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!!
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!!
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