third time's a charm

I might have an addiction.

After my last abroad experience I needed to do it again. I feel like I got addicted to the thrill of traveling, the discovery of the unfamiliar and the possibility of learning Spanish fluently. So, here I am in my host family's home relaxing at 12:38 am. It's crazy. I cant believe I'm here.

After a hard good-bye with my mom, dad, boyfriend (Chase) and friend (Stefan) at the DFW airport, a 10 hour flight (connection in London), a few days in Madrid and a day in Toledo I am so ready to rest.

The biggest difference between my summer program and this program is the size. I am one of about thirty in this program it is 10 times the size of my summer program with Andrew and Michael. So honestly my biggest challenge on the trip besides being away from friends and family is learning names.

My roommate, Courtney, is beyond awesome. She is so cool and kind and interested in sustainable living and full body wellness. She talks about interesting things to do all the time and is curious about her surroundings in a genuine, kind and unassertive way. I feel like living with her will be a good experience for me. It might be challenging because I've never had a roommate before, but it will be a good experience. One I feel like I missed out on my freshmen year.

I knew she would be cool before I met her because she had unpacked her toiletries before I arrived to Madrid and they were similar to mine. We both are pretty healthy eaters, her more than I am. Our poor host mom. Between the two of us we don't eat meat, gluten or dairy. She literally said "I don't know what you guys eat."

I need to do a blog on the family another day. Today I need to rest.

Mate and Yoga!

Today I went to class from 10 to 3 then to mate class with Andrew and Michael at API. Jimena taught our mate class... I think it's because Carmen hates Mate.

I loved it! I especially liked the 'terere' or mate and juice that we made. It was served cold and would be great to drink to fend off the Texas heat when I get back.

After I went to mate class today i went on a short run with my friend Rocco (a fellow Texan) from class and then did some yoga in Parque de Las Heras a few blocks from my house. It was so nice to move I haven't worked out since I've been here. Tomorrow i am going to try to go to a museum and hang with some more friends from class and the following day is the first day of the world cup in Brazil so I'll probably go to watch that with some friends!

The past week

The past week has been super challenging but very rewarding.

Last week we had a test and this past weekend I went to Iguazu (it was extremely beautiful there). A combination of homesickness and the stress of the test Thursday pushed me over the edge a bit.

I am looking forward to the next week and took sometime to really plan out what to do.

Below I've posted some pictures with extensive captions from the last week, enjoy!

The boys from API and I making homemade alfajores (the national cookie of Argentina) at our cooking class last week! 

Our coordinator Carmen and her sister who also works for API Jimena and their other sister who taught us how to cook traditional cookies and empanadas. Carmen has been such a great coordinator the boys and unanimously voted her the most comforting lady we have met on the trip and she gave me the best hug ever last week. I'm so glad that these women stumbled into my life on this trip.

Valarie, my fellow UNT student that is in Buenos Aires with me! She's great! 

A beautiful picture of a beautiful woman! Gaby makes everything a little bit more exciting!

A timid cat at a nature preserve outside of Iguazu.

The API family! This pretty much sums us up...

Little anteater like creatures that crawl on tourists to get their snacks. They were very strange and strangely cute.

A bird resting next to a picnic site at Iguazu.

One of the national guards at a flag ceremony outside of la Casa Rosada. 

Me at the bright pink Casa Rosada lit up by some very pink lights at night.

Some graffiti at Las Heras Park next to my house.

Me at a common destination with friends las Heras Park.

Andrew, Rocco, Michael and I eating tacos at a Mexican restaurant-- a surprising find considering my host mom doesn't know what tortillas are! 

The view from a garden behind the university building.

A man making light effects with recycled material at "verde fest." 

Some wonderful art from my trip to the MALBA.

MALBA had some interesting watercolors that reminded me of Kathleen's work!

Tango

The past few days have been a whirl wind. I have made friends with a few people in my classes and had a great time in the many public parks here. Every single person in Argentina I have talked to is extremely nice, giving and genuinely cares about me. I have done sooo much it has been 'muy fantastico'!

But yesterday, I got lost.

I did not have a map on me, and I walked in the wrong direction for two hours.

After I took a taxi to an intersection near my house I got some flowers for my host mom to thank her for lending her phone to me for free. when I got home I took a fantastic nap and had dinner at 9:30, but because 9:30 is very early for most people in Argentina I ate alone and my host ate at 11:30. In the U.S. on a week day I would already be asleep... somehow people here never look tired... How do they do it?

Back to what this post is about....

We went to Tango lessons on thursday with a group of exchange students and I loved it. At UNT they have a club for tango that is very fun, but its kind of like taking spanish classes from non native speakers, you get the basics, but in a matter of minutes attending this class taught by people that have been dancing tango their whole life, I felt like I was better at dancing than I had been in the few months I had taken tango at school.

I loved the class! I also took a Salsa class after the tango class and learned a lot from one of the women that works at API Gabby, she is fun and so friendly.

After that i went out for dinner with a few friends at a Mexican themed restaurant in Palermo SoHo. It was so cute (the water was served in a pitcher that was shaped like a chicken) and the waitress we had was ultra friendly, as are most here.  After eating a few delicious tacos, we went out in search of a television to watch the Spurs game since Ginoblee is from Argentina, i wanted to see if people would get in to it, but the culture doesn't really glorify any sport except futbol, so we were the only people watching the game.

Overall Thursday night was a blast.

Pictures from a tour of the city

This past Sunday, my group from API took a tour with Gabby! She is a professor of shakespearian english at an Argentina school. She works with our organization and will be teaching us tango Thursday.

It was an important day on Sunday, 25 de Mayo. This is the day that Argentina beat Spain in a battle to become a separate state. Gabby told us a lot about current and past political leaders and current political disputes. In la Plaza de Mayo, where their capitol building is, they had fake supporters of the president that marched around shouting to support her (yes, the president is a woman!). It is a shame that the first democratic country that i have been to with a female president has a president that is disliked by 80% of the country especially the well educated. The political party of the president pays people to support them and vote for them it is very strange. They also make (in ways that were unclear to me) news stations report false information that supports the president.

Anyway, here are pictures from the trip and explanations.

This is a subtreno station that features underground trains much like the system in Paris. 

This man is dressed in traditional military attire to celebrate 25 de Mayo.

This man is also dressed in traditional military garb.

This man is selling little fried pastries filled with sweet potatoes and a sweet sauce,
covered with sugar and sprinkles. They were sticky and super delicious!

I was very hungry at the begging of the tour and this fried pastry was the perfect midmorning snack after a breakfast of just toast and coffee (a typical Argentinian breakfast)

A group of people that supported the president. The tour guide explained that they were
probably paid to go make the plaza look like it was filled with supporters of Christina. 

The boys with life-size statues of Argentinian Cartoons. 

Some street art (there is a ton here) that says "a beautiful woman fights" 

This is the view from the Shores of La Boca. 

The Pope greeting us at the mouth of La Boca. 

My new friend from the program Andrew!

Some paintings for sale in La Boca.

One of the famous cats of Buenos Aires.

A great picture of Gabby that I happen to be in!

The man that sold me my first Mate!

Me on a decorated street blocker. 

Andrew's picture on the decoration ended up much better than mine so I included it.

Another picture of the famous cat.

my first few days in Buenos Aires

My trip so far!

Sorry in advance, this is long. I've done a lot of great things so far and what sort of blog would this be if I left anything out?

My trip has been fantastic so far!

I feel like everything from my last moments in the U.S. (spent with my mom and my boyfriend Chase at the Fort Worth Zoo) to the current buzz of my neighbors watching a futbol match next door has been beyond amazing.

After my awesome excursion to the Fort Worth Zoo, I got to the airport and while sitting in my terminal an Argentinean man played his guitar behind me and sang. I knew that if this was any sign of what Buenos Aires would be like I would really enjoy my trip. 

I got on the plane and sat in seat 21C, a row of five seats with only one other person, I was able to lay out and really rest. I found out that the flight was not packed because significantly fewer people come to Buenos Aires in summer because it is cooler here in the summer months. I think I got five hours of sleep--significantly more than I thought I would be able to. It was fantastic!

I got to the airport and Carmen, the program director, and the two other students that will be going through the same program as me, Michael and Andrew, were waiting for me. It turns out that Michael who is 6'3" was in the same flight as me and he had a very uncomfortable seating arrangement so I definitely lucked out. All of our flights arrived before 9 a.m. so we were able to get to our hotel before 9:30 and walk around the area that our hotel was in. 

At lunch we were trying to get some food from a bakery and got very confused and ended up buying a large cheese quiche on accident. It turned out to be delicious, but we didn't try it until after dinner. 

I went and sat at a restaurant with Michael and had pizza and watched four old men eat steak and mashed (on the menu listed as "smashed") potatoes. 

After lunch we took a serious siesta, I napped for four or five hours and woke up for dinner at six feeling soo refreshed. For dinner we went to a restaurant next door to the restaurant we went to for dinner with the program coordinator Carmen (below) and her husband who works for the national bank of Argentina and spends a lot of time in the U.S. Dinner wrapped up around 9:30 and the restaurant was just starting to get busy. People eat dinner between 8:30 and 10:30 or later.

This is Carmen showing us the embassy that Albert Einstein stayed in when he came to Buenos Aires.

After dinner, we went to this tavern called Antares around 12 that had local craft brews and it was packed so we went next door to a small bar had a drink while we waited for the crowd to die down. Then went back and got a beer each and tasted each other's. The bar was adorable, it was reminiscent of restaurants in the states it reminded me a lot of something you would see in Austin or Portland. After we got our cuenta (a.k.a. check a word that I keep forgetting) we began our walk home, since I was with two guys it didn't matter that I was walking, but normally you should take a taxi if you are alone, especially if you are a girl.

The next day we woke up, had breakfast in the hotel and then had an all day orientation including a trip to Universidad de Belgrano, the school we will be attending this month. We went by bus and came back by subway or Subtrraneos. 

After our orientation and a informational lunch with some students who are already attending classes here because it is still their semester, we got to meet our moms. My mom was a little late to get me, so I was very nervous. It turns out she is awesome!!! Her name is Maria Ines and I am going to do a separate blog about her.

Tomorrow I am going to post a blog with all of the things I saw today on a tour, and about my first day of class. Until then Chao!

Last moments in the US

The last ten days have been hectic to say the least. I have packed up my belongings in Denton, unpacked in Austin and repacked to head to Buenos Aires tomorrow(!!!).

Between all of the packing I have been trying to see old friends and get a little bit of family time in.
Yesterday we went to Buenos Aires, a restaurant in Austin named for the city I'll be traveling to and a family favorite. We were able to talk to the owner who has lived in Buenos Aires before about my trip and she said that the only thing I would need to be worried about would be the bad drivers. She spoke to us in Argentinian Spanish and I could kind of understand her, so that was comforting.

I finished up getting all my last minute things a Spanish/English dictionary, a Spanish phrase book, and a few note books for my classes. My mom is delivering a flash drive to me tomorrow. By some miracle, I packed everything I need for a month into two bags. My huge green rolling duffle bag and my backpack. I think I have the right type of adaptor for my trip, but only time will tell. I have researched a bit on it and if my pin adaptors don't work then I should be able to find a hardware store nearby with the correct adaptor.

Tonight I am going to see a few friends in Denton before I head out tomorrow from DFW. My mom will get in around noon and we will spend the day in Dallas exploring and getting a little lunch then I will head to the airport around 4 and fly out at 7:30.

I am so excited for my trip, adventure awaits in Argentina!