One Month Left

Today is May 24th, which means I have exactly one month left in Argentina. Where have the past three months gone? Now I really feel the pressure to do everything in the city. It is easy to forget you are still partially a tourist when you are living here for such a long time.

My flight is July 3rd...I will be home just in time for July 4th. I plan on taking one last trip at the end of the program. I am either going to Salta or Chile. Everyday I change my mind. I really wish I could go to both, but they are a 20 hour bus ride from each other. I also would love to go to Bariloche, but there is just not enough time. I will definitely have to return to Patagonia one day. Its funny... a year ago, I thought Patagonia was just a brand like North Face.

Last weekend I stayed in Buenos Aires. I really like the weekends I stay in the city because there is so much to do. We finally went to this new club called Bahrein. There were two floors so when we got bored of one scene we just went upstairs to try something new. We also got in for free with these coupons. Now that I only have one month I want to try new bars and boliches.

On Friday, I went to the free cooking class provided by IES. It was awesome to see this chef make empanadas, dulce de leche dessert, steak, and other delicious food. At the end of the class we all got to try some of everything. I plan on using the empanada recipe in the United States and cooking for my friends. I really do miss cooking here. 

The carne for the empanadas.

They let us fill the empanadas.

Dulce de Leche dessert

I finally ventured to the Salon for the first time. Waxing is incredibly cheap here. I have always wanted to get my legs waxed, but I never wanted to pay for it. It was only $7 here! They also do not use paper here, but honey wax. It was quite the surprise when she yanked the wax off. I think it hurt a lot less than the American method.

Today I explored the wool district in Palermo. I was so proud of myself for getting home from Palermo. For someone without a sense of direction, it is amazing how far I have come from the first couple of weeks. I did not have a map or my guia t (the guide of all the bus routes) and I managed to find the subway. Anyway I bought some wool to start making a scarf. This girl knits every spanish class and I have been extremely envious. I really miss knitting.

 Time to celebrate the feriado (holiday) - no class manana!!

Tandil

This past weekend I took my first IES field trip to Tandil. It was a nice relaxing weekend away from the city. Tandil is only five hours from Buenos Aires. Apparently the name Tan dil mean falling rock in Mapuche.

We left early on Friday morning. We stopped for lunch at an Asado (Barbecue). I ate so much I was still full for dinner. We literally ate every type of meat. It was one of the most delicious meals I have had in Argentina.

Afterward we drove to see a view of the city. 

I was not expecting a real city when I signed up for a hiking trip. It was interesting to see a pretty large city right next to farmlands and hills.

The next day we woke up and hiked all day. It was a great opportunity to spend time with other students I haven't met before. I also finally got a chance to talk to some of the staff and practice Spanish.

At night we went to a cheese fondue restaurant for dinner. Naturally we had to order wine.

The next day we visited the famous "moving rock." Well it turns out there used to be a famous rock that would rock back and forth. It finally fell in 1912 and split into two pieces. In 2007 the city decided to recreate the rock and glue it into place.

Here is a picture of the fake rock.

The idea is cool in theory - but it seemed kind of silly to visit a fake rock.

On Sunday we went to an ecological park and walked around. 

 

 

 

Adorable

At the top of the mountain we saw another view of the city and horses. 

When we came down from the mountain we had one last amazing meal. We had guiso (stew) and plenty of meat. They love their meat here in Argentina.

For dessert I splurged on some chocolate ice cream.

After lunch we took a ski lift up to the top of the mountain for more walking and picture time. It was kind of the theme of the trip.

Overall it was a nice, relaxing trip. But now I am ready to spend some time in Buenos Aires. I feel like I am always traveling.

Sunday night I went to plaza Serrano with some friends to celebrate my 21st birthday! It was exactly how I imagined a 21st birthday to be. After the plaza we found a club (even on a Sunday night - this city really does not sleep). We finished the night off with pizza at Molinos. I did not go to bed until 7am. Mariana (my host sister) went straight to her Monday class the next day. 

Thanks to everyone for who made it an amazing birthday!

Also congratulations Rachel and Dan on their engagement...mazel tov!

Machu Picchu: One of the seven wonders of the world

Yesterday I came home from my Spring Break in Peru. I feel I have been gone from Buenos Aires forever. I was way overdue for a blog entry.

I guess I will start with my Inca Jungle Trek. We left for Cusco on Friday morning and started our trek Saturday morning.

The first day we rode bicycles down the mountain. Puder successfully rode a bike by herself!

The second day our guide Jimmy John (yes his name was Jimmy John) offered us the option to go white water rafting.

The day after they they offered us a chance to go zip lining. Naturally we could not say no once they kept offering us these wonderful deals.

We did a lot of hiking and trekking through the mountain. We were able to walk to same path as the Incas. Our tour guide taught us about the chasquis or runners who would send messages for the Inca civilization. Basically one chasqui would run a long distance and then pass the message to the next chasqui. 

The last day we finally went to Machu Picchu. In 2007 Machu Picchu was voted a new addition to the seven wonders of the world. 
We woke up at 3 in the morning because the first 400 people to climb Machu Picchu are given a permit to climb Wayna Picchu. It was pitch black and I had to use peoples surrounding lights to see up the mountain.

The six of us made it to the top of the mountain.

Machu Picchu was so amazing. I literally could not put my camera down.

We climbed on the back side of the mountain and the view was incredible. We were literally sitting in the clouds.

After our tour of Machu Picchu we hiked to the top of Wayna Picchu. We were able to see the top of Machu Picchu from a birds eye view.

We took a lovely nap at the top of Wayna Picchu. We were pretty tired. They literally asked us to leave because apparently everyone must leave by 2pm. Machu Picchu closes at 5pm. We spent almost 12 hours there.

My feet dangling on top of Wayna Picchu.

My favorite picture of Machu Picchu.

Overall Machu Picchu lived up to its expectation and in reality was more than I could imagine.


The next three days were a low of my trip. I finally got super sick after the intense hike, elevation, and water in Peru. One day I slept 18 hours in Cusco. I wish I hadn't missed the city, but I needed to rest.


We headed to Lima for the end of our trip. We took a free walking tour of the city and learned a lot about the history of the Incas and the Spanish. We also went on a shopping spree. Apparently llamas are a big hit in Peru and I bought a warm, comfy llama sweater. 


The last night we celebrated Alana aka slani's 21st birthday in Lima. 
6 more days until my 21st!

Patagonia

This past week I had no class on Thursday or Friday for Semana Santa (Easter Break). Brittney and I went to Patagonia to celebrate the holiday. We missed Tuesday and Wednesday class because we wanted more time for our epic adventure. Plus school is completely overrated.

Tuesday

I had to wake up at 4:30am to catch our 6:30am flight to El Calafate. We arrived at noon to our hostel and got down straight to business. We took a boat to the Perito Moreno ice glacier.

La Semana Santa is considered the last weekend for the on-season tourism. The weather was definitely rough - especially when we attempted to take pictures on the deck of the boat.

After the boat ride we took a walk to another side of the glacier for some more pictures. 

Brittney and I also met this Australian couple spending five months traveling through almost every country in South America. This was the start of many encounters with our favorite couple. We some how ended up staying at the same hostel with them, eating at the same restaurant, or just bumping in to them on the street. I guess it was just meant to be.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we took a bus from El Calafate to El Chalten. Patagonia is absolutely gorgeous that even the bus ride I could not stop taking pictures.

We took another boat to the glacier Viedma.

After our boat trip we all went ice trekking. First we took a 20 minute hike up to reach the glaciers.

They gave us spikes for our shoes to dig into the snow.

The water was clean enough at the top of the trek to drink straight from the river. Considering I am still alive, I guess the guides were not lying. The guides surprised us with Baileys, which we drank on the rocks (from the ice glaciers).

We also met this great family from Venezuela. It was another great opportunity to practice Spanish. I honestly learn more from conversations with locals than any classroom experience. We eventually changed to English when we realized the whole family was bilingual and we just sounded silly…

Thursday

I am proud to say this was the only day I showered on my whole excursion. Showering is a bit overrated if you ask me. Honestly it becomes a nuisance when you are traveling and hiking.

After my one moment of cleanliness, Brittney and I headed on a trail to find a waterfall. One of the perks of traveling in autumn is all of the trees are changing colors.

After dinner, Brittney and I returned to our hostel to meet Ushuaians (the Southern most city in Argentina). Nosotros practicamos español mucho (We practiced Spanish a lot). They invited us to “rage” at the local La Tangoria. I had my first official Tango lesson. Needless to say, I was absolutely horrific.

Friday

During our travels, Brittney and I also met two Israelis. Somehow they convinced us that we should go camping with them. We were pretty much set on NOT going for a few reasons…and by a few reasons I mainly mean the weather. It was going to be freezing, windy, hailing, etc. But after we talked to Poppy, an English girl from our hostel who had camped the night before, we agreed. We headed to the store and rented/bought gloves, pants, jackets, hats, neck warmers, tents, and sleeping bags. If we were going to do this, we were coming prepared.

The walk up the mountain was absolutely gorgeous. It took us about 4 hours to complete a 3 hour hike because we took so many pictures.

We finally made it to Poincenot our campsite. We saw other crazy people camping at our campsite so we knew we were not the only insane people out there. We literally had to clear away the snow to set up our tents.

For dinner the Israelis brought two gas tanks to cook tea, soup, and spaghetti.

Normally when I camp we always have a campfire, but this was a nice change. It was surprisingly warm in our tent with the body heat, the gas stove, and the -10 degrees sleeping back.

We went to bed at midnight and the only problem with sleeping was the noise of the howling wind. I was a little cold, but for the most part I was surprisingly comfortable.

We woke up at five am to start preparing for our hike up to Fitz Roy. Fitz Roy is the quintessential image of Argentina. If you were to look at any guidebook, you would probably see a picture of the Fitz Roy mountain peak. 
After eating matzah-brei (we were traveling with Israelis on Passover), we started heading up the mountain.

It was one of the hardest hikes I have ever done. We only had two lights for four people. The weather was insane: it was windy, hailing, snowing, and raining. My ankle has also regressed from the past week from not properly resting and icing it. To top all of that, Brittney and I also had a bus to catch at 12:30pm. 

We finally made it to the top to see our sunrise. It was extremely cloudy, but it was still a gorgeous view of the lagoon at the top.

After a couple of minutes for pictures, it was time to start our race down the mountain. Going down the mountain was almost as equally hard as going up it. It was extremely slippery from the ice and I definitely ate it a few times. At points I was literally sliding down on my butt like a sled. We reached our campsite at 9:30 and had 3 hours to get down the hill, return our rentals, pick up our belongings from the hostel, and go to the bus station. Brittney and I literally ran down the mountain. We somehow made it in less than two hours. My ankle was dying by the end, but the whole trip was totally worth it. We even had time to buy peanuts and fruit before our bus. I still cannot believe we made out bus. It was so stressful at the time, but now that everything worked out I can look back with such fond memories.

All in all it was an amazing trip. It was also great to travel with only one person. It is amazing the number of people you meet and the crazy, random experiences you have. I still cannot believe we went camping in that weather…

Top Ten

 Last night I sprained my ankle at Ultimate Frisbee practice. The worst part - it was during a drill and I had already caught the disk. I was just running to give the next person the disk. ¡Estúpido! Anyway the field is pretty uneven and I twisted it on a clump of grass. I have no idea how I walked 15 blocks home that night. Me duele (it hurt me) but it was not until I was spending time in Mariana’s room that my ankle started to swell.

My experience at the hospital was wonderful. I was literally the only patient in that building. I found out later it was a private hospital. Today I skipped my classes to get a boot. Again the whole appointment took less than 20 minutes. For a country where dinner at a restaurant can take a minimum of 2 hours, they are surprisingly efficient when it comes to medical attention. 

So this leads me to my next blog entry: A top 10 list of life in Argentina versus America.

I am also kind of bored since I am not allowed to leave my house.

Here is a list of 5 things I cannot stand about Argentina and 5 things I prefer.

I guess I will start with the negative.

1.     Dog Poop. According to my Spanish class, my professor insisted it IS illegal to leave your dog poop on the street. Apparently no one follows this law. Yes I have sadly stepped in dog poop since moving in.

2.     Customer Service. It does not exist in Argentina. They have never heard the phrase “The Customer is always right.” People only tip 10% here and that is if they feel like it. I guess there is no real incentive for waiters to acquiesce your every request.

3.     Inefficiency. Things are just slower in Argentina. I normally have to wait around 20 minutes to buy my groceries from a super market.

4.     Right-of-way laws. In Buenos Aires the pedestrian does NOT have the right away. Even when I have a green walking man, taxis or buses turning right cut me off. It makes me miss running in Ann Arbor where I never have to stop.

5.     Slow Pedestrians. One of my classmates told me Argentines always recognize Americans because they walk so quickly in the streets. I guess it is American culture to always be on the move.

So on a more positive note: 5 things I actually prefer about living in Buenos Aires

6.    Cheap transportation. Cab rides normally cost $5 max. Considering we normally split cabs 4 ways I normally spend $2 or $3 in a night on cab fare. The subway and the bus system are only 1 peso each (=25 cents).

7.     Hospitals. The surprisingly fast medical attention (or am I just biased by my experience at a private hospital)?

8.    Empanadas. I probably eat at least 1 empanada a day. They are baked dough with cheese and different ingredients inside. For example, the popular ones include chicken, beef, tomato, etc. They are only 5 pesos ($1.25) and a delicious snack. For some reason they never get old.

9.    Nightlife. In the United States bars and clubs close at 2am. That is about the time we start going out here. Normally we go out until 5 or 6am. Even New York City cannot compete where the bars must close by 4 am. Buenos Aires really puts the United States to shame.

10.  The Weather. Maybe I am biased since I am here at the end of the summer. But its been 70 degrees for the past few weeks and it is absolutely perfect. I heard the winter here is 50 degrees. After Ann Arbor I can handle 50 degrees for winter. In fact I think 50 degrees is Ann Arbor’s spring. 

My host sister, Mariana, and I are going to watch the Notebook tonight since I am not allowed to go out.

 

Monheit Reunion in BA

My family left Argentina Sunday after 9 days of exploring the city. I will say this was not our smoothest family vacation. We encountered some airport troubles. I am starting to think my parents are a little unlucky. So first, my parents’ flight to Argentina was cancelled. They did not arrive until 12 hours later. Furthermore, our flight to Iguazú falls (the picture at the top of my blog) was 7 hours delayed and then finally cancelled. Everyone was super disappointed considering it was supposed to be the highlight of the trip.

Despite the airline mishaps, we did accomplish a lot in the city.

Here are a few favorites:

Sunday night we had dinner with my host family in Puerto Madero. It was super weird for me to have una mezcla (a mix) of my two families. My dad attempted to practice Spanish…

On Tuesday night we went to a Tango show. Tango originated in Buenos Aires. Originally Italian immigrants brought the dance to Argentina and men would dance with prostitutes. The rest of the city was too pretentious to share the same dance as prostitutes. It was not until the Tango spread to Paris that porteños (locals from Buenos Aires) were willing to participate. But the show was the perfect blend of tango dance, music performance, and singing. They did a wonderful rendition of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. Too bad they prohibited flash photography. Although my parents did indulge on this picture: 

(I will post when my mom figures out how to properly scan it. It's very cute.)

Wednesday we took a boat to Colonel in Uruguay for the day. I couldn’t believe the exchange rate was 16 Uruguay pesos to 1 dollar. Besides getting a new stamp on my passport, I will say there was not much to do in Colonel. We walked around the city and along the beach coast. 

This pretty much sums up the trip to Colonel.

We went to the markets and I bought a hand knitted sweater. My parents bought the 3 monkeys (hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil). Obviously we need more animals for our house in Florida.

I know this is a flashback, but this picture never gets old.

On Friday we were supposed to spend the day in Iguazú falls. When our plans fell through we decided to go to Tigre for the day. It is quaint city on the water. You have to take a boat to travel anywhere. We headed to 3 bocas and trekked through the trails. The whole place is really nice minus the brown water. 

Saturday afternoon my parents and I took a bike tour of some of the neighborhoods in Buenos Aires. We went to Puerto Madero, La Boca, San Telmo, and Plaza de Mayo. I loved our tour guide. He is from Germany and can speak 6 different languages (German, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, and Croatian). He told us some great facts about the city. Apparently La Boca stadium has Coca-cola written in black because they refused to have the color red (the color of their rival River Plate) on their stadium. They also made LG change their normally red sign to pink.

On Sunday my mom and I took a tour of Casa Rosada, the “pink” house. This is the grand view of Plaza de Mayo. 

Plaza de Mayo

 Finally, Rachel and her former roommate Will took me to this old theater turned into a library. And with that chau chau...

mucho vino en Mendoza

So I just checked weather.com for the weather report. When I saw 30 degrees, I thought maybe the website automatically switched from Fahrenheit to Celsius. Well I looked again, the city was still Ann Arbor, Michigan. That sounds about right. All I could think was thank god I live in Buenos Aires. This weekend: 70 degrees Fahrenheit all week!

This past weekend I took my long weekend in Mendoza. While riding back in the taxi, I just couldn’t wait to get home and by home I meant my Buenos Aires home. After a 15 hour bus ride all I wanted to do was take a shower and sleep in a proper bed. But this was the first time I remember calling this city my home. After a month of living here, I finally feel at home. It was definitely a cool feeling.

People in Argentina will take a bus anywhere. A 15 hour bus ride does not phase them. I don't even know how far a 15 hour car ride would take me in the United States because I would never consider driving such a far distance. The buses were pretty comfortable and we took it overnight both directions. By the end of the trip I was so sleep deprived that I slept the majority of the way back...Except for the moments when I was practicing my Spanish with the portena sitting next me. 

It is amazing how far my Spanish has come in the past month, but then again there is still so much room for improvement. I was still pretty proud of myself for pushing myself to hold a conversation with this girl. Sometimes I just wanted to shut down and return to my English cave. Luckily I was stuck next to her and she refused to speak English (even though she knew it). I need more people to push me like that. The good thing is I have three more months to practice!

Mendoza was absolutely wonderful. Our hostel gave us a free complimentary glass of wine (or two) every day. The first night Lawrence and Tony grilled the whole group of girls some delicious steak, sausage, and vegetables. It was kind of funny having 20 girls sitting around the table sipping their wine while the men went to work. Kudos to Larry and Tony for a delicious dinner.

The first full day we rented bicycles and went to the vineyards. We went to five different places throughout the day. My favorite place was 15 pesos (almost $4) to try all of their products. We were given bread and olive oil, different types of jam, olives, cheese spread, etc, pieces of chocolate, and a shot of liquor. They even offered absente, which they set the sugar on fire. I opted for a different option. I didn't think I could handle an entire shot considering it is illegal in the United States. I bought my parents authentic olive oil from Mendoza because they are not wine drinkers. I also want them to share with me because it was so delicious.

The vineyards

At the end of the day we attempted to teach Christina how to bike ( somehow she has gone 20 years without learning how to ride a bicycle). She did master the tandem with Alana during the day, but we felt it was time she graduated to a real bike. I also took my first ride on the backseat of the tandem and I think it is way scarier than a solo bicycle. Anyway Christina is about 5 minutes away from mastering the art of bicycling. Next time… there was just no safe piece of gravel to teach her.

The next day we went paragliding. We had the most amazing view of the Andes Mountains. The whole experience is surreal and hard to imagine that you are actually flying. It was a little chilly up there. If i could go again I would definitely bring gloves.

I was pretty bumped that I did not have my camera for that ride, but this weekend my parents are coming with their camera. I am just going to borrow theirs for the rest of the semester since there is not much going on in Fulton Maryland.

Time to go to bed. I need to be productive this entire week since I will be entertaining Ellen, Michael, and Rachel for the next ten days (starting Saturday). I am pretty excited to see my mother’s reaction to Argentine culture. This is really not the place to go if you do not like being touched. Even when I return from a run, dripping in sweat, everyone greets me with a kiss.