Trinity College

Today we went to Trinity College to listen to guest speakers about entrepreneurs in Ireland. It was a humbling experience and a great opportunity to learn how difficult it is to get companies off the ground. I was most impressed by Joanna Murphy, the CEO of Connect Ireland in her presentation.

“There is no magic dust” – Joann Murphy

Joann explained to us how she went from successful entrepreneur, to mother of three, back to entrepreneur. She successfully ran two startup companies and went through many tribulations of investing her own money into a company only to find her accountant had been deceiving her. She referenced Sheryl Sandberg and her book “Lean In” in reference to women pushing boundaries in the workplace. I was grateful today we had two female guest speakers when women only make up 20% of entrepreneurs in Ireland. Joann had a successful career and time to create a family. I found her story inspiring and I hope to meet more role models like Joann during my master’s program.

"Without a struggle there can be no progress." - Frederick Douglass

I was also impressed by the start up IDEA. I was shocked how the company grew and had to let go of some of their clients to keep up with the competition. This would be a very difficult decision for a company to turn away business but sometimes it’s important for the future direction of the company.

After the presentations, we took a tour of the book of Kells. I was disappointed to learn Harry Potter was not filmed there but it could have inspired the scene in the movie.

Time to go check out a Celtics shows to see some authentic Irish dancing.

Kilmainham Gaol

Today we went to the Kilmainham Gaol.

It was a great opportunity to delve into the history of Ireland and their quest for independence from British rule. 

Unlike the United States declaration of Independence, anyone who signed the freedom proclamation was executed.

As Jan explained, if people rebelled and lost they were considered anarchists.

If people rebelled, and won they were renamed patriots.

I never thought about that before but our perception of history is heavily influenced by the outcome of the battle.

The tour guide was an engaging public speaker and kept our interest with the tragic love story of Joseph Plunkett and Grace Gifford. Joseph Plunkett was a member of the 1916 Easter Rising rebellion who was captured and executed on May 4, 1916 (at age 28).

The night before his execution, the government allowed Joseph to exchange wedding vows with his betrothed Grace Gifford. Later in the night they gave the couple ten minutes as a farewell. They were forbidden from touching one another and spent the entire time in silence. 

What a tragic love story.

Here is the jail cell for Grace Gifford - she was sent to jail seven years after Joseph's capture for her own plans of rebellion against the government. Even though they refused her to touch her husband before his execution, they allowed her water colors to paint her cell.

She painted Mary and baby Jesus.

The day concluded with a group dinner by Temple Bar. It was one of the most delicious meals I have had in awhile. I had seafood chowder and lamb stew (soup is one of my favorite meals).

I am looking forward to tomorrow's trip to Trinity College. Apparently the library scene in Harry Potter was filmed here.

First Day in Ireland

This morning I landed in Dublin at 4:30am. I had a very smooth flight where I slept the first few hour sand then watched Manchester by the Sea and La La Land. It was a great opportunity to watch the Oscar winners for best film, actor, and actress. I have already seen La La Land in theaters but given my obsession with the soundtrack, I was over due for second time.

My first impression of Dublin was how nice everyone was to a young female traveler lost in her search for the Arlington Hotel. I had multiple offers of locals offering to direct me to my next destination. 

I took the bus to the city and walked around to find the hotel. I was shocked that Starbucks was not open until 7am (since it's Saturday). That would not fly in America! I was a little disappointed to see the street next to us has Starbucks, McDonalds, and Burger King in a row. That was the thing I loved most about my trip to Vietnam. I didn't feel like I was in America.

I took a run down the river this morning and it was absolutely stunning. I stopped and took photos of the water. 

There was a bridge I swear has an exact replica in Buenos Aires. I then took a nap and went to explore the city. I was proud of myself for finding the hostel that leads the bike tours (and on time!) Unfortunately the bike tour was full and I did a self guided walking tour. All in all, it was a lovely first day in Ireland. I am excited to hang out with the rest of the group after my day of solo traveling.

Ireland

¿Donde está Leslie?  is back! Heading to Ireland May 20th - May 30th
Stay tuned to hear about my adventures!

Excited to see where the Titanic started!

Hasta Luego Buenos Aires…Nos Vemos

I cannot believe I will be in the United States tomorrow. After living in Buenos Aires, I have definitely made some self-discoveries.

Here is a list:

1.     I am not supposed to live in a big city.
Buenos Aires has 3 million people. It was just too big for me. There was many times where I did not feel in control of the city, in fact the city had control of me. But I think it is important to learn that now than after college when I am deciding where to live. I can honestly say I will never live in New York City.

2.     Ann Arbor is the right place for me.
I always felt at home at Michigan’s campus, but I took Ann Arbor for granted. Now that I have lived in a huge city I am so glad I chose University of Michigan because it is a college town. At one point when I visited Pittsburgh, I asked myself how come I never explored the idea of a city campus? Now I feel like a city will be a better experience post-grad. I think its especially important to be 21.

3.     Patience with someone learning a language.
Before study abroad I was definitely less tolerant of someone who did not know English when they lived in the United States. Now that I have experienced this feeling I cannot believe I was so impatient. Learning a language is extremely hard! I also enjoy hearing people speak English the way they speak Spanish because I KNOW I do that with my Spanish. For example, someone will ask how are yours fathers because padres = parents in Spanish.
Adding on to that I realized I never understood cliques of students at Michigan that would just stick together because they were from the same home country. Now I completely understand wanting to stick with your comfort zone and your first language. I made some local friends, but overall the majority of the friends I made were American. Something really bonds you about experiencing a new place together. We also experienced the same challenges with the language barrier.

4.     I am not a fan of the Latin American lackadaisical lifestyle.
In the beginning some of the students really enjoyed how everyone was late and argentines have no sense of time. There was less pressure to be somewhere. But this is not for me. While I agree Americans can be extremely type A, they are extremely efficient. As my professor would always say – “This is NOT IES Switzerland.” I do not enjoy waiting 20 minutes in the grocery line for 15 items or less. I do not enjoy when the bus I need just doesn’t show up for 20 minutes and when it does it is too full to stop for new riders. I hate having to hassle a waiter to bring me a check.

5.     Argentina has some of the coolest places to visit in the world. Between Patagonia, Iguazu Falls, Salta, and Mendoza, I would definitely say Argentina is worth a visit. I can honestly say I want to go back to Patagonia in my life. I never made it Bariloche. I also wouldn’t mind seeing the Chilean Patagonia.

6.    If I can navigate Buenos Aires, I can get around anywhere. For some who has NO sense of direction, going to a new, big city is extremely hard. By the end I successfully used the subway, buses, and could pretty much get home from anywhere if I knew where Santa Fe Ave was (my north star). I even started to pick up when cab drivers were taking me for a ride.

My last weekend in Buenos Aires was very nice. I went to a parilla with my host family. I wanted authentic Argentine cuisine before leaving and what better food to eat then MEAT. I will miss that food. 

It was extremely hard to see goodbye to my host family. I could not have asked for a better family. We had a tearful goodbye. The main reason I am upset is because I honestly have no idea when I will see them again. Mariana and I promised we would invite each other to our weddings.

For my last night out, Celine, Megan, Sam, and I went to Terrazas – our favorite boliche. I will definitely miss the insane nightlife. I have a feeling bars in Ann Arbor are going to feel a little lame after experiencing one of the most notable night life’s in the world.

On Sunday I spent the day with Pochochi. For some reason I really wanted to go La Boca for my last day. I have already been but I just love the colored houses. I feel like La Boca is the quintessential image of Buenos Aires. I bought Blancanieves also known as Snowhite. The book is in both Spanish and English. We also ate choripans because heaven forbid I leave Buenos Aires without one more choripan. They were also only 6 pesos  ($1.50) and kind of hard to turn down. Any meat that cheap should be questionable. 

Goodbye Argentina…nos vemos.

El desierto de Argentina

Right now I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight back to the United States. I cannot believe my study abroad is finally over. To kill time, I decided to wrap up my blog with two more entries.

First of all, I wanted to recap my last trip to Salta, which is located in Northern Argentina. I heard from many different people that Salta was as amazing as Patagonia. I had to see for myself.

The first day Celine and I met up with Ali and Liz to take a tour of Salta, Cafayette, and all of the towns in between. We had a hilarious tour guide who showed us amazing rocks and mountains. I felt like we were guessing shapes in the clouds with images like the Titanic, King Kong, and a woman lying down.

Can you see the woman? The head is on the right and the feet are on the left.

The Titanic

We also saw the Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s throat). I swear Argentine’s just use this name for everything.

The next day Celine and I headed to a smaller town called Humahuaca in Jujuy. We explored the mountains and even created our own pathway through the dessert.

At night we asked a woman where the supermarket was and she invited us to visit her school to have an exchange with her English class. Well the class did not speak a word of English. It was almost sad to see how little resources this school had. But on the flip side, it was extremely satisfying to know our Spanish was better than their English. When I first got to Argentina, many people would “comfort” me and say “It’s Okay, we can just speak in English.” I always wanted to say – No! I came hear to learn Spanish give me a chance and a little bit of patience. Now we had to speak Spanish because our ability was better than theirs. The class laughed at me when I told them about some of the porteño (Buenos Aires) slang I had picked up on – Che Boludo! Como andas? (This means buddy – jerk, how is it going?). They also died of laughter when I said yo tambien with my Buenos Aires accent. The y and double L have distinct sounds in Buenos Aires. I guess its always-interesting when you hear a double accent. I always find it entertaining when someone whose second language is English has a British accent. Anyway, Celine and I just answered their questions about America and tried to practice a little bit of English with them. They really struggled over questions like what is your name? where are you from? 

We told the students we were heading to Tilcara and this girl from there offered to take us around. She was super sweet and a wonderful tour guide. We explored some ruins of an old indigenous population. 

The next day Celine and I went to Purmamarca. This was definitely my favorite part of the trip. Purmamarca has the seven-colored mountain, which is absolutely gorgeous. We did some hiking because the city had seven different viewpoints. We met this great couple from Tandil. It was interesting because originally they told me they were from Buenos Aires. Afterward I found out they meant a providence of Buenos Aires: Tandil. I guess technically Tandil is a providence… but it is five hours away. Since I have been there I can honestly say it is completely different from Buenos Aires. I just found it interesting because that would be similar to me claiming I was from New York City. It’s pretty much the same distance.

We ended up exploring the Salt flats with them. The salt flats were beautiful but you really only need an hour there to take creative pictures. 

The next day was Celine’s 21^st Birthday and we celebrated with a picnic at the top of the mountain. We explored the mountains and ended up a bit off the trail. This was fine until we had to go down the hill. It was too steep to walk so we ended up sliding on our butts to get down. But it was completely worth the view.

The last day we headed back to Salta and I went bungee jumping. It was definitely the most exhilarating thing I have ever done. There is this moment after you jump and before the cord catches you when your mind is thinking WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST DO? 

We headed back to Buenos Aires for one final weekend in the city.

Madres de Plaza de Mayo

I am on my last week in Buenos Aires. There are still so many things I want to do in the city. I definitely feel like I am at a weird point in the trip. The past couple of weeks I have such a whirl of emotions. Some days I can't wait to get back to the United States where there's no dog poop on the street, customer service, or just plain efficiency. But at the same time, I know once I get back I will miss the city...especially the night life. Bars close at 2am in the states - that seems so lame in comparison! We go out at 2am!

It also doesn't help my weird mood that I sprained my ankle...again. (Yes the same one as last time). This time I was running. I was just furious because I was on my block! I literally was about to finish my run when I crossed my street and stepped on the curb the wrong way.

It took about 5 seconds to swell to that size.

I am just trying to stay positive because I am going to Salta for a week after the program. I figure I will have plenty of time to let it heal this summer in Maryland and Ann Arbor.

Last Thursday I finally went to the Plaza de Mayo for the Mothers protest. Every Thursday mothers of the desaparecidos (disappeared) march in front of the President's house. These women have been protesting every week since the 1970s. It is truly amazing the devotion they have to their children. 

The last picture is from a different organization separate from the mothers. They are also trying to find out answers about their lost children during the 1970s.

On Friday, my history class took a field trip to ESMA (the military school). This is where they took the disappeared people. They would torture them there and then push the majority of them out of airplanes above the ocean. Dead bodies started showing up on the coast of Uruguay and Argentina. The military even took pregnant women and gave their newborns to new families for adoption. My host mom told me her boyfriend was taken for 40 days, but was fortunate enough to return. The majority of people who disappeared did not come back.

ESMA

It is hard to truly wrap my head around what happened in Argentina during this time period. 

On a lighter note, I went to my first rugby game. I literally had no idea what was going on. They would randomly punt the ball or lift one guy up in the air. I'm still pretty confused about the rules. One nice thing about the sport is the men are gorgeous.

Tomorrow I am going to barrio Chino with my intercambio friend (We speak half the time in English and half the time in Spanish). Barrio Chino is their equivalent of Chinatown. 

With that I leave you with a picture of Avenida 9 de Julio. This is one of the longest streets in the world. It literally has 4 stop lights and it normally takes me at least two stoplights to pass through the whole thing. This is a view from my school.