It's Official

I'm moving. Tomorrow morning at 10 am I will get into a taxi and leave Palermo Hollywood for Recoleta. These cats are killing me. No more gatitos for me! I just broke the news the my host family. I was so incredibly nervous to tell them, but it went extremely well. I am going to miss them! I've really enjoyed meeting and getting to know my host mom. We have a lot of the same views about politics, religion, art, basically everything. Dinner conversation was always great! I learned a lot from her. We are going to get together for coffee. Oh- Mom and Joel she wants to meet you guys when you come to visit! Sorry Seb she doesn't want to meet you. Just kidding. She will be traveling when you are here. Anyways, as much as I am sad to go, I'm excited to try something new. I get to experience two completely different Argentine families. I'll update once I move in tomorrow (I hope I have internet....?) I also hope my new room is okay.. my room here is really big and nice.

Here are some fotos of my room that I just took.. probably should've done that sooner, right? Oh well. Here ya go!

Hey bed. I slept in you for about a month.
Check out that closet space!
This was one of my host sister's rooms and she painted all over the walls
View when you enter the room.

Recoleta cemetery and some weird window displays..

The Subte stop I get off on everyday to get to FLACSO
This makes no sense.
Little kids reading the newspaper?
Hahahaha I don't even know what this is
Yasmin and Katherine getting Volta ice cream
In front of Recoleta
Anyone need clothes for their Barbie?
Really old
Apparently this girl was buried alive. Her mom was in love with her boyfriend.
He was dancing to really good music
Taaaango!
Fair outside of Recoleta



City of dead people

Finally a Photo of the Day!

On the hunt for a burrito in El Centro we ran into this

amazing view of the obelisk. I haven't gone to check it out yet.. this weekend!

First Day of School

Spider friend in Tigre- Looks deadly.

Sunset in Tigre

My first purchase in Buenos Aires - an origami elephant.

Oh goodie. Today we start classes. My schedule is still screwed up (thanks IUNA) but hopefully that will be resolved soon enough. Today I have my class on the international relations in Latin America. Should be cool. I regret not taking international affairs courses at Skidmore. It starts at three, so I went for a run this morning. My first run (today is a day of firsts) is Buenos Aires and I'd say it was pretty successful. Dodging cars, people, dog poo, comments from men on the streets and breathing in that fresh pollution!! I ran towards the park near my apartment (there are many connecting parks nearby that are referred to as "el bosque de Palermo") It was nice! A lot of people were out walking, running and, of course, rollerblading (a popular activity with Portenos...). Rollerbladers always look so silly to me. Don't get me wrong, it's fun, but.. Anyways. I believe last time I posted, I was about to leave for Tigre. Tigre was great! Relaxed on an island with people from my program. I made friends with several large insects that found their way into our hotel room (massive beetles and some very large spiders) but they were nice enough to leave me alone. I got a little sun and got a chance to talk to people on my program I hadn't really met yet.

Yesterday was probably my favorite day of the weekend. I woke up early (considering I got in at 7) and went to a cafe near my apartment called Oui Oui. It's one of the few (maybe the only? not sure) restaurants that does brunch. I sat for about three hours and read my book. It was fantastic. The days here are definitely getting a bit cooler, so there was a nice breeze to accompany my spinach crepe and lemonade. I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson and I would highly recommend it. When I got back to my apartment yesterday, I was so wrapped up into the book that I jumped when my host mom walked into my room... she laughed at me. Speaking of suspense, Shutter Island just came here. I really want to see it! Has anyone seen it? Was it good? I hope so.

Sorry for the lack of photos. To be honest, I haven't been taking many yet. I just started carrying my camera with me this weekend. It's a little risky since theft is an issue here, but hey sometimes you gotta live on the edge. I kind of regret not buying a Lomo camera. The quality of photos that my camera produces just isn't that great. Mom or Seb maybe when you come I'll give one of you the money to bring me one, if I have any money by that time. My camera also now makes a weird noise whenever I turn it on. It sort of sounds like the gears are really moving in there, like it's thinking. Haha.

Anyways, I should be off to shower and get ready for class. Chau! (No, I'm not an idiot, that's how the spell it here)

Day Fourteen

The past twenty-four hours have been really nice. I’ve gone straight home after orientation activities/signing up for classes and I’ve had a lot of time to organize my life a bit more. I did laundry for the first time since leaving home (scary… that’s one month. Thankfully I only wore a handful of clothing while I was in Patagonia). I cooked tonight, also for the first time since leaving home. I didn’t realize how much I’ve missed cooking and how much I love it. All I made was a salad, sandwiches and tomatoes with vinaigrette but it was still so nice. Looks like a career in the food industry is still going to be a major contender for my “real world” job (Sorry Dad). As most of you who have tasted my cooking know, I love garlic. My host mom was so surprised by my use of garlic and vinegar on the tomatoes! I asked her about it and she was like “Oh wow! You really like flavorful things. We don’t ever cook things that are this flavorful on normal days. Only on weekends and special occasions.” Interesting. I don’t really get it. They think everything is really flavorful and spicy if it has even a hint of spice. How can such passionate people have such bland food?

Today I went to check out classes at IUNA. The visual art building is in a La Boca. Some areas of La Boca can be sketchy… this one didn’t seem too bad. At least I hope not. The building is pretty run down and the facilities are pretty bare (Oh Skidmore.. I will miss thee this semester) but from what I’ve heard the classes are supposed to be really good. Apparently it’s pretty hard to get into IUNA. I hope that is reflected in the level of teaching in the classes. A few of the professors showed us (the two of us on my program of 130 students who are interested in taking art classes. Such a small number!) around the building. I’m mostly interested in taking a printmaking class while I’m there and the studio seemed legitimate. They are probably going to use acids that are illegal in the US so that will be cool and dangerous. Janet Sorensen would not approve (I miss her so much! If someone sees her please say Hi for me!). The classes are six hours long (!!) and I believe meet once a week. They also don’t start until April 12^th which is pretty ridiculous considering that I’m usually almost done with my semester by that time. All I can say is that it is going to be a very different experience from taking classes at Skidmore! But, I’m going into IUNA with the mindset that it’s going to be a complete adventure. I’ve heard good things, so I can only hope that my experience will be positive.

I met up with a few people after dinner tonight at a cool little bar/café/restaurant called Acabar. They have a huge wall full of board games that you can play. It was a really cute place and I want to go back. Spanish board games are a good way to practice the language. We all left at around 1:30ish because we have an overnight with our program tomorrow to Tigre, a city about an hour or so north of Buenos Aires. Tigre is a delta city on the Parana. River. I guess the town is made up of little islands, which should be cool. We leave around 8 am and have some activities planned… I believe we have the choice between hiking and kayaking or something. Should be fun. Since we are such a big group they’ve split us up into two big groups and we are staying on separate islands. Apparently there are ridiculous amounts of mosquitos so we are all advised to bring our own personal cans of repellent. Dengue beware!! Anways, I should probably go to bed since I need to wake up in about four hours. I’ll update and upload pictures finally when I get back. Besos!

Thirteen Days in Buenos Aires

Ok so I’d say it’s about time for an update. Our trip through Patagonia flew by and now I am living with my homestay family in Buenos Aires. Patagonia was incredible. I can’t even describe how beautiful it was. My only regret is that we couldn’t spend more time in each place. Each city was very different. I’d say my favorite part of the trip was definitely El Chalten. It’s a tiny little town surrounded by mountains. If you look at my pictures at all, you’ll probably notice that most of them are from El Chalten and the Fitz Roy range. We lucked out with beautiful weather and we could see Fitz Roy for two full days, which is pretty much unheard of. I’ll go through my trip soon. I’ve been working on writing about it but as for now I’m just going to update on Buenos Aires. Check out my flickr page to see the photos!

Living in Buenos Aires has been stimulating thus far. Stimulating in the sense that it’s such a large city- there is always something to do, something to eat, something to look at, and it’s all new and exciting. I haven’t ever lived in a city this size, so city life anywhere would be a change for me. I’ve been trying to walk around and explore as much as possible. We’ve had orientation for the past week and half, and surprisingly, it hasn’t been too bad. I’ve had to sit through quite a few hours of information sessions, but it’s what they (they meaning my program- CIEE) have to do. I get it. There are about 130 kids on my program, all from different colleges in the states. Most are living with families, but some chose to live in dorms.

My home stay family lives in Palermo. Specifically, Palermo Hollywood, on one of the main streets in the city called Santa Fe. Palermo is the largest barrio in Buenos Aires, so it has sub-barrios within it. So far I like my home stay family. I live with a woman, Gabriela, and her 19-year-old daughter Paula. Gabriela has two other daughters. I’ve met one but not the other yet. Paula is shy and isn’t really around too much. She left in the middle of last week for a two-week trip to Patagonia. I can’t really tell what our relationship is going to be like. Thus far I sort of just feel like a boarder in their house… not exactly the experience that I want but I think Gabriela is trying to give me space. I’m the first exchange student she’s had (most of the families have done this many times) so I think she’s trying to feel out what I want to get from living with her. Gabriela is great. She’s an architect (everyone in Buenos Aires is either an architect or a psychologist) and a writer. She’s published two books so far (she gave me copies-I’m excited to read them) and has a third, her biggest yet, and is trying to get it published. The entire family is very politically active, which has been great because Gabriela and I will sit at dinner (which isn’t until 10:30 or 11:00…) and talk for an hour or two about current events and politics. From what I’ve seen thus far everyone in Argentina is much more interested and well-informed about politics and what is going on within their government than people in the states are. The only thing that’s been negative about my host family is that they have two big, fat cats. Apparently I’m allergic to cats and I’ve been having a hard time with that. I may even have to move because of it… we will see.

The lifestyle of Porteños is much different than the lifestyle of people in the US and even of other Argentines. They start their days early and end them extremely late, many times without break or room for a nap. Their work days start around 9 or 10 (although school starts at 8 am or sometimes even 7:30) and don’t end until about 7 or 8 pm. People get home and relax a little bit, eat dinner around 10 and go to bed much later than we do in the US. People are constantly going, they are always involved in activities and are very social in general. On the weekends you’ll go out and everyone will be sitting around at a bar talking until 6 am. No big deal. So far every night I’ve gone out I’ve seen the sun rise. That’s pretty standard because you don’t even go out to eat until 10:30 at the earliest, and don’t even think about going out to a club before 2 am. It’s accepted here that young people sleep all day on Saturday and Sunday. Although, older people go out too! My host mom doesn’t really, but it’s very common to see a group of middle-aged women out until 3 am having some drinks. The new schedule is definitely an adjustment but it’s fun.

The only thing missing in Buenos Aires is spicy food. I feel like Argentines hate spicy food. The don’t put pepper out on the table, they don’t use garlic that much (surprising since most people are Italian in some way) and will warn you if something is even a tiny bit spicy. It’s so interesting! I’ve been eating a ridiculous amount of red meat and eating a lot of fruit since it’s summer here (peaches and nectarines!) Ham is very prevalent as well. On menus at restaurants they will always have a ham and cheese sandwich, empanadas and pizza. Always! Dulce de leche is also a favorite with the Argentines. If you have a sweet tooth beware, it’s not going to get any better in Argentina. People loooove their sweets. You will be looked at funny if you don’t put at least one big packet of sugar in your coffee. But hey, they have amazing pastries, delicious alfajores and reaaaally good ice cream (not as good as Sebastian Joe’s though, of course). I can’t complain! I love food, so I could talk about it for hours… Oh! Funny story. I love my oatmeal and well… I try to not live without it, so I found some at a supermarket here. I asked my host mom what she thought of it after asking her to try it and her response was “Oh, this is baby food. You like baby food?” Well… I’m not ready to give up my oatmeal just to fit in. I will continue to eat my Quaker oatmeal aka baby food.

Classes are starting next week. We have a huge selection of universities and classes we can attend. The University of Buenos Aires (UBA), IUNA (the main art school in the city), UCA (a private Catholic school), PEL (a group of classes through UCA designed for international students) and FLACSO (this is my program, so all the classes are designed for international students as well). Through the program I am required to take two Spanish courses, one an intensive grammar course and the other I get to choose. Other than that, I pretty much have free reign to choose where I want to take courses and what courses I want to take. I’m thinking an art class at IUNA, not sure what kind though, a volunteer course at FLACSO, an art history course either through IUNA or PEL, a course on international relations in Latin America through FLACSO, my Spanish courses and a fun tango course! Who knows though.. I don’t know much about the IUNA classes yet because tomorrow is the day we get to go visit the university. I’ll update on classes once I’ve figured out what I’m actually taking.

This past weekend I went to Mendoza to visit my dad and Kristina. They have been traveling around South America via motorcycle since August, but have spent a little over a month in Mendoza taking Spanish classes. It was really good to see them. I also go the opportunity to meet some family members! My grandpa’s father’s brother (I think I got that right…) moved to Argentina, so there is a clan of Pellizzer’s in Mendoza! I got to meet Hector, Hugo, Hugo’s son Geronimo, and Graciela, Hector’s wife. I was only there for two days so I didn’t get to meet everyone. It was funny. You could definitely tell that my dad, Hector and Hugo are cousins. Similar humor and they definitely looked similar. I unfortunately forgot to take a group shot. Another time! I did get to take photos of the Pellizzer ceramics fabrica. Hector took over the family business of creating ceramic pieces for companies. Pretty cool! The family was so nice. Graciela gave me their phone number and told me to call if I ever needed anything. Hopefully I’ll make it back to Mendoza before I leave Argentina to hang out more with the fam.

Mendoza wasn’t as pretty as I thought it would be. I was imagining Argentina wine country to be lush and beautiful, but it’s actually desert. We went to a wine festival called the Vendimia. It’s a massive festival held once a year at the beginning of the wine harvest. It’s pretty much impossible to get tickets, but my dad got them through a travel agency. 30,000 people gather in this huge outdoor amphitheater that they only use once a year for this festival. The show starts at 10 pm and goes until about 2 am. There about 1,000 dancers that dance for a few hours. I took some videos of the show, so hopefully I can upload them here. It was ridiculous! It was all about the history of the Mendocinos and about wine (of course). There was even a giant talking horse. They crown a queen after all the dancing. This is a big deal. People in Mendoza get very worked up about their Vendimia queens. There is a princess from each of the surrounding areas and the queen is chosen at this festival. People pick favorites and get very emotional about the fate of their princess. It seemed like everyone had an opinion about the winner. The queen lives in a posh apartment in Mendoza and does volunteer work for the next year. I’m thinking I’ll try to become queen next year. What do you think? Ha. I got home at about 7 am today and went straight to FLACSO for more orientation activities. Anyways, that’s about it for now. I’m going to start writing more often I promise. I hope everyone is doing well!!

Day Two

Today was a day of many failures. We landed at about 8 am and were set free into the Buenos Aires airport. We got our luggage and went to go get a remise/taxi. I have to admit my Spanish is a little rusty (it's already gotten better from a day of use) but I can still understand everything when people are speaking to me. I went up to the counter to get a remise and when the attendant spoke to me I could not understand a single word they were saying. Argentine Spanish is so different. I knew this, but I figured I would be able to at least understand what they were saying! The accent and the words are so different- when spoken quickly it doesn't even sound like the language I grew up studying. I felt like a little lost puppy. Failure number one.

We got our taxi and got to La Acacia. My dad recommended this little bed and breakfast to us. They stayed here when they first arrived in Buenos Aires as well. It's in a really nice neighborhood- all old, beautiful houses and cobblestone streets. The b&b is in an old house (kind of the definition of a b&b, right?). It's beautiful and very comfortable. Perfect for our first night here. We each have our own twin bed, we have our own bathroom and balcony. So the hotel was not a failure, thank god! We showered, moved some stuff around in our suitcases and headed out to explore the city.

It was 85 degrees today and huuuuumid. A wonderful change from the snow. First thing we wanted to do was find a quick bite to eat. We sat down at a little pizza joint thinking that we would each order a slice of pizza. Well... we screwed up. We ordered something called faina- the waiter described it as a slice of "common pizza," thinking he meant plain cheese, but instead we got this little triangle piece of... something... not sure what. After looking it up online right now, I found out it's a common food item from Uruguay. Well, it tasted awful. After laughing about our failure of a lunch (thinking you're going to get a slice of pizza and getting served a triangle of corn-meal looking stuff is pretty hilarious) we decided to just pay for it (it cost about one US dollar) and decided to give up and go to McDonald's because we were starving. At McDonald's we each ordered a burger, specifically a "McNificent" (hahahaha) however, when the guy at the register started talking to us we, again, could not understand a single word he was saying. Hilarity ensued. He had the thickest accent I've heard yet. At one point he was asking us if wanted it for here or to go, and not understanding what he was talking about we looked at him cluelessly and just kept responding with "Okay." I'm definitely not doing this story justice. So funny. The McDonald's was probably one of the nicest I've ever seen and had a "McCafe" attached. They served espresso and gelato and other goodies. Needless to say the ordering experience was a "McFailure."

After this we went to the bus station to get our tickets to Bariloche for tomorrow. We took the subway- it was really easy. Probably the only successful thing we did all day. We decided to stop at a supermarket to get water and snacks for the 20 hour bus ride. Well, we were accused of shoplifting. Failure again. Yasmin had picked up some shampoo earlier on and it was in a small little plastic bag in her hand and while we were looking for a cart a security guard approached Yas and accused her of stealing the shampoo. She had no receipt and no proof that she had purchased it. Apparently here whenever you enter a supermarket and you have any kind of product that they could potentially sell, you have to declare it to the security guard at the entrance. Would've been good to know... We were lucky because thankfully the grocery store didn't sell that one type of shampoo and we could therefore prove that we weren't shoplifting. Wouldn't that have been great? Not even in Buenos Aires for 24 hours and end up in jail.

All in all, it's been a great day so far. We are about to head out to eat a good dinner and get a good night's rest in real beds before our travels around Patagonia begin. Reading the guidebooks to decide on a dinner place is so exciting because we can actually afford the nice restaurants! A good meal will cost us about $10 US dollars. Beer costs about $1 US dollar. Speaking of which, I'm drinking my first Quilmes beer now. Tasty! I'll post more soon! (sorry for any spelling errors and whatnot.. I'm not really editing as I write this)