So as I'm waiting for my tea to cool, I figured I could write for a few. It's raining today. It poured earlier, but fortunately I made it to my class before the sky opened up. A lot of my classmates weren't quite so lucky and were drenched after walking a few blocks.
I haven't been feeling great since I got back from Mendoza, but I'm starting to feel a little better. My ears were (kind of still are) clogged, which made life a bit more interesting (especially going to choir).
Yesterday my anthropology class went really well. We got our parciales (midterms) back and I got a 9--woohoo! We had some group work time during class and the professor came up to talk to me and for the first time really showed interest. She was asking about what other classes I'm taking, why I chose Argentina, what my exchange program is like, how I've adjusted, etc. It seems like she realized from my midterm that I do understand Spanish (more or less) so she could talk to me. I'm starting to know a lot more people in the class, which I like. I wouldn't say I'm good friends with anyone or anything, but its nice to be greeted by a lot of people and have them ask how I'm doing and how my parcial went, etc.
Nothing else too terribly exciting this week. My week days have been a lot busier since I've been traveling so much on my free days, but its been worth it.
My tango class this afternoon was cancelled (good thing I checked my email right before I was getting ready to leave!) but tonight there's a group of us going to a milonga (where the real tango takes place). I'm excited since I haven't been yet.
Tomorrow I have some meetings and whatnot and then Saturday my parents get here!
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Pictures!
I finally made a site for pictures! They're not all organized/renamed/etc, but the internet is slow and who knows when I'll have the time.
So... see more of my adventures at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/beccawatts
So... see more of my adventures at:
http://community.webshots.com/user/beccawatts
Mendoza!
I'm home again!
This past weekend I went with Sarah, Alex, and Liana to Mendoza--wine country in the north, close to Chile.
As always, it started with an adventure. I slept over Sarah's house since we had to catch an early morning flight. I didn't go over until late and she didn't start packing until about 2, so needless to say we had more of a nap than a good night's sleep. We both set our alarms, but we awoke instead at 5:15 am to the taxi driver buzzing our appartment to say he was waiting downstairs. We were out the door in 4 minutes. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. We made it to the airport and fortunately everything went well with the flight.
We went from the airport to the hostel, only to find that we were at the wrong hostel. For some reason it make sense to give 2 hostels in the city the same name? We found the right one, dropped off our stuff, and headed out almost immediately for a tour we had lined up: BikesandWine. So, on limited sleep the four of us biked in the sun between wineries all day. It was fun, but left a little to be desired. All costs were supposed to be included in the tour price, but we still had to pay in order to do the wine tastings at most of the bodegas (wineries). The tours weren't amazing either. We did have an awesome lunch though (which was included). We had delicious food and ate outside on a shaded patio. We visited a place that made chocolates and liquors as well--yum . There was another place that made olive oil but it was just a bit too far for us to bike that day. At the end of the day we were (of course) rushing back to return the bikes and catch the van. We told Sarah to go ahead and let them know we were on our way--she's the fastest since she's a cyclist. She was so focused on her mission that she biked right past the place. We got there and a lady asked us, "Was your friend wearing a blue shirt?" She came back eventually though, so it all worked out.
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel. Alex and Liana were staying in a hotel so we waited with them for a taxi. We called 3 times and even after an hour they never showed. They ended up waiting outside and still didn't find a ride until they met a couple who called a remise-driver friend of theirs. We had decided we'd just do dinner separately instead of our original plan of a nice restaurant. Sarah and I showered but then crashed in our rooms. We woke up late and thought about dinner, but decided to just sleep instead. It was a good choice.
Saturday we woke up nice and refreshed. It was definitely the best day. Sarah and I met up with her friend Christy at a nearby cafe. Christy is studying abroad in Mendoza and she and Sarah grew up doing triathalons together. Later, Alex, Liana, Sarah and I went to lunch at a bodega called Familia Zuccardi. Amazing. It was almost a 3 hour lunch. It was a set menu and the food just kept coming! We had empanadas, bread, salad and vegetables, asado (barbecue) with 5 different kinds of meat (steak, chicken, etc.), and creme brulee for dessert. With the different courses we tried their different types of white, red, and dessert wines. It was absolutely delicious. We ate outside again and our table overlooked a rose garden. (I'm turning into my mom--about half my pictures from my trip are of flowers!). After lunch we took a tour of the winery--much better than the previous day tours.
That night we went to rent a car for the next day and then all met up with Christy again and went out for "dinner," though we weren't very hungry. We split apetizers, wine and dessert. We went to a new restaurant in town with a somewhat creepy waitor. We weren't too impressed by it, but we had fun. Went to bed pretty early that night as well.
Sunday started out a bit complicated as well. Sarah and I went to pick up the girls (finding them was a little more challenging than planned) and then on a hunt for an ATM. We had lunch at a good mexican place (a bit hard to find in Argentina--good that is) and then went for a drive through the Andes mountains. It was beautiful. Stopped at a lake that was almost unnaturally blue and at a few points up in the mountains. That night we met up with Christy again for another great meal. (We ate a lot this weekend, if you hadn't noticed). I had a steak in a malbec sauce which delicious.
This morning we got up early again and flew back to BsAs. Overall, a fun trip. Mendoza is beautiful and we had great weather. If we had more time there it would have been fun to do some more outdoorsy type things--rafting, hiking, etc.
Unfortunately, I'm sick again. Boo. My allergies had been acting up during the weekend and after the drive in the mountains my ears clogged up and just never popped, which made dinner and the rest of the trip a bit more interesting. I was excited when they finally clear on the airplane, but then it all happened again. I went home with Sarah and her host mom said I'd better go to the doctor, so 3 prescriptions later (sinus infection, ears, etc) I'm on my way to getting better. Oh goodness.
Spent most of the afternoon with Alex and Sarah and then the evening relaxing, unpacking, etc. Wasn't quite as productive as I probably should have been, but that's usually how it is, isn't it?
This week is going to be pretty busy, but my parents come on Saturday! I'm excited =)
This past weekend I went with Sarah, Alex, and Liana to Mendoza--wine country in the north, close to Chile.
As always, it started with an adventure. I slept over Sarah's house since we had to catch an early morning flight. I didn't go over until late and she didn't start packing until about 2, so needless to say we had more of a nap than a good night's sleep. We both set our alarms, but we awoke instead at 5:15 am to the taxi driver buzzing our appartment to say he was waiting downstairs. We were out the door in 4 minutes. We were pretty impressed with ourselves. We made it to the airport and fortunately everything went well with the flight.
We went from the airport to the hostel, only to find that we were at the wrong hostel. For some reason it make sense to give 2 hostels in the city the same name? We found the right one, dropped off our stuff, and headed out almost immediately for a tour we had lined up: BikesandWine. So, on limited sleep the four of us biked in the sun between wineries all day. It was fun, but left a little to be desired. All costs were supposed to be included in the tour price, but we still had to pay in order to do the wine tastings at most of the bodegas (wineries). The tours weren't amazing either. We did have an awesome lunch though (which was included). We had delicious food and ate outside on a shaded patio. We visited a place that made chocolates and liquors as well--yum . There was another place that made olive oil but it was just a bit too far for us to bike that day. At the end of the day we were (of course) rushing back to return the bikes and catch the van. We told Sarah to go ahead and let them know we were on our way--she's the fastest since she's a cyclist. She was so focused on her mission that she biked right past the place. We got there and a lady asked us, "Was your friend wearing a blue shirt?" She came back eventually though, so it all worked out.
We were exhausted by the time we got back to the hostel. Alex and Liana were staying in a hotel so we waited with them for a taxi. We called 3 times and even after an hour they never showed. They ended up waiting outside and still didn't find a ride until they met a couple who called a remise-driver friend of theirs. We had decided we'd just do dinner separately instead of our original plan of a nice restaurant. Sarah and I showered but then crashed in our rooms. We woke up late and thought about dinner, but decided to just sleep instead. It was a good choice.
Saturday we woke up nice and refreshed. It was definitely the best day. Sarah and I met up with her friend Christy at a nearby cafe. Christy is studying abroad in Mendoza and she and Sarah grew up doing triathalons together. Later, Alex, Liana, Sarah and I went to lunch at a bodega called Familia Zuccardi. Amazing. It was almost a 3 hour lunch. It was a set menu and the food just kept coming! We had empanadas, bread, salad and vegetables, asado (barbecue) with 5 different kinds of meat (steak, chicken, etc.), and creme brulee for dessert. With the different courses we tried their different types of white, red, and dessert wines. It was absolutely delicious. We ate outside again and our table overlooked a rose garden. (I'm turning into my mom--about half my pictures from my trip are of flowers!). After lunch we took a tour of the winery--much better than the previous day tours.
That night we went to rent a car for the next day and then all met up with Christy again and went out for "dinner," though we weren't very hungry. We split apetizers, wine and dessert. We went to a new restaurant in town with a somewhat creepy waitor. We weren't too impressed by it, but we had fun. Went to bed pretty early that night as well.
Sunday started out a bit complicated as well. Sarah and I went to pick up the girls (finding them was a little more challenging than planned) and then on a hunt for an ATM. We had lunch at a good mexican place (a bit hard to find in Argentina--good that is) and then went for a drive through the Andes mountains. It was beautiful. Stopped at a lake that was almost unnaturally blue and at a few points up in the mountains. That night we met up with Christy again for another great meal. (We ate a lot this weekend, if you hadn't noticed). I had a steak in a malbec sauce which delicious.
This morning we got up early again and flew back to BsAs. Overall, a fun trip. Mendoza is beautiful and we had great weather. If we had more time there it would have been fun to do some more outdoorsy type things--rafting, hiking, etc.
Unfortunately, I'm sick again. Boo. My allergies had been acting up during the weekend and after the drive in the mountains my ears clogged up and just never popped, which made dinner and the rest of the trip a bit more interesting. I was excited when they finally clear on the airplane, but then it all happened again. I went home with Sarah and her host mom said I'd better go to the doctor, so 3 prescriptions later (sinus infection, ears, etc) I'm on my way to getting better. Oh goodness.
Spent most of the afternoon with Alex and Sarah and then the evening relaxing, unpacking, etc. Wasn't quite as productive as I probably should have been, but that's usually how it is, isn't it?
This week is going to be pretty busy, but my parents come on Saturday! I'm excited =)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
What a relief
Alright. I´m just going to write about my 2 viajes (trips) later. It´s decided.
I feel so relieved right now. This morning I had my parcial (midterm) for my Anthropology class in UBA (where I´m the only extranjera/foreign student). Its like a weight lifted now that its over. The system is a bit different here. Actually each class its a bit different for me. For anthropology I have 2 midterms and have to get at least a 4 (out of 10) on them to continue taking the class. If I get an average of 7+ (or maybe its 7+ on each?), I´m done. If not, I have an oral final. We shall see. I studied lots but wasn´t sure if I was prepared or not at all, I didnt really know what to expect. It was easier than I thought though and I feel good about it. Now we´ll just see about the grade I get. There´s not so much an "inflation" of grades here, so its a lot harder to get good grades. A 10 is pretty much impossible in UBA. Too bad my grades will be transfering back.
I had a parcial last Thursday as well in my Cuestiones Culturales class. I felt good about that one as well. Now I´m more or less done with tests for a little while, yay!
Ok. Enough about school. Its kind of consumed my life since last week though.
What else.
Friday was Elvira´s birthday (my host mom). I didnt see her for most of the day, as we were both running in and out of the house, but I bought her flowers and made a sign for the front door. That night Cata and Annie and her sister and her sister´s husband came over for dinner, which was fun. We suprised her with a cake we had bought (or a brownie with dulce de leche to be exact). A fun night.
Saturday night was "La noche de los museos" (night of the museums). A hundred or so of the city´s museums were open from 7pm-2am with free entrance and there were various live bands and other events as well. There were people all over the city. It was incredible to see how crowded the museums and even the streets were with people participating. I went with Elvira and Joaquin and their friends (the parents are friends with Elvira, the son with Joaquin). They have a car so we were able to go to various parts of the city. We went to el museo del traje (museum of clothing) which was kind of cool, but ridiculously crowded. We listened to the live band for a bit and Joaquin won the raffle for their CD. Afterwards we went to the Museum of Immigrants (where I had gone to get my Visa). Outside was a feria (theres really no good translation. Fair? Market?) with stands set up by countries selling traditional food and wares, which was really cool. I tried a German beer in honor of Alison studying abroad in Heidelberg and a Colombian coffee for my Colombian friends here. We tried to go to two others but the lines were ridiculous. We finished at the museum about the money/currency. By that point I was exhausted and just wanted to go home, but overall it was a good night. I´m not a huge museum person (though I would like to like them more?), but it was interesting to see everything that went into "la noche de los museos."
This weekend I went to a musical on Sunday that was fabulous. It was called "Las medias de los flamencos" (The Flamingo´s Stockings) and one of the guys I sing with in choir is in it. The plot is more or less a fable of why the flamingo´s legs are colored. What really made the show was the movement/dancing. All of the actors were playing animals and moved like the animals would move. Words don´t do it justice. The way they moved and danced was just incredible.
Anyway, now I´m off to choir. Yay. Tomorrow evening I leave for Puerto Madryn, which is down south on the coast. Should be fun!
I´m working on making a photo page as well so I´ll post the link once its ready (a bit more complicated with finicky internet)!
I feel so relieved right now. This morning I had my parcial (midterm) for my Anthropology class in UBA (where I´m the only extranjera/foreign student). Its like a weight lifted now that its over. The system is a bit different here. Actually each class its a bit different for me. For anthropology I have 2 midterms and have to get at least a 4 (out of 10) on them to continue taking the class. If I get an average of 7+ (or maybe its 7+ on each?), I´m done. If not, I have an oral final. We shall see. I studied lots but wasn´t sure if I was prepared or not at all, I didnt really know what to expect. It was easier than I thought though and I feel good about it. Now we´ll just see about the grade I get. There´s not so much an "inflation" of grades here, so its a lot harder to get good grades. A 10 is pretty much impossible in UBA. Too bad my grades will be transfering back.
I had a parcial last Thursday as well in my Cuestiones Culturales class. I felt good about that one as well. Now I´m more or less done with tests for a little while, yay!
Ok. Enough about school. Its kind of consumed my life since last week though.
What else.
Friday was Elvira´s birthday (my host mom). I didnt see her for most of the day, as we were both running in and out of the house, but I bought her flowers and made a sign for the front door. That night Cata and Annie and her sister and her sister´s husband came over for dinner, which was fun. We suprised her with a cake we had bought (or a brownie with dulce de leche to be exact). A fun night.
Saturday night was "La noche de los museos" (night of the museums). A hundred or so of the city´s museums were open from 7pm-2am with free entrance and there were various live bands and other events as well. There were people all over the city. It was incredible to see how crowded the museums and even the streets were with people participating. I went with Elvira and Joaquin and their friends (the parents are friends with Elvira, the son with Joaquin). They have a car so we were able to go to various parts of the city. We went to el museo del traje (museum of clothing) which was kind of cool, but ridiculously crowded. We listened to the live band for a bit and Joaquin won the raffle for their CD. Afterwards we went to the Museum of Immigrants (where I had gone to get my Visa). Outside was a feria (theres really no good translation. Fair? Market?) with stands set up by countries selling traditional food and wares, which was really cool. I tried a German beer in honor of Alison studying abroad in Heidelberg and a Colombian coffee for my Colombian friends here. We tried to go to two others but the lines were ridiculous. We finished at the museum about the money/currency. By that point I was exhausted and just wanted to go home, but overall it was a good night. I´m not a huge museum person (though I would like to like them more?), but it was interesting to see everything that went into "la noche de los museos."
This weekend I went to a musical on Sunday that was fabulous. It was called "Las medias de los flamencos" (The Flamingo´s Stockings) and one of the guys I sing with in choir is in it. The plot is more or less a fable of why the flamingo´s legs are colored. What really made the show was the movement/dancing. All of the actors were playing animals and moved like the animals would move. Words don´t do it justice. The way they moved and danced was just incredible.
Anyway, now I´m off to choir. Yay. Tomorrow evening I leave for Puerto Madryn, which is down south on the coast. Should be fun!
I´m working on making a photo page as well so I´ll post the link once its ready (a bit more complicated with finicky internet)!
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
A quick attempt at an update...
About 2 weeks ago I left for my first trip with the program to Jujuy, a province in the North-West corner of Argentina. Now I´m about to leave for the second trip, to Córdoba, and I still haven´t updated.
Jujuy was fun. Hopefully I´ll be able to explain it more later but, for now: We went from Wednesday to Sunday and it was wonderful to escape from the city for a bit. We were in the mountains/desert and it was really pretty and each day we traveled to visit a different part of the province. It was a bit more educational than I had expected--it was a seminar with UBA Philosophy and Letters, so we had guides and lectures at the various places we visited.
The trip to Córdoba is apparently more relaxing. I´ll let you know when I get back (I promise!).
Last Friday was the first day of Spring and also Student´s Day, so no one had classes. Someone told me that students´day is to honor the students who disapeared during the dictatorship in the ´70s, though I´m not sure if thats true or not. A few friends and I went to a park to have a picnic and were surrounded by Argentines, though mostly high-school aged. It was a lot of fun.
Sunday night I got to meet some of my extended Argentine family. It was my "aunt´s" birthday, so we went over to her house to celebrate and I met various cousins/aunts/etc. It was fun, though I was very glad to have Annie (my host mom´s daughter´s student) there with me.
Lots more going on, but not enough time to write. Just wanted to let you all know that I´m alive and well though. It must be a good thing if I´m too busy to write, right?
Jujuy was fun. Hopefully I´ll be able to explain it more later but, for now: We went from Wednesday to Sunday and it was wonderful to escape from the city for a bit. We were in the mountains/desert and it was really pretty and each day we traveled to visit a different part of the province. It was a bit more educational than I had expected--it was a seminar with UBA Philosophy and Letters, so we had guides and lectures at the various places we visited.
The trip to Córdoba is apparently more relaxing. I´ll let you know when I get back (I promise!).
Last Friday was the first day of Spring and also Student´s Day, so no one had classes. Someone told me that students´day is to honor the students who disapeared during the dictatorship in the ´70s, though I´m not sure if thats true or not. A few friends and I went to a park to have a picnic and were surrounded by Argentines, though mostly high-school aged. It was a lot of fun.
Sunday night I got to meet some of my extended Argentine family. It was my "aunt´s" birthday, so we went over to her house to celebrate and I met various cousins/aunts/etc. It was fun, though I was very glad to have Annie (my host mom´s daughter´s student) there with me.
Lots more going on, but not enough time to write. Just wanted to let you all know that I´m alive and well though. It must be a good thing if I´m too busy to write, right?
Saturday, September 8, 2007
Classes and a long-overdue update
It had been a while since I updated, so I'll write 2 in one day.
Life is good. My classes are going well and, as of Friday, I'm finally officially registered and whatnot (a month after starting? something like that).
I'm taking:
Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). UBA is like nothing I've seen before. Its a huge public school, free, very much underfunded, and the best in the country. I have my lecture class in a huge warehouse-looking room with 100 (200? I dont know, I'm terrible at estimating people) people. The professor uses a mic (when it works) and smokes more or less throughout the entire class. In UBA, all of the walls are covered with posters (usually hand-painted) advertising events or student groups or political propoganda. There are lots of students handing out fliers as well. It's definitely an interesting experience. I have my "practica" class as well (what is it in English? We don't have it at Elon. Recitation?), which probably has 20-30 students. I ended up changing that class for another time, but I've made some friends, so thats good.
Cultural Issues in Argentine History through my program. It's been pretty interesting and its comparative to the U.S. as well. The professor is great and really excited about the subject and teaching, so it makes it much more interesting.
The language in action: Word and Urban Landscape in Argentine Literature through my program. I really enjoy this professor as well. Every other week we have a regular class, with a lecture/presentations/discussions/etc. The other week we go on "field trips" around the city to visit areas where authors live or wrote or areas of inspiration or that appear in various poems/stories.
Language Class. Really not that exciting. At this point I've learned all of the grammar basics, I just need lots of practice. So, lots of review with other people from the U.S. In the other classes there are people from all over, but in mine we're all from the U.S. Oh well.
Choir with IUNA (the arts school). I joined/went to my first class last week. It was so exciting! Its great to sing again, because I haven't really since high school. We sing mostly in Spanish, but we're doing a few songs in English as well. I was excited that I knew two of them--"Remember Oh Thou Man" (which I sang with madrigals) and "Weep, Oh Mine Eyes" (which I played in a quartet in orchestra).
Independent Study. I'm studying the influences of English on the Spanish in Buenos Aires. It's still not really focused. I'm going to see if I can turn it into something for my thesis at Elon though. We'll see.
Next week I'm going to Jujuy and later in the month Cordoba, both trips with the program. It shold be fun. I've overcome my fear of talking on the phone in Spanish (so much harder than in person) as I now talk with some friends I've met here on the phone. I'm understanding the TV much better now as well. I don't watch much, but sometimes I'll join Elvira (my "mom") to watch something. She likes Patinando por un Sueno (Iceskating for a Dream), which is more or less Dancing with the Stars, but iceskating.
I'm also starting to learn to go with the flow a little more here because plans often don't work out so well. Last night I actually made a plan of where I wanted to go and had a friend to go with me but at the last minute it just didn't work out. I ended up going to dinner with Elvira and Joaquin to their friends house though. Today, after sending many text messages, I found a friend to go with me to a free concert. When we got there though there weren't any tickets left. We ran into Esteban, an argentino that sings in the choir with me, and ended up hanging out with him. He was our tourguide of Recoleta (one of the barrios/neighborhoods) and we went to the museum of fine arts, the feria (fair? I'm not sure what it translates to exactly. Lots of stands selling things, music, food, etc. They happen all over every weekend), and then for coffee and a snack. It was really fun.
Anyway, almost time for dinner. Thats enough of a random update for now. I'll try to be a little more consistent with the updates!! Hasta luego.....
Life is good. My classes are going well and, as of Friday, I'm finally officially registered and whatnot (a month after starting? something like that).
I'm taking:
Social and Cultural Anthropology at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). UBA is like nothing I've seen before. Its a huge public school, free, very much underfunded, and the best in the country. I have my lecture class in a huge warehouse-looking room with 100 (200? I dont know, I'm terrible at estimating people) people. The professor uses a mic (when it works) and smokes more or less throughout the entire class. In UBA, all of the walls are covered with posters (usually hand-painted) advertising events or student groups or political propoganda. There are lots of students handing out fliers as well. It's definitely an interesting experience. I have my "practica" class as well (what is it in English? We don't have it at Elon. Recitation?), which probably has 20-30 students. I ended up changing that class for another time, but I've made some friends, so thats good.
Cultural Issues in Argentine History through my program. It's been pretty interesting and its comparative to the U.S. as well. The professor is great and really excited about the subject and teaching, so it makes it much more interesting.
The language in action: Word and Urban Landscape in Argentine Literature through my program. I really enjoy this professor as well. Every other week we have a regular class, with a lecture/presentations/discussions/etc. The other week we go on "field trips" around the city to visit areas where authors live or wrote or areas of inspiration or that appear in various poems/stories.
Language Class. Really not that exciting. At this point I've learned all of the grammar basics, I just need lots of practice. So, lots of review with other people from the U.S. In the other classes there are people from all over, but in mine we're all from the U.S. Oh well.
Choir with IUNA (the arts school). I joined/went to my first class last week. It was so exciting! Its great to sing again, because I haven't really since high school. We sing mostly in Spanish, but we're doing a few songs in English as well. I was excited that I knew two of them--"Remember Oh Thou Man" (which I sang with madrigals) and "Weep, Oh Mine Eyes" (which I played in a quartet in orchestra).
Independent Study. I'm studying the influences of English on the Spanish in Buenos Aires. It's still not really focused. I'm going to see if I can turn it into something for my thesis at Elon though. We'll see.
Next week I'm going to Jujuy and later in the month Cordoba, both trips with the program. It shold be fun. I've overcome my fear of talking on the phone in Spanish (so much harder than in person) as I now talk with some friends I've met here on the phone. I'm understanding the TV much better now as well. I don't watch much, but sometimes I'll join Elvira (my "mom") to watch something. She likes Patinando por un Sueno (Iceskating for a Dream), which is more or less Dancing with the Stars, but iceskating.
I'm also starting to learn to go with the flow a little more here because plans often don't work out so well. Last night I actually made a plan of where I wanted to go and had a friend to go with me but at the last minute it just didn't work out. I ended up going to dinner with Elvira and Joaquin to their friends house though. Today, after sending many text messages, I found a friend to go with me to a free concert. When we got there though there weren't any tickets left. We ran into Esteban, an argentino that sings in the choir with me, and ended up hanging out with him. He was our tourguide of Recoleta (one of the barrios/neighborhoods) and we went to the museum of fine arts, the feria (fair? I'm not sure what it translates to exactly. Lots of stands selling things, music, food, etc. They happen all over every weekend), and then for coffee and a snack. It was really fun.
Anyway, almost time for dinner. Thats enough of a random update for now. I'll try to be a little more consistent with the updates!! Hasta luego.....
The bracelet
So a few weeks ago I went to meet up with some friends at Plaza Serrano. There are lots of restaurants and bars with open space in the middle. I was the first one to get there, so I started walking around, looking at the booths selling jewelry/crafts in the center of the plaza. One of the vendors struck up a conversation with me and we talked for about 20 minutes before my friends finally got there. I love talking to new people. He made bracelets and after talking for a few minutes he said he wanted to give me something. He gave me a bracelet, not like the ones he sold, but simple with string and a wooden bead. It's a "dream bracelet" (pulsera de deseos, but desires translates a little funny in English). I had to make a wish on the bead and when it falls off, that means it comes true. (There was also something about positive energy but I didnt really catch that part...).
Anyway, I don't know if the bracelet is like birthday candles, where you're not supposed to tell, but I'm going to anyway. I wished for "direction."
I had heard from others that, in general, you change a lot when you study abroad. You discover a lot about yourself when you're taken so far out of our comfort zone. I had somewhat expected this, and wanted this, but didn't realize to what extent I'd experience it. Sometimes I feel like my world has been turned upside down. Obviously I'm living in a different culture, different language, etc. But I'm trying so many new things and meeting so many new people and really just trying to have an open mind and it's making me question everything. My favorite example, as silly as it is, is that I didn't like tea and only sometimes would drink coffee back home. Now I have coffee and/or tea pretty much every day. And I like it. It's just makning me reevaluate a lot of things that I thought/wanted/liked/etc.
But even though right now my life is a little confusing, I know its a good thing. I know that, one day the bracelet will fall off and I will have a clearer idea of who I am, what I am, what I like, etc (which may or may not be at the same time). I know I will come out of this better and stronger. And I'm really excited about that.
Anyway, I don't know if the bracelet is like birthday candles, where you're not supposed to tell, but I'm going to anyway. I wished for "direction."
I had heard from others that, in general, you change a lot when you study abroad. You discover a lot about yourself when you're taken so far out of our comfort zone. I had somewhat expected this, and wanted this, but didn't realize to what extent I'd experience it. Sometimes I feel like my world has been turned upside down. Obviously I'm living in a different culture, different language, etc. But I'm trying so many new things and meeting so many new people and really just trying to have an open mind and it's making me question everything. My favorite example, as silly as it is, is that I didn't like tea and only sometimes would drink coffee back home. Now I have coffee and/or tea pretty much every day. And I like it. It's just makning me reevaluate a lot of things that I thought/wanted/liked/etc.
But even though right now my life is a little confusing, I know its a good thing. I know that, one day the bracelet will fall off and I will have a clearer idea of who I am, what I am, what I like, etc (which may or may not be at the same time). I know I will come out of this better and stronger. And I'm really excited about that.
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