She makes me look good! (Katy's photos from our day in Beccar)

Check out these photos from Katy...
I think she's especially talented with portraits, capturing how people interact with their environment. I hate getting my picture taken, but she always manages to get some good shots regardless.

Now go to her website and look at her online portfolio!  MonocularSpectacular.com

Vamos!

If you ask Argentines about Mar del Plata, chances are you'll get a response along the lines of, "Oh yeah, it's nice... but it's not for me." They'll tell you to go to Uruguay, Ushuaia, or Iguazu instead. They'll tell you to go to Cordoba, where there's sierras y piedras y rios (small mountains, rocks, and rivers).

Well, Katy and I do things backwards.

For Carnaval, I had two days off from work! Katy and I wanted to go to Cordoba. We had offers of places to stay and recommendations of places to go-- we had basically everything... except tickets.

Because of the long weekend, tickets went fast. Due to our poor planning and even worse communication, at the last minute we had to accept the fact that we couldn't go.

After the initial disappointment, we decided to make the most of it. Oh well, we thought. There's plenty to do in Buenos Aires-- we'll just have a home-away-from-home-cation here.

Friday night, Katy came over. We made dinner, she slept over, and we slept in. In the late morning, we went to yoga at that same gym (the prof showed up this time), then to lunch.

Afterwards, we headed to a museum in my neighborhood: the historical home of Argentine literary figure and women's rights activisit Victoria Ocampo.

Make way for the goose train...

SUR, Victoria Ocampo's Literary Review Magazine

A glimpse of her bookshelf <3

The tour was informative and well-paced. I learned so much about the architecturally-eclectic house used as a literary meeting place for famous figures including Ghandi and hundreds of others. I also got to practice my translation skills. Plus we had perfect weather!

On the balcony outside Victoria's bedroom.

The meeting room.

The back entrance, facing the river.

Washed out from so much sun!

On the walk back, we got to talking. We had plans to go to Outdoor Salsa Night with my friend Alyssa and had talked about spending the night downtown in a hostel. But we wanted more.

I really had been looking forward to getting away for a short vacation... Away from the house, away from work, away from Buenos Aires.

At last, we decided we had to go somewhere.

Once we got back to the house, I started cooking dinner while Katy researched online.

The only place with bus tickets left to a place I hadn't been was Mar del Plata. Mar del Plata is Argentina's 7th biggest city located completely on the coastline.




I'd heard less-than-raving reviews but still, I wanted to see for myself.

We clicked confirm. We booked the tickets ida y vuelta (there and back) as well as our hostel in the one hostel left. 

Then we scarfed our dinner, grabbed our bags, and headed downtown. A man on the bus pet Katy's stuffed puppydog Twix and another man solved a rubrix cube next to me... with just his left hand! With his right he held his phone with a rubrix cube timer App. His best time was just under 40 seconds. It was a long, back-breaking bus ride, but certainly entertaining!

Meanwhile Alyssa waited at the hostel to meet us... in total she waited two hours! Since we'd missed the Salsa night in Puerto Madero, the three of us went for a drink down the street where Alyssa's friend met us.

Katy started to fall asleep at the table. That was the sign to go home and get our 4 hours of sleep before getting up for our 8:00am bus...

Que lo cumplas feliz! Golden Birthday Weekend

This year I turned 23 on February 23rd! My golden birthday... What a treat to spend it in Argentina!

It was my second birthday in Buenos Aires... how cool is that? And it really was golden. I felt beyond blessed to the point of spoiled and enjoyed every minute of that feeling.

On Friday, I left school early during my planning periods (I was really sick), came home and napped, then rallied and popped some OTC pills before going out for my birthday dinner on the terrace of a delicious Thai restaurant with REAL spicy food! An anomaly in Argentina...

We had a total of 12 people! Afterwards, a group of us went dancing until 7 in the morning.

Saturday, Katy came to the train station in Beccar. We walked to San Isidro, went for icecream and then made dinner together.

That night, a friend of my ex-host mom Vale picked us up and we went to Vale and Marce's tango party! Think: garden, rustic chairs, drinks, live music, a pizza buffet, and lots of tango. It was incredible! Despite my hoarse throat and Katy's \limited Spanish, we were able to enjoy the party and meet some awesome people.

Beautiful people, inside, out, and all around.

AGELESS

new friend! Marce's new Flacso student

Tango Dancing on the terrace at the stroke of midnight

The best part was they'd made up two twin beds for us! So we got to sleep over instead of worrying about how to travel home.

In the morning we traveled back to Katy's hostel, exchanging some dollars for pesos on the way on Calle Florída and walking through the fería on Defensa. It was nice to see la Plaza de Mayo and made me pretty nostalgic.

Side note, the pants at the fair were so cute and tempting! They're the long version of the shorts I bought two years ago. I remember trying to barter 25 pesos down to 20 back then... now they're sold for $120!

When I made it home in the afternoon, the day of my actual birthday, Vero and the girls started singing Happy Birthday, first in English, then in Spanish. They'd made me a gluten-free cake!! With candles saying "23" and three hearts-- one decorated from each of them! One of the best tasting cakes I've ever had actually...

We ate it after swimming and lounging in bathing suits by the backyard pool.

The rest of the day I talked on Skype and Facebook with friends and family. I opened many cards, read messages, etc. Crystal and Eric even recorded a song for me to listen to when I'm homesick (all the time...). All in all I felt very loved.

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!

Photo time!

All but the last two are taken in beccar... The last two in la capital. 

The dreaded wake-up-late-for-work day

I knew it would come. The day when I open my eyes and, in disbelief, see 7:56 am glaring on the screen.

It happened today. March 5th, a Wednesday, the first day back after the long weekend. Coincidentally, it was the morning after sleeping 6 hours total over the course of two nights...(I'd barely slept on vacation, choosing night swims and reading over sleep and when I got back last night, I had to lesson plan). In other words, nobody to blame but myself. I hadn't taken my iPod off of mute... my alarm had been silently sounding for an hour and a half!

I woke up to the sound of Vero's car leaving. This happened to be the day we have our teacher's meeting. It also happened to be the day I needed a shower and to print my math activity for the first class of the day.

By 8:05 I was out the door-- my hair in a braid, a sunburn on my skin, and running for the avenue. I calculated quickly: it takes 25 minutes walking fast, 15 minutes running in proper gear, and would take about 5 minutes by taxi. I decided to run until I saw one, reaching into my bag and crumpling some cash in my fist to be ready.

Problem is, I forgot it's not downtown; Taxis only come if you call them. Alternating between prayer and self-reproach, I raced down Avenida del Libertador with my bus bag slapping against my side.

A car passed me with flashing lights and I had a thought-- but before I could even voice it to myself, it passed.

Then, a few blocks ahead, I saw that same car with flashing lights pulled up on the curb. Unsure what kind of company it was, I approached the open window and saw the police uniforms. I asked if the two men inside knew the number of a taxi.

Despite my obvious rush, they wanted to chat. They asked me what the hurry was, how long I'd been in Argentina, chatty chatty Cathy's. I told them either I need a number or I have to keep running. They got a kick out of my nerves running wild. Finally, they said okay, get in. On the way, they grilled me conversationally and the driver said, "Cualquier cosa sos mi prima..." ("whatever happens, you're my cousin...")

So I got a ride to work from the police!

Much to the surprise of the parents of one of my students who were standing outside the building... By the end of the day, it seems the story spread through the whole school.

A strange answer to prayer, but definitely a blessing that I made it on time to print and be ready for my students. Additionally, the principal brought me yogurt for breakfast and Candy, the ESL teacher had made me lunch the night before! I love these people!!

Good things come on airplanes

Good things come on airplanes... like backpacks and cameras and my friend Katy!

Katy is one of my best friends from Hope College. She's got a heart for social justice and an eye for photography, along with a minimalist mentality and the courage to go after what she wants in life.

As a recent Biology/photography grad, she's starting her "adult life" by finding out what the world has to offer. The idea is to find and broadcast nonprofit organizations that are changing the world in small but meaningful ways. On a very humble budget and with just a backpack and camera bag, she began her 8 month Around the World #southforaseason trip-- starting in Argentina! She landed in Buenos Aires on February 17th.

The two of us had talked last year about doing the trip together-- she'd take the pictures, I'd write the blog-- but unfortunately, I had to back out. That being said, I still get to be part of it! Once I accepted the job here, Katy switched her first stop from Brazil to Buenos Aires!

Though I don't have a home base to welcome her into, I do have a kitchen and free time on the weekends for meals together. I'd love for her to stay with me! But I'm thinking it's better this way-- she can meet Argentines and really get to know the culture firsthand. So far, she's had some extremely hospitable hosts via couchsurfing and missionary contacts, so I'm sure she'll be all set...


(Katy's first couchsurfing hosts-- new friends instantly!)

If you're interested and want a more direct line into her adventures, check out her blogs here and here, as well as her instagram and photography website.

Ode to Al Campo

Fresh produce in bulk a week's
worth for less than a hamburger
on the street. Five mushy tomatoes
to every good, two dirty potatoes
for half the washed. Carts with grime-
cemented wheels putter beside strangers
in the aisle. One hands me a plastic bag
out of reach. Cashier delights in my awe:
today I can afford to be full all week.


--

The other expat teachers turned me onto a fresh grocery store that's well worth the 25 min walk there and the crammed bus ride back from San Isidro. To put things in context, my after-church lunch the other day in Bajo San Isidro cost 90 pesos for a breadless hamburger and mineral water. At Al Campo, I got all my fruits, meat, and veggies for just under 85 pesos!

Let's just say I'm one happy Al Camp-er...