La vida porteña: April 2011

Happy Palm Sunday!
I'm trying to get better about posting so I don't end up with a novel each time, so here begins my blog-a-week streak... we'll see how long it lasts!
I've had a pretty regular schedule these past two weeks since I haven't been traveling, and it's been nice to explore the city more and take a break from jet-setting everywhere. Also, since I have my internship 16 hours a week and classes too, I only have free time Fridays through Sundays!
Last Friday, I went to visit the Brazilian Consolate to get my visa in order to visit for Spring Break! I'll be going with three other girls from my program, as well as meeting up with a friend from High School who is studying in Brazil. I'm so excited!! We're staying right next to the beach in the neighborhood of Ipanema in the city of Rio de Janeiro! It's starting to feel like fall weather here (dipping down to 60s-70s instead of 80s-90s... rough, I know), so I can't wait to have a nice beach vacation. After I gave my visa information to be processed, I made a trip to the Correo Argentino (Post Office). Unlike in the US where you can leave your mail in your mailbox and it will be taken by the postman, in Argentina you have to physically go the the post office in order to send something. This becomes troublesome because they usually are only open from 10am-5pm and there's always about an hour wait to get anything done, so you might as well schedule a whole afternoon to send anything. It definitely makes me miss the efficiency of the USPS at home!! The rest of the day, I wandered around with friends and explored one of the many Carrefour grocery stores in the city: a two-story building complete with a shopping cart escalator!
On Sunday, my friends Liz and Sofia and I explored the neighborhood of Palermo Viejo and went to this adorable café/brunch place called Oui Oui. It felt like a little cottage and served amazing American-style brunch food... we were craving scrambled eggs so badly! I had a Croque Madame and a delicious banana nut muffin :) We then wandered around the neighborhood, which has a lot of little restaurants and shops. We also ran into a weekend crafts fair, which is pretty common on Sundays throughout the city.
On Monday, I had my first IES choir practice! There six girls in the choir, and we will be practicing to perform at the farewell dinner for the program at the end of June. We will learn an Argentine Folksong, a Tango, and a more modern piece. We started Cinco Siglos Igual by León Gieco, who is an Argentine equivalent of Bob Dylan.
This past Friday, I went with a bunch of IES students to a "Drumming Workshop" in the greater Buenos Aires city of Palomar. The place we went was called La Chilinga, which is a school that specializes in percussion stemming from afro-argentine influence. We got to watch the teachers play for us as a dancer performed the tribal dances associated with each rhythm, and then we got to play the drums ourselves! It was an interesting cultural experience since Argentina used to be have of the largest slave trade markets of its time, but the African influence on Tango and Folk rhythms is rarely discussed since the topic is more or less taboo.
On Saturday, I exercised in my favorite park in the city, which is Parque 3 de febrero. It reminds me so much of Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis, since it has a lake right in the middle with a large paved path around the outside. Every weekend it is filled with runners, rollerbladers, bikers, boarders, paddle boaters, street hockey players, and countless other activities. Some of my favorites to watch are the tightrope walkers who set up ropes between trees and perform for crowds. Also, there is even a live outdoor Zumba class!! Last weekend my friend Liz and I rented rollerblades and went around the lake, then enjoyed popsicles while we sat and watched the families picnicing and the children feeding the geese. After my nice run, I celebrated my friend Audra's birthday with delicious dulce de leche cake and a fun evening dancing.
Next Sunday is Easter, so we have a long weekend starting Thursday! I plan on exploring more of the neighborhoods, celebrating my other friend Sofia's birthday, and cooking/enjoying a nice Easter meal with my host mother. Until then, have a blessed week and I'll write more later!

Pictures of the Week:

Palermo Viejo

Cool shop in Palermo Viejo

Evening out with friends Liz and Sofia

Watching the performance at La Chilinga

Learning our rhythms for drumming!

Getting competitive with formations for the drum-off!

¡Saludos!

It's been forever since I've written, but I'll get you caught up as best I can! My last post was on Wednesday the 16th, the day before St. Patrick's Day. In Argentina, St. Patrick's Day really isn't a big deal but there are some Irish pubs and American bars that cater to us tourists wanting to celebrate leprechauns and Irish luck. After visiting one such place, we went to a hip hop dance club that played mostly remixes of popular American beats which were really fun to dance to... that is, until my wallet was stolen. I had promised myself I would do everything in my power not to become a victim of theft, but before I knew it, my cross-body purse had been unzipped and raided while I was dancing. Thankfully my cell phone, keys, and camera remained in a separate pocket, but gone with my wallet was about $75 USD, my license, debit card, and numerous IDs for class and such. I was lucky I was with friends who helped to pay for me to get home, and I had to learn my lesson the hard way along with many other doe-eyed foreigners.

The next day, I decided to relax after what happened and take a break from the city to visit my friend Trini. I met Trini my senior year of high school when she was a foreign exchange student studying in the United States and staying with one of my good friends, Anne. Trini is from Argentina, right outside of the city in a suburb of Buenos Aires called Pacheco. I took a half-an-hour long train ride and she picked me up from the station, then took me to her house where I stayed for the weekend! She lives in a gated community (which is different than in the United States—it includes hundreds of houses and multiple neighborhoods) surrounding lakes so it reminded me of Tonka! I had a blast getting to know her family and seeing everything around where she lived, and it was such a fun “life swap” where I now got to play the foreign student. The weekend flew by, but that definitely won’t be the last I see of Trini and her friends!

The following Wednesday marked the anniversary of the start of the last Argentine dictatorship in 1976, which is regarded as the “Day of Remembrance for Truth and Justice.” We had Thursday and Friday off of school, so I left for Mendoza with two friends from my program. We took a bus that left Wednesday night at 9pm and arrived the next day at 11:30! The bus company fed us dinner, showed movies, and even facilitated a game of Bingo (which my friend Liz won- and got a bottle of wine!). The only bad part was suffering a casualty from accidentally dropping my phone into the on-board toilet. Ewwww! After arriving at Hotel Empedrado, aka “the wine hostel,” we went on a bus tour of 2 wineries and one olive oil factory. It was interesting to see how the wine was made, and we even got to taste the famous Malbec of Mendoza. That night, we enjoyed our daily glass of wine (included in the room cost) and even got to try some other types such as Torrontés (a white fruity wine native to Mendoza) and classics such as Chardonnay and Merlot.

The next day, we slept in and meandered around the area which was full of little shops and restaurants, but not in the least bit as busy as living in Buenos Aires. At 4, we got ready to leave for our horseback riding excursion! Our group took a van out of the town and into the Andes Mountains—literally some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve ever seen. We drove past a large, crystal blue lake surrounded by the mountains and ended up at a small ranch. After being assigned horses (mine’s name was Gringo), we crossed a road and almost literally started going vertically up a path of rocks. It was a scary experience at first, but I definitely learned how to trust the horse! We rode through streams, up mountainous paths, and galloped on stretches of land surrounded by the giant backdrop of the Andes; absolutely every turn held a breathtaking view. After returning to the ranch, we watched the sunset and prepared to feast on asado for the night. Asado is literally a “roast” or “barbecue” where they pile a bunch of different meats and veggies on a fire and grill them to perfection. After gorging ourselves on delicious Argentine steak and emptying glasses of Malbec, we listened to our guide sing Argentine folk songs with his guitar and accompanied him on some more modern tunes we knew. All in all, it was a perfect night enjoying nature, the company of friends, and some traditional customs of Mendoza.

The next morning, we woke up early so we could return to the mountains for some extreme adventures: whitewater rafting and ziplining! We went ziplining first, over multiple valleys in the rock and finishing with a finale which spanned the river right by the main camp. One of the things I was thankful for is being able to understand the safety directions in Spanish, because even though some of the guides spoke English, I don’t think they could have taught me much (one of them told me that when braking with my hand on the zipline, I “needed more oppression.” Definitely not helpful!). Next we braved the freezing water for rafting, and bundled up in wetsuits, windbreakers, helmets and lifejackets for the journey down the Río Mendoza. It was rough paddling around the rocks, but no one fell out and only my friend Fay got drenched with splashes! We were exhausted afterwards, and went almost directly to the bus station so we could sleep the whole way back to Buenos Aires.

The next week, I started my internship with W3 Communications. They are a technology consulting and internet marketing company based in Buenos Aires with clients from all over South America as well as some from the United States. I will be working here 16 hours a week helping mostly the heads of social media and web for Argentine and American accounts. I already love the challenge of the work, the introduction to international brands, and my colleagues, so I’m excited to have this experience as an intern (“pasante” in Spanish, literally from the verb pasar, or “to pass through”). I also received a new debit card in the mail, so I felt whole again and was able to buy things such as a new phone!!

And lastly, in order to bring this back to the present, I just got back from spending the weekend in Tigre with a group from the IES program. We drove to the city where Trini had picked me up from the train station, and we got to explore a large outdoor crafts fair with delicious food and creative things for sale. Next, we took a boat down the river Paraná to reach the island we were staying on. Everyone had a little “luxury cabin” that they stayed in, and we enjoyed spending time on our private island kayaking, feasting and relaxing inside during a thunderstorm.

Now I’m back to the daily grind of the city, but there will be more exciting trips and events to come! Until then, ciao!

**Translation of this post's title: I left my heart in Mendoza ♥

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