Monica and some of my friends and me at a restaurant in Polermo
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I can hardly believe I have been here over a week now! It feels like just yesterday that I arrived, but yet I feel like I have been here forever. The students in my program are absolutely amazing, and I am having so much fun with them. I am definitely getting used to the Argentine culture and am trying to blend in as much as possible. And of course, the food continues to be delicious!
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This week was more orientation, but we have been going to each university to check it out and decide in which places we want to enroll. In South America, the process of picking classes is very different than in the United States, especially because they have a "shopping period". During this time, we are supposed to enroll in 10-15 classes when in reality you will only take 4-5. You go to classes and decide what teachers you like, what works well in your schedule, etc until you have a set schedule. Right now I am looking to take classes at La Universidad Catolica Argentina, La Universidad del Salvador, and possibly one at la Universidad de Buenos Aires. We also have classes offered through my host program, so I am looking to take some through them as well. More news when I actually know what I am taking!
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I have met so many wonderful and interesting people on this journey already. Having class all day, every day with the students in my program has really allowed us to get to know each other very well. Having spent only one week together, it is amazing how much people's personalities have come through and the strong bonds we are all making. I am so lucky to be around such cool people! I also have met many locals, which is helpful in finding cool places to hang out and things to do. The women here are very cold, a cultural norm that makes it hard for men to talk to them. Needless to say, when we reach out to people, especially groups of guys, they are very excited to talk to us and tell us all about their country.
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I have been exploring the city more this week and figuring out how to navigate the chaotic bus systems. Although the system is crazy, it really does allow you to get almost anywhere in the city for a little over a peso (about 25 cents in american dollars!). We decided to go to carnival this coming weekend so we could really settle in this past weekend and see the city, which we took full advantage of. On Friday, Monica did her own thing and I went out to a popular area of bars and discos with a bunch of my friends. At some point in the night, all the power and music went off in the bar we were at. We thought it must just be a power outage or that we blew a fuse, but in looking out the windows we could see that the entire neighborhood was without power. We honestly didn't even think anything of it and continued our night as usual.
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On Saturday morning, I skyped my parents only to realize that there had been an earthquake in Chile. Although Argentina is very wide and Buenos Aires is on the opposite coast of Chile, I was still shocked that we couldn't feel anything. I realized later that the power outage must have been caused by the after shock of the earthquake, but we are so lucky that everyone in Argentina was safe. My friend Ryan Soderberg is in Chile studying, but all is well with him too. Lots of prayers for Chile!
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Sunday my friends and I visited La Casa Rosada and la Plaza del Mayo. La Casa Rosada is the Presidential Residence, which is huge and gorgeous! We got to take a tour of the inside of the building, and everything was spectacular. With Argentina's bicentennial coming up, they were doing construction on much of the building and surrounding area, but everything was still gorgeous (pictures to come)! The Plaza is the surrounding area where the Madres de la Plaza march every Thursday in protest of their children that went missing during the dirty war. I am so excited to go see them march some Thursday! The whole area was so pretty.
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Sunday night I went Salsa-ing with some friends and had a fabulous time! We also did a classical Argentine dinner of wine and steak one night. The steak comes in huge portions and melts in your mouth! You can get a whole dinner, drinks, sides and all, for about $10 (American dollars). I am truly going to be very spoiled when I come back to the US! We also watched the big Argentina vs Germany game (soccer, or futball) with a bunch of locals, and they go absolutely nuts! Also this week I tried tartas (giant pot pies with various fillings) and Argentine hot dogs, both were delicious!
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I am having such a wonderful time and slowly starting to feel like I really belong in this city. I cannot wait for classes to start so I can get in a groove and really get to explore both this city and the surrounding countries!
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This weekend I will be going to Carnival and saying goodbye to Monica as she heads off to Peru, so I will update everyone again in another week or so! Continued prayers for Chile! Love and miss you all!
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Besos!
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