Don't Cry For Me, Argentina

I can't believe it, I'm done with my semester here, well I mean virtually! I had 1 final last week, 2 yesterday and 1 today and tomorrow I just have to take my Spanish oral before I will be completely finished with school at the University of Belgrano in Buenos Aires. I cannot believe how fast my time here has literally flown by. I mean, I think back to that first day in the Buenos Aires International Airport and it seems like yesterday on the one hand and so long ago on the other. I mean, life here has just become normal. It's become normal to walk down the streets of the city, to take the bus or the subte, to lay in parks and visit ferias on the weekends, to speak Spanish every day, and to live my life in a Latin American city. I don't know what it will be like to go home back to life in the United States, but I know it will be different. It's a bittersweet feeling to be going home, I mean I can't wait to sleep in my own real bed and to see my family and friends, and to eat Chipotle, Pinkberry, and all the other delicious things that I miss from home, but I also know for a fact that the minute I step off of that plane in the Houston airport it will be all I can do not to cry to have left Argentina (don't cry for me, Argentina!)

I've never been more grateful to have the experiences that I've had here. It's incredible the things I've done, and I know that when I get home I will feel like I am unstoppable, I mean, I've lived in a Latin American city of 12 million people for 5 months. If that's not something to be impressed by I don't know what is. My time here will definitely have an impact on the way I live at home, and I'm not sure if I'm happy, sad, mad, anxious, dreading, or excited about going home, particularly about going back to CLU. I can't wait to tell everyone about all of my experiences here, but at the same time I know that they won't really understand most of what I have to say. That's the way my life has repeatedly been, as it's broken up into little compartments where one group of people from my life doesn't really understand what happens in any of the other experiences in my life, but I honestly think I prefer it that way, because I can understand more of myself when I have varied experiences to allow myself to grow. It makes me appreciate everyone in my life and everything I've ever been able to do monumentally more and I've never been happier to be living my life!

My adventure is not quite over yet, as on Friday I'm off to Peru to see Machu Picchu and Lake Titicaca, then on to Chile and Vina del Mar and Santiago. Machu Picchu has always been one of those mysterious far away places that you never think that you'll be able to see in real life, so I don't think it's really set in yet that I'll be there in less than a week! I feel like the luckiest girl in the world right now that I am doing all of these absolutely life-changing and unforgettable things and I couldn't be more appreciative of all of the people that have made that possible! Of course there will be pictures of all of the upcoming adventures! (there are a few more up right now from around Buenos Aires as well as our incredible trip to Iguazu Falls: http://picasaweb.google.com/Lizzaaaaaay to see them!) and I'll make sure to update at least one more entry about those adventures!

"To live is the rarest thing in the world"
-Oscar Wilde

You know you're in Buenos Aires when...

-you get cat-called by policemen
-you almost get hit by a colectivo every day
-you can't breathe
-dogs are walked in groups of 20
-and their poop is EVERYWHERE
-you stay out until 6am
-then you go get pizza...
-your life revolves around how you will get monedas for your next bus ride
-you eat alfajores, medialunas, empanadas, milanesa, and helado
-you plan grand adventures, but either get lost getting there, or wherever you were going is closed that day (for no particular reason)
-everyone loses a cell phone
-if you haven't lost one, you've DEFINITELY been stranded somewhere with no credit
-you've gone to McDonald's for a dulce de leche sundae
-you step in dog poop and get pooped on by a pigeon in the same day
-you've had an Argentine tell you "I love you", "I want to marry you", or "will you be my girlfriend?"
-you drink mate
-you go into a clothing store and can't fit into a large...
-your host mom is surprised when you're home before 3
-the guy that works at the gym makes out with you
-you can't buy peanut butter
-people LOVE that you're foreign
-you've been robbed
-salsa golf is a diet staple
-you don't know what you will do without kioscos
-or ferias
-you just want your pants to be dried in a dryer
-you have to take 2 subways and wait an hour and a half to pick up a package
-you've been on a bus when it has gotten in an accident
-you spend long afternoons in parks
-you've been to Retiro, and dread going back
-you've lost something at Lost
-waking up by 8am sounds CRAZY
-you've been pissed when you've accidently bought agua con gas
-which is surprisingly starting to grow on you
-ordering a coffee involves 8 dishes, served with a little cup of water and cookies, brownies, or any other dulce
-you're amazed that you don't have to order anything to sit in Starbucks, or pay for their internet
-sometimes, a trip out of the city is the most relieving thing you've ever been able to fathom
-you get weird phone calls and text messages in Spanish from people you don't know
-men wear rastas, mullets, rat tails, and the best: rasta-rat tail-mullets
-all the women have that bun on top of their head
-and they all wear those pants...
-your hot water always turns off in your shower
-you just want to eat something spicy
-it takes 2 months to figure out how the Guia-T works
-you get on a jam packed bus at 4:00am
-you complain about third world internet
-it's normal for someone to put a pen, scissors, a flashlight, or some other useless object on your lap on the subway, trying to sell it to you...you just wait patiently for them to come back around and pick it up
-you've tried to sit at the flower until it closes, unsuccessfully
-you've been to La Bamba
-La Boca and San Telmo scare you
-you go to the oddest places and meet the oddest people
-your life is weird

And that is why we love this city!!
:)

The Monedas

Check it out, it's seriously an issue!!

For the Love of Monedas - Still Life in South America

Riding as a Collective - What's Up Buenos Aires

Only in Argentina...

The ridiculousness of the series of events that occurred last night cannot go undocumented...sooooo a few of us decided that we wanted to go out last night, because I hadn't done much all day and felt kind of boring and they had all gone to Uruguay and just laid on the beach, so we were all a little antsy. I met Jared, Liz, and Elise around 1AM and we walked to the bus stop to wait for the good old 152. The bus system here is slightly ridiculous. Buses are called colectivos, and they're all owned by private companies so they're all different, but you can pretty much find one that will get you anywhere you need to go in the city. The problem is that they only accept change (monedas), and each company hoards the monedas because no one has figured out how to redistribute them. This has created a pretty obnoxious situation in Buenos Aires and Argentina in general, because it appears as though there's a moneda shortage and you always hear about some mafia that takes them all for one reason or another. Either way, you can't go to any store, supermarket, or kiosk and ask the attendant to exchange your 2 or 5 or 10 peso bill for monedas, because those monedas are freaking coveted. Even when making a purchase, they'll try and bargain with you to avoid having to give you your change in monedas. The whole thing is quite obnoxious and creates some very interesting situations (my host mom is friends with my friend Jared's host mom who has a house in the country...one Saturday they both told us that we were going to her country house the next day, and that we needed 10 pesos in monedas to get there. We were informed of this on Saturday, when banks aren't open, and Jared and I were forced to wander around the city for the entire day contemplating where the heck we would each get 10 pesos in monedas before 8AM the next morning...)

Anyways, last night we all came prepared with our 1.20 in monedas and waited at the bus stop for 20 minutes while we watched 3 buses zoom past us because there were SO MANY people on them that the drivers wouldn't stop to let us on (mind you, this is at 1:00 in the morning). A 152 FINALLY stops and lets us on, along with about 6 other people, and then we had the bus ride from hell. Why the other bus drivers were just fine with ignoring us because there were already enough people on their buses but this bus driver stopped for EVERYONE that flagged him down, I really could not tell you. We were literally on top of each other for the longest bus ride ever to the Alamo (this kind of sleazy American bar where my best Argie friend Rocio works), where we finally got off and could BREATHE (but not for long). We go into the Alamo, get our huge pitcher of beer, which Jared is forced to cradle and carry around while we wander upstairs and down for another 30 minutes trying to find SOMEWHERE to sit.

We finally end up making friends with some Argentine and Brazilian boys, who all didn't believe me when I told them I wasn't from Buenos Aires, and we sat down at their table. I got to practice my Spanish, which is always good, and the Argentine did a bunch of magic tricks for us, which was also ridiculous, but there was an obnoxious group of Americans sitting/standing at the table next to us (who also all thought I didn't speak English, so Jared and I played it up for a while). Anyways, they kept yelling and singing and 2 of them fell right into our table, almost killed me, and nearly spilt all of our beer. It was when one of them puked all over the floor right next to us, that we decided it was probably time to call it a night. Totally not worth my 20 pesos, plus my 1.20 monedas! Things like that seem to happen on a very regular basis here, and I can't help but laugh at how absolutely ridiculous this city can be sometimes.

FINALLY

I finally found a website that lets me upload photos quickly!! I have 2 albums so feel free to look at them :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/Lizzaaaaaay

Gracias! Chau!

Ok...

Ok so yes, I am officially the worst blogger ever, it's just there are so many more exciting things to do in my very little amount of time here than blog! Hahahaha, it's been another crazy month since I last posted anything (ok, I really am terrible) but my time here is sincerely flying by. I can't believe that in less than two months I will be back in the States, back to "real life". More and more, Buenos Aires has started to feel like home to me. I'm finally getting a handle on everything, and I'm finally getting used to nothing EVER being easy or going right! This place is full of funny situation, but I think it makes for better stories! Today, I went to La Boca (the kind of sketchy area of BA but it's supposed to be safe on weekends because it gets SUPER touristy). Anyways, we sat down outside of a restaurant and were about to order when all of a sudden this fight breaks out over who knows what, but there were people punching each other RIGHT next to our table-our waiter was actually a part of the whole thing. We didn't know what to do, like do we move or what? Then someone looks like they're pulling out a knife, so we get up and BOOK IT...so ridiculous hahaha. I've just gotten used to expecting the unexpected here, but still I continue to be amazed.

The Argentine/Buenos Aires culture is really VERY different from everything I know. It's actually a very odd place in a lot of ways, because it's a Latin American city but ever since its creation it's been a city that WANTS to be European. From the architecture, to the people, the dynamics here are so interesting to observe (for example, there really are no natives here, everyone is of European heritage). I actually really love all of my classes because we are learning about why Argentina is the way it is and all of the origins of the culture. People here are VERY proud to be Argentine, and Buenos Aires natives call themselves Portenos/Portenas. They're beautiful people, who love to drink their mate (yerba mate is kind of like a strong tea you drink from a gourd...there's lots of traditions and customs that go along with it, and there's lots of people here who you NEVER see without their mate), sit in parks, eat lots of meat, and stay out until all hours of the morning. They're never really in a rush to do anything, which I'm sure will frustrate my mom when she gets here! You have to flag down waiters in restaurants to ask for the check and wait for EVERYTHING. Yesterday, I had to go pick up a package that my aunt sent me. I got a card at my program's office saying I had a package, so I had to take 2 subways to this area called Retiro and wander around for about 25 minutes before I found the Correo building where I needed to go. Then I got a number, waited for a half an hour for it to be called, paid 6 pesos to some guy, then got another number and waited for another almost hour before it was called and I had to walk through like 3 doors and down 2 hallways to find some man who had my package. All for some tea and Cliff bars Aunt Jeanne sent me. But that's pretty typical here!

Although it's sounds like it would be a hard place to live, I couldn't be happier that I chose to study abroad in Buenos Aires. It's so different to live in a big city, especially because I never really have before. I also love exploring other parts of Argentina. I went on a trip to Cordoba a few weeks ago and this past weekend I went to Mendoza, which was AMAZING. It's a beautiful city near the Andes mountains, and it reminded me so much of Colorado! It's famous for it's wineries, and apparently is the best climate in the world for Malbec. We went on a wine tour and got to ride bicycles between three different wineries (they're called bodegas). Another day, we went paragliding, which was incredible. We also went horseback riding and ziplining in the mountains. The funniest thing about the trip was that we were doing some activities that would probably be labeled pretty high risk, and we got all of the instructions for them in Spanish! My mother loved hearing that!!! Ohhhhh the things we get into here! I love all the trouble, it makes for much better stories :)

Well I suppose that's enough for now, I'll say I'm going to update this again soon, but that might be a lie so don't count on anything!! Hahaha that's just the way things go?

Chau!!

Fotos

Valerie loves Buenos Aires

Cats love the Recoleta Cemetery

We love boliches...

and mail...

and submarinos...

and the Rio

More to come, promise!!

One Month

I knew this would be something that I was terrible about updating, so I'll try to remind myself to do it more often...but it's been more than a month! I can't believe that it's been 5 weeks to the day since I arrived in Buenos Aires. The city still feels strange to me, but every day I get more and more used to being here and it starts to feel a little more like home. I moved out of my first host home about 3 weeks ago into another house, with a roommate named Rachael and a host mom named Marta. It's a much better situation, because I'm in a way better location and I'm not all alone!

My best friend Valerie came to visit this past week, and it was the most amazing thing ever. Everyone kept saying "I wish my best friend would come visit me!" and we just responded "that's cuz we're ballers! jajaja" (that's hahaha in Spanish). It was a crazy week and we did all of the best touristy stuff in addition to going out and living it up in BA (it was her birthday while she was here). One of the funniest parts was when we went out one night and met up with my friend Kellen from ISA. He had randomly met this group of French people at an ATM who are also studying here and we all ended up going out together. We were all sitting at a table and people were speaking French, Spanish, and English! There was one point when I was in a cab with Kellen, Valerie, and one of the French guys. Kellen was telling the cab driver that he speaks Spanish and English, I speak Spanish, English, and French, Valerie speaks French and English, and the French guy speaks French and Spanish! Ohhhhhh the things that happen here never cease to amaze me!

It's been such an incredible month that I can't even fathom the fact that I only have another 3 ahead of me! Living in a foreign country never stops throwing me off...especially when Valerie was here, I started to notice the real differences between here and living in the US and there are so many! I've just gotten used to how long everything takes here and how you really can't do ANYTHING without something going wrong, it's all really is just part of the adventure. I love the hustle and bustle of the city. I love trying my hardest to communicate in Spanish. I love how often I just make a complete fool of myself and how I've learned to laugh about anything and everything. There's been a few times in the last few weeks when I've been too exhausted for words and have just NOT wanted to put in the effort that doing ANYTHING here requires, when I've just wished that I was home where things were easy, but every one of those times has been dramatically outnumbered by the incredible and amazing adventures I've had thus far and will continue to do so! I miss home, but I couldn't be happier in BA :)

Since it's been a month I'm going to probably start to get a few trips in during the next few months. We're talking about Cordoba, Mendoza, Montevideo, the beach with my Argentine friend Rocio when it gets warmer, and maybe Patagonia...I can't wait to explore more of Argentina and South America! I'm loving life, and I wish everyone could share these incredible experiences with me! I'll update this again very soon (or at least that's what I'll tell myself now...)

Chau y un beso!

Me encanta Buenos Aires

Things I like about Buenos Aires:
1. sitting in cafes listening to people speak Spanish
2. being able to walk to anything I could possibly need
3. successfully communicating in Spanish in a surprisingly large number of situations!
4. dulce de leche
5. public transportation
6. "que linda"
7. getting buzzed into places
8. people watching
9. Cabildo, Libertador, Zabala, Jose Hernandez, Santa Fe, Juramento, and the like
10. physically opening elevator doors
11. getting used to the oddest sleeping habits ever
12. dog walkers
13. finishing your umpteenth cafe con leche of the day
14. weekend fairs in every park or square
15. stop lights turning yellow BEFORE they turn green
16. etc., etc., etc.

Welcome to Buenos Aires...

Welcome to your first day in BA:
1. Navigate your way through customs in Spanish
2. Get stranded in your terminal and be forced to figure your way way through the airport until you find the ISA people
3. Meet your host mom (Tita doesn't speak any English)

All in one day. No, but in all honesty, Buenos Aires seems like a beautiful place to be...and, I mean, apart from having to use broken Spanish to find my way through the Buenos Aires airport, not understanding a word my host mom says, and dropping my money on the bus so I looked like a total fool, I'd say things are going pretty well, considering. The other ISA students I've met seem great and the city just makes my heart want to burst with happiness, if only I spoke any Spanish...

But sincerely, there have been more than several moments today when I have wanted to bawl my eyes out but I keep reminding myself that this is what I have dreamed about and now I'm actually living it! Sure, there are going to be plenty of uncomfortable situtations. Sure, I'm going to be absolutely terrified for the better part of the next month, and sure, the frustration with my beginning level Spanish will probably be overwhelming at times, but I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have this experience. It's going to be beautiful and I'm determined to enjoy every last bit of this adventure. I can't wait to make this city of cobblestoned streets, cozy cafes, crazy bars and clubs, mate, old traditions and modern people my home and that's exactly what I'm determined to do. I promise to walk everywhere and get lost as much as possible, and go out as much as possible, and meet Argentines as much as possible, and be enamoured and astounded by the vibrant Latin combined with the traditional European culture that exists here. This is where it starts and I'm excited to see where it goes!

Chau, y un beso!

The Sky Is Calling

I've never been much for blogging or anything of the sort, but I guess that there are enough people in my life who I've promised I would keep updated on my adventures and happenings in Buenos Aires that is justifies taking some time to document such events online :)

Packing is also not something I've ever been much for, but that's an unavoidable necessity also! Now if I could only figure out how to get my 61 pound suitcase to miraculously weigh under 50...

Departure: FRIDAY!