Final Thoughts, One Might Say "Reflections"

When I first set off on my journey to Argentina, there was a list of things that I wanted to accomplish. The first and most important thing was to improve my Spanish. Part of me was naïve enough to think that after two months I was going to be close to fluent and the thought of that excited me. I also knew that, while I was gone, I was going to have to break out of my comfort zone. I have always been one or two steps behind others in my Spanish classes, allowing them to speak up first, and would only practice my Spanish in class when I was called on. There have always been those fears of mispronouncing words, not being able to find the right vocabulary, or just having the most obvious North American accent. I knew that I was going to have to completely ignore those fears while in Argentina, and as I tried to prepare myself mentally for the challenge, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

The two months I spent in Argentina were the most exciting two months I have ever experienced. I found myself in uncomfortable situations where I was forced to dig deep into my Spanish vocabulary and found that I was ever so thankful that Professor Green-Nagle taught us the “art” of circumlocution in her Spanish classes. Throughout all of this, however, it was also easy to forget that I was in a Spanish speaking country. All of the friends I made that were in my program are from the United States, and when we were together, we learned how difficult it was to keep speaking Spanish. Also, quite a few Argentines, once they heard our accents, would try to practice their English. Some of my favorite conversations were held on the buses or subways with Argentines who would speak to me in English, and I would respond to them in Spanish. It took a lot of discipline to stay in “Spanish mode” while they spoke in English, but we would help one another and would both be learning.

The first few weeks were the hardest ones. Culture shock hit me hard and if someone would have offered me a way home after week two, I probably would have accepted. There were a few problems with my housing once I got there and I was working off of very little sleep which affected my emotions. Thankfully, going home early was not an option and I am so happy I stayed with it to the end. I can happily say that I have met people from all around the world: Canada, England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, China, Israel, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Ghana, Angola, and of course, Argentina. I also have made many friends who live within the United States who I am sure I will keep in contact with. Meeting all of these people has rekindled my love of intercultural communications. There is nothing more enjoyable to me then getting to learn the differences and similarities between two cultures. I was able to study this in depth with Argentina, but the more people I met from other countries, the more I was able to compare and contrast the cultures of the United States, Argentina, and the other countries, respectively. Where many people would learn and think, “That is so strange!” I learn it and think, “That is so amazing!” If there is only one thing that this trip has given me, it is the passion and the want-to to dive deeper into studies of other cultures.

Apart from learning Spanish and learning about cultural differences, I was able to experience the life of Buenos Aires, the “Paris of South America,” first hand. Buenos Aires’ culture focuses heavily on European influence. Much of the architecture resembles that of France, Spain, and Italy. There is quite an obsession with coffee and ice cream (thanks to the Italian influence) and Italian cuisine is the most popular right behind asado (common to our North American barbecue). Steak is the number one food of Argentina, due to the large number of ranches with cattle around the country. Argentines are very proud of their history and their culture and it is imperative for a visitor to share a cup of mate (a strong, herbal tea) when it is offered.

Tango is also an important pastime of Argentina, and to go to Buenos Aires and not try tango is missing out on an important part of their culture. Although I can easily say that tango might not be my favorite thing to do, I enjoyed watching it and was so happy when one brave man from Ecuador attempted to teach me. I learned eight basic steps of tango that I could probably do in my sleep, and yet following someone’s lead is quite difficult. I attended many milongas (types of clubs that are reserved for partner dancing: tango, salsa, swing, etc) where I enjoyed watching friends and professionals dance. The art of tango is beautiful and beautifully complicated and as much as I would love to learn to do it well, I was content with watching those who knew what they were doing!

Another aspect of Argentine lifestyle is how late they stay out. Dinner usually does not begin until after nine o’clock at night (sometimes after ten) and dinner is more than just about the food. If there is anything I discovered about being in an Argentine restaurant, it was how impatient Americans from the United States are. In the United States, when you sit down to an evening meal, you want service and you want it fast. In Argentina, once the waiter seats you, you will not see him again until you are ready to order, and only after ten to twenty minutes of conversation while looking at the menu. Once you have ordered and received your food, there is at least an hour (and that is a short amount of time) set aside for eating and conversation. The waiter does not bring the bill until it is asked for and he never gets impatient waiting for the customers to leave. Conversation and companionship are very important elements to an Argentine dinner. My first dinner in Buenos Aires was three hours long, and it was a time when I was surrounded by new friends whom I got to know over the course of the meal.

After dinner, especially on the weekends, the younger crowd of Buenos Aires goes out into the night with one thing in mind: boliches! (clubs). It is very common to go out to a club around one in the morning, and stay there until six. There are even clubs that open at six in the morning called “After Parties”. These are the places for those who either need a break from tango or who want a great exercise from dancing for hours.

Throughout my two months in Argentina, I discovered that becoming bilingual is something that is going to take more than two months of intense study to accomplish. As if I did not already know, I realized that Spanish is quite a complicated language that is harder to grasp than I imagined. My Spanish has definitely improved and I feel as if I can comprehend it much better. Of course, my speaking has improved as well, but I have found that many people are surprised when I say that I am not anywhere near being fluent. At times, I wanted to give up. I wanted to take my future Spanish degree and hide it because getting through Spanish classes and a summer in Argentina does not necessarily mean I am ready to use the language in my career. But I have found hope knowing that I can keep practicing and studying. I can continue learning and growing in my Spanish knowledge. I know that native Spanish speakers (especially those in Argentina) are forgiving and understand how hard it is to communicate in a second language. I am so thankful for my time in Argentina and will continue to enjoy sharing my story with others. This opportunity would not have been possible without loving parents and supportive friends and it was an experience I will never forget.

Dia 53, Goodbye My New Love, Goodbye. 8 de agosto

I have a feeling that this might be the most difficult blog I have to write, because it has to be all about my last day in Buenos Aires, that magical city in the southern hemisphere. However, this isn’t going to be my “reflecting” blog. I’m going to save one more for that one. So maybe it won’t be too bad if I just talk about the last day, and how it went and what all I did, etc. Yeah, that doesn’t sound too hard. Okay, let’s go into the city that makes everyone dance.

Like I mentioned in the last update, I was planning on getting up early…and I did. Well, early for me. Serri woke me up around 10:20, which was great because I told her she could wake me up at 9:30 if she was up by then. So an extra fifty minutes was definitely welcomed, especially since I didn’t even sleep that well. I don’t know if it was because I was excited/sad about going home, or if I just wasn’t used to being in bed so early (ha), but sleep wasn’t the easiest thing. I was definitely happy about the thought that the next time I was going to sleep in a bed it would be my wonderful big, comfy bed at home!

Serri and I got ready for the day and went to the restaurant with American breakfast. I had waffles and bacon (which was the first bacon I’ve had since I’ve been here…it’s not very common and is pretty expensive in most places) and orange juice and it was good and so filling. Ivana met up with us there and we had a long breakfast and talked about how much we wanted to go home and yet how we wanted to stay.

After breakfast we walked to the Recoleta Feria. This had to have been my fourth or fifth time there, and it was all so familiar to me. I bought just a couple more little souvenirs but didn’t get anything spectacular. Serri and Ivana bought some really gorgeous mates that I was tempted to get but decided against it. While we were walking through, a little boy came up to us and tried to sell us packages of tissues. At this point, I literally had no Argentine money on me. I would have bought them, he only wanted two pesos or something like that, but I didn’t have it. I kept telling him I didn’t and he just kept following us. It was so weird because the entire time I’ve been here, when people ask for money and you say no and keep walking, they leave you alone. But this little kid (who was probably 8 or 9) just kept walking with us for a good distance. Ivana and Serri did a good job of ignoring him. But it was hard for me to do so. I would look at him and say, “No lo tengo” (I don’t have it) and he just kept talking about his baby sister. It was sad. But at the same time, I wonder how well that normally works for him. How many people eventually give him money so he’ll leave them alone? Oh well, he didn’t get anything from us and finally got distracted by a booth that had an armadillo shell hanging in it. (Yeah, I don’t know…I guess an armadillo shell isn’t as amazing to me, since I see them on the side of the road in Oklahoma a lot, lol).

After a while of walking around, Ivana left and Serri and I decided to kill some time by going back to Recoleta Cemetery. I believe I’ve said this before, but you can go into the cemetery multiple times and see all sorts of new things. It’s not only a large space, but there are so many things crammed into the space that it’s almost easy to get lost in there. We looked for Eva Peron’s tomb since Serri had never seen it. I’ve seen it twice before, so you’d think I’d know where to go, but we couldn’t find it. We eventually had to give up on the adventure aspect and looked at a map, then found it with ease.

We then decided to walk back home and check to see if Expanish had sent me confirmation for a taxi. Oh, I guess this is something I haven’t mentioned. Expanish said they wouldn’t pay for a taxi to the airport, which everyone in my program agrees that it’s something they should do. They did say, however, that they would call the cab for me and make all the arrangements, etc. So I had emailed them earlier in the week, letting them know that I needed a cab, but that Thomas, Adam and I wanted to go to the airport together since our flights were close and it would be a cheaper cab ride that way. Well, after I got in touch with the correct person at Expanish, she then needed to get all of our addresses. Now, I had limited internet access at my house, as we all know, so the emails between us would be about a day apart. I know that Expanish knew where we all lived (obviously, they put us there!) but apparently she either didn’t think to ask or wouldn’t or…something. So I had to email her the addresses. I told her the time I needed to be at the airport, but not being from here and not knowing how long it would take to get from my house, to Adam’s, to Thomas’, to the airport, I didn’t know what time we were supposed to be picked up. I explained this in an email to her, and her next email basically ignored what I had said and she said, “I need to know what time you want to be picked up.” So, by Friday, this is where we were. I got that email late Friday afternoon, and when I was at Expanish I asked if she was there and she had already left. So when I had checked my email again, she had sent me one asking what day I was supposed to leave. I mean, Expanish has all of this information! I had to send it to them… so I don’t know why there was all this confusion and why she couldn’t have looked it all up. So I had to email her, Friday afternoon, telling her that I was leaving the next day and asking her to please call my house phone with confirmation.

So, back to Saturday: Serri and I went back to our apartment to see if the lady at Expanish had called or email me back. Sure enough, she hadn’t. It was almost three in the afternoon; I needed a cab at 5. So I talked with Elsa and she said she would just call the cab service and explain to them that I needed a cab for three people, etc. I know, it would have seemed that easy in the first place, but since I had been talking with Expanish, I figured I didn’t need to bother Elsa about it. Well, Elsa called and explained that we just wanted one cab, but it needed to be the bigger sized cab so we could fit our luggage and what not. I’ve been in a cab twice on this trip with two other people and all six bags of our luggage. I knew it was possible. I was happy once we got this settled, especially since I was feeling as if Expanish wasn’t pulling through for me at this point in the trip.

I finally finished up what was left of my packing and then…Serri and I decided…to go to Freddo! It’s my last day; surely you all knew that I would be going, even if I had some ice cream (not Freddo) the night before. So we walked over to the Freddo that was my first and we split ¼ kilo. I got my chocolate suizo and Serri got tramontana. We decided to take it back home and eat it while watching more ridiculous shows on her computer. It was somehow made into our “tradition” I guess, so why not do it on the last day? As always, Freddo did not disappoint me. It was hard to tell him goodbye as we left, but it had to be done. Breaking up is never easy. =)

Once we got home, Elsa had to leave to meet some of her family. She gave me a hug and told me that next time I come to BA, I can bring my boyfriend or husband and we can all go get “beautiful Persicco ice cream together”. I am definitely going to miss Elsa. She was a wonderful example of an Argentine and I hope that one day I will be able to see her again. (I realize that this means going back to BA…but I could definitely deal!) She gave me her address, and I want to send her a photo of the three of us. It was sad to say goodbye to her.

Serri and I continued to watch our television show, and before I knew it, my cab had arrived…and more confusion began! But before I get to that…

PAUSE:

To Serri, I am so glad that we were housemates. I really don’t think I could have asked for a more fun person to live with! I’m so glad we got along so well, and thank you so much for allowing me to use the TRON. =) Thank you for listening to all my long stories and not only for that, but for being interested in them! I don’t know if I will ever stop “Fake Screaming” and when I do it around people at home, I’m sure they’ll find it strange, but that will just give me the opportunity to talk about my great housemate I had while in BA. Hopefully, we’ll stay in touch and one day we can be owners of Freddo in the US in Minnesota (South Dakota) and Oklahoma. I can’t wait for our three person conferences! Have fun on your road trip with the boy! I’m so excited for you getting to see him soon! =) Thanks for everything!

Un-Pause:

Well, moving on…as I get downstairs, I realize that there are two cabs waiting for me. Luckily, Serri had a friend stop by who has been living in BA for some time now, and she was sufficiently bilingual enough to talk with the cab drivers to figure out what had happened. Apparently, when you explain to a cab company that you want one car for three people plus luggage, they ignore it and send two because they think it’s impossible to fit that much into one care. I’ve said it before, I’ve seen it done…I know it’s possible. However, both cabs were there, and they were refusing, flat out refusing to attempt all of us in one car. Now, we three (Thomas, Adam, and I) did not have enough pesos amongst us to pay for two cabs all the way to the airport, but they said that they take US dollars too, and luckily, we had gotten money from Expanish when we turned our cell phones back in. Since I was the only one there at the time, I made the decision for the three of us that we’d just suck it up and pay for both cabs. I was worried about being late to the airport and didn’t know how busy it would be, etc. So we took the two cabs. Luckily, Adam had a bit of extra money as well, so we were able to pay for the majority of it with our leftover pesos and didn’t have to worry about exchanging money later.

I would like to take a moment and remind you all, that the first song I heard in Argentina was in a cab ride leaving the airport to go to the hotel. It was “Don’t Speak” by No Doubt and I was amazed by hearing American music and naïve to think that all I would have heard was Spanish music. I’ve definitely learned by this point how much of an influence American music has in Argentina…because it’s everywhere. So, I would just like to say that the last song I heard in Argentina was in the cab to the airport, as we were pulling into the airport actually, and it was “Believe” by Cher. Ha. I just wanted to share, because at least one person had to be curious. =)

Once we were in the airport, things went by pretty easily. The line for me and Adam’s airline wasn’t too long and after we got through the line, we waited with Thomas in his line for awhile. We had to eventually break away from Thomas and went to our gate. The security in this airport was very interesting. Almost laid back, but with somewhat different precautions than what we are used to. The first security check point we went through was when we were dropping off our luggage. They just asked us questions about who packed our bags and if anyone gave us anything to take with us while we were in the airport. After we dropped our bags off, we had to walk through to where the gates were and just show guards that we had boarding passes. Then we went through the metal detectors. We didn’t have to take our shoes off or take our laptops or liquids out of our bags, which I thought was wonderful! I thought that surely that wasn’t all the security. But at this point in time, it was. We then walked through immigration where we had to fill out sheets explaining why we had been in Argentina. It was at least the third or fourth time I’d seen one of these so it was basically easy to fill out. We then had to turn in the papers and get our passports stamped. Then, we were in the terminals. Our gate was really close by and I was just wiped and ready to be home, so I stayed there and just sat. Adam didn’t feel like sitting and decided to walk around. I knew that going through security had been just way too good to be true, because about an hour and a half before our flight, they made us all get up with our purses and back packs and stand in a line to go through the final security check point. With Adam gone I had to carry all of our stuff into a line that was really pretty long. Luckily, he showed back up before it was my turn. Once I got to the front, I was asked another set of questions about who has been in contact with my bag and if I had left it alone at any point in time. Once I got past that, I had to go to the next part where someone got the opportunity to search through my bag. The only thing that lady asked me was if I had any lighters or matches on me, which I did not. It was pretty easy and looked as if she barely looked through my stuff. Adam had it a bit harder with his security check. He had bottled water and here, they don’t let you take any drinks on the plane with you if they’ve already been opened. Adam said, “I will finish it before I get on the plane.” And the guard said, “Finish it in front of me please.” So Adam had to drink almost a full bottle of water in front of him as he looked through his stuff. But even Adam had it a bit easier than others because one guard was making everyone take off their shoes and running a detector thing over them. I guess every guard had a specific thing to do, and so it was basically a random search because you didn’t really know what you were going to have to do.

Once we were finally through that, we had about thirty minutes before our flight, so we just talked and hung out. Finally, we were on our plane, with a ten hour flight to look forward to. I didn’t sleep…at all. I watched Mulan (yay for Disney) and three episodes of CSI, an episode of The Office, and a few other shows…It was a long flight. I tried sleeping, of course, but it was so uncomfortable and my body just wasn’t having it.

And thus ends my time in BA. This would be the point when I would say a few words (or paragraphs) about my time spent in the beautiful country of Argentina. But I am going to give that its own update.

Thank you all for reading! Un beso!

Dia 52, Massages and Good Byes = Bitter Sweet, 7 de agosto

I woke up pretty late today, around two. Not only that, but I didn’t even feel all that great. I hadn’t slept well, even if I had slept long. I was still tired and wasn’t looking forward to having to turn in my phone today, not to mention that it’s my last full day in BA.

After having lunch and hanging out with Serri while she packed, she and I decided to go to Coto for one last grocery shopping experience. We both wanted to get dulce de leche and mate to bring back home. After that, we went to Havana where she was able to get a couple of boxes of alfajores. (In case I never mentioned it or you’ve forgotten, alfajores are one of the main desserts of Argentina. They resemble moon pies but are usually filled (relleno) with Dulce de Leche and covered with chocolate. There are also fruit ones and other flavors, but dulce de leche is the most popular. I don’t so much like them; they are just way too rich. I can handle a bite or two, but after that I am done. Elsa had bought me some mini ones, which I like much better…)

After our mini-shopping trip, I had to rush off to Expanish where I was scheduled to meet Bridget and Thomas and also turn my phone in. While I was there, I had to fill out the longest evaluation form I have ever seen for Expanish. I was tempted to just check the boxes without adding comments, but I figured that that wouldn’t help out Expanish at all. It took me around twenty minutes or more to fill out, and Bridget still hadn’t arrived. I kept my phone until the last minute and discovered that she was on her way. Today was the day that we were scheduled to get massages, and I had about a twenty minute window to get there. Apparently, the subtes were running slow, so Bridget was running later than expected. I had to send her one last text telling her I’d meet her at the massage place, and left my phone with Expanish.

I think it’s so weird how in this city if you don’t need a taxi, they are everywhere. There’s no telling how many taxis roam the streets of BA looking for passengers. However, if you need one, especially around 5:30-6:00 (which is rush hour, by the way), it is basically impossible to find an open one. I guess it makes sense since everyone is going back home and there are a great amount of people traveling, but I still can’t imagine why it’s that hard to find a taxi. I even walked to 9 de Julio (basically the busiest street in the Microcentro of BA) and I still couldn’t get one. I realized then that I should have just had Expanish call me one, but it was a little late now and I had very little time to get to my massage appointment. I guess I started to stress out a little, but soon started hoping that, since we are in a polychronic time zone (where time flows smoothly as opposed to being: appointment A, B, C, can’t be late, rush rush rush, meeting here, picking up Sue there, dropping off Ben here) that maybe me being a little late for my massage wasn’t going to be the end of the world. I finally just took my bus back to my neighborhood where I then had to walk the five blocks to get to the shop. The massage lady had decided to do a pedicure since I was late, but she was really nice and just had me wait for about ten more minutes before getting to me. I didn’t mind at all and just read (well…looked at) a magazine while I waited. Bridget didn’t make it before I went in to my massage, but I figured she would definitely get there before it was her turn.

The massage was wonderful. I thought that it was going to be just a back massage, but I soon found out it was a full body massage! The lady explained to me that she prefers them because the body is one. It’s basically not fair to just massage your back and ignore the fact that your legs, arms, stomach, head, and face, work every day too. So my one hour fully body massage was basically the high light of my day. I was so relaxed and it felt so good! She informed me afterwards that I had had quite a bit of stress in my face. I don’t really understand why I would. She tried explaining it to me in Spanish and some broken English, and the best I could get out of it was maybe that I try and fake my emotions with my face too much. So if I am feeling somewhat sad, I’ll still smile a lot so people won’t know, which causes stress in my cheeks and above my upper lip. Very interesting…especially since I don’t consciously think about it!

After the massage, Bridget was indeed there. I talked with her a little bit and we decided that she would just come over to my house (which was about three blocks away from the place) after her massage was over. So I went home and started packing. It was so sad seeing the room that I had created for myself over the last two months come apart. Pictures were coming down; the closet was becoming empty, so sad. I was surprised at how fast it was to pack though. I didn’t waste any time. I just set my mind to do it and within thirty minutes or so, my stuff that I wouldn’t be using the rest of the trip was packed. I was pretty proud of myself. Bridget showed up and was like, “Oh, it does look sad.”

She had enjoyed her massage too. Apparently, she’s stressed in her stomach and feet. Oh, the things you can learn when getting a massage. Bridget and I sat and talked for awhile. It didn’t seem like long enough because she had to leave to go home and have her last dinner with her host mom. We had to say goodbye and it was so sad because we were both trying to be light hearted and whatnot. Saying goodbye to Bridget was basically the worst goodbye I had to deal with. I spent the majority of my time in BA with her and had gotten to know her pretty well. We had become good friends in such a fast time and although she lives only a few states away from me, it’s going to be hard to try and see one another in the future. But we both want to! So we’ll see how that works.

Another side note!

To Bridget: Thank you so so so much for being my “Best Friend in Argentina”. I don’t know if you knew it, but you gave me so much confidence to just get out there and “dance”. I feel as if I might have broken out of my shell a little bit, and it was so easy to just be myself around you! I am glad we became such close friends and I feel that if, ten or twenty (or sixty!) years from now, if I happen to be in your neighborhood, I could stop by for some mate and a great conversation! I am already missing you and hope that one day we can take a road trip to see one another (*cough* Spring Break!). I hope everything is working out with you in Atlanta and I know that we’re going to keep in touch! Thank you again for everything and for just sticking with me when I was probably scared out of my mind trying new things! I’ll miss you and can’t wait to see you again!

Un-pause:

Okay, so after Bridget left *tear*, I got ready and Serri and I went out to dinner with Elsa. We took her to a place called “La Dorita”, one of the best steak restaurants in Buenos Aires. Well, I suppose there is some debate to that, as always. My dad sent me an email awhile ago about an article he read that talked about the “World’s Best Steak”. The verdict? Go to Argentina. As far as BA, there were three different restaurants on the list. One of them happened to be “La Dorita de Enfrente”. After some research I discovered that there is that one and a “La Dorita” right across the street from it. I then found out that La Dorita was the first one, and it got so popular that they had to expand, thus building the “de Enfrente” across the street. (The title makes me smile because enfrente means “in front”, and since it was right across the street…well, you get it, I hope.) Therefore, I don’t exactly know why “de Enfrente” has the best steak and “La Dorita” wouldn’t. Especially since they are owned by the same people and it seemed as if the chefs could be pretty interchangeable between the two places. The wait staff would go back and forth between the two buildings (especially once the restaurant was completely full). La Dorita wasn’t even a very large restaurant, (hence needing to expand.) The tables were so close to one another and we couldn’t figure out how the wait staff made it to the back corners. Moving on to the more important stuff…the food! It was really good. The steak (Serri and I shared bife lomo, tenderloin) was so delicious. Definitely tender and moist, all those good things you look for in a steak. We also shared a side of papa pure (mashed potatoes) and mushrooms. The mushrooms would have been so much better; except for they were covered in this wine sauce stuff. Now, I have been really patient with my wine tasting here. I always try the wine, because it is such a huge part of Argentine culture. However, after seven and a half weeks, I have only grown to dislike it more. Oh well, it’s not like wine is something we have to enjoy. At least I tried to like it! =) With that said, the mushrooms had this awkward wine taste and I just didn’t like it. So Serri got to eat them and found it strange that I couldn’t like them since the taste wasn’t that strong. Oh well. =)

After we had dinner and we were sitting at our table talking, the conversation somehow turned to…helado! (ice cream for those of you who don’t remember your Spanish vocabulary, lol). Elsa told us of this place called Persicco that has just amazing ice cream and that I had to try it before I left. Then she decided, “Why not go tonight?!” So we did! It was so much fun going with Elsa because she is normally in bed by nine or ten and it was basically midnight at this point. It was her suggestion to go and she was getting all excited about it. So we went and I must say…it was really great ice cream. I don’t know what I will do back in the US when I have to eat normal old ice cream again. Ice cream in Argentina does not fail, ever. It’s all so good! I wish I could explain better because a few people have asked me what makes it so much better. And I really don’t know! Serri decided it was definitely better than Freddo, but of course I have to stand my ground, especially when I cheat on my Argentine love. =) But it was almost a bit more expensive then Freddo, by maybe a peso or so, but still.

After having the great ice cream, we went back to our apartment. It was decently late at this point and Serri and I decided we wanted to get up “early” to try out this place that has bagels and waffles for breakfast! (It’s so unusual to find a place that serves American type breakfast…other than McDonald’s of course.) So I went to bed pretty early (before two I believe) and said my last “Good night” to Buenos Aires.

Dia 51, Last Day of Class and Last Lost, 6 de augosto

Today was sadly the last class I will ever take in Buenos Aires. Sad? No, not at all. =) Our professor decided to be thirty minutes late to class, which was somewhat frustrating but in the long run he let us out on time so it spared us from having to have extra lessons after our exam. Our exam was a colloquia. He moved around the room and asked us questions. Some were flat out “this is the answer” others needed more explanation. It was somewhat frustrating at first because the first few questions he asked were easy, but others answered before I could get a word in. I don’t blame them, I blame myself for not speaking out, when I knew the answers. So of course, when it comes down to me and Adam left, the next question the profe asks, neither of us knew. We tried working around it, and it wasn’t the easiest. Towards the end of class I finally started to speak up which I suppose helped my grade a little bit. At one point they asked a question about Menem’s uno a uno plan (his economic plan making the peso equal to a dollar) and I knew the answer, and he let me write it on the board explaining the before and after. I got it write and he said, “muy bien”. Frankie was there again and he was helping us out a lot. He’d be standing behind professor Bustinduy and when he’d ask a yes or no question, Frankie would be nodding or shaking his head. It was pretty funny. Towards the end of our session, Frankie and Prof. Bustinduy got into an “argument” about being Peronista. Frankie is anti-Peronista and Bustinduy is not. Frankie started saying that Bustinduy was a Marxist, Fascist and had a tattoo of Che Guevarra on his shoulder and whatnot. They were yelling and just getting each other left and right. Luckily, I happened to have turned my camera on video and started filming it from the inside of my purse. There’s no visual, but the audio is hilarious! If anything, this was definitely the most entertaining class of the summer. I ended up getting a 7 in the class which is the equivalent of an 85. I’m pretty happy about it since the only thing our grade was based off of was the colloquia. I still don’t know what I made in my other two classes. I might try emailing the professors to ask them. If anything, I will get a transcript eventually and I’ll see it then! =)

After class Bridget came over and we hung out for awhile and got ready for the evening. Her host mom had ended up making us reservations at Delywok, the tenedor libre I mentioned yesterday. When we finally went at around nine, we were so hungry and were not disappointed! Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the best food in the world, but it was decent enough. It was like a super buffet. They had so many different things to choose from. They had a regular buffet that had all the vegetables, fruit, fish, chicken, French fries, salad, desserts, sushi, etc. Then they also had a parilla (grill) where you could order different cuts of beef. There was also an Oriental chef that would make one of ten different dishes, and a pasta chef who had about ten different types of pasta, AND a pancake station! Yes, you all read that right, a station where you could get pancakes. He makes it like a normal pancake, then puts chocolate or dulce de leche on it then folds it in half. And then he pours a liqueur over it. There were so many different flavors to choose from! Strawberry (frutilla), dulce de leche, sour apple, etc. It was wonderful! And there was ice cream to put with it! I mean, the food wasn’t the best we’ve had, but the selection and over all idea of the place was wonderful! And it was only $33 pesos, which is a little less than $11 US…totally worth it!

While we were there, Thomas decided he would be brave and try the fish head they had lying out. I took a photo right before he tried it. He decided to be even crazier and eat the EYEBALL of the fish. I don’t know why on earth I didn’t take a photo of his face after he chewed on the eye, but it was hilarious! I think that was a once in a lifetime moment for Thomas…and the first thing he said was, “Cambria, you would throw up.” So glad I decided to not go for the fish eye…or fish head for that matter. =)

After a great dinner with some great friends and conversation, Bridget and I were heading to Sugar, our favorite pre-club hang out. Eric had no plans and said he’d come with us. While we were there some creepy guy went up to Bridget and showed her a text message that said some pretty crude things, and apparently though that was enough to get her to leave the bar with him. One of the things I love about Bridget is that she isn’t afraid to speak her mind. So she looked up at him after reading the message and said, “Do you speak English?” He said yes and she said, “That is so lame! That’s not how you pick up a girl!” Needless to say, his lame tactics didn’t work and he left alone. Another Bridget moment happened in a club about a week ago when some guy came up and said, “What’s your name, baby?” She replied with, “It’s not Baby!” I admire her no-nonsense attitude when it comes to guys. Be real or back off. It’s great! Oh the things I learn from her! =)

We left Sugar and headed over to… Lost! It’s our last Thursday so of course we had to go back to our favorite Thursday night boliche! Since we got in last week after saying a random pass word, we thought we’d try it again this week. I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try to get in for free and save 25 pesos. So Eric walks up, says a random website name as a list and she let us in! I was so happy that we didn’t have to pay again. You would think that they would change the password every week or something, but maybe they are betting on guests who are just American and won’t be back the next week? I don’t know, but it worked for us and we were in. There wasn’t anything too much different from the previous weeks. We danced and had a great time. I didn’t have to ward off as many guys this week, and I guess it’s because Eric was a part of our group. Guys are a lot less likely to mess with you if you have a guy friend with you, so that was good!

As usual, I got home around six and went to bed! Another late, crazy night in BA. Oh the days…how they are dwindling so fast. Just one more full day before having to go home!

Chao for now! Un beso!

Dia 50! La Fantasma De La Opera, 5 de agosto

Today marks my fiftieth day in Argentina. I can barely believe it. As this time has gone by I have felt like it’s been such a long time, but as I think, “Wow, only a few days left,” I think that it’s gone by way too fast. A huge part of me is ready to go home, but at the same time, I am leaving so much here and I can’t believe I have to leave already. But I think me wanting home and my family and friends is the larger part of how I feel. I know that I really could survive living in a large city like this if I ever need to, but I also know that I prefer the small, car driving, town atmosphere. =)

Anyways… today also marked the end of my Spanish classes. We got our tests back from Monday and even though I didn’t do as good as I would have liked, compared to the first test we had in there, I’ve improved quite a bit. I even understand the subjunctive now! (Well, at least I feel as if I do). We had an oral exam today, and I feel pretty good about that as well. I even used the perfect and pluperfect tenses in my speech (which…to most of you that means nothing, but to those of us who have been studying Spanish for what seems like forever and can’t believe how hard it still is…that’s quite a feat. Lol).

After my Spanish class, we had a mini-break and then had our Culture class. However, our professor wasn’t able to make it. Apparently, he was taking the train and someone jumped onto the tracks! So of course, the train stopped and there was all sorts of chaos and what not. So he wasn’t able to make the class, however, his helper (who I guess is like a student teacher somewhat?) was there and we talked about the government of Argentina from 1983 up until 2003 when Kirchner became president. As most of you know/don’t know…(ha), in 2001 Argentina went through a huge economic crisis. The current president was thrown out and in the course of nine days, Argentina had five different presidents, yeah…five! One of them (Camagno) resigned after 22 hours and 30 minutes. I found that pretty interesting and amusing. It was probably my first class that I really enjoyed (apart from the Spanish class). Frankie (the teacher for the night) wrote on the board a lot and as he went through the history it was basically like a timeline and there were points and everything. It was so easy to follow! We have our final exam tomorrow and it’s going to be an oral exam over everything we’ve talked about. I don’t know how I feel about it all, mainly because there’s so much information! We won’t be allowed to use our notes either, and let’s just be honest; I haven’t been going home and studying my notes after class. =) Hopefully I’ll get to talk about what we learned in class today, I’m pretty confident about that! We’ll see…

After class, Thomas, Adam and I headed to the subway (which was a wonderful 12 blocks away…not fun, lol). It was the “easiest” way (that we knew of) to get to the Centro (Microcentro Barrio... like the “center” of Buenos Aires Capital Federal). Adam went on home, but Thomas and I walked around Lavalle Street (it’s a street like Florida; it’s for people only, no cars). We got dinner (pancho!) and wasted time until it was time to go see “La Fantasma De La Opera”! Oh, and we stopped at an heladeria (ice cream shop)…no, not Freddo. I can’t even remember the name, but the ice cream was more like…frozen yogurt I guess. It was good, and cheaper than Freddo (please don’t tell him that I cheated on him again! Ha), and the texture was like…that in between ice cream…and melted ice cream, lol. I liked it, but of course it wasn’t Freddo. I am glad that I am attempting to open my horizons in the world of heladerias though. =)

Finally, it was time to go to the teatro! Sure enough, the teatro was called “Teatro Opera” which was so fitting since it was showing Fantasma. We were somehow lucky enough to get seats on the planta baja (bottom floor) and although we were pretty far in the back, we could still see everything just fine. They were really great seats! The second the music started playing, my heart was in such a happy place. Every time I see a show, I am reminded why I love theatre. It’s such a magical thing, and you can disappear from the real world for a couple of hours and be sucked into whatever world you happen to be going to. The music was wonderful and even though it was difficult to understand, the music was the same and I know the story line, so I could still follow it. I got the parts that were somewhat funny and I was definitely able to enjoy it. It was a lot like the Phantom in London, the scenes were all a lot a like, so a lot of the spectacle of it wasn’t a surprise to me as it was to Thomas; however, it didn’t stop me from enjoying it. Of course, now I have the songs stuck in my head and I keep asking myself, how on earth have I not gotten the soundtrack yet? It’s on my list of things to do…

One thing I thought was weird was that they were letting people take photos of the stage before it started. I mean, it wasn’t that interesting of a set before the start of the show, but still. I was shocked because that’s such a big no no in the states and well, every theatre I’ve ever been to. I will admit I took a photo…I mean, why not? They were allowing it! =) And they allowed food and drink into the theatre as well, which is common in London so I wasn’t as thrown off by that.

We got out around eleven and then just went on our separate ways. Now I am back at home waiting on Serri to be finished with the net so I can add this update! I can’t believe I am going to be home in just a few days. We are trying to get everything figured out here…the taxi to the airport and turning in our cell phones (which we have to do by Friday afternoon, meaning Friday night is going to be difficult, what with trying to get a hold of people to go out and party for our last night in BA! Ha ha).

I suppose that’s all I have to say for the day. Tomorrow is my last day of classes here, and tomorrow night Bridget has planned a dinner at a place that’s a tenedor libre (a buffet, literally: free fork) that she’s wanted to go to for awhile. After that we are probably going back to Lost for our last Thursday night of boliches! =)

Chao for now! Un beso!

Dia 49: Last Day of Politics Leads to a Freddo Extravaganza! 4 de agosto

If I didn’t enjoy writing about myself and my life so much, I would say, “Well, if you read the title of this blog, you know about my day.” And I could leave it at that…but lucky for all of you, I do enjoy writing about myself, and that’s what I am going to do for you all again today. =)

I woke up…on my own, around 10:15 (fifteen minutes before my alarm, someone be proud of me) and had my usual breakfast/shower routine. I got ready for class, got online and was able to talk to Amanda and Cody on Facebook chat, which was great because I haven’t gotten to talk to either of them in a long while. Yay for friends! =)

I headed off to class…which just happened to be the class that would end my career as a Politics student. No, not sad at all. =) And class wasn’t that bad either. He talked a lot; Alex asked a lot of questions…it was long, as usual, but not too worrying. We had all done our papers and sent him the email with our papers in it, luckily he hadn’t gotten them yet, so we didn’t have to discuss them in class! At the very end he asked us our opinions of the course. I tried as best I could to explain how it was difficult for me because it was easy to understand a lot of the words, but I would get lost trying to know the concepts of a lot of things. I told him that, although the readings were difficult, I liked them because it gave me something visual to be able to focus on instead of trying to grasp everything just by listening.

As a class, we finished off my peanut butter, and the professor had a few crackers with the PB on them…hopefully he’ll always be able to connect peanut butter to our class, and even if he remembers me as the student who doesn’t enjoy politics and hated the class…at least I introduced peanut butter to him. =) He also let us take a group photo with him after class, so everyone will be able to see the infamous Professor Carlos Piedra Buena (Carlos Good Rock…if you were wondering).

After class…we went and did possibly the best thing we could have done to celebrate the end of Politics class…had Freddo. (And, now that I think of it…no one even mentioned celebrating the end of the class…I think that’s just how my subconscious connected the two, lol). However, we didn’t just have any Freddo experience…as I said in my title, this was an EXTRAVAGANZA! Okay, maybe not this exciting, but we got the big one…the KILO. Now, at this Freddo, they said you could only get four flavors, which was pretty disappointing to us all, but still, we were getting the biggest amount of Freddo ice cream one can get (well, in one container)! The four flavors we got were: Dulce de Leche with Brownie, Tramontana, Chocolate Suizo, and Sombayon (the wine flavored one that I don’t really like…that one was for Thomas and Derek). Oh yeah, Derek and Gerald joined us for this little party. It’s only fitting that Derek (who is almost as obsessed with Freddo as I am…almost) be there for this event. Since there were about 7 of us eating it…it went by pretty fast, and even though it didn’t feel like I ate a kilo of ice cream (well, because I alone did not), it was still enough ice cream to last me for…a day or two. I hope it wasn’t my last Freddo experience. I am now starting to wonder if there is a Freddo in the airport so I can have it right before I leave…hmm. =)

Side note:

After we ate Derek and Gerald had to run to a dance class. And we kind of realized that tonight was quite possibly the last time we’d see each other. They are trying to plan a trip to Iguazu this weekend, so they’d be out of town. It was a semi-sad moment as we all said goodbye. It’s hard making new friends and then having to say goodbye so soon. But I suppose that’s life… we can be thankful for Facebook and being able to stay in touch if we really want to! But to Derek and Gerald (and Greggory, Victoria, Meghan, Ricardo…), thank you for being a part of my Buenos Aires experience. I realize that I barely know you all, but I think that if I were to call any of you right now and said I needed you to come over, you would do it…at least while we are here in BA and it’s physically possible! I enjoyed dancing with you guys (Ricardo, thank you for being my first Tango in Argentina!), playing games with you (um, I still can’t believe I found other people who know the game “Settlers…”), making forts with some of you, acting ridiculously awkward around the apartment, having really great late nights *cough*, and just getting to know you. You definitely helped my time in BA be even better and I will not soon forget any of you! Maybe we’ll all see each other again some day (imagine?... Derek). =)

Moving along…after we said our goodbyes those two left and me, Bridget, Thomas, and Adam walked around the mall for awhile. Thomas and Adam discovered an art museum above the mall, so we went and checked it out. They were even giving away free wine and soda (I had sprite, in case you were curious). We don’t know who the artists were, if they were from the community or world known, but there were four different rooms with different kinds of art: sculptures, photos, paintings, etc. It was interesting, but we weren’t there long enough for me to really have anything more exciting to say about it.

We went our separate ways after leaving the mall and I went home and had dinner with Serri who had been at Iguazú the past few days. We got all caught up with our stories and shared another hour of meaningless television that is now our guilty pleasure in the evenings when we don’t want to go out. Now it’s almost midnight and I am updating thinking I might be going to bed early tonight…woo.

Tomorrow will be my last day of Spanish class…and tomorrow night, Thomas and I are going to see “La Fantasma de la Opera!” We’re pretty excited about it…I mean, it’s Phantom of the Opera, and so we both know the story… and though it’s in Spanish, we will at least be able to know the basic plot! Plus…we get to see a theatre show while here, which we’ve both really wanted to do!

So, goodnight to all! I love you! Un beso!

Dia 48: Tired, Class, Lazy Evening. =) 3 de agosto

I woke up around nine after barely sleeping all night on their couch. I went back to my apartment and took a shower. I still had a few hours before I had to go to class, so I tried taking a nap. Around noon, Elsa had company, three of her granddaughters who are all under the age of ten. Let’s just say, the house wasn’t very quiet for someone trying to take a nap. I got up and had my breakfast and headed off to class. I met Bridget on the bus (which was really lucky being able to catch the exact bus she was on. We’re pros at the bus system now! Ha ha).

In our Spanish class we had our “terrible examen” (said our professor). It didn’t really seem that difficult. It only took most of us about thirty minutes to finish, and the rest of the time I laid my head down and rested my eyes before we started talking about our class on Wednesday. The oral part of our exam is then and she gave us the opportunity to practice, or at least discuss what we are thinking about talking about. As far as I can tell, we are going to be given five minutes to just talk…about whatever we want, which is surprisingly more difficult to me then being given a specific topic, lol. I think I might talk about the things I will and won’t miss about Buenos Aires…Thomas gave me the idea and I have a lot of things I could throw into those categories, so if I do, I’ll share with you later!

After our Spanish class we had a thirty minute break before our next class. Yes, we’re still making up all the culture classes we missed, so we had to add two hours of class to our class (which we have to do again on Wednesday). I’ve been enjoying this class, but today it was just so hard to pay attention. I was way tired and had a slight head ache and he started talking about Argentine politics (which are obviously a part of culture), but I couldn’t handle it. I was never so happy to get out of a class (well…other than the politics class…they run close together, lol).

After class, Bridget and I had been planning on going to La Bomba again. It’s our last chance and we were so determined to go…but Bridget has been fighting off a cold and I was so tired…so we decided that we could miss it. I mean, I’ve already gone twice and had two great times, I couldn’t really ask for another time to be better…plus that’s twenty pesos I didn’t have to spend, so that’s another good way to look at it. We went back to my place and hung out for awhile. After she left I just sat around and worked on updates that I was finally able to post. I also posted for photos on Facebook for those of you who are interested.

And…that’s really all of my day. I know, not very exciting…and nothing else to really share. I can’t believe I have less than a week before I go home…how crazy! I have this crazy mixture of emotions…happy and sad being the main ones, lol. I miss my friends and family like crazy, but I am definitely going to miss the relaxed, laid back life of BA. I am going to have to go back to work and responsibility and…life, lol. Here, I can basically ignore the fact that my bank account is dwindling and that I have a life where I do my own laundry and make my own breakfast and my own bed! Ha ha…but I’m sure I’ll adjust back pretty well…or else my parents will make sure that I do! =)

Sigh…goodbye for now. More updates to come! (How crazy that there’s only five more BA updates left for you guys to read…please stop rejoicing those of you in the back, you know you’ll miss me!)

As always, un beso!