Breaking News.

This past month has been a big one. Buenos Aires had a world theatre festival, I've started finishing up classes for the semester, I went to Mendoza (Wine Country) for the weekend, summer has finally arrived, and I've decided to study in Buenos Aires for another semester. That last one sort of snuck up on you, didn't it? It snuck up on me too! I'll get to that.

First- Mendoza. Last weekend I took a 14 hour bus ride (alone) to the city of Mendoza. My lovely friend Jenae (who you might recognize from other south of the border adventures such as El Salvador) is currently studying in Mendoza, so I went to visit her and stay with her host family. I had a great weekend visiting with Jenae, meeting her silly friends and host family, seeing a bit of the city, and of course a wine tour. Mendoza is much smaller than Buenos Aires, much cleaner, and much dryer, however, it is still definitely a city! There is the hustle and bustle of the city, but also some beautiful landscapes to go along with it. Another huge difference between the two cities is the Siesta. In Buenos Aires, the siesta really is not part of the daily life. I mean people take naps here and there, just like they might in the U.S., but in Mendoza, the town SHUTS DOWN every day during siesta. Around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, the streets turn into a ghost town. All the shops and restaurants close, and everyone goes home to have lunch and take a nice long nap. That is something I could get used to!

On Saturday, a few of us girls got up, took a bus out of the city of Mendoza, and went on our wine tour. This was not any old wine tour... we did it on bicycles. Now "tour" is an interesting way to describe this, because in reality we rented some bikes, got a map, and went on our merry way going somewhere between 10 and 15 kilometers total. We stopped at a couple of bodegas (wineries), toured the sites and tasted some wines. We also visited an olive oil factory, which wasn't incredibly interesting, but we did get to sample some delicious bread and oil, with other tasty treats like sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Don't worry, we didn't drink too much on the tours, I mean after all we knew that we had a couple of miles to bike home. The real tricky part of the ride home was riding with the bottles of wine that we bought at the bodegas, but we managed. The day was beautiful, the company was great, and the wine was tasty!

I had a wonderful and relaxing weekend away from Buenos Aires, ending with an excruciatingly long bus ride home. I usually take buses through the night, so I'm on the bus for a bit, I go to sleep, and then when I wake up the next morning I'm practically to my destination. Unfortunately, this was not possible, and I took the bus during the day, and I was also lucky enough to be on a bus that made so many stops that the ride home was over 18-hours. I'll remember not to do that again!

Right before I went to Mendoza, I had spoken to several people about how my Argentine adventure is already more than halfway over, and I'm continually sharing with people how much I truly adore this city. I said several times, I would love to stay longer, but it just isn't possible. Then I got to thinking.... of course it is possible! Living in another country is an incredible experience, and once I'm out of school, it won't be so easy to just pick and move my life across the world. So, I sent out a couple of e-mails to my university, and to my study abroad program, then made a couple of calls, and voila! I'm staying in Buenos Aires for another semester. Life is very different here, and it took some time to adjust to the every day activities and challenges that I'm faced with. Now I feel comfortable, I understand the city, and have even managed to make some friends. I can study, and learn, and really live here without feeling like I'm adjusting. I have time to dig deep, and really explore the place and the people, and I CAN'T WAIT.

The middle of December is the end of the school year here, so we are approaching summer vacation. I will have a couple of months off, so I will still be back in the U.S. for the holidays, then I will return for a little bit of break here, and start back up again with a fresh load of classes, and remain until July. If you thought about coming to visit, but never made it, you've got another chance!

I almost forgot to elaborate on the theatre festival. It was 2 weeks of shows all over Buenos Aires from all over the world. I saw something like 10 shows. I would have seen more, but one was cancelled, I didn't make it in time for another, and I went to the wrong place for another-- I didn't realize that the theatre was on Sarmiento Avenue, and I went to Sarmiento Street-- that was a dirty trick! Among the shows I saw, my favorite, called Hotel Splendid was a play written in English by and American Playwright about 4 Japanese women during World War II, translated in to Korean, and performed in Korean with Spanish subtitles. That sounds like a lot, but it was so incredibly well done, and so beautiful. I was so blown away by the show, that I came back to my apartment, Googled the play for more information, stumble across the playwright's website, and sent her an e-mail telling her just how wonderful it was. She was delighted to get feedback about it because with all those translations-- from English to Korean and then to Spanish, she was worried about the performance. I assured her that it was still incredible. She was so delighted with our contact that she even offered to mail me some of her other plays, so I can read them. As part of the festival, I also applied and was one of 10 people to be accepted to a lighting workshop given by a lighting designer from Prague. It was only one day, but it was an interesting a really great experience. I learned some things, got to play around a little, and even met a few students from Buenos Aires who are as interested in lighting design as I am.

So this month has been jam-packed! I look forward to sharing many more recaps of many more jam-packed months! Chau, for now!

Another month goes by....

Originally, I had planned to blog more often than once a month, but it seems that my life in Buenos Aires has been such that once a month is all I can manage. I'll try and do better, I really will.

Since last time, my life has continued on just the same. I've done lots of reading, and I can finally really feel my spanish improving. When I do find myself with some free time (or time when I should be doing homework, or maybe blogging) I go on a website and study spanish grammar. I've probably learned most of it once already, but it was so many years ago when I started at DU that I have forgotten a ton. I'm still taking my tango lessons, and swing dancing, but I have taken a little break with that because I got sick. The weather here still isn't great every day, but soon enough the cold days will be over!

This past weekend, I took a trip out of town with few friends, to the province of Córdoba, which is about a 10 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. We went to see the city, but most importantly, we went to Oktoberfest in Villa General Belgrano. We had a lot of fun, and of course drank plenty of beer. I'm sure that it was nothing like the real Oktoberfest, but still, great times were had by all.

The next morning, we got up BRIGHT AND EARLY (even after all that beer) to get on a bus for another 2 hours to go paragliding. After a ton of miscommunications with the guy that was supposed to take us, we found out that it was too windy to go. We were a little bummed because the city of La Cumbre is where the world cup of paragliding is held (whatever that means) it sounded pretty neat, and we definitely had our hopes up. Since we went all the was to La Cumbre, we decided to find another adventure to pass our time, and went horseback riding through the mountains for nearly 3 hours. When I say through the mountains, I really mean mountains. Our horses were climbing, and our 12-year-old guide Santiago had to tell us to lean all the way forward, and put our feet back so we didn't fall of the horses. It was beautiful and a little terrifying all at the same time. I didn't take many photos because most of the time I had one hand on the reins and the other hand was holding on for dear life. Everyone made it out alive, with only some mind sunburns to show, and eventually we made it back to Buenos Aires.

This week is another exciting week for me because it is the start of a world theatre festival. Because of my class schedule, I have only seen one show so far, but I have tickets for plenty more! Tomorrow, I'm going to see 2 more. One from Buenos Aires, and one from Mozambique. In the coming week, I will see one from Belgium, a couple from Uruguay, Korea, France, Mexico and more. I'm excited to see the shows, and also to discover more theatres around town. When I went to the first show, I picked up some flyers for future shows, so maybe I can find my way back there again. After I see some more shows, I'll update my blog again (maybe before another month has passed).

Well, I think that's about all the new news I have. Plus, I have some more reading I would like to get done tonight. I'll write back soon!

It's been a while.....

So it has been a while since my last blog.... a month to be exact. So, here I am trying to catch up a little. Shortly after my last post, I went to Iguazú Falls, the largest waterfalls in the world. I started a blog post about that, but got busy with school, and life and all that, and I never finished the post. I'll get back to that later, and post some more photos. Here's one, just to give you a little take of the beauty of it. I went for the weekend and it was a lot of fun. Again, let's save that for the next blog.

Since then, school has really got going. I'm taking 6 classes, but only have class on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Sounds perfect, but I have so much class during the day, that much of my time on Monday and Friday (and Saturday and Sunday too) must be spend reading. Once I get more accustomed to my schedule and reading in Spanish, etc, I will have more free time again. My six classes are the following: History of Tango, Spanish (which includes a TON of reading, and also studying Argentine Theatre a bit), Argentine Literature (also a ton of reading), Clown (yes exactly what it sounds like. I'm learning how to be a clown), figure drawing (drawing from a live model in class, and other stuff at home), and a theatrical painting class. The spanish class is with other students from the US studying abroad with the same program that I am on. The Tango class is with other foreign students, including a couple Brazilians, a German, a girl from Finland, one from Sweden, and a few others from the US. The other four classes are with Argentines, in a normal Argentine University. My classes are a good mix of lots of reading, but also a bunch of fun art. I only needed to take four classes, but I don't really have outside class work for Clown and Painting, so they are just for fun, without overloading me anymore. I'll have all sorts of fun art projects to bring home, and show and tell!

I've also started swing dancing here. There are not a ton of people that dance here (nothing like in Denver), but it seems like a great group of people, and a great way to make friends. I've gone dancing a few times, and was going to go to a class, but alas, my homework won that battle, and I stayed in. I shall continue to dance here, and I plan on getting back into it again when I get I get back to Denver.

I also take a weekly Tango class. I went to go register for it, and said it was full, and then I said please very nicely, and they let me it. Maybe they felt bad for the foreign girl, and let me in. That's fine with me! It is a lot of fun. There are way more women in the class than men, so a bunch of old men that already know how to dance really well come in, and dance with us, so we all have partners. That's especially fun! Sometimes it can be tricky when two people are dancing together, and both are struggling. When both people are new, and the dance isn't going well, sometimes it is hard to know if you are doing something wrong, or the person you are with. No matter what, it is still tons of fun!

After nearly two months here, living Judith, I FINALLY have some photos. She stays

around the house in her jammies or her curlers a lot, and I wouldn't dare take a photo of

her like that. She was all done up one night, and I asked her we could take photos, and she had to go put some lipstick one, and fix her hair first.

She also asked that I didn't get her feet in the photo because she wasn't wearing the right shoes. Or course I obliged! She's a classy lady! Beba, her best friend, was over too, so I set my camera up and took a photo of the three of us. I know Beba isn't looking at the camera, but she did that on purpose. I'm not sure why, but in all of the pictures I took, she posed looking away from the camera. This picture also displays (poorly) my new haircut. It is still longer than it seems in this photo. Those are just some of the layers that you see. I also got bangs, but they're just the kind that go to the side. Nothing too different, but now my hair is healthier and more lively. When my hair dries after the shower it looks curlier because of all the layers.

Judith is dressed so fancy in this photo because she bought that new blouse for a special event, and she was trying it on to show us. Her husband (who died in the late 80s) was one of the most famous comics in Argentina-- El Negro Olmedo-- Google him sometime if you're interested. There are even some sites in English.

Judith's son, Marcelo, wrote a book about El Negro, and this week was a big party celebrating the book, and El Negro. There was even a big article in the current issue Argentina's People Magazine (Gente) which has photos of El Negro, Marcelo, and Judith! I bought the magazine yesterday! I think it will be a neat thing to bring home and show everyone. Nearly every day for the past couple of weeks, Judith's son has been on either the radio, or TV doing some sort of interview, and when I'm home I watch them with Judith. It is very interesting, but also very emotional for Judith. It has been a really unique experience for me! Here is a photo of judith, and her cousin(?) on the night of the event. They got ready at our house, and even had a lady come and do their makeup.

All Over the City!

During this past week, I only had a few classes and meetings with the program, because orientation is just about over, and real classes are going to get started now. So, without much I HAD to do, I had plenty of time to see much more of the city. For several days, my friend Anshu, from DU theatre department was in BsAs, so we visited many tourist-y sights, and then I saw many more places on my own.

Here is Avenida 9 de Julio (the widest Avenue in the world) that

I mentioned earlier, which I have to cross quite often. The traffic here zips by, and the drivers do not wait for pedestrians. If there is a car coming, you better get out of the way! As you can see from the bottom of the photo, there are no shortage of taxis here, and though I usually take the bus or the subte (because they each cost about 30 cents a ride) if it is too late, to far, or I'm in a questionable neighborhood, I can always take a taxi home (which still rarely costs more than $5.

Though it looks strangely like the Washington Monument, this is the Obelisco, which is located in the huge intersection of Avenida 9 de Julio and Corrientes (which is the "Broadway" of BsAs). This giant landmark helps me to orient myself sometimes, when I feel a little out of sorts. Sometimes when I step out of a subte or something, it takes me a moment to realize exactly where this exit took me, and things like the Obelisco help. It also represents 4 big events in the history of BsAs. If you're interested... look it up!

These are some of the buildings in the neighborhood of La Boca. There is a very touristy area called la Caminito, where you

can hardly go a step without someone giving you a flyer and telling you that their restaurant is the best in the city. The buildings are neat, tin walls painted in vivid colors, but I was so overwhelmed by the ridiculous tango souvenirs, and being hassled by merchants, that much of the charm was lost for me. However, we did see this guy, and I don't know what he was all about, but it sure was silly!

The is one tiny row in a giant labyrinth of

ornate mausoleums in the Recoleta cemetery. Row after row, some spectacular and beautiful, while others are decrepit and forgotten. It seems that anyone who was anyone has a family plot in here, including Eva Perón (Evita) and her family La Familia Duarte. Though there are tourists all over this cemetery,

you can usually follow the crowd through the maze, straight to Evita's plot. I've been to this cemetery twice now, and I imagine I will be spending much more time here. I can't even explain how interesting (and a tad bit eerie) it is. Here is the door of one mausoleum, with broken glass, so you can really see right inside.

This Sunday, I spent the day wandering aimlessly, and stumbled upon some really neat things. First, I went to Parque Lezama, a park where there were locals selling things like tools and cheap clothes (similar to the Flea Market in NM), then as I moved further into the park, there were families everywhere (Sunday was El día de los Niños) some playing fútbol, and others eating at the picnic tables, and others just enjoying the day. Then I came across several tables, crowded with men entertained by a friendly game of chess.

Also in the park was a Brazilian Capoeira group. Capoeira is a sort of mix between dance and martial arts, and is often accompanied by musicians. The group didn't want people to take pictures, but since I have a super zoom on my camera, I snuck a photo from across the park!

After I finally left the park, I ran into some sort of parade. I have no idea what it was for, but there were small bonfires surrounded by drums, tons of drummers and dancers in the street, flags in the air, and a lot of happy people. As I continued down the street past the parade, on my journey with no known destination, I came across a band playing on

the street, and I absolutely loved them. I was going to drop a few pesos into their suitcase, but then when I saw a girl selling their CDs, I thought that was an even better way to support them (and I got more out of it too!) I stood and watched for quite some time, and got a flyer about shows this week, and if I have the chance, I'll try and catch them again!

Well, this blogging can take a lot out of a person, so I'm all done for the day. Tomorrow I start some of my real classes, so hopefully my blogging won't become even more infrequent. Chau!

Settling in to Big City Living

This weekend I had a great time doing some more exploring, and taking in some of the art that Buenos Aires has to offer. On Thursday night, I went to the play that I mentioned last time. It was pretty good, but I know I missed a lot of things because of the language. They spoke very very fast, and over each other, and I'm sure they used some slang and other words that I've never heard, but despite all that, I got the gist, and usually knew what was going on.

On Friday night, I went with a group of friends on an Art Walk. They have a very similar thing in Denver, where on one night all the galleries open, and there was some Champagne, and many of the artists were in the gallery. We only went to a few galleries because it seemed like many weren't open. Certain places in the city are still closed down because of Gripe 'A' (swine flu), so we hope to venture out to this again sometime.

On Saturday, I went exploring the city by myself. I went to Argentina's version of the White House, which for them is the Pink House (Casa Rosada). When I took out my camera to take a photos, the screen flashed "Battery Exhausted", so still I have no pictures to share. I walked across the widest avenue in the world, Avenida 9 de Julio, which included either 3 or 4 medians. I only got about half way across, then I had to wait for the traffic lights to cycle through again so I could finish. Eventually, I stopped for lunch in the theatre district, where i ate pumpkin ravioli, garlic butter and bread, a glass of wine, and limoncello for all under US$5. I could have had dessert, a side dish, and meat instead of pasta for another US$1.50, but it didn't seem necessary.

I went home, quickly changed my clothes, then hopped in taxi for my very first Tango lesson. It moved very quickly, and sometimes I didn't understand the words, when they would explain something, but everyone was very helpful, and I hope to make this a regular event. I stayed for a short time after the lesson, and enjoyed some coffee, while I watched the advanced dancers practice. It was very inspiring.

Today, I enjoyed a rather tourist-y day in Buenos Aires. I met some friends at the famous and very beautiful cemetery where Eva Perón and other famous Argentines are buried. It is a labyrinth of tombs, where stray cats weaving around or basking in the sun.

In the same plaza as the cemetery, there was also a huge artisan market that takes place every sunday. There were so many wonderful things, and I did buy a few, but I continually reminded myself that I'll be here for 4 1/2 for months, so I'm sure I'll see a million beautiful things. At the artisan market, there was a huge puppet show going on, people doing acrobatics/trapeze work from the trees, I saw a mime, and some hilarious clowns. As the weather warms up, this will start to be more common in the streets, and I can't wait!

That about wraps up the weekend, but I'll write again soon!

Getting in the swing of things

I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting for this update.  Since I've been here, I have spent a lot of time getting adjusted to a change in schedule, and getting back in to the swing of school.  Argentines are night owls (to say the least)!  We don't usually eat dinner until 9:30 at the earliest, and often 10 or 10:30 pm.  A side note-- they operate on a 24 hour clock, so we usually eat at about 22:00.  Even though we stay up late, we still get up bright and early.  I have to be to class at 9:00, but I have to get up with plenty of time to get ready, make coffee and breakfast (People don't eat on the run here.  I sit and enjoy my breakfast every morning), then I have to take either the bus or the Subte (stands for Subterreano, or their Subway) which takes at least a half an hour.  I'm used to rolling out of bed at 3:45 in the morning, barely opening my eyes, throwing on some clothes, and going to work.  When in Rome......

This week in orientation, we have been taking Spanish classes, learning about the city of Buenos Aires, the public transportation, the dangerous area of town, learning about families here, students, classes, safety, history of Argentina, and anything else they can pack in.  Everything we do here is in spanish-- every lecture, every conversation, spanish class-- EVERYTHING.  I still don't speak in Spanish a whole, except to my host mother, and her friends  (by the way, her friend's name I Beba).  My level of understanding is skyrocketing, but I still have a lot of work to do with my speaking.  Every night (since real classes with homework haven't started yet) I try to study my Spanish grammar.  I haven't taken a grammar class since I was in school the first time, and I'm a little rusty, so I'm putting in some extra time.

This week, I also got sick.  I don't have a fever, so it is probably not the Swine Flu (though at least one student and maybe two in our program do have Swine Flu), but I've had a bad cough, and congestion in my chest.  Judith is wonderful, and is taking good care of me.  She makes sure that I take this gross medicine syrup, eat soup and drink tea, and bundle up whenever I go out.  It is the middle of winter here, and though it wasn't nearly as cold when I was monitoring the weather from Denver, it sure is cold now!  Luckily I love scarves so much, because I brought all sorts.  Besides the cold, the air is pretty polluted here (I doubt they have emissions regulations like we do) and people are always smoking everywhere.  This could also be part of the cause for my irritated respiratory system.  I imagine I'll be all better in the next few days.

After class each day, I walk home (it is about a 45 minute walk home without stops), and sometimes I stop at shops, or take a detour through another neighborhood.  I haven't explored many of the tourist sights yet, but I have plans for the weekend.  Throughout the semester, the program offers group activities for some of the students, and tomorrow (Thursday) is the first one.  There are approximately 120 American students in this program, and there were 9 spots to go see a show in a theatre.  There was an online registration that opened this morning at 11, and only the first 9 to register, get to go.  I bet you can't guess who the first person to register was!  Well, I'll save you the trouble.  It was me!  Then, the next 3 to register were friends of mine, and then in moments, it was full.  So tomorrow, I'm going to go see the play Fat Pig by American playwright Neil LaBute (Lucky, eh Jeanette?!).  Obviously, it is translated into spanish.

After I see it, I'll report back!  However, for now, I must go to do my nightly Spanish grammar studying.  I thought I had better update this thing before my mom started a riot or something :)

Until next time.  Hasta Luego!  And remember, you can leave me comments or questions on here, if you're just dying to know something!  I'll get some more photos up soon, particularly photos of Judith and Beba!

Bienvenidos/as a Buenos Aires

I arrived safely in Buenos Aires (BsAs) yesterday, and made it through my first day of orientation today.  Now that I'm in this for keeps, here comes the blog!  Who knows how often I will blog, but I'll do the best I can to keep you updated!

Everyone wants to know where I live, and how my host family is.  Well I live in a nice area that my cab driver called El Barrio Norte, and one map showed it as Recoleta, and another as Alto Palermo.  So, I think I live in one of those places.  Don't quote me on that!  I live in an apartment with a wonderful 82-year-old woman Señora Judith.  My Señora is so sweet, and so full of energy.  I would have guessed late 60s.  Her friend, whose name I can't seem to catch (give me a break, Argentines have a very different accent, and these ladies are in their 80s) seems to spend a lot of time with Señora Judith.  Judith is so sweet, and her friend is pretty sassy and hilarious.  At dinner tonight, we had cuadríl, a type of beef, and I said I was full, and there was one piece left.  Señora Judith asked if I wanted it, and I replied that I was full, and her friend said <<¡Come!>>, which is the command form for "Eat!".  So, I ate it.  Then she laughed and said, now I have TWO mothers here.

Here is my bedroom.  Nora made my bed today (after I already did it).  She cleans the house once a week.  

Here's the living room.  Right out those curtains is a balcony, that is quite nice.

The kitchen, obviamente.

The washer (no dryer included)

Oh, that must be the key to the treasure chest!  Actually the front door.