Tigre

On Saturday I went to Tigre with some friends. Tigre, located about 45 minutes outside of BA (reachable easily by train) is a town in the river delta region. I tried to label a map off Google, but it become hopelessly blurry on the blog- oh well, I guess it’s time to pull out the Nat Geo Atlas, Dad!

The waters of Tigre are the color of a latte because sediment is carried all the way from the nutrient-rich jungle down here to the Delta. At first it seems weird but the waters are perfectly safe to swim in and even drink (if boiled...but I did NOT try that).

My friend from home, Jackie, who is also here studying abroad heard overheard a girl in her study abroad program talking about this guy who took her out on his boat in Tigre for a small sum, so we called Sergio (see above, man in microscopic bathing suit) up, met him at a Micky D's, and went on an adventure in his boat! This was totally the best way to do Tigre- he was so knowledgeable not only in navigating the territory, but also in the areas history and botany. On top of that, he was a total character, which made the ride a ton of fun.

We went about 2 hours through smaller rivers to meet the Pirana (see map), a really wide river that feeds into the Rio del Plata. The trip there was beautiful and also interesting. Sometimes we would see massive ghostly barges crashed up on an island. Apparently it’s more economical to get a new barge than to fix up the old one, so people just crash them and leave them to rot. Don’t worry, we definitely did not swim in the rivers that had there- I can only imagine what is leaking from them

Little houses dotted the sides of the rivers, summer spots for Porteños (people from the city of BA). However, some people live there year-round and for that there is a little culture on the river. Just like a city street, Kioskos (quickiemarts), little restaurants, and schools line the banks and have little docks for the boaters. A Bus-Boat takes people to work or school, and a floating supermarket delivers people’s food. The sad part about the island culture is that some islands are markedly poorer than others. Cute little well-kempt cottages face decrepit houses where dirty children stare at you wide-eyed as you zoom by in the boat.

When we finally arrived at the Paraná, a HUGE expanse, we went waterskiing! I was hopelessly terrible and didn’t get up, but my friend Savannah was a rockstar! We also swam around a bit in a shallower area. The bottom of the water was clay (some parts felt packed and others like pudding- Kakie would have treaded water the whole time!) and Sergio told us “People in Canada pay millions of pesos for this mud to take mudbaths!” as he slathered it over himself! Perhaps he was lying, but we smeared it on our arms and I swear my skin feels smoother today! I don’t glow in the dark or anything…yet.

^can you see me in the glasses? The fat guy on right was Sergio's friend, aka the "Translator", who really spoke just a little English and was not necessary because we speak Spanish! It's really really frustrating when people automatically assume that we can't speak just because we don't look Argentine!

Sergio, all in all, was awesome. He even took us to a little club for lunch and a beer. The club was set up exclusively for those who work in education in the BA Province (he is apparently a teacher when he’s not navigating the waters). It had lots of green space, a pool, tennis and fútbol, a restaurant…what a perk for teachers!

After that, we were so exhausted and returned home where I promptly hibernated for 13 hours until hunger woke

me up in the morning (I slept through dinner!)

I cannot describe to you how nice it was to get out of the city for a day. The busses, the dirt, the fact that I nearly get run over by everything with wheels (taxis, motos, bikes, even a skateboarder)…everything was grating, and a day at Tigre really rejuvenated me.

Lastly, I need to show you guys the saddest part of my weekend...My now empty jar of PB that I brought all the way from Winchester!

Good think I brought backup (although it's only 1/3 full now!)

Back to School- eek!

This week classes at UBA started! I consider myself (fondly) a nerd at the core, a person for whom school is something thrilling and pleasurable, and so I was appropriately excited for the classes at "THE" public university (as many so admiringly call it) to begin. But when I walked into the building- poured concrete convered completely in every leftist slogan you've ever known, portraits of Che and Mao, and posters demanding you to fight for this cause and that injustice- I could hear nothing but my heart pounding against my ribcage- I have never in my life been so petrified!

I was scared because it was one of the first times here I've had a responsibility. Also, I realized, I had NO safety net and NO ONE in that building cared if I got an A or an F, or if I was having a bad day that day. I realized, essentially, that this whole experience was real and happening.

These are some things you need to know about UBA (in time I will have pics, but I couldn't bring myself to take any yesterday- way too much on my mind!)
1) get to class early, or else you might have to sit on the floor or even out in the hallway because there are probably not enough desks in the classroom
2) even though you must get there early, your class will start at least 20 minutes late
3) Don't sit near the windows unless you have the magic ability to hear over screeching car tires and chants about legalizing abortions and being a socialist
4)Don't be too alarmed if you get to your classroom and no one is there because they have decided to switch the classroom. Why no email beforehand you ask? Please, that's too much to ask.

I'm taking two classes at there- Journalism and one that focuses on Argentine society and religion. Journalism was first and quite daunting. The religion one is actually a seminar with only 10 people in it and it is really interesting! Did you know that over 12% of middle-aged Argentinians are Evangelicals?

Long post with no pictures- I suspect that the only person still reading is my Mom, but if I'm wrong, thanks for bearing with me! To end, I give you a look at St Patty's day, Buenos Aires-style. They closed off an entire street for a night full of Quilmes consumption and the same sorts of debauchery you find in Boston and New York on St Patty's day. Except instead of the entire crowd yelling "Yankees Suck!" for no reason, they all broke out into futbol cheers. I swear, climate change but drunk people are always the same...

edited to add: pics won't upload- will try again later!

Spanish success

Hello again!
Today I started classes! Well, I think I should add a disclaimer to that- I had ONE class today. The way I will take classes here is a bit confusing and merits a little bit of explanation- I came here with an international study company (CIEE), which has an alliance with this center for Latin American Studies (FLASCO) that has a sight here in Buenos Aires (as well as in many cities in Latin America). In addition to taking classes at FLACSO (language and Latin American studies specific) I take classes at the public univerity (UBA_Universidad de Buenos Aires) and a private one (UCA-Universidad Catolica de Argentina). So all of the classes start at different times because they are from different schools- today began the FLACSO classes, hence, my formal language classes.

I'm really looking forward to starting my classes because
A) I need some sort of schedule in my life
B) My spanish language class has only 4 people in it so I will learn a lot (aka IMPROVE!)
C) I'm hoping to meet some Argentines!

Another fun thing that happened tonight was that an ex-host student returned to my house here. She is from France and came to Argentina for a month this past summer to take tango classes. She has returned for a week more of tango classes and came to visit. What made her visit most exciting was that she doesn't really speak Spanish, but she speaks English- so I had to be an interpreter! My host sister, Violeta, told us that she harvested honey from bees in the country, so basically I had to learn in Spanish how to do this and spit it back in English. I was very proud that I did a decent job! On top of that, we discussed Octomom, aka that woman who now had octuplets via invitro and I got by in that conversation too. I'm very pleased with myself because I just put in a little effort and really actually communicated! wahoo!

I will leave you with some pics I took of this weird concert/show/artshow thing I went to- basically it began as an interactive concert and ended up with people dancing crazy all together. But I need to post some pics of this because the art that decorated the space was themed around "large people at the beach" and I know that Will has some fond memories of one such portly kid at the beach who threatened to beat him up.

week 1 status: still alive

Hello
I can't believe I've been here for a week and a half! Wow, the Boston cold seems so much further away than that.

I took this weekend to do some (more) exploring the sprawling city with various friends. One day my friend Breen and I went to the Recoleta Cemetary, where all the well-to-do Argentinians are buried (such as Eva Peron). It was so quiet and peaceful in there, almost like a little vacated town. The cemetary is layed out almost like a town with tombs lining skinny alleyway-like streets.

It was a cross between creepy and majestic and was quite intesting to see the contrast between upkept tombs and those in disrepair. Thankfully for this little gatito, one of them provided him a nice, cool marble napping spot. Can you see him in there?

I also went to the Japanese and botanical gardens which were both spectacular! Although I think I liked the Japanese one more because of these reasons
1) it had a better layout with water and bridges for prettiness and easy exploring.
2) The Japonese Garden had a little concert and "learn to do some Japanese dances" entertainment show. Contrary to what one may think, there is a huge asian population here in Buenos. Mind you, they are pretty marginalized (they run all the kioskos- little shops like QuickieMarts- and the Argentines call these little shops "Chinos", the word for a Chinese person....ok, i'll end the social commentary now!)
3) The botanical garden was ruled by cats and in the Jardin Japones I did not see one gato in sight! yess!

One thing that I love about Argentina are their leisurely lunches. We can easily eat lunch for three hours and think nothing of it. It is so nice! This leisure no doubt stems from Argentina's disregard of time. No one really cares if you're late, or if you eat dinner until 2 am (like I did last night), or if you stay out until 7 am and spend your morning somewhere in between sleeping and lounging. The way Carolina, the director of FLACSO put it was "How many Argentines on the staff at FLACSO wear a watch? Not one!" As you might have guessed, I am adapting quite well to this mentality.

Other than that, I've been doing a TON of walking because I can't get enough of the glorious weather here (85 with a slight breeze and sunny). Also, it's the best way to get to know the city, a daunting task! I've found many parks and I love to meander or just sit in them to observe the people and how they act. I've also been doing a ton of eating (duh) as I have been blessed with a chef host madre and the ice cream and fruit here are fantasic. I do miss oats and PB and cereal and helping my real mom cook lovely meals and...oh, the list could go on for what I miss! But, all in all, I am adjusting as best I can and trying to not get worked up about little things such as the fact that they do not use saran wrap for leftovers here (just stick 'em in the fridge uncovered).

This week is more "orientation" and signing up for classes- aka its still vacation time and my friends and I can play in this big city some more!

un beso grande :-)

PS These are just two pictures from a park I found while walking around just to make you jealous of this beautiful weather: