San Telmo

Today was a free day! I didn’t do much for a while, but I got to skype with 3 people and chatted with a bunch of others so that was good. Also, I went to San Telmo with Ben, Missy, Annie, Melissa, and Addie and we met up with Megan and Rachael for a while too. San Telmo is very pretty! In the main square there’s a bunch of street vendors, which makes it a bit touristy, but still fun. We saw a tango performance in that square too. Then Ben Annie Missy and I ate pizza and drank Mascato.. so delicious!

On the way back, we went to Abasto which has a huge shopping mall. I bought my phone, but I think they ripped me off because 1. it says on the receipt that it cost $160 and I definitely paid $200. Also, I have $20 of credit on there, but can’t make/receive calls or messages. Tomorrow I have to go back and explain to them what happened and try to get them to fix it. Vale said to take someone from FLACSO with me and if not, to tell her and she’ll go with me. It’s raining pretty hard right now… Earlier I was so hot I put my swimsuit on and went up on the terrace to do some yoga in the rain.. it was so refreshing! (But it sounds so cheesy, I know.)
Well, I’m off to bed! Gotta be at FLACSO sometime in the morning (I should probably check that.)

... continued

(2/27)
Right now I’m writing this in my notebook upstairs on la terraza while Vale does some planting and chores.

She put up the umbrella for me because soy “tan blanca y el sol es tan fuerte”. Proteccion del sol is the first thing on my shopping list, so that I can soak up as much sun as posible.
Last night, we all (some of the 80+ FLACSO students) frantically planned (by way of the facebook group I made before leaving) where to meet for our first night out. It was also Missy’s birthday! Public transportation is very well-run in Bs As but the problem is it’s a holiday weekend. Entonces. I don’t have monedas (coins) for the bus and can’t buy una tarjeta de viaje until Tuesday. I planned on taking the subte to meet 3 people at FLACSO until I realized that it had closed at 10:30. I rushed back to my computer and Jake was still on so I told him I was gonna walk (~30mins). It was raining so I had to wear a coat with my hood up. I reassured myself it was safe and not to worry myself. However, when I opened the door, all I could see in the dark was the hand of a man gripping the building wall. I immediately closed the door as fast as I could, waiting a second, and reopened it with the key. The hand was gone. The man was not, but he was sitting on the step and it was a lot less alarming. I walked past with my best impression of a city girl who don’t give a mierda. The whole walk I kept my gaze straight and my ears open, paying attention to everthing—every noise, shadow, dog poop puddle—everything but the street signs apparently. The walk was straight forward: follow Av. Jujuy until it becomes Puerrymedon and eventually crosses w Av. Corrientes. When I finally looked at my watch, I realized I’d been walking for an hour! I looked at my handy guia T and saw that I was way past my spot! By that time I could’ve walked to Palermo but I knew that Missy Taylor and jake were waiting. And I’m so glad they were! Jake lead us to the right colectivo and Missy covered my moneda fee.


Mas tarde… Marcelo came over with the boy he’s hosting, Clay, in the middle of the day.

Clay and I talked a bunch (him in Spanish, me in espanglish) and then decided to go to the pharmacy to buy sunscreen. I also got shampoo and soap. What should have taken 5 minutes took me about half an hour because there are so many choices… but we walked around the neighborhood for a while before returning en casa to eat birthday lunch! We invited Alyssa over too, so the 5 of us ate while Astor kept trying to steal some or at least grab our attention by knocking over the books off the shelf. Marcelo took care of that by shutting him in el bano, while Vale returned Astor’s cries with her own “pobrecito.. es chiquito!” After, they sang happy birthday to me and we ate the cake. It was an orange cake with lemon icing.. so yummy!

After that we changed for el partido de futbol! My first soccer game in Argentina! The game started at 7 and we each wore a club shirt.

Velez played and Velez gano! It was so fun. But it made me want to be native Argentine so bad! I felt like a poser, but found myself joining in the songs that they yell throughout the game. One of my favorite experiences so far. At night I wandered around our barrio for a while, bought a grapefruit juice (jugo de pomelo) and drank it with a straw while scoping out the places and the people.

la gringa, la yankee

-"Since there are so many portenos with light skin like me, can you tell the difference?"
-"Oh yes, very easily. Because you have 'gringa' stamped on your forehead."
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Today I botched my examen oral. First of all, I was late (I blame Vale for that since the two of us hung out all morning muy tranquilada). I didn't think it would matter-- FLACSO told us to accustom ourselves to el tiempo latinoamericano, but apparently that means be patient for others, on time yourself. Anyways, my exam proctor was not amused. I was a little flustered when she didn't return my light humor with any friendly facial expression. But I had no time as we got right down to business.. which consisted of her asking me some simple questios about my expectivas de las clases gramaticas de Flacso, and me looking like a stunned bunny, but a little less cute. Not because I couldn't understand or couldn't speak in Spanish, but because I honestly don't have many specifics in mind. I tried explaining that I want to improve, by whatever means they think work best. When she wrote down my "no se" in the response box next to my name, that's when I lost all trail of could-be thoughts in my brain. I ended up mumble-jumbling in some new language (a mix between Espanglish and gato) that I want to learn the vos form and that I don't want to do grammar worksheets because in the States I get As but I'm not an A student in Spanish. All she said to that was to correct my "AY" to "AH". I'm just hoping that this way I'll get a lighter studyload so I have more time to wander the city during the semester, but it may mean that I've gotta work extra hard and take more classes to catch up or that I waste a semester taking all language classes that won't transfer for credit. Anyways, after that we had a workshop on safey tips then split up into our groups for una guia caminando. The tour guide was awesome and interesting but I couldn't hold my attention to her because it was mid afternoon and sunny. We went to Puerto Madero and among other sites, saw La Casa Rosada y La Plaza de Mayo.
After the guide finished, we were told that we were "libres" to do whatever we wanted. We all kinda stood there like "uh...how do we get back?" since we initially took the subte to the last stop somwhere befor beginning the tour. It actually was really fun getting back! We first stopped at a cart and some people got food, some got beer, and one(me) got both from their leftovers. After that, We each tried to find our respective subte lineas y estacciones. Alyssa and I had a great adventure finding our way back to our neighborhood. At one point we charged off the subte at the last second, tossing "chau chau!" over our shoulders to our small friend group who had no idea what we were doing. And apparently neither did we, as we realized that WAS the one we wanted as it sped away. On the next subte, I struck up a convo about how "es siempre verano el el subte" con una viaja (a woman was fanning herself from the subte heat). But that leads me to one of my favorite things about Bs As so far-- very similar to Portland Maine it seems, but I think more pronounced-- strangers mind their own business. They have their own things to do, places to go, people to meet. but in many you can sense the curiosity in their eyes, even in the ones who dont openly stare at us gringos. And if you make the least attempt to address anyone in spanish, they light up like the sun. I love everyone I've met here, including the few strangers like my neighbor on the plane. So far no one's been direct enough to come out of nowhere and say something (not including the barachos y "chicos feos" as Vale calls the men on the street who call out), but they are very open. Another example: I took my taxi alone last night from Palermo (~42 pesos in case you were wondering) and the driver didn't say much. Not until I rolled down my window and commented typically how nice the weather was. He agreed with me, and 10 minutes later, we were in the middle of a good conversation all about my studying here. He confessed he was surprised I could understand so much! It's small talk I guess, but it feels different. They've been super patient and wicked gracious so far when I tell them I can't understand. They haven't shown any frustration. They simply repeat it slower or find a different way to describe it.
In the morning, Vale took me on her own walking tour around el barrio, showing me the stores she likes, the ones she doesnt, the 24 hr guarded ATM, etc. to orient me. Te hospitality is so striking because it's not at all nervous or silly or spastic, if that makes any sense. To me, it seems like the portrayal of hospitality is subservient and a little hyper. But it's not that way here. The people are confident and calm, and they transfer those ondas (vibes) to their guests.

... to be continued

2/24

After breakfast I had my first independent travel-- one whole street and 3 blocks away! haha. Impressive, I know. Megan and I came down from our room to the hotel staff informing us that "todos salieron." Luckily, my mom had written the address to Flacso on my luggage tickets and I'd memorized it in the airport and from walking yesterday knew that Ayacucho was just the next street over. Otherwise we would've missed the ejercicio de besos (learning the art of Argentine greetings). We had a bunch of workshops today that were pretty helpful. I learned the differences among subte, colectivo, taxi, y tren. In the housing workshop, I asked what form to use with my host mom, seeing as I didn't know her age. Meli answered that there is never a situation formal enough to use usted, not even with the president, and vosotros legally takes the place of tu. Pretty great, except for the fact that none of us have ever learned vos in school! But at least this way, once I get it, I'll use it for everyone. Yay for simplicity!
After packing and attempting to buy una tarjeta de viaje (swipe card for subte y colectivo) twice, I was picked up by my family! So exciting! Her name is Valeria and I call her Vale. She's just perfect and so is the house-- perfect example of Argentine elegance and excellence. We took a cab to her apartment, talking the whole way over, where we then lugged my suitcases up the stairs to the apartment. The first floor is very open with wood floors and deep brown furniture and a tiny kitchen and a bathroom. Upstairs is her room and my room which is just adorable-- window, big armoire that magically fits all my clothes, a little desk, and a bed that my suitcases fit under.

Astor the cat is so pretty-- muy flaco y amable.

My favorite place in the house is the terrace above our floor.

I could tell that Vale is experienced with housing students, because she immediately told me to ask her a thousand times to repeat whatever she says until I understand. She also had evertyhing set up for me, including space in the shower rack and an ethernet cord on my desk.

tengo que irme de repento!

dozing in Hotel Lyon (from yesterday)

Today is my 21st birthday! So excited to spend it in Bs As. I already feel like I could live here for a long time.. but my feet would have to toughen up, that's for sure. I've been here a couple hours and already am losing the skin off my feet at the same rate as I stripped off my jackets in the airport after landing. Missy, Melissa, Addy, and I (after changing out of long sleeves and pants) decided to walk around to find lunch. We wandered into a bodega to buy fruit and chose 4 bananas, 4 ciruelas (plums), and a big bunch of uvas (grapes). While walking, we ate some fruit amist the continual double-takes and slightly-subtle coaxes from men of all ages. I know we stick out like sore thumbs, what with mix of blinding white skin and foreign hair colors.-- not to mention that I was walking with only my toes jammed into Addy's 2-sizes too-small flats with my red blistered heels hanging off the backs. But anyways, we all agree that the attention is a definite ego-boost regardless. We took turns choosing directions at each street, and ended up at this perfect plaza. Exactly what I've been hoping for. Perfect weather with warm air that smells and sweeps crisp across our pinking skin.

Today does not feel like a day. It feels like 3 weeks and an hour all at once.

Earlier...
“Hace mucho tiempo que no he visto verde” (It's been a while since I've seen green)
Mis primeras palabras en Argentina. And how green and beautiful Buenos Aires is!
Backtrack to the beginning of the day, I woke up at 7:30am with enough time to organize and clean my room, have breakfast with Emy and my nieces, and play piano once more. My parents drove me to Logan and we got there with plenty of time to sit and relax for a while together. After saying our goodbyes, I headed through security and to my gate, and almost missed my flight to Atlanta! In Atlanta I met Missy at our gate, and shortly after, another girl (Melissa) with our group joined us. Before boarding, the three of us got dinner for the plane.

I’m writing this first post in Argentinia from Hotel Lyon. We are staying here one night. Everything has been going great.
My flight landed at 8 in the morning, went through customs, and waited…
On the way to the hotel we enjoyed a sleepy-sunny bus ride, while observing the sporadic cars parked on the side of the road in the green grass—passengers out of the cars, men shirtless, all basking in the sun.
First things first, we each were handed a roomkey. 303 was mine. The old-fashioned elevator was just big enough to fit me, my large suitcase, my medium suitcase, my small suitcase, Missy, her backpack, and her large suitcase. We reached the 3rd floor, but then came the keys. I cannot explain how confusing and difficult these locks were. After trying for about half an hour, one of the other students went down to the front desk to ask how to open the doors. From his report, they looked at him like he was crazy and said to turn the key. Well duh, right? Long story short, because I'm going to nap right now before our welcome dinner, Argentines have skills I never knew could exist. Each door has its own little trick.. we haven't found ours yet. So up until this point, the maid has opened the door and we're leaving a glass ashtray in the frame.

I am taking a 20 minute nap and then showering before dinner! chau. I will post this once I have 1. brain functioning and 2. internet

apologies for this incredibly scattered post... it will happen probably every time :]

me voy!

I'm off to Logan Airport!

Final Week!

Today (Wednesday) was the One Week mark until I leave. So unreal. I know time's been extended and in some ways the purposelessness has gotten to me. But as prescribed for any amount of down-time, when the break is almost over, my reaction is naturally: "already?!" It'll certainly be hard to leave my Mainers for 5 months, but it's also nothing new. Going away always makes you appreciate the place and people you're leaving, but it allows you to make new homes in different places. Hope College, you taught me well. I remember as a summer-breaking highschool grad I hoped that Hope would someday be a place to miss and to get excited about. I didn't just want to be surrounded by buildings and the first/only sea of students-my-age I'd ever laid eyes on. I can pretty confidently state that the 17.5 hr drives, the plane trips, the hassle of storage, the nerve-wracking first cafeteria experiences, and not to mention the tuition/room&board costs have been vindicated with the sole sense of feeling at-home there. Yay for good choices as a senior!

Anyways, today was great! This morning I met my strawberry boss/good family friend at the Buzz for breakfast. It was a good send-off and such a treat to catch up, as I won't be able to exchange stories in-between-customers this summer. This will be my first year missing strawberry season since I started working at the pick-your-own 6 years ago. I won't get back till end of July, which means I'll have to resort to my mother's pick-and-freeze method for my fill of fresh berries, smoothies, strawberry pizza, sorbet, and strawberry-rhubarb pies throughout August.
Timing worked out perfectly to head over for my last piano lesson. I debated cancelling, as I only played a total of 2 times (5 mins each?) this week, but I'm really glad I didn't. It's been so nice reconnecting with Miss Gould. She had mini apple pies baking during the lesson, during which I played the 3 songs I learned in the past couple weeks. I learned Poem by Fibich, Prelude in C maj by Bach, and Melodie by Massanet. Not the most difficult I've done but I'm pretty satisfied! We talked for the rest of the hour and she gave me a ring of hers!

After sharing a mini-pie and packing up 2 to take home, I then went into Portland to do some errands. My camera still isn't repaired, but should be fixed in 2 days. I bought a gift for my host family today at Edgecomb Pottery that I'm excited about.. I literally had about 20 different pieces with different glazes sprawled out across their floor and stayed in there until my mom finished her hair appointment and could help me decide. Then I went into CIEE and met Claire (program leader of Buenos Aires) to talk about my difficulty joining the Live Meeting Online Pre-departure Orientation yesterday. I'm lucky I live so close to the main(e) [<-- pun] office! I then had a nice day of mending a haircut and making HEARTY HUEVOS. Then went to see Chronicle in theaters.. which I thought had a lot of potential, but like most movies, didn't reach it. Still fun though! Later I watched Take Shelter, which I liked but made me feel schizophrenic. etc. etc. I'm being too detailed and wasting time. It's almost the witching hour >_<

Yesterday for Valentine's I celebrated with packing (TOO MANY decisions) and errands. But I had good fam-time and I doled out the doily valentines I made with Stacie the night before :]

Yippyay! Tomorrow Emy arrives! My mom and I are going to pick her up in Boston in the evening and then head to Connecticut to visit with grandparents which will be really nice to see them again before leaving. I'll be back Friday night so I'll have then until Tuesday night to get everything else ready and spend as much time as possible with everyone! And Scott's coming this week too! So excited to have all the siblings around.

Guess I should go to bed since it is 2:59 AM.. yikes I need a life.

ps. I am already so grateful for the hospitality in Argentina.. my contacts have been so kind and eager to help with information.. it's pretty amazing!
ps#2 (the only important part of this post): please be praying for the friend of a friend, 20 yr old girl in Florida accidentally shot in the head a couple days ago. The highest concern right now is about brain-swelling.

2 weeks

^ can't say 2 weeks without singing this song.

So there are 14 days until I leave. This fact flip-flops in my brain between panic and pure excitement, but I think it lands most consistently on content acceptance. It's been a long wait with a lot of time to think, which accounts for the nervous feelings. With anticipation comes a significant strain of apprehension. But I am anxious to get shock-jumped into my new life!

Home has maintained that nourishing pace. I'm thankful for so much time with my family-- especially with my adorable nieces who add daily excitement and parenting-practice. I've decided that for now, and for many years to come, I enjoy being the aunt and not the mother. Today we played donkey rides and farmer's (ellie) big fat pig (me) & baby pig (fiona).
I've also really enjoyed being able to see my few close friends and my DPD on a very regular basis. I miss them so much when I'm at Hope, so I'm glad to make up for that now.

My Argentina-excitement of the week has been slowly tying off the loose ends of preparation. Got some traveler's checks, etc. etc. Aka my parents have been great about helping me list and check off what I need to do before I go. Another reason it'll be quite a shock leaving... (you mean I actually have to think of things myself?!) But yeah, it's been nice. I checked out 56,000 books from the interloan library about Argentina and I've read chapters here, back covers there, even a few short stories in Spanish. I also got in touch with a new contact in Argentina who's given me a list of places to visit, as well as reconnected with one of the first persons I talked to about study abroad. She gave me packing tips and a bunch of first-hand advice.
Also, the other night (early morning) I got the urge to half-pack my clothes. I'd post a picture but it's too embarrassing how hurricane-esque my room looks.

In other news, I wish my puppy could travel with me and be my roommate.

I have piano early in the morning so I should sleep, although I'm too pumped up from all this counting-down talk and from chatting on facebook with college insomniacs. This post was just a poor attempt at appearing productive... haha I realized while talking to Emily that I forgot what it feels like to get work done. I think I'll be reminded much too soon.

Chau.

ps. Emy comes in a week! We're celebrating our birthdays early. ^_^