On our balcony at Lugabe

I can’t believe it’s the last day! Yesterday we had a fabulous dinner at a Brazillian restaurant in Puerto Madero with a view of the very modern bridge in Buenos Aires. I thought I’d eaten meat, but oh no, THIS was meat. There was a beautiful salad bar that included pasta and sushi. After finishing the salad course, we flipped over our red spot cards to the green side, and suddenly five men with trays of meat and giant knives appeared at our table. Yum. I have no idea what I ate, but it was all amazing, even the meat that bled on my plate, and I don’t usually enjoy rare meat. 

After dinner we went to a bar to meet Macarena, one of our UADE friends, and ran into a huge group of Americans. It was nice to be able to speak English for so long, but I wish I had practiced more Spanish! 

Today is beautiful and probably around 60 degrees, perfect for our last day in B.A. I will miss hearing Spanish all the time, although it will be nice to be less confused all of the time. 

Some final thoughts:

1. Watch out for B.A. sidewalks, they are deathtraps.

2. No one cleans up after their dogs, so not only should you look out for holes, but dog poo as well.

3. Figure out how to take the Subte (subway) or the Collectivo (bus) because it is SO much cheaper, and taxi rides add up.

4. Stay AWAY from Argentine men, yet, even if you do, they will find you. 

5. Find places with fruit and vegetables, and make yourself eat them.

6. Drink maté.

7. Go to a club! It might be hot, smoky and overwhelmingly crowded, but you have to dance in B.A.

8. Eat ice cream. I don’t really like ice cream (except for DQ) in the states, but it happens to be heaven here. I always get chocolate, vanilla and dulce de leche. Oh how I will miss it! 

9. Go to a tango show/dinner. Make sure it’s one with lighting, live music, singers and dancers. It will blow your mind. 

10. Make sure to see the city on a Sunday and at night. Sundays are sooo peaceful, and the nights are beautiful, especially on Nueve de Julio. 

Can’t wait to see all of my friends and family (and eat some home cooked meals!!!)

Me in Colonia

I never thought I’d think of Buenos Aires as home, but oh, how great it felt to be back in the Lugabe Apartments in the Once District of B.A. This is not to say I didn’t enjoy Uruguay, but the weather was lacking and I hate to admit it, but I missed my computer. 

Thursday started early, way too early. We all piled into the bus at 6:15 a.m. to travel the short trip to the ferry that took us to Montevideo. If only the Bainbridge-Seattle ferry terminal were as plush, complete with a waterfall wall and globe lanterns hanging from the ceiling. I got really excited by the Uruguay stamp they put on my passport; now I look like a REAL traveler. The ferry was THREE stories, but the seats were definitely meant for traveling and did not include booths or tables, and felt more like airplane seats than any ferry seat I’ve sat in. I did eat some rather tasty media lunas from the snack bar, though. Yum, that’s definitely something I’ll miss when I go back to the U.S. The ferry ride lasted three hours, and I used all three for some much needed sleep. It would have been nice to look out on the River Plate (that’s actually what they call it, not Rio Plata for some reason), but the windows were foggy, and the water is a very unattractive reddish brown color. 

Once in Montevideo we were greeted by a lovely tour guide who took us to our hotel. We rested for a bit, then went out into the city in search of some chivito! We only had to walk a couple of blocks, and then we prepared ourselves for the artery clogging meal, which cost $99 SU (Uruguayan pesos)! Seeing numbers that high was so scary, but that’s actually about $4.50 USD. The chivito sandwich consisted of a meat patty, a boiled egg, bacon and mayonnaise, but later we discovered that this was a small serving… wow. I sure hope people don’t eat that everday. We found churros outside, and treated ourself as we watched some tango dancers dancing on the corner. All of this, of course in the freezing cold with huge wind gusts. The rest of the day consisted of a three-hour city tour (where we saw the stadium that held the first world cup and a car with a UW sticker on it!) and a group dinner. The tour was nice because we were able to see the city from a bus, away from the wind and rain. It seemed like a nice city, but felt much smaller than Buenos Aires.

Friday we got up early (again) to take three different buses to the small city of Colonia a couple hours away from Montevideo. Colonia is a beach city with lots of bed and breakfasts, or posadas, which is where we stayed. It was very cute, except it was infested with angels (which makes sense because it was called Posada de Los Angeles, but creepy nonetheless). Even our soap was in the shape of an angel. Parisa and I were surprised when we saw that one of our two beds sat eight feet above the floor, in a loft of course. Again, we went on another city tour where we saw the beaches and markets of Colonia, as well as the historical buildings. The group dinner was held at Blanc0 y Negro, and it included live jazz music! So cool. 

Saturday included a freezing cold shower, but lacked the ice-cold wind, so we walked around Colonia enjoying the beautiful water (minus the ugly color) and shopping. The town is very cute, and it was nice to be in a safe, quiet city with fresh air. Around 5 p.m. we got back on a ferry, but this one was even bigger with a shopping center in the middle of it. We ran into a couple from Seattle in line, and then sat behind a family from California who moved to Punta del Este three years ago. Just picked up and moved, so crazy. All three kids were fluent in Spanish, so I’d say it was worth it. 

Today was beautiful: sunshine and NO wind! We walked around the San Telmo market, getting lost in all of the people and crafts. Believe it or not, we ran into people from UW! We were just talking to each other, and all of a sudden this guy is right in my face saying “I thought u were speaking English!” Then he asked where we were from and when we said Seattle, he couldn’t believe it because his travel partners were from UW. They had just completed their own exploration seminar in Chile and decided to spend a week in Buenos Aires while in South America. SUCH a small world.

One of the Anchors Doing a News Spot!

Well, the highlight of today was the “perro calliente,” JUST KIDDING (although the hot dog was amazing)! We visited a television station today!! I’ve never even been able to do that in the U.S., and they were SO nice. One of the news anchors, who has worked there for 22 years, gave us a grand tour of the place. He showed us one of the studios that houses several different sets, one for a cooking show, one for a talk show, and one for a news show, and then another studio that is the set of a new telenovela! I have no idea what it’s called, but I think it’s about high school kids, and there is definitely a scene in a classroom, another in the dentist’s office, and one in the middle of the school. If you see a telenovela with kids in uniforms that include mini jean shorts and knee socks, that’s the one! When we walked out of the novela studio some of the actors were walking down the hallway in their costumes! 

The main hallway was lined with control rooms where people were watching the show that was being taped at the time. The guide described the show as similar to Entertainment Tonight! with guest celebrities and such. The guests looked rather…interesting. The man had a red mohawk, and the woman had quite revealing clothes on. They were both tatted all over as well. After that show ended, the prime-time news show began. The news anchors were two men, but many of the stories were reported by women. It seemed like there weren’t any commercials for the first 30 minutes, and each story was given at least two minutes, which seems like a lot longer than any U.S. news story. The anchors only spoke for a few seconds at a times as well. Then the second half hour was filled with more commercial breaks, and the last minute of the hour was devoted to the weather. (I feel like the weather takes at least four minutes in Seattle). 

Off to Uruguay for three days! I won’t have Internet, so I hope to post an update Saturday night!

Dancing!

We’ve had lots of free time as of lately, so Parisa and I have just been walking around and chilling out. It’s been so nice! Yesterday we slept in, watched Friends with Spanish subtitles, and then ventured back to Florida Street to find more gifts. We decided to walk back, and it felt great to get some exercise. I’ve been dreaming about the IMA, so I’m assuming I need to visit the gym a lot this quarter! 

Today was beautiful! I think it was in the mid 70s, and some of us went up to the roof to sit in the sunshine. We were only out for about an hour, but we got some serious tan lines. Must be the ozone layer thing… Then, Parisa and I walked to Starbucks. So cool to see the menu in Spanish. I got a frappuccino, and we listened to people practicing their English (with a British accent of course). Tonight was the highlight of the last two days though! We had a group dinner at a fabulous Greek restaurant, complete with dancing and plate breaking. So much fun. The male dancer was absolutely amazing and so entertaining. He kept kicking his boots up and slapping them, then doing giant kicks and spinning. We even all stood up and did My Big Fat Greek Wedding style dancing, and the music sounded SO Middle Eastern to me! I could have easily bellydanced to it! 

P.S. I miss you all, and Dairy Queen, Red Robin and normal salads with lettuce in them!

The River Stadium

If only there actually was a goal…We went to the River Plate game today! People are loony for their futbol here in Buenos Aires, but I’m pretty sure we were sitting in the “I’m obviously a tourist” section, so it was pretty calm around us. The upper levels were VERY crazy though. We arrived about a half hour before the game and I was afraid we would be loners because there were so few people there, but about 10 minutes before the game was supposed to start, all of the seats except the ones in the visitors section filled up. The people in the upper sections were insane. Just before the game started an entire drum-line walked out with at least eight bass drums. They were followed by 20 giant swinging flags with what seemed to me to be random images on them, and then a stream of people carrying a ridiculously long flag that looked like a red and white river. So cool! I’ve never seen so much energy, even at a Seahawks game, and they don’t even sell alcohol at futbol games! I can’t imagine what would happen if they did. No joke, the crowd sang the entire game. How do they know all of the words? Where do the songs come from?? They should make a book of soccer songs, I’d read it. Everywhere we looked more and more banners were being put up, and people got more and more excited. It was lots of fun, although it would have been much more comfortable to sit on the sunny side, but there weren’t any goals! 90 minutes, and no one scored, so we didn’t get to see any REAL celebration. Oh well, glad to have gone, and I hope it’s not the last futbol match I go to! 

P.S. I’m pretty sure if I knew all of the swear words in Spanish I would have heard them all at the game today.

Gaucho Horse Show!

What a beautiful day! It began a little too early (8:30 a.m.), but it was so worth it. We traveled about an hour and a half out of the city of Buenos Aires to the province of Buenos Aires, where the scenery looked a lot like New Mexico. There were fields, lots of horses, trees and blue sky! We were greeted with hot, fried, yummy empanadas in the hands of a gaucho. Perfecto! After filling our tummies a bit, we wandered over to the horses and the gauchos helped us hop on. My horse’s name was Gato, why would you name a horse cat? But i guess the dog’s name was Caballo, so I guess you’d name a horse “cat” for the same reasons you’d name a dog “horse”. Interesante. The horses were very calm, and they knew the route to walk without any steering. I liked Gato, but he tended to walk faster than the rest of the horses, so I was always trying to stop him to wait for everyone else. He was so tame that I was able to hold the reins with one hand and take pictures with the other. The clouds were so beautiful and the sky was so blue, I almost felt like I should be singing “Surrey With the Fringe on Top” in the musical Oklahoma! 

We dismounted and wandered around the estancia some more, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet surroundings. Such a great feeling to get away from the city! At 1 p.m., we all gathered for a GIANT lunch full of salad (yay!) and sooooo much meat. I think we ate five different parts of a cow, and I’m pretty sure they had just butchered the cow that morning. Sad. The food was accompanied by traditional dancing! So much fun, and everyone got up and danced together for the last song. There was one dance that only the man performed where he almost tap danced in gaucho boots, then a 4-year-old boy got up on stage and did the same dance to compete with the man! So cute. He was even dressed as a little gaucho! 

After the dancing we walked back to the horses for a gaucho horse show! The men rode horses, carrying mini poles, and they ran at a very tiny circle trying to hook the circle with the pole. With each circle they caught, they got to pick a girl who had to kiss them, or pick a man who had to kiss the horse. I’m sure the gauchos loved having an audience full of ladies! The day concluded with maté and sweets! I didn’t think I would like maté, but it was super tasty! Such a great day!

Sitting Inside the Studio at Radio Palermo

It’s beautiful outside! If only Seattle were like this in the winter: rain for a couple days, then lots of sunshine, even if it’s a bit chilly.

A giant bus that was at least one-story high, picked us all up from the apartment and drove us to the U.S. Embassy. It wasn’t beautiful or impressive. It looked like a government building. Ha. But the people were nice and very secure, so we could only enter in groups of four. The cultural communication coordinator met us in a conference room and discussed his career in international relations. He had lived in all sorts of places like Bolivia and India, which sounds like lots of fun, but I can’t imagine moving every three years, especially with a wife and two children. He said it had been a stressful process, but he was lucky, and his family enjoyed traveling. 

We said good bye to the pictures of Barack, Hil and Joe on the wall, and we hopped back on the bus headed for Radio Palermo. I’m still not sure, but Radio Palermo seemed like a community radio station where many different people could use the radio equipment to broadcast their own shows. We were there to listen to a talk show about public relations… or so we thought. While sitting in the cafe, trying to avoid starvation, the hosts of the show asked several of the students if they would speak about public relations in the United States, IN SPANISH! Unfortunately, none of the P.R. majors speak Spanish very well, so our one Spanish-speaking student agreed to translate on the air for the others. We were all able to cram in the recording room to watch the three students who agreed to speak. So cool. Sadly, lots of us are sick, so you could look around the room and see the pained expressions of people holding back coughs, as well as hear the grumbling stomachs of those who had yet to eat. Being quiet never seemed so difficult. The hosts thanked all of the students, and we caught the bus to head to dinner. 

We ate at a bar/restaurant in Palermo Soho where the menu consisted of pizza or tacos. Neither was great, but it was fun to have everyone together. Some of us stayed in the area after dinner and went to a billiard bar and then an artsy bar to hang out. We had some good bonding experiences, but still managed to get to bed before 2 a.m.! 

Today was full of shopping! Yay! Can’t wait to go listen to some tango singing tonight with friends!

We Got Tango Certificates!

It’s definitely winter here, and I’m wearing flip flops! I guess I do that in Seattle, too, though. It was probably 40 degrees out today, but the sun was shining, and the city looked beautiful. (At least it wasn’t pouring rain like it was on Monday.) 

Yesterday was another early morning. We were ready to go by 9:30, and the whole group headed out on a tour bus (with Oscar, our lovely driver). Oscar drove us to Recoleta to look at the fanciest houses in the city. The houses were beautiful, some with ivy covering the walls and Parisian balconies, yet none of them had yards and they all appeared to share walls. Very city-like. Apparently many of the rich families who lived in Buenos Aires sold their houses during a financial crisis in the 50s, and the houses became embassies. So the area is filled with different flags from different countries, and it’s fun to walk around and find a country! 

After viewing the beautiful houses, we drove about 45 minutes out of town to the very poor areas. The trip was shocking. The government built some of the buildings, the ones that look similar to the “projects” in NYC and they have grocery stores, etc., on the first and second floors. Across the freeway from those buildings are makeshift homes and giant piles of garbage. The piles were endless. It was an enlightening trip, but frustrating because I can’t fix anything. 

Parisa and I walked to Santa Fe to meet our American friend Stefan for coffee, and we ended up talking for over two hours. Woops. It was good to spend some time with someone outside of our group, but it felt weird to speak English for so long. I almost forgot we were in Argentina! Parisa was craving the vegetarian food we ate on Sunday, so we returned to the same restaurant. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open at 7:30 p.m. So weird! It was closed from 4:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. It’s crazy that restaurants here close during the time we would normally be eating dinner. Luckily, a purse shop was open across the street, so we found a good way to spend our time waiting. 

Today began a little later (thank god), but was very eventful. Parisa and I called a leather factory that our professor went to, and they sent a car to pick us up. It was about a 25 minute car ride into an area that seemed full of factories and outlets. We were the only people in the store, so the people were very … attentive? Maybe more like … intense. (One of the women working even tried to set me up with her son.) We found some presents, and then found some more in the shirt outlet store next door. 

This evening was amazing! We were picked up by a bus (the waiting in the lobby for 45 minutes in heels was not so amazing), and it took us to Completo Tango. It’s called Completo because it comes with an hour lesson, dinner and a show! The lesson was pretty much our group and some rather overwhelmed couples. I can’t even imagine being in a class with 19 Americans (especially when 18 of them are women). The lesson was basically the same thing we learned in the class on Sunday, but it was good to practice. The food was so yummy, I ordered steak and Parisa got yummy pasta, and the show was spectacular. There were six dancers (3 men, 3 women), two singers, and a quartet made up of a violinist, a pianist, a bassist, and a man playing the accordion. Live music, live singing AND live dancing. Perfecto. The show even included smoke to set the mood and great lighting. I can’t even describe the intensity I felt while the dancers performed; Their eyes, their expressions, their precision, everything was intense. The dancers even picked people out of the crowd and danced through the aisles with them. So cool. If you ever travel to Buenos Aires, you must go to a tango show!

Te extraño everyone!

We took a taxi back (I wish we could figure out the subway, but it seems confusing), and tried to walk to a larger grocery store, but it, along with the majority of the stores, was closed. Our street looks like a ghost town on Sundays, kind of scary. We managed to find a smaller grocery store that was open, and we got some snacks to cook in our kitchen. We mostly make arroz from a box or tuna, which last us for a few hours. 

Almost everyone in our group decided to take a tango class together at an Armenia Center, so we hailed cabs (which took forever for some reason), and headed off to dance! We had no idea what to expect, but I got really excited when the lights went down and several couples started dancing. It’s such a passionate dance, and everyone looked so beautiful! The brief show ended, and the room separated in half for a beginner’s and an advanced class. Of course, the teachers only taught in Spanish, so visual cues were critical. The men walked forward to choose ladies to dance with, and fear set in. Who will I dance with? Fortunately, or unfortunately, all of the men looked about 40 and most were balding. My first partner was probably my height, but it was his third class and he was very helpful. I lucked out, and most of my partners spoke English. It turned out to be a lot of fun, even if we only learned one full step. We have another class on Wednesday, so hopefully it’s even more fun! And I’ll probably wear heels instead of sandals to that class, as long as my blisters are semi-healed (the same ones from last weekend!). The class concluded, and people began to dance to 50s music! It was just like the sock hops we had back in elementary school!

We were STARVING (as usual), so four of us headed to a vegetarian restaurant. No meat? In Argentina? What??? So good! I had bruschetta with hummus (yum), grilled onions and tomatoes. Vegetables! Ones that taste good! I was so happy. Somehow, dinner managed to last until 12:30 a.m. So very Argentinean. 

We managed to wake up by 6:50 a.m. this morning, in time to get dressed up and head out to a Pop/Rock radio station. The program was in Spanish, but a very nice man from the P.R. firm our professor has been in contact with helped us understand how things worked. Apparently, the talk part of the program was mostly about the Argentina vs. Brazil game (that Argentina lost), but they usually talk about politics and the news, or anything the callers call in about. 

After a four hour nap, everyone met to ride the bus to a meeting with the managing editor of the Buenos Aires Herald, which is the only major English paper from Argentina. He was very interesting, and shared some information about the paper and media in Argentina.

Hanging out with our UADE friends!

Hola! Lo siento, I have been very busy/exhausted and unable to write. Jueves y viernes were full of spanish classes and lectures at UADE university, it almost felt like I was back in school (except for the extensive use of Spanish). The Spanish classes have been very helpful, and the teacher makes them relatively fun. She likes to ask us about our experiences, making it very conversational. I really feel like I’m improving, but I definitely struggle with my conjugation. Yay for present-tense spanish! 

The lecture we attended at UADE Thursday night was given by a Harvard professor named Patricia Deaton. I was happy because she reiterated a lot of what I learned in my communication classes at UW. She spoke about gender communication, and the difference between men and women (always an interesting subject). And somehow, she managed to speak for three hours. Thank god classes aren’t that long at UW, even if it’s an interesting topic. Attending a lecture that started at 7 p.m. was a new experience, but it was much easier to stay awake, that’s for sure. After sitting for several hours, we went out for a group dinner at an italian restaurant. Must stop eating so much CHEESE! It’s on EVERYTHING. Oh my gosh, and the bread. Free bread when you’re starving is so unfortunate for my health. (At least Rachel and I decided to walk for an hour while the other girls were in their Spanish class, I’m trying here.)

After a 1 a.m. return home from dinner, we all woke up by 7 a.m. to drive back to UADE for the lecture our own professor gave about crisis communication. Sitting through a lecture at 8 a.m. was also a new experience, and I’ve decided I much prefer the 7 p.m. experience. We came back to the apartments, and I’m almost positive everyone fell asleep. Naps are so amazing, especially in a warm bed. I woke up at 1, but just relaxed and watched TV with Spanish subtitles to practice a bit before Spanish class. After class, Parisa and I walked to a salon and got our nails done! So much fun, and good practice for our Spanish. Although, the lady who did Parisa’s nails turned out to be from Armenia, and she had only lived here for dos años, yet she spoke perfect Spanish! So crazy. 

We watched more TV with Spanish titles, it’s very fun for some reason, then started to get dressed to go out around 10 p.m. The UADE students organized a party at a club called Frere in Palermo to celebrate the 45th anniversary of their PRSSA organization, so we all got in for free! We had so much fun dancing and trying to communicate in Spanglish. By 5 a.m. I thought my feet were going to fall off and deeply regretted my decision to wear high heels (“zapatos con tacos”), but as soon as “You’re the One That I Want” from Grease started playing, I managed to find my dancing feet again. It’s so funny because all of the men sing along to all of the girly songs, something I’ve rarely seen in the U.S. 

Today included a lot of sleep, thank god. We did have to get up by 3 p.m. to go to a local rugby match, which was a rather difficult struggle. I’m glad we made it though, because I’ve never seen a rugby game, and it was a lot of fun. It might have been more fun if I understood it better, but maybe I’ll learn more later. After the game, Parisa and I walked off the bus and headed straight for Burger King. We’d been craving it, and she had googled mapped it and everything. It was about five blocks away, and it tasted so amazing when we got there. At least we walked there and back, right? 

The night ended with a new friend, which is always good! This is so random, but my dad’s high school friend’s son (good luck with that) is studying here for a semester, and so we contacted each other and finally met up. We went to a bar to watch the Argentina vs. Brazil world cup qualifier game. So much fun, but it probably would have been more enjoyable had Argentina actually won. Sad. Yay for new friends though! The bar was very American, and it felt weird to hear everyone swearing at the TV in English! Looking forward to a relaxed day tomorrow, hopefully with sleep and shopping! 

Hasta mañana!