and makeup fascinating. He told me that people here don't really care about that...so I guess I fucked it up. I feel kind of bad that he didn't like it because I was really excited to talk about it and everything and I love him and his class and I feel like now he hates me. But I guess I will get over it.
After school Aidi, Tina, and a new friend Jessica headed over to the movies to see Harry Potter!!!! I cried, I laughed...it was amazing. I have to see it again when I get home...it was so good. I just love Harry Potter. :)
Friday night we went to some kid's apartment. It was actually really lame...it was supposed to be a "house party" but there was NO ONE there. Sooooo it was weird. And they made fun of how I speak Spanish, because they are from Colombia and I speak Spanish the Argentinian way. So, I just kept my mouth shut the rest of the night so as not to deal with it. A lot of people are very critical of the castellano dialect...but I think its cool. I love the way they speak here.
This is all I have time for right now because dinner is in like 15 minutes and I'm going to be late, but I will try to update again soon!!!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Buckle your seatbelts y'all, this is some Indiana Jones shit!
So, I know its been like over a week since I’ve blogged. I promise I have a legit reason for this…my computer is shot and won’t connect to the internet and I don’t really know how to fix it. So, I’ve decided to document my adventures in Word and put them up when I have internet access…it really sucks. Today I almost started crying because I haven’t been able to use the internet for like a week. Its hard because I haven’t really talked to my mom or anyone…I started crying because I feel like I can’t get in touch with her, and it really sucks. I’m going to ask some people if they know how to fix the problem. Today Aidi had it working at Starbucks, but I don’t know how to make it work. I can use the ISA office’s computers but they close at 6…so for now this is what I have to do.
As you all know, last Monday was Fourth of July. A very special day for all of us Americans. Surprisingly, Argentinians don’t really care that much about our holiday, and I still had to go to school and yadda yadda yadda. That afternoon, however, I started celebrating in style by stopping at my favorite ice cream store Volta. On Mondays, its 2 for 1 kilo day and Aidi and I decided to buy a kilo each of ice cream. Its actually cheaper to buy the kilo than to buy a smaller size…you can’t pass that up. So, I started eating mine right then on there walking down the street and on the colectivo, etc. People gave me funny stares, but I figured I’m an American and I was just celebrating the holiday…who cares. I had American Cookie (sticking with the theme) and Chocolate Suizo. Unfortunately, I didn’t finish it all…but I will say I ate a good portion of it. Probably not something to be proud of, but I am.
After that, I came home and napped for a bit because we had big plans for the night. All of us were going to head to El Alamo for drinks and celebrating. Some girl spread a rumor that the embassy had fireworks and things like this, but in reality they were just “opening their doors” to Argentinians to obtain visas to the States. What a crock…nothing for us Americans who happen to be in Argentina for the holiday. But that’s okay because we still had fun. J
Jorge went so far as to play the national anthem for us. He is so precious. He originally played it while I was napping, and when I woke up he said, “Te falta. Yo toque el cancion de los Estados Unidos. Te falta.” Basically, this means you fail I played the national anthem and you missed it…but that’s okay. Because he played it again! He has some old dvd from 1996 of the three tenors (I don’t know who these people are) in concert and they start with the Star Spangled Banner. I’d say that was pretty American of him to do for us. What a sweetie.
There were a ton of people at El Alamo…we learned how to take the 152 bus to this bar. Saves us money for the taxi…like a true porteño!!! Interestingly enough, there were lots of porteños at the bar…it was a really happening place. I made lots of new friends and was able to practice my Spanish. I’ve said it once, I will say it again…Spanish is easier when you’ve had a few drinks. I made two Brazilian friends…one who speaks English, Marcela, and one who speaks Spanish, Gui. We talked and shared drinks and exchanged names and numbers. I enjoyed getting to know them…and everyone got to practice their castellano and English!!! We plan to keep in touch via Facebook and someday maybe I will visit Brazil! They also plan on visiting the United States, but they are thinking of going to New York. I told them that was a very good choice. We left the bar at 4 when they closed the place down…I finally went to bed at about 5 a.m.
Tuesday I was very tired…as I had to wake up at 9 a.m. for class. Wahhh. However, I survived and then I met Aidi and some girls from her old class for Starbucks at 4:30. Then, we went to buy more minutes for my phone and went to the Club Manhattan so Aidi could have a snack before dinner. I like our waiter friends Rocky and Ariel…they are very good to us. After this, I came home and had dinner and crashed.
Wednesday I had much to prepare for as Thursday was a very big day for me. I studied for my test a little bit and packed for Iguazu Falls. Also, I received a package with a book from my mom and two packages with gifts for my host family from my grandma. Since they sent them in padded envelopes, I didn’t have to trek to the fricken correo central to retrieve my packages. How nice. We also had our orientation for the trip to Iguazu…I’ve been waiting for this for over a month!!! Many of you may not know that Iguazu made the new list of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. Niagra Falls looks like a bathroom sink faucet in comparison…no joke. It became clear to me that this was going to be a very jam packed trip…yikesabee!!! But I was very excited. J I took money out of the bank, packed, bought snacks and plenty of water…and let me tell you…Iguazu does not disappoint. Iguzau is Guarini for big…by the way. Just a clue at the size of these falls.
For our goodbye dessert, Mercedes had the maid make us flan. How sweet…literally.
Thursday could not go by fast enough…I took my test, which went very well. I got my results back and I got a 92 percent which rounds up to a 9.5 out of 10. Not too shabby…I would just like to say SUCK IT DR. KLAUS…thanks for not signing my study abroad form because you didn’t believe I could handle the course load, because I think I kicked this course load’s ass. Sorry, I had to get this out of the way. Then we had more school…and finally 6 p.m. rolled around…time to head to the falls!
Our mode of transportation to Misiones (the province where Iguazu is located) was this strange and fascinating vehicle called the bed bus. We’re not talking a Greyhound bus here…we’re talking a full on two story bed bus. It’s very lush inside and it seats 42 passengers quite comfortably. We’re talking plush seats, leg room, reclining seats, pillows and blankets, televisions, and meals. I sat next to Emi, which made my day because I had not seen her in two weeks because her class starts two and a half hours later then mine and it is on a different floor. I missed her very very much. We had salad, crackers, a roll, cheese, crude ham, beef and pasta, and flan as our dinner for the night. Honestly, this stuff was pretty delicious. I was very pleased. Before dinner we watched “The Killers” and after dinner we watched “50 First Dates.” It was a pretty good selection…I forgot how much I loved “50 First Dates” and I could stare at Ashton Kutcher all day. After that, I curled up in my little bed on the little bus and slept. It wasn’t as peaceful as I hoped, but it was better then the overnight flight here. It’s strange traveling in Argentina, though…we didn’t drive on like highways or anything…its just like two lane roads straight through. You go through cities, forests…you really cover all of Argentina. No wonder the ride takes 12 hours…more or less. At about 6:00 a.m. the little bus attendant turned the lights on and woke us all up for breakfast…crackers and two medialunas. We arrived in Posadas at 7 a.m. where we were allotted fifteen minutes to use the restroom to freshen up. What a joke. First of all, you have to buy toilet paper at this rest stop. Second of all, it was filthy, Third of all, it was 7 am in the morning…too early to be doing anything. But we managed.
Then, we hopped a normal Greyhound bus and met our tour guide for the weekend and our driver. Margarita and Mr. Ant. Don’t really know why that’s his name…it just is. Margarita has the same birthday as me…ironically. We had to sit on this bus for an hour because some kids had to ride a different bed bus because our whole group would not fit on one, and the other one was running behind. Finally, they showed up and we started our weekend adventures.
First on the agenda were the Jesuit ruins. This is a huge complex that was built by the Jesuits and the Guarini people lived there and learned how to hunt, cook, weave, etc. They also went to church. Unfortunately, at some point the king of Spain decided he didn’t want the Jesuits influencing the Guarini people anymore so he expelled them from South America and ordered the complexes destroyed. Now, all that remains are the ruins…which are still very very impressive. The dirt in the Misiones province of Argentina is red…the ruins are also tinted red. A good movie for everyone to watch about this is “The Mission” with Robert DeNiro…I will have to watch it when I get home. We had a tour guide walk us around and point out the important things…I took lots of pictures, which I will be sure to share when I get the chance. J
After this it was off the estancia, which is basically a plantation/farm/country house. This is a very common part of life in Argentina…in fact there are tourist trips to estancias from Buenos Aires. You can sign up to visit a farm for a day where there is asado, animals, and relaxing outside of the city. This estancia was very nice. They grow mate and black tea here and also they served us excellent asado. Guillermo told us that we would be eating a lot on this trip…he wasn’t kidding. First, we ate until we thought we would explode. To drink, we had fresh squeezed lemonade…it was like heaven. Choripan, empanadas, ensaladas, y asados out to wazoo. This is some of the best beef I have ever eaten in my whole life. So juicy, tender, and flavorful…I’ve read its because the cows feed on lush, green, Argentinian grass rather than chemicals, steroids, and all the other crap Americans feed their cows. It was so delicious…I can’t even describe it. We also tried “sweet bread.” That is the American term for it, I’m unsure of what the Spanish word is, but it’s the cow’s gland, which is roasted and served up. Here it is considered a delicacy. It was good…kind of crispy on the outside, but very tender on the inside. After this, I was totally stuffed. So, naturally, they made us walk it off with a trip through the plantation to see the mate factory.
This mate factory was very cool…kinda creepy because it would never be legal for 40+ kids to be walking through a factory that has the technology of the 50s, but I thought it was all very very interesting. There were trucks hauling mate in huge burlap bags. Then the workers had to separate the leaves and put them on the conveyer belt to dry. Then the leaves had to sit for a few days drying some more. Then its packaged and sent out…I’m not really sure if this is the totally accurate process, but its what I gathered. The mate was piled high in this factory…I mean everywhere you look…even in the attic of the farm where we got to go “play” in the mate for a few minutes. I took lots of pictures here, too, so they will be cool to show everyone. This only furthered my love for mate…its smelled so good!!!
We walked back to the main part of the estancia where dessert and mate was waiting for us. First, we tried mate cocido, which is like mate in a tea bag. Pretty delish…especially when you add sugar. Then, we had mandarin pound cake…so wonderful. I ate three pieces…but so did Sam and Emi. It was so light and sweet and perfect. After that, we passed around a legit mate cup like true Argentinians. It was a very nice way to relax for the afternoon.
At four, we packed things up and headed to Puerto Iguazu, which is still 4 hours away from the estancia. Obviously, I slept on the bus ride…my little eyes couldn’t stay open.
When we arrived at the hotel, I was so happy. We stayed in Hotel Saint George…it’s a very swanky joint. Complete with pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, all you can eat buffet, big, warm beds with fluffy pillows. It’s a wonderful place. It’s also warmer in Puerto Iguazu, so that was a nice change of pace. We ate dinner at 9:00 and then I took a shower and hit the sack…Friday was exhausting, and I was pretty sure Saturday would be, too. Wake up call was at 7:30 a.m.!!!
Let me tell you, 7:30 a.m. came too soon, but it was worth it to see the falls. We rode the bus about 20 minutes to the national park. We walked a ways and rode the train and eventually we reached the biggest fall…The Devil’s Throat. The Guarini people used to think that the devil was at the bottom of the falls with his mouth open sucking in all the water. Honestly, words can’t describe the beauty of Iguazu…I’m not even going to try. I will post pictures when I get home, but it is seriously the most beautiful place I have ever seen. The rainforest, beautiful falls, and hundreds of rainbows. I can’t wait to show you all…I literally had a smile on my face the whole day. We also walked along the upper and lower circuit, which are equally awesome.
At the end of the day, was the special treat…the boat ride under the falls!!! I kept calling it Maid of the Mist because that’s its name in Niagra…not really sure what the official name for Iguazu is, but it was fricken AWESOME!!! We took a speed boat to the bottom of the falls where we drove under them and got soaking wet…it was especially ballsy because just last May three people were killed in an accident on one of these boat rides…thankfully we lived to tell the tale!!! It’s really fun because if you get all pumped and yell and scream “Otra” or “Dale” the driver will go really fast and do tricks and get you very very wet from the falls!!! I loved it. J
After the falls, we visited Tres Fronteras…it overlooks Brazil and Paraguay…apparently Osama Bin Laden’s summer home is in Paraguay. Pretty close. It’s very beautiful…the river separates the three countries. I have pictures of this also. Basically, all of this you have to see for yourself. Sorry…
We had all you can eat buffet again for dinner. We also found this really great bakery, which sells wonderful treats at low low prices!!! I wish I could have taken this place home with meeeeee. Wahh. Plus, we went shopping at the little vendors around town…they have some pretty cool stuff. Also, very cheap. Honestly, all of Misiones reminded me of Nicaragua. Lots of poverty and very small town-ish. People playing music in the streets and dirty little children running around without shoes. Everyone has their doors open and they were far more friendly than the porteños. I enjoyed it, but I love Buenos Aires more.
Sunday morning we boarded a convey (no joke) and headed into the jungle to visit the Guarini village. The Guarini are the natives to Argentina…think Native Americans. They have pretty much the same sad story as Native Americans in the U.S. Forced off their land and now they live in poverty, holding on to their traditional customs. They speak mostly Guarini, but they also learn Spanish in school. A German ambassador founded and funded the school for this particular village. The village was straight up like Nicaragua…small tin houses, chickens running around in the yard, children with no shoes…the similarities were very scary. Our guide showed us some of their hunting traps and how they build their homes. At the end of the tour, a group of Guarini children sang for us. It was very sweet. We were able to take pictures and talk with them, but only if we left a donation. The whole thing is very commercialized and touristy. I was kind of disappointed with the fact that travel agencies exploit their poverty and culture as a way to make money. I understand that now the Guarini depend on donations from tourists, but to me its just very sad and unnatural. These kids sing everyday so that tourists will give them money…that has become their way of life. I kind of lost its sweetness factor when they brought out the donation bowl to take pictures…I just feel like their lives are exploited. But, it was still an experience. We also were able to shop at the market where they had handmade crafts. I bought a few gifts…but I won’t say what, so as not to ruin the surprise.
This was the end of our very long and exhausting and exciting trip. We headed to the airport where we waited to see if the ash would affect our flight. Originally, we were told that our flight was delayed because Buenos Aires airport was shut down…but then five minutes later they announced that our flight would be the last flight to head into Buenos Aires. We flew LAN, which is very nice. We got yummy Havannah snacks and drinks. I slept like a baby, however, they had entertainment on the tv the whole flight…they clearly aren’t skimping on things like U.S. airlines are these days.
After I came home, I met Aidi and I went and grabbed something to eat. I was hungry, and had only eaten the breakfast buffet. We went to Café Martinez and caught up about our weekend. The mayoral election was this weekend in Buenos Aires, so a lot was happening. Also, I was very exhausted from all the traveling.
Mercedes and Jorge cooked us cauliflower as a special treat and baked chicken. They bought brownies for dessert, but I cannot eat them because I am allergic to walnuts. I slept like a baby on Sunday night…Monday came far too soon!!!
Yesterday (Monday) was a pretty simple day. I went to school…we had a day where we talked all day about all kinds of issues. In Spanish, of course. It was good practice. Aidi and I walked around all afternoon looking at boots and clothes…its fun to see all the fashion. Everyone here wears these military boots, but in like color. I like the red ones, but no one had my size. Sad face. I will keep my eyes peeled, though.
Dinner was milanesa with carrots and cauliflower. The classic banana with dulce de leche for dessert. Aidi and I planned to go to the Alamo for our usual Monday night routine, but when we arrived we were told that the cover was 50 pesos…that’s 12. 50!!! Normally its only 30 pesos…it was spiked because of the Costa Rica v. Argentina game for Copa America. We decided to ef that and walked around the city at night…not in a creepy, dangerous way. In a beautiful big city kind of way. It was nice and I went to bed around 12:30.
Today was Tuesday. My wonderful mother was able to call Apple for me while emailing me at the ISA office in order to fix my internet connection. The internet is kind of shotty at my house still, but I had my network preferences configured wrong, so I was unable to hook up to any network. Thankfully, its all fixed now. So, I can get back to blogging as usual!!!
Aidi and I went to this awesome café called Tea Connection. It’s actually a tea house with all natural, green food and drinks. I had the chai tea with cheesecake. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but its common for Argentines to eat merienda between 3 and 7 p.m…Aidi and I are pretty accustomed to this. Dinner is so late…so it makes sense that they have a little snack. The tea comes out in kettles and its not in bags. The herbs and tea leaves are put in a filter in the kettle of hot water. They give you an hour glass to time how long you need to let it steep. Once the glass is finished you can drink the tea…it’s very cool. I really love this place…too bad I discovered it with only 12 days left here. L
I have compiled my list of last things to do before I leave…I am starting to feel very sad. I miss my mom and my dog, but I really love it here. I’ve made really great friends, learned so much, and I’ve fallen in love with Buenos Aires. It’s an amazing city…I plan to return. Maybe someday I can get a job and live here.
We had raviolis for dinner tonight. Argentina beat Costa Rica yesterday for those of you who are interested in Copa America. Also, the street vendors were busted on Calle Florida, so now there aren’t any there anymore…apparently, it was a pretty violent thing. The vendors started rioting and screaming and protesting…but now they have all found new posts. I’m depressed because the vendors were like the best part of Calle Florida…I hope they come back.
Tomorrow I’m going back to Museo Evita with ISA. It’s a really awesome museum and I’m excited to see it again!!! J
I want to say Happy Birthday to my Grandma Bapcha. I know it’s a day late, but I hope you had a really fabulous birthday and I miss you very much. I’m sorry I couldn’t wish you well yesterday…internet problems and all, but I love you.
And everyone should thank my mother for calling Apple and helping me to get my computer working.
12 more days until this great adventure is over…I’m not sure how to feel about it.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
You're going to take half of Buenos Aires with you.
So, I admit it. I have a shopping problem...but Jorge and Mercedes think its hilarious how much stuff I like to buy. Today I told them I bought some gifts for my family and Jorge said (in Spanish) "You are going to talk half of Buenos Aires with you when you go!" And laughed. He is so cute. He likes to make fun of me for sleeping, escaping in the middle of the night, shopping practically every day, and eating ice cream. I'm so good that I have the number to Freddo memorized...some might see that as pathetic, I know, but I think its quite a feat. Per usual, I haven't written all weekend, so we have lots to catch up on!!!
On Friday, I went to school per usual. Germán is a good teacher because he has all these fun games for us that actually make us use what we learned on command. He also doesn't take any of our crap because he knows what its like in the United States. Other teacher let us slack off like there's no tomorrow, but him...no. No speaking English in his class or there is punishment. No being late for class or from breaks and lunch. He checks our homework to make sure we did it. It's good...unfortunately, the most annoying girl in the world is in my class. AND she has a big crush on the teach...and I'm over her antics. Her name is Katy or Katzia because she is russian and apparently that is cool and she has irritated me since Day One...but its especially irritating now that she feels the need to talk/attempt to flirt all fricken day. She is from SoCal and she's a philosophy major and she is a big bible thumper...not that that's a bad thing, but she LOVESSS to talk about it and tell everyone else about it and blah blah blah. I don't care about why she doesn't cuss. So, anyway, she is like really rude, but she thinks she is being coy. She told our teacher that she was going to call him German or Alemania (which is Germany in Spanish) because his name is spelled that way. RUDE. That is his name, and down here it sounds nothing like German because they have a different word for German. And he pronounces it differently than German anyway! Like. WTF. She also insists on asking for breaks at the exact minute that the break is supposed to start. In the US, I would never straight up interrupt the teacher to say, "it's time for our break now..." She also likes to beg him to speak English to us..."it's SO cute when Argentinians speak English." Dude, your being rude and condescending. And we are here to learn Spanish...not beg our teacher to talk to us in English. It wasn't so bad when she kept her mouth shut in the other class, but now that she is crushing on the teacher she doesn't shut the heck up...She can be voted off the island, I say.
After that, Aidi picked me up and we went to Van Gogh for some mozzerella sticks and a bottle of wine. I also had some sort of lemon drink that they make here...it's a local lemon liquor with sugar and lemon juice. It tastes like candy...I love it. The service at Van Gogh sucks and I'm never going back there. It's overpriced and you better plan on spending like 3.5 hours in there AT LEAST because it takes them forever to wait on you. You have to practically hound them down to get them to bring you the bill...it's fricken ridiculous. Later that night we all met up at Club Manhattan (hands down the best cafe in Belgrano...if not Buenos Aires) to "pregame" for the club.
WAIVER: GMA AND MOM...THE NEXT PARAGRAPH EXPLAINS DETAIL ABOUT MY CLUBBING EXPERIENCE. IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT...DON'T READ IT. (It's prolly best you don't.) :)
So, three newbies met me and Aidi at Club Manhattan. Two of them were actually very cool. Rocky, my fave waiter, wasn't at Club Manhattan on Friday night, so we had to make a new friend named Ariel. He gave me his Manhattan button as a "souvenier." What a sweetie. After a couple bottles of wine, we proceeded to head to this club on the corner called Viper. They let me in for free...it's so nice being blonde. When we walked in...it seemed like it might be kind of a young crowd, but we stayed. I ordered a Cuba Libre, which is rum and coke from the bar up front. We were dancing and hanging out and then we got armbands to enter the VIP section. OOOOOHHH. So, I went back there and ordered another drink from that bar. Naturally, the bartender fell in love with me and kept telling me how I was the princess of his life and he would love to "have me." Whatever that means...He made my next drink like straight up Bacardi rum and maybe one drop of Coca Cola. He probably roofied me, too, because after that things are all pretty fuzzy...and I only had those two drinks. Aidi and I took lemon drop shots which are served with salt...gross. I didn't even finish mine. We danced. This photographer for the club followed me around all night taking pictures of me like I'm some fricken celebrity. Boys kept coming up to me to ask for their picture taken with me. Everyone wanted to talk to me...it was crazy. I literally felt like I was famous. P.S. I was the ONLY blonde in this club. I stayed there until about 6 or 7 in the morning dancing and socializing and whatnot...and then I took a taxi home. Obviously, way more exciting things happened between then and now, but I can't talk about ALL my adventures now can I? ;)
WAIVER: I AM NOW DONE DESCRIBING MY NIGHT OUT...
So, Saturday Erin, Aidi, and I decided to head to my favorite "hood" Boca. I say that jokingly because that just so happens to be the place that I ended up in the dark after taking the wrong bus and you should never be in Boca at night. I, however, lived to tell the tale. Lucky me. I decided to test my fate again with another visit. We hopped on the 64 bus...its like an hour ride, and those colectivos sure do get to me. A group of boys kept making lovey faces at me and trying to talk to me in English...its best to avoid these gestures because if you don't then they will think you are going to bore their children. Which I'm not...unless you're rich. Then we can talk.
So, then we all got off the 64 bus...barely. The driver tried to drive away in the middle of my descent. I'm lucky to be alive...seriously. Caminito is the famous part of Boca and the only place that is really safe for us Americans. Once again, on my little impromptu visit I was NOT on this street...luck, I tell you. Boca is home of the world's GREATEST soccer player Diego Maradonna and the inventor of tango himself, Carlos Gardel. That also makes it the birthplace of tango...the national dance of Argentina which is full of sultry sexiness. This is ALL OVER Boca. Also, there are lots of little restaraunts and little people will come and tell you why their restaraunt is best and blah blah blah. This is how you make friends! Walter basically wants to marry me. He kept holding my hand and asking if I will dance the tango with him. We tried to eat at another restaurant and he freaked out and pulled me into HIS restaurant and made me promise to dance with him. Like, seriously dude? It was a good decision anyway because his restaurant has tango dancing as entertainment. WOOP WOOP. One guy asked me if I was from Idaho...I said "no, why?" and he said "because I love potatoes!!!!" We all laughed hysterically at this man...I don't know what potatoes have to do with me, but it was pretty funny. We made many friends like this...it was fun. Caminito is very colorful and has these big corny statues all over the place. I like it a lot there...and apparently they love me, too!!!!
I had grilled chicken and french fries for lunch. We watched the tango show and took pictures with the sexy tango man. Too bad he didn't wanna marry me...sigh. It was fun. However, our little photo shoot took too long and once again we ended up in Boca at night. Seriously, it was like the great exodus. One minute the place is packed and people are laughing...the next, not a soul in sight. So, we held hands and ran to the bus stop to ensure that we all made it there safely. We took the 29 bus home. That man didn't let us off right when we pushed the buzzer...I don't know why it's never happened to me before, so we ended up like six blocks away. What a butthole.
While on the bus, we made a friend with some old man who was sippin on a Quilmes. He got off the bus and then walked up to my window and knocked on it...I opened it and he handed me some candy. Like I'm gonna eat that...I'm not trying to get roofied here...again...whoopsss. I am, however, keeping it as a momento. Also, some old lady kept putting liquid liner on while we were riding on the bus. As if that's gonna work out...its the COLECTIVO. Your lucky to make it off the thing alive with all your body parts intact...let alone with your eyeliner applied appropriately. She got off looking like a lunatic...her eyeliner was halfway up her eyelid. It's nuts. But, we laughed a lot and I had a lot of fun...I like to laugh and talk with my friends, and I'm glad that Erin and Aidi like to do that, too.
I went to bed early last night because after the Friday night fiasco I couldn't handle the idea of going out. I will be going out to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow...can't forget to be proud of my country even though I'm not in it. I have to go to school first, though. WAHHHH.
Today I woke up and waited for Aidi for about three hours. Since, she didn't rise from the dead until after her 3 o'clock cut off I left without her. I'm actually very proud of myself for being strong enough to go out alone and enjoy myself. I've never eaten a meal out alone...and it wasn't that bad! I went to Club Manhattan for lunch and Rocky waited on me. I had sorrentinos in cream sauce. OMG. This is like hands down the best meal I've ever had in Buenos Aires. The sorrentinos are stuffed with cheese and ham and the cream sauce is to die for. I also had bread to dip into the sauce. It was heavenly...just what I needed.
Then, I headed to the feria in Belgrano. It's small, but a good place to spend the afternoon. Especially since I was alone and I didn't want to get on the bus or subte and go to a big feria with a companion. I browsed the booths...I found a leather wallet for my little brother and some gifts for my mom. I bought another mate cup. It's ceramic and it was too adorable to pass up. I found some Shamans who sell rocks and whatnot on the corner, so that made mom happy. I will go back to pick her up some more things. I also went into the bookstore and browsed around...it's not the same as a library (which is one of my favorite pasttimes), but I think it's still fun to peruse the shelves. I like to try to read the back of the books to see what they are about. I'm not sure I could commit to a full novel right now...it was hard enough in Eipper's class. I'm not trying to have to work to read, but it gives me something to work towards. One day I will be so good at Spanish that I will WANT to read books in the language. :)
I saw a Volta...one is close to me! But I refrained...it was busy and it was almost dinner time. It's a pretty amazing feat that I said no to helado. I came home and talked to my mom online for a bit. Then, we had dinner...some weird criole thing. I didn't like it that much and she gave me WAYYY to much, but I forced it down so not to be rude. We had left over Freddo for dessert. Last night we had pizza. The night before that one of my favorites...chicken and lettuce with soy sauce. I love eating soy sauce with my lettuce. I also love Mercedes' oven baked chicken. She knows I like dark meat. Also, Mercedes knows how much I love puree and she warmed up leftovers from a few nights ago especially for meeeeeeeeee. None for Alex...I still am queen of the house! BAHAHHA.
I washed a pair of jeans in the sink today because I wore them out and they got all smokey smelling. I hung them outside to dry, but today when I came back I can't open my door to the patio. Let's hope I figure it out before I have to leave for Iguazu...I need those jeans!!! So, that's my project for the next few days.
Aidi and I are meeting up for ice cream in a few minutes...don't act so surprised. Then, I'll prolly hit the sack because tomorrow is Monday and it is NOT a holiday down here. Clearly, they aren't excited about the birth of our country as they should be. :P
Have a good 4th of July everyone!!! I am really missing the American-y things everyone does this holiday weekend, so be sure to eat a s'more/light a sparkler/crack a beer for me. :)
On Friday, I went to school per usual. Germán is a good teacher because he has all these fun games for us that actually make us use what we learned on command. He also doesn't take any of our crap because he knows what its like in the United States. Other teacher let us slack off like there's no tomorrow, but him...no. No speaking English in his class or there is punishment. No being late for class or from breaks and lunch. He checks our homework to make sure we did it. It's good...unfortunately, the most annoying girl in the world is in my class. AND she has a big crush on the teach...and I'm over her antics. Her name is Katy or Katzia because she is russian and apparently that is cool and she has irritated me since Day One...but its especially irritating now that she feels the need to talk/attempt to flirt all fricken day. She is from SoCal and she's a philosophy major and she is a big bible thumper...not that that's a bad thing, but she LOVESSS to talk about it and tell everyone else about it and blah blah blah. I don't care about why she doesn't cuss. So, anyway, she is like really rude, but she thinks she is being coy. She told our teacher that she was going to call him German or Alemania (which is Germany in Spanish) because his name is spelled that way. RUDE. That is his name, and down here it sounds nothing like German because they have a different word for German. And he pronounces it differently than German anyway! Like. WTF. She also insists on asking for breaks at the exact minute that the break is supposed to start. In the US, I would never straight up interrupt the teacher to say, "it's time for our break now..." She also likes to beg him to speak English to us..."it's SO cute when Argentinians speak English." Dude, your being rude and condescending. And we are here to learn Spanish...not beg our teacher to talk to us in English. It wasn't so bad when she kept her mouth shut in the other class, but now that she is crushing on the teacher she doesn't shut the heck up...She can be voted off the island, I say.
After that, Aidi picked me up and we went to Van Gogh for some mozzerella sticks and a bottle of wine. I also had some sort of lemon drink that they make here...it's a local lemon liquor with sugar and lemon juice. It tastes like candy...I love it. The service at Van Gogh sucks and I'm never going back there. It's overpriced and you better plan on spending like 3.5 hours in there AT LEAST because it takes them forever to wait on you. You have to practically hound them down to get them to bring you the bill...it's fricken ridiculous. Later that night we all met up at Club Manhattan (hands down the best cafe in Belgrano...if not Buenos Aires) to "pregame" for the club.
WAIVER: GMA AND MOM...THE NEXT PARAGRAPH EXPLAINS DETAIL ABOUT MY CLUBBING EXPERIENCE. IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT...DON'T READ IT. (It's prolly best you don't.) :)
So, three newbies met me and Aidi at Club Manhattan. Two of them were actually very cool. Rocky, my fave waiter, wasn't at Club Manhattan on Friday night, so we had to make a new friend named Ariel. He gave me his Manhattan button as a "souvenier." What a sweetie. After a couple bottles of wine, we proceeded to head to this club on the corner called Viper. They let me in for free...it's so nice being blonde. When we walked in...it seemed like it might be kind of a young crowd, but we stayed. I ordered a Cuba Libre, which is rum and coke from the bar up front. We were dancing and hanging out and then we got armbands to enter the VIP section. OOOOOHHH. So, I went back there and ordered another drink from that bar. Naturally, the bartender fell in love with me and kept telling me how I was the princess of his life and he would love to "have me." Whatever that means...He made my next drink like straight up Bacardi rum and maybe one drop of Coca Cola. He probably roofied me, too, because after that things are all pretty fuzzy...and I only had those two drinks. Aidi and I took lemon drop shots which are served with salt...gross. I didn't even finish mine. We danced. This photographer for the club followed me around all night taking pictures of me like I'm some fricken celebrity. Boys kept coming up to me to ask for their picture taken with me. Everyone wanted to talk to me...it was crazy. I literally felt like I was famous. P.S. I was the ONLY blonde in this club. I stayed there until about 6 or 7 in the morning dancing and socializing and whatnot...and then I took a taxi home. Obviously, way more exciting things happened between then and now, but I can't talk about ALL my adventures now can I? ;)
WAIVER: I AM NOW DONE DESCRIBING MY NIGHT OUT...
So, Saturday Erin, Aidi, and I decided to head to my favorite "hood" Boca. I say that jokingly because that just so happens to be the place that I ended up in the dark after taking the wrong bus and you should never be in Boca at night. I, however, lived to tell the tale. Lucky me. I decided to test my fate again with another visit. We hopped on the 64 bus...its like an hour ride, and those colectivos sure do get to me. A group of boys kept making lovey faces at me and trying to talk to me in English...its best to avoid these gestures because if you don't then they will think you are going to bore their children. Which I'm not...unless you're rich. Then we can talk.
So, then we all got off the 64 bus...barely. The driver tried to drive away in the middle of my descent. I'm lucky to be alive...seriously. Caminito is the famous part of Boca and the only place that is really safe for us Americans. Once again, on my little impromptu visit I was NOT on this street...luck, I tell you. Boca is home of the world's GREATEST soccer player Diego Maradonna and the inventor of tango himself, Carlos Gardel. That also makes it the birthplace of tango...the national dance of Argentina which is full of sultry sexiness. This is ALL OVER Boca. Also, there are lots of little restaraunts and little people will come and tell you why their restaraunt is best and blah blah blah. This is how you make friends! Walter basically wants to marry me. He kept holding my hand and asking if I will dance the tango with him. We tried to eat at another restaurant and he freaked out and pulled me into HIS restaurant and made me promise to dance with him. Like, seriously dude? It was a good decision anyway because his restaurant has tango dancing as entertainment. WOOP WOOP. One guy asked me if I was from Idaho...I said "no, why?" and he said "because I love potatoes!!!!" We all laughed hysterically at this man...I don't know what potatoes have to do with me, but it was pretty funny. We made many friends like this...it was fun. Caminito is very colorful and has these big corny statues all over the place. I like it a lot there...and apparently they love me, too!!!!
I had grilled chicken and french fries for lunch. We watched the tango show and took pictures with the sexy tango man. Too bad he didn't wanna marry me...sigh. It was fun. However, our little photo shoot took too long and once again we ended up in Boca at night. Seriously, it was like the great exodus. One minute the place is packed and people are laughing...the next, not a soul in sight. So, we held hands and ran to the bus stop to ensure that we all made it there safely. We took the 29 bus home. That man didn't let us off right when we pushed the buzzer...I don't know why it's never happened to me before, so we ended up like six blocks away. What a butthole.
While on the bus, we made a friend with some old man who was sippin on a Quilmes. He got off the bus and then walked up to my window and knocked on it...I opened it and he handed me some candy. Like I'm gonna eat that...I'm not trying to get roofied here...again...whoopsss. I am, however, keeping it as a momento. Also, some old lady kept putting liquid liner on while we were riding on the bus. As if that's gonna work out...its the COLECTIVO. Your lucky to make it off the thing alive with all your body parts intact...let alone with your eyeliner applied appropriately. She got off looking like a lunatic...her eyeliner was halfway up her eyelid. It's nuts. But, we laughed a lot and I had a lot of fun...I like to laugh and talk with my friends, and I'm glad that Erin and Aidi like to do that, too.
I went to bed early last night because after the Friday night fiasco I couldn't handle the idea of going out. I will be going out to celebrate the 4th of July tomorrow...can't forget to be proud of my country even though I'm not in it. I have to go to school first, though. WAHHHH.
Today I woke up and waited for Aidi for about three hours. Since, she didn't rise from the dead until after her 3 o'clock cut off I left without her. I'm actually very proud of myself for being strong enough to go out alone and enjoy myself. I've never eaten a meal out alone...and it wasn't that bad! I went to Club Manhattan for lunch and Rocky waited on me. I had sorrentinos in cream sauce. OMG. This is like hands down the best meal I've ever had in Buenos Aires. The sorrentinos are stuffed with cheese and ham and the cream sauce is to die for. I also had bread to dip into the sauce. It was heavenly...just what I needed.
Then, I headed to the feria in Belgrano. It's small, but a good place to spend the afternoon. Especially since I was alone and I didn't want to get on the bus or subte and go to a big feria with a companion. I browsed the booths...I found a leather wallet for my little brother and some gifts for my mom. I bought another mate cup. It's ceramic and it was too adorable to pass up. I found some Shamans who sell rocks and whatnot on the corner, so that made mom happy. I will go back to pick her up some more things. I also went into the bookstore and browsed around...it's not the same as a library (which is one of my favorite pasttimes), but I think it's still fun to peruse the shelves. I like to try to read the back of the books to see what they are about. I'm not sure I could commit to a full novel right now...it was hard enough in Eipper's class. I'm not trying to have to work to read, but it gives me something to work towards. One day I will be so good at Spanish that I will WANT to read books in the language. :)
I saw a Volta...one is close to me! But I refrained...it was busy and it was almost dinner time. It's a pretty amazing feat that I said no to helado. I came home and talked to my mom online for a bit. Then, we had dinner...some weird criole thing. I didn't like it that much and she gave me WAYYY to much, but I forced it down so not to be rude. We had left over Freddo for dessert. Last night we had pizza. The night before that one of my favorites...chicken and lettuce with soy sauce. I love eating soy sauce with my lettuce. I also love Mercedes' oven baked chicken. She knows I like dark meat. Also, Mercedes knows how much I love puree and she warmed up leftovers from a few nights ago especially for meeeeeeeeee. None for Alex...I still am queen of the house! BAHAHHA.
I washed a pair of jeans in the sink today because I wore them out and they got all smokey smelling. I hung them outside to dry, but today when I came back I can't open my door to the patio. Let's hope I figure it out before I have to leave for Iguazu...I need those jeans!!! So, that's my project for the next few days.
Aidi and I are meeting up for ice cream in a few minutes...don't act so surprised. Then, I'll prolly hit the sack because tomorrow is Monday and it is NOT a holiday down here. Clearly, they aren't excited about the birth of our country as they should be. :P
Have a good 4th of July everyone!!! I am really missing the American-y things everyone does this holiday weekend, so be sure to eat a s'more/light a sparkler/crack a beer for me. :)
Thursday, June 30, 2011
We found the Starbucks.
I will say that after almost 5 weeks...I'm starting to miss America. I miss texting, I miss cheeseburgers, I miss my mom and my dog, I miss hanging out with my friends, I miss washing my clothes whenever I want, I miss our coffee, I miss the normal post office, I miss my bed...the list goes on. Not that I don't love it here, it's just I don't even feel American anymore! I know nothing about my own country right now. :( That's terrible. However, the coffee situation was remedied once I found the Starbucks...coffee here is like mud. Black, thick, and strong. Sugar doesn't dissolve in it and when you add milk it stays black. It's potent, awful stuff. You can also only get it in tiny portions...I always say what I wouldn't give for a big American coffee. Thank god I found one! It's a little taste of home. :)
Also, the 4th of July is coming up and I am sad to not be celebrating at home...however, us Americans are planning on donning our red, white, and blue and going to the American pub to display our pride for our own country. Then, 5 days later it is Argentina's Independence Day, but they don't get too fancy. Most Argentinians aren't patriotic...understandable considering all of its political turmoil. I will be in Iguazu Falls...it was up for one of the seven wonders of the world! It's eighth...
Yesterday, I went to MALBA which is an art museum. There were many famous pieces...a lot by Antonio Berni (which I liked) and even a Frida Kahlo. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Aidi and I also tried searching for sushi, but the stuff is impossible to find. Every place we look up is closed. So, we kind of give up.
Today, we went to Starbucks for an afternoon coffee and then headed to the movie theater to catch a flick. The movies are a lot like ours...but kind of different. There are heladerias, bars, and restaraunts in the theater so you can buy food like that for your movie. They also serve alcohol at the movies. You can get pizza, french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers and things like that for your movie, too. Seating is assigned, but not strict. The quality isn't as good...like the screen is kind of fuzzy. But it was still fun. We saw X-Men First Generation which is very good. We are going to go back for Transformers 3 and Harry Potter...I miss the movies very much. I feel like I have so much to catch up on.
After that I came home for dinner. We had my favorite torta de atun...which is like tuna pot pie. Yesterday, we had empanadas. For lunch I had ham and cheese torta. Yesterday lunch was milanesa sandwich. The family ordered us Freddo for dessert yesterday as a special treat.
Mercedes and Jorge are worried about where the roommate is...she went to tango, but isn't back yet. They stayed up until like just five minutes ago waiting for her and called the ISA director...they are very astute parents. Probably she is just out with friends, but I know they are very anxious for her to come home so they can relax.
School is wearing me out...I'm so tireddddd. I will try to keep everyone updated on the lowdown, but it's so hard to keep up sometimes!
Also, the 4th of July is coming up and I am sad to not be celebrating at home...however, us Americans are planning on donning our red, white, and blue and going to the American pub to display our pride for our own country. Then, 5 days later it is Argentina's Independence Day, but they don't get too fancy. Most Argentinians aren't patriotic...understandable considering all of its political turmoil. I will be in Iguazu Falls...it was up for one of the seven wonders of the world! It's eighth...
Yesterday, I went to MALBA which is an art museum. There were many famous pieces...a lot by Antonio Berni (which I liked) and even a Frida Kahlo. It was a nice way to spend the afternoon.
Aidi and I also tried searching for sushi, but the stuff is impossible to find. Every place we look up is closed. So, we kind of give up.
Today, we went to Starbucks for an afternoon coffee and then headed to the movie theater to catch a flick. The movies are a lot like ours...but kind of different. There are heladerias, bars, and restaraunts in the theater so you can buy food like that for your movie. They also serve alcohol at the movies. You can get pizza, french fries, hot dogs, hamburgers and things like that for your movie, too. Seating is assigned, but not strict. The quality isn't as good...like the screen is kind of fuzzy. But it was still fun. We saw X-Men First Generation which is very good. We are going to go back for Transformers 3 and Harry Potter...I miss the movies very much. I feel like I have so much to catch up on.
After that I came home for dinner. We had my favorite torta de atun...which is like tuna pot pie. Yesterday, we had empanadas. For lunch I had ham and cheese torta. Yesterday lunch was milanesa sandwich. The family ordered us Freddo for dessert yesterday as a special treat.
Mercedes and Jorge are worried about where the roommate is...she went to tango, but isn't back yet. They stayed up until like just five minutes ago waiting for her and called the ISA director...they are very astute parents. Probably she is just out with friends, but I know they are very anxious for her to come home so they can relax.
School is wearing me out...I'm so tireddddd. I will try to keep everyone updated on the lowdown, but it's so hard to keep up sometimes!
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
A day without Freddo.
That's right folks...you read it. I have not had any Freddo today...I don't even know how this happened, but I'm going through withdrawals. I WANT CHOCOLATE SUIZO. So, that's basically all I can think about on this night, but I have had a lot of fun these past few days that I should probably expand upon...
So, Monday was my free day while the newbies took their placement test and had orientation. I slept until 11. I wandered down the street for a little while and checked out some of the bookstores. We all know how I love books...they smell good, they look nice, they have lots of fascinating things in them! I enjoy browsing through all the stores around here...they have used books, new books, and some English books. There are a lot of famous Latin American books that are translated...sometimes its hard to get your hands on stuff like that in the states. Then, I returned and waited for Aidi. We had a sushi date and we planned to go to Recoleta...we met up at 3.
First, we wanted to have our delicious sushi, but unfortunately that was a no-go. The place I looked up on the computer is only open from 12-3 and then 7-11. The sushi places around here are funny like that...they are never open! Only late at night...it's very strange. So, we had some fast food and headed for Recoleta.
We also visited El Ateneo Grand Splendid which is a huge bookstore. El Ateneo is a chain of bookstore, but this particular store used to be a theater where Carlos Gardel performed. They turned it into a bookstore, but it still looks like a theater. All the boxes on the side were turned into parts of the store and the stage is a coffeeshop. There are A TON of books and all kinds of places to sit and read and browse. It's a very beautiful bookstore...their English section sucked kind of a little bit, but that's normal here. As American as it sounds, I wish there was a better selection in English! My brain gets fried after searching for too long in Spanish.
Then, we headed to the Recoleta Cemetery. What a beautiful, but creepy place. It's a strange feeling...you just want to marvel at the beautiful mausoleums...they are new and old...it's very beautiful architecture. But, then it's also strange to think that you are hanging out in a cemetery...morbid, huh? You can see the caskets of these people...some are on shelves...like 10 of them row after row. There are pictures and trinkets and flowers...some caskets have lace doilies on top. There are stairs to the downstairs and you can see even more caskets down there! It's crazy...some of the glass is broken, so you could literally reach in there and touch the caskets. Stray cats wander all over the place. It's a very interesting place...and very unique. The States probably doesn't have anything like that. I also saw Evita's tomb. She has a very plain tomb hidden away in Recoleta...its the Duarte tomb...her mother's family. Her burial place is not as decorated because there were so many problems with her body after she died...the military regime stole her body and hid it for many years, but finally she is at rest. They were so worried about her body being taken again they created secret passages, multiple cement barricades, and replicas of her coffin. Crazy stuff. She has three plaques and there were tons of flowers all over it. I got chills just standing there!
Then, we went to the Palais de Glace which is an old skating rink that is now an art museum, but it is closed on Mondays...so I didn't go in. I just stood on the outside. After that, we took the bus home. That's right...I TOOK A BUS AND DIDN'T END UP IN BOCA!!! That's good news! We are making progress! To celebrate, we had Freddo. It's 2 for 1 on Mondays. :)
For dinner we had spaghetti. Alex and I got to know each other better...it's nice having a friend! I think that we will have a lot of fun together. And Aidi is dying to meet her. Haha.
Today, was my first day of my new class. It is from 10-3 like my last one. My teacher's name is Germán and he is working on a masters degree in Latin American History in New York and teaches here in Buenos Aires during the summer. He is not as lenient as my old prof, Alejandra, because he knows the ways of a true American university. He NEVER allows English, which I like a lot. I think he will be able to teach me a lot and it will be a good class for me. It's very fast paced and I feel challenged.
For lunch I had a super pancho (aka hotdog) with fries. I love the UB cafe...they have many options for pretty decent prices.
After school, I took Alex to Calle Florida. She wanted a coat and I love that place and it was good bonding. I bought the coolest red leather jacket...ON SALE. They also altered the sleeves...for free. Like, that was a legitimate lucky find. I can't wait to wear it around. My life is now complete. I have boots, a leather jacket, winter Argentine clothes, scarves, and my mate cup. I just have a few more gifts to pick up and then I'm pretty much done shopping. Which, let's get real, I'm never done shopping.
I found my boyfriend today on Calle Florida. Poor Alex...she got to experience these aggressive Argentine men. We were walking along and some guy called out to me, but as usual I ignored him. However, that was not enough for this guy...he followed us! And then, he kept grabbing my hand and asking, "Querés novio?" That means do you want a boyfriend? AHAHAHAAA. So, I started talking to the guy...like being nice...and he kept asking if I wanted a boyfriend! He asked me to go for drinks...but then I said I can't because I am with my friend right now. He kept holding my hand blah blah blah, but I told him that we needed to go shopping for a coat for Alex and he gave me his business card and told me to come back and look for him so he could take me out...His name is Mariano and he is 22 years old and he works at the leather shop as a salesman. So, I went to give him a kiss on the cheek (because that is the polite Argentinian thing to do) before we parted ways and he kissed me on my mouth! The nerve of this guy...like I just met you. Not that he wasn't cute or anything or that I wouldn't be willing to meet him for coffee, but it's not attractive when they are so aggressive. Like, forcing me to kiss you in the middle of an outside shopping street is not romantic. So, I just laughed and said I will see you later and kept walking, but he kept chasing me asking me if I was going to be his girlfriend! And he kept trying to kiss me! The ISA experts say that sometimes you have to kiss these people to get them to leave you alone, which okay...but he tried to use tongue!!! I can't believe it...American boys are nothing like that. They need about 6 months to decide if they even like you...let alone kiss you. Here, they have no qualms about going after what they want. Anyway...all I can say about this guy is WTF? So, we walked away and continued shopping...but we were both baffled. It was crazy.
So, after we had bought our new leather coats and stuff we were walking back and this guy was waiting for me!!! He kept asking me to kiss him and leaning in and asking me if I would have a drink with him now...yadda yadda yadda. Alex and I literally had to push this guy away and promise him that I would return so that we could have a drink. It was very strange...I'd never heard of anyone being so aggressive. But, I guess it's all part of the experience...and it's a pretty good story now. At the time, I was pretty much in shock.
I taught Alex about the subway...she thinks I'm pretty badass because I know how to get places and where to go. It's fun being the smart one who can help other people out. :) In fact, the other day a Brazilian asked ME for directions...and I could give them to her! That's pretty good! We came home and watched some tv with Mercedes and Jorge. We had some sort of pot roast for dinner with mashed potatoes and tortilla (it's basically like egg and zucchinni cooked on the stove...like paella). We had peaches for dessert.
Tomorrow Aidi and I are going to MALBA (an art museum)...and let's face it...prolly Freddo, too. ;)
So, Monday was my free day while the newbies took their placement test and had orientation. I slept until 11. I wandered down the street for a little while and checked out some of the bookstores. We all know how I love books...they smell good, they look nice, they have lots of fascinating things in them! I enjoy browsing through all the stores around here...they have used books, new books, and some English books. There are a lot of famous Latin American books that are translated...sometimes its hard to get your hands on stuff like that in the states. Then, I returned and waited for Aidi. We had a sushi date and we planned to go to Recoleta...we met up at 3.
First, we wanted to have our delicious sushi, but unfortunately that was a no-go. The place I looked up on the computer is only open from 12-3 and then 7-11. The sushi places around here are funny like that...they are never open! Only late at night...it's very strange. So, we had some fast food and headed for Recoleta.
We also visited El Ateneo Grand Splendid which is a huge bookstore. El Ateneo is a chain of bookstore, but this particular store used to be a theater where Carlos Gardel performed. They turned it into a bookstore, but it still looks like a theater. All the boxes on the side were turned into parts of the store and the stage is a coffeeshop. There are A TON of books and all kinds of places to sit and read and browse. It's a very beautiful bookstore...their English section sucked kind of a little bit, but that's normal here. As American as it sounds, I wish there was a better selection in English! My brain gets fried after searching for too long in Spanish.
Then, we headed to the Recoleta Cemetery. What a beautiful, but creepy place. It's a strange feeling...you just want to marvel at the beautiful mausoleums...they are new and old...it's very beautiful architecture. But, then it's also strange to think that you are hanging out in a cemetery...morbid, huh? You can see the caskets of these people...some are on shelves...like 10 of them row after row. There are pictures and trinkets and flowers...some caskets have lace doilies on top. There are stairs to the downstairs and you can see even more caskets down there! It's crazy...some of the glass is broken, so you could literally reach in there and touch the caskets. Stray cats wander all over the place. It's a very interesting place...and very unique. The States probably doesn't have anything like that. I also saw Evita's tomb. She has a very plain tomb hidden away in Recoleta...its the Duarte tomb...her mother's family. Her burial place is not as decorated because there were so many problems with her body after she died...the military regime stole her body and hid it for many years, but finally she is at rest. They were so worried about her body being taken again they created secret passages, multiple cement barricades, and replicas of her coffin. Crazy stuff. She has three plaques and there were tons of flowers all over it. I got chills just standing there!
Then, we went to the Palais de Glace which is an old skating rink that is now an art museum, but it is closed on Mondays...so I didn't go in. I just stood on the outside. After that, we took the bus home. That's right...I TOOK A BUS AND DIDN'T END UP IN BOCA!!! That's good news! We are making progress! To celebrate, we had Freddo. It's 2 for 1 on Mondays. :)
For dinner we had spaghetti. Alex and I got to know each other better...it's nice having a friend! I think that we will have a lot of fun together. And Aidi is dying to meet her. Haha.
Today, was my first day of my new class. It is from 10-3 like my last one. My teacher's name is Germán and he is working on a masters degree in Latin American History in New York and teaches here in Buenos Aires during the summer. He is not as lenient as my old prof, Alejandra, because he knows the ways of a true American university. He NEVER allows English, which I like a lot. I think he will be able to teach me a lot and it will be a good class for me. It's very fast paced and I feel challenged.
For lunch I had a super pancho (aka hotdog) with fries. I love the UB cafe...they have many options for pretty decent prices.
After school, I took Alex to Calle Florida. She wanted a coat and I love that place and it was good bonding. I bought the coolest red leather jacket...ON SALE. They also altered the sleeves...for free. Like, that was a legitimate lucky find. I can't wait to wear it around. My life is now complete. I have boots, a leather jacket, winter Argentine clothes, scarves, and my mate cup. I just have a few more gifts to pick up and then I'm pretty much done shopping. Which, let's get real, I'm never done shopping.
I found my boyfriend today on Calle Florida. Poor Alex...she got to experience these aggressive Argentine men. We were walking along and some guy called out to me, but as usual I ignored him. However, that was not enough for this guy...he followed us! And then, he kept grabbing my hand and asking, "Querés novio?" That means do you want a boyfriend? AHAHAHAAA. So, I started talking to the guy...like being nice...and he kept asking if I wanted a boyfriend! He asked me to go for drinks...but then I said I can't because I am with my friend right now. He kept holding my hand blah blah blah, but I told him that we needed to go shopping for a coat for Alex and he gave me his business card and told me to come back and look for him so he could take me out...His name is Mariano and he is 22 years old and he works at the leather shop as a salesman. So, I went to give him a kiss on the cheek (because that is the polite Argentinian thing to do) before we parted ways and he kissed me on my mouth! The nerve of this guy...like I just met you. Not that he wasn't cute or anything or that I wouldn't be willing to meet him for coffee, but it's not attractive when they are so aggressive. Like, forcing me to kiss you in the middle of an outside shopping street is not romantic. So, I just laughed and said I will see you later and kept walking, but he kept chasing me asking me if I was going to be his girlfriend! And he kept trying to kiss me! The ISA experts say that sometimes you have to kiss these people to get them to leave you alone, which okay...but he tried to use tongue!!! I can't believe it...American boys are nothing like that. They need about 6 months to decide if they even like you...let alone kiss you. Here, they have no qualms about going after what they want. Anyway...all I can say about this guy is WTF? So, we walked away and continued shopping...but we were both baffled. It was crazy.
So, after we had bought our new leather coats and stuff we were walking back and this guy was waiting for me!!! He kept asking me to kiss him and leaning in and asking me if I would have a drink with him now...yadda yadda yadda. Alex and I literally had to push this guy away and promise him that I would return so that we could have a drink. It was very strange...I'd never heard of anyone being so aggressive. But, I guess it's all part of the experience...and it's a pretty good story now. At the time, I was pretty much in shock.
I taught Alex about the subway...she thinks I'm pretty badass because I know how to get places and where to go. It's fun being the smart one who can help other people out. :) In fact, the other day a Brazilian asked ME for directions...and I could give them to her! That's pretty good! We came home and watched some tv with Mercedes and Jorge. We had some sort of pot roast for dinner with mashed potatoes and tortilla (it's basically like egg and zucchinni cooked on the stove...like paella). We had peaches for dessert.
Tomorrow Aidi and I are going to MALBA (an art museum)...and let's face it...prolly Freddo, too. ;)
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Hey Che!
Well, I realize that a whole weekend has gone by and I have not updated anyone on my adventures. I find that the more I get to know the city, the less time I want to spend on the computer. Which is a good thing...for me!
So Friday night I went out. Aidi and I decided to hit up Plaza Serrano. Well, actually Aidi decided to hit up some rando bar, but when we arrived it was closed for a private party. So then we headed to Plaza Serrano. We went to Brujas...there are two sections. One is the bar and one is the club...we sat in the bar. We drank a few beers, ate french fries, and crept on the world's worst DJ. Seriously, this guy sucked. Then, we wanted to get our dance on so we thought that we would head to the clubs...which were jumping. However, someone failed to mention that in order to get in the clubs here you have to be on some sort of elusive list. Obviously, we were not...so we headed back to Plaza Serrano. Here we bumped into Samantha and Emi who were looking for a non-existent karaoke bar. Emi decided to ask these two young gentleman where said bar was, but they didn't know. So, I decided to ask them where the good bar/boliche/club was...which they said that on Friday night there wasn't anything too great going on. I was shocked...we got to joking and talking. We taught them bad words in English. After spending like an hour in the cold, we all decided to get a table together and have a few drinks. The bar we were at kicked us out around 4:30, so we went to some sort of pool place and we shot a couple games of pool. My friend from class, Joey, also spotted me in this establishment and stumbled in to say hello...I guess I stick out like a sore thumb. So, anyway, it was fun getting to know real porteños and laughing and joking and talking with them. They said they wanted to go to Goa next weekend with us, and gave us their number, but Argentinians are weird about that stuff. Down here they make plans because its polite, even when they don't plan on following through. I guess we will see how that goes.
It's funny because they taught us some slang and some bad Spanish words. Like "Che!" is slang for friend...but it's more like if I said to my friend..."Hey biotch." Like its rude, but its a joke, so it's okay. I also learned "No tengo plata" which is I'm broke. I used it on a guy selling roses in this bar at 6:30 am...but it kind of backfired. Instead, he grabbed my hand and said ven conmigo which is come with me...I had to tell him no...get the heck away from me. What is it with these guys???
I didn't go to bed until 7 am that day...I really just wanted to sleep until like 3 or 4, but I always feel guilty, so I woke up at noon and had breakfast. Yesterday, my new roommate arrived...but her plane was delayed, so I was out for the day by the time she came home. I went to 9 de julio with some girls where we ate and walked around the streets looking in the shops and talking to the street vendors. There is this one guy who makes shoes just for you right on the street. They are 60 pesos...like 15 dollars and he is very famous. He was in the newspaper and it takes him one hour to make your shoes. I'm debating getting a pair. He said that if I have coffee with him, he will give me a discount...what a joke.
Last night I met Nancy/Alex for the first time. Her real name is Nancy, I think. But she goes by Alex. She is from New Mexico...she seems nice enough. She doesn't know any Spanish. So, I kind of translate for her...but mostly Jorge and Mercedes talk in English to accomodate her...which ticks me off. Because I want to speak Spanish with them so I can practice. Hopefully, they will ease off with the english talk. I told them that I would translate...which seemed to ease everyone's minds. Last night for dinner we had one of my favorites...roasted chicken, roasted batatas and pumpkin, and lechuga with soy sauce. Banana and dulce de leche for dessert.
I invited her to my daily ice cream run with Aidi, but she wanted to go to bed. Aidi and I went to Freddo and then Aidi just had to have a burger from BK. I came home around 12:30 and crashed. I was very tired.
I woke up today at 11:30 and ate my breakfast. Alex was already gone on her city tour. Aidi and I met up...originally, we were going to get sushi, but we couldn't find the place, so we went to Cafe Manhattan and had a pizza. We have a waiter there who knows us...he loves when we visit him, so Aidi and I try to go every couple of days to say hey and have a drink or something. After that, we headed to San Telmo for the Plaza Dorrego feria. It's very nice...there is lots of music and street performers. There are the usual vendors and things like that. Today there was a band of two electric violins and an electric cello...they were very good and very fun to watch! I bought some gifts for my mom and my grandma and then I bought a messenger bag that is black with a zebra print stripe and a houndstooth scarf. Things are so cheap here...it's hard to resist my urge to shop.
We found this quaint little ice cream shop...I had coffee and New Orleans chocolate. Coffee was good, but the New Orleans flavor had whiskey in it. I wanted to vom. I obviously didn't finish it. My new idea for becoming rich and famous is to write a travel book...but only for ice cream. I will travel to all these cities and sample all the ice cream places and review them. I will also tell people how to get there and yadda yadda yadda. Then, I will publish my book and make millions. It's genius.
Today was Manuel's birthday, but I missed the celebration because I was out and about...but that's okay. We had empanadas for dinner with this chocolate mousse cake for dessert...it was like heaven.
Now, I'm going to get ready for bed because I'm visiting Recoleta tomorrow and I have 4 stops on my list!!! Pretty ambitious. I want to go to the cemetery, this famous bookstore, the old skating rink, and the national library. I also looked up sushi places for me and Aidi to visit. It should be a good day!
So Friday night I went out. Aidi and I decided to hit up Plaza Serrano. Well, actually Aidi decided to hit up some rando bar, but when we arrived it was closed for a private party. So then we headed to Plaza Serrano. We went to Brujas...there are two sections. One is the bar and one is the club...we sat in the bar. We drank a few beers, ate french fries, and crept on the world's worst DJ. Seriously, this guy sucked. Then, we wanted to get our dance on so we thought that we would head to the clubs...which were jumping. However, someone failed to mention that in order to get in the clubs here you have to be on some sort of elusive list. Obviously, we were not...so we headed back to Plaza Serrano. Here we bumped into Samantha and Emi who were looking for a non-existent karaoke bar. Emi decided to ask these two young gentleman where said bar was, but they didn't know. So, I decided to ask them where the good bar/boliche/club was...which they said that on Friday night there wasn't anything too great going on. I was shocked...we got to joking and talking. We taught them bad words in English. After spending like an hour in the cold, we all decided to get a table together and have a few drinks. The bar we were at kicked us out around 4:30, so we went to some sort of pool place and we shot a couple games of pool. My friend from class, Joey, also spotted me in this establishment and stumbled in to say hello...I guess I stick out like a sore thumb. So, anyway, it was fun getting to know real porteños and laughing and joking and talking with them. They said they wanted to go to Goa next weekend with us, and gave us their number, but Argentinians are weird about that stuff. Down here they make plans because its polite, even when they don't plan on following through. I guess we will see how that goes.
It's funny because they taught us some slang and some bad Spanish words. Like "Che!" is slang for friend...but it's more like if I said to my friend..."Hey biotch." Like its rude, but its a joke, so it's okay. I also learned "No tengo plata" which is I'm broke. I used it on a guy selling roses in this bar at 6:30 am...but it kind of backfired. Instead, he grabbed my hand and said ven conmigo which is come with me...I had to tell him no...get the heck away from me. What is it with these guys???
I didn't go to bed until 7 am that day...I really just wanted to sleep until like 3 or 4, but I always feel guilty, so I woke up at noon and had breakfast. Yesterday, my new roommate arrived...but her plane was delayed, so I was out for the day by the time she came home. I went to 9 de julio with some girls where we ate and walked around the streets looking in the shops and talking to the street vendors. There is this one guy who makes shoes just for you right on the street. They are 60 pesos...like 15 dollars and he is very famous. He was in the newspaper and it takes him one hour to make your shoes. I'm debating getting a pair. He said that if I have coffee with him, he will give me a discount...what a joke.
Last night I met Nancy/Alex for the first time. Her real name is Nancy, I think. But she goes by Alex. She is from New Mexico...she seems nice enough. She doesn't know any Spanish. So, I kind of translate for her...but mostly Jorge and Mercedes talk in English to accomodate her...which ticks me off. Because I want to speak Spanish with them so I can practice. Hopefully, they will ease off with the english talk. I told them that I would translate...which seemed to ease everyone's minds. Last night for dinner we had one of my favorites...roasted chicken, roasted batatas and pumpkin, and lechuga with soy sauce. Banana and dulce de leche for dessert.
I invited her to my daily ice cream run with Aidi, but she wanted to go to bed. Aidi and I went to Freddo and then Aidi just had to have a burger from BK. I came home around 12:30 and crashed. I was very tired.
I woke up today at 11:30 and ate my breakfast. Alex was already gone on her city tour. Aidi and I met up...originally, we were going to get sushi, but we couldn't find the place, so we went to Cafe Manhattan and had a pizza. We have a waiter there who knows us...he loves when we visit him, so Aidi and I try to go every couple of days to say hey and have a drink or something. After that, we headed to San Telmo for the Plaza Dorrego feria. It's very nice...there is lots of music and street performers. There are the usual vendors and things like that. Today there was a band of two electric violins and an electric cello...they were very good and very fun to watch! I bought some gifts for my mom and my grandma and then I bought a messenger bag that is black with a zebra print stripe and a houndstooth scarf. Things are so cheap here...it's hard to resist my urge to shop.
We found this quaint little ice cream shop...I had coffee and New Orleans chocolate. Coffee was good, but the New Orleans flavor had whiskey in it. I wanted to vom. I obviously didn't finish it. My new idea for becoming rich and famous is to write a travel book...but only for ice cream. I will travel to all these cities and sample all the ice cream places and review them. I will also tell people how to get there and yadda yadda yadda. Then, I will publish my book and make millions. It's genius.
Today was Manuel's birthday, but I missed the celebration because I was out and about...but that's okay. We had empanadas for dinner with this chocolate mousse cake for dessert...it was like heaven.
Now, I'm going to get ready for bed because I'm visiting Recoleta tomorrow and I have 4 stops on my list!!! Pretty ambitious. I want to go to the cemetery, this famous bookstore, the old skating rink, and the national library. I also looked up sushi places for me and Aidi to visit. It should be a good day!
Friday, June 24, 2011
Vino y Amigas.
The last two days have been pretty busy for me...it has been exam day(s). Yesterday, I took my written exam which was pretty easy...I finished before everyone else, but I have a thing about turning in my exam before everyone else, so I waited for other people to finish. After that, Sam, Emi, and me went to Plaza de Mayo, which is probably my second favorite place in Argentina. There is so much history there...millions of people gather there for political protests and demonstrations...it's a really cool place. Plus, the presidential meeting palace is pink...casa rosada literally translates into "the pink house." That's my kind of place! Thursdays are especially good days to visit the Plaza de Mayo because the Madres and Abuelas of the Plaza walk in an attempt to get the government to release information about the desparicados, or the disappeared ones. This is a complex and sensitive subject for Argentinians...
After Evita died, there was a lot of unrest in Argentina...the unrest started when Evita was considering running for vice-president, which in part caused her to turn down the nomination. Her sickness also played a part in her declining to run for VP. There was a military coup in the works and Evita's husband and president of Argentina, Juan Peron knew it...he tried to fend it off for as long as he could, however, the military regime won. These people were in power for a while, but eventually people rallied for the return of Juan Peron. During this regime, Peron lived in Spain and remarried a woman named Isabella. He was elected president for a third time after a few years, and he returned to Argentina as president with Isabella being elected vice president. Peron smoked for many years and shortly after taking presidential office fell to lung disease, leaving Isabella in charge. She was obviously incapable of running a country and soon succumbed to another military coup...this time one that brought tragedy to Argentina and its people. This regime was very anti-Peronist and it was considered a crime to even own a picture of Evita or Juan Peron. People lived their lives in fear because this military regime was not afraid to assert its power over the people. It is estimated that some 30,000 people were murdered and tortured during this time for "crimes against the government." Many were taken from their homes, heavily drugged, and tossed out over into the Atlantic Ocean from an airplane while still alive. The government tied weights to these victims to ensure that their bodies would never be found. This time is referred to as the "Dirty War." Another atrocious crime committed by the government is the displacement of thousands of children from their "disappeared" parents. The government removed these babies and gave them to new families where they were raised without knowing the truth about their biological parents or that the government had murdered them. The mothers gather every Thursday to demand information about the "disappeared" and about the children who were "adopted" into military families after their real families had been killed. The government has this information, but refuses to release it to the public. The mothers have been protesting since 1977...and they continue to protest every Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the Plaza de Mayo.
After seeing the mothers, I can realize how this is a sensitive topic for many. While many Americans don't know about the heinous crimes the Argentinian government committed against its people, it is still as cruel as the war crimes we do know about, like the Holocaust. The sad thing is that this happened just 40 years ago...my host family and some of their children lived during this time. My parents were alive when this was happening...and the whole world turned its cheek to 30,000 people being brutally tortured and murdered. To families being ruined and displaced...there are kids just a little bit older than me here in Argentina finding out that their "parents" aren't really their parents. The people who have raised them helped to commit murder against their true biological parents. That's scary stuff. And its recent. And the mothers put on an excellent show to remind people of these atrocities and to fight for information regarding the victims...and they haven't stopped fighting for over 30 years. The mothers wear white caps to represent the blankets of the misplaced babies and some of them carry pictures around of their disappeared children/grandchildren. They don't yell or scream...they just walk in a circle around the square carrying their pictures and their signs. It made me want to cry for these women...I can't imagine what they've been through wondering where their kids are for all these years. It's crazy and I'm really glad I went to see it.
I also went to the Pink House's museum which is in the basement of the house...it's really cool. They have the old blueprints for Buenos Aires, keys and random things from the house, artifacts and clothes from the presidents, paintings...I really liked it. Also, one of the head architects or something for the city is Aduana Taylor...that's right kids...a Taylor designed the Pink House!!! Go figure...I'm definitely going to have to do some digging about that...maybe I have Argentinian roots!!!
I met up with Aidi and Emilia for some Freddo...what else is new, and we also decided to go to Cafe Manhattan to share a bottle of wine...when in Argentina? It's also about 10 pesos a pop for a bottle of wine...that's like 2.50 a person. Argentinian wine is also very famous...its one of the leading exporters of vino! So, that is our new tradition. :) Unfortunately, Emilia is leaving tomorrow. :( I'm going to be very sad to see her go, and I'm glad that I met her and experienced Argentina with her. Maybe, we will get lucky and she won't be going home until July 1 anyway, though, because they are canceling flights left and right because of the ash!!!
Today was my oral exam...which was very simple. I got a 7 in the class overall...which equates to like a B+/A- down here. Don't ask how they grade things...everything around here is illogical. Aidi and I went to Van Gogh for a celebratory bottle of wine...Malbec which is specific to Argentina. We sat and chatted about life...it's very fun, and I'm glad that Aidi is staying for the next month, so that I have a buddy. In fact, I think we are going to go to Palermo Hollywood tonight to go bar hopping, which I'm looking forward to. I just finished my first intensive month of Spanish and I'm ready to let loose!!!! Have a great night everyone!!!
After Evita died, there was a lot of unrest in Argentina...the unrest started when Evita was considering running for vice-president, which in part caused her to turn down the nomination. Her sickness also played a part in her declining to run for VP. There was a military coup in the works and Evita's husband and president of Argentina, Juan Peron knew it...he tried to fend it off for as long as he could, however, the military regime won. These people were in power for a while, but eventually people rallied for the return of Juan Peron. During this regime, Peron lived in Spain and remarried a woman named Isabella. He was elected president for a third time after a few years, and he returned to Argentina as president with Isabella being elected vice president. Peron smoked for many years and shortly after taking presidential office fell to lung disease, leaving Isabella in charge. She was obviously incapable of running a country and soon succumbed to another military coup...this time one that brought tragedy to Argentina and its people. This regime was very anti-Peronist and it was considered a crime to even own a picture of Evita or Juan Peron. People lived their lives in fear because this military regime was not afraid to assert its power over the people. It is estimated that some 30,000 people were murdered and tortured during this time for "crimes against the government." Many were taken from their homes, heavily drugged, and tossed out over into the Atlantic Ocean from an airplane while still alive. The government tied weights to these victims to ensure that their bodies would never be found. This time is referred to as the "Dirty War." Another atrocious crime committed by the government is the displacement of thousands of children from their "disappeared" parents. The government removed these babies and gave them to new families where they were raised without knowing the truth about their biological parents or that the government had murdered them. The mothers gather every Thursday to demand information about the "disappeared" and about the children who were "adopted" into military families after their real families had been killed. The government has this information, but refuses to release it to the public. The mothers have been protesting since 1977...and they continue to protest every Thursday at 3:30 p.m. in the Plaza de Mayo.
After seeing the mothers, I can realize how this is a sensitive topic for many. While many Americans don't know about the heinous crimes the Argentinian government committed against its people, it is still as cruel as the war crimes we do know about, like the Holocaust. The sad thing is that this happened just 40 years ago...my host family and some of their children lived during this time. My parents were alive when this was happening...and the whole world turned its cheek to 30,000 people being brutally tortured and murdered. To families being ruined and displaced...there are kids just a little bit older than me here in Argentina finding out that their "parents" aren't really their parents. The people who have raised them helped to commit murder against their true biological parents. That's scary stuff. And its recent. And the mothers put on an excellent show to remind people of these atrocities and to fight for information regarding the victims...and they haven't stopped fighting for over 30 years. The mothers wear white caps to represent the blankets of the misplaced babies and some of them carry pictures around of their disappeared children/grandchildren. They don't yell or scream...they just walk in a circle around the square carrying their pictures and their signs. It made me want to cry for these women...I can't imagine what they've been through wondering where their kids are for all these years. It's crazy and I'm really glad I went to see it.
I also went to the Pink House's museum which is in the basement of the house...it's really cool. They have the old blueprints for Buenos Aires, keys and random things from the house, artifacts and clothes from the presidents, paintings...I really liked it. Also, one of the head architects or something for the city is Aduana Taylor...that's right kids...a Taylor designed the Pink House!!! Go figure...I'm definitely going to have to do some digging about that...maybe I have Argentinian roots!!!
I met up with Aidi and Emilia for some Freddo...what else is new, and we also decided to go to Cafe Manhattan to share a bottle of wine...when in Argentina? It's also about 10 pesos a pop for a bottle of wine...that's like 2.50 a person. Argentinian wine is also very famous...its one of the leading exporters of vino! So, that is our new tradition. :) Unfortunately, Emilia is leaving tomorrow. :( I'm going to be very sad to see her go, and I'm glad that I met her and experienced Argentina with her. Maybe, we will get lucky and she won't be going home until July 1 anyway, though, because they are canceling flights left and right because of the ash!!!
Today was my oral exam...which was very simple. I got a 7 in the class overall...which equates to like a B+/A- down here. Don't ask how they grade things...everything around here is illogical. Aidi and I went to Van Gogh for a celebratory bottle of wine...Malbec which is specific to Argentina. We sat and chatted about life...it's very fun, and I'm glad that Aidi is staying for the next month, so that I have a buddy. In fact, I think we are going to go to Palermo Hollywood tonight to go bar hopping, which I'm looking forward to. I just finished my first intensive month of Spanish and I'm ready to let loose!!!! Have a great night everyone!!!
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