What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Long time since the last post. I need to be a better blogger. I have mainly been putting it off because I know that I am going to have to allot a significant amount of time to writing about the whole Semana Santa 2k6 adventure.

Oh where to begin, where to begin. I guess there is only one place to start. The beginning!

Thursday

• School all day, packing, showering. Around 5 Mia came over and we went and bought sandwiches and snacks to take on the bus. Obvi she helped me finish packing bc we all know I am a terrible packer. (As it turns out, we both are and we brought ALL the wrong stuff. Who knew that the weather would decide to change from a warm 80 degrees to a frigid 50 degrees, um not Weatherbug thats for sure)
• So our bus left at 9:10 so we decided to leave for the bus station around 8 to get there on time. Well first of all, the Subway workers were on strike so the ENTIRE city was in traffic to the max. Bus lines two blocks long and not a cab to be found. Well actually there were cabs but all of them refused to go to Retiro (the bus station) becasue of all the traffic. Appereantly the entire population of BA was going out of town for Semana Santa.
• So, we WALKED pulling our cute matching rolling luggage behind us down the streets of BA. About 4 block from my house we joined a group of about 150 that was traveling in the same direction. Once at the bus station we realized that ALL the buses were late. We found some IES kids who were headed to Mendoza too and hung out with them for a while before venturing to our platform. There we found another IES kid who was on our same bus line but on a bus 10 minutes later. We shared empanadas and huddled together with the rest of the city. Our bus was only like 1.5 hrs late. Not too bad.
• The bus, Andesmar, TOTALLY worth the wait. It was like flying first class...big leather seats. First thing we did, just guess. No we didnt get peanuts...we played BINGO! Honestly folks I am not making this up! I wonder if they play bingo in first class on airplanes? Hmm. Food for thought I guess. The person who won got a bottle of wine. I didnt win, obvi, I never win! We were served dinner and were real glad that we brought our own sandwiches. After that we watched Ocean's 12 on flat screen TVs and fell asleep almost thinking we were in a first world country...Almost

Friday

• Woke up on the bus way too early. Breakfast. Maná music videos. Greeeeat. Oh well we were in Mendoza and thats all that mattered. About 10:30 we got off the bus and Mia and I were off to our first Hostel adventure. We successfully retrieved our baggage and got a taxi. Got in the taxi and wait...Wincas hostel...oh wait you dont know it? Whats the address? We dont know. Shoot. Maybe we weren't as prepared as we had thought.

Semana Santa

Homework sucks, even in Argentina I have a hard time finding motivation to do it. I don't have that much and it isn't that hard. Maybe thats where my lack of motivation comes from.

This week is short. Only M,T,W then we have off for Semana Santa aka Easter. Mia and I are leaving Wednesday to go to Mendoza. It is like the Napa Valley of Argentina. Lots of vineyards, mountains, etc. I am pretty pumped up! We leave at like 9 something Wed night and get there at like 10 something Thursday morning. We are taking a bus...it should be interesting. We are staying at a hostel that we foudn online. Our first hostel experience! Hopefully it turns out to be a good one. The cool part of it is that we are doing the whole thing in a package. We have this itenerary of visiting Bodegas, mountain "adventures" and lots of cool stuff. Hopefully it will be as cool as it sounds.

Today Mia and I went to see Casanova. I LOVE that movie! So funny/witty/romantic. I think I just like going to movies here. It takes me back to America. Speaking of, they are filimgin something outside my house. I dont know what, a commercial maybe, but it is an american company. Something with a dry cleaners. Who knows!?

So its 9:45 and we havent eaten dinner yet. I know Argentines eat late and I am actually pretty used to it but 10:00...come on! I'm about to eat my fist. I keep on goign to get water from the kitchen but I don't think shes getting the hint...hmmm.

Okay well maybe I'll post more later...

Time seems to fly by during the week but the weekends pass by so slowly. Probably because I am not used to having three day weekends every weekend. School right now isn't very interesting. There are two classes that I enjoy, but even in those I feel like we are just reviewing. My spanish class is a joke. Hopefully we will move to something more challenging soon. Some people like easy classes but for me they are just too boring!

Yesterday (Saturday) Mia and I went walking up and down Santa Fe. Santa Fe is like a huge street with lots of shopping and restaurants and stuff. Mia got an awesome leather purse that was like stamped leather, which is like so hot right now here. I can totally see it becoming a trend in the US. It is so cute! Also, we walked into EVERY sunglass place on Santa Fe probably about 10. We would go in each one and try on all the designer sunglasses like Chanel, Versache, Prada, etc. It was really fun! They are all "on sale" because it is the end of summer here. On sale is pretty relative because they are so expensive in the first place! I think someday I want a pair of Chanel sunglasses. I am not one for designer clothes or shoes or anything because the styles change so much and clothes don't always fit. But sunglasses are so classic. I decided if I were going to own one designer thing it would be Chanel sunglasses. Maybe someday!

In the afternoon Mia and I met up with Sean for a cup of cafe. Sean was hungry so he wanted to eat so we ended up goign to McDonalds. Inside each McyDees they have something called a "McCafe" which is like the front part and it is really nice and kinda looks like a starbucks. They serve high end deserts and tarts like Tiramisu and then nice coffees. I got a Cappachino Mocha which I would never think would be good from McDonalds, but it was really amazing! Mia and I took pics of the McCafe, check out webshots to see them.

Also, I dont think I have posted about my new technological toy. Its called the Slingbox and it makes it so I can watch TV from home on my computer here! My parents bougth a box and hooked it up to our cable so now I can watch TV here! It really is amazing. I am so lucky to have great parents who want to make me more comfortable here. It is nice too because I like to fall asleep to noise and i have already exhausted all the friends dvds that i brought. Tonight I will get my first weekend of Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. I am sooo excited!

This week my goal is to get out postcards to all my friends and family. I just haven't been able to find any that I love yet. But like I said, its my goal to find some!

I put some pics too that I took this week at Plaza San Martin. The Queen of Holland and the princesses were in town and I went to go see them lay flowers on the monument. It was SO cool! There were probably 100 horses making a fence around the red carpeted area. There were snipers on top of the buildings keeping guard. It was crazy! The queen and the princess wore big hats. They gave her a key to the city and it was overall pretty neat. I decided if I were royal I would wear big hats too.

Hope all is well in the US! I am sad to be missing spring but it is nice here because it is starting to be fall. It is really pretty.

A recap

So I have become really bad at blogging. Mainly because I started to keep a written travel journal. It is convenient because I take it with me wherever I go and can write where I ate, if it was good or not, the address, places that people tell me to go etc. So here I'm going to sum up what I've written the last few days.

I dont remember if I said it before, but now I have internet at my casa! Yaaaay! My madre let them come and install a DSL line so I once again feel connected to the first world. It is so nice becasue I can use AIM and Google Talk to talk to my friends and family and I don't have to worry about talking fast because it is free! I am thinking of checking out this Skype thing so I can call people's cell phones. We'll see.

Okay so I ended on Friday with Puerto Madero. Saturday was a blast. Ruth, Ben, Lacey, Drew, Rainey-Mills and I went to La Boca. I had my first experience on a collectivo (city bus) and it actually wasnt that bad! La boca is sort of the poorer part of town but around the Caminito its very touristy and with lots of bright colors and cute cafes and shops. It was beautiful. See the pics because it is way too hard to describe. I bought an antique ring for 5 pesos. I wear it all the time now, I love it!

Saturday night the whole crew minus Ruth who had to go back to MS went out for dinner and cocktails. We ate at a cool restaurant in the Village in Recoleta that had a really neat atmosphere and it was pretty resasonably priced. Afterwards we went for a drink at an outdoor cafe at Plaza Serrano in Palermo. Ben got into a funny conversation with some Argentines about the differences in Chilean and Porteno spanish. It was priceless. After that we went back to the village and hit up a disco club. They played horrible 90s music like "Its Raining Men" and "Sweet Dreams are made of this" which were even worse becasue they had been transformed into disco tunes. It was hilarious and so fun. We stayed out till 4 and I totally lost my voice but it was the first time I felt truly Argentine!

Sunday I spent most of the day sleeping and watching movies because I didnt have anything to do/I was still sick. At 5 though I went to a Ballet. It was sort of a modern ballet and was an interpretation of Romeo and Juliet. It was so neat. I love the ballet. It is soo romantic. I definetly want to go to more theater while I'm here.

The rest of the week has mainly been classes, lunch, classes dinner, etc. Mucho clase. I have also been working on getting all the readings for all of my classes. It is muy dificil because you have to go to the copy place at Linguas Vivas (where we have our spanish classes) and then search for all the things you need copied and then wait for them to copy them. No organized course packets like at home. Since there are no copyright laws here it is totally legit to copy books. Reading this semester is only going to cost like $50 as opposed to the normal US $300 or so. I could get used to this...

Oh I almost forgot one of the coolest part of the week! So I was talking to my business teacher and he said that I could do a business internship without having to take the Business Internship class! I am going work 8 hours a week at a company called Patagonia Software. Tuesday I went and met with the people I will be working with and I should get an email pretty soon of what days and times I will be working. They are going to place me in a department of my choice and I will probably be put on a project. I kind of want to be in the Marketing department but one intern gets to work directly with the CEO which I think would be awesome. I am going to try and snatch that one up. I figure I could learn a little of everything in that position. I am really excited because this will be another way to keep me busy but also provide me with another outlet to speak spanish. It should be a great experience!

Another big project for this week was school supply shopping. This combine with finding all my readings was a huge undertaking. Those who know me well know I am totally obsessive compulsive about my school supplies. I have to make title pages for all my binders and color code them. School supplies are hard to find here. Well not hard to find but there isn't as much of a selection. I was totally missing Walmart. I met this girl who is in 2 of my classes, Jenny, who is from Ohio and she is totally OCD about school supplies too so we went on a shopping trip together. It was so fun! Afterwards I made all my inserts for my binders and color coded them. Of course. (Allison, I know you are thinking right now, I am glad I didn't have to go school supply shopping with her AGAIN this semester...but don't worry we'll get to do it in the fall :)) Now they are all done and SO cute. I think this is my best semester yet. I went with a pastel theme. Pink, light blue, and purple. Maybe I'll take pics and post them. I'm very proud of my work.

Okay well I am going to stop writing about my life here and get to living it...tomorrow I promise I will sit down and write about all the stuff I have been meaning to write about. Culture, food, etc. Y'all keep in touch now!

Puerto Madero

So last night was pretty eventful. After being in bed all day it was nice to go out. Met up with Ruth & Rainey Mills (from study abroad), Ben (in from Santiago), Lacey (in from Brazil), and Drew, and we all went out for an awesome dinner at Puerto Madero.

I ate the lomo (sirloin), it was like football sized, it was pretty amazing. We had some good red wine a great conversation. It was nice to see some farmiliar faces. Afterwards we went down to where all the irish pubs are and the streets were all closed off. It was a HUGE street party. Kind of fun but way too much for us so we found a little Cervezeria and sat down to have a drink.

We got home around 3 am. I slept this morning till about 10:30. I love sleeping in here! I am about to go out now and meet up with the amigos to go to the market in La Boca. I should get some good pics.

I keep meaning to write about the culture and some other little things about BA. I will hopefully get to that tomorrow maybe...maybe!

La gripe

So my third week here and I'm sick. Yuck. I have a bad cough, runny nose, and just plain don't feel well. Ugh. Basically just a cold, which are totally no fun. I was thinking, whenever we say "oh its just a cold" it really underestimates the severity of the actual symptoms. Having "just a cold" absolutely sucks. Having just a cold means you feel like crap but there is nothing you can do about it but take over the counter medicine because there really is no cure. Here the word they use is having the "gripe," doesnt that sound much worse than "just a cold"? I think I like their word much better, it seems so much more imiment and severe.

So today has been rainy and cold and I have spend all day in bed watching movies/sleeping. I actually feel a little better, but all Ive had to eat is corn flakes so I'm a little hungry. At 6 I did get up and have tea with my madre which really soothed my throat for a while. I'm going to have to try that again soon.

Tonight I am going out to eat with Drew, Ben Quilter, and Ruth. Ruth is our study abroad advisor who is in BA to check out the different programs for study abroad and whatnot. Ben is studying in Chile this semester and is in the BA for the weekend. It should be fun, I am looking forward to getting out of the house.

I am wearing my new green dress, which I still haven't put pics up of yet. I decided to be very un-me and very argentine and wear jeans under the dress. It actually doesn't look horrible. Heres to me going out on a limb haha. Write more later...

Booh on Internet in BA

So it has been a week or so since my last post. I haven't written because I have been busy/lazy. I wrote this yesterday (monday) but the internet here has been haywire so I couldn't post it. So here is a quick recap of last week:

• Monday: Sunburned to the MAX. I was so sunburned in the weirdest places. Like on my wrists and behind my knees...places you don’t normally think to put sunscreen! It was so painful I could barely climb the stairs. For clase we went to the "casa rosada" as you might have seen in the pictures. It is pretty much their version of the Whitehouse except the president doesn't live there.
• Tuesday: Took a written Spanish exam to place us in the right Spanish class. Ended up doing pretty well because I placed into Spanish 4 and there are only 5!
• Wednesday: Same thing, Spanish exam but this one was oral.
• Thursday: Planned our school schedules and walked around town. Went to a cool sports bar with Mia and Sean.
• Friday: We went to an estancia which is sort of like a farm/mansion. It was really neat. The actual estancia was like a castle, I will post pictures. They had a swimming pool, a soccer field, large eating hall, and guess what...a polo field! We actually got to see people playing real Polo, with horses and all! Now the logos on Polo shirts have much greater significance...that must be the hardest game ever! We lay by the pool most of the day and hung out with the other IES kids. Siesta then dinner which was AMAZING. They had some great wine and like a 5 course dinner. Salad, bread, different meats, salchicha (which was to die for), and desert of the most amazing ice cream I have ever put in my mouth. In general, probably the best meal I have had since I have been here. We sat at a table with Mia, Sean, Drew, and then Patrick and Katherine who are our new amigos from UT (Texas). We definitely had the best table and great conversation and lots of laughs! Overall, the estancia kicked butt.
• Saturday: Took a grande siesta and got some rest from the fun night before at the estancia. Por la noche I met up with Mia, Sean, and Kathleen who is in from Oxford for spring break. We went to eat at Maria Felix, a really good (comparatively) Mexican food restaurant. After dinner (which lasted like 3 hours, we are getting the hang of the Argentina thing :)) we went bar hopping around the village. We met an American couple from Scottsdale who were on their 5th wedding anniversary. They were so nice and it was lots of fun!
• Sunday: Slept till noon because we had been out till like 3 the night before. After that I met up with my friend from Texas, Katherine, and we went to Plaza Serrano in Palermo. It was this HUGE outdoor market with jewelry, art, clothes, etc. It was so fun! I bought two new outfits for fewer than 25 dollars! It was incredible. I got a cute kind of flowy skirt (which are SO in here) and a green cap sleeved dress with a necklace to match. I'll post pics...I promise they are so cute!

Today was the first day of school. I will post my schedule once I am sure of it. I had Spanish class from 11-1 then Latin American Theater from 1-2:30. After that I decided to stay for a class that I am not signed up for but ended up being really interesting. (And the professor is pretty easy on the eyes too haha, not as handsome as you though Michael) I might switch one of my classes so I can take that one. But that means I would be in class straight from 11-4 which might not be fun. No lunch break. At 6:30 I am going to go to the class I was planning on taking and see if I want to switch or not. We'll see. I just don't like the idea of going to class from 6:30-8:00. And on top of that it isn't MW its M-Thurs so I would be in class late on Thurs. I officially won't have class Friday so I am pretty pumped up about that.

Right now I want to thank all of you who have been posting comments...I finally figured out how to make them show up. I will try and respond to y'all ASAP! Also, those of you who have been sending me recaps of my fav TV shows aka Grey's, The Bachelor, Desperate Housewives, etc. THANK YOU a lot! It is so nice to get a taste of TV...I am def. going through withdrawals without television.

Today when I go home I don't think I'll have hot water for the next two days. They are doing some maintenance or something. Maybe I can go shower at Kathleen's hotel room. Hmmm we'll see. Wednesday the guy is coming to install the internet at my casa. YAY!!! No more sitting in the window with my computer! Hopefully I will blog more now that I won't have to reach so far for the keys!
K well I am muy hungry because I haven't had lunch but I will definably write more later. I will also get my schedule up here as soon as I can. I hope all is well at home and I love getting all of your emails even if I am not prompt at responding to all of them! Love you all and miss you...Ciao