11 days left in this city

I've had a wonderful experience in Buenos Aires and generally dislike activities that reflect on the past, but I've found myself making lists about what I love about this city and why I should probably actually go back to the US.

Why I should stay here for the rest of my life:

-Fruit and veggie vendors on almost every street

-Excellent 24/7 public transportation

-Alfajores. Giant cookies filled with dulce de leche. This country is pretty addicted to sugar.

-The night life is probably unbeatable

-Fresh squeezed orange juice

-Politically active population

Why I should probably actually go back to the US:

-The food in Argentina... sucks. The diet appears to be salt, beef, potatoes, and more salt. Ok, their beef is good but 1) I don't eat much beef 2) It's apparently really expensive right now.

-'Free' gym at Whitman

- No commute, to get to class anyway

-Getting cat called by any male between the ages of 8 and 80 gets old

-Fresh air, PLEASE. This city is falsely named

-Dog poop on the sidewalks...

-Being able to do my own laundry would actually be a pleasure.

-Being able to get strong enough sunscreen and light enough makeup in the stores is difficult.

-Skim milk. One variety is sold here with 5.2 grams of fat in 200ml. Perhaps 3%?

I know I'm missing plenty of the thoughts that have gone through my mind on this subject. Take this as a sampling.

Uruguay!

I spent a long weekend in Uruguay, celebrating Thanksgiving with my entire program and then heading to the beach for a few days with friends.

The director of our program owns a B&B outside of Colonia, which is 50km across Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires. Our program of about 150 students met on Thursday morning at the ferry terminal in Buenos Aires for the boat ride to Colonia, where a Thanksgiving meal was awaiting us. We took the slow ferry so I enjoyed a long nap. Mario owns a gorgeous house with a lemon orchard and a pool. We enjoyed the 80 degree weather under a giant tent as we feasted on 10 turkeys and lots of veggies. The only thing that was missing were the massed potatoes. Sort of ironic since 'pure de papas' is a very common food in Argentina. They even had pumpkin pie!

I got all the dark meat that my heart desired!

We were then transported to Colonia and our hotels. Colonia is a World Heritage Site with gorgeous Portuguese and Spanish architecture. It felt nice to be out of the congestion of the city and to wander around the town. Two friends and I found a restaurant that had an antique car fashioned with a table and a bench. Still full from Thanksgiving dinner, we just got sangría.

Spanish and Portuguese style houses intermingled. All of the trees are in full bloom, too!

The costanera in Colonia! Buenos Aires is somewhere on the other side of the river.

On Saturday morning, 7 friends and I got on a bus to travel to Punta del Este, a beach town about 4 hours from Colonia. The days were relaxing with trips to the beach and cooking in the hostel. The town is definitely a resort occupied by Argentines and Brazilians during the summer. There weren't very many people at the beach, but it was also only in the 70's with wind.

The famous hand on Brava Beach in Punta del Este.

The sunset was gorgeous on the ferry ride back to Buenos Aires. All of it is thanks to the smog of BA though...

On Tuesday I finished another class by turning in a paper and giving a presentation. I have one more exam on the 10th, the day my parents arrive! I'm getting ready to be back in the US, but I'm excited to see some more of Argentina first.

Snowmen + Shorts?!

There's a fairly famous 'shopping' about 8 blocks from my house called Abasto. I went there today in search of some CDs that I'm going to analyze for a final paper. As I walked down the street in my sandals, shorts, and tank top, I couldn't help but stop and watch as some cranes installed a giant elf and a few oversized gifts above the entrance of the mall.

84 degree weather and elves just don't mix for me!

I ended up having to go closer to downtown to find one of the CDs that is from 2002. As much as I would love to say that I'm not embracing US culture (it is hard to escape here, to my defense), I went to Starbucks for a frap. My mind was blown a little more when I saw the holiday cups with snowmen, which I equate with peppermint lattes and hot chocolate.

I started laughing and felt obligated to explain to this elderly lady why I was laughing. To which she told me I spoke Spanish well.

I have my CDs, and this should at least be a fairly fun essay to write. It WILL be done by Wednesday. On Thursday I'm heading to Colonia, Uruguay to celebrate Thanksgiving as a group of Americans with my entire program. I'm then going to a beach town called Punta del Este for a few days with friends.

Salad=Salt

Major epiphany. Last weekend I went to Mendoza, which is a 13 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires. It's Argentina's wine country and across the Andes from Santiago, Chile. While on the bus, my friend and I were talking/complaining about Argentine food with an Argentine that we met on the bus.

Our major complain-- lack of flavor and way too much salt. And why the heck would anyone put SALT on his/her salad?

This Argentine just looked at us inquisitively. An ensalada (salad) is salada (salted); they come from the same root! I didn't quite want to believe this, since we (or at least I) never put salt on salads.

Merriam Webster origin of salt: Middle English salade, from Middle French, from Old Italian (northern dialects) salata, salada, from salar to salt, fromsal salt, from Latin.

Let's just say that I have started a list of things that I am 1) going to miss about Argentina 2) looking forward to in the US. Salted salads is most definitely not on the first list.

This post is a form of procrastination

But I did do some things of note this weekend.

Friday:

-I intended to work on a paper I have. That didn't happen.

-I watched the news as South American leaders such as Hugo Chavez arrived in Buenos Aires for Kirchner's wake.

-I went to Starbucks to work on my paper. I ended up talking for two hours in Spanish to an Argentine who spoke to me in English. She is planning a trip to the West Coast of the US.

-The employees had asked where I was from (guess my Argentine accent isn't perfect yet, ha), and it was fun to say from Seattle! They then asked me about Pike's Place.

-I went to see Red social (Social Network) with friends. It was really good, but I let hating all the characters. No one was too likable.

-Gwen and I then went to a house party that someone in my class was hosting. My first Argentine party! We then went to a boliche.

Saturday:

-After three hours of sleep, I met up with a guy from my program to hop on a bus for two hours to go to a zoo in Luján.

-We were able to pet lions and tigers. No bears though:( I had heard the animals were drugged, but from what I read online they are just very well fed and trained with domestic animals. And if they are in a bad mood, the visitors just can't enter the cages.

Just chilling with the tigers!

He bit me in the butt. I probably deserved it.

Los elefantes!

And of course, holding el leoncito!

-I then got 12 hours of sleep:)

Today:

-I went running. My calves were still sore from Thursday! I'll just have to make running a more regular activity.

-I came home and my host mom insisted that I'm her daughter for the next 6 weeks. Despite the program saying that I'm responsible for lunch, when I'm home for lunch, she'll cook and we'll eat together. I can't complain! We also spent a few hours drinking tea, looking through the book my mom made for me with pictures from my birth to high school graduation, and showing her a map of the US to explain where I live and where all my relatives live.

-I have spent the afternoon and evening eating cookie dough and thinking about writing my paper as well as skyping with my parents and Aunt Kappy.

The next few days will be full of Alfonsina Storni and feminist literary theory. My host mom is convinced that I'm smart and can whip it out quickly. We'll see:)

One down, three to go!

One of the universities where I have class ends ridiculously early. So today official marked the last day of Medicina Laboral! No more 8:30 class (although it was only once a week). I've had class at Whitman earlier than that, but it's a little different when I don't live 5 minutes from the classroom. There is technically a final, but you don't have to take the final if you do well enough on the midterm exams and other work in the class. I asked the professor, and he said I don't need to take the final. Awesome.

On the way home from class today on the way to the subway I passed la Casa Rosada where half the population has gathered to mourn Kirchner. No one seemed to like him before, but now that he's dead, he was the best thing that happened to Argentina. We were told to avoid big groups like this in fear of demonstrations turning violent, but I wasn't too concerned about this group getting rowdy.

La Casa Rosada y un montón de gente

I also when on my first city run! There's a park about 8 blocks away that's a giant circle. I saw 1400 meters marked on the sidewalk, so I take that it's a little less than a mile in diameter. The weather was so nice today- about 70 with a little wind.

Even with only 3 days of class this week, I'm feeling pretty tired at the moment. I've been watching Kirchner news but changed it to Latin music videos. I think I'll start planning our 3 week Argentina/Brazil adventure. I'm getting excited for my family to get here in 6 weeks! Where has the last 3 1/2 months gone?

A sad day for Argentina

I woke up this morning to the news the ex-president, and current president's husband, Nestor Kirchner died of a suspected heart attack this morning. He was thought to be a likely candidate for the 2011 presidential election and is known to have quite a bit of power in the current administration. From talking to my host mom and my friends about the reactions of their families, it sounds like most people accept that this could affect the political situation in the country substantially. No one seemed devastated by his passing though, meaning that most of the host families are generally against the Kirchners' politics.

Today was also the national census. The census is conducted on one day here, making it a national holiday where census workers come door to door. One person must be in each household, and they can't leave the house until their census is taken. ALL businesses were closed today, minus a few kiosks that seemed be opened illegally. It made for an eerie morning walking around the city where tourists, census workers, and police officers appeared to be the only people out.

I celebrated the national holiday by having a picnic in a park with friends. We spent almost all day there, and I managed to get a pretty significant sunburn on my back. I brought oatmeal raisin cookies, which my new host mom helped be make. I had gone to a store looking for the ingredients, but couldn't find things like brown sugar or baking soda. My host mom, Laura, went to the store with me yesterday evening and helped me find the ingredients and then helped me use the oven. The ovens here are gas and need to be lit with a lighter and don't have temperature gages. The cookies turned out pretty well considering my rather imprecise measurements in metric units and the oven.

I moved last Tuesday and am so much happier here. My new host mom is amazing. I was welcomed to the house with a few brand new towels (since I'm so tall I needed bigger towels:) and a non-stick pan after I had mentioned that I like to cook. She has been very talkative and interested in learning about me. I've also woken up to her making me breakfast multiple times and insisting on washing all my dishes. I still need to explore my new neighborhood and am debating my gym options, but am quite comfortable here!