In the words of my history professor, "if you're bored, come to south america." Well at first he said Argentina but then looked at the Mexican girls in the class and was like ya, ok Mexico too...
If you weren't already aware, Nestor Kirchner died yesterday (Wednesday the 27th) of a heart attack. I'm not sure what everyone knows about Argentine politics and what not but just to be safe I'll assume nothing, so I don't leave anyone confused. Nestor is the husband of the current president Cristina and was himself president of Argentina from 2003 to 2007.
Before coming here I knew that Cristina was the president but I didn't know much else than that. What she stood for, what the Argentine people thought of her, how she'd come to be president, what she'd done/planned to do for the country...were all a mystery and for the most part still are unfortunately. But today I've learned more about Nestor and the answer to some of those questions.
I feel like there's sooo much to tell you guys to help explain the situation. But it's taken me months to find out for myself and several classes on Latin American subjects just to learn a bit so I know I won't be able to convey it all properly. And I'm really trying to get my own thoughts straight right now on the whole matter. I just got home ten minutes ago from Plaza de Mayo so to be honest I'm a bit emotionally drained; I wanted to get it all out while it's all fresh in my mind...I'll explain that journey in a moment though.
Let's back up a bit. What do you know about Evita and Juan Peron? I've spoken a bit about them already I believe, like when I visited the cemetary where Evita's body is supposed to be. But to recap on the part that applies to today's happenings: Peron was a president for the workers and according to my history professor, these were the best economic times Argentina's seen (we're talking about the 19040/50s). Yesterday a workers union was quoted to have said that after Evita and Peron, Nestor gave the most for the workers of Argentina. Grafiti I read said along the same things, "Because of Nestor my family works" etc.
Apart from what he has done for the workers of Argentina, he also fought to ease the minds of Argentines who had lived through the Dirty War. Professor Pomposo (my history professor) was telling our class today, that in a public, televised event, Nestor had the painting of the dictator Videla (the one responsible for the kidnapping, torture, and disappearance of thousands of people) taken down from a wall in el Colegio Militar. He wanted to let the Argentine people know that they would never have to endure the things they had twenty years before. He then showed us a picture of the event from a newspaper (which I bought today on my way home) and I was greatly impressed by Nestors act and all the things surrounding it. At this point Profe. Pomposo had to leave the room because he was beginning to cry. One of his friends was one of the many "disappeared" or "desaparecido." So of course, to see a president do something like that and make a statement such as that, had to have been a very powerful thing. Can you imagine? I have the hardest time wrapping my head around all of these things sometimes. First, living under a dictator. I just sent my mom and Chris all my choices for the upcoming elections so they can fill out my ballot for me. It makes me appreciate our political freedoms that much more. Then, the daily terror. At any moment you or someone you love could disappear forever, presumably to be tortured and killed, yet you will never know for sure what happened to them.
And quick sidenote, speaking of political freedoms: In my spanish class the other day it came up that one of my American classmates had sent a letter to their senator and how he had responded to the letter so my Profe asked if that was a common thing in America. Because in Argentina there aren't addresses or ways to get ahold of elected governors, etc. You vote for them and then they get to decide how they want to vote and don't consult the citizens, at the same time she was saying many Argentines don't pay attention anyway.
I was very much moved in my history class today and Profe. Pomposo urged us to go to the Plaza de Mayo if we could because there are thousands gathered, waitng to pay their last respects to Nestor. And I figured I would go, be apart of this moment and observe the reaction of the people. It was packed, as I expected, but because the people were lining up to go into the Casa Rosada the plaza was all gated off. So I walked down the street toward 9 de Julio (the street that the Obelisco is on) to see the line, hear the chanting, and read the banners. While I was walking down the street a news guy asked me if I wanted to blow a kiss into the camera, which I felt was an inappropriate thing to do so I said no. There were hotdog vendors and porta potties because if you wanted to get into the Casa Rosada, you were going to be waiting for a while. The line went on until 9 de Julio and then continued on down but I turned back. There were a ton of signs from worker unions in support of Nestor, telling Cristina to be strong, that she had their support.
I had previously asked Mati, one of the guys I met during my weekend in Carilo, what he thought about Peron. He said he didn't like Peron and Peronismo (the political party that stands for everything that Peron stood for and believed in, although there are TONS of variations of Peronismo by people wanting to use the influence Peron's name holds) and said that he didn't like the Krichner's as well. This tends to be the view of wealthy Argentines, I've discovered for myself and through my classes). This I haven't quite come to understand yet. Sooo more research will be involved to understand the opposition to Peronism. Because I tend to think, if you champoined the working man, you're a good guy right? I guess to the working man, but not everyone...
Very enlightening day. Very interesting. Lots to think about. I'd love to hear your opinions on any of this.
Oh but to return to the first thing I said in this post. Because my profe is usually an easy going guy he did start to joke a bit towards the end of class to lighten the mood. We were talking about the huge economic depression in 2001ish and how 25% of Argentines were unemployed at one point, etc. Then I don't know how exactly we got to this point but he looked at one of the Austrian guys and was like when you're at home in Austria and you're bored because the transportation system always functions, you know that the Euro is worth so much today and it will be the same tomorrow, and a bunch of other things that go on here, come to Argentina. Ah, now I remember how we got to that point. He was asking us if we had been well recieved here, had a nice time while we were here studying, he said that we were always welcome. Anyway, while all of this was in jest and the class was laughing, of course there's truth to these things and the frustration that comes along, I imagine, in living in an unstable place. Another thing that has me baffeled are indeed all of these uncertainties. Like that protest of public transportation workers that happened where a man was killed, and the next day we don't know if the public transportation will be working. There was a strike of waste workers and for a week the trash piled up on the streets. They're small things but they are daily things that you are just never certain about.
Besos. Buenas noches.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Last week was pretty chill and I didn't do too much because I was a bit sick :(
Monday: slept.
Tuesday: slept.
Wednesday: went to dinner with Jessica and Gigi. Gigi had text me that morning saying she missed Jessica and I and wanted to know if we could get together for dinner. There's a restaurant that Kelsey had been to a few times, Krishna, and she'd raved about it so we decided to try it. One of the waiters was standing at the entrance when we first got there and was like you know it's vegetarian right? Haha, yes, we are aware of that, thank you. inside the place was wayyyyyyyy cool. Dark with candles on the tables, the tables were low and have really cool ceramic designs, the seats were either stools or couches with rad cushions. We each got something we knew nothing about and then shared it. YUM. Dude, the food was gooood. And I got a lemondade with ginsing, also yum. Afterwards Gigi drove us home because her boyfriends house is near our apt. But I had told Agustin I would come to wine club so I hoped on a bus to get over there at around 12ish. Nacho, Brad and Agustin had eaten dinner and were sippin' on the wine when I got there. We were all pretty tired but we chilled and chatted a bit. Always a pleasure passing time with those boys. Brad walked with me down to the bus stop because sometimes it can take forever for a bus to come but one came within a minute or two of us getting down there! I'm always stoked when that happens haha. But I also wasn't sure a bus would come at all because there had been some protests I guess of PT workers and one had died :( so rumour had it there would be no buses and the subte wouldn't be going. Lizzie asked our history prof what had happened exactly (never do that, they give you the backround info from like 30 years ago) but basically I think this was the first death in a protest, like ever. Pretty amazing right? I just hope I understood him correctly haha.
Thursday: I was feeling particularly crummy so I slept more.
Friday Satruday and Sunday: I DID NOT LEAVE THE APARTMENT haha Not because I was on my death bed or anything, I just resisted all temptation to go out so I could sleep and do hw. When Kelsey got back from Iguazu on Sunday though, she wanted to go for a run so I went with to walk. It was really nice walking around the park.
Monday (25th): HW yay.
Tuesday: Girls night! Last night Arriana, Synnove, Kelsey, Jessica, sarah, me, Lizzie, and another Danish girl but not from UB and I went to dinner. (Gigi was supposed to come too but fell asleep haha) We went to a REAL cool restaurant, Don Julio. It had wine bottles all around the restaurant that people had signed and I was like WE'RE DOING THAT. Our table was upstairs and in an area all to ourselves! We ordered wine and meat with sides of french fries and salad. MUYYYY rico. I asked one of our waiters to bring us some markers and we all wrote something on the bottle, then I stuck it up next to some others...I don't know if they'll move it but since I want to take mom there I'll check it out! The waiters were nice and funny and they asked me if I wanted to go out dancing with them ahaha. I really did, why not go out dancing with a bunch of Argentine waiters?! But I had, had a bit too much wine and was also pretty sleepy. Plus it didn't seem like anyone else was down and I wasn't about to go by myself.
Today: Census day. EVERY thing is shut down because we're supposed to be in our houses from 8 AM to 8PM to be counted in the census. It's quiet here....I LOVE IT. There are barely any cars or any people out. It's weird but so freaking nice at the same time. Plus, now I've got time to finish my history paper (or write on the blog whatever) hehe wish me luck!
PS camera broke :( I'm going to steal pictures from others but from here on out pictures will be scarce! Oh well, just means my descriptions have to get even better!
Chau! Un beso!
Monday: slept.
Tuesday: slept.
Wednesday: went to dinner with Jessica and Gigi. Gigi had text me that morning saying she missed Jessica and I and wanted to know if we could get together for dinner. There's a restaurant that Kelsey had been to a few times, Krishna, and she'd raved about it so we decided to try it. One of the waiters was standing at the entrance when we first got there and was like you know it's vegetarian right? Haha, yes, we are aware of that, thank you. inside the place was wayyyyyyyy cool. Dark with candles on the tables, the tables were low and have really cool ceramic designs, the seats were either stools or couches with rad cushions. We each got something we knew nothing about and then shared it. YUM. Dude, the food was gooood. And I got a lemondade with ginsing, also yum. Afterwards Gigi drove us home because her boyfriends house is near our apt. But I had told Agustin I would come to wine club so I hoped on a bus to get over there at around 12ish. Nacho, Brad and Agustin had eaten dinner and were sippin' on the wine when I got there. We were all pretty tired but we chilled and chatted a bit. Always a pleasure passing time with those boys. Brad walked with me down to the bus stop because sometimes it can take forever for a bus to come but one came within a minute or two of us getting down there! I'm always stoked when that happens haha. But I also wasn't sure a bus would come at all because there had been some protests I guess of PT workers and one had died :( so rumour had it there would be no buses and the subte wouldn't be going. Lizzie asked our history prof what had happened exactly (never do that, they give you the backround info from like 30 years ago) but basically I think this was the first death in a protest, like ever. Pretty amazing right? I just hope I understood him correctly haha.
Thursday: I was feeling particularly crummy so I slept more.
Friday Satruday and Sunday: I DID NOT LEAVE THE APARTMENT haha Not because I was on my death bed or anything, I just resisted all temptation to go out so I could sleep and do hw. When Kelsey got back from Iguazu on Sunday though, she wanted to go for a run so I went with to walk. It was really nice walking around the park.
Monday (25th): HW yay.
Tuesday: Girls night! Last night Arriana, Synnove, Kelsey, Jessica, sarah, me, Lizzie, and another Danish girl but not from UB and I went to dinner. (Gigi was supposed to come too but fell asleep haha) We went to a REAL cool restaurant, Don Julio. It had wine bottles all around the restaurant that people had signed and I was like WE'RE DOING THAT. Our table was upstairs and in an area all to ourselves! We ordered wine and meat with sides of french fries and salad. MUYYYY rico. I asked one of our waiters to bring us some markers and we all wrote something on the bottle, then I stuck it up next to some others...I don't know if they'll move it but since I want to take mom there I'll check it out! The waiters were nice and funny and they asked me if I wanted to go out dancing with them ahaha. I really did, why not go out dancing with a bunch of Argentine waiters?! But I had, had a bit too much wine and was also pretty sleepy. Plus it didn't seem like anyone else was down and I wasn't about to go by myself.
Today: Census day. EVERY thing is shut down because we're supposed to be in our houses from 8 AM to 8PM to be counted in the census. It's quiet here....I LOVE IT. There are barely any cars or any people out. It's weird but so freaking nice at the same time. Plus, now I've got time to finish my history paper (or write on the blog whatever) hehe wish me luck!
PS camera broke :( I'm going to steal pictures from others but from here on out pictures will be scarce! Oh well, just means my descriptions have to get even better!
Chau! Un beso!
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Rosario
Thursday Kelsey, Jessica, and I went to Synovve's new apartment for some wine and to hang out with a few other friends before going to watch matias's band play again!
We was on the list cuz that's how we roll ;) haha and so we got in fo' freeee. Once again, because this also happened to them last time, the sound guy didn't show up. It was a bummer because we couldn't hear Matias sing that clearly but still awesome, fun to listen to 'em. Nico drove us home around 2ish and I went straight to bed because I knew this weekend was going to be crazy.
Jessica unfortunately couldn't come this weekend. She hadn't been sleeping well and wisely realized another sleepless weekend with booze and partying probably wasn't the best idea. Me on the other handdd haha no, I'd been sleeping just fine so I was good to go. I rolled over to Agustin's around 6PM with a birthday cake Jessica had made for him. Muy rico :) We chopped it up to eat on the drive there while sippin' on some mate. Agustin drove, Brad rode shot gun, Nico to my left and then me! It was a splendid 4ish hour ride there. Agustin was saying that Rosario is like the Chicago of Argetina because of their car manufacturing/industry stuffs. There's a big casino when you first get off the main freeway that gets you to the city too. Agustin (our ever faithful tourguide) told us that there's something they do now to keep the poorer people of the city from coming in and loosing all their money because I guess that had become a major problem. The villas were literally right across the street too and it always bums me out to see them, I can't wrap my head around people having to live like that. Which reminds me of something I had thought of the other day...Other than the very first Argentine boys I've met here, Matias and Nico and now Agustin and his whole crew are very wealthy for Argentine standards. It's not super common to have beach houses and take weekend trips whenever you want and what not. Agustin seems very aware of this though, he's fortunate to have parents so well off because of their successful careers and he doesn't flaunt their wealth. He only seems eager to share it. Just as he was eager to share with us his home city where he grew up and his home. We got to his house around 11PM that night and there were cases of alcohol and the first keg I've seen in a while haha. And of course LOTS of meat. I met a lot more of his friends and his SEVEN sisters and his other brother. Everyone was super nice, but I expected nothing less. It was a really good time :)
Saturday we got up around one, ate some sandwiches and headed out to meet up with some friends who have a boat! Something like 15 of us got on this little boat and rode out to an island to chill for a few hours. So lovely :) We made a fire for a bit, walked around most of the island. There were horses on it! And a house...one of the girls was telling us that there's a fisherman who lives with his wife and kid on the island. They live off what he catches in the river. There aren't really any laws I guess on these little islands that were throughout the river (there were two guys smoking weed when we hopped off the boat), so people could do that if they wanted. Not that this is something I think people would do as a choice, this family on the island was extremely poor and has no other choice.
We hopped back on the boat and though it was night time, as promised, Agustin took us to the monument. It was AWESOME. It's from the monumentalismo movement and that movement was all about BIG buildings. 25th of May is the dia de la patria. A day of revolution against Spain in Argentine history. This monument was built in remeberance of the day and the soldiers who died during the fighting over Argentine independence... Unfortunately my camera is shot up Agustin took a ton of photos so I think he's going to email them to me or something so I can share! We went back to his house to enjoy some pizza his youngest sister had made. And then we took off back for Bs As. A little earlier than we had planned because Hernando needed to get back and Nacho, who he had ridden with left. So Segundo (A different Agustin's nickname), Hernando, Agustin, Nico and I headed back. On our way out though we stopped at a beautiful park. Rosario was beautiful. A bit cleaner and WAYYY safer than the capital. There isn't a park in Bs As that I would stop and walk around in at night, even with 4 guys, but it wasn't a problem in Rosario. Much more peaceful feel to the place. I dug it :) After dropping Nando and Segundo off, they took me to my apartment and at 2 in the morning I invited them up for a glass of wine. That was a nice way to end the trip! Especially since one of the bottles we drank was from his birthday wine and they had gotten him so goooood stuff!
Today, Sunday I lounged around. Sleeping, eating and reading. Good recovery :)
We was on the list cuz that's how we roll ;) haha and so we got in fo' freeee. Once again, because this also happened to them last time, the sound guy didn't show up. It was a bummer because we couldn't hear Matias sing that clearly but still awesome, fun to listen to 'em. Nico drove us home around 2ish and I went straight to bed because I knew this weekend was going to be crazy.
Jessica unfortunately couldn't come this weekend. She hadn't been sleeping well and wisely realized another sleepless weekend with booze and partying probably wasn't the best idea. Me on the other handdd haha no, I'd been sleeping just fine so I was good to go. I rolled over to Agustin's around 6PM with a birthday cake Jessica had made for him. Muy rico :) We chopped it up to eat on the drive there while sippin' on some mate. Agustin drove, Brad rode shot gun, Nico to my left and then me! It was a splendid 4ish hour ride there. Agustin was saying that Rosario is like the Chicago of Argetina because of their car manufacturing/industry stuffs. There's a big casino when you first get off the main freeway that gets you to the city too. Agustin (our ever faithful tourguide) told us that there's something they do now to keep the poorer people of the city from coming in and loosing all their money because I guess that had become a major problem. The villas were literally right across the street too and it always bums me out to see them, I can't wrap my head around people having to live like that. Which reminds me of something I had thought of the other day...Other than the very first Argentine boys I've met here, Matias and Nico and now Agustin and his whole crew are very wealthy for Argentine standards. It's not super common to have beach houses and take weekend trips whenever you want and what not. Agustin seems very aware of this though, he's fortunate to have parents so well off because of their successful careers and he doesn't flaunt their wealth. He only seems eager to share it. Just as he was eager to share with us his home city where he grew up and his home. We got to his house around 11PM that night and there were cases of alcohol and the first keg I've seen in a while haha. And of course LOTS of meat. I met a lot more of his friends and his SEVEN sisters and his other brother. Everyone was super nice, but I expected nothing less. It was a really good time :)
Saturday we got up around one, ate some sandwiches and headed out to meet up with some friends who have a boat! Something like 15 of us got on this little boat and rode out to an island to chill for a few hours. So lovely :) We made a fire for a bit, walked around most of the island. There were horses on it! And a house...one of the girls was telling us that there's a fisherman who lives with his wife and kid on the island. They live off what he catches in the river. There aren't really any laws I guess on these little islands that were throughout the river (there were two guys smoking weed when we hopped off the boat), so people could do that if they wanted. Not that this is something I think people would do as a choice, this family on the island was extremely poor and has no other choice.
We hopped back on the boat and though it was night time, as promised, Agustin took us to the monument. It was AWESOME. It's from the monumentalismo movement and that movement was all about BIG buildings. 25th of May is the dia de la patria. A day of revolution against Spain in Argentine history. This monument was built in remeberance of the day and the soldiers who died during the fighting over Argentine independence... Unfortunately my camera is shot up Agustin took a ton of photos so I think he's going to email them to me or something so I can share! We went back to his house to enjoy some pizza his youngest sister had made. And then we took off back for Bs As. A little earlier than we had planned because Hernando needed to get back and Nacho, who he had ridden with left. So Segundo (A different Agustin's nickname), Hernando, Agustin, Nico and I headed back. On our way out though we stopped at a beautiful park. Rosario was beautiful. A bit cleaner and WAYYY safer than the capital. There isn't a park in Bs As that I would stop and walk around in at night, even with 4 guys, but it wasn't a problem in Rosario. Much more peaceful feel to the place. I dug it :) After dropping Nando and Segundo off, they took me to my apartment and at 2 in the morning I invited them up for a glass of wine. That was a nice way to end the trip! Especially since one of the bottles we drank was from his birthday wine and they had gotten him so goooood stuff!
Today, Sunday I lounged around. Sleeping, eating and reading. Good recovery :)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
It's nice to have friends in high places...
Last Monday (4th) Jessica decided that she didn't want to stay in so she found a nearby place to take salsa lessons. We asked our friend Nico from the running club if he wanted to come and he was down to get down. Sooo we met up...and the place was closed down! It was a major bummer but then Nico mentioned an ice skating rink so we were like, "let's do it!" Of course we weren't properly dressed for ice skating because things are warming up here but it's cool because we were only there for an hour. There was a class at one end of the rink and then two guys at the other end who were doing cool tricks because they were super good. Nico tried to teach Jessica how to go backwards and do turns and stuff but I was just satisfied to stay on me feet. Only fell once :)
Tuesday Jessica and I met up with our two Italian friends: Flavio and Giatano to go roller blading in the park near Plaza Italia :) Thanks to ice skating the previous night I was a pro on the bladessssss. The park is pretty big and because I was slower than everyone else we made it around 2 times I think, in the hour we rented the skates for. It was a LOT of fun and Gaitano treated us all to ice cream after haha. Because Tuesday was also Greg's birthday, we had to get home for the dinner we decided to surprise him with at my house. Lizzie was staying with us last week because Kelsey went to Brazil for a week and Lizzie lives SUPER far from school and we do not. She LOVES birthdays (like somone else I know: shout out to Court) so she planned the whole thing and made Tacos! SO yummy and it's not a common thing here, there aren't even tortillas in your average grocery store, let alone refried beans and salsa. Argentines don't like spicey by the way. She swooped up some Coronas too! Maria and Ines made an apple pie type desert and oh my, it was good. Intentions to go to tango that night as well fell by the way side when everything ran late.
Wednesday...can't remember if anything special other than the running club and school occurred. Ah! Wait, Lizzie and I treated ourselve to ice cream at Freddo after taking a walk down the side of Cabildo I don't normally travel upon.
Thursday Greg, Raquel, Lizzie and I had dinner in China town. YUM. and then Greg and I passed some time sitting in a park late at night.
Friday was Maria's birthday so we went to La Matuffia again, same place that we went for Ines's birthday. Had ourselves some yummy, and most importantly, unlimited pizza and beer. They wanted to go to a club after but because Jessica and I had to leave for the bus station at 9AM I called it an early night.
Saturday Jessica and I got up, very excitedly, for our trip to Pinamar! Nico had invited us to come spend the weekend with him and his pals at the beach. The bus was incredibly comfy. When you take a trip by bus, you get to chose between cama, semicama, and full cama. Which basically is a choice of how far back you want to seat to go, and we got the one that literally went flat as a bed, hence full cama. Good when you're tired, like we were! The countryside went flying by us as we converced in spanish the whole way there so as to prepare for our weekend surrounded by all Argentine's all the time! We made it there in about 4 1/2 hours and Nacho, Nico, and Brad (also an ex-Pat like Nico) came and picked us up. Oh em gee, I can't describe how beautiful this place was, but of course I'll try.
The ground is nothing but sand and there are trees all around. I could hear birds chirpping and nothing else. No ambulances, no dogs barking, no squeaky brakes from the colectivos, no loud people. Just nature doing its thing :) And the air was SO fresh and clean and cool. We went to the house we were to stay at first. It was also GORGEOUS. No more than a ten minute walk from the beach. We met Agustin, the owner of the house, and a few of the other boys. Jessica and I changed into our swimsuits and made our way down to the beach. There we met at least ten dudes and were encouraged to play soccer with them. Good thing I don't know how to play lol but they were SUPER nice and SUPER encouraging. It was a bit chilly because it was so windy so after a while we wandered back to the house and ate fracturas while drinking mate. Jeez do Argentines love their sweets. This weekend my diet consisted of sweets/pastries and meat and alcohol. I know, I know, I = the epitome of health. Oh and it was terrible because a water pipe had busted so I drank very little water this weekend to top it all off. Anyway, we did some chillin' back at the house and got to know the boys a bit better... and then Jessica and I took a nap around 8 in the evening. When we got up we ate asado. Muy rico, as we say here. A few girls ended up coming as well, that was nice to balance out the 15 guys haha. One was Agustin's sister and then she had 4 friends with her. They were all really sweet. Except everyone seemed to not like one of the girls, and while I could see why they might not, she was always pleasant to me so I had no issue with her. After the asado we turned up the music, made some drinks and made a party of it. It was a blasty blast. Around 3 in the morning everyone decided it was time to go to a club. Ladies got in fo' free! It was fun but I'm not a huge fan of cumbia and that was all they played the THREE HOURS we were there for. Went into the club when it was dark and came out when the sun had come up.
I started not feeling that well because I was so tired and a bit hungry so when we got back I crashed. But didn't sleep too well all weekend because the house is big and open so when they were playing music down the stairs there were no walls to spare me from all the racket. And I wanted to MURDER Nacho, he talks so damn loud. At what I thought was 3PM I decided to get up, only to find out later it was only 12 in the afernoon, and we all lounged around on the patio and on the grass. After eating more pastries for breakfast we headed to the beach. Jessica and I took a walk along the water and then went up were everyone else was, out of the wind, and chilled. Good fun conversation there :) They use a lot of English words here but it's funny because they're with an Argentine accent so sometimes I don't even understand the english they're saying haha
We went back to the house, Jessica and I again took a nap, got back up for some food and repeated the night before, even going to the same club.
Monday was a holiday here so Brad, Nico, Jessica and I went into the center (basically like the shopping area or what have you) and ate breakfast. Milkshakes and pancakes. One of the most delicious breakfasts I've had here. Picked up some waters at the supermarket and headed to the beach again. More relaxing in the sun and then we went back to help clean up. Said goodbye to some of the boys earlier in the day so we were a few less...made some chorripan and when I refused another Agustin was convinced I didn't like it. I really do like chorripan but by this point I couldn't eat anymore meat. TOO MUCH. Didn't leave Carilo (which is actually the town where we were, like a ten minute drive from Pinamar though) until about 10PM though haha. This time we bummed a ride with Nacho and Agustin. Finally got home around 2:30 and CRASHHHED.
It was an absolutely incredible weekend. All of the boys were so nice, there was one or two I could have done without but out of 15 that's not bad. It was lovely to see nature and lovely to see another place in Argentina. Now I'm going to Rosario this weekend (also about 4 1/2 hours away from Bs As in another direction) because it's Agustin's birthday and he and all of his friends are from there so that's where the birthday party is at. This time I'm going to ride with them there and back and Agustin promised a tour of the city. They all gushed about how its a small, safer, more tranquil version of Bs As. Plus there's a huge monument there that's on the back of the ten peso bill, and that I studied in art class, that I really want to check out. I'm so freaking lucky to have made these friends; I spent a weekend at the beach and maybe spent 60 USD, the entire weekend, including transportation. Now that they are going to drive us and I have a place to stay in Rosario, I'll be spending even less and having an even more awesome time with natives to pall around with.
But to catch you up on Tues and Wednesday...Tuesday just slepted a bunch in an attempt to catch up on sleep. Wednesday (yesterday) I went to sushi with 8 other people and then wine club at Agustin's house. After Nico and Brad went to bed Agustin and I stayed up a while longer talking...at times a bit difficult (he can barely count to 10 in english haha) which reminded us about a comment his brother Sebastian had made this weekend. Why don't we all speak a universal language so that we can understand everyone no matter where we are or from? Wouldn't that be nice? Until then I'll just keep absorbing as many languages as possible and exploring the cultures that come along with 'em :)
Tuesday Jessica and I met up with our two Italian friends: Flavio and Giatano to go roller blading in the park near Plaza Italia :) Thanks to ice skating the previous night I was a pro on the bladessssss. The park is pretty big and because I was slower than everyone else we made it around 2 times I think, in the hour we rented the skates for. It was a LOT of fun and Gaitano treated us all to ice cream after haha. Because Tuesday was also Greg's birthday, we had to get home for the dinner we decided to surprise him with at my house. Lizzie was staying with us last week because Kelsey went to Brazil for a week and Lizzie lives SUPER far from school and we do not. She LOVES birthdays (like somone else I know: shout out to Court) so she planned the whole thing and made Tacos! SO yummy and it's not a common thing here, there aren't even tortillas in your average grocery store, let alone refried beans and salsa. Argentines don't like spicey by the way. She swooped up some Coronas too! Maria and Ines made an apple pie type desert and oh my, it was good. Intentions to go to tango that night as well fell by the way side when everything ran late.
Wednesday...can't remember if anything special other than the running club and school occurred. Ah! Wait, Lizzie and I treated ourselve to ice cream at Freddo after taking a walk down the side of Cabildo I don't normally travel upon.
Thursday Greg, Raquel, Lizzie and I had dinner in China town. YUM. and then Greg and I passed some time sitting in a park late at night.
Friday was Maria's birthday so we went to La Matuffia again, same place that we went for Ines's birthday. Had ourselves some yummy, and most importantly, unlimited pizza and beer. They wanted to go to a club after but because Jessica and I had to leave for the bus station at 9AM I called it an early night.
Saturday Jessica and I got up, very excitedly, for our trip to Pinamar! Nico had invited us to come spend the weekend with him and his pals at the beach. The bus was incredibly comfy. When you take a trip by bus, you get to chose between cama, semicama, and full cama. Which basically is a choice of how far back you want to seat to go, and we got the one that literally went flat as a bed, hence full cama. Good when you're tired, like we were! The countryside went flying by us as we converced in spanish the whole way there so as to prepare for our weekend surrounded by all Argentine's all the time! We made it there in about 4 1/2 hours and Nacho, Nico, and Brad (also an ex-Pat like Nico) came and picked us up. Oh em gee, I can't describe how beautiful this place was, but of course I'll try.
The ground is nothing but sand and there are trees all around. I could hear birds chirpping and nothing else. No ambulances, no dogs barking, no squeaky brakes from the colectivos, no loud people. Just nature doing its thing :) And the air was SO fresh and clean and cool. We went to the house we were to stay at first. It was also GORGEOUS. No more than a ten minute walk from the beach. We met Agustin, the owner of the house, and a few of the other boys. Jessica and I changed into our swimsuits and made our way down to the beach. There we met at least ten dudes and were encouraged to play soccer with them. Good thing I don't know how to play lol but they were SUPER nice and SUPER encouraging. It was a bit chilly because it was so windy so after a while we wandered back to the house and ate fracturas while drinking mate. Jeez do Argentines love their sweets. This weekend my diet consisted of sweets/pastries and meat and alcohol. I know, I know, I = the epitome of health. Oh and it was terrible because a water pipe had busted so I drank very little water this weekend to top it all off. Anyway, we did some chillin' back at the house and got to know the boys a bit better... and then Jessica and I took a nap around 8 in the evening. When we got up we ate asado. Muy rico, as we say here. A few girls ended up coming as well, that was nice to balance out the 15 guys haha. One was Agustin's sister and then she had 4 friends with her. They were all really sweet. Except everyone seemed to not like one of the girls, and while I could see why they might not, she was always pleasant to me so I had no issue with her. After the asado we turned up the music, made some drinks and made a party of it. It was a blasty blast. Around 3 in the morning everyone decided it was time to go to a club. Ladies got in fo' free! It was fun but I'm not a huge fan of cumbia and that was all they played the THREE HOURS we were there for. Went into the club when it was dark and came out when the sun had come up.
I started not feeling that well because I was so tired and a bit hungry so when we got back I crashed. But didn't sleep too well all weekend because the house is big and open so when they were playing music down the stairs there were no walls to spare me from all the racket. And I wanted to MURDER Nacho, he talks so damn loud. At what I thought was 3PM I decided to get up, only to find out later it was only 12 in the afernoon, and we all lounged around on the patio and on the grass. After eating more pastries for breakfast we headed to the beach. Jessica and I took a walk along the water and then went up were everyone else was, out of the wind, and chilled. Good fun conversation there :) They use a lot of English words here but it's funny because they're with an Argentine accent so sometimes I don't even understand the english they're saying haha
We went back to the house, Jessica and I again took a nap, got back up for some food and repeated the night before, even going to the same club.
Monday was a holiday here so Brad, Nico, Jessica and I went into the center (basically like the shopping area or what have you) and ate breakfast. Milkshakes and pancakes. One of the most delicious breakfasts I've had here. Picked up some waters at the supermarket and headed to the beach again. More relaxing in the sun and then we went back to help clean up. Said goodbye to some of the boys earlier in the day so we were a few less...made some chorripan and when I refused another Agustin was convinced I didn't like it. I really do like chorripan but by this point I couldn't eat anymore meat. TOO MUCH. Didn't leave Carilo (which is actually the town where we were, like a ten minute drive from Pinamar though) until about 10PM though haha. This time we bummed a ride with Nacho and Agustin. Finally got home around 2:30 and CRASHHHED.
It was an absolutely incredible weekend. All of the boys were so nice, there was one or two I could have done without but out of 15 that's not bad. It was lovely to see nature and lovely to see another place in Argentina. Now I'm going to Rosario this weekend (also about 4 1/2 hours away from Bs As in another direction) because it's Agustin's birthday and he and all of his friends are from there so that's where the birthday party is at. This time I'm going to ride with them there and back and Agustin promised a tour of the city. They all gushed about how its a small, safer, more tranquil version of Bs As. Plus there's a huge monument there that's on the back of the ten peso bill, and that I studied in art class, that I really want to check out. I'm so freaking lucky to have made these friends; I spent a weekend at the beach and maybe spent 60 USD, the entire weekend, including transportation. Now that they are going to drive us and I have a place to stay in Rosario, I'll be spending even less and having an even more awesome time with natives to pall around with.
But to catch you up on Tues and Wednesday...Tuesday just slepted a bunch in an attempt to catch up on sleep. Wednesday (yesterday) I went to sushi with 8 other people and then wine club at Agustin's house. After Nico and Brad went to bed Agustin and I stayed up a while longer talking...at times a bit difficult (he can barely count to 10 in english haha) which reminded us about a comment his brother Sebastian had made this weekend. Why don't we all speak a universal language so that we can understand everyone no matter where we are or from? Wouldn't that be nice? Until then I'll just keep absorbing as many languages as possible and exploring the cultures that come along with 'em :)
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Tierra Santa
The resurrection, a view from that mountain on which the resurrection occurred, me by a sign reminding you to do your own parking here at Tierra Santa, and lastly, Jesus and I
PS: Marce if you're still following this, I just found and replied to your comment from a month ago!!!
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