Hola! Sorry everyone that I have TOTALLY let this blog fall apart. But tonight I had such an amazing night that I just had to document it. El dia de la accion de gracias (Thanksgiving). 

So, our spanish professor invited a group of us over to her house to celebrate thanksgiving. This was extremely nice of her because in Argentina it is not custom to invite people over to your house. Most gatherings happen outside of the home. This was also very special because she has a large group of international students that she teaches spanish and she had 15 of us over. We all brought a dish to share (I made stuffing, it was BOMB if I do say so myself haha) and ate and drank wine and talked in spanish and laughed and had an amazing night. It was so nice to feel her sincere love towards all of us. She opened her home to us and even told us about how she was engaged to a man from the US who worked for the department of defense but was killed in Kuwait. After hearing her tell us such a horrible story of her past, I was even more amazed at how kind and loving she was. 

It was so nice. We were singing and drinking and chatting and having an all around good time. I was also proud to be able to sit there with her and just talk in spanish for hours. I know that what I say isn’t 100% right all the time, but I had the confidence to just say it anyways. I got to spend the night with some of the people who have meant most to me during my experience abroad and with only two weeks left it was really nice to reconnect with everyone. Because today was our last day of classes as well tonight was that last time that we well see our professor. It was very sad and I got a little emotional but she simply told us that it wasn’t goodbye, just see you later. Which is true, since we are facebook friends and all but still. Something about it made it so real that we are leaving soon. 

THEN, when I was walking home I was carrying all the plate from dinner and a bowl that had some left over whipped cream in it. This group of three boys that was walking past me came up to me and asked me if I had dulce in the bowl (a carmel like sweet they have here that is devine) but I then told them that it was bad and that it used to be whipped cream and it had all melted. They then asked me the typical questions: where are you from? what are you doing here? etc. But then they asked me where I was coming from that I had all this stuff. I told them that I had been celebrating el dia de la accion de gracias at my “profe” ‘s house. While one made a comment about turkey, they then started to comment on why I was coming from my professor’s house and why I has having dinner there. I didn’t realize that they way I had said it made it sound like I had just come from a man’s house and that it was a little scandelous for me to have dinner with him. Once I realized this I told them that my professor was a girl and it wasn’t like that. Then one of them said something along the lines of (hard to translate to english but I will try) Oh so it was a girl, and was she good? But they used the word bueno, so I just thought oh like was your night good or like is she nice so I said yes of course. Then, like all boys, they had turned it around on me to make it seem like I was saying I was getting with my girl professor or something. So I jokingly pushed his shoulder and told him not to say things like that, laughed, and walked away. It was so funny because first, I had three boys walk past me saying something and I was actually aware of what they were saying, which rarely happens because usually I zone out. But also because I wasn’t afraid of them (it was at night and all) and then I had a fun and flirty conversation with them that was very fun and innocent. I don’t know. Something about it was very refreshing because it reminded me of my interaction with my guys friends at home and I was proud that I was able to act in such a manner with boys from a different culture while speaking a different language. It really demonstrated to me how far I have come since the beginning of my time here and how much I have grown, which was a nice contrast to the big going away type dinner we had all just had together. 

Even though I am excited to go home, I have thankful that I can still enough my time and experiences that I have left. Feliz dia de la accion de gracias a todos!!! Nos vemos en los estados unidos muy temprano. 

It has been my experience so far that being abroad can be pretty lonely at times. You don’t know a ton of people, everyone is speaking a different language, and when you go to a snobby private catholic school like I have people don’t seem to friendly. But I need to remind myself of the good times too when someone is there to lend me a hand. 

When I first started my journey down to Buenos Aires it was a NIGHTMARE! At the time I didn’t have a blog to rant about my frustration but let me take a minute to recount that time for you. I flew down here standby because my Dad’s stupid friend said it would be SOOOO EASY to get down here during the winter. While this might be the case in normal times, when there is volcano ash in the air it makes it a little bit harder. How hard? Well let’s just say I started trying to get down here sunday night and didn’t make it to Bs As until tuesday morning. So pretty damn hard. Luckily I met this really nice guy in Chile who not only helped us get a connecting flight but also checked my bag for me. When I told him that I was moving down here he gave me all his information because he said no one should be alone. Cute right? 

But the help continues. Today when I was going to get my package at the post office (as I have referenced before, this is quite possibly the WORST part about living here because it simply makes no sense/doesn’t function) there was this lady sitting next to me. She turns to me and asked what number I had and I told her I was number 86, they were only on 20 at the time. She then put out her fists and told me to choose one. Lucky me I chose the right one because in her hand was a ticket for number 46 and she just gave it to me. If that wasn’t exciting enough we then got to takling and I told her that I was there trying to find where the hell my package was that my mom sent me over a MONTH ago. Upon hearing this the lady stands up and goes and talks to this guy for me. The guy gave her a phone number to call to get the argentine tracking number. The lady and I then went outside where she called the number for me, found the tracking number, got the address of the post office I needed to go to as well as the hours it was open. It was so nice of her and she did not have to help me at all. I told her thank you like a million times and then she told me that her daughter is a photographer so she spends a lot of time in different countries and that people help her daughter all the time and that she is lucky to be able to return the favor to foreigners in Buenos Aires. And the best part of this is that it all took place in Spanish! 

This country may be entirely backwards, but at least the people here are nice enough to help you figure it out. 

Everyone keeps posting their pics from Europe and I kept thinking how different it looks there from here and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why at first. I first thought to myself, well, it looks newer….but then I realized that there is no way that’s what it was because Europe kinda colonized Latina America and what not. Then it hit me while looking at a picture that the lovely Mel posted today that the reason the look so different is because Europe is so freakin clean! (or at least it looks like it is) 

Let me fill you in on how things work here. I think I have already mentioned that there is dog poop EVERYWHERE! You can tell how nice the area you are in is by looking at how much dog poop is on the side walk because the nicer areas go out and clean in all up in the morning. Graffiti is everywhere. In same places it is cool, but in others it is sad. There is graffiti here on national monuments and buildings so it makes it look like they don’t take pride in their country, but really they just don’t take pride in enforcing laws. Much like the poop, the graffiti gets substaintially worse depending on the neighborhood (or more artsy, like in Palermo soho or hollywood) 

The thing that I think makes this place the dirtiest stems from its ass backwards way of recycling. Instead of separating the trash before putting it out on the street, here they put it out on the street and then separate it. This entails people walking around with carts tearing through garbage and taking out recyclable goods. On one hand this is kinda good because these people are able to make money from doing this, but on the other hand it is very stupid. At night the trash is all over the place from people ripping through it and then it just makes it harder for the guys to come pick it up. (Btw, the pick trash up here at like 11 at night. This would never fly in the US because they make a ton of noise. But with my recent experience with the neighbors ACROSS THE STREET keeping me up all night bumping beats and screaming lyrics to songs, it has become very obvious to me that noise complaints don’t count for anything here….except that I get them from my landlord all the time…… so idk haha)

But really, I think this is a major cause in the dirtiness of Buenos Aires. That and maybe the fact that it’s a developing country. Idk, one of the two. 

Hola Todos! Hoy fue el primer día de primavera y por eso no tuvmenos escuela! 

English: Today was the first day of spring so we didn’t have school. It’s called “Día de los Estudiantes” because all students have no school. We went to the park because it was sunny and 75 degrees out and it was crazy. There were probably thousands of people out in the park. There was music and dancing and vendors selling things. What surprised me most was the amount of public drinking and smoking pot…but I’m not really sure about laws here. What I do know is that they rarely enforce them, so maybe it does make sense why people were drinking and smoking so freely. (although I did see the police make this one girl pour out her liter of beer….but she was probs like 12 or something haha). But it was like all of Argentina was out quading. Which is pretty bad ass if you ask me. 

Because it was so warm we were wearing shorts, but apparenty people don’t do that here? I’m not sure, but everywhere we went we would either get hit on or get death stares from people who were like “what the hell is she wearing”. I just want to inform the people of Argentina that when it is 75 outside it is more than acceptable to wear shorts. I am doing what is normal, you look rediculous wearing a winter jacket and a scarf so I think you need to reevaluate.

Other than the stares, it was a wonderful day. We got some tanning in. I split a grande pizza with my friend and ate some medialunas. We talked with locals. True Porteña through and through. A well deserved day of sunshine since I have been forced to relive winter for the second time this year (and will have to do again in less than 3 months womp).

Chau y besitos! 

I wanted to write this down now before I forgot because it was a very interesting display of human interaction that I think is worth documenting. 

This evening, Cynthia and I said goodbye to our friends and got on the bus to go home. Everything was pretty normal as we just stood there waiting for our stop but then things took a turn for the worse. This man came up to use and started to talk about how young and beautiful we are. For those unaware, this is not an uncommon occurance. In fact cat calling here is so bad that from time to time bus drivers will even honk at us, but this was not the normal case. The man was clearly drunk, or crazy, or both and apparently (according to Cynthia) had his pants unzipped. So there we were, trapped on this bus as he was talking to us. We tried to pull our usual move of just ignoring him but with a case as extreme as this one it just wasn’t enough. Next thing we know the boys around us on the bus (who we had previously offered cookies to) reached out their hands and pulled us away from the man and put themselves between him and us and just kept telling us to stay calm. One of them then went up to the bus driver to tell him about the man and the bus driver came back and made the man get off the bus at the next stop. The girls that were with the boys informed us that it would be ok and that they would make sure he got off. The man did get off the bus at the next stop and we made it home safe and sound. 

Obviously this story is worth telling for the sheer fact that it was really strange, but more importantly I wanted to tell it because I really think that it shows a lot about human character in general. In Buenos Aires, boys usually get the reputation of being sexist pigs who will force themselves upon whenever they please, so seeing these boys on the bus step up and protect two girls who they did not even know really touched me. The men might act one way here when they are at a club trying to get in your pants, but that doesn’t mean they are terrible people. It was so nice to see them step up and be so helpful in a time where being a girl was disadvantageous. But it wasn’t even just the boys who pulled us away. Everyone on that bus was aware what was going on and were cautiously waiting to make sure everything turned out ok. I knew that if anything were to get out of line that we weren’t alone, even though we are in this strange country. The basic instinct to help others in times of needs transcends culture, language and sex. I felt at that moment like I was surrounded by people I knew, friends even, and not just alone in a giant city like I tend to feel most of the time. It’s moments like these I love because they reassure my faith in humanity. 

Ok, enough of this heavy stuff. I will blog tomorrow about the rest of my night preceeding this event because it was equally entry worthy, just not at risk of losing insight by waiting till the morning. 

I’m having a weird love affair with the man in the apt across from me. By love affair, I mean that we see each other in the window while we cook. But last week we took it to a new level…..

One day I was cooking pasta wearing my sports bra and looked up and saw him. Which obvi is a little awk right? BUT THEN, the next day he was cooking with his shirt OFF!! Coincidence…I mean maybe because he lives with a girl who is either his wife or girlfriend. But a I’m gonna continue to live in my dream world. I would take a picture to post to please Morgan Wheaton, but that’s too much…even for me. 

Average day in my porteña life. (Porteña is the name of a girl from Buenos Aires for those who are not culturally savvy…or just don’t know random facts about South America).

Woke up, did some reading while drinking coffee in my kitchen. When checking the weather I realized that it’s going to be 75 degrees this weekend, perfect weather to go to a soccer game (which I am doing sunday, more to come on that later). I have been refusing to wear a coat or boats for the past week because I was determined to force spring to come and I think I was succesful because it was soooo nice out. I then took the subte to school and knew it was gonna be a good day because I got a seat and didn’t have to stand next to someone staring at me. I had a beautiful walk to school and there were no protests or riot gates up or anything so it was peaceful. 

Once at school I ran into a couple of people on campus, which was nice because the majority of the time I am there I feel like a total outcast. This is mainly due to the fact that I really only know other foreign students, but it is my GOAL to become friends with real UCA students soon…cause they are re sexy. Then I had class, in spanish, and how much more porteña can ya get than that? Not much. 

I took the colectivo home and was excited because I found a new bus route that goes from my school and drops me off right in front of my house. It’s the best! It was such a great day outside that me and my friend went to go eat epanadas outside, but we ended up getting a large pizza and having a liter of Guilmes. Obvioulsy pizza and beer also make for a great day, and I’m not even ashamed that it was 4pm. 

After my mid-day snack, I went to a tango class so I can start my career as a perfessional tango dancer. We couldn’t take the bus because it was one of the buses that doesn’t take sube cards (which are like smart trips, but worse because if you lose one you have to cancel it and apply for another) and we didn’t have any stupid coins so we had to take a cab. But the fates were on our side because when we got to the tango class there were like 5 people there, meaning we got a lot of one-on-one attention from the teacher. We acutally did really well and the teacher complimented us. I think she might have even said something about how our dance skills inspire her to continue teaching…or maybe that was just my poor translation haha. After the tango class they started playing bumping beats for the salsa class afterwards so my friend and I decided to stay. (But we drank a fernet and coke beforehand to losen up a little, as the Argentines do from time to time). Salsa was fun, but we left early because it was a lot of dance for one night. 

We took a colectivo home, but had to wait a while because one of the buses decided that it didn’t want to stop for us. Newsflash: It is not the driver’s decision whether or not they want to pick you up. IT IS THEIR JOB! They should do it. Always. The. End. 

I made dinner at the completely normal hour of 10:30. Skyped to make plans for tomorrow (because phones here suck and cost a lot). And now and blogging *you’re welcome morgan wheaton* And after probably watch an episode of weeds before going to bed. 

Asi es la vida. No lo elejí, pero lo vivo! 

…It’s about how you decide to take on that adventure. I know a lot of times everyone thinks of going abroad as a giant vacation but it really is what you make of it. I know that a lot of people are just now starting their abroad adventure so here is a little bit of wisdom from my experience so far. Don’t expect everything to be a fairy tale. Obviously you are given amazing opportunties by being in these new and exciting places, but you have to remember that it’s still life. There will be good days and there will be bad days. Moving locations will not change the facts of life. I think the whole point of being abroad is being greatful of the opportunities that it gives you. The people, the food, the sights, the experiences they are all wonderful but I have figured out now that that is not all being abroad is about. It’s about taking you out of your normal element so you can learn things about yourself that you would not have been able to bogged down in the day to day activites that so quickly cloud our vision. Soak up all you can in this crazy once in a life time adventure, but also don’t be afraid to allow it to show you how much you appreciate the blessings of your life at home. And in reality, don’t be afraid of anything. Ésta es la vida, y usted elige cómo virvir. 

I don’t think I ever fully took into consideration what I was getting myself into when I crossed the equator. Pretty much everything here is backwards.

For example: I have been in winter for the past two months…which also happen to be the months of July and August.  I know in my head that it is winter here, but I think my body is really confused because I just got out of winter only a couple months ago before I was dropped right back into it (and will go through the same cycle again when I return to the good ol’ US of A). To make things even worse, the ash from the volcano (yes, a volcano erupted. NBD) trapped the heat in so it was warmer when I first got here but then drastically turned to winter in like a week. Spring starts September 21^st. (We get the day off of school, it is awesome). It will be warm on my birthday/thanksgiving (which really isn’t too weird because it’s never really that cold in AZ on those days either). What IS weird is that for the first time in….well forever really, it will be COLDER going to Arizona. I never thought I would see the day that a trip to Arizona would be a trip to the cold. 

But it’s not just the weather. THE MOON IS UPSIDE DOWN. That’s right. You know the normal way it waxes and wanes? Well, probably not. But even if you don’t you can still tell that it’s upside down. I am also seeing stars down here that I was never able to see before. I really want to try to take advantage of this at some point because it has been kinda hard to see them being in the city and all.

Other ways things are backwards: Birds fly North for the winter. Being around a cop does NOT mean it is safe. Stores do not care about selling things. Late is early and early is late. You have to buy the amount of paper you want to print before you print it and then bring it to the printer in the library. The subway closes at 10 but the buses run 24 hours. Alcohol is cheaper than water. Gay marriage is legal, but abortion is not. ATMs give you 100s, but no one takes 100s, so even though you have 500 pesos you really have nothing. Riot gates are supposed to make people feel safe and not scared. I saw a man do the sign of the cross passing a church and then whistle at a girl. You have to go pick your packages up at the post office because they don’t deliver them (even though you are in fact paying them to delivery them). People take the time to put winter coats on their dogs but don’t bother to pick up their dog’s shit.  I just applied for my residency permit two days ago even though I have been living here two months. And get this….the president….is a WOMEN! WTF!?!? Haha just kidding. But she herself is a little backwards so she still fits.