- Paseadores de Perros: Professional dog walkers who walk gangs of 8-10 dogs at once! They are everywhere, and I love it! The first time I saw one happily cross the street, I almost busted out laughing. They are so funny and cute at the same time.
- Dulce de Leche: Dulce de leche is not simply an obsession, but a lifestyle here! It comes in containers, ice cream flavors, pastries, the extremely popular Alfajor, and more! Oh, and an alfajor is two cookies/sweet "biscuits" stuck together with a filling of dulce de leche, and then dipped in chocolate. Yes, alfajores really are as amazing as they sound. They are available on every street and in many flavors (oreo, chocolate chip, classic). It's life changing.
I have had this almost every breakfast so far, but hey, I'm not complaining!
Alfajores - Smells: The smells here in BA are incredible. First off, people here are not afraid to use their cologne and perfume; you can literally smell people coming down the street as they walk toward you! They always smell great though, just very strong. Then there are the flower stands that are found lining every street. I'm not sure how or why flowers can be so popular here, but apparently there is a huge business for it...and make the street smell great! However, the smells change from really amazing to really crappy fast- literally. All those perros (dogs) from above? Yeah, you guessed it! I have to watch my step a lot to avoid stepping in any fresh dog log...or pee-pee. And unlike the US, there seem to be no laws enforcing the cleanup of these messes. Pew!
Literally dozens of these stands per street - Los Hombres (Men): First, let me start off with a fact: Argentinian men= muy guapo! I definitely appreciate the good looks of the hombres here greatly. However, I don't appreciate so much the culture of the "catcalls" here. While it is offensive and rude to the American culture, we were told to expect-and ignore- this custom. Men, of every age, will call at women passing on the street. The funny thing is, they won't give up! They'll call and try to grab attention from you until you're out of sight or earshot. Everyone ignores it, so it's like they are constantly getting denied- but it's just the culture.
- South of the Equator: I can't resist...I have to end this post with this: yes, the toilets really do flush the opposite direction south of the equator. Now you know. :)
Flusssssh!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
5 Most Intersting in the Past 5!
Only five days here, and I'm in love with so much. Here's the best of the best that make Buenos Aires so...bueno, and also the things that make it truly unique :
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Día 4: Life like a local
Hola! Life here in Buenos Aires is crazy, but I am really getting a feel for what it would be like to be a true "Porteño"- AKA, "person-from-Buenos-Aires" (literal translation = person of the port). Last night, a large group of us went out around 11:45 PM (really early for going out here...) and stayed out until about 2:30 am (still pretty early. America seems tame compared to the nightlife here!). As we were in the plaza, we realized that Mondays are not a popular night to go out here, as we were almost the only ones out, with the exception of like 4 locals! Haha! We went to a very cool, chic bar, Tazz, and I'm pretty sure the bartenders kept the bar open just for our group. After we left, I realized the workers started to clean up and shut things down...oops! But I'm sure they enjoyed our American business.
This morning I had my first class at the University. It starts at 9:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm, with 2 short breaks in between. I have two professors, Josefina and Cecilia. Today was Josefina's teaching day (they switch back and forth), and I love her! She is very fun, young, and easy to understand. Already, I have learned a lot. For instance, we learned some more "Argentina specific" vocab words today, which is a little tricky, because a lot of the words I have learned in school in the US, are not used here.
My other real "local Argentinian" experience today was using the post office. My friends and I wanted to buy a sube pass, which is just a re-loadable transit card to use on the subways and buses. However, sube passes can only be bought at the post office, and being foreigners, we had to have our passports and host home addresses to buy one. The post offices here make me very thankful and grateful for the US! We were told to be prepared to wait "all day" when going to the post office, which was true. The post office here handles many things, and you need to take a number and sit in the waiting area until your number is called. We stood for a while, and after some seats cleared out, I grabbed a chair next to a man who had fallen asleep from waiting so long!After we waited for a little over an hour, the workers informed us we could not buy a sube pass at that particular office. Ahh! We are still unsure of why, but need to figure out how to actually get one of these things. At that point, we were all exhausted, called it a day, and departed for our host homes.
My other unique experience of the day was in the subway station. I on my way back from the University to my apartment this afternoon, but was unsure if the subway was headed towards or away from where I needed to go. I attempted to ask a nice looking lady in order to double check, but as I politely asked, "perdon, perdon" (excuse me, excuse me), she just stared straight ahead, totally ignoring me. I felt embarrassed, and a little rejected, however, it is not that people here are rude, they just are cautious. When others ask for help here, or try to talk to strangers, the locals always assume it is a pickpocketing scam and ignore everything. I learned in the culture orientation on day 2 that although our intentions are innocent, the locals here are not going to take a risk and let us "distract" them. Ay! I felt bad this poor lady probably thought I wanted to rob her. :(
Besides that, Freddy cooked dinner tonight, which was served at 9PM. He made the classic dish of Empanadas; Freddy's empanadas were filled with meat and eggs I believe. They are a little similar to a hot pocket, but better, of course! Haha. We also had a salad of tomato chunks and lettuce, which was topped with olive oil and salt. I believe this was my first encounter of vegetables here, with exception of the arugula on my pizza the other day. Apparently, vegetables are harder to get here; fruit also is not injected with the preserves that American grocery stores use, so fruit is bought and eaten very quickly here. During dinner, the water was served, once again, out of the vodka bottle.
I'm pretty exhausted still, and will probably go to bed soon, even though that is probably super lame for the culture here! I still need to get used to all these changes though, as my body is still kind of on the American routine. I just finished watching one of Freddy's dvds, "Frida", a movie about artist Frida Khalo's life. It starred Selma Heyek, and was very interesting.
Well, it is "buenos noches in Buenos Aires" for me now! Tomorrow is another day of classes, adventures, and possibly a trip to buy tickets to the National Soccer Team! Viva Argentina!
 |
| Tazz |
| Tazz |
This morning I had my first class at the University. It starts at 9:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm, with 2 short breaks in between. I have two professors, Josefina and Cecilia. Today was Josefina's teaching day (they switch back and forth), and I love her! She is very fun, young, and easy to understand. Already, I have learned a lot. For instance, we learned some more "Argentina specific" vocab words today, which is a little tricky, because a lot of the words I have learned in school in the US, are not used here.
My other real "local Argentinian" experience today was using the post office. My friends and I wanted to buy a sube pass, which is just a re-loadable transit card to use on the subways and buses. However, sube passes can only be bought at the post office, and being foreigners, we had to have our passports and host home addresses to buy one. The post offices here make me very thankful and grateful for the US! We were told to be prepared to wait "all day" when going to the post office, which was true. The post office here handles many things, and you need to take a number and sit in the waiting area until your number is called. We stood for a while, and after some seats cleared out, I grabbed a chair next to a man who had fallen asleep from waiting so long!After we waited for a little over an hour, the workers informed us we could not buy a sube pass at that particular office. Ahh! We are still unsure of why, but need to figure out how to actually get one of these things. At that point, we were all exhausted, called it a day, and departed for our host homes.
My other unique experience of the day was in the subway station. I on my way back from the University to my apartment this afternoon, but was unsure if the subway was headed towards or away from where I needed to go. I attempted to ask a nice looking lady in order to double check, but as I politely asked, "perdon, perdon" (excuse me, excuse me), she just stared straight ahead, totally ignoring me. I felt embarrassed, and a little rejected, however, it is not that people here are rude, they just are cautious. When others ask for help here, or try to talk to strangers, the locals always assume it is a pickpocketing scam and ignore everything. I learned in the culture orientation on day 2 that although our intentions are innocent, the locals here are not going to take a risk and let us "distract" them. Ay! I felt bad this poor lady probably thought I wanted to rob her. :(
 | |||
| My Subway Stop! |
 |
| Buen Provecho! |
I'm pretty exhausted still, and will probably go to bed soon, even though that is probably super lame for the culture here! I still need to get used to all these changes though, as my body is still kind of on the American routine. I just finished watching one of Freddy's dvds, "Frida", a movie about artist Frida Khalo's life. It starred Selma Heyek, and was very interesting.
 |
| Película noche! |
Monday, May 28, 2012
Día 3: Belgrano y La Examen
Here it is, my first Monday in Argentina! Things are starting to get easier, from getting around the city, to the Spanish, and to the endless walking! Of course, I'm still getting used to a lot of things here, especially the culture and customs. For instance, I have to remind me self to put on shoes before every meal (including breakfast), because it is rude to eat barefoot in Argentina. But despite the differences, BA is a fabulous place, full of so many sights, sounds, and smells, that I'm enjoying in their own unique ways.
Today, was the placement exam for the Universidad del Belgrano. After eating my breakfast of bread (with dulce-de-leche), a pear, and coffee con leche, Anissa and I took the subway and then walked a few blocks to the school. The exam went well, and I was places in the High-Intermediate Spanish course. After the exam, Anissa, Anna (a girl I met during the Atlanta delay), and I walked around the neighborhood of Belgrano, where the school is located. Belgrano is both residential and commercial, and is very peaceful and beautiful, with tall, leafy trees lining all the streets.
Belgrano Neighborhood
University of Belgrano
Around 2:30, we stopped for lunch at Pizza y Espuma, a very cute pizza shop. Pizza in Buenos Aires in very popular and renowned, and apparently very similar to pizza found in Italy. Buenos Aires has a strong Italian influence, as many immigrants came here from Italy when the city was beginning to grow in the 19th century. Anywho, I wanted a good flavor for my personal pan pizza, so I ordered the waitress' recommendation of her favorite flavor. The pizza was topped with brie cheese, caramelized onions, and leafs of arugula.I also ordered a water, which is not free here, another cultural adjustment. Water has to be ordered "sin gas" or "con gas", depending on if you want carbonated water or not.
¡Mi Almuerzo! (My Lunch!)
The pizza was so good, but afterwords, I was so full! Ahh! Although Anissa, Anna, and I spoke in Spanish the entire time in the restaurant, it was obvious that all the staff working knew we were foreigners. Every time we'd look up, they were staring at us.We were one of only two groups eating at the time, so it was a little awkward, but funny! We asked to use the restroom on our way out, which was upstairs, and as we all ascended the stairs, all the waitstaff gathered and watched us! Later, when we were walking around, we kept getting stares from almost everyone. I was bummed out that maybe it was so obvious that we were foreigners, because we were all trying so hard to blend in. Finally, it dawned on us that it was Anissa's outfit; she was wearing shorts with tights, tucked into boots, but no other local around was wearing shorts! Ayyy! Especially because it is "winter time" here in South America, if shorts are worn in BA at all, it is certainly not now. The weather however is not bad for me at least. Today was probably 60-70 degrees, pretty overcast and cloudy, but very humid. This week is supposed to get colder though, so I'll really see how "winter" in Buenos Aires compares to winter in Michigan!
After walking around for a few hours and stumbling into a very large mall full of high-end shops and boutiques (the cheapest thing we saw was a pair of ugly pleather pants for US $50), we returned to the ISA office at 4:00 for an academic orientation. Guillermo, an ISA coordinator, told us what to expect in our classes. My class will start at 9:30 am tomorrow and end at 2:30 pm. Classes here are apparently more relaxed, and do not follow any sort of set structure or syllabus, like they do in the US. I'm interested to see how it goes!
As of now, I just finished dinner here in my host family. Cecilia made baked chicken and pasta, with a side of a sunny-side-up egg. I also noticed that the water vase on the table was indeed an Absolut Vodka bottle, which means I was not crazy or delusional the first time I thought the water was vodka! Haha, recycling at it's finest! Cecilia had dinner ready by 8:30 pm, and made the comment, "Dinner was so early today because you were both so hungry and tired from walking all day!" Haha, no matter what Cecilia says, I don't think she understands that an 8:30 pm dinner will ever be "early" for me!
Tonight, a group of us from ISA might go out around 12, and walk around some of the Plazas here. There is a lot to do in BA, and I can't wait to do it all! But for now, hasta luego!
Today, was the placement exam for the Universidad del Belgrano. After eating my breakfast of bread (with dulce-de-leche), a pear, and coffee con leche, Anissa and I took the subway and then walked a few blocks to the school. The exam went well, and I was places in the High-Intermediate Spanish course. After the exam, Anissa, Anna (a girl I met during the Atlanta delay), and I walked around the neighborhood of Belgrano, where the school is located. Belgrano is both residential and commercial, and is very peaceful and beautiful, with tall, leafy trees lining all the streets.
Around 2:30, we stopped for lunch at Pizza y Espuma, a very cute pizza shop. Pizza in Buenos Aires in very popular and renowned, and apparently very similar to pizza found in Italy. Buenos Aires has a strong Italian influence, as many immigrants came here from Italy when the city was beginning to grow in the 19th century. Anywho, I wanted a good flavor for my personal pan pizza, so I ordered the waitress' recommendation of her favorite flavor. The pizza was topped with brie cheese, caramelized onions, and leafs of arugula.I also ordered a water, which is not free here, another cultural adjustment. Water has to be ordered "sin gas" or "con gas", depending on if you want carbonated water or not.
The pizza was so good, but afterwords, I was so full! Ahh! Although Anissa, Anna, and I spoke in Spanish the entire time in the restaurant, it was obvious that all the staff working knew we were foreigners. Every time we'd look up, they were staring at us.We were one of only two groups eating at the time, so it was a little awkward, but funny! We asked to use the restroom on our way out, which was upstairs, and as we all ascended the stairs, all the waitstaff gathered and watched us! Later, when we were walking around, we kept getting stares from almost everyone. I was bummed out that maybe it was so obvious that we were foreigners, because we were all trying so hard to blend in. Finally, it dawned on us that it was Anissa's outfit; she was wearing shorts with tights, tucked into boots, but no other local around was wearing shorts! Ayyy! Especially because it is "winter time" here in South America, if shorts are worn in BA at all, it is certainly not now. The weather however is not bad for me at least. Today was probably 60-70 degrees, pretty overcast and cloudy, but very humid. This week is supposed to get colder though, so I'll really see how "winter" in Buenos Aires compares to winter in Michigan!
After walking around for a few hours and stumbling into a very large mall full of high-end shops and boutiques (the cheapest thing we saw was a pair of ugly pleather pants for US $50), we returned to the ISA office at 4:00 for an academic orientation. Guillermo, an ISA coordinator, told us what to expect in our classes. My class will start at 9:30 am tomorrow and end at 2:30 pm. Classes here are apparently more relaxed, and do not follow any sort of set structure or syllabus, like they do in the US. I'm interested to see how it goes!
As of now, I just finished dinner here in my host family. Cecilia made baked chicken and pasta, with a side of a sunny-side-up egg. I also noticed that the water vase on the table was indeed an Absolut Vodka bottle, which means I was not crazy or delusional the first time I thought the water was vodka! Haha, recycling at it's finest! Cecilia had dinner ready by 8:30 pm, and made the comment, "Dinner was so early today because you were both so hungry and tired from walking all day!" Haha, no matter what Cecilia says, I don't think she understands that an 8:30 pm dinner will ever be "early" for me!
Tonight, a group of us from ISA might go out around 12, and walk around some of the Plazas here. There is a lot to do in BA, and I can't wait to do it all! But for now, hasta luego!
Sunday, May 27, 2012
Día 2: La Gran Ciudad
Hola! I can't believe this is only day #2! Today alone, so much was accomplished.
To start, I woke up at 8:00 am and got ready for the day. Luckily, my host family has access to hot water, so my shower was enjoyable, especially after still be nasty from the long airplane flight the day before. Freddy had breakfast waiting on the kitchen table, which consisted of coffee, a pear, and bread. The bread is eaten with a very, very typical Argentinian spread, dulce de leche. Freddy compared it to what is peanut butter is for us in the U.S. Breakfast was delicious, and I think I'm going to be just as obsessed with dulce de leche as the Argentians are once this trip is done!
Pan y Dulce de Leche
At 10:00 am, there was a 3 hour orientation at the ISA office. Anissa and I took the subte (subway/metro), which only took about 10 minutes. At the orientation, the man in charge told us everrrrything we needed to know, which was great. Here are the most interesting points:
Empanadas
After lunch, we boarded a bus for our "taste of BA" tour. This tour was about 5 hours long, just pointing out the highlights of the city, so that we could go back and see them later on our own.
Here is a brief description of our tour:
Recoleta Cemetery
Casa Rosada
La Boca
Puerto Madero
After the tour, Anissa and I walked back to our apartment from the ISA office, which took about 45 minutes. After this long, jam-packed day, we are both pooped. However, the BA culture consists of people going out almost every night, so I'm trying to rest up in case we act like locals tonight and hit the streets around midnight! Haha! Getting used to the time schedules here in BA are going to be a challenge. It's currently 9:00PM here, and dinner has yet to be served. Whether or not I go out tonight will be decided later...hey, I have until 3am to decided, right?! Haha, hasta llugeo!
To start, I woke up at 8:00 am and got ready for the day. Luckily, my host family has access to hot water, so my shower was enjoyable, especially after still be nasty from the long airplane flight the day before. Freddy had breakfast waiting on the kitchen table, which consisted of coffee, a pear, and bread. The bread is eaten with a very, very typical Argentinian spread, dulce de leche. Freddy compared it to what is peanut butter is for us in the U.S. Breakfast was delicious, and I think I'm going to be just as obsessed with dulce de leche as the Argentians are once this trip is done!
Pan y Dulce de Leche
At 10:00 am, there was a 3 hour orientation at the ISA office. Anissa and I took the subte (subway/metro), which only took about 10 minutes. At the orientation, the man in charge told us everrrrything we needed to know, which was great. Here are the most interesting points:
- Fake bills are a big problem here in Argentina, due to their poor economy. He taught us how to identity a fake, which hopefully I will not run into!
- American dollars are in HIGH demand here. There is a huge black market for US dollars, especially since it is almost nearly impossible for Argentinians to obtain them, even through a bank. The black market exchange rate for a US dollar is about 5-6 pesos! I also found out that there is no way for us Americans to retrieve US dollars from an ATM here, even with our credit/debit cards. There is some kind of law that prohibits it. The ISA coordinator suggested we exchange our US dollars for pesos with our host families here, because the families will give us a better exchange rate than any bank/ exchange office.
- Police here cannot be trusted, uh oh! In the words of the ISA coordinator, "if you need help, and have to choose between the police or a homeless person, choose the homeless." Good to know! Haha!
Empanadas
After lunch, we boarded a bus for our "taste of BA" tour. This tour was about 5 hours long, just pointing out the highlights of the city, so that we could go back and see them later on our own.
Here is a brief description of our tour:
- Belgrano: area where the ISA office and Universidad de Belgrano is (where my classes will be).
- Recoleta: a classy, and one of the most expensive residential areas in BA;also home to the most high-class, high-priced shops.
- Recoleta cemetery: A pride of BA, with streets and streets (they called it a metropolis cemetery) of marble mausoleums. To be buried here is stating that you are the richest, most important person. EVER. Evita Peron is buried here as well.
Recoleta Cemetery
- Plaza de Mayo: "downtown", and home to all the political buildings and city landmarks. Here we saw the casa rosada (pink house), which is similar to the US white house, but, uh...pink! The president of Argentina works there, but does not live there. There was also the San Telmo Fería nearby, which is a huge market lining a street for as far as you can see. The feria only happens on Sundays, and had everything from handicrafts, antiques, street performers, and artists.
- La Boca: this is a cultural center for the city, alive with brightly colored buildings, soccer (Team Boca Juniors), and tango.
- The Boca Juniors soccer stadium had huge stands of bleachers, with a Coca-Cola endorsement at the top. However, the Boca Juniors' rival, River Plate, colors are red and white, so the huge Coke endorsement surrounding the stadium had to be changed from the classic red/white coca-cola colors to black/white! Soccer here is taken very seriously!
- Argentina is home of the tango, and there were many people lining the streets to perform for money. Later in the week, ISA has set-up our very own tango lesson, so soon, I will be able to join!
- We also drove through the shantytowns of Boca on the way to our next stop. There is such a contrast between every barrio (neighborhood), it's unreal. The shanty town was sad, and obviously a place of troubled individuals, many of whom are alcoholics and drug addicts. Let's just say ISA didn't let us off the bus at this destination!
- Puerto Madero: the waterfront neighborhood of BA, and most modern part of the city. This is the home of the port, the ships, and also the most exclusive homes and restaurants. It was beautiful!
After the tour, Anissa and I walked back to our apartment from the ISA office, which took about 45 minutes. After this long, jam-packed day, we are both pooped. However, the BA culture consists of people going out almost every night, so I'm trying to rest up in case we act like locals tonight and hit the streets around midnight! Haha! Getting used to the time schedules here in BA are going to be a challenge. It's currently 9:00PM here, and dinner has yet to be served. Whether or not I go out tonight will be decided later...hey, I have until 3am to decided, right?! Haha, hasta llugeo!
Día 1: Continued
Despite the craziness of traveling to get to Buenos Aires, my first day yesterday went well. My host family consists of an older couple, Cecilia and Freddy, along with their dog, a cocker spaniel, Otto. We live in an apartment in Palermo, a very nice neighborhood in Buenos Aires. According to Cecilia, Palermo is one of the safest places to live, but also very expensive. The apartment itself is spacious and very artsy. I have my own bedroom, which is decorated with paintings by Cecilia herself! Another ISA student, Anissa, also lives in the same household as I do. Anissa is from California, and is very nice.
After arriving yesterday, Cecilia let me unpack and rest for awhile. About an hour later, Anissa arrived back from a small ISA meeting (that I had to miss due to my late arrival). After meeting Anissa for the first time, Cecilia made both of us coffee. Anissa and I sat in the kitchen, drinking our cafe con leche and getting to know each other.
Dinner was served at 8:45ish, which is typical for the culture here. Cecilia had made breaded chicken fillets, potatoes, squash, and some raviolis. Freddy had placed a large glass bottle of vodka (or so it looked) on the table too when we all sat down. He poured everyone a glass, which was a lot of vodka! I took a sip, and to my surprise (and relief), it was actually just water. Haha! Later, Anissa told me she had thought it was vodka too, which made me feel a little better!
During dinner, Freddy and Cecilia talked about a variety of topics. They got onto the topic of currency and the economy at one point, which is something Argentinians are very heated about, due to the situation in the country. In the past few decades, their economy has also taken a hit; the Argentinian Peso is about 4 times weaker than the US dollar. It was a little hard to follow a rapid conversation in Spanish about Argentinian politics, but I did my best to comprehend!
After dinner, Anissa and I went out at about 11:00 PM. This seems late, but in Buenos Aires, things don't get started until even later than than! Many people here go out at 3am, and stay out all night/morning. Parents here actually prefer their children to go out that late (or early), in order to keep them out until 6 or 7 am. The reason for this is that 3-5 am is the most dangerous time in the city, so parents would rather have their children stay out and walk home when it is lighter in the morning. Anywho, we walked a few blocks to a plaza, where the streets were filled with bars, musics, and crazy, speeding cars/mopeds. It was a beautiful night, and we just walked around, taking everything in. So many people were out, even families and elders. We finally arrived back at our host apartment at 12am, ready to sleep!
Today, we have an orientation with ISA and will get to eat lunch and see the city as a large group. I'm so excited to see what BA has to offer! After just seeing a glimpse of it last night, I know this will be a fun time.
¡Chau!
After arriving yesterday, Cecilia let me unpack and rest for awhile. About an hour later, Anissa arrived back from a small ISA meeting (that I had to miss due to my late arrival). After meeting Anissa for the first time, Cecilia made both of us coffee. Anissa and I sat in the kitchen, drinking our cafe con leche and getting to know each other.
Dinner was served at 8:45ish, which is typical for the culture here. Cecilia had made breaded chicken fillets, potatoes, squash, and some raviolis. Freddy had placed a large glass bottle of vodka (or so it looked) on the table too when we all sat down. He poured everyone a glass, which was a lot of vodka! I took a sip, and to my surprise (and relief), it was actually just water. Haha! Later, Anissa told me she had thought it was vodka too, which made me feel a little better!
During dinner, Freddy and Cecilia talked about a variety of topics. They got onto the topic of currency and the economy at one point, which is something Argentinians are very heated about, due to the situation in the country. In the past few decades, their economy has also taken a hit; the Argentinian Peso is about 4 times weaker than the US dollar. It was a little hard to follow a rapid conversation in Spanish about Argentinian politics, but I did my best to comprehend!
After dinner, Anissa and I went out at about 11:00 PM. This seems late, but in Buenos Aires, things don't get started until even later than than! Many people here go out at 3am, and stay out all night/morning. Parents here actually prefer their children to go out that late (or early), in order to keep them out until 6 or 7 am. The reason for this is that 3-5 am is the most dangerous time in the city, so parents would rather have their children stay out and walk home when it is lighter in the morning. Anywho, we walked a few blocks to a plaza, where the streets were filled with bars, musics, and crazy, speeding cars/mopeds. It was a beautiful night, and we just walked around, taking everything in. So many people were out, even families and elders. We finally arrived back at our host apartment at 12am, ready to sleep!
Today, we have an orientation with ISA and will get to eat lunch and see the city as a large group. I'm so excited to see what BA has to offer! After just seeing a glimpse of it last night, I know this will be a fun time.
¡Chau!
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Día 1: Travel, turmoil, and a wild taxi.
¡Bienviendos! This is my Buenos Aires blog, where I will be able to post all about my Argentinian adventures. Right now it is 7:15 PM, and I'm relaxing in my host family's house, waiting for my first South American supper, which will be served around 8:30 or 9:00. I figured now is the best time to update everyone about the crazy ordeals I faced in order to get here. Let's just say...this is already the adventure of a lifetime!
Yesterday, Friday the 25th, I left my house at 10am for the Detroit airport, where I would fly to Atlanta to my connecting flight to Buenos Aires. Upon arrival in Detroit, the GPS brought me and my parents into a "restricted" part of the airport- not where we needed to be. Looking back, this was definitely a hint to how the rest of my trip would be; confusing, crazy, and out of control. After finally finding the right area of the airport, mu parents helped me check my bags and said their final goodbyes. Everything, except the GPS detour, was going so smoothly. How bad could traveling alone to a different continent really be?!
On the plane to Atlanta, there was no more room on the plane for my carry-on bag, so they checked it. The 2 hour flight from Detroit went smoothly. However, after landing in Atlanta, I asked where I could find my carry-on; this is where things start going downhill. Apparently, they had kindly tagged my carry-on to go all the way to Buenos Aires, which would have been fine, except the fact I had been counting on getting it back in Atlanta. There went all my books, snacks, and other various handy items I had intended to use for the 10 hour flight to BA! It was just me, my purse, my magazine, and folder of important papers (which I luckily grabbed from the carry-on).
Being separated from my carry-on wasn't so bad at the time. Besides, I just had 3 hours to kill before my next flight, and then hopefully I would sleep all the way to South America. In my terminal, I met 2 other girls from the ISA program, which was great. Then, promptly at 8:15pm, we boarded the plane for takeoff at 9. I landed a window seat (yay!) next to a lawyer, John, from Georgia. John has been to Argentina about 15 times before and goes every year with a bunch of his other lawyer friends to dove hunt. According to John, they stay at a private lodge, with a private chef, with plenty of beer and bloody marys; a good time for everyone! After 9:00 rolled around the captain informed us that take-off would be delayed "just about 10 minutes", because they needed to update the computer system in the plane. After 20 minutes rolled around, the captain informed us "it didn't work the first time, but we are trying again." An hour rolled around and the captain made another announcement: "...well...seems like this isn't working. We really don't know what we're going to do...umm...because we've never quite seen this problem before."
As the hours added up, so did the heat and rowdiness on the plane. The cabin was an oven, and people were getting ticked. Lawyer John's other lawyer friend, Bill, came over to visit in the meantime, and kept trying to persuade the flight attendant to give everyone on the plane free drinks. He was not giving up either. Pretty soon, in the midst of 2 hours of waiting in a hot cabin, the native Argentinian passengers began clapping and chanting, (in Spanish), "we want to smoke! we want to smoke!" Then some random woman walked past our aisle yelling, "we should revolt!". At this point, I was unsure what to be more afraid of; a faulty plane, or violent Argentinians.
The captain then explained that in order to avoid switching to a new, working plane, they would simply steal a computer from another plane and put it in ours. Yay! Finally, we would be on our way. Except, that computer didn't work either. So, after 3 hours of sitting on a hot, sweaty plane full of cranky people, Delta had us deboard and wait for a new plane afterall. Yes, this was unfortunate, but even more unfortunate because I still didn't have my carry-on, it was 11 at night, and I hadn't eaten since 12. I was starved. Luckily, Delta was giving out $6 food vouchers for the terminal cafes, so I used and abused those things to the full extent.
Back in the terminal, I reunited with the 2 ISA girls I met before. We ended up finding yet another girl from our program, so now there were 4 of us. We had to call the ISA emergency hotline to inform them we would no longer be arriving in Buenos Aires at 8am, but rather 1pm. The new time change now forced a lot of confusion about who would pick us up at the BA airport.
To make a long story short, we ended up finding 4 more members of the ISA group during the delay, which made 8 of us total. Since the plane took so long to get, Delta then had to call in a new flight crew in order not to break any laws about how long the crew could work. We finally boarded the new plane at 3am, and took off finally at 3:30am. Our whole delay ended up being 6.5 hours long. Ay caramba! I immediately passed out once the plane was in the air and slept the majority of the flight.
When we arrived in BA, we were unsure who would be there waiting to pick us up. After clearing immigration, customs, and the baggage claim (luckily nothing lost, and I was finally reunited with my carry-on), we went to the designed pick-up lobby, only to find no one waiting for us. We were worried, but then we saw a list of our names posted to a bus shuttle service desk. We checked in with them, and it seems they had been waiting for us. We were so happy! Yay- ISA got us a bus! But suddenly, businessmen started arriving and took us away...one by one. We all exchanged glances with the look of "oh crap. we are being separated." Everyone was taken away in separate cars, and finally a man came for me too. After we put my luggage in the trunk, I had no choice but to get into the car with this strange man. He was nice, very professional, but clearly knew no English. He tried making small talk with me, but the combination of his strong accent and my grogginess did not mix well. I was so nervous, especially since I read about the aggressive driving that happens in Buenos Aires, which happens to be very true. While I sat there in awkward silence for this stranger to drop me off at a family's house whom I did not know, the man drove aggressively and wildly, weaving in and out of lanes, while I prayed I would make it to my host family before we got into an accident. We finally arrived at my host house, and he helped me take the luggage out of the car. He rang the buzzer, and my host mom answered, saying she was on her way down. With that, the man said "adios", and there I was left in the street of BA, holding 2 suitcases for dear life. The last thing I needed was for a thief to run by and snatch my bags, after all, that would be just my luck.
My host mom swooped me off the street and I was finally at my destination! I never thought I'd get here, but I finally made it! After this crazy start to the trip, I can't wait to see what lies ahead!
Yesterday, Friday the 25th, I left my house at 10am for the Detroit airport, where I would fly to Atlanta to my connecting flight to Buenos Aires. Upon arrival in Detroit, the GPS brought me and my parents into a "restricted" part of the airport- not where we needed to be. Looking back, this was definitely a hint to how the rest of my trip would be; confusing, crazy, and out of control. After finally finding the right area of the airport, mu parents helped me check my bags and said their final goodbyes. Everything, except the GPS detour, was going so smoothly. How bad could traveling alone to a different continent really be?!
On the plane to Atlanta, there was no more room on the plane for my carry-on bag, so they checked it. The 2 hour flight from Detroit went smoothly. However, after landing in Atlanta, I asked where I could find my carry-on; this is where things start going downhill. Apparently, they had kindly tagged my carry-on to go all the way to Buenos Aires, which would have been fine, except the fact I had been counting on getting it back in Atlanta. There went all my books, snacks, and other various handy items I had intended to use for the 10 hour flight to BA! It was just me, my purse, my magazine, and folder of important papers (which I luckily grabbed from the carry-on).
Being separated from my carry-on wasn't so bad at the time. Besides, I just had 3 hours to kill before my next flight, and then hopefully I would sleep all the way to South America. In my terminal, I met 2 other girls from the ISA program, which was great. Then, promptly at 8:15pm, we boarded the plane for takeoff at 9. I landed a window seat (yay!) next to a lawyer, John, from Georgia. John has been to Argentina about 15 times before and goes every year with a bunch of his other lawyer friends to dove hunt. According to John, they stay at a private lodge, with a private chef, with plenty of beer and bloody marys; a good time for everyone! After 9:00 rolled around the captain informed us that take-off would be delayed "just about 10 minutes", because they needed to update the computer system in the plane. After 20 minutes rolled around, the captain informed us "it didn't work the first time, but we are trying again." An hour rolled around and the captain made another announcement: "...well...seems like this isn't working. We really don't know what we're going to do...umm...because we've never quite seen this problem before."
As the hours added up, so did the heat and rowdiness on the plane. The cabin was an oven, and people were getting ticked. Lawyer John's other lawyer friend, Bill, came over to visit in the meantime, and kept trying to persuade the flight attendant to give everyone on the plane free drinks. He was not giving up either. Pretty soon, in the midst of 2 hours of waiting in a hot cabin, the native Argentinian passengers began clapping and chanting, (in Spanish), "we want to smoke! we want to smoke!" Then some random woman walked past our aisle yelling, "we should revolt!". At this point, I was unsure what to be more afraid of; a faulty plane, or violent Argentinians.
The captain then explained that in order to avoid switching to a new, working plane, they would simply steal a computer from another plane and put it in ours. Yay! Finally, we would be on our way. Except, that computer didn't work either. So, after 3 hours of sitting on a hot, sweaty plane full of cranky people, Delta had us deboard and wait for a new plane afterall. Yes, this was unfortunate, but even more unfortunate because I still didn't have my carry-on, it was 11 at night, and I hadn't eaten since 12. I was starved. Luckily, Delta was giving out $6 food vouchers for the terminal cafes, so I used and abused those things to the full extent.
Back in the terminal, I reunited with the 2 ISA girls I met before. We ended up finding yet another girl from our program, so now there were 4 of us. We had to call the ISA emergency hotline to inform them we would no longer be arriving in Buenos Aires at 8am, but rather 1pm. The new time change now forced a lot of confusion about who would pick us up at the BA airport.
To make a long story short, we ended up finding 4 more members of the ISA group during the delay, which made 8 of us total. Since the plane took so long to get, Delta then had to call in a new flight crew in order not to break any laws about how long the crew could work. We finally boarded the new plane at 3am, and took off finally at 3:30am. Our whole delay ended up being 6.5 hours long. Ay caramba! I immediately passed out once the plane was in the air and slept the majority of the flight.
When we arrived in BA, we were unsure who would be there waiting to pick us up. After clearing immigration, customs, and the baggage claim (luckily nothing lost, and I was finally reunited with my carry-on), we went to the designed pick-up lobby, only to find no one waiting for us. We were worried, but then we saw a list of our names posted to a bus shuttle service desk. We checked in with them, and it seems they had been waiting for us. We were so happy! Yay- ISA got us a bus! But suddenly, businessmen started arriving and took us away...one by one. We all exchanged glances with the look of "oh crap. we are being separated." Everyone was taken away in separate cars, and finally a man came for me too. After we put my luggage in the trunk, I had no choice but to get into the car with this strange man. He was nice, very professional, but clearly knew no English. He tried making small talk with me, but the combination of his strong accent and my grogginess did not mix well. I was so nervous, especially since I read about the aggressive driving that happens in Buenos Aires, which happens to be very true. While I sat there in awkward silence for this stranger to drop me off at a family's house whom I did not know, the man drove aggressively and wildly, weaving in and out of lanes, while I prayed I would make it to my host family before we got into an accident. We finally arrived at my host house, and he helped me take the luggage out of the car. He rang the buzzer, and my host mom answered, saying she was on her way down. With that, the man said "adios", and there I was left in the street of BA, holding 2 suitcases for dear life. The last thing I needed was for a thief to run by and snatch my bags, after all, that would be just my luck.
My host mom swooped me off the street and I was finally at my destination! I never thought I'd get here, but I finally made it! After this crazy start to the trip, I can't wait to see what lies ahead!
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