Dont cry for me Argentina

Well this is it! I fly out of here in 4 hours. For my last night I stayed in with all the Roadies. It was really fun actually. Most people go out, staying up til the sun rises. But staying in allowed me to really hang out with my friends that have made this trip amazing. I have had an incredible time, and hope to come back someday. I hope my blog has allowed you to see a little of what Argentina has to offer. I highly recommend it to everybody. See you all soon!

Mas Vino, mas amigos, mas actividades

I do not really know where to start with this blog. I feel as though these past four days had about 2 weeks worth of experiences in them. A (somewhat) short summary.
Wed. Night- There was a stressful start at the omnibus station: turns out that the day before independence day is the like traveling during thanksgiving... and with a group of 16 looking for the right bus loading station 5 minutes before it was leaving was enough to give anyone gray hairs. We filled most of the top of the bus... except there were 5 Argentines, and I felt very sorry for them, because they were subjected to the party bus mentality of 16 young adults. Most of us brought another bottle of wine for the ride, just in the spirit of the trip to wine country. Destination: Mendoza.Thursday: Booking 16 peoples activities and hostel rooms at the same time was a headache waiting to happen. But we were able to divide up into smaller groups and things went so well after that.I was kind of physically and mentally tired from the 15 hour bus ride, so 5 of us just explored the city. It is so different from Buenos Aires: there were huge parks that were filled with people doing all types of things (futbol, volleyball, frisbee, markets ect). It is a very beautiful town.I met so many people on this trip to: Belen (Argentine), Mark (Australian), Josey (French/Dutch), Roberta (Italian), Chip (Californian), Kevin (Texan). The list goes on, but lets just say that after all the different conversations we had about life, traveling, cultures ect. I really felt that I was removed from the shell of ethnocentrism that is so prevelant in our country. As the Argentine put it, we think we are the belly button of the world. It was very interesting to hear her opinion about out country, and her country, we talked about 4 or 5 hours. It turns out her father owns an architecture firm in Cordoba, with 10 architects and about 100 employees....and she does the interviewing...A longer trip next summer?
Friday: One of the girls traveling with us knew the owner of Argentina's Adventures, so we had a hookup for the day. It was an hour ride into the Andes mountains. The scenery was beautiful. The first activity of the day really woke us right up: White water rafting. Ive never been before, it was amazing! We saw a lama and the condor (king of the mountains). After the rafting we had a nice hot shower, then back to action. We hiked to various locations and went ziplining through the amazing scenery. It was pretty surreal that I was flying through the air over a lake in the Andes. It was all so affordable, for the whole day it only cost $60! Im still blown away by the price of things. That night the hostel put together a dinner for about 50 people. It cost $6 and was an all you can eat BBQ, and all you can drink tequilla...

Saturday: It was pretty unfortunate that the all you can drink tequila was the day before our wine tasting, but we managed to wake up in a timely manner. We took a bus to Mr. Hugo's, the nicest and happiest guy Ive ever met. He runs a bike business for the wine tours. Unfortunatly, Sarah, a girl from Harvard, never learned how to ride a bike...Everyone didnt want to deal with her and left right away. I felt bad and tried to teach her how to ride...Failed. Luckily for her, they had a tandum bike, which was a struggle because she still couldnt balance that well.

The group of 16 was hectic again of course, but I split into a smaller group of 6. We had lunch at one of the wineries and while we waited we did some wine tasting. and some more wine tasting. Lets just say that riding the bikes to the other wineries was a little harder. I bought a 2004 bottle of a special Malbec that I can age up to 12 years. It will be nice to have a bottle on reserve for a special occation. It was nearing sunset and Mr. Hugo was nice enough to come and check all our air pressure AND called a police export for our safety. That night was very chill-had the long talk with the Argentine about architecture in Cordoba.

Sunday: Our bus didnt leave until 6pm. So what better to do then find a nice sunny field, drink wine and play some frisbee. Seriously we had an amazing group of people and a very relaxing time. Getting to the bus on time was a little hectic, but we managed.Internship: I have kind of given up on actually building houses, but I am helping with their graphic designs and marketing of the NPO. I get to see pictures of all the amazing things they do, and design different handouts. So I am somewhat exposed to the things they do. I just wish that I could have built with them...Heres a picture of the bricks we moved the other weekend. I kept my shirt on so the camera was not blinded by my pasty white skin.
I only have 8 days left. But a lot of people in the Road house are leaving at the end of the month. Itll be sad, after this weekend I feel like Ive known some of them for years. Itll be nice to have people to call up if I ever travel.
Im ready to head home actually. This next week will mostly be spent going to all the places in BA that ive been meaning to since I got here. Sorry I have not posted as often as I would have liked, but I hope you have all enjoyed it.

Tourist or Experiencing Culture?

Well I have been busy this past week! I finished up my spanish classes this Friday (written and oral, passed them both!). I thought I deserved a little something to celebrate, so a 16 hour bus ride was in order. Now this may sound like a pretty terrible experience, but, let me tell you, these buses make first class airline seats a joke. These seats were pretty much lazyboys, that could recline until you were completely horizontal.
Add the fact that we got cafe (with chocolate covered cookies), a complete dinner (wine included), a nightcap (champagne or a nice glass of whisky), a breakfast and 5 movies, I'd say that it was worth the whole $110 round trip price.

Now where would I travel to that takes 16 hours in a bus? Iguazu falls, thats where. Check out the facebook album for pictures. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen, and if you anywhere near the area, you must go. It is one of the 7 wonders of the world (on one of the lists) . (for more info)The biggest attraction is called devils throat, and puts Niagara falls to shame. Its amazing that the must water can be falling all the time...Crazy water cycle. We hiked the whole day, getting different views of all 275 waterfalls...I could stop taking pictures. The wildlife was pretty cool too. Its a subtropical rainforest, and was very humid, but not to hot. The soil was red because of the high iron content. The most interesting wild life we saw was a crazy animal called a coati (looks like a cross between a racoon and an ant eater). They act like racoons, but with less fear of people. Example: it jumped up on our table and stole half of my friends sandwhich. Apart from that, there were pretty butterflies, and pretty colorful birds.

That night we went to a nice parilla(steakhouse) in town and ate amazing steak, drank about a bottle of malbec each, and had various appetizers, all for about $15 us dollars. I never was a red wine drinker before, but now its all I drink. We stayed at a hostel for $10, that had a billiard pool table and a swimming pool.

The next day we woke up at 7:30 to start our jungle adventure. After some small money issues, we were on our way to a very action packed day (maybe should not have opened that other bottle of wine...). It started with a 30 minute ride in an openair tour bus to the zipline/hiking trial. The road (if you could call it that) was very bumpy and wet from the rain the night before. The guide had us fill out a form with our names and passport numbers to give to the military, which im sure they could not read because we had to write it while we were driving through a mine field they called a road. As we passed the "military", which consisted of two teenagers holding rifles, I began to wonder if the forms we filled were actually volunteering us for military service.

The hike was informative, and the ziplining was exhilarating. After we hiked some more and repelled down a cliff. With every mosquito bite I got, I thought, was that one carrying yellow fever?

On the way back, we passed through by the local people's village. The tour guide explained to us that they spoke a mix between spanish and an indiginous language. they live off the land, and their houses were made out of mud, rocks, and a thatched roof.

As the other people of the tour bus all took out their cameras and pointed it at the few houses in the fields, I caught the gaze of a young man standing in a door way. I looked in his eyes and saw what I took to be contempt. It really made me reconsider what I was doing in this foreign country. I am playing the role of a tourist, taking a picture of this alien environment to show friends and family back home, saying look what I have seen. I wish there was a way for me to get off of this tour bus and experience what I am seeing on a different level.

This past weekend I was given that chance. Saturday I went north of the city, about a 40 min car ride, to a smaller town. When I heard I was going to the plan techos brick factory, I pictured a warehouse with big machinery and a lot of workers. It turns out it was a half empty 30 by 60 foot dirt lot, with a make shift pavilion that covered the bricks that were made.

I spent the next 4 hours helping the 6 people who work at the factory move anything of value onto a semi truck. 2 of them were guys my age, whose house was built by plan techos. I ended up working with George, a 21 year old who was also a boxer. I actually did alright communicating. We started by talking about music. 50cent, akon, and eminem were the americans that they idolized, he even had a D12 tatoo on his arm (eminems band). It was kind of humorous what they were influenced by from america: i doubt eminem knows he has a fanbase in a small town north or Buenos Aires.

After we loaded about 500 cmu blocks, we drove to the new "brick factory". I met Georges family and introduced myself as a student from michigan who is striving to be an architect and wants to build houses with them. the one guy who spoke english told me that they all loved me and wanted me to take my picture with them (the girls were the ones he was referring too). It was a really fulfilling day, I felt like I had actually done something constructive with my time.

Next post: my trip to Uruguay and Mendoza. That is if I survive the skydiving :p Love and miss you all.

Dave

Taking the bads with the goods

I have a lot of time to ponder about things I have been experiencing. I have also been using this time to think about how I have been reacting to this trip abroad. Its amazing how being in a completely different atmosphere has allowed to see, understand, and appreciate things that I used to take for granted

A carefree stroll: The sidewalks are pretty bad. They are made of prefabricated tiles, all fit together to form the walking surface. But there are so many broken tiles, you have to look at your feet when you walk. Also there is no grass next to the sidewalk. It is tile, curb, street (insane traffic). There are so many dogs in this city, that one HAS to watch his feet for other reasons. There is so much pedestrian traffic, that one also has to pay attention to where they are headed. Not to mention that the traffic is insane, so corners demand extra caution. I do miss being able to casually walk down the street. Because the city is so dense, the only areas where you can feel alright standing still are the parks ( which are nice, and plentiful)

I have had some struggle accepting my position as a foreigner. I have found out that I have a hard time doing things outside of my comfort zone. I have spent a lot of time at a student residence two blocks away, and have made a lot of English speaking friends. I am supposed to be studying for a test I have Thursday, but procrastination followed me across continents.

As far as my volunteering goes, I have been spending time at the office of an NPO called "Un techo por mi pais" - (roughly) A roof/shelter for my country. I am designing a pamflet that they give to companies explaining their mission. But on Saturday, I hope to go with them to the neighborhoods and paint some of the new homes they recently built.

I went on a free city tour today. It was really interseting, and what I have been wanting for a while: some knowledge about the architecture. There is a building here that was designed for Dante's Divine Comedies. There are floors called Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven. Each room is designed diffently to coordinate with the plays. Also learned a lot about the history of the city, and its layout. (and saw the tomb of San Martin).

Okay, time to hit the books. Sorry, its hard to stay on top of this! So much going on. Miss you all. Enjoy the sun for me

Dave

Everybody needs change

Whew! two weekends...About the title- The bus companies here only accept coins for payment, and they hoard it all then sell it back to the government for more than its worth. Its creating a huge problem, because no one has any monedas to give, which is an issue whenever you try to make a transaction with anything- food, taxis, anything. At the markets, you can often get things cheaper just because they dont have the money to break your big bills...Very strange problem.

Last Friday I joined a pick-up soccer game. it was only 5 per side, small field. Man that showed me how much wind ive lost since my sprained ankle! it was fun, but i felt underqualified, there were a lot of good futbol players on the field. it was cool because there were people there from all over the world, united by the love of the game.

Last Saturday: Another futbol game, but this time at a national level. Me and 4 friends went to the world cup qualifier game: Argentina vs. Columbia.

We took the subway for about 20 minutes, and then walked for another 30...and still were in the city. I swear this city is the size of michigan. It was an amazing feeling walking toward the stadium with the crowd. It reminded me of OUR football saturdays at the big house. Street venders chants filling the air, along with the smell of their food. We haggled with a vender for flags to hang around our necks. We were convincing him that his group rate of 5 for $50 was worse than his original offer of 2 for $15. it was a humorous transaction to say the least.

We were rushing to get into the general admission seating, but the view of the city was breathtaking. it was right at sunset. i wanted to get a panorama, but i could only take a snap shot. The stadium was not the nicest...there was a score board, but it was not operational. The pitch looked fine, but I was later told that it was dirt was spray-painted green so it would look fine on tv...They had to pay the coaches to calm them down about the terrible conditions. Looked good from where I was haha.

Last sunday: I went to the market in Recoleta, near my homestay. Its the artisans market, a lot of really cool things. I spent a good two hours there buying presents for friends/family back home and still only saw about half of the market. Because the beef is so popular, so are the leather products.
After that, we headed to a barrio way on the edge of BA, called mataderos. It is where the cows are brought to town. it was a lot different atmosphere, not touristy at all. there was a really cool street band of about 10 people playing flutes.

I didnt buy anything, but i wanted to buy a fork and knife. They have these cool holsters you put on your belt, so you can show up to grill and whip out your own utensils (very common here).

Monday: La Bomba- all i can say is it was the coolest drum show i have ever been to. They have it every week: about 15 drummers and string instruments too, just jamming out for about 2 hours. i couldnt hear much at the end, but its an amazing feeling having the whole crowd moving as one to the beat. The atmosphere was really well set with colored lights and funky aromas.
Thursday: There was a welcome dinner at the Road House/student residence (the other option, instead of a homestay). It was really nice because I got to meet a lot of people who are really active on the weekends. So I just jumped on their plans.
Friday: Tango lessons! Surprisingly, a white boy found some rhythm and learned some steps. There were more girls than guys, and it was quite embarrassing when I we were paired with a local girls (around 12-15 years old) who just schooled all of us foreigners. But it was still a good time.
Saturday: 8 of us from the Road House went to a large area by the ocean- The Ecological Reserves-where we rented bikes to ride throught the greenery and along the Atlantic ocean. It was a beautiful day, we actually got to feel the sun for once. In the city, the sun rarely gets by the tall buildings. We rode around for about 2 hours, and worked up an appatite. Then we got to sample the local grilled meat stands, where I got a chorizo sandwhich (sausage). Muy sombroso!
It was a very random day, but fun. We walked along the markets there (they are everywhere, i swear) and came upon an aerobics class in the street. two girls from our group ran up and joined.
We bought a nice soccerball (7 dollars) and played four v. four for the rest of the afternoon.
Sunday: we went to La Boca (the mouth), one of the original barrios formed around the port where the river opens into the ocean. There is a lot of cultural history there because of all the immigrants pouring in from european nations (mostly italian). Its a very colorful neighborhood in the 2 block tourist zone, but it is also the poorist, and most dangerous.
It was very cool, all the statues that were put in. It overlooked the restaurant we stoped at for lunch. There was also a free tango show involved, complete with a live band.
I felt a little touristy, but it was a fun time.

(My soccer skills have been improving though).
Ill try to go back to the previous posts and add pictures too. Miss you all!

So much to do, so little energy

Well, I have not locked myself in any small spaces, so I'm already doing better than last post.

This city never sleeps, I swear. I went out to a parilla (steak house) on Friday, and made a lot of new friends. A couple Brits, a Sweed, couple Americans. It was a great meal, I'd say it was worth $30 after all the wine and steaks, but it came out to around $15. Its amazing how cheap things are, but they do add up. The local beer (Quilmes) is actually pretty tasty, especially from the tap. We went to a Barioche (club) called Museum. I intend to see other museums too, but this one was hard to pass up. The Argentines start to show up to the clubs around 2 or 3 in the morning, and leave around 7. Friday was my only night out, and I only made it to 3 (had to wake up at 9 the next morning). Its hard to shift gears, but I have 8 weeks to adjust.

But it is not all about the night life. Sunday I went to the San Telmo market, which literally draws about 10,000 people every sunday. One street is taken over by local merchants. It is quite an amazing site. "The area is full of antiques, colorful characters, passion, youth, and nostalgia. Tango percolates, and the street artists fill the streets with amazing music." It was a great day, and I cant wait to go back. I dont think 8 sundays will be enough.
Below is the mate drink and the dulce de leche (caramel spread) that is everywhere down here.
I started my spanish classes this week. I was placed in a 300 level class, but after one day of that, I knew I was in over my head. Being good at placement tests can be a bad thing, so I dropped down to the lower class, and its a lot closer to what I should be learning. I go from 1-4 durring the week, which is good and bad. Its hard to wake up early when I dont HAVE to.

Next week, I will start he volunteering during the mornings, so it will really put my stamina to a test. I've been waking up around 10 and going for jogs around the neighborhood. I have seen a lot, the city is soooo huge. My runs that I intend to be 20 minutes have been more like 40 because its so easy to get lost with these crazy streets.

Yesterday I met up with Sarah P. a friend from UofM. We went to the Chinese Barrio for some Americanized Chinese food in a Latin American city... It was an adventure, about a 25 minute taxi ride, the city is very large..

Tomorrow I will be playing a drop in soccer game with people from all over the world, and Saturday we are going to the world cup qualifier game(Argentina vs. Columbia). I am really excited for that. I will post pictures next time, I swear!

Chau!

Culture Shock? What an understatement

The trip down was smooth. Had a three hour layover in Dallas, where I found a sports bar, and someone from Michigan to talk hockey with (Its gonna suck not being able to see the stanly cup...)
I got in to BA around 8 am, customs was hastle free, and I found my taxi easily. Made some small talk with my taxi driver in the traffic jam from the airport. One thing about driving here: there are no rules. It looked like having a moped was the way to go, im sure I would enjoy it.
The taxi driver dropped me off on the curb, gave me my bags and left. At this point I was under the impression that I was at the headquarters of ELI, the organization who planned my trip, but there was no one waiting for me. I look around and see a guy, and asked in broken spanish if I was at ELI. He looked at me like I had two heads and proceeded to speak at 100 miles an hour. Luckily the porter of the apartment let me in. It turns out I was at my host mom's place. He led me to a door, and I knocked....turns out it was the door to the elevator. I get in and go up a floor to the apartment. And wait, wait. Oh, the door doesnt manually open... The little things in life you take for granted.
Cecillia is very nice, and her apartment is in Recoleta, one of the nicest barrios in the city. It is filled with a mix and match styles of houses, from Barroque to cinder block construction.
Yesterday I slept until 2, and then proceeded to head to my orientation with ELI. I left out of the same door I came in (which incidently is the back door). But it turns out that you can only leave the elevator (it locks when shut). My host mom had not given me keys yet, and no one was in the apartment. I find myself locked in a room the size of a broom closet. Utilities are expensive in BA, so the lights are set on timers. The room is pitch black, and I started to panic. After hitting all the buttons I could feel, I finally find the light. I tried making a call on my cell phone, only to find that there were no minutes on it....At this point I start to wonder how long I will be in this room, and how I let myself get into this hilarious situation. Luckily, after about 10 minutes, my phone rings, and Katie (the orientation person from ELI) calls to check why I was late. Sigh, I'm locked between the apartment and the elevator. To make a long story short, another exchange student was in the apartment (but very sick), and he freed me, and showed me the FRONT door.

I took the rest of the day to explore the city. I only had a few hours, but it was nice. I got coffee and people watched. I live in a busy part of the city, so there was a lot to take in. I feel like an infant when I try to communicate, small, lost, and helpless. But this will change after my classes, and Ben (the other guy living in the apartment) is helping my spanish improve as well. I just hope that I wont get myself locked in anymore closets...

Today, I woke up and went to the gym. It is pretty shabby, but hey, weights are weights. Soon I will go to the heart of the city to see the monument and other tourist attractions. I am using Bens computer, so updates may be once a week. Next time I will upload some pictures. Chao!