Chau Buenos Aires!

Today marks my last full day in Buenos Aires. I attended a poorly thought through BBQ put on my IES, and I tried to convince my teachers to give me my final exam grades. The question about all this, that I have, is how do you study hard for a test and still do poorly on it here? I would not suggest this program for the fact that it is not a GPA booster in the least; in fact you are putting your whole life on the line instead of getting everything you need to get out of a program. Ok, now to get away from ranting about every little thing.

I am sad I am leaving the country. I really did enjoy the nature here. It has been life altering. However it has been ridiculously expensive for a third world country. In fact I have to pay to get out of the country. I had never heard of this before, but apparently it is really common when leaving an airport in South America.

While I’ve been down here I have been keeping a journal, as suggested by my interim class this past year at Wofford. This journal started out as writing down my feelings, and ended up the most random scrap book of my travels I have ever had. There are my tickets from all my bus trips, as well as detailed information about my hostels I have stayed at and how to get certain places in Argentina when you arrive. I have written some interesting inserts, in which some of them were even in Spanish. It has been interesting, it has been crazy, but most of all, I have missed home more than I have ever in my entire life.

South Carolina? REALLY??!

This blog is my unofficial attempt at stalling from studying for my final that needs my attention more than any test of my entire life. I really do believe I was more relaxed going into the LSATS than going into this exam. It is, if you have not guessed yet, Spanish. And its only Spanish 100, but it counts for nine credit hours, which means a B is a B times three, and well, that would just ruin my GPA hardcore. So I am attempting to learn five different tenses, and how to distinguish among them in order to write a page and a half in Spanish on a final exam by myself without being able to use a dictionary. Needless to say the pressure is surmounting. Despite my pressures in school, I did not have anything else to write, until the great state of South Carolina proved itself to be an interesting one once again.

Of all the places in the world, and all the times in the world, our lovely governor had to decide that having an affair in Buenos Aires, while going missing off of the grid, while I was here was absolutely beneficial to the United States as well as South Carolina. That is right folks, Sanford is a genius. He has an Argentine lover, something of which I was unable to obtain this trip. How does a 49 year old man get a hot Argentine (well of course whether she is hot at this point is shear speculation)? I have the answer, MONEY and POWER. I am beginning to realize that is truly what makes this work go round. Besides the fact that she is a porteno, she also happens to live in the part of the city in which I bet my family she would live, Palermo. Am I good? I do believe I actually know my Buenos Aires now on the last three days that I am here. I cannot believe I am going home soon. I cannot believe I have two tests finished, and only one hell day left. I cannot believe it has been four months. How in the heck did I survive four months? Oh well, all the experiences have been truly amazing. However tomorrow I am quite tempted to look this lover of Sanford’s up, and go to her apartment. If I did not have anything else to do, you better believe I’d be on the first 152 bus to Palermo, and attempting to get a picture of this illustrious figure. I still can’t believe it. Who goes missing on Father’s Day, when they have four children, say they are hiking the Appalachian Trail, and fly to Buenos Aires to bang a woman who is merely separated from her husband and has two children with him? Who does that to their family? If they ever valued any of their family and what they stood for in politics, doing something like this would have been repulsive and out of the question, no matter the matters of love. A quick note to most of the male world: Come on kids, lets quit acting prepubescent and lets act our age :)

Moroccan Food

Several times while walking around Palermo Viejo, I've passed this one really cool looking Moroccan restaurant, very similar to the one that aldina and I have visited in Asheville that has belly dancers. Finally, I went last night. It was one of the best meals I have had here in Argentina. Normally the ethnic food here is not very good, like for example, mexican food. They just can't make it here. Anyhow, this place was exquisite. We had some cheap wine, and I ordered the cous cous with this broth and super spicy stuff (yes, I said spicy, and I actually mean it. it's the first time I've found something spicy in this whole country), and chicken with cilantro and lemon and plums... it was amazing. Josh ordered kabaab, and it was delish!! I truly enjoyed it, and the restaurant looked amazing too! There were tables on the grond with cushions to sit on, regualr tables, and then mini tables with these small wicker chairs upstairs outside (except they brought in heaters to combat the cold). That's where we sat. I would love to go back, but instead I am going to La Cabrera tonight in honor of Father's Day... I am using my dad's credit card to eat the best steak in all of Buenos Aires. I am probably considered a bad daughter for that, but hooray for good food, good friends, and procrastination on that darn 25 page single spaced paper which has still not finished itself... more updates on food and life later!

It's the Final Countdown

So it’s the final countdown. I am coming home in seven short days. It has been amazing, it has been sad, it has been a trip of a lifetime. I have taken in everything, and I will leave with experiences that I do not believe I would have ever experienced. I am excited, I am sad, I am poor, but I am rich of culture. I have seen landscapes that are just short of breathtaking, and I have learned to appreciate the united states more than ever. This place has been so interesting. People love to smoke here, which I can definitely do without. The dream I have always had of living outside of the united states has been shot. I do not want to ever live outside of my beloved states, and definitely not even outside of the south. I have met some amazing people, but along the way I have met some people that I know living in their respected parts of the united states is definitely not for me.

I know I do not want to live in the north, and I do not want to live in the west coast. I think sticking here in the good ‘ole south is perfectly fine for me! I now know that traveling is something I would love to do more, and meeting new people is definitely high up there with things I love to do. I like to learn languages, but learning Spanish is at the bottom of my list now. I know far more history about Latin America from just talking with the people about their politics, than I thought I would have ever learned. In fact I believe I have learned more from people about their politics, than I have in my political science classes, which was a refreshing surprise. I know I learned a lot here to apply to my everyday life, and to my studies at Wofford. This trip is only the beginning for me in my discovery of what I really want out of my life, and I really hope that I can continue this journey this summer and longer. As for now, I am going to start studying and get to getting on this lovely week of exams! South Carolina… HERE I COME!

Feria de Mataderos

SO, I'm copying Ashley's post. I went with her to the Feria de Mataderos after the night before we unsuccessfully made it to the movies. We woke up early and haded out to the fringes of the city. It was dirty, smelly, crowded, and WONDERFUL! I loved it! It to me represented a more latin american feel than the cosmopolitan city life of the portenos. I ate some yummy chocolate covered almonds and Ashley bought some candy coated strawberries with popcorn stuck to it. I tried it and it was magnificent. I also got to do some shopping, with all of the money that I DON'T have. I bought some stuff for my apartment next year, including Aldina's Birthday present!! And a handpainted salt and pepper set for our kitchen! Also, I dound this adorable sign for my bathroom that says PiPi Room. We ate at a decent restaurant that was packed full of people. Ashley had some nasty tuna salad stuff, while I opted for the Steak Sandwich. After the feria, we headed back to the microcenter. We were able to Ghosts of My Girlfriends Past that i so wanted to see, although admittedly it was pretty stupid. Anyhow, we then wandered around the scary streets before walking Calle Florida to Lavalle to grab a bite to eat. I had some decent pasta, and we called it a night.

A Tourist's Weekend... Part 2

The next day was a trip out to mataderos. It was really interesting. We had to grab the 180 bus and go about an hour or so out of the center of the city. We went to the most crowded, biggest, loudest feria I have yet to be to. There were a lot of really cool things there however! It was really cool, and there was a pony and a puppy that just melted my heart (which is rather hard to do). Then we caught the 180 back into town. All hell broke loose on the bus. Apparently an old lady was sitting down and another old lady was standing up. The sitting down old lady offered the standing up old lady her seat and was pointing at a young girl sitting down and saying rude remarks. The young girl proceeded to say that she was pregnant and she was allowed to be sitting down. Well the sitting down old lady kept pointing at a sign and said that it said handicapped before pregnant so the two old ladies should be allowed to sit down now the young girl. It ended in the old lady giving up her seat to the other old lady and the before sitting old lady who is now standing made the young girl cry. It was horrible! Then we got off went to see Ghosts of my Girlfriends Past, which was really cheesy and we topped the night off with a dinner on Lavalle! Woo hoo! Food, movie, fun… it was an overall successful weekend! Now, to get back to doing my work!

A tourist's weekend... Part 1

***There will be a picture post for this post as soon as the pictures are loaded***

So this weekend was full of touristy things that I have yet to do in Buenos Aires. Which, after this weekend, I feel as if I have done everything offered in the Lonely Planet handbook for Buenos Aires! This weekend was spent in La Boca, Feria de los mataderos, and in Belgrano going to an amazing pizza restaurant! First, La Boca… I went there on the 152 bus, of course saving myself a ton of money in cab fare! I then headed to el Caminito. It was really interesting. The buildings were really colorful. In fact, there is history behind the colors of the buildings. The port used to be really popular. They would paint the boats with different colors, and all the left over paint they used on the houses to protect the houses from the elements. It was really nice to see all of these places. It was so loud and there were so many people there. It was insane. The only thing about the area is it is probably one of the most least desirable places to live in all of Buenos Aires.

That night, I had the best pizza I think I have ever had. I could not tell you the name of the place, but I do know its off O’Higgins and Juaramento (Yeah, my spelling is as bad as my directions)! Then there was an attempt to go see a movie, however, there is not that much of a demand for subtitled movies at the moment which meant I could not go see the movies, because they were dubbed and I was not going to attempt to understand Spanish which I already barely speak!

Colonia, Uruguay

So, I hopped on a boat and went to Urugua. I have friends there right now, and they are raving about how cool Colnia is, but I just wasn't very impressed. I wasted a whole lot of money doing nothing but getting a stamp in my passport, which I guess is probably worth it. And, I did enjoy a yummy sandwish at a restaurant for 140 uruguayan pesos... which is not expensive actually! Anyhow, I got some alright pictures, the day was beautiful not to mention that it was warmer there than in BA. However, the key phrase of the trip was "I thought there was portugese architecture in this city... this just looks like portugese colonial architecture to me." The reply from my friend Cory was "Chelsea, think about the name of this city... Colonia, Uruguay." I guess he has a point, I was just expecting something more. I went to Portugal back a year ago, and I absolutely loved it there. the architecture was my favorit in all of Europe, save possible Greece. Everything looked like sand castles with whirly twirly columns. It made me think that I was in a fantasyland or dream liek state the whole time. This was very distinct. it really just looked like a typical colony. I should have thought before I got carried away thinking it would be something it is not. Anyhow, what's done is done. It was interesting :)

21 years old and in Buenos Aires!!!!

Gee thanks Chelsea, I look totally pathetic with my lack of postings. I swear, it has been a busy week, not to mention I’m 21! Yes, that is right readers, lil’ ole’ Ashley got to spend her 21st birthday in the great city of Buenos Aires. Unlike spending this monumental birthday in the states drinking myself underneath the table, I spent it in class. Luck me, I got to have a presentation due the day after my birthday, so no stinking drunk night for me. Instead I spent a quiet day around some friends and my computer haha!

I woke up to a typical breakfast, medialunas and café con leche, but also a cute little chocolate heart with ‘feliz cumpli’ written on it! Then I went to school where I proceeded to have my class sing to me in Spanish as well as make me make three wishes and blow a candle out. I also got my ear tugged 21 times. Well, that was just absolutely lovely! Then I went to lunch for my birthday out in Palermo at Bar 6 with Chelsea. It was quite good. We then headed off to the botanical gardens and ate my birthday cake. Thanks again, it was really good!

That night consisted of me doing school work and staring off into space wishing I was out partying like any other person who turns 21 does. Instead I prepared for a tango presentation due completely in Spanish. Here’s to hoping I can have a real 21st birthday celebration when I get back home to the United States. Which is only a few days away. I cannot believe it!

Good News!

So, I really wanted my Dad to come visit me for multiple reasons. One, I love him very much. Two, he´s never been out of the country. Three, I really want to go to Salta and Northwest Argentina but I have no money left, and the only way to go is for him to bring me and pay, and four, I need him to take some of my stuff home or I´ll be left with some extremely hefty fees or expenses for shipping...

The good news is that he´s coming! In a week and a half!!! I can´t even believe it! It´s sort of the best thing ever! I´ve got so much planning to do! And after he leaves I only have a concert to give for my opera class, and one last exam for my honors class! Then I´m off to visit the Galapagos Islands with my mom and sister.

Although I have no money and will probably be forever indebted to my family and who knows who else, I will say that this has the potential to be the best year of my life :)

Joven Frankenstein and the movie reviews from my weekend

I've never seen Young Frankenstein the movie, nor the play, however, I highly recommend it. I laughed hysterically. As you have probably read below, Ashley and i went together to the new production of the broadway musical Joven Frankenstein. It was brilliant. I laughed so hard. It was sucha good show, and completely worth the money. The theatre was nice as well. In addition, I saw two different movies this weekend. The first, Adventureland, was pretty funny. I thoguht it would be horrible, but the truth is that I did laugh pretty hard. The second, Terminator, was horrible!!! Don't go, no matter what! It was very predictable, very loud, poorly acted, and unfortunately the ending line makes me think that there will be another one coming shortly, which is quite possible the worst news I've heard in awhile. Please, do not give your movey to this movie. They don't deserve it. Also, Arnold Schwarzenager or however you spell it doesn't even look real. My guess is that he's too old to look cool now, so the animated him. But I bet he got paid a ton just because of who he is. It made me sick!! Take my word... RUN AWAY!!!!!

The weekend where I tried to go out, and I failed...

So, the theme for the weekend was all about going out and living it up in BsAs Argentine style (aka staying out until the sun comes up dancing the night away until you don't need to take a cab home because the buses aren't sketchy anymore). The part where I failed was the fact that I stayed out not dancing all night, but eating pizza, or fighting off Brazilians. All I wanted to do was dance, like the dane cook joke... but that did not once happen. To start, I went to Bellagamba, one of our favorite local bars, and spent the night sharing funny life stories with other friends. The night is always interesting if you're at Bellagamba. First, the bar never had americans, other than us. Second, I'm pretty sure the reason there aren't americans is because it's in once, possibly the sketchiest part of the city. Needless to say, at one point, there were a group of Brazilians that were saying very unnecessary things to one of the girls in our group. This is the part where I was scared for my life. The reason I was scared is because one of the guys in our group decided to teach that dirty mouthed brazilian a lesson. He took the brazilians phone and sent text messages in spanish to all the girls in the address book with things as strange as I have AIDS, you should get examined, to other even worse and unimaginable things. About the time that I saw the Brazilian receiving lots of messages, I suggested that we might want to head out. The next night, I went to see Young Frankenstein with Ashley (there will be a post abotu that later), and afterwards I ended up in a bar called jobs, which is nothing more than Chuckee Cheeses for grown boys. I was forced to watch the boys shoot arrows, throw darts, play playstation, and pool for hours. My goal was to dance, and I knew that we should leave early in order to get to a club and have a chance at getting in. The boys didn't want to leave of course, they were having too much fun!! Needless to say, the clubs were all packed by then time I drug them out by their toenails, and I ended up in a small group wandering the cold streets lost until someone hailed a cab and demanded the taxi driver to take us to a 24 hour pizza place. We spent the remainder of our nigth about 6 am eating pizza... no dancing involved. I am disappointed. I am going to give it another try next weekend. I'm determined to have one successful night of dancing argentine style :)

La Plata

I had the opportunity to go the the capital of the buenos aires province to see the recognition of the publication of a book that the foundation where I intern here recently published for the government. I skipped out of my philosophy class early and caught a cab. I arrived with croissants in hand, early. I proceeded to wat all of my croissants while realizing that I am living Argentina time, although I continue to arrive early for everything and am then forced to wait for everyone else to arrive for the next 30 minutes plus. Once everyone finally got together, we headed out of a private bus for the hour drive to La Plata. We went downtown and were admitted into the capital building for the ceremony. Scioli, the infamous provincial governor, was present for the event. The building and the room were especially beautiful, and very similar to the government buildings in spain (something I've noticed about everything argentine, it's all a copy of something european or north american). Anyhow, the ceremony started almost an hour late, and lasted onely a few minutes. The other americans I was with all collectively decided later of pizza that we should start a barbie line of professional females in argentina. It's truly amazing the amount of surgery they have all endured to look the way they do. We might actually make some money!! haha! anyhow, we wandered around the city, and we made it to the famous cathedral, which was also truly a sight to see. I enjoyed my day out of the big city!!

Hm... weekend fun!

Woo Hoo.. what should I write about? I am confused by what I should write here. I've written about my experiences; I've written about the politics; I've written about the economy. I guess I could inform my readers about what happened in my life this weekend.

Well, to begin the weekend, I made an excursion out to Museo Evita. What a political mess. I do not even think locals attend this museum. Though I have to say, the best part was to see her clothing. I swear, that woman has some definate design taste! I loved her clothing. Then I went on to see even her finger prints forever set behind plexy glass! After the trip into Palermo for the museum, I made my way back home just in time to get ready and go to Ave. Corrientes. This is known as the Buenos Aires Broadway. Here, I met up with Chelsea for a classic play, Joven Frankenstien. Also known as, Mel Brooks classic, Young Frankenstien! This was a laugh a minute. Chelsea was histerically laughing, apparently she did not kow what she was getting into! But may I just say, I LOVE THE MOVIE, and I certainly LOVE THE PLAY!

The next stop in my weekend adventures was the market in Belgrano. I wandered around here, and came across of a lot of neat and new ways of making art! After this, I went for lunch with Chelsea at some place that did not have CHEESECAKE, which was rather depressing. I then made my way back hom on the 59 Bus. May I just say, I felt a lot better about myself after taking the bus for a grand total of 2.50 pesos, vs. the 60 pesos round trip for cab fare! I swear, the bus system is amazing once you figure it out, and you are willing to walk a little bit!

Today, SUNDAY, I made my way to San Telmo, by walking down Florida, to Casa Rosada (where Eva Peron gave her famous speeches from) and down Ave. Defensa! I saw tango shows on the side of the streets, and the art was definately interesting. I was so excited to see the great antiques fair, which is probably one of the most important one in Latin America. Besides the fact I could not purchase any antiques because they were way to expensive, I watched as two men got their camera stolen because they were such loud obnoxious Americans. I swear, do not make yourself apparently foriegn here! Or people will try to steal from you in the assumption that you have a lot of money, and can spare losing something! Besides that, this has been my weekend. I topped it off with a movie, The Unborn, which was far too scary for my taste, but it was the only movie playing when I was walking back on Lavelle towards my homestay on Carlos Pelligrini!

What I've Learned...

Sometimes I run out of things to say on here. But then I stop to think, hey you... I"M IN BUENOS AIRES! How in the heck do I run out of things to say? Well, what has happened lately? My leg is finally better, but it was one nasty bruise. I had projects due like crazy this week. Two presentations, one on Chile and one on Mexico. At least I can say I have learned more about Latin America, than I thought I would ever know. My spanish is improving, but most of all, my time is almost up here, and I get to get home to my family.

As I told my mother last night, this has been the BEST WORST decision I have ever made in my life. Best in the sense that I needed to get away from all the turmoil my life was under. I got to see a beautiful country, that I may have never gotten to travel. I was able to experience the most breathtaking views along with make great friends. I got to stay in hostels, which I would have never been brave enough to do. I have learned to travel alone, as well as with others. I have learned to live off of a budget, though this may not seem too evident to my loving parents, autn and uncle, and grandparents. I have learned to eat red meat, which I have never been the biggest fan of! I eat breakfast now, and I respect others who attempt to learn English even more. Because I have been a fish out of water here attempting to speak Spanish to get by everyday. I have learned the value of being alone with my own thoughts.

It was the worst decision in the sense I have been desperately lonely. I miss the English language. I miss my family. I miss my friends. But, I guess for four months, I can handle the missing. I cannot believe I will spend my 21st birthday here, alone without a birthday cake. haha! I just do not know what else to explain. I have learned so much about the country, the language, and most importantly about myself. I have learned not to stress out over grades as much anymore. I figure, if I do my best, thats all I can do now.

But, all I can say is thank goodness I have two months off in a few weeks. I definately need the break. Guess I am spoiled not having to go to school after May ever! haha! Well here's to the last few weeks of Buenos Aires!

Bariloche Part 3

So, the last full day in Bariloche, I was bound and determined to get some outdoor exercise. So, I met up with my New Zealand friend, and I headed out with Ashley to the mountains. We took a bus to Cerro Catedral which is the ski slope outside of Bariloche, and we started hiking from Village Catedral up towards a refuge/shelter up in the mountains. The trail was supposed to be a low level trail that only took 4 hours or less up and 2 or so to get back down. They lied. After a bit of time, Ashley turned back. I, on the other hand, being stubborn... continued with my adventurous New Zealand friend. We crossed river after river and waterfall after waterfall. The terrain just kept getting worse. With the two past weeks being only rain everyday, all of the bridges were washed out, and we were trying to hop across the water skillfully without plunging to the depths below. After we both sunk in mud a couple of times, we decided that the skillful corssing probably wasn't such a big idea, and we began to just trudge through. The mud got worse, there were fallen trees all over, and it was in general just a huge dangerous but fun mess. We hiked for HOURS, and far after the time allotted for reaching the refuge passed, we decided we were not going to reach that refuge before dark, and we still had to get out of those mountains. We could see all of the snow capped peeks, and it literally looked like a scene out of lord of the rings. It was magnificent, but it had started to rain the slightest bit, and we had heard that as soon as it begins to rain you have about 10 minutes to get out of the mountains before the creeks rise and you can't get out, so we took off down from the mountains. At one point, I was crossing a mud flat, and I thought I was stable, when I fell into the mud and sunk in over my knees and lost my shoes. I then proceeded to rock climb my way out of some frightening positions. Shortly thereafter, we saw some other hikers, and they literally ha mud from their heads to their toes. It was hysterical. We realizes that it was taking us so long to get down that we would miss our bus and we would be stuck in the dark in the cold all wet, so we made the executive decision to run our way out of the woods. So, we ran, and we ran, and what took us 45 minutes to hike in, we ran out in 7 minutes. As we came down the last part of the trail we could see the bus pulling in, so my New Zealand super in shape friend sprinted to stop it just in time. We boarded the bus looking like we had liked in the woods for 10 years. It was an incredible adventure...