Its been a whole week since I've written! At the end of each day, I think, oh, that's not enough to post about, but somehow it all accumulates, until I feel like I have too much to write about!
Anyhow, here is a snapshot of this week, and the goings-ons of my daily life.
1) Hello Birthday!
This is my first post as a 20 year old! My birthday was the past Monday, and although it was not my first birthday abroad (thank you, Canadian summer camp), it was certainly my first birthday in the Southern Hemisphere. First Southern Hemisphere birthday translates to first WINTER birthday during the SCHOOL YEAR. Other than those slightly unpleasant details, my birthday was FANTASTIC. The day was chilly, but I had a relaxing morning, my host mom Elina gave me a small wooden box from Salta, then I headed over to classes. Two classes later, I was done for the day and of course, had some tea with friends in the afternoon. My parents had told me to go to ISA office during the afternoon, and of course, they had (when I say "they," I mean, my mom) figured out some way to send a dozen roses to me with a very funny little card sending me "lost and lost of love." My host mom cooked a special dinner for myself and my roommates Christine and Dan, and we sat and ate, like a little family. Elina is an amazing (and healthy!) cook, and we ate a corn/cheese concoction, some sort of bean/eggplant dish, and a veggie/mushroom/potato dish. I wish I could tell you the names of these things, but Elina says she just "makes them up!" After dinner, I met up with friends- where I had a birthday dulce de leche panqueque (crepe) with a candle in it, to blow out. And throughout the day, I received birthday messages from friends at home and friends here in BA, and I just felt very loved! It was a wonderful day.
2) Hello Healing Tonsil!
If you've been keeping up with this blog, then you know I was having a swollen tonsil issue. Well, thank goodness, it is clearing up! Lots of medication, a couple nights of more rest than normal, and some waiting around helped it along. I did go back to the doctor one more (no kissing hello/goodbye) this time, but the next step is to figure out how my international health insurance works...more posts to come about that!
3) Hello Classes!
So, other than sitting and drinking tea in cafes for hours on end, or going around the city and seeing the sights, I go to class. I am taking 5 classes, mostly in the afternoons. We are about the begin the third week of classes, and I am starting to get used to them...
Latin American Lit: This is a pretty standard lit class. Read. Discuss. So far, the material has been a little dry (think: Christopher Columbus discovering the Americas) but we'll see where this goes. The teacher seems very nice, however, and when I get bored in class, I just listen to her roll her r's, because she is very very good at that.
Urban Cartographies: This class has a very ambiguous title. Basically, what I have gleaned, is that the class is about the development of the culture of BA, and we'll learn about that through literature. Basically, a BA lit class. This is one of my favorite classes so far. The professor, is very dynamic and a little odd, and there are only 8 people in the class.
Contemporary Art: Wait! Stop everything! Rachel is taking an art history class?? Yes, yes I am. I've decided to fully embrace this pseudo-humanities-major life, and take, yes, an art history class. So far, its actually one of my favorite ones! We're studying the art and architecture of BA. The class is project based, so yesterday, my friend and I had to go to el Museo de Bellas Artes (the main art museum here) to analyze some of the paintings. It was amazing to look at paintings that I had studied, because I could actually view the art critically. Usually, when I go to an art museum, its "oh thats cool" and I move on.
Argentina: An Open Society: This is a sociology class that deals with immigrant groups that have moved to Argentina and the political/economic climate that they found themselves in (I think). This is definitely my hardest class, with complex readings from government agencies, and a whole boatload of terminology that I don't even know in English! We'll see how this goes! However, on Thursday, we watched a documentary about poverty in areas surrounding the city, and the documentary was fascinating- sad too.
Translation from Spanish to English: This is my one class with Argentine students (all the rest are taught in Spanish, but with other international students) and its actually mostly in English! Don't worry- its still challenging! We translate Spanish texts into English, which is a great way to expand my Spanish vocabulary, and actually think about how grammatical constructions in Spanish vary from those in English. It very much appeals my linguistic interests, and I'm learning that there is so much more to translating a text (keeping in mind cultural knowledge, etc.) than putting it into google (not that I did that anyhow!!).
4) Hello Volunteering!
During the week, the mornings before my classes are mostly spent sleeping, working out (I joined a gym near my house!), attempting to do homework, and trying new restaurants (we went to a great Thai place in China Town called Neo Lotus Thai...and this is the reason I need to post everyday, I forget about the little things!) but on Fridays, when I don't have classes, I will be volunteering! My friend Amanda and I will be volunteering at a place called Hogar Number 4 (Home #4), which is a day center run by the government for the elderly. Apparently these Hogares range from basically homeless shelters, to even private originazations where the wealthy Old people go to socialize. However, this Hogar is somewhere in the middle- with happy, old people! My friend Amanda and I travel about an hour by bus to an outer barrio, called Villa Luro. We went for the first time on Friday, and I was pleasantly surprised by how welcoming the old people were! They were lively and funny, and very interested in talking to us. The best was that they were so easy to understand!!! Our goal there is just to spend time with the people and do different "cultural exchange" activities. The interesting thing about volunteering in Argentina, is that its very rare. People don't have enough time/money to go work "for free," and no one is playing the resume-building game that we love in the USA, so volunteering is a very unusual experience. Nevertheless, day 1 went well! Amanda and I just presented ourselves and asked questions/chatted with the old people. They thought I was of Spanish descent! Until I opened my mouth, that was... updates to follow as I volunteer more!
5) Hello Ayla!
A couple months ago, I saw my camp friend Ayla's facebook status saying something about being in Chile. I looked at it, and thought: I am in South America, we should meet up! And after a failed attempt to meet up in Chile, while I was traveling there. she told me she was coming to BA for 4 days. Last night, I met up with Ayla, after not seeing her for two years!!! It was so amazing just to think that we were meeting up so far from home. Just another instance of how the world feels so small sometimes. Its incredible. We went to this really, really cool milonga (place where there is an open floor to dance tango) place which I will describe below!
6) Hello Milonga!
So, we went to this milonga bar called La Catedral, which was basically inside of an old warehouse with random garage sale decorations and furniture and a wooden dance floor in the middle. The atmosphere was dark, and quiet, mostly couples actually and a group of 5 girls (us) chattering away. There were couples just tango-ing, mixed in with musical performances. All in all, it felt so authentically Argentine, and such a cool find, only a short bus-ride from my house! I think I will be returning.
Sorry for this long post- I'll try not to let a week pass without posting!
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