The past two weeks has been crazy! The last week of my winter spanish class went smoothly, and I got an A, so thankfully my GPA will not suffer from being abroad :)
We had a long weekend this past weekend, so four friends and I went to Iguazu falls, 18 hours north of Buenos Aires by bus, to the most amazing waterfalls I've ever seen. The park where the falls were had tons of pathways to walk through, and we got a guided tour through all of the walkways. It was really cool because they took you right up to the mouth of the falls, so you got really close! We also went ziplining through the Argentinian forest and repelling down the side of a cliff, which was really awesome. The 18 hour bus rides were pretty uneventful, a lot of sleeping and reading.
The past few days I've had orientation, where we learned about the school, got descriptions of classes, and registered for our courses for the semester. It was very different than registering in the US because everyone was guaranteed the classes they wanted no matter how many people already signed up for them. I signed up for 5 classes but am only taking 4 for the semester, but my schedule is awesome! I definitely have mondays off, and if I get the course equivalency that I hope I get, I'll have fridays off too! I start class the 8th of August.
Tomorrow UCA is taking us on a trip to go to an estancia (ranch). It's an all day event and we get to ride horses! I'm really excited to see what it's like and find out what we're doing, because like a typical Argentinian organization they haven't told us much about it.
Saturday I'm leaving for Santiago, Chile! We're taking a bus there, which should be around 22 hours. I'm really excited to see what it's like there, and we've already planned a couple day trips. One of the days we are going to Valpariso, which is a really pretty neighborhood on the coast of Chile. Another day we are going to see the president's house. On Thursday we're taking a bus from Santiago through the Andes mountains to Mendoza, and I hear it's going to be a beautiful ride. We're spending the rest of the week until Saturday night in Mendoza, and my birthday is on Friday! We are going to rent bikes and bicycle to different wineries all over Mendoza, and I will be happily drunk off Argentina's best wine :)
My host mom told me yesterday that my Spanish has noticeably improved over the past couple weeks, and it made me super happy! All my friends here and I have decided that we need to start speaking more spanish to each other, because we usually speak english when we're around each other.
Also, two new girls from the US just moved in this past weekend and are going to UCA with me. They're really nice and I'm excited to get to know them for the rest of the semester that we have together.
I can't believe I've already been here almost a month! Time flies by so quickly. I am also staying really busy so I suppose that also explains it. I'm really happy that I've had the opportunity to travel a lot and really explore South America, but I also can't wait until I get to spend more time just hanging out in Buenos Aires.
Until next week,
D
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
Day 16: Still loving life
I wish I was better at blogging! I keep forgetting to do this and whenever I do I get bored with talking about myself so much so my posts are never long. I'm gonna try harder this time :)
This week was another great week in Buenos Aires. We had a full week of Spanish class, and a midterm on Wednesday. After class every day I explored more of Buenos Aires and have been learning a lot about the city. This is the last week of class and we have a final on wednesday and thursday! Next week is when all of the other international students studying abroad here arrive and we have orientation week, where we get to choose our classes for the fall (spring) semester!
Tuesday night I went to a Copa America (world cup) soccer game and it was soo much fun! The fans were completely ridiculous and were screaming and cursing the whole time even though there were tons of littler kids in the crowd. Everyone was dressed in flags, face paint, crazy hats, etc. Marney and I went to watch another world cup game on a huge screen a plaza here, it was awesome. There were so many argentinians there also watching the game, and whenever anyone scored or any fouls were made, everyone went nuts! Argentina lost though, so they are now out of the world cup :( no more excitement over soccer games.
This weekend I went on a Buenos Aires pub crawl, which was really awesome! We went to three bars and then a club afterwards, and it was really cool. Most of the people that also did the bar crawl were tourists, so I met a lot of people on vacation here from other parts of the world. It also was a good chance to practice my spanish, which I am definitely better at when I have been drinking.
Yesterday I toured the Casa Rosada (pink house, similar to the white house) and that was really cool too. I stood on the balcony where eva peron gave her famous speech and madonna sang "don't cry for me argentina." There is so much history here, and the Argentine people are very proud of their country.
Yesterday 3 friends and I booked our flights and bus tickets for traveling the first week in August (my birthday!). We are going to Santiago, Chile for four days and then to Mendoza, Argentina for three days. I'm really excited to explore other parts of South America and see what another large city is like, and to drink the best wine in South America. Less than two weeks until our trip!
One down side to this city that I have learned so far: pickpocketers are everywhere! In the past two weeks, 4 of the students in my international program have had things stolen from them, you have to be really careful here! I know it's only a matter of time before anything gets taken from me, it's just hard to keep an eye on all of your stuff every minute you're not inside your house.
Speaking of house, I love my family so much! It is a woman, her daughter, and one other girl from the US (the other one just left). We have a new student coming Wednesday, so I hope she's nice! Family dinners here are my favorite because we have really good conversations about anything and everything, and it really helps me practice my spanish. I've also been watching a lot of spanish tv in my free time so I can better understand what people are saying here, they talk so fast! The dinners are also amazing because the food here is so good, and my host mom cooks really amazing Argentinian food every night!
Overall, I'm learning a lot more Spanish and understanding more about how this city works. It's still really cold here! Today it was rainy, windy, cloudy, and a mere 50 degrees, which is why I am inside and on my computer instead of out exploring. I want it to be summer here so I can enjoy the city more!
Ciao y besos,
D
This week was another great week in Buenos Aires. We had a full week of Spanish class, and a midterm on Wednesday. After class every day I explored more of Buenos Aires and have been learning a lot about the city. This is the last week of class and we have a final on wednesday and thursday! Next week is when all of the other international students studying abroad here arrive and we have orientation week, where we get to choose our classes for the fall (spring) semester!
Tuesday night I went to a Copa America (world cup) soccer game and it was soo much fun! The fans were completely ridiculous and were screaming and cursing the whole time even though there were tons of littler kids in the crowd. Everyone was dressed in flags, face paint, crazy hats, etc. Marney and I went to watch another world cup game on a huge screen a plaza here, it was awesome. There were so many argentinians there also watching the game, and whenever anyone scored or any fouls were made, everyone went nuts! Argentina lost though, so they are now out of the world cup :( no more excitement over soccer games.
This weekend I went on a Buenos Aires pub crawl, which was really awesome! We went to three bars and then a club afterwards, and it was really cool. Most of the people that also did the bar crawl were tourists, so I met a lot of people on vacation here from other parts of the world. It also was a good chance to practice my spanish, which I am definitely better at when I have been drinking.
Yesterday I toured the Casa Rosada (pink house, similar to the white house) and that was really cool too. I stood on the balcony where eva peron gave her famous speech and madonna sang "don't cry for me argentina." There is so much history here, and the Argentine people are very proud of their country.
Yesterday 3 friends and I booked our flights and bus tickets for traveling the first week in August (my birthday!). We are going to Santiago, Chile for four days and then to Mendoza, Argentina for three days. I'm really excited to explore other parts of South America and see what another large city is like, and to drink the best wine in South America. Less than two weeks until our trip!
One down side to this city that I have learned so far: pickpocketers are everywhere! In the past two weeks, 4 of the students in my international program have had things stolen from them, you have to be really careful here! I know it's only a matter of time before anything gets taken from me, it's just hard to keep an eye on all of your stuff every minute you're not inside your house.
Speaking of house, I love my family so much! It is a woman, her daughter, and one other girl from the US (the other one just left). We have a new student coming Wednesday, so I hope she's nice! Family dinners here are my favorite because we have really good conversations about anything and everything, and it really helps me practice my spanish. I've also been watching a lot of spanish tv in my free time so I can better understand what people are saying here, they talk so fast! The dinners are also amazing because the food here is so good, and my host mom cooks really amazing Argentinian food every night!
Overall, I'm learning a lot more Spanish and understanding more about how this city works. It's still really cold here! Today it was rainy, windy, cloudy, and a mere 50 degrees, which is why I am inside and on my computer instead of out exploring. I want it to be summer here so I can enjoy the city more!
Ciao y besos,
D
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day 8: Loving life
Yesterday marked the one week mark of my arrival in Buenos Aires! I had a great rest of the week and an even better weekend. Class ends at two every day so I have been sightseeing every day after class with the other kids who are studying abroad here. So far I've seen an ecological reserve, a Japonese garden, nearby parks, the cemetary where Eva Peron is buried, el caminito (a very colorful walkway with lots of shops), el obelisco, nearby outlets, malls, and today an AMAZING outdoor flea market. Everything I've seen so far has been amazing, but there is SO much to do here that it's overwhelming! I am determined to see everything important in BA before I leave in five or six months.
This weekend we went out friday night, and the night life here is crazy! They don't go out until 12 to the bars and 2 to the clubs because that is when they open. We met up with most of the other kids in the international program that are already here and all hung out together, which was really fun! Last night was more of a chill night and we all drank and hung out at my friend's homestay.
I love everything here! The people, the city, the society, everything is so great. I have a lot of homework for my class to do (weird right, I forgot I was actually doing something other than being a tourist). But I may actually never return to the U.S.
Ciao y besos
D
This weekend we went out friday night, and the night life here is crazy! They don't go out until 12 to the bars and 2 to the clubs because that is when they open. We met up with most of the other kids in the international program that are already here and all hung out together, which was really fun! Last night was more of a chill night and we all drank and hung out at my friend's homestay.
I love everything here! The people, the city, the society, everything is so great. I have a lot of homework for my class to do (weird right, I forgot I was actually doing something other than being a tourist). But I may actually never return to the U.S.
Ciao y besos
D
Monday, July 4, 2011
Day 3: All situated!
After many problems encountered the first two days of being here, I finally feel situated! Yesterday I moved into a nice house with a very nice woman and her daughter, and they also have two other girls from the US living here. Last night one of the girls that lives here took me with her to a free tango class, which was really fun! Today was the first day of my 3-week summer class, and it was pretty easy because we only listened to a presentation and took a placement test for the remainder of the 3 week class.
Although it is cold outside, I did a lot of exploring today with one of the other kids from AU that came to Buenos Aires. We went to a park that had wild cats everywhere! So cool. The only thing that bothered me today was the fact that you can only take out $1,000 pesos ($250 USD) every day from the ATM. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that I need to pay rent this week and it costs me $13 every time I use the ATM. So I'll spend $40+ a month JUST on ATM fees to take out the money for my rent.. and then even more for spending money. F m l.
LOVING Buenos Aires a lotttt though!
D
Although it is cold outside, I did a lot of exploring today with one of the other kids from AU that came to Buenos Aires. We went to a park that had wild cats everywhere! So cool. The only thing that bothered me today was the fact that you can only take out $1,000 pesos ($250 USD) every day from the ATM. This wouldn't be that big of a deal except for the fact that I need to pay rent this week and it costs me $13 every time I use the ATM. So I'll spend $40+ a month JUST on ATM fees to take out the money for my rent.. and then even more for spending money. F m l.
LOVING Buenos Aires a lotttt though!
D
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Day 1: Not so much of a good start
Today is the first day I am in Buenos Aires, and so far it is hectic as hell! I managed to get in a taxi from the airport and somehow the man took me to the right hostel. Luckily, the woman at the desk knew English because otherwise I'd probably still be out on the street. I got situated and went out to buy a cell phone and look for food. I failed on both accounts by paying way too much for a phone and then not finding any food that I wanted to eat. It is also SUPER COLD here and my hands were freezing from walking around outside for an hour. I'm now hiding out in my (somewhat warmer) hostel until I have to leave to look at two different houses of families. One is walking distance away, and the other one is a 30 minute car ride, so this leaves me trying to figure out how to use the buenos aires bus system, which is near impossible. Well gotta go get lost in the city, until next time!
D
D
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