This weekend was fun, though it didn´t all go exactly as planned.
Friday night I went out for a delicious dinner with some new friends. We went to a fancy restaurant and splurged on apetizers, the main meal, dessert, wine, and coffee. Yum. The exchange rate definitely works in our favor here. We had planned on going out afterwards, but after dinner we all felt so relaxed from good food and good conversation that we decided to just go home and chill and go to bed instead.
Saturday I met up with some of the other kids from the program to do a walking tour. We saw a bit of San Telmo, where I live, and then went to lunch at a cafe called London City, where apparently Cortazar wrote a lot of one of his books and set the first scene there. When we left the restaurant we saw something that might have been one of the funniest/strangest things I´ve seen in my life: hundreds of waitors/waitresses speed walking down a main road (the Casa Rosada is at one end, Congress at the other), balancing trays with a bottle of soda and water and a glass with a drink in it. I suppose it was some kind of race, because they all had numbers pinned onto their shirts. I never really got the full story, but it was very amusing (and suprising) to see.
From there we decided to cut the San Telmo tour short to visit La Boca: argued the birthplace of the tango, but not so safe after dark. We took the subte there and saw a few things, though not as much as we wanted before we decided to turn back. That night I went to dinner with some of the girls and then went to the club ("boliche") where Annie´s host/my host mom´s daughter works. I took the bus all by myself to Annie and Cata´s place--it was very exciting!
Sunday I had planned on going to church with a friend, but set my alarm for pm instead of am, and woke up very late. I wandered around San Telmo with another group though--on Sundays they close one of the roads and there are merchants selling jewelry, artsy things, clothing, etc. up and down the street, as well as lots of musicians (tango bands, percussion groups,etc).
Today I wandered around by myself a bit and shopped for a few thing--shoes that are more comfortable for walking around the city,and a peacoat (that most people wear here and I left at home). I went to lunch with a friend who was on the DC flight and then spent lots of time at FLACSO trying to figure out classes. Its overly complicated. I need to decide which classes I want to take and at which university/program, what will transfer for credits back at Elon, if the schedules overlap, and if I can get to the classes in time. Unlike having all of the classes on one campus, I´ll have classes all over the city. Luckily though, I know that at least 2, maybe 3, will be pretty close to my appartment. Most of my classes with be with foreign students, but I want to take at least one regular class with Argentine students. Its just hard to know which classes I´ll be able to do the best in with the language disadvantage. We´ll see.
Anyway, thats the update for now. Hasta luego!
Monday, July 30, 2007
Friday, July 27, 2007
Una semana
It´s been a week since I first started by adventure to Buenos Aires. I think an update is long overdue.
We arrived Monday and our group of thirteen went to find lunch together and then returned to for orientation all afternoon. That evening we went home with our host families--no hotel for us.
I live in an apartment in San Telmo, which is pretty much the political center of the city. I pass the Casa Rosada (what would be our White House. think Evita on the balcony.) and the Plaza de Mayo. I live with Elvira and her 12-year-old son, Joaquin. Joaquin´s friend MatÃas is usually at the house as well. Elvira has a daughter, Catalina, also, but she lives in an appartment in another part of the city. Another student in the CIEE program, Annie, lives with Cata.
Tuesday morning began our week of orientation--sessions learning about the city and the program, taking placement tests, etc. Elvira went with me and showed me the route and how to use the subway (subte). I came home by myself though and got a bit confused. I forgot I had to cross the street that divides the entire city so that the names are different on either side. Oops. I found my way home though safely. I understand the subtes now and dont mind taking them. During rush hour it gets ridiculous though; people are crammed in like sardines and literally tangled up in one another. I haven´t taken a bus yet. There are so many, all identified by numbers and colors. Eventually I´ll learn.
Tuesday night Annie and Cata came over for dinner, which was really fun. Elivira loves to cook and makes very tasty food. We eat very late. Every night it´s been around 10:00, though she said that when the schools are no longer on vacation, the usual is 9:00. I didn´t really get a chance to catch up on sleep until Wednesday, since every night we seem to talk for a few hours.
I´ve been meeting lots of really cool people. It´s strange though having to make lots of new friends again. I suppose thats what I did at the start of college, but that seems like a ways off from now.
Last night I went out for the first time which was lots of fun. Night life is so late here. I didnt leave the house until around 1 and met up with some friends who had gone out to dinner. From there we headed to a club. It was packed. It was really fun dancing and whatnot, but at times it reminded me of the subte at rush hour. There were lots of the CIEE kids there who had come in various groups. I ran into my new friend Stefan, the Brit from the airplane, at the club as well and met some of his friends and shared a cab home since he lives closeby.
After going to bed at 5:15 this morning, I got up to go to a 9:30 orientation at "La UCA" (the private Catholic university). I´m not sure yet which classes I´m taking or where. There´s a big public university (UBA), a private University (UCA), the classes through the program, and then all of the various departments and programs within each. After orientation I took the scenic route home with Eliza and took her to my subte stop. Then I wandered around a bit, just exploring the area around where I live. And now.... I´m here pretending to decide on classes, but really checking email and (finally) updating this.
Sometimes its strange to think that I´ll be here until December, but I´m really enjoying it so far and I just keep getting more excited!
We arrived Monday and our group of thirteen went to find lunch together and then returned to for orientation all afternoon. That evening we went home with our host families--no hotel for us.
I live in an apartment in San Telmo, which is pretty much the political center of the city. I pass the Casa Rosada (what would be our White House. think Evita on the balcony.) and the Plaza de Mayo. I live with Elvira and her 12-year-old son, Joaquin. Joaquin´s friend MatÃas is usually at the house as well. Elvira has a daughter, Catalina, also, but she lives in an appartment in another part of the city. Another student in the CIEE program, Annie, lives with Cata.
Tuesday morning began our week of orientation--sessions learning about the city and the program, taking placement tests, etc. Elvira went with me and showed me the route and how to use the subway (subte). I came home by myself though and got a bit confused. I forgot I had to cross the street that divides the entire city so that the names are different on either side. Oops. I found my way home though safely. I understand the subtes now and dont mind taking them. During rush hour it gets ridiculous though; people are crammed in like sardines and literally tangled up in one another. I haven´t taken a bus yet. There are so many, all identified by numbers and colors. Eventually I´ll learn.
Tuesday night Annie and Cata came over for dinner, which was really fun. Elivira loves to cook and makes very tasty food. We eat very late. Every night it´s been around 10:00, though she said that when the schools are no longer on vacation, the usual is 9:00. I didn´t really get a chance to catch up on sleep until Wednesday, since every night we seem to talk for a few hours.
I´ve been meeting lots of really cool people. It´s strange though having to make lots of new friends again. I suppose thats what I did at the start of college, but that seems like a ways off from now.
Last night I went out for the first time which was lots of fun. Night life is so late here. I didnt leave the house until around 1 and met up with some friends who had gone out to dinner. From there we headed to a club. It was packed. It was really fun dancing and whatnot, but at times it reminded me of the subte at rush hour. There were lots of the CIEE kids there who had come in various groups. I ran into my new friend Stefan, the Brit from the airplane, at the club as well and met some of his friends and shared a cab home since he lives closeby.
After going to bed at 5:15 this morning, I got up to go to a 9:30 orientation at "La UCA" (the private Catholic university). I´m not sure yet which classes I´m taking or where. There´s a big public university (UBA), a private University (UCA), the classes through the program, and then all of the various departments and programs within each. After orientation I took the scenic route home with Eliza and took her to my subte stop. Then I wandered around a bit, just exploring the area around where I live. And now.... I´m here pretending to decide on classes, but really checking email and (finally) updating this.
Sometimes its strange to think that I´ll be here until December, but I´m really enjoying it so far and I just keep getting more excited!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Estoy aqui!
Just to let you all know, I´m finally here safe! Off to lunch then a special orientation for the 13 of us.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Leaving home...again.
Well, tonight I leave for Buenos Aires....for the second time. Apparently the next 5 months really will be an adventure.
I went out to dinner Friday night with my parents, brother, and Jeff before heading to the airport and saying goodbye. Saying goodbye was harder than I thought it would be. At the gate I met up with Kelly and Whitney from Elon and we found about 5 other students participating in our program as well.
The first part of the flight went well. I sat next to Stefan, who will be studying abroad in B.A. for a year, though not through the same program. We got along well, which made the flight much more entertaining.
Around 4:00 am, the pilot came on, said good morning, and informed us that we would be landing in the Dulles airport again in about 20 minutes. Apparently communication was down in Brazil, so any flights going over Brazil had to turn back. I had wondered why the flight map wasn't working when I woke up in the middle of the night--they had turned it off so we wouldn't see we were flying the wrong direction. When my dad checked later, the power was apparently only out for about 3 hours--bad timing. It made for a very long day, but I'd rather be safe.
Once back at the airport (landed around 4:45), there were a few hours of logistics--getting baggage, calling for a new flight, letting CIEE know we wouldn't be there for the first day of orientation, etc. When we all found each other, there was a total of 13 of us from the program on the flight, and we bonded through the chaos. It seems like some really fun people, so I'm excited to get to know them better.
Coming home had its advantages as well. Jeff was not far from the airport this weekend and he was able to pick me up and I went to the surprise party for his parents' 25th wedding anniversary. I was able to spend more time with him, his family, and my family.
Soon I'll be heading to the airport again. Hopefully saying goodbye again today won't be as bad since I've done it already and, if all goes well, I'll be in Buenos Aires tomorrow morning.
I went out to dinner Friday night with my parents, brother, and Jeff before heading to the airport and saying goodbye. Saying goodbye was harder than I thought it would be. At the gate I met up with Kelly and Whitney from Elon and we found about 5 other students participating in our program as well.
The first part of the flight went well. I sat next to Stefan, who will be studying abroad in B.A. for a year, though not through the same program. We got along well, which made the flight much more entertaining.
Around 4:00 am, the pilot came on, said good morning, and informed us that we would be landing in the Dulles airport again in about 20 minutes. Apparently communication was down in Brazil, so any flights going over Brazil had to turn back. I had wondered why the flight map wasn't working when I woke up in the middle of the night--they had turned it off so we wouldn't see we were flying the wrong direction. When my dad checked later, the power was apparently only out for about 3 hours--bad timing. It made for a very long day, but I'd rather be safe.
Once back at the airport (landed around 4:45), there were a few hours of logistics--getting baggage, calling for a new flight, letting CIEE know we wouldn't be there for the first day of orientation, etc. When we all found each other, there was a total of 13 of us from the program on the flight, and we bonded through the chaos. It seems like some really fun people, so I'm excited to get to know them better.
Coming home had its advantages as well. Jeff was not far from the airport this weekend and he was able to pick me up and I went to the surprise party for his parents' 25th wedding anniversary. I was able to spend more time with him, his family, and my family.
Soon I'll be heading to the airport again. Hopefully saying goodbye again today won't be as bad since I've done it already and, if all goes well, I'll be in Buenos Aires tomorrow morning.
Friday, July 20, 2007
Leaving Home
Welcome to my travel journal about my semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina! In a few hours I'll be heading to the airport. I don't feel like I'm quite ready yet, but then again, I'm not sure when I'd feel 100% ready to begin a 5-month adventure in a Spanish-speaking country. I'm excited and nervous at the same time.
I'll be posting sporadic updates here about life in B.A. (and hopefully traveling as well!), so feel free to check back and see what I'm up to!
I'll be posting sporadic updates here about life in B.A. (and hopefully traveling as well!), so feel free to check back and see what I'm up to!
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