Before I get into my stories, I want to ask you all what in the WORLD is going on back in the states?! Bombing in Boston, poisoned letters to President Obama, chemical plant exploding in Texas?? As lucky as I am to live in the USA, you can't deny that we certainly have problems of our own. Looking back, I find it odd that people worried about me going to another country for 3 months when stuff like this is happening back in the homeland! Certainly puts things into perspective that we shouldn't be so egocentric as a nation, because every country has insecurity and major issues that can arise at any moment. Also, certainly a more minor issue is the weather in MN--apparently we're just skipping spring? My dad has sent me pictures of the snowstorms, but all I ask is that the lakes unfreeze by the time I'm home at the end of June :)
Major Activities:
1. Buenos Aires- This past weekend we went to the capital of Argentina in Buenos Aires. I only saw the briefest glimpse when I initially flew into the country at the end of March, so it was nice to be able to see more of the city. Someone told me it is bigger than New York City, however I think Buenos doesn't have as tall of skyscrapers and it seems like everything is more spread out. This trip was part of the program so we didn't have to pay for anything which I of course liked. We took a private bus just for our group and since we arrived Saturday afternoon and left Sunday night, we crammed a lot of events into less than 2 days. I really enjoyed La Recoleta, which is a essentially a small cemetery city with miniature houses which hold tombs of famous or rich people, like past Argentine presidents. Unfortunately about an hour into exploring it began to rain, so I went and got some ice cream under a tiny umbrella with a friend (I know, I do everything backwards. When it's cold and wet I want ice cream and when it's hot I crave stuff like hot chocolate!) We also visited La Boca which is the neighborhood that has all the pretty colored houses (I was anticipating this part of the trip most but it was actually a letdown. Too touristy to the point where I felt uncomfortable and there was no authenticity to the area.)
Later that evening, which is probably my favorite part of the trip, we had a delicious 3-course meal at a fancy restaurant with LOTS of wine and finished it off with a theatrical tango show. My dessert was this chocolate mousse concoction and I loved it. Also with my caesar salad, I forgot how much I have missed dressing! The program director, Beba, told us a few days before we left about the dinner and said, "Probably about one bottle of wine each, not a bunch of bottles!" Yetttt we just kept on emptying them and the waiter kept bringing more! We had no choice but to drink it :) To celebrate a friend's birthday, we went out to another bar afterwards for drinks which was also super fun. On Sunday, we visited some more touristy sites, like the Plaza de Mayo where Argentines march every year for Los Desaparecidos ("The Disappeared" people from the dictatorship era.) I liked the marketplace of San Telmo, but didn't purchase anything. For any gifts I buy, I want to get them in Rosario because that's where I've spent and will be spending most of my time here! I wish the trip would have been a little longer so we could have explored and not been on such a tight schedule, but I still had a great weekend.
See all of the Buenos Aires Facebook Album!
2. Conversation partners- I don't think I've mentioned that our abroad program is technically a part of the law school here (that's why we have class options like human rights), which is right down the street from our school. By the way, university is free in Argentina. But it usually takes 5-6 years to finish your degree and there is the option of paying for private university, but I've been told employers prefer public university students because the workload is more rigorous. Anyways, last night we were paired off with the students who volunteer or enjoy the company of international students. Most everyone speaks English as well, so we can all practice our Spanish and them with their English. One of the girls, Sofia, is an 18-year-old freshman at the law school and the other, Florencia, is 26 and already a lawyer now. They are both really nice, and we met up for ice cream (ya can never have enough) last week and Erin and I will probably meet with them again this weekend. We also met Sofia's boyfriend who likes speaking English and is very good at it, but he goes to another university in Rosario to study business. There's probably 30 of us in total, so we all created a Facebook group so everyone can intermix with their partners if something of interest is going on.
On Tuesday night, a lot of us went to a boliche inside in the courtyard of the law school (yes, a boliche is a crazy dance club) and they served alcohol and people were smoking like nobody's business. One of the Argentine's asked me, "Your university doesn't host parties like this??" Uhh, no, not even close in any sense of the word. This was all for a fundraiser, so I thought it was a pretty good idea to actually get students to go! Yesterday was also the Argentine Labor Day so we didn't have class. We were invited by some guys from the law school to go play soccer and eat asado and I had SUCH a fun day. Nothin like exercising to work up an appetite, and then eating delicious, fresh-cooked meat off the giant BBQ. It was a mini-soccer court with turf (except sand underneath and not rubber) and was all netted in so we didn't lose the ball. I'm not good at soccer and haven't played since I was about 8 and quit because I hated running (some things never change...) but I really enjoyed playing! Once pictures surface on facebook, you won't know the difference because I look like a pro out there ;) I think I improved a little throughout our mini-tournament, though. I know where to be on the field, like I'm in the right position, but when someone passes me the ball I immediately kick it in whichever direction I'm facing, which is usually not towards the net. Oh well, still a fun time!
3. Intercambio- Our conversation professors have been awesome with arranging outside Spanish practice with local colleges. We went to one last week and I didn't know what to expect out of it, but I really loved it! We met with a bunch of guys studying sports journalism and the point of the exchange was more for them to practice English, but we spoke better Spanish than they did English so we resorted to Spanish. It was nice to be on the other side, the more successful side, of speaking another language for once! I think that's probably why I liked it so much, because it gave me more confidence in my Spanish. The guys were really nice, and probably the 3rd question they asked after our names and where are we from was "Do you have boyfriends?" so I thought that was funny. That's the fast-pace Yuppy tells me about! They invited us over for dinner and drinks, but it hasn't worked out yet with our schedules. We did, however, hang out with the 1 guy out of the group who is a Rosario Central soccer fan last Friday and he took us to a game! More about that below...
4. Rosario Central Game- So we hung out with these guys last Thursday, and Friday our friend Johnny from this group invited us to a fútbol game. There was about 10 of us from our group and Johnny had about 4 friends. You know, not sketchy at all going to a crazy South American soccer game with people you just met the day before, right? Really though, these guys are actually really nice, and we both mutually have the same professor working at our universities so what damage could they really do? Looking back, I am very happy we had them there with us because we would have been so lost. Although I had a crazy amount of fun, the estadounidenses have decided we should create a "sketch-o-meter" due to all the insane situations we find ourselves in. I never feel unsafe, but it's funny to think outside the box for a second--Like "okay, I am in South America, riding in the back of an old pick-up truck with about 12 other people (1 out of the 4 I just met yesterday, the other 3 guys I don't know at all), singing fight songs in Spanish, parking in the grass on the side of a road, walking to an alley to find a kiosco to drink beer with strangers, drop my purse off at Johnny's friend's house because the police don't allow bags in the stadium, etc. etc. etc." The list goes on and on. By the way, the people us girls dropped our bags off at were super nice and had an amazing house with the sweetest golden retriever. They had pictures all over their house with this dog which I thought was adorable. Johnny's friend was probably in his mid-20s and had a bunch of friends over to watch the game and eat asado (assorted meat) and his dad came out of his room to find 10 Americans in his living room waiting to use the bathroom and his face was priceless. He reminded me of a Spanish Bill Cosby because he looked at his son like, "whaaatt. the hell. are you doing. And who are these people standing in my house?" But in a semi-joking manner, if that makes any sense. After the game when we stopped by to pick up our stuff, all the people there wanted us to stay (including the Dad) and eat and drink but it was best that we got home because we were leaving for Buenos Aires early in the morning. You can watch the video below to get an idea of how crazy these fans are.
The other team scored in the first half (chain-smoking of all the spectators ensued), then we scored in the second half (I was literally almost shaken to the ground from all the cheers and flying limbs that erupted) and then we scored in a shoot-out off a player's head! It was the perfect game to go watch. I honestly would have been a little frightened if we lost. When I watch the news with Yuppy, there's almost always a story from Argentina about post-fútbol games where people light things on fire or start flipping cars. No biggie. Three other observations:
1. From the moment we jumped in the back of the pick-up truck until we left the stadium after the game, we/people were singing a bunch of cheers/songs for the team. It literally was continuous. A little different from sports in the U.S!
2. Dirty words in Spanish...the best place to learn them is at la cancha! (the stadium.) I never, ever stopped hearing "La concha de tu madre!" ("the BLEEP of your mother!") I think you are all wise enough to figure this one out for yourselves. Even a 15-year-old girl in front of me started screaming it at the other team, or even Rosario Central sometimes when they messed up. So moral of the story, people are LOCO over soccer here!
3. I love surprising myself with Spanish words I know. I absent-mindedly saw a bat fly by one of the stadium lights and I blurted "murciélago!" Of all the words to remember, I'm not sure why that one stuck!
Words of the Week!
horno- oven
hogar- fireplace
mantel- tablecloth
ténder- drying rack
autoabastecerse- to be self-sufficient
porteño- resident of Buenos Aires
No vale la pena- It's not worth it
alfombra- rug
cesped- grass
empapelado- wallpaper
contraseña- password
inalámbrica- cordless
adivinar- to guess
desechable- disposable
plumas- feathers
almohada- pillow
frasco- jar
excursionismo- hiking
agujero- hole
cazar- to hunt
nidos- nests
calvo- bald
arco iris- rainbow
orilla- shore
pimiento- pepper
Food for Thought...
Empañadas- It's an enclosed bread, essentially like a calzone but with softer bread. My favorite so far is ham and cheese.
Medialunas- These are a sweet moon-crescent-shaped bread served for breakfast. I like the flakey crust.
Milanesa- breaded beef. It's pretty plain and could use a sauce in my opinion, but I'm getting used to it.
Morcilla- blood sausage. I had the pleasure of witnessing a few of my friends try it yesterday at our soccer game/asado. For obvious reasons, no one liked it. Although the Argentine boys were basically using it as a salsa for the rest of their meat. Blegh.
Chimichurri- I just tried this for the first time yesterday after our game, and I LOVED this sauce for the meat. It is made of garlic, olive oil, bell peppers, onions, oregano, vinegar, lemon, among other spices.
Tripe- This is a funny, yet not funny story. I'm meeting Yuppy's family on Saturday and she is planning to make a traditional dish, but she wasn't sure I'd like it. The way she described it, it's essentially a stew with beef and a bunch of vegetables. I'm up for trying almost anything, but just to be sure she made a mini-batch last night for me just in case she needs to get something else for me to eat on Saturday if I didn't like it. It wasn't bad! Yuppy was surprised because she said all the students in the past didn't like it. It basically tasted like vegetable beef stew to me. As I was eating one of the "noodles," I asked what was in this again. She replied in Spanish, "celery, corn, cauliflower, cow stomach..." WOAH WOAH WOAH. WHAT?! Cue the horror movie music. Needless to say, I informed her I no longer liked it and she was fine with that, but thought it was hilarious that I liked it at first until she told there was "estómago de vaca" in it. Good joke, Yuppy. I'm cracking up over here...
Carrots, carrots, carrots- Just know that shredded carrots are in practically everything, and about 70% of the time if you ask for a salad, that means shredded carrots with sliced tomatoes. If you're lucky, you'll get a lettuce leaf or two.
Parilla/Asado correction- Just to clarify from one of my old posts, you go to a parilla to eat asado. Originally I thought asado was the whole act of cooking the meat and what the meat was called but that is not the case.
There's more I want to share with you all that read this about what's going on in my head, but I have written A LOT already for just one post. I hope I can make time for one more entry this weekend. Midterms are next week already, ahhh! Just kidding, I'm not really stressed. But this experience is flying by, that's for sure! But I'll find time to come back with more updates. Chao!
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