Wednesday, October 29, 2008
happpy halloween
Oct 29th
So today was a hard day. we had our Halloween party which was pure chaos…as the hundred or so kids were doing stations. Our station was cookie decorating. Boy, was that a sight. They globed on dulce de leche, frosting, chocolate like you never seen it before. One table even asked for more dulce de leche (we had them in separate cups) and I came back two minutes later it was gone. They had eaten half a cup with their little spoons. Sick. I think everyone liked it, but after a couple hours of guarding the cookies, frosting, candy and such I was zonked. It takes a lot of energy to say NO, you cant have one cookie, no you cant have two cookies…and the list goes on. Also these kids (or all kids) are sneaky so when you aren’t looking they will dip their hand in the bowl or nab a cookie. I need eyes everywhere…but if I had them I would have gone crazy. Got back to flacso and mailed some letters. The lady congratulated me on writing my return address correctly. ha. I left thinking what must other people have written? Walked to my language class and met up with a flacso girl on the way. She tapped me on the back and I turned around quickly ready to smack someone…and it was only her. Had a nice chat but we both arrived dripping in sweat…the weather is getting warmer. Uneventful language class. rode the bus home…lacking monedas so I am getting a bit worried about where I will get them to take the bus. I find it ridiculous that you have to buy things to get mondeas… to take the bus. Not a good system. Got home and decided not to go to the Halloween party tonight. I am just zonked and stressed about my midterm next week and my paper and everything I need to do. Bah! But this weekend we will be going to the campo (farm) to enjoy lots of good food and horse back riding and a pool. Bueno.
So today was a hard day. we had our Halloween party which was pure chaos…as the hundred or so kids were doing stations. Our station was cookie decorating. Boy, was that a sight. They globed on dulce de leche, frosting, chocolate like you never seen it before. One table even asked for more dulce de leche (we had them in separate cups) and I came back two minutes later it was gone. They had eaten half a cup with their little spoons. Sick. I think everyone liked it, but after a couple hours of guarding the cookies, frosting, candy and such I was zonked. It takes a lot of energy to say NO, you cant have one cookie, no you cant have two cookies…and the list goes on. Also these kids (or all kids) are sneaky so when you aren’t looking they will dip their hand in the bowl or nab a cookie. I need eyes everywhere…but if I had them I would have gone crazy. Got back to flacso and mailed some letters. The lady congratulated me on writing my return address correctly. ha. I left thinking what must other people have written? Walked to my language class and met up with a flacso girl on the way. She tapped me on the back and I turned around quickly ready to smack someone…and it was only her. Had a nice chat but we both arrived dripping in sweat…the weather is getting warmer. Uneventful language class. rode the bus home…lacking monedas so I am getting a bit worried about where I will get them to take the bus. I find it ridiculous that you have to buy things to get mondeas… to take the bus. Not a good system. Got home and decided not to go to the Halloween party tonight. I am just zonked and stressed about my midterm next week and my paper and everything I need to do. Bah! But this weekend we will be going to the campo (farm) to enjoy lots of good food and horse back riding and a pool. Bueno.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
ups and downs, cookies, and halloween
Oct 28th
Woke up early to buy the tickets with stefy for this weekend. We went and the place was closed, the sign with its hours was 9-5 and we were there at like 10.30. oh argentina. I then walked to flacso to meet my cooking class partner where we bought the ingredients for our cookies and frosting party tomorrow… our budget allows for 30 pesos a week…we spent about three times that. The kids should love it. Whisked myself off to my Spanish class, where I bragged about my flogger interview...not really just explained. then to my flacso class. Then to my cooking partners house (which happened to be the son of my host parents house as well). We made over a hundred sugar cookies for the kids to decorate tomorrow. Yikes. By the time I took the last colectivo of the day (lugging the powdered sugar and dulce de leche) I was pooped. Arrived home to a dinner of pasta…how can you only eat a plate of pasta for dinner? Did some homework and have to get up in about 7 hours for casa del Niño. Alas. Good night.
Oct 27th
Man, as the time gets closer I am loosing my blogging bug. Monday was my day of work, but I ended up eating more than working. I was feeling in a bit of a slump today. I feel like I have so much work, but don’t really know where to start. Especially with this flogger paper. Overall I did some work, but it ended up being a tough day. seems like here my I have many more ups and downs. Monday was a down.
Woke up early to buy the tickets with stefy for this weekend. We went and the place was closed, the sign with its hours was 9-5 and we were there at like 10.30. oh argentina. I then walked to flacso to meet my cooking class partner where we bought the ingredients for our cookies and frosting party tomorrow… our budget allows for 30 pesos a week…we spent about three times that. The kids should love it. Whisked myself off to my Spanish class, where I bragged about my flogger interview...not really just explained. then to my flacso class. Then to my cooking partners house (which happened to be the son of my host parents house as well). We made over a hundred sugar cookies for the kids to decorate tomorrow. Yikes. By the time I took the last colectivo of the day (lugging the powdered sugar and dulce de leche) I was pooped. Arrived home to a dinner of pasta…how can you only eat a plate of pasta for dinner? Did some homework and have to get up in about 7 hours for casa del Niño. Alas. Good night.
Oct 27th
Man, as the time gets closer I am loosing my blogging bug. Monday was my day of work, but I ended up eating more than working. I was feeling in a bit of a slump today. I feel like I have so much work, but don’t really know where to start. Especially with this flogger paper. Overall I did some work, but it ended up being a tough day. seems like here my I have many more ups and downs. Monday was a down.
Monday, October 27, 2008
two steaks a day
if anyone's interested a fun article:
http://www.idlewords.com/2006/04/argentina_on_two_steaks_a_day.htm
http://www.idlewords.com/2006/04/argentina_on_two_steaks_a_day.htm
Oct 26th
Went on a day trip with my host sister, her boyfriend, and her friend. We took the train to Olivos and spent the whole day (in argentine style) sitting on a blanket in this park next to the river, socializing and eating. We arrived and had a picnic of sandwiches and chips and soda. Then we moved to the shade and played a game and drank mate. All this prolonged in about 8 hours. We then headed home where I am writing this getting ready for the busy week as usual. We are throwing a Halloween party at the casa del nino! Boo!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Oct 25th
Today was quite a day. I started out by waking my host sister up to go flogger hunting. She didn’t wake up for the longest time…and as always here I feel a bit awkward going in to her room and saying she has to get up to help me. But eventually she woke up and ate and we headed to the shopping center where they all reunite (on sundays). Luckily, we found some on Saturday. It was so…scary.. and embarrassing. Walking up to random kids and saying hi are you a flogger, can you do an interview? In Spanish. Ahhh! Stefy helped me a lot. Many times I think my pronunciation is just off…which makes me hard to understand…and alas hard to do interviews. But we got about 15 min of interviews. I tried to write them down when I arrived home but it gave me a headache due to the background noise. I will have to do a little at a time. I tried to do some productive things…but ended up not doing anything. I tried to read, and then ended up taking a nap. Then the guests arrived. . My host mom has her friends here from Uruguay. I didn’t realize it would be so much fun, but my host dad left and it was just the girls. I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. We had dinner, and then we had 3 desserts, 2 cakes and an ice cream log, as well as coffee and baileys. It was so fun…they are a wild group. I understood a lot, but not everything. It’s amazing how much you can catch by the intonations and tone and body language. I was disappointed about my interview performance, but this dinner made me realize why I am here…to speak/listen/be around Spanish in a no pressure fun environment.
Today was quite a day. I started out by waking my host sister up to go flogger hunting. She didn’t wake up for the longest time…and as always here I feel a bit awkward going in to her room and saying she has to get up to help me. But eventually she woke up and ate and we headed to the shopping center where they all reunite (on sundays). Luckily, we found some on Saturday. It was so…scary.. and embarrassing. Walking up to random kids and saying hi are you a flogger, can you do an interview? In Spanish. Ahhh! Stefy helped me a lot. Many times I think my pronunciation is just off…which makes me hard to understand…and alas hard to do interviews. But we got about 15 min of interviews. I tried to write them down when I arrived home but it gave me a headache due to the background noise. I will have to do a little at a time. I tried to do some productive things…but ended up not doing anything. I tried to read, and then ended up taking a nap. Then the guests arrived. . My host mom has her friends here from Uruguay. I didn’t realize it would be so much fun, but my host dad left and it was just the girls. I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. We had dinner, and then we had 3 desserts, 2 cakes and an ice cream log, as well as coffee and baileys. It was so fun…they are a wild group. I understood a lot, but not everything. It’s amazing how much you can catch by the intonations and tone and body language. I was disappointed about my interview performance, but this dinner made me realize why I am here…to speak/listen/be around Spanish in a no pressure fun environment.
The mock dishes
Raul, Audrey, David, Marco
Oct 24th
Happy Friday. Got up and took the subte to language lab (since I am running out of monedas—the coins you need to take the bus). I got off the subte and was encountered by metal dividers and a line of police men. I was going to walk around the dividers in between the police people until my good sense got the best of me. I figured it would not be the best decision to be in the middle of a hardcore protest, so I turned around and walked the other way. There were tons of police officers and those street blocker offer things. Luckily I made it to my language lab unscathed. We heard the protest in the middle of class as usual. It is getting really hot outside. After I came home I was very… hot and sweaty. I heard that this isn’t even hot for here…oh no. I got ready quick and ate some crackers and alfajores for a late lunch. Then I headed to my cooking class and arrived very early. One of the women was talking about how much she didn’t like the US lifestyle, and the teacher said that it was his ideal lifestyle. I sat and read my tribus book, and then listened to the presentation on the food. I was waiting for a nice…chocolate dulce de leche dessert. But no. It was cheese moose and dulce de mememillo en vino. Ew. Came home with my leftovers and shared them with my host family. We had a low key dinner since my host mom was not here. Then stefy and I went and selected alfajores and watched a movie (the devil wears prada). I went to bed…worried. Today I have to go and do a interview with a flogger. UGH….
Thursday, October 23, 2008
ahhh
Oct 23
I had planned to wake up early and work on my monografia but that plan didn’t really work out. I got up eventually (since my class at the UBA had been cancelled…again. Ha I never have classes there). Ate breakfast, and walked to flacso. I printed my interview questions for the interview I am hopefully going to do this weekend with a flogger and walked to language lab. While I was walking I was thinking about putting my backpack on in the front. I figured that I would feel if someone tried to unzip it, especially since I was walking. The next thing I know, I looked in my reflection and my bag is unzipped. Holy moly. Luckily nothing was taken. But I had my wallet, my camera and my zip drive which all could have been a bummer if lost. This is just getting ridiculous. I feel like everyone wants something from me, my money/stuff, among other many other things. That just put me in a sour mood. I went to language class and had an uneventful class. hurried home and ate a quick something to eat before rushing to tango. This is the more “class” of the two classes. I moved myself up from the beginner to the intermediate today. It was a lot more fun, since I was actually learning new stuff. Unfortunately not many eligible bachelors go to the 6pm class so we were stuck with about 3 guys for 10 women. Saw my Spanish teacher on the way home and hopped on the bus. I treated myself to an ice cream on the way home. Yum. Now I am waiting for dinner…which should be in a lonnnnggg time. Too long. I am hungry.
I had planned to wake up early and work on my monografia but that plan didn’t really work out. I got up eventually (since my class at the UBA had been cancelled…again. Ha I never have classes there). Ate breakfast, and walked to flacso. I printed my interview questions for the interview I am hopefully going to do this weekend with a flogger and walked to language lab. While I was walking I was thinking about putting my backpack on in the front. I figured that I would feel if someone tried to unzip it, especially since I was walking. The next thing I know, I looked in my reflection and my bag is unzipped. Holy moly. Luckily nothing was taken. But I had my wallet, my camera and my zip drive which all could have been a bummer if lost. This is just getting ridiculous. I feel like everyone wants something from me, my money/stuff, among other many other things. That just put me in a sour mood. I went to language class and had an uneventful class. hurried home and ate a quick something to eat before rushing to tango. This is the more “class” of the two classes. I moved myself up from the beginner to the intermediate today. It was a lot more fun, since I was actually learning new stuff. Unfortunately not many eligible bachelors go to the 6pm class so we were stuck with about 3 guys for 10 women. Saw my Spanish teacher on the way home and hopped on the bus. I treated myself to an ice cream on the way home. Yum. Now I am waiting for dinner…which should be in a lonnnnggg time. Too long. I am hungry.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
close call.
Oct 22.
So something odd happened to me today. Casa del Niño went fine we made sugar cookies and I was on the subte and I remembered putting my subte card in my back pocket. I thought I felt someone by my back pocket…and then checked it and it was empty. I was convinced I had gotten robbed of my 10 peso (3 dollar) subte card. I gave the guy dagger eyes and stared at him all the way until he got off. And since we were all sandwiched…literally so close together I elbowed him to keep my distance. I got off the subte in a bad mood since I had gotten robbed, even if it was just a little thing. Then I found my subte pass in my zip pocket. Good thing I didn’t say anything…. I was close to saying “excuse me can I have my subte card please.” But good thing I didn’t….since he didn’t steal it. I went to my first level 5 spanish class, and basically our whole level 4 class is in it, with a couple additions. Came home, and worked a bit on some homework, and now I am still trying to get my homework started/done.
So something odd happened to me today. Casa del Niño went fine we made sugar cookies and I was on the subte and I remembered putting my subte card in my back pocket. I thought I felt someone by my back pocket…and then checked it and it was empty. I was convinced I had gotten robbed of my 10 peso (3 dollar) subte card. I gave the guy dagger eyes and stared at him all the way until he got off. And since we were all sandwiched…literally so close together I elbowed him to keep my distance. I got off the subte in a bad mood since I had gotten robbed, even if it was just a little thing. Then I found my subte pass in my zip pocket. Good thing I didn’t say anything…. I was close to saying “excuse me can I have my subte card please.” But good thing I didn’t….since he didn’t steal it. I went to my first level 5 spanish class, and basically our whole level 4 class is in it, with a couple additions. Came home, and worked a bit on some homework, and now I am still trying to get my homework started/done.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Oct 21
Today woke up at 10 to a dark room! It was thundering and lighting. I hadn’t been able to sleep very well, and was supposed to go to a tennis tournament at 1 so I was a bit…under the weather, ha. I also turned in my big monografia for my service class. I just was a bit worried about everything going as planned. Tennis to class to print paper…ect. Luckily tennis was cancelled. I walked over and leasuirely printed my paper, chatted about our menu tomorrow and then got lunch with another friend and then got coffee and media lunas, since today was the perfect day for it. Went to class, turned in my paper. Got a text after class saying that tennis was back on (a friends host dad has tickets to this big tournament) and we watched the 3rd and the 4rd best players in latin America face off. In the very last point, the Spanish man got mad threw his racket and got disqualified. Ahh! Now I am back at home, living the free and easy life until my next language class starts tomorrow.
Oct. 20
Yikes, only 2 months until I will be home again. The race is on. To see things to speak Spanish, to make more friends… ahhh! Today I woke up to a beautiful day! I unfortunately didn’t really get to enjoy the beauty of it since I stayed inside until 6 working (or more like “working” probably would have been more productive if I had a shorter chunk of time). Then I went to this thing called the bomba del tiempo which is a huge drum show. I was going to meet my argentine friend from tango at 7 and he didn’t show until 8. Typical…but still haven’t gotten used to it yet. It was tons of fun! It was definitely a different crowd than I am used to but the energy of everyone dancing was quite a sight. After we walked and got pizza and chilled in a park. Ill just say that I will never again take communication for granted, such a different experience hanging out with someone where there are many communication barriers. Pero asi es la vida.
Today woke up at 10 to a dark room! It was thundering and lighting. I hadn’t been able to sleep very well, and was supposed to go to a tennis tournament at 1 so I was a bit…under the weather, ha. I also turned in my big monografia for my service class. I just was a bit worried about everything going as planned. Tennis to class to print paper…ect. Luckily tennis was cancelled. I walked over and leasuirely printed my paper, chatted about our menu tomorrow and then got lunch with another friend and then got coffee and media lunas, since today was the perfect day for it. Went to class, turned in my paper. Got a text after class saying that tennis was back on (a friends host dad has tickets to this big tournament) and we watched the 3rd and the 4rd best players in latin America face off. In the very last point, the Spanish man got mad threw his racket and got disqualified. Ahh! Now I am back at home, living the free and easy life until my next language class starts tomorrow.
Oct. 20
Yikes, only 2 months until I will be home again. The race is on. To see things to speak Spanish, to make more friends… ahhh! Today I woke up to a beautiful day! I unfortunately didn’t really get to enjoy the beauty of it since I stayed inside until 6 working (or more like “working” probably would have been more productive if I had a shorter chunk of time). Then I went to this thing called the bomba del tiempo which is a huge drum show. I was going to meet my argentine friend from tango at 7 and he didn’t show until 8. Typical…but still haven’t gotten used to it yet. It was tons of fun! It was definitely a different crowd than I am used to but the energy of everyone dancing was quite a sight. After we walked and got pizza and chilled in a park. Ill just say that I will never again take communication for granted, such a different experience hanging out with someone where there are many communication barriers. Pero asi es la vida.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
fotos boca/san telmo
ice cream today! yum.
my weak point here...media lunas.
the caminito.
the boca is famous for its colorful houses (the leftover paint from painting boats in the harbor)
over looking the main street.
as i mentioned there is a coin crisis here...and this is a good representation of what many people would do to get one (there was a .10 peso placed conveniently there)
an international movement now? still creepy.
la boca/san telmo
Oct 19th
¡FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE!
Woke up today to a text about meeting in san telmo. I ate breakfast and headed on over and to my dismay my friend had gotten confused about the time. I walked around the street fair for about 30 minutes before she got there and then we called our other friends and got lunch (empanadas) and ice cream! rode the bus home and chatted with the flower guy when I bought my host mother flowers for mothers day here. Came back to everyone cleaning up a storm! The whole house it being cleaned and polished since everyone is coming over for dinner tonight. (their son, and his wife and his wifes parents! As well as all our family...it should be a full---wild house!)
Oct. 18th
Yesterday got up and did a bit of work then ventured to the boca! This is the neighborhood that is the most well known, but also one of the more sketchy areas of town. I have heard many stories about tourists getting robbed, so I was a bit worried, and on my guard. I went with a group of Georgetown girls from around the country. Here are some pictures.
Came home and got ice cream with a friend then arrived home just in time for dinner. Ate dinner with the family then spent a lot of time waiting for the ice cream to arrived after dinner (we ordered it they deliver), ate the ice cream then looked for places we could travel to on the weekend. I got too tired (and we had a time change so I knew I would be loosing one hour of sleep) so I went to bed (around 3). Yikes.
¡FELIZ DIA DE LA MADRE!
Woke up today to a text about meeting in san telmo. I ate breakfast and headed on over and to my dismay my friend had gotten confused about the time. I walked around the street fair for about 30 minutes before she got there and then we called our other friends and got lunch (empanadas) and ice cream! rode the bus home and chatted with the flower guy when I bought my host mother flowers for mothers day here. Came back to everyone cleaning up a storm! The whole house it being cleaned and polished since everyone is coming over for dinner tonight. (their son, and his wife and his wifes parents! As well as all our family...it should be a full---wild house!)
Oct. 18th
Yesterday got up and did a bit of work then ventured to the boca! This is the neighborhood that is the most well known, but also one of the more sketchy areas of town. I have heard many stories about tourists getting robbed, so I was a bit worried, and on my guard. I went with a group of Georgetown girls from around the country. Here are some pictures.
Came home and got ice cream with a friend then arrived home just in time for dinner. Ate dinner with the family then spent a lot of time waiting for the ice cream to arrived after dinner (we ordered it they deliver), ate the ice cream then looked for places we could travel to on the weekend. I got too tired (and we had a time change so I knew I would be loosing one hour of sleep) so I went to bed (around 3). Yikes.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Oct 17th.
Tango last night was uneventful. I tried to rally, but it was just kind of pointless. Went to the beginner class with my friend so she wouldn’t be alone, and got stuck with the guys who step on your feet (and my new tango shoes!). also the class was filled with Americans, and none of the boys asked people to dance. Now I understand why I am not a big fan of dances in the states. Everyone just makes it awkward. Here it is so much more fun, since people ask people and dance. A bit of a reflection on dancing culture, also plays into our generation and the value of “tradition.”
Woke up this morning, and puttered around until I went and met a friend for lunch at this natural restaurant with good salads. We went and got dessert (HUGE APPLES…we are going healthy). And then headed to our oral exam. We each got an article we had to read and explain, and then we did a dialogue. I passed my written exam and my oral exam! Wahhoo! On to level 5. came home and did more puttering until going to pick up my laundry, but the electricity in the building wasn’t working so I had to feel my way down 10 flights of stairs. Quickly brought it back up and then grabbed my stuff and headed to the subte to my cooking class. class was fun! We watch the professor make all the dishes, and then we get to make them. Last class, I worked with two boys about my age from Mexico. They are studying cooking at the school where my class is. They were nice enough, but I was so lost last class I felt a bit like a burden. This class I was ready. I paid attention in the preparation, and was ready when we headed upstairs. The only problems I had was with asking for things like tinfoil. But since everyone is making the same thing I can pretty much use gestures I didn’t break out the English once! Came home and enjoyed a dinner with my family and now am here...trying to not do my homework. I don’t really know what to do with myself…which is a bad thing since I still have work to do, just nothing that is extremely pressing. I am almost done with my servicio paper which is due on Tuesday, and next is my tribus monografia. I was thinking of doing some interviews for that paper this weekend but I haven’t brainstormed any questions and I am a bit intimidated by the prospect of 20 min interviews in Spanish.
Tango last night was uneventful. I tried to rally, but it was just kind of pointless. Went to the beginner class with my friend so she wouldn’t be alone, and got stuck with the guys who step on your feet (and my new tango shoes!). also the class was filled with Americans, and none of the boys asked people to dance. Now I understand why I am not a big fan of dances in the states. Everyone just makes it awkward. Here it is so much more fun, since people ask people and dance. A bit of a reflection on dancing culture, also plays into our generation and the value of “tradition.”
Woke up this morning, and puttered around until I went and met a friend for lunch at this natural restaurant with good salads. We went and got dessert (HUGE APPLES…we are going healthy). And then headed to our oral exam. We each got an article we had to read and explain, and then we did a dialogue. I passed my written exam and my oral exam! Wahhoo! On to level 5. came home and did more puttering until going to pick up my laundry, but the electricity in the building wasn’t working so I had to feel my way down 10 flights of stairs. Quickly brought it back up and then grabbed my stuff and headed to the subte to my cooking class. class was fun! We watch the professor make all the dishes, and then we get to make them. Last class, I worked with two boys about my age from Mexico. They are studying cooking at the school where my class is. They were nice enough, but I was so lost last class I felt a bit like a burden. This class I was ready. I paid attention in the preparation, and was ready when we headed upstairs. The only problems I had was with asking for things like tinfoil. But since everyone is making the same thing I can pretty much use gestures I didn’t break out the English once! Came home and enjoyed a dinner with my family and now am here...trying to not do my homework. I don’t really know what to do with myself…which is a bad thing since I still have work to do, just nothing that is extremely pressing. I am almost done with my servicio paper which is due on Tuesday, and next is my tribus monografia. I was thinking of doing some interviews for that paper this weekend but I haven’t brainstormed any questions and I am a bit intimidated by the prospect of 20 min interviews in Spanish.
clase de cocina...and i passed my spanish test! wahooo!
from left to right. professor. mexican friend 1. mexican friend 2 also the sue chef. and mexican friend 3.
the dessert we made! :)
sue chef, raul.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
an assortment..
cookie making...aka chaos.
more cookies, and patient.. (or not so patient) chefs
the protest that stopped us for a while from the remise (cab).
how i get to one of my classrooms. i thought you all would enjoy some of the local scenery.
Oct. 16
Wow. Entries are getting sparce and shorter and shorter. Had my Spanish final today. (I have my Spanish oral test tomorrow). I think it went okay, but I never know. I studied a lot, but also think I need to take a study skills test, because sometimes my studying is not very effective. I went to my UBA class which didn’t start until about 35 minutes after it was supposed to, and then cut out early to arrive early to my test. During my test a protest went by (typical) and for a good portion of our test we jumped around to the drums and songs and loud speakers. (making the best out of a bad situation). I hope I did okay. After my Spanish class buddy and I drank a coffee (I have downsized one media luna and a small shot of expresso). Hurried home to a skype date. Worked on my paper a bit, and am going to head out to tango soon.
Oct 15
Went to casa del nino this morning, and made chocolate chip cookies. The kids love them! This was probably one of our most successful recipes. It was a crummy day so many of the kids didn’t even come to casa del nino, and that meant that we had enough cookies for everyone! Usually we only get to share with the older class. We made 99 cookies, and everyone loved them. I even got to eat a couple. Came back (our path was diverted by a protest…) and went to class (last nivel 4 class before the examen!) after class studied with a friend for a while and came home and “studied” more. Gaston and Jime (son and daughter in law of my host family) came over for dinner and we watched socias. Chatted a bit with stefy and then went to bed.
Wow. Entries are getting sparce and shorter and shorter. Had my Spanish final today. (I have my Spanish oral test tomorrow). I think it went okay, but I never know. I studied a lot, but also think I need to take a study skills test, because sometimes my studying is not very effective. I went to my UBA class which didn’t start until about 35 minutes after it was supposed to, and then cut out early to arrive early to my test. During my test a protest went by (typical) and for a good portion of our test we jumped around to the drums and songs and loud speakers. (making the best out of a bad situation). I hope I did okay. After my Spanish class buddy and I drank a coffee (I have downsized one media luna and a small shot of expresso). Hurried home to a skype date. Worked on my paper a bit, and am going to head out to tango soon.
Oct 15
Went to casa del nino this morning, and made chocolate chip cookies. The kids love them! This was probably one of our most successful recipes. It was a crummy day so many of the kids didn’t even come to casa del nino, and that meant that we had enough cookies for everyone! Usually we only get to share with the older class. We made 99 cookies, and everyone loved them. I even got to eat a couple. Came back (our path was diverted by a protest…) and went to class (last nivel 4 class before the examen!) after class studied with a friend for a while and came home and “studied” more. Gaston and Jime (son and daughter in law of my host family) came over for dinner and we watched socias. Chatted a bit with stefy and then went to bed.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Oct 14
Today was an eventful day. I saw someone get robbed…but didn’t realize it until she was off the bus. The guy put a bag over her backpack and I saw it and registered that it was kind of weird. Then the woman (an argentine) got off with an open zipper. I realized what must have happened after she left the bus. It reminded me that I still need to be very aware! Saw my Spanish teacher on the bus and chatted with her. And gave the thief the stink eye. Attended Spanish class, then subted over to my other class…almost couldn’t get out since there were so many people. Met up with a friend and his friend for mate and a tango lesson. Then came home, ate and now have to get up early tomorrow for casa del nino.
Today was an eventful day. I saw someone get robbed…but didn’t realize it until she was off the bus. The guy put a bag over her backpack and I saw it and registered that it was kind of weird. Then the woman (an argentine) got off with an open zipper. I realized what must have happened after she left the bus. It reminded me that I still need to be very aware! Saw my Spanish teacher on the bus and chatted with her. And gave the thief the stink eye. Attended Spanish class, then subted over to my other class…almost couldn’t get out since there were so many people. Met up with a friend and his friend for mate and a tango lesson. Then came home, ate and now have to get up early tomorrow for casa del nino.
Monday, October 13, 2008
falta?
Oct 13th
Today was a lazy day. I didn’t feel exactly up to par and laid down for a bit. My family was busy scurrying around, finishing the dress they sewed for stefys graduation party. Overall just a lot of getting ready. I also was pretty productive and finished one of my papers, sent it to my editor, and after that went to the store and bought stuff for the cooking class this week. We are making chocolate chip cookies. But not regular chocolate chip cookies, the recipe I found called for vanilla pudding…we will see how it goes. Now I am waiting to go to the “lunch” but I its really dinner, and the boliche afterwards. Yikes. I am a bit stressed since I am just literally going along for the ride and don’t really know how to get home or anything. I figure I don’t have to worry about it since I am going with my family but I still do. Should be interesting. My feet are feeling better but didn’t really want to risk the high heels so everyone else is fashionable and I am a bit…not. But whatever.
The night was interesting. It was like a graduation night but they only had about 20 or even less people in their class. they gave everyone awards and I didn’t understand a lot of them. But the one my host sister got I understood. “Ms. Falta” “Ms. Skipper.” Yikes…the family wasn’t too excited about that one. A slide show of everyone’s baby pictures and food. It was pretty enjoyable considering how boring some of those can be. Funny how different, yet the same it was from something in the states. After it had a dance, but I cut out early with all the old people. I had a headache and just was feeling blah.
Today was a lazy day. I didn’t feel exactly up to par and laid down for a bit. My family was busy scurrying around, finishing the dress they sewed for stefys graduation party. Overall just a lot of getting ready. I also was pretty productive and finished one of my papers, sent it to my editor, and after that went to the store and bought stuff for the cooking class this week. We are making chocolate chip cookies. But not regular chocolate chip cookies, the recipe I found called for vanilla pudding…we will see how it goes. Now I am waiting to go to the “lunch” but I its really dinner, and the boliche afterwards. Yikes. I am a bit stressed since I am just literally going along for the ride and don’t really know how to get home or anything. I figure I don’t have to worry about it since I am going with my family but I still do. Should be interesting. My feet are feeling better but didn’t really want to risk the high heels so everyone else is fashionable and I am a bit…not. But whatever.
The night was interesting. It was like a graduation night but they only had about 20 or even less people in their class. they gave everyone awards and I didn’t understand a lot of them. But the one my host sister got I understood. “Ms. Falta” “Ms. Skipper.” Yikes…the family wasn’t too excited about that one. A slide show of everyone’s baby pictures and food. It was pretty enjoyable considering how boring some of those can be. Funny how different, yet the same it was from something in the states. After it had a dance, but I cut out early with all the old people. I had a headache and just was feeling blah.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Tigre second time around
Oct 11-12 TIGRE
This weekend I went to Tigre with FLACSO. It was a lot of fun, but not a lot of stimulation. We arrived by train and took a boat 2 hours to our hotel…literally in the middle of nowhere (actually more accurately in the middle of the delta.) there are tons of little rivers in this area, and everyone has their house on the river and uses these taxi boats to get around. They also have boat stores that come and sell them food. We stayed at a hotel with a pool. The food was not very impressive (which was a bit of a disappointment since basically the only activity was eating). We arrived at about lunch time and ate lunch then we had the option of going on a nature walk (probably the equivalent of a blocks worth of walking) and/or kayaking. I chose the nature walk first and learned a bit about the non native plant life. My favorite part was when she had us close our eyes and listen to the sounds of the forest. I then went kayaking. Included is a picture that sums up our experience. We got grounded and ran into a pole head on all in about 10 minutes. But it was fun. We had free time, and then evening tea. I got to know some of the girls in FLACSO better, and I have found a really nice group of friends. We chatted until dinner, and ate again! I forgot to mention that it had started raining around 4pm and hadn’t stopped until 10 or so in the morning. After dinner people capitalized on the fact that the program pays for wine and beer and we started karaoke. I meandered back to my room after karaoke was dying out. Chatted a bit more, and then people started coming in and eventually we got out a guitar and someone started playing. It was a really fun night. We all got up this morning, ate breakfast (not very zealously for the first time in a long time here) and then we had more free time. I studied a bit of Spanish for my test this week then we ate lunch, sat in the sun and left via boat. After a boat, a train, and a colectivo I am back in my house. Ready to start the busy week again!
Friday, October 10, 2008
i missed a cooking class???! ---ha ha ha
Oct. 10
Hoy mi blog va a estar diferente porque hable con mi padre en EEUU y él preguntó “porque no estas hablando español todo el tiempo.” Mi respuesta fue “porque necesito hacer cosas como mi blog en ingles y también escribo emails y Chat en ingles.” Entonces porque mi padre fue tan insoportable sobre este tema voy a escribir mi blog en español hoy. Mañana voy a tigre con mi programa. Pero ahora estoy esperando para ir a mi clase de cocina y después cena con la directora de los programas internacionales de mi universidad en oregon.
Just got home from my cooking class and dinner with the director of study abroad with UO (she is down evaluating the other argentine program.) First off the cooking class….wow. I was mentioning that sometimes here I just cant help but laugh out loud. Actually many times I cant help it since I just look so ridiculous, or am so lost, or just need a good laugh. This was one of those times. First off, the guy told me that I had missed the first class…since I thought it started on the 10th when it really started 10/3 (on the third). I had missed a class…great. I felt a little better when we sat in a classroom for an hour or so and listened to the chef talk… I didn’t have to answer and questions or talk, just listen. And I can do listening…but I was kind of upset my money had been first off wasted since I missed a class… secondly the class had made chocolate cake the first class and todays dessert was flan. Ew. I was very very nervous when he said okay everyone lets go up stairs and cook. I had a headache and my feet were also aching so when he was explaining I wasn’t listening all that intently. I trudged upstairs with the rest of the group, hoping to be partners with the nice looking older ladies. No. I got paired up with a couple of young Mexican boys who I think were a bit disappointed to have the “foreign girl” in their group. But as I cooked the polenta and the flan, I made friends with them and with the suchef, raul. The cooking class was informative, but I am not sure I would cook some of the things at home. The meat was described as…fat from the neck or next to the heart of an animal. I tried a bite and it was not my thing. Other menu items included fried cheese on top of bread, mate flan, and polenta. Interesting mix. Also the dinner with Jamie, the study abroad director and the other UO kids was good! We were treated to a pizza and huge ice creams, but now it is 2.30 and I have to get up at 7.30 to go to tigre. Ahhh! Better get to bed. Will report more when I return.
Hoy mi blog va a estar diferente porque hable con mi padre en EEUU y él preguntó “porque no estas hablando español todo el tiempo.” Mi respuesta fue “porque necesito hacer cosas como mi blog en ingles y también escribo emails y Chat en ingles.” Entonces porque mi padre fue tan insoportable sobre este tema voy a escribir mi blog en español hoy. Mañana voy a tigre con mi programa. Pero ahora estoy esperando para ir a mi clase de cocina y después cena con la directora de los programas internacionales de mi universidad en oregon.
Just got home from my cooking class and dinner with the director of study abroad with UO (she is down evaluating the other argentine program.) First off the cooking class….wow. I was mentioning that sometimes here I just cant help but laugh out loud. Actually many times I cant help it since I just look so ridiculous, or am so lost, or just need a good laugh. This was one of those times. First off, the guy told me that I had missed the first class…since I thought it started on the 10th when it really started 10/3 (on the third). I had missed a class…great. I felt a little better when we sat in a classroom for an hour or so and listened to the chef talk… I didn’t have to answer and questions or talk, just listen. And I can do listening…but I was kind of upset my money had been first off wasted since I missed a class… secondly the class had made chocolate cake the first class and todays dessert was flan. Ew. I was very very nervous when he said okay everyone lets go up stairs and cook. I had a headache and my feet were also aching so when he was explaining I wasn’t listening all that intently. I trudged upstairs with the rest of the group, hoping to be partners with the nice looking older ladies. No. I got paired up with a couple of young Mexican boys who I think were a bit disappointed to have the “foreign girl” in their group. But as I cooked the polenta and the flan, I made friends with them and with the suchef, raul. The cooking class was informative, but I am not sure I would cook some of the things at home. The meat was described as…fat from the neck or next to the heart of an animal. I tried a bite and it was not my thing. Other menu items included fried cheese on top of bread, mate flan, and polenta. Interesting mix. Also the dinner with Jamie, the study abroad director and the other UO kids was good! We were treated to a pizza and huge ice creams, but now it is 2.30 and I have to get up at 7.30 to go to tigre. Ahhh! Better get to bed. Will report more when I return.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
mate
Oct 9
My feet are feeling a bit better, just in time for the big weekend in tigre, and busy day tomorrow. I made friends with a girl in my UBA class, and she offered me mate in class! This was quite a highlight, since generally you drink mate with friends. So the offering of mate is a sign of friendship. My class got out early—so didn’t have to race to get to my other class. My Spanish class was like pulling teeth, we are reviewing for our test and people are all a bit lost, which made the teacher really frustrated. I was supposed to study after class with a friend but we ended up just having coffee…I am bit stressed about all my academic stuff, mostly my tests. Just because don’t really have to motivation to study. Now I am home reviewing a paper and catching up on correspondence.
My feet are feeling a bit better, just in time for the big weekend in tigre, and busy day tomorrow. I made friends with a girl in my UBA class, and she offered me mate in class! This was quite a highlight, since generally you drink mate with friends. So the offering of mate is a sign of friendship. My class got out early—so didn’t have to race to get to my other class. My Spanish class was like pulling teeth, we are reviewing for our test and people are all a bit lost, which made the teacher really frustrated. I was supposed to study after class with a friend but we ended up just having coffee…I am bit stressed about all my academic stuff, mostly my tests. Just because don’t really have to motivation to study. Now I am home reviewing a paper and catching up on correspondence.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Oct 8.
Falling behind again. Today my feet still hurt, but considerably less than yesterday, which is a start. I think that this feet thing was the real pilgrimage. It has made me appreciate a correctly functioning body. I am very thankful to only have minor health issues (some of which I have brought on myself like walking 37 miles). The past couple days I have woken up and wondered how I will make it through the day (cant not go anywhere, but cant go anywhere without it hurting.)…one step at a time. Literally. So things are thankfully healing up…and I can make it to a hobble without grimacing in pain. My host sister has nicknamed me tortuga since I cant walk fast…which has been another good lesson. I should take time and smell the roses or walk a bit slower once and a while. Other than my feet, things are good. Today I went to casa del Niño and we made cereal bars, we are trying to incorporate healthier ingredients but the kids didn’t really like them as pure sugar. The governor of the proviencia of Buenos aires visited Florencia Verela…or cereal bars were abandoned to see the governor. Went to Spanish class slowly but surely and we did some review for the final which will be next week. AHH! Then I had a coffee with some people from my class. South Korea, Japan, Germany, Slovika and the US were represented. Came home and tried to do my homework, then got distracted by a skpye call, and then other random things (I ended up barely getting my homework done). Ate dinner and watched socias (a local good program) and now I am here. Treated my feet and am almost ready to go to bed. Tomorrow should be low key especially if my feet are feeling better.
Monday, October 6, 2008
blisters are more annoying than little sisters.
Oct. 6.
Beginning to think this pilgrimage thing wasn’t such a good idea. I am getting a bit frustrated at the fact that I can barely walk a block, and that all the old women pass me up doing it. Today I had to venture out of the apartment only twice, once to drop my laundry off (4 blocks of walking total) and once for a tutoring session…lots more walking. I am not sure what I am going to do when I actually have classes. I take public transportation, but I hadn’t realized how much I actually walk here. The bus stop is about 4 or 5 blocks away and the subte station as well, so even if I do take public transportation I still have to walk to or from my house. I feel even stupider that I could have not done it and avoided all this trouble (and pain). But que se yo, asi es la vida.
Beginning to think this pilgrimage thing wasn’t such a good idea. I am getting a bit frustrated at the fact that I can barely walk a block, and that all the old women pass me up doing it. Today I had to venture out of the apartment only twice, once to drop my laundry off (4 blocks of walking total) and once for a tutoring session…lots more walking. I am not sure what I am going to do when I actually have classes. I take public transportation, but I hadn’t realized how much I actually walk here. The bus stop is about 4 or 5 blocks away and the subte station as well, so even if I do take public transportation I still have to walk to or from my house. I feel even stupider that I could have not done it and avoided all this trouble (and pain). But que se yo, asi es la vida.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
ouch 2
tons of people. everywhere.
got my ritmo! note that this was early in the day...thats why i look so happy.
one of the towns we walked through.
the cathedral.
We finished!
ouch...
Oct 4 y 5
Pilgrimage to Lujan.
As I sit here and write this I kind of wonder what I was thinking. This thought also crossed my mind many a time on the caminato. I read about this little town outside of Buenos Aires in my lonely planet book. It mentioned that there was a pilgrimage every Oct. This sparked my attention for some reason but I figured I would just go and visit the same weekend, to get the whole experience. Who would be crazy enough to walk something like 17 hours? I began to see signs and here stories of the pilgrimage. It caught my attention each time and finally when one of my teachers told me about it I looked at the girl behind me and we decided to do it. Again, why I am not really sure. We found a catholic school and asked how we could sign up with them, they referred us to this church near my house. We met with the father there and he quizzed us on our backgrounds and why we wanted to do it. The three of us Americans signed up and we were ready. This pilgrimage is traditionally one of young people so I was excited to meet some new friends. We walk to the town of Lujan where the virgin of lujan appeared. We arrived at the church at 8.30 am on Sat. Got emergency contacts, health advice and information. We made it to the starting point at about 10, and we were off. A group of about 60 or so people from the parroquia de Carmen participated. The first leg was okay. It was pretty warm outside but other than that it was a brisk stroll. Over a million people participate in this pilgrimage, so I was a bit worried about loosing the group and never being able to find them again. It was nice to be able to practice my Spanish in a group where nearly no one spoke English to me. Met a couple nice people, but to tell you the truth I was more focused on continuing walking than chatting it up with people. There were 5 or so stops for about 30-45 minutes. These would consist of some food, bathrooms and people putting their feet up and the doctors dealing with people with medical issues, or blisters (this was me). The first stop I had a big one right on the bottom of my foot, after that they all just got worse, and grosser. Each stop they drained them and cleaned them. But as an example, today when I took off some of the bandaides on my little toes my blisters on them were about as big as my little toe itself. Ew. Although at the last stop I wasn’t sure if I would walk the whole way, I decided to push it on the last (and longest) leg and push through the pain to finish. (not really sure I decided on this since I didn’t really have anything riding on walking the whole way—the other option was to drive 2 hours and walk the last 2 hours of the last leg.) by the last 10 or so blocks I was struggling. We had a cart and at this point all the people left were holding on to the cart while walking. Not only was I tired (it was 4am—and I had spoken Spanish all day), I hadn’t eaten very well, and was trying to think of motivators which only made me homesick. Finally we arrived in Lujan. (with the other million some people). I felt a mix between, happiness, nausea and exhaustion. we got on the bus and headed back to the church. I should have video taped HOW I was walking… it probably would have been funny for everyone to see. Lets just say I looked like I was hurting. I treated myself to a cab home. and walked into my building and my doorman gave me an odd look until I explained that I had just done the pergracion. Yikes. I slept from about 6-2 and then got up took a shower and ate breakfast/lunch. And watched a movie with my host mom. Now I am going to start on my homework since that is about the only thing I can do.
If anyone has any specific questions email me since I am still exhausted and may have not covered all that would be appreciated.
So I walked 37 miles. And survived…barely.
Pilgrimage to Lujan.
As I sit here and write this I kind of wonder what I was thinking. This thought also crossed my mind many a time on the caminato. I read about this little town outside of Buenos Aires in my lonely planet book. It mentioned that there was a pilgrimage every Oct. This sparked my attention for some reason but I figured I would just go and visit the same weekend, to get the whole experience. Who would be crazy enough to walk something like 17 hours? I began to see signs and here stories of the pilgrimage. It caught my attention each time and finally when one of my teachers told me about it I looked at the girl behind me and we decided to do it. Again, why I am not really sure. We found a catholic school and asked how we could sign up with them, they referred us to this church near my house. We met with the father there and he quizzed us on our backgrounds and why we wanted to do it. The three of us Americans signed up and we were ready. This pilgrimage is traditionally one of young people so I was excited to meet some new friends. We walk to the town of Lujan where the virgin of lujan appeared. We arrived at the church at 8.30 am on Sat. Got emergency contacts, health advice and information. We made it to the starting point at about 10, and we were off. A group of about 60 or so people from the parroquia de Carmen participated. The first leg was okay. It was pretty warm outside but other than that it was a brisk stroll. Over a million people participate in this pilgrimage, so I was a bit worried about loosing the group and never being able to find them again. It was nice to be able to practice my Spanish in a group where nearly no one spoke English to me. Met a couple nice people, but to tell you the truth I was more focused on continuing walking than chatting it up with people. There were 5 or so stops for about 30-45 minutes. These would consist of some food, bathrooms and people putting their feet up and the doctors dealing with people with medical issues, or blisters (this was me). The first stop I had a big one right on the bottom of my foot, after that they all just got worse, and grosser. Each stop they drained them and cleaned them. But as an example, today when I took off some of the bandaides on my little toes my blisters on them were about as big as my little toe itself. Ew. Although at the last stop I wasn’t sure if I would walk the whole way, I decided to push it on the last (and longest) leg and push through the pain to finish. (not really sure I decided on this since I didn’t really have anything riding on walking the whole way—the other option was to drive 2 hours and walk the last 2 hours of the last leg.) by the last 10 or so blocks I was struggling. We had a cart and at this point all the people left were holding on to the cart while walking. Not only was I tired (it was 4am—and I had spoken Spanish all day), I hadn’t eaten very well, and was trying to think of motivators which only made me homesick. Finally we arrived in Lujan. (with the other million some people). I felt a mix between, happiness, nausea and exhaustion. we got on the bus and headed back to the church. I should have video taped HOW I was walking… it probably would have been funny for everyone to see. Lets just say I looked like I was hurting. I treated myself to a cab home. and walked into my building and my doorman gave me an odd look until I explained that I had just done the pergracion. Yikes. I slept from about 6-2 and then got up took a shower and ate breakfast/lunch. And watched a movie with my host mom. Now I am going to start on my homework since that is about the only thing I can do.
If anyone has any specific questions email me since I am still exhausted and may have not covered all that would be appreciated.
So I walked 37 miles. And survived…barely.
Friday, October 3, 2008
voting/tango
Oct 3
Sitting here in my room drinking mate and eating cookies while I write this. I didn’t have Spanish class today so I am free for the afternoon. I got up and ate my breakfast, chatted with my host mom about the pilgrimage I am going to be doing tomorrow, and was off to the American embassy to turn in my ballot. I had imagined just a box or something I could throw it in and be done, but after being let into the embassy going through security and finding another room with many little windows I still hadnt accomplished my mission. I had underestimated this errand (I arrived at 11ish and was supposed to meet a friend at 12 to talk to people about the pilgrimage). I took a number. My number was 729 and they were on 604. It was a bit ridiculous. My cell phone had been checked along with my other “suspicious belongings” and I was stuck. The woman sitting next to me started up a conversation, she was born in DC and lives here and teaches history to middle schoolers. She was quite a chatterbox but a really nice lady. Her number was 607. I chatted with her for about 30 minutes and she kept telling me to ask someone about the ballot (the squeaky wheel gets the grease). Finally she said that I should just come up with her when she gets called. I came up with her and she explained that I wanted to turn in my ballot, and 2 minutes later I was out the door. Oh what luck. She had saved me from hours and hours of waiting for what could take 2 seconds. This was a nice reminder that most people are just really nice people, and I should take every chance I get to get to know them. I took the subte back to FLACSO where I was to meet my fellow pilgramager, and we went to a school that one of our teachers had recommended to try and find a group to go with. We chatted with the doorman and the priest and he recommended we go to another church. We called the other priest and are going to meet with him this afternoon. Mailed some letters which was also an ordeal (had to take a number again ahhh). I am pretty excited for this pilgrimage, it will be quite an experience. My feet are a little sore from tango last night so I hope that will go away so I can walk my heart out tomorrow.
Oct. 2
My Thursdays are busy. Headed over to the UBA for class from 11-2, it was an okay class, but its kind of hard to understand. I have gotten the impression from my tutor that all I need to do is do the paper, and go to class and read the readings to write a better paper. So if it doesn’t relate to my paper then I don’t need to be that worried about it. I hope this is right. From this class I hustled to language lab, and from language lab I hustled home to get ready to go to tango. The tango class was fun, but the 6.30 class attracts a different crowd than the 10.30 class. It was a smaller class so I learned a lot more (or should I say reviewed). But there wasn’t a very good selection of dance partners if you know what I mean . My shoes worked out okay. The shoes were fine but all the weight on the front of your foot hurts after a while. The class was uneventful. After the class I got another semi class by a dancer named fredrico. He was nice and taught me some sweet moves (leg flippies and such). Everything comes back to the language barrier…I felt a bit inept just because I didn’t know what he was saying or how to say what I wanted to say. That’s why tango is so fun. No need to say anything just dance. Came home and ate dinner and helped my host sister download a video on youtube.
Sitting here in my room drinking mate and eating cookies while I write this. I didn’t have Spanish class today so I am free for the afternoon. I got up and ate my breakfast, chatted with my host mom about the pilgrimage I am going to be doing tomorrow, and was off to the American embassy to turn in my ballot. I had imagined just a box or something I could throw it in and be done, but after being let into the embassy going through security and finding another room with many little windows I still hadnt accomplished my mission. I had underestimated this errand (I arrived at 11ish and was supposed to meet a friend at 12 to talk to people about the pilgrimage). I took a number. My number was 729 and they were on 604. It was a bit ridiculous. My cell phone had been checked along with my other “suspicious belongings” and I was stuck. The woman sitting next to me started up a conversation, she was born in DC and lives here and teaches history to middle schoolers. She was quite a chatterbox but a really nice lady. Her number was 607. I chatted with her for about 30 minutes and she kept telling me to ask someone about the ballot (the squeaky wheel gets the grease). Finally she said that I should just come up with her when she gets called. I came up with her and she explained that I wanted to turn in my ballot, and 2 minutes later I was out the door. Oh what luck. She had saved me from hours and hours of waiting for what could take 2 seconds. This was a nice reminder that most people are just really nice people, and I should take every chance I get to get to know them. I took the subte back to FLACSO where I was to meet my fellow pilgramager, and we went to a school that one of our teachers had recommended to try and find a group to go with. We chatted with the doorman and the priest and he recommended we go to another church. We called the other priest and are going to meet with him this afternoon. Mailed some letters which was also an ordeal (had to take a number again ahhh). I am pretty excited for this pilgrimage, it will be quite an experience. My feet are a little sore from tango last night so I hope that will go away so I can walk my heart out tomorrow.
Oct. 2
My Thursdays are busy. Headed over to the UBA for class from 11-2, it was an okay class, but its kind of hard to understand. I have gotten the impression from my tutor that all I need to do is do the paper, and go to class and read the readings to write a better paper. So if it doesn’t relate to my paper then I don’t need to be that worried about it. I hope this is right. From this class I hustled to language lab, and from language lab I hustled home to get ready to go to tango. The tango class was fun, but the 6.30 class attracts a different crowd than the 10.30 class. It was a smaller class so I learned a lot more (or should I say reviewed). But there wasn’t a very good selection of dance partners if you know what I mean . My shoes worked out okay. The shoes were fine but all the weight on the front of your foot hurts after a while. The class was uneventful. After the class I got another semi class by a dancer named fredrico. He was nice and taught me some sweet moves (leg flippies and such). Everything comes back to the language barrier…I felt a bit inept just because I didn’t know what he was saying or how to say what I wanted to say. That’s why tango is so fun. No need to say anything just dance. Came home and ate dinner and helped my host sister download a video on youtube.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
catch up otra vez
OCTOBER 1.
Wow its October already. Today was an early morning for casa del nino. I carried my TON of food to FLACSO and we headed out to florencia varela. The kids loved the houses. I will post some pictures of the creations. We read the story of Hansel and Gretel (I need to work on my reading out loud in spanish). Then they did a bit of explication of the moral of the story and such. After that we drew backdrops for each house and then we dished out the dulce de leche and gummies and crackers. They went to work. After about an hour and a half everyone was sticky and happy. Went to Spanish class which was better today, although still feeling a bit lost. After class drank a coffee with an older german woman and a younger woman from Slovenia who are also in my class. it was really neat. And it was in Spanish wahoo! Stayed around and talked politics in English with a couple other flacso friends then took the bus home. I have had a realization that I not only need to practice speaking and writing, I need to start thinking in Spanish. I will try to start thinking in Spanish from now on, except when I write these entries. Unless you all could do some speedy translation. Che--Quizás puedo escribir algunos partes de estos en castellano (nadie dice español acá, todos hablan castellano). Chau.
Sept 30
Falling behind a bit on my blog writing mostly since I came back to reality and realized there is oh so much to do! Also because now I am pretty much settled in and am having a hard time writing: I ate breakfast today. Since my routine entails breakfast every day (imagine that! ha). And now it is 1 am and I have to be up at 7 tomorrow so I will retire and save the last two entries for tomorrow. Buenos noches.
Tuesday consisted of getting up and going to the store to buy supplies for my cooking class on Wednesday. The casa del nino is having a reading marathon on Friday so we were encouraged strongly to cater our classes this week to the theme of reading. We picked to do the Hansel and Gretel story and make little houses like with gram crackers and icing. We figured everyone (all 40) of the kids could participate and it would be related to reading. I went to the store not really knowing what I would find, since generally plans change due to the price and availability of supplies. First problem, no gram crackers. Understandable. I settled on crackers that gave me 10 packs for 10 pesos. I was doing well. Next I got a huge bag of gummies which set me back 13 pesos (we have a limit of 30 pesos from FLACSO). And the last part was a challenge, the icing. I wandered around a bit aimlessly before I settled on a huge thing of dulce de leche for the glue. They don’t have icing here…only chocolate you melt and drip on your cake. Overall I got all of it for 35.00 and I think he charged me for 2 dulce de leches (after I got home and looked at my receipt). I headed down to Spanish class early to get lunch. We ended up going to the California burrito (yes family I know I ate a burrito) company (so American. Like chipotle but lots more expensive). Went to Spanish and got really frusterated at not understanding the things we were learning. Then went to my servicio class and talked to my teacher about doing a pilgrimage on Saturday.
Sept 29
Today was very tranquilo as the argentines would call it. I got up at a leisurely time (11.30) went for a run for the first time in ages (I felt like a --- insert any sluggish animal here). I also did some errands, buying a new memory card and going shopping. I tried to do some studying which got interrupted by an intense game of tetris. Ate dinner (cooked veggies potatoes, squash, carrots, corn) they mix it all up and add a ton of salt. Pretty plain. The food is getting a bit less tasty as the days go on, and this meal didn’t tickle my taste buds.
Wow its October already. Today was an early morning for casa del nino. I carried my TON of food to FLACSO and we headed out to florencia varela. The kids loved the houses. I will post some pictures of the creations. We read the story of Hansel and Gretel (I need to work on my reading out loud in spanish). Then they did a bit of explication of the moral of the story and such. After that we drew backdrops for each house and then we dished out the dulce de leche and gummies and crackers. They went to work. After about an hour and a half everyone was sticky and happy. Went to Spanish class which was better today, although still feeling a bit lost. After class drank a coffee with an older german woman and a younger woman from Slovenia who are also in my class. it was really neat. And it was in Spanish wahoo! Stayed around and talked politics in English with a couple other flacso friends then took the bus home. I have had a realization that I not only need to practice speaking and writing, I need to start thinking in Spanish. I will try to start thinking in Spanish from now on, except when I write these entries. Unless you all could do some speedy translation. Che--Quizás puedo escribir algunos partes de estos en castellano (nadie dice español acá, todos hablan castellano). Chau.
Sept 30
Falling behind a bit on my blog writing mostly since I came back to reality and realized there is oh so much to do! Also because now I am pretty much settled in and am having a hard time writing: I ate breakfast today. Since my routine entails breakfast every day (imagine that! ha). And now it is 1 am and I have to be up at 7 tomorrow so I will retire and save the last two entries for tomorrow. Buenos noches.
Tuesday consisted of getting up and going to the store to buy supplies for my cooking class on Wednesday. The casa del nino is having a reading marathon on Friday so we were encouraged strongly to cater our classes this week to the theme of reading. We picked to do the Hansel and Gretel story and make little houses like with gram crackers and icing. We figured everyone (all 40) of the kids could participate and it would be related to reading. I went to the store not really knowing what I would find, since generally plans change due to the price and availability of supplies. First problem, no gram crackers. Understandable. I settled on crackers that gave me 10 packs for 10 pesos. I was doing well. Next I got a huge bag of gummies which set me back 13 pesos (we have a limit of 30 pesos from FLACSO). And the last part was a challenge, the icing. I wandered around a bit aimlessly before I settled on a huge thing of dulce de leche for the glue. They don’t have icing here…only chocolate you melt and drip on your cake. Overall I got all of it for 35.00 and I think he charged me for 2 dulce de leches (after I got home and looked at my receipt). I headed down to Spanish class early to get lunch. We ended up going to the California burrito (yes family I know I ate a burrito) company (so American. Like chipotle but lots more expensive). Went to Spanish and got really frusterated at not understanding the things we were learning. Then went to my servicio class and talked to my teacher about doing a pilgrimage on Saturday.
Sept 29
Today was very tranquilo as the argentines would call it. I got up at a leisurely time (11.30) went for a run for the first time in ages (I felt like a --- insert any sluggish animal here). I also did some errands, buying a new memory card and going shopping. I tried to do some studying which got interrupted by an intense game of tetris. Ate dinner (cooked veggies potatoes, squash, carrots, corn) they mix it all up and add a ton of salt. Pretty plain. The food is getting a bit less tasty as the days go on, and this meal didn’t tickle my taste buds.
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