Frueza bruta

Sorry for not updating in a while but classes have started to get pretty busy. I had an art exam yesterday, and I have two exams this Thursday... followed by a 10 page paper and presentation due the next Thursday and another paper and presentation the next Thursday!

A few random things that I've done in the last week:

-Last Saturday I went to a rugby game. It was fairly interesting, but since I don't actually know the rules it got a little boring after an hour and a half.

-On Sunday night I went to a tango and a rock class. I think I got the basic steps down for tango by the end but it was a struggle. The idea of being guided by a male partner is not something that's very well engrained in me... thank goodness.

-On Wednesday I went to a field hockey practice with a team that is connected with one of the universities that I'm going to. Most of the players don't actually go there, but I guess they know the coach. They started practicing three weeks ago but I didn't hear about the team until last week. There were 3 other girls who from the US there, 2 of which played in the US and the other is someone who I play lacrosse with/again in Washington. She started playing with the field hockey team a few weeks ago and assured me that I can pick up on it. Let's just say using the stick to precisely control where the ball goes is pretty difficult. It's also worth mentioning that field hockey appears to be the only sport that girls play here. The national team just won the (what I believe were) world championships again Holand a few weeks ago.

-Last night I went to a show called Fuerza Bruta that had been recommended to me by other students. It consisted of people running across a wall while suspended by harnesses, dancing angrily on stage, and swimming/sliding in a huge 'pool' that was suspended from the ceiling. I'm not sure what I was supposed to get out of it other than brute force.

Off to study for my exams!!

Feliz día de...

Today is the first day of spring as well as Día del estudiante (Day of the Student). As a result, there are no classes.

I will celebrate by studying all day for the three exams that I have heading my way.

Tandil!

I went on a lovely trip with Cailey to Tandil this past weekend. Tandil is a city of about 100,000 five hours south of BsAs in the southern pampas. It's still in the province of Buenos Aires, but the pace of the city was much slower than the capital. I'll outline some highlights of the trip. I know if I keep writing long posts no one will read them (except for you mom).

Thursday:

-We left n the afternoon and traveled by omnibus (double decker buses that seem to be the popular way for Argentines to travel as well). We had the best seats in the house, the first two seats on the second deck.

-I awoke from a nap at about 10pm to the bus swerving into the left lane to pass a truck, at which point I decided to put my seatbelt on. The buses and trucks seem to have an advanced form of communicated through flashing their headlights. I'm sure this exists in the US too, but I just don't travel on two lane roads that often at night, I guess.

Friday:

-It was really rainy but Cailey and I walked the 15 blocks to the tourist office.

-We headed to Epoca de Queso to try out the picadas, which Tandil is known for. We ordered a $115 peso plate of cured meats and cheeses and beer. We were seated in a small side room with a fire, so we shredded our wet socks and shoes to dry them out. The picadas were excellent and we had enough for a picnic the next day. My smartwool socks got a little singed but the fire. At least I had mostly dry shoes and socks!!

- That night we went to a club. It was only $6 cover!! Much less than the $25-$40 for females (more for guys) that we pay in the city. We ended up leaving at 3 because the music was all Cumbia, not our favorite.

Saturday:

-We took a walk to an artisanal market in a park. We ate our leftover picadas there.

-The best value of the weekend: We went on a tour of cabalgatas, horse riding, for two hours, followed by the guide, Gabriel, singing and playing guitar, and us drinking mate. The view during the tour was gorgeous and it was nice to get out an experience some nature. I now remember that there are animals other dogs and cats in the world.

Sunday:

-We went to two sites that have huge rocks that are famous for the their size and precarious positioning. Both places had nice views for the city.

Monday:

-We went in search of some goods to bring back. We had tried licor de dulce de leche during our cabalgata tour and wanted some to bring back. Since getting back to the city, I've seen it in grocery stores, too, but I guess I payed the price for some artesian licor de dulce de leche. I also bough 25 pesos of cheese from Epoca de Queso. One was their basic variety and the other was a harder cheese with garlic. I made a delicious omelet for lunch today with the garlic cheese.

- We got back on the bus at noon. I napped a little, did homework, and enjoyed the view of the country side.

I slept in today because I didn't have any class, then took my laundry to the laundry mate and went to MALBA, an art museum (but I don't remember what letters stand for). I've been at a cafe, doing some reading for the last few hours and will head to the gym shortly.

FÚTBOL

In case you haven't heard the news, Argentina beat the World Cup campions Spain yesterday 4-1. I went with Cailey, and our seats were 8 rows behind and to the right of the goal were 4 of the 5 goals were scored. We got pretty lucky. However, we did not pay for our tickets together, so we were not assigned seats next to each other. We had to move around a few times during the first twenty minutes since we had taken other people's seats, but found seats next to each other during the middle of the first half. Lesson learned, there are not a lot of unoccupied seats at Argentine fútbol games.

To say the least, it was exciting to watch the game and observe how obsessed Argentines are with soccer. During the national anthem, everyone was adding some kind of sound affect to the lyrics. Cailey and I decided that would be entirely unpatriotic and taboo in the US. There were also many soccer chants sung that everyone else seemed to know. At the end of the game, there were fireworks. Excitement was minimal in the end since the game was not exactly neck in neck (the score was 3-0 at half time).

Here are some pics:

The national anthems and ceremony before the game.

Not a bad view.

After the second or third goal.

This weekend I'm heading out of the city for the first time! I'm going to a city of 100,000 in the Southern Pampas called Tandil. We haven't set our agenda, but the goal is to do some laid back activities. There are estancias near by where we can experience the life of a gaucho for the day. I'll update when we get back! We're leaving tomorrow (Thursday) and getting back Monday evening.

¡Chau chau BsAs!

The past week

Last weekend I ended up getting sick, resulting in a pretty low key week.

On Saturday I called the doctor that our program recommends. I experienced my first home visit by a doctor. I was mostly worried because I had a cough that felt pretty deep and thought I might have bronchitis. In the end, he wasn't very worried, but gave me a prescription for cough syrup, antibiotics, and a decongestant. I'm probably contributing to the problem of resistance to antibiotics, but a week later, I feel pretty darn good. The visit was $180 (pesos) and the meds were about $100. From that I can deduce that doctors here live a slightly different lifestyle than those in the US. Less than 50 dollars for a home visit on a Saturday is pretty cheap.

On Tuesday I went to the final competition for 'Tango Festival y Mundial,' a yearly international competition. I saw the tango escenario final, as opposed to tango salón, which was the night before. I have no idea what the difference is. The dancing was amazing, but after 20 dances, they all sort of blended together. Here's the performance of the couple that won:

On Thursday I had my first 'parcial' (midterm) in my medicina laboral class. Overall, I thought it went pretty darn well. In the afternoon I went to an art gallery in San Telmo. I'm doing a mini-presentation about the exhibit on Wednesday for my art class. It was titled 'inconsciente óptico' (Unconscious optics) and was a series of 5 or 6 videos. I made the powerpoint last night, before I went to a street called Baez that is relatively close to my house that has bars and restaurants.

Also of note, I bought my first umbrella yesterday. Despite the rain in the Northwest, an umbrella is usually more of a hassle than a necessity. But I decided I really needed one here since I have to wait for buses and walk a few blocks from the bus stops.

Today:

-Going to pick up my ticket for the Argentina v Spain game that is TUESDAY.

-Researching where Cailey and I want to travel next weekend. I think I have a 5 day weekend since I don't have classes on Fridays and I only have one class on Monday. I think I have a break of 2 1/2 for my Monday/Wednesday class during a mid-term exam period.

-Perhaps some window shopping/hanging out with friends as they shop

I really hope the weather clears up soon!!!