LAUREN'S SOUTH AMERICAN ADVENTURES

My last post....

2009-05-22T12:07:00.000-03:00

Tomorrow night I hop on a flight back to America. I'll land in Houston at 6am on Sunday and get to give my Dad a GIANT hug for the first time since January! (which means he can stop freaking out because I will be back in his side of the hemispheres).

I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to come back home and spoil myself with everything American. The first three things I'm going to do are:

1. Take a scalding, lava temperature shower and then blow dry my hair.
2. Wash and DRY all my clothes, which have stretched out an absurd amount due to hang drying for 4 months.
3. Eat some Molina's salsa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I can't wait to see my family and all my friends that I've missed talking to SO MUCH!!! I can't wait to sleep in my bed, play with Max, drive my car, and hang out on my couch watching all the pirated movies I bought in Peru. But I would be crazy to think coming back to the US is going to be an easy adjustment. This entire experience has altered my perspective on my own life an indescribable amount. I can only hope that the appreciation I've gained for the life I lead doesn't fade after several months back in the US.

South America is a magnificent continent. The countries I've visited are so full of life and have so many things to offer. The way of life, the people, the food, the culture, the language, and the nature are breathtaking and addictive! I'm coming back here as soon as I can, and I hope that everyone I know has a chance to visit it at least once!! I am head over heals, madly in love with this continent!!!!!

Besides missing the excitement of my journey, I cannot even express how much I'm going to miss the 14 people I've shared it with. When I first got to Argentina I wasn't sure I was going to hang out with the group of students a lot, and I wasn't even sure I was going to have close friends when I returned to the US. Now, the 15 of us are like one giant family. It's actually unbelievable that all 15 of us get along so well. I've never met a more interesting and fun group of people that are all interested in traveling and experiencing new things. I'm so sad to say bye to them, but now I have family in more than 15 states that I can visit!!!!

Thanks to everyone for reading my blog (I hope it was interesting...). I can't wait to see and talk to all of you next week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Besos a todos!!!!!

THE AMAZON!!

2009-05-19T15:53:00.008-03:00

OK I know I haven't kept up with my blog during the last couple of weeks, but I have great excuses. Not only did I take two trips to the Amazon, but Evan came to Peru for a week!!! Now, I have only 5 days left of this life-changing journey and I'm both excited and sad to be returning to the US. Because I'm so short on time I'm going to keep this post short, but enjoy the photos!!

My first Amazon trip was with my entire group to Iquitos, a city in northern Peru that's on the Amazon River. Here are some of my life goals that I accomplished there:
1. Going skinny-dipping with 14 of my favorite people in the Amazon River!!!
2. Staying in a jungle hut without electricity and having to use kerosene lamps to wander around at night.
3. Learning how to shoot a blowgun with local tribe people.
4. Getting repeatedly yelled at by our stiff and angry guide (literally 5 times a day for 3 days) for doing things such as asking a friend how to say something in Spanish and playing with little Peruvian kids instead of listening to his boring speeches.
5. Watching our guide get attacked by a fer de lance snake, but having him kill it with a machete before it got his leg. (Fer de lance bite = 3 hours to live if you can't reach a doctor)
6. Fishing for piranhas in the Amazon river.
7. Talking to little girls that live in an jungle village about their school and letting them take photos of each other with my camera.
8. Being 1 foot away from an Anaconda.
9. Lazily spending the afternoons in hammocks by the river.
10. Climbing wooden rafters in an attempt to act like monkeys, and then falling off of them very awkwardly.

My second Amazon trip was with my other half!!! Evan and I went to the south of Peru near the Bolivian border to a town called Puerto Maldonado. From there, we headed to the Tambopata Reserve to a lodge called Explorer's Inn in the middle of the jungle. Despite lots of rain and it actually being freezing, we had so much fun! We did tons of hiking, which involved heavy duty boots and us wading through deep puddles of mud for about 7 hours. We saw red howler monkeys, caimins, and macaws and we got to eat Brazil nuts and anisthetic leaves (which left our tongues numb for about 30 minutes) right off the rainforest trees! I don't think I've ever been that dirty for a 3 day period in my entire life. Yay for twin bonding!!!!

More photos of Lima...

2009-04-29T01:56:00.010-03:00

Photo guide:
1. Old beetle on the Lima coast near Barranco.
2. Liz and Me in Barranco
3. Sunset view from Lima
4. Organic market in Miraflores
5. Lima coastline (so much smog!)
6. Me with pretty flowers in Miraflores
7. Me looking out at the ocean in Barranco
8. Me in front of my green house!
9. Birds on the Lima beaches
10. Splenda has come to Lima! but someone has lost her dignity...
11. Drying my clothes on the roof :)
12. Pretty dessert at the organic market :)

Ica, Paracas, y Nasca

2009-04-23T16:13:00.007-03:00

Last weekend my group took a trip down the Pan-American Highway to the cities of Ica, Paracas and Nasca.

Our first stop was Ica, a city situated in the desert coast of Peru, that suffered from a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in August 2007. While the town was still working on repairs, the area surrounding the Huacachina Oasis was definitely prepped for tourists. The natural oasis and giant sand dunes are pretty much the only tourist attractions in the area, but definitely a must hit spot for adventurers.

I had no idea how expansive the desert was until 8 of us climbed into a massive dune buggie driven by a large man named Carlos and let him drive us out into the middle of it. Oh, did I say drive? I meant, floor it up the sand mountains, spin us around the edges, and then plunge down the 100-200 foot straight drops (yes, the dunes get that high) - all ending with sand in uncomfortable places, a very raspy voice, and praising the man who invented the seatbelt harness contraption in the buggie seats. We watched the sunset from the middle of the desert and then Carlos handed us sandboards (way harder than it looks). Five days later, I was still finding sand in my ears and nose.

In Paracas we headed to Isla Ballestas - a set of 300 million-year-old islands famous for its abundant wildlife and only able to be viewed by boat. There are said to be over 200 types of marine species living on the island, including sea lions and Humboldt penguins. The sea lions were adorable (especially the baby ones! see the photo)! Hundreds of them covered the beaches, making tons of noise and running around in a way that reminded me of humans on the beach. It sort of made me wonder what we would look like to animals if they could take touristy boat rides around the outskirts of our beach destinations. There were also tons of birds, hence why my friend and I have our life jackets over our heads for protection...

Our last stop on this trip was Nasca (or Nazca). Famous for the Nazca lines - a set of geoglyphs thought to have been created by natives between 200 BC and 700 AD. There are hundreds of symbols - some as intricate as monkeys, whales, spiders, fish, llamas, and lizards - while others are just lines. Some believe that these figures are directly related to astrological observations, and some believe that aliens created them. Honestly, (and I know this may come off unappreciative) I didn't think they were that impressive. It looked like a little kid drew up designs and then all the grown ups went outside and drew them in the dirt. We took a tiny 6 person plane over the lines, where the pilot circled the plane around the drawings until everyone was nauseous and praying for the ride to be over. Ugh, just thinking about that now makes me dizzy.

Enjoy the photos!!

Lima, Peru

2009-04-21T21:28:00.012-03:00

I've been traveling so often since I've come to Peru that I haven't had time to write about the city that's my home for the second part of this trip. Lima is a sprawling, chaotic city on the Pacific coast that has taken some time to grow on me. It's certainly not the European city that Buenos Aires is - instead, it provides a more authentic South American feel. Lima has all the things that BsAs has: nightlife, museums, great restaurants and movie theaters, you just have to work a little harder to find them.

Lima is divided into many barrios. San Isidro and Miraflores are considered the nice residential areas, Barranco is a bohemian neighborhood where you can go surfing and hang out on the beach, and el Centro is the colonial center of the city and has beautiful architecture but is unsafe to walk around at night. The outskirts of the city are plagued by shanty towns and poverty that is heartbreaking to see.

I live in a small two story house in San Isidro that's a part of a collection of adjoining houses that were built by the government in the 1950s. The house is painted dark green and has tons of plants in the front, but there's no yard. My room is on the first floor and I have my own bathroom. There's a living room and a small kitchen that everyone shares, and the rest of the family lives on the second floor. San Isidro is a very residential neighborhood, there are tons of parks and trees that line the streets, and there's a Vivanda grocery store 2 blocks away. I'm currently taking Art of Peru, International Trade and Negotiation, and Advanced Spanish Conversation at the Universidad del Pacifico, which is about a 10 minute walk from the house.

My homestay family...

Prior to my arrival, I was handed a sheet of paper with a description of my family. Before I could absorb any important information, my eyes fixated on the section labels "PETS." It read: "Dogs: 3, Other:4." Three dogs was a bit much for my taste, but I thought "Hey, I can handle that." Then I saw the second part. Other:4. The first thought that popped into my head was "You've got to freakin' kidding me." If you're going to list a total of 7 animals that occupy the house that I'm going to live in for 2 months, why the heck would you classify them into dogs and others? For 3 weeks I hyperventilated about what "other" meant. Snakes? Rodents? Spiders? And does this family really need 4 of them? When I arrived at the house I only saw 2 dogs, a cocker spaniel named Ichi and a schnauzer named Chiara (her mom, the 3rd dog, passed away a year ago). I didn't find the "others" until I'd spent 4 excruciating days imagining that things were crawling up my legs. On day 5 I found Matilda the turtle and 2 birds hanging out in cages on the roof of the house. I'm not really sure I translated this correctly from my housemom, but I'm pretty sure one of the dogs recently ate a turtle, knocking the "others" down to a mere 3.

Vicky, my housemom, is about 60 years old, a school teacher, and never been married or had kids. Now for those of you who have seen Billy Madison, do you remember the part where the gardener reads a paragraph in Spanish really fast, Adam Sandler tells him to slow down, and then he reads it at the same incomprehensible speed again? Well, welcome to my life. Seriously, I've stopped asking her to repeat because my brain just hurts afterward. Since Vicky is a verbal speed-demon I usually have to guess at about half of the things she tells me. For that reason, I'm not exactly sure if the missing turtle was eaten by one of the dogs or it ran away, but Chiara barks at me all day so I just picked what seemed like the most logical answer.

Vicky also thinks I am obsessed with bananas. My first week here she bought 4 bananas and 3 strange orange fruits filled with slimy seeds that you are supposed to eat. Obviously, I ate all 4 bananas before I even touched the slimy seed fruit. The next time Vicky went to the store she bought 15 bananas. I'm pretty sure the expression on my face when I saw her with that many bananas was something along the lines of "I am not a monkey!" At least I'll be getting lots of potassium!

Patricia, Vicky's younger sister, and Renzo, Patricia's 28 year old son, live in the house with us. Renzo works from the house as a graphic designer and is quite hysterical. I am frequently awoken to him singing American hiphop songs, Celine Dion, and Britney Spears from the kitchen. He calls me "zanahorita" which means "little carrot" because he thinks all I eat is salad because I don't eat red meat.

Some lovely characteristics of the city...

Playa, playa, playa!!!! The beaches of Lima may not be the beaches of Cancun, but there's ocean and sand and incredible sunsets almost every night! The most famous mall in South America - Larcomar - is actually built into the seaside cliffs in Miraflores.

Pisco sours!!! Peru's national alcoholic beverage. Pisco is a liquor made from grapes. It's usually consumed in a cocktail called pisco sour which is made from lemon or lime juice, pisco, sugar, and an egg white foam topping. They are delicious, but REALLY strong. (Sort of like a Carmentini, when Carmen's making them after she's already had 3).

Some not so lovely characteristics of the city...

The transportation is a dangerous madness of unauthorized taxis and buses breaking every possible traffic regulation (if they even exist in Lima) as they rush around the city trying to find passengers. The taxis - old, poorly maintained cars that sometimes don't even say Taxi - are usually driven by people who have lost their jobs and are trying to make a living. It seems like every other car is a "taxi" which makes it very intimidating and unsafe to take one alone. There are no meters inside the cars so you have to negotiate a price before you get into the cab. Also, the drivers honk at every single person walking on the sidewalks to ask if you need a ride, which just adds to the unpleasantness of the entire taxi experience. The buses (actually just old vans) are just as bad as the taxis. They are all privately owned, which means there is no official bus system or route. The bus-vans cram as many people as they can inside them, and often change their routes so you have to ask where they are going before you get on. It's stressful, and probably my one complaint about Lima, which is unfortunate because a poor transportation system affects almost every other aspect of your life in a city.

This weekend will be my first spent in Lima since I've been in Peru so hopefully I'll have the chance to explore a little more without being overwhelmed by all the crazy drivers!

Cartagena, Colombia

2009-04-16T15:30:00.008-03:00

Last week I got to escape the craziness of Lima and go to Colombia for 5 days!!! I met up with Jim in Cartagena de Indias, a city situated on the northern Caribbean coast that was founded by the Spanish in 1533. It's best known for its well-preserved, colonial-walled neighborhood - which honestly made me feel like I was on the set of Pirates of the Caribbean.

Back in the day, the city served as the Spaniards' main port and temporary storage location for all the valuable goods taken from the Indians until they could be shipped back to Spain. In other words, pirates didn't need to go hunting for treasure - it was all in Cartagena.

Hmmmm...this may seem like a no-brainer, but apparently the Spanish didn't think ahead....Lots of treasure = lots of pirate attacks. Cartagena suffered many sieges by pirates including one led by Sir Francis Drake in 1586. After the siege, Drake agreed to spare the town on the condition that he receive a ransom of 10 million pesos. Afterward, the Spaniards built the giant colonial wall and several forts around the town, many of which are still standing today.

You would think that Jim and I would have visited at least one museum. Nope. We hung out on the beach and ate the entire trip. Well at least I ate. Seriously, I think I out-ate Jim almost every meal (which NEVER happens). One night I ate my entire meal and about 3/4 of his. I couldn't help it. The food was SO good. Fresh seafood and shellfish at every meal (usually cooked in coconut milk). Fried plantains, which are a Colombian specialty. And at every street corner there was a vendor selling sliced mangoes (with lime and salt) and watermelon.

Cartagena is definitely set up for those who want to eat, drink and relax. There are tons of open plazas that are filled with outdoor restaurants and bars. The two coolest bars we went to were set up on the colonial wall so that you have a view of the historic city on one side and of the ocean on the other. It was amazing because you could order drinks, watch the sunset over the water, and listen to local music all at once!

We also went out to the Islas del Rosario, an archipelago of 27 islands where we hung out on the beach (you're probably noticing a trend...) drinking coconuts and Aguila (Colombia's national beer). Then, we were told we could go on a boat ride to see sharks and dolphins - so, of course, we went. No where in this conversation did they ever explain that we would be going to a cheesy aquarium with a bunch of sweaty little kids running around and pushing us over to get better views of the caged animals that clearly were not going anywhere. After a 12 year old girl almost pushed me into the dolphin tank we vacated that plan, played with some birds until our boat came to retreive us, and headed back to our beach, accepting the fact that our attempt to do something productive was a failure and we should just continue sitting on the beach for the rest of the weekend :).

For more photos click here!!

Some thoughts...

2009-04-07T16:35:00.005-03:00

So far, this entire experience has been very grounding and eye-opening for me. I have had this incredible opportunity to see so many countries, meet people, and learn about all of their cultures. Yet, even though I am physically seeing and experiencing everything, I still find it very surreal.

I think that before I came on this trip I had a sense of how lucky I was to have such an opportunity, but I think months of being exposed to new things has increased that feeling exponentially.

Even in comparison to the 14 other Americans in my group I consider myself very fortunate. Many of them would not be able to be in this exchange program if it weren't for scholarships. I know how fortunate I am that my family can afford to let me have this experience.

On a much larger scale - I cannot count the number of people I've met who have never traveled outside of their country , or even within their own country. My 28 year old housebrother in Lima has never even seen Machu Picchu. In 28 years he's never been able to go. I got to go my first week in Peru. That's definitely a contrast that makes me reflect on my life. This isn't to say that my homestay family is poor. They're actually fairly well off - they live in one of the nicest neighborhoods in Lima, have cell phones, TV, a computer, electricity, and hot water. Now, imagine the lives of some of the poorest people in Peru. It's a very hard thing to do because I and everyone reading this blog have never had to live like that.

This past week, while traveling through the Sacred Valley, I was confronted by some very serious poverty. We passed many shanty towns and homes made from materials that wouldn't withstand an intense thunderstorm or a tiny earthquake. In Pisaq, we met a group of children who were dirty from playing outside. The had huge smiles on their faces and they were fascinated by one of my friend's digital cameras. Fascinated - because most of them will never get to have one.

I was shopping around the market and started talking to a little girl (maybe 3 years old) while her mother talked to another American tourist about the alpaca blankets she sold. The tourist was a woman in her late 50s. The little girl's mother gave the tourist a reasonable price for a blanket - 60 soles (which is less than US$20). I watched as this tourist gasped at the price and claimed that she would only pay 30 soles (less than US$10). The mother came back with an offer of 50 soles and the tourist said 30 soles again. This continued until the mother had only 2 options - let the woman walk away and buy a blanket from one of the other vendors or sell it for 30 soles and have money to feed her daughter. She chose the latter. The tourist got her handwoven alpaca blanket for less than US$10 instead of US$20 and walked away with a clearly expressed satisfaction. She saved US$10. The mother lost 30 soles - an amount which easily could have fed her daughter for 2 weeks.

My friend Jessi and I talked about this on the bus and she started to cry. Later, I was looking out the window at those children, listening to my IPOD, and I remembered a comment I had made earlier in the week. All the students in the program were talking about their new homestays and I had told them that my bed was hard and uncomfortable. The guilt that I felt when I remembered that, and looked out at these kids who might only have a dirt floor to sleep on, was immense. Tears started streaming down my cheeks as a I realized I was no better than the bargaining tourist from the market.

It's so easy to take the good things in our life for granted. I'm learning more about that every day I spend here. I hope I've gained a mindset of appreciation that will stay with me even after I return to the United States. I am so grateful for the life I have - thank you to everyone who's a part of it and made it what it is.

More photos...

2009-04-06T21:21:00.002-03:00

Click here for more photos of Machu Picchu!!

Click here for more photos of Cusco!

Click here for more photos of Ollantaytambo, Pisaq, and the Sacred Valley!

In my second life, can I please come back as an Inca princess??

2009-04-05T15:24:00.000-03:00

Machu Picchu is the most recognizable site in South America, one of the Wonder's of the World, and one of the most amazing things I've experienced on this trip. It's incredible. Not just the ruins themselves, but the entire mountain range that surrounds it. None of the pictures even capture the essence of the overlapping, green mountains that seem to extend to the heavens in every direction from the site. My first thought was "Man, the Incas knew what was up."

Here's a little background info for you...Machu Picchu means "Old Peak" in Quechua (native Peruvian language). The large mountain you see in all the pictures of the site is not Machu Picchu, it's Huayna Picchu ("Young Peak"). Machu Picchu is what the site is built on, and it stands very high behind the site, which is about 8,000 feet above sea level in the Urubamba Valley of Peru. Part of what makes the site seem so majestic is the direct astronomical ties everything seems to have. For example, using the stone compasses left by the Incas (which are completely accurate), Machu Picchu appears to be situated due South and Huayna Picchu directly North. The positions of the mountains are tied to key astronomical events that the Incas celebrated. The site seems to hold a perfect center of gravity in the valley, and standing there, you can certainly understand why so many people claim that the Incas possessed a certain power that we will never comprehend.

The Incas started building it around 1460 AD and it was abandoned about 100 years later when the Spanish conquered the Inca Empire. The Spanish never discovered it, and consequently the site was not plundered or destroyed by them. Hiram Bingham discovered the site in 1911 and brought it to worldwide attention. There is some evidence that others had stumbled across it in the 1800s, but that is still debatable. However, Bingham did find farmers living on the site in 1911. However, they were living there in secrecy, and had no intention of telling anyone about this lost Inca city. There are no written records to determine the actual name or purpose of the site. Some hypotheses are that the site was a religious meca, a fortress, a prison, or simply just a place for the Incas to party! Much of the information we do know was determined from the artifacts and mummies left behind.

The ruins consist of typical Inca construction - ashlar - in which stones are cut to fit together tightly WITHOUT mortar. Keep in mind, Peru is on a huge fault line and earthquake activity is frequent, so they fact that many of these buildings have remained intact for over 500 years is incredible! The Incas also constructed buildings and door frames in trapezoidal shapes to overcome the seismic activity. They also NEVER used the wheel, and some of the stones weigh more than 10 cars, so clearly they were much more advanced than we could ever imagine.

My friends and I spent the entire day at the site (it's much larger than it seems, and there are a TON of stairs to climb). We walked around and saw all the important buildings - the Intihuatana (the astronomical clock of the Incas), the Temple of the Sun, and the Room of the Three Windows. Then we decided to do the 2 hour hike to El Puerto del Sol (The Gateway of the Sun) which is
almost 10,000 feet above sea level!! Once we got to the top, we just sat at the edge and looked down at Machu Picchu (which looked really really tiny) and the rest of the valley. I had chills going up my spine as I looked out into the deep valley, but it was one of the most relaxing experiences of my life.

Ollantaytambo, Pisaq and the Sacred Valley

2009-04-05T14:42:00.010-03:00

I got to spend a whole week with my program wandering around the Sacred Valley of Peru. Our guide was a man named Eddie, who lives in Urubamba, and works for ISA now. He speaks 6 languages, has done the Inca Trail over 230 times, and spent 10 years excavating mummies from the Inca ruins. To say the least, we were in good hands. He took us to visit some small towns outside of Cusco and near Machu Picchu.

The first town was Pisaq. Here we visited some more Inca ruins. It was so much fun wandering around these cliffs and caves that the Incas walked on hundreds of years ago. Unfortunately, my excitement resulted in a twisted ankle. But don't worry, that didn't prevent me from going shopping at Pisaq's famous market of woven alpaca blankets, ponchos, and bags. I bought everyone amazing gifts! Be excited!! (And I ignored the pain in my foot because I love you all THAT MUCH!) I also got to try choclo! Choclo is GIANT corn on the cob that they sell on the street with a chunk of cheese and chili sauce. Tourists really aren't supposed to eat it because our stomach's can't handle the tap water and many of the local foods in Peru, but I took the risk anway, and I'm so glad I did! Choclo is delicious!

Eddie took us to his ranch in Urubamba for an authentic Peruvian lunch. We had fresh trout, corn soup, quinoa soup, green lima beans, fried pumpkin, and a potato stew. It was an amazing cultural experience to see how they live and eat in the countryside.

The next town we went to was Ollantaytambo. Here my friend Melissa and I found a woman selling an interesting drink from a cart in the main plaza. It was a sort of tea mixed with aloe and 5 other flavorings. Apparently, the drink (expecially the aloe, which gives it a jelly consistancy) helps speed up your digestive system which slows at high altitudes. It was really yummy!

In this same plaza we happened to stumble across one of the most unusual things I've ever seen in my life. A dog with a baby monkey on its back!!!!! Yep. A baby monkey! It didn't seem like a person had set it up, and we concluded that the baby monkey wanted to be there or else it would have jumped off. I seriously may send the photo to Disney, and ask for a 10% cut from their next animated film.

From Ollantaytambo we took a train ride through the Sacred Valley to Aguas Calientes (a town created purely for the purpose of sustaining tourists visiting Machu Picchu). The train ride was amazing because it allowed us to see all the little towns that are established in the valley.

Cusco, Peru

2009-04-05T13:53:00.005-03:00

Cusco is this historic capital of the Inca Empire in Peru, near the Sacred Valley (Andes mountain range) and situated at 10,800 feet above sea level. Due to its high altitude, many travelers experience altitude sickness (called Soroche), so what did we do as soon as we landed there?? Drink mate de coca! Yes, coca, as in the leaves they make cocaine from. It's legal in Peru and Bolivia, and pretty much no where else. You put the leaves in hot water and drink it like tea, or you can just chew on the leaves like tobacco. It's not cocaine, and it doesn't have the same affects as cocaine, but it certainly makes you feel great!! It's like drinking a very very strong energizer drink and it alleviates any nausea or dizziness while your body is adjusting to the altitude. It's illegal to bring the leaves back to the US because Customs considers it the "starting point" for cocaine production, however, I bought some leaves that are covered with chocolate. Maybe the dogs won't smell it through the chocolate and my sturdy suitcase? We'll see how that goes... For all of my experienced drug laundering friends, please send me some clever ideas! If not, my welcome home party may be happening in the Newark airport detention facility...

Anyway, at one point during my trip, I was walking around this store looking at clothes, and this man stormed in chanting very loudly in a language I did not understand. He was screaming, running around the store (which had two floors), carrying a pot of smoking ashes, and literally throwing the smoke around the room. There was so much smoke I started coughing violently, and then my cough turned into a nervous laugh as I started to back into a corner because I had no idea what was going on. While I'm staring at the man with the most confused look ever, the woman who owned the store is looking at me like I am the crazy one for being confused. (I am sorry, but someone running into a store and blowing the equivalent of 50 cigarette puffs of flowery-smelling smoke at my face while I'm shopping for clothes is not a normality in my life.) I waited for the smoke to clear and the man to go upstairs and then I inched my way over to the owner. I asked her who he was and she said "un Shaman!" and then explained that he was cleaning the store of bad spirits (which he apparently thought were surrounding me, due to the heavy amounts of smoke he flailed my directions). I waited for him to finish his ritual, and then I bought some beads from him. I figure if I wear those, I might be able to prevent another smoke attack, but I might just revert to attaching a smoke detector to my body so that next time I will at least have time to cover my face.

The churches in the Plaza de Armas of Cusco are beautiful! One is famous for a painting of the Last Supper by Marcos Zapata in which they are eating cuy and drinking chincha morena. Cuy is roasted guinea pig, which is a delicacy in Peru, and chincha morena is a purple corn drink that tastes like bubble gum.

Leaving Buenos Aires

2009-03-28T01:06:00.005-03:00

I leave for the airport in 4 hours to catch my flight to Lima, Peru. I'm so upset to be leaving this incredible city, but I'm both excited and anxious to move to Peru. I'll get to experience a completely distinct culture and live with a new family, which I'm hoping is going to be amazing! Before I move on up the continent here are some random things I've experienced in BsAs...

Futbol!!!!!! Yep. Argentines are insane soccer fanatics (and I do not use insane lightly). The two most important BsAs teams are Boca and River. They are rivals and their fans hate each other. The Boca vs. River game has actually been called one of the top sporting events to attend in the world. I went to a Boca game last week (not against River, thank god). It was calmer than I expected, mainly because there are 2 sections of fans: crazy and absolutely freaking out-of-their-minds insane. We were in the crazy section. Lets just say I learned a lot of new curse words. Boca won! Our public bus back to our neighborhood was full of fans jumping, chanting, and banging on the windows and the ceiling as the poor driver tried to navigate the busy BsAs streets. (Oh, almost forgot, a fight between the two teams fans resulted in 2 innocent bystanders being shot...)

Argentines will celebrate anything. No joke, they have parties for Teacher's Day. So, as you can imagine, St. Patty's brought a little bit of excitement to town. Thousands of people drinking along one giant pedestrian street for 24 hours straight. We waited in line for 3 hours to get into the best Irish pub in town, during which we witnessed people dance on light poles that were about to wobble out of the cement sidewalk, a fight in which a guy started pushing dumpsters at his sloppy opponent, and a whole lot of broken bottles. It was a very classy night for the porteno crowd. Vicky G you would've been proud.

Many of you may be wondering if I actually took classes here. The answer to that question is yes. In February I took an Intensive Advanced Spanish Language class 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. It was actually very interesting, my teacher was really nice, and I got 6 credits for it! This month I took Argentine Culture and Art, and right now most of you are probably assuming "Hmm, that sounds like an interesting class." Wrong. It was 12 class meetings for 4 hours each over a 3 week span and it was absolute hell. The worst class I've ever taken in my entire life. For a total of 1 hour we summed up the tango, mate, urban tribes, the protests, and just ignored the entire military regime of the 70s. The other FORTY-SEVEN hours we discussed native tribes. We spent 4 of those watching Marcela (the worst teacher I've ever had)write illegible tribal names on the board and asking her to spell them out loud. For FORTY-SEVEN hours I sat in that class and picked at my hair while Marcela tried to convince us all that the white Argentines (Marcela's ancestors) had nothing to do with the fact that all the tribes people were mysteriously killed. Ugh. It was a painful 3 credits.

Argentina is a completely livable country. I felt safe and comfortable here. I've learned that you can easily live without air-conditioning, internet, cell phones, blow dryers/straighteners, dishwashers, and dryers - these are all things that I'm grateful to have access to in the US, but I've realized I don't need to depend on them. Here, I never leave a light on. Even if I'm just going to the bathroom I turn off the light in my room before turning on the bathroom light - there's never more than one room with a light on. I'm lucky that I have hot water, not everyone in my group does, but I only take a 5-10 minute shower each day. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for hot water in Peru!

Where I´ll Be Going in the Upcoming Weeks...

2009-03-24T23:22:00.001-03:00

Where I´ve Been So Far....

2009-03-24T23:10:00.001-03:00

Iguazu Falls...way better than a milkshake.

2009-03-24T19:23:00.003-03:00

Iguazu Falls! One of the new 7 wonders of the world. Consists of 275 waterfalls, the largest being La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil's Throat) which is 82 meters high, 150 meters wide, and 700 meters long, and marks the border between Argentina and Brazil. For those of you wondering why this looks familiar...Planet Earth.

One of the things they offer at Iguazu park is a motor boat ride underneath the falls. Yes. Underneath the falls. They pile you into a motor boat, give you a lifevest, a waterproof bag for your camera, motor out to the falls (which by the way have rock walls behind them), and then on the count of 3 they charge at them at a seemingly high speed until you are actually underneath the waterfall, soaking wet, and blind because your contacts fell out, and then they back up and do it again! It was awesome! I guess that's just one of the perks of being in South America, where impending lawsuits aren't sucking the fun out of experiences like this ;).

The first photo is of me standing in front of the falls, soaking wet. The second is on our motor boat as our driver decided which fall he wanted to propel us underneath. The third is me standing in at the top of La Garganta del Diablo. Click here for more photos! (Create a Snapfish account. Dont be lazy. It takes 2.5 seconds and it's worth it. I will know if you don't... :).

Oh, and if you're wondering about the milkshake reference, ask Liz.

My favorite part of Buenos Aires...

2009-03-17T20:56:00.002-03:00

is without a doubt my housemom, Ivonne! I have a week and a half left in Buenos Aires before I move to Peru, and I´m really sad to be leaving her. She has taught me so much about the culture, the language, art, life, and I am so incredibly grateful that I ended up with her as my housemom!
She sits down with me for breakfast and dinner EVERY DAY. This is where I practice the majority of my Spanish. Her food is incredible. She´s always incorporating her artistic visions into her meals. for instance last night we had spicy fish, curry rice, a salad with oranges and sunflower seeds, and for dessert a pear baked in Malbec wine. She also invites her friends and family members over for dinner so that I can meet them and practice speaking Spanish. She´s always inviting me to art shows and concerts, and I go whenever I can. I feel so lucky to have met her and to know her, and I´m actually tearing up as I write this because I don´t want to leave.

Gotta love moms!!!

2009-03-14T02:01:00.002-02:00

Mom was here last week!!!! She spent 6 days in BsAs with me, and then we went to Punta del Este, Uruguay for 2 days.
I think one conversation sums up her trip quite nicely...
When we arrived in Punta del Este the hotel gave us glasses of champagne. I only had a couple of sips of mine because it was 10 am. The next morning I glanced over at my glass and it was empty...me: "Mom, does alcohol evaporate overnight if you leave it out?"...Mom, from the other side of the room without even looking up to see what I was talking about, "I drank it!"
Honestly, I couldn´t leave her alone for a second. (Sorry Mom, but it´s true.) She didn´t know a word of Spanish. At one point we were in a bar with my friends and she tried to order a Grey Goose and OJ, and the bartender freaked out because he thought she wanted a whole bottle of vodka. I dont know how this happened, but my friend Melissa had to step in and fix the situation because I wasn´t paying attention. Another time, I went to the bathroom and she decided to order coffee. They brought her a giant hot chocolate. It took me 20 minutes to figure out that she had ordered a latte (which does not exist in South America) and the woman thought she had said "chocolate." After that, there was a new rule in place: Mom you´re not allowed to speak. ;)
We had so much fun though! We stayed in a cute, boutique hotel in Palermo Soho (a barrio of BsAs full of cafes and shops). All we did was eat, hang out, and drink wine. It was fabulous.
We also had one of the best meals of our lives at La Cabrera, a steak house in BsAs. Mom ordered steak, I ordered veggie kabobs - our meals came with 20 sides. That´s not an exaggeration. Hummus, red peppers, caramalized onions, baked garlic, spicy sauces, olives, pumpkin pure, lentils, pine nuts, and the list goes on.....
Thanks for coming Mom!!!! Love you!

Patagonia and the End of the World!!!!

2009-03-10T08:52:00.007-02:00

To see photos of Patagonia and the glaciers click here! I know there are A LOT of photos, but trust me it is worth your time. I am not exaggerating, my group stood in front of this glacier for 20 minutes without ever saying a word. We were all speechless.

I´m going to write more about this later, but for now just enjoy the pics!

Valparaiso, Chile

2009-03-09T02:01:00.010-02:00

"Valpo" is my favorite place I have visited in South America. A relatively small town of steep hills, cobblestoned streets, colorful buildings with graffiti murals and a giant port. Perfection. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Site, famous for its ascensores (elevators) and the home of Pablo Neruda. The people were unbelievably friendly, and our two days there were very relaxing (despite the steep climbs everywhere).

For those of you who don't know Liz, she's one of the most easy going girls in the world, so what did we do while we were here?? Nothing. It was great. We walked, shopped, sat around in cafes, drank wine and listened to music. Oh, and Liz took lots of pictures of animals...

One of the most noticable things about Valparaiso is the amount of stray dogs and cats that roam the streets (this is true for most of Chile, Santiago too). According to one of the friends we made, the reason there are so many stray animals is because the pounds there do not put any animals to sleep, unlike the US. The strays are not sickly like the ones you see in the US or Mexico - they roam around the streets just like the humans do. The dogs in Valparaiso were so smart. At one point, 3 were accompanying us up a hill and they would surround and bark at every Valparaisano that walked by. The Valparaisano would yell at them and then they would stop barking and continue to follow us. I guess they were trying to get food? They did this about 5 times, but never to us. We must have been sending friendly vibes! (at least Liz was...)

One new fact I learned about Liz on this trip: She is OBSESSED with taking photos of animals. If she sees a gross pigeon on the sidewalk she will take 25 photos of it, even though she has plenty of pigeons in NYC to stare at everyday. She literally took hundreds of photos of dogs and cats. It got to the point where I would automatically stop when we passed an animal, point, and wait for her to whip out her camera, then I would laugh and make fun of her. I probably would have found this very annoying after the first 20 times, but since we had ZERO plans I just found it really amusing.

On Saturday afternoon, we made friends with a Mapuche woman named Marcela who owns an art store in town and she invited us to have tea with her. Hysterically, her two friends (who happen to be the creators of the annual Valpo cat calendar) showed up, and Liz got to show them all of her animal photos! I almost gagged when they asked her to be their business partner (they even exchanged contact info) - it was absurd! I'm still laughing about how ridiculous that situation was - but it was great Spanish practice!

We spent our time walking in shops and talking to tons of locals. We even joined the 60th birthday party of a man who's family was throwing him a party at the restaurant we ate dinner at. AND the food was incredible here! My 2 favorite meals since I've come to South America were consumed in Valpo! The first consisted of an amazing Chilean corn and bean soup that Liz and I ate at Color Cafe (This place was amazing, rivaled Fido in every way imaginable. I know, you're all questioning my sanity right now.) The second was breakfast at a bistro called el Desayunador (The breakfaster.) where Liz and I got incredible coffee; warm homemade wheat bread with freshly made peach preserves (we licked the bowl clean); sliced apples, bananas, and peaches; yogurt and freshly squeezed orange juice for US$3!!!!! It was out of this world.

Our trip was flawless! And on our flight home Liz and I turned to each other simultaneously and discussed this outloud. Ten minutes later our pilot announced that our flight would be diverted to Montevideo, Uruguay because of hail storms in BsAs. I got to my apartment at 4 am and headed back to the airport for my flight to Patagonia, Argentina at 8am. Thank you, higher power, for putting Liz and me in our place. ;)

For more photos of Valparaiso click here!

Santiago, Chile

2009-03-08T19:19:00.008-02:00

Liz and I went to Chile last weekend and it was amazing! The culture was so different and the people were really friendly - we had so much fun!

Our first stop was the capital, Santiago. We flew over part of the Andes on our way there, which was absolutely breathtaking. Santiago was a pleasant surprise because we had zero expectations. Our trip was so spontaneous that we didn't have time to research the cities we planned to visit, we didn't even choose our hostel until we got there. We also decided not to buy a guide book, but to make up our own stories about the city's history. So to all the santinguino historians out there, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure Liz's and my creative fabrications are more interesting than yours (Note: I have no idea if a Santiago resident is called a santinguino, but it seemed like a great guess.)

Anyway...if you know Liz and me, you know that if you point us in the direction of a cafe, we will find it, spend an entire day there doing absolutely nothing, and be perfectly content. We got to Santiago, found a hotel, walked around the main streets, and found our first cafe, where we insisted on receiving Spanish menus but annoyed the waiters with thousands of vocabulary questions. The Chileans were much friendlier than the Argentines. They let us annoy them for 15 minutes before they brought out a menu in English, and when we wanted to know what "arvejas" were this cute old man brought out a bowl of them to show us and we learned that they were green peas! After our delicious lunch we walked through this fairy-tale like park that took us to the top of a hill to get a better view of the city. Obviously, we came up with a very interesting story to explain the presence of this park in the middle of the city and for some reason it involved Rapunzel. The view of the city was really impressive, we could make out the outline of the Andes in the background, but the smog made it hard to see the actual mountains. Afterwards, we found a traditional, local fruit market and wandered around there for a while.

Then,we made a new discovery! Mote con huesillo. Chile's famous drink that we didn't know existed, but a woman on the street informed us that we had to try it. Here is wikipedia's description....

"It is made from husked wheat (mote), mixed with sun-dried peaches (huesillo) that have been rehydrated in water for hours. The water in which the peaches were rehypdrated is mixed with some sugar, and the wheat is mixed in a glass with the peaches and the peach-flavored sweetened water. The drink is usually sold on streets, from carts and stands, during the summertime. The industrial preparation of this drink has had only partial success in Chile."

If you're thinking "what???" that would be a pretty similar reaction to ours. We sat on the side of the street eating/drinking this strange concoction of chunky peach ice-tea with a bulgur wheat, corn-like substance sinking to the bottom feeling both intrigued and confused. We're still not sure if we enjoyed it, even though we finished the whole glass. We decided some nut-job accidentally poured rice into his ice-tea, called it mote and brainwashed his neighbors into thinking it was a delicious refreshment - that's the best we could come up with.

Our only night in Santiago began and ended with a vat, oh sorry I meant pitcher, of Sangria, and Liz and I giggling until an early 3 am. ;)

Click here for more photos!!!

Awkward/Hysterical Occurrences in BsAs

2009-02-26T21:20:00.003-02:00

1. Concept of Space.
Latinos in genral are known for having smaller spacial boundaries than Americans. However, besides the constant cheek kissing, I hadn´t really noticed this at all. Until I decided to go to the gym at 8:30 pm. I was sitting on a weight machine waiting to start my second set, and not one person, but 2 people, decided they would like to use the machine I was on. I´m not exaggerating - both of them also decided to wait within centimeters of me. Their sweat was dripping on me. Unfortunately, "Could you please back up, I´m already sweating enough because there´s no air conditioning in this gym, it´s 100 degress outside, and I have two more sets to go" is not something I can just spurt out in Spanish yet (but I´m going to learn, don´t you worry) - so I just got up and let them fight over who would get to sweat on who next.

2. Coin Shortage.
Yep. Argentina has a shortage of coins. The smallest bill is the $2 peso, and the buses only take coins (they will kick you off if you don´t have them). So, everyone tries to hoard their change so they can take the bus. About half of the time, when you buy something that´s $1.50 or $1.75 they will round up and keep the change just because they don´t want to give up their coins. Seriously? Why would you be short of coins? It´s the easiest solution ever - make more. I still don´t understand what the buses do with all their coins...

3. Fake bills.
Argentina also has a huge problem with counterfeit money. If a porteno gets a fake bill, his solution is to deceptively get someone else to take it off his hands. Even the banks are in on it. ATMS occasionally spit out fake bills too. The banks´response "We have no proof that you got those fake bills from our ATM." Oh, really? Then who put them in the machine? Maybe it was the same person who stole all of your country´s coins?!

4. Beautiful People in Dangerous Places.
A couple of days ago I was running on the treadmill at the gym, and there was a quite large woman (yes, they exist in Argentina, even though it´s the anorexic/plastic surgery capital of the world) running on the one next to me. There´s also a beautiful Argentine man that mans the gym floor every day, and every girl that walks in goes up and gives him a kiss on the cheek. So this woman is running next to me, and all of the sudden she trips and lands on the moving belt. The belt shoots her off the treadmill, and she smacks into the wall behind us. EVERYONE in the gym stopped what they were doing and stared, incluiding all the judgmental plastic women. The beautiful man ran over to help this woman up, and at that low point in my life, I actually glanced down at my treadmill´s belt and contemplated how badly it would hurt to "trip."

5. Bomb threats.
Hmmm...just saying bomb in an airport in the US would get you locked in a detention cell for a couple hours of obnoxious interrogation. Not in Argentina. Apparently, bomb threats are a frequent tactic that Argentine students use to get out of exams they aren´t ready for. Atleast, that was my teacher´s explanation when someone stormed into our classroom and told everyone to get out of the building. Her reaction was "Ugh, otra vez..." ("Not again..."). According to her, this happens atleast once a semester.
One of my friends´teachers was new and didn´t know that the threat was a fluke. A guy came in her classroom and spurted out something about bombs in really fast Spanish, but none of the students understood what he was saying. They got the hint when their teacher RAN out of the classroom without a word, leaving them all there to be blown up. After the entire class evacuated the building she tried assigning them homework before they went home - they just laughed at her and said there was no way they were getting homework after she left them to die.

6. Words on the street.
- An "emo" kid = a Flogger (because they have foto blogs of dramatic pictures of themselves)
- A gothic person = a Darkie
- A rock n´roll fanatic = a Rolinga (from Rolling Stones)
- Gangs = tribus urbanas (urban tribes)

Ivonne´s artwork!

2009-02-26T20:54:00.006-02:00

I promised I would post pictures of the piece Ivonne (my housemom in BsAs) was working on this past weekend. She had been working on it the entire month I´ve been here. It ia a part of an international project where 200 artists were invited to create a square piece. All 200 pieces will be connected together in a gallery in Belgrano. Here is Ivonne´s piece....She spent so much time on it, every piece was done by hand, the pictures really don´t do it justice.

Colonia, Uruguay

2009-02-22T22:35:00.003-02:00

It´s hard to believe I´ve only been in Buenos Aires for 3 weeks - it feels so much longer than that. Today I had my first "I don´t want to leave" feeling. My housemom Ivonne and I get along great. Our conversations have gotten so much more interesting now that my Spanish is improving. She was rushing to finish an art piece today so she was home all day, and since it´s a Sunday so was I!

My Spanish is now at the point where I can actually make and understand jokes (and humor is something that´s very hard to learn when speaking another language, at least I think so). So today, it was really rewarding when we started joking about things that were happening around the apartment or in our lives and we both actually laughed (instead of that fake nervous laugh that you do when you think you understand a joke in another language, but you´re not sure if you translated it correctly in your head, so you half laugh just in case you need to retract the laugh because it actually wasn´t a joke at all - obviously, this has happened a lot to me). Also, at dinner tonight, Ivonne told me it made her really sad that I was leaving in 4 weeks because she felt like we got along really well and we had a great connection. :)

Yesterday, I went on an excursion to Colonia, Uruguay with ISA! We took a 3 hour ferry there and back, and it was the coolest ferry I´ve ever seen in my life. My friend Correy and I walked on and actually debated whether it was the ferry or we had to find the entrance by walking through this mall-like structure. The ferry had tons of seating, 3 floors, clothing shops, cafes, an arcade, and an upper deck. On the way home there was a dance lesson in the lobby...I´m not kidding. A dance lesson. It was absurd.

Colonia is an adorable, "colonial," portugese town with winding cobblestone streets, beaches, cute outdoor cafes and art shops. It was picturesque to say the least, and so relaxing in comparison to Buenos Aires. We ate a long 3 hour lunch - the food was incredible, I had teriyaki chicken and vegetables! Then, my friend Melissa and I went on a jewelry hunt and I bought a really unique necklace and earrings (Liv, you are going to want to steal all the jewelry I´m buying...don´t worry I will bring you back some!)

As for my future travel plans.....South America is teaching me to be patient and spontaneous. This weekend Liz and I were planning to go to Rio de Janiero, but the visas are expensive, take 2 weeks to get, and the Brazilian embassy is only open 3 hours a day. Then, we planned to go to Iguazu, but Aerolineas Argentinas charges US citizens almost double the amount they charge Argentines for each flight. Our flight would have been $400, so we decided to wait for a longer weekend to suffer the 20 hour bus ride there and back. After 2 depressing hours of complaining about our failing travel plans, we came across $200 flights to Santiago, Chile!!!!! We glanced at each other, screamed, and pulled out our credit cards. Friday morning (5 days from now) we will be on a flight to Santiago. Saturday we´ll head to the beach town of Valparaiso, and then Sunday back to Santiago. Good things come to those who wait... ;)

Here are some photos from Colonia and other photos that I got from my friends´cameras.....click here.

Mendoza, Argentina

2009-02-16T18:27:00.012-02:00

This weekend 3 of my ISA friends and I took a weekend trip to Mendoza! We took an overnight bus on Friday (15 hours! Dramamine may be the best invention ever-I slept for 10 of them.) and arrived on Saturday morning.

First thing we did was sign up for a wine tour on bicycles! Despite the complications of wearing a dress while riding a bicycle and it being over 90 degrees outside, it was sooo much fun! The landscape was unbelievably picturesque. Tree canopy lined streets, flat miles of vineyards with purple and green grapes, and the Andes mountain range as the backdrop. We visited a chocolate and liquor factory first. It was actually just a cute little house with a shed, BUT everything was delicious! We tried 4 liquors (they had over 40 to choose from): chocolate and dulce de leche, chocolate and cafe, coconut and rum, and a spicy green liquor. They were so good! Along with those, we got to sample coconut, spicy, almond, and berry chocolates. Then we headed to two other wineries where we got tours of their vineyards and got to sample 3 or 4 of their wines. The wine was incredibly tasty and incredibly cheap! Even at restaurants you could order a moderate glass for about US$1.50.

After spending the entire day under the hot sun, pedaling and drinking, we were exhausted (but very content ;) ) so we went to Mendoza´s main plaza, Plaza Independencia. It was full of people and there were tons of vendors and musicians. We found a grassy spot in front of a big fountain and laid down for an hour. It was a great people watching experience, and I wish this tradition of spending Saturday afternoon in the plaza was something that happened in the United States. The leisurely attitude that most Argentines seem live by is definitely a stark contrast to the fast paced life I´m accustomed to. Also, I´ve heard so much about the Italian influence in Argentina, and I could really see it in Mendoza.

We headed to Avenida Colon to have dinner at around 1030 pm. We ate at a typical Argentine restaurant that was chicly decorated with rustic wood tables. The dinner was incredible and it was so fun to just sit there for 3 hours and talk to each other. Correy bought the 3 of us a bottle of wine for Valentine´s day, and we finished it before our food even came! The wine was out of this world in Mendoza! The street was lined with restaurants and bars, all with outdoor seating. When we left the restaurant (at around 2 am) it was completely full, every restaurant on the street was full, and some people were just being seated to have dinner! I seriously will never get used to this. I dont understand how the Argentines do it. At 2 am there were still parents with infants walking around in the plaza!!!! It´s craziness, but I love it!

On Sunday, we went venturing for some breakfast, and it took us 45 minutes to even find something that was open! It was an Italian cafe, packed with people, and obviously the only place open in this area on Sunday mornings. After some cafe con leche, medialunas, and fruit we headed to El Parque San Martin. This may have been the largest recreational park I´ve ever been to! It took us an hour just to get to the other side. We climbed to the top of a hill and got a panoramic view of the Andes mountain range. I was speechless. All I could do was snap tons of pictures with my jaw dropped. In Buenos Aires and even in Mendoza´s town I haven´t really felt like I am in South America, but some American or European city where they only speak Spanish. Thinking about my location on a globe, and how far it is from home, is just strange. Seeing the Andes really made me think "Wow. I´m in South America for the next 4 months. I can´t believe how lucky I am to be able see all of this."

Here are some more photos from the weekend...click here

Liz is here!!!!!

2009-02-11T18:11:00.004-02:00

For those of you who know Liz (used to go to Vanderbilt, now goes to NYU) she finally made it to Buenos Aires!!! She´s going to be studying with NYU here for the whole semester which means we get to spend the next 6 weeks together!!! Last night we met in Recolta and had a fantastic dinner and then went to Volta to get ice-cream. It was honestly the best ice-cream I´ve ever had (I´m pretty sure it was better than Spain´s, which is saying something!). If you didn´t know this already, Argentines LOVE dulce de leche. So of course, it´s incorporated into every flavor of ice cream available. I had capuccino dulce de leche flavored ice cream and Liz had coconut dulce de leche. It was INCREIBLE!

Now that I´ve been here for two weeks, I´m starting to plan trips to other cities in Argentina and nearby countries. Here´s my tentative schedule (click the cities to see photos!):

Feb 13-15 Mendoza, Argentina
This is wine-country, basically the Napa Valley of Argentina. I´m going with 3 people from my ISA group and we´re going on an all-day wine tour on bicycles! Im not really sure that drinking wine all day and trying to balance on something with two wheels is smart, but whatever!

Feb 26-Mar 1 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!!!!
I´m so excited to go here! Brazil has a bad safety reputation but we´re staying in Ipanema which is the safest part of town. It´s Carnival season so it should be an amazing experience! The beaches are beautiful here and so are the people. Also, they speak Portuguese, so hopefully I will learn some while I´m there.

Mar 2-Mar 6 Calafate and Perito Moreno, Argentina
This is southern Argentina (Patagonia) which is very close to Antarctica. Perito Moreno is a HUGE glacier (over 5 km wide and around 200 ft high above the water). This trip is organized by ISA and my whole group is going.

Partying like the Argentines do.

2009-02-07T19:30:00.009-02:00

Last night I had my first true experience with the Argentine nightlife. My friends and I went to Puerto Madero to have dinner. It´s the most modern part of Buenos Aires and has a bunch of restaurants along a river. We ate outside and a great restaurant and my friend Melissa and I drank a whole bottle of wine together. :) The food was amazing and it was probably 3x cheaper than it would have cost in the US. After dinner, at around 2 am we met up with some people from our group at a club called Asia de Cuba. It was an awesome club and was really crowded. We danced until 6:30 am, yes 6:30 am - and it was SO MUCH FUN!!! The portenos really know how to party. When we left there still a bunch of people in the club. I got home around 7 am, ate some breakfast, took a shower, and then crashed at 7:30 am and woke up at 2pm. Somewhere during the night I must have gotten a second wind because I wasn´t that tired when I got home. I really don´t understand how they do it here. Maybe it´s because they eat dinner so late? I dont know. All I know is that when I woke up at 2 pm my housemom just gave me coffee and asked me what I did last night. I told her I got home at 7 am and she didnt even flinch. Then she said she got home at 4:30 am and woke up at 7 am. (Keep in mind this woman is 57 years old) She partied til 4:30 and then only got two and half hours of sleep. Seriously, Argentineans must have something in their genetic makeup that allows them to do that. I have no plans for tonight yet, but I love that. I feel so free here. Everyone´s schedules are so relaxed, it´s a very liberating lifestyle.

Here are some photos to show you parts of the city that I visit everyday...

This is the University of Belgrano, where I have my classes everyday. The inside is very modern and a great environment. The building is really tall. I think it has around 20 floors. My class is on the 10th floor and the window gives you a great view of the city.

These next few pictures are of Cabildo, which is the huge avenue that runs through Belgrano. I walk on this street everyday. There are TONS of stores and restaurants and gyms.

One week down...

2009-02-06T16:31:00.002-02:00

I've been here for exactly one week now, and it feels like a month. I'm definitely starting to feel like I have a routine. I had my fourth Spanish class today and it was really fun. I'm in a classroom on the 10th floor that looks over the city so sometimes it is really hard to concentrate especially when you know you're going to be in that room for 5 hours. Today I learned a really useful phrase....'el piensa que ser el ombligo del mundo" which literally translates to..."He thinks he is the bellybutton of the world"and perfectly describes the arrogant kid in my class. He thinks he's the center of everything BUT the bellybutton is a completely unuseful part of our bodies, and he is a completely unuseful part of our world! I LOVE Spanish!!

On Wednesday Ivonne (my housemom) invited me and my friend Hannah to an art exhibit opening. It was such a great cultural experience! The art was very contemporary and Hannah took pictures that I will put up later. Also, all the people were very fashionably dressed - it was the first time I really noticed how amazing the style is in Buenos Aires. The exhibit was in a cultural center in Recoleta (which for those of you who know Liz, is where she will be living) and after Hannah and I found a cafe and talked til about 10 pm. Then, I went home for dinner and was surprised to find Ivonne's friend there. The three of us had dinner and talked (all in Spanish of course) til 12:30pm, then I did my homework, and then I passed out around 2 am! I'm so unbelievably exhausted from all the Spanish absorption I'm doing, but as Maggie says "i can sleep when I'm dead..." ;).

Yesterday I joined a gym called Sports Club that's close to my apartment with my friend Correy. Compared to Bergen County it was cheap ($60 a month) and it's an awesome gym! It has 4 floors!! They made us get a physical examination by their doctor before letting us join. It was really strange. He was very nice, but I guess his technology wasn't that advanced because in order to test my body fat he clamped these huge metal things on my ankles and wrist and around my waist. I asked him what it was doing and if it would hurt (thank god it didn't) and all he said was that they had been doing this "for about 100 years." Oh, really? 100 years? How about you update your equipment so that I don't think I'm about to get electricuted by your ancient body fat tester.

My favorite thing about Argentina is that everyone kisses ALL THE TIME! My house mom gives me a kiss on the cheek EVERY time I see her! Even my teacher does it! Every time you meet someone new or see someone you know you kiss on the cheek! It's so cute and so friendly! I may attempt to bring this tradition to New Jersey, I think the cranky northeasterners could use some "besitos"!

Los Argentinos

2009-02-04T16:37:00.008-02:00

The internet I was hijacking is no longer working. Thank god the ISA office has internet, but this may mean that my emails and blogs are less frequent. Send me emails though! I LOVE reading them, even if I don't respond right away.

My homesickness is starting to wear off. I started classes yesterday, and was placed into the Advanced Intensive Speaking class. About a third of the people in my class are either from Mexico or have Spanish speaking parents. The class is really interesting, but it's from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The university is actually very modern and in a very nice area. My only complaint is that there is a really arrogant, over-achieving, fluent kid in my class that laughs and writes notes to the girl that sits next to him when other people are trying to speak Spanish. I want to punch him in the face. I'm restraining myself right now, but 5 days a week, 5 hours a day, may be an issue. My house mom is really funny and told me (in Spanish of course) that people like that kid "do not deserve to be born." She's hysterical.

Here are some things I've learned about los Argentinos:

1. The LOVE meat and medialunas. Medialunas are basically croissants, but better. "Media luna" literally translates to "half moon" which is exactly what they look like!!

2. There are A LOT of dog walkers here called "pasaperros" and they are dragged by 15 giant dogs at once. These dogs also poop all over the sidewalks. There are no rules against it. On the way to school there are lots of fresh ones on the ground, and on my way home they are all flattened to the ground. Not trying to be gross, but it's the truth.

3. Los portenos (Buenos Aires residents) are actually very friendly when you speak Spanish to them. Even if you stutter or mix up your words they will smile and try to help you out.

4. They WILL RUN YOU OVER. I thought NYC had crazy drivers. The drivers here will literally aim to hit you if you are in the street when you aren't supposed to be. There's no mercy.

Right now, part of my group is thinking about planning a trip to Mendoza for next weekend! It's the wine country of Argentina!

I put up photos of the inside of my apartment. Just go to this link and the photos are at the end of the album!

First days in Buenos Aires

2009-02-01T20:29:00.005-02:00

I finally made it to Buenos Aires! I arrived on Friday morning and I have been really busy. As some of you already know I had a hard time adjusting at first. I think I was a little overwhelmed, culture-shocked, and having serious withdrawal from my American cell phone and wireless internet. Luckily, I learned how to hijack the wireless from a cafe down the street and use it in my apartment. Thanks to the godliness of Skype I'm not as homesick as I was. Today, I feel much more adjusted, and I'm really excited to have the next two months in this city.

Buenos Aires is amazing. It's HUGE, but very European, I love it. I'm living in the barrio of Belgrano with a single woman names Ivonne. She's in her fifties and she's an artist. Her apartment is covered in her paintings and works - it's like living in an art gallery. The apartment is minimal compared to what Americans are accustomed to, but I already feel at home. Ivonne is a fantastic cook (and she doesn't eat red meat!!!) which makes her even more of a dream housemom for me. She's been cooking vegetables, chicken, and interesting Argentinean dishes. Most importantly, she makes really good strong coffee in the mornings ;). It's just me and her in the apartment (she has two children that live in Barcelona), so at meal times we talk a lot (all in Spanish, of course). I've never spoken so much Spanish in a 3 day period in my life. I better be fluent by the time I come home! (PS the last photos in the album link at the botton of the page are of my street and the front of my apartment. Photos of the inside are coming soon! I tried to load the photos onto thhe blog but the internet connection is too slow, sorry!)

Our ISA group has 15 students from the US in it. Everyone's really different so it should be fun getting to know each other. We all get along pretty well, and we've take a couple of excursions together already. Yesterday we went to El Tigre, which is a large delta about 30 minutes outside of Buenos Aires. We hung out on a fake beach and got some color (all of us were nice and pasty white due to our winter hibernations in America) - it's been in the 80's and sunny here almost every day. In El Tigre we went to a fruit market where they made delicious, fresh fruit shakes with every kind of fruit you could imagine! We also ate lunch at a place where they tried to feed us the intestines of a cow...all of us took a small piece, chewed for about 1.5 seconds, and then spit it out onto our plates. I'm all about trying new foods, but that was a failure, it was disgusting.

Today we took a tour of the city. It's much larger than I expected. There are a bunch of different neighborhoods (barrios) that have developed over the years. I live and go to school in Belgrano. Just to give you an idea of how big the city is, it takes me 30 minutes to walk from one end of my barrio to the other, and there are about 15 different barrios! Of course you can take buses (colectivos), the subway (el supte), trains, and taxis all over town. On our city tour we visited Recoleta and its famous cemetery, La Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo, La Boca and Puerto Madero. I have tons of pictures that you can look at on Snapfish (the link's at the bottom).

Another interesting thing about Buenos Aires that I think is really hard to comprehend until you visit (so you all should come!!) is that it is ALIVE at night. At 2 a.m. last night I was leaving a cafe with 5 other girls, and families with little kids were still being seated! The streets were still full of people and we were going home! The clubs don't open here until 2:30 a.m. and it's embarrassing if you show up at that time. So if you think staying out til 3 or 4 a.m. in the US is late, that's just when things are getting started here. Clubs are full until in the morning!!!

I still have SO much to say, but this is getting long so I will leave more for next time. I miss everyone at home A LOT! Once things slow down, I'll be able to email more often.

Photos: Snapfish

24 Hour Countdown

2009-01-29T01:23:00.006-02:00

Hi everyone! This is my blog so that you can follow my amazing experiences for the next 5 months. I'm going to try to write on here as often as I can so that I don't have to re-type the same paragraphs in everyone's personal emails. I really liked using a blog with Liv and I went to Costa Rica and Panama, so hopefully I'll be able to keep it up this time. (But of course, email me all the time! I will be dying to hear from all of you!!! It's lauren.a.bates@vanderbilt.edu)

As most of you already know (because I've gotten goodbye phone calls today from almost every single person in my life) tomorrow night at 9pm I'm off to Buenos Aires!! I'm so excited and nervous I probably won't be able to sleep at all tonight!

In Buenos Aires I will be living with a single woman named Ivonne. She's in her fifties and she's an artist. (And those small details make me think she's going to be amazing!!! I hope I'm right!) She has an apartment in Belgrano right near Universidad de Belgrano, where I'll be taking classes. I'll be in Buenos Aires until March 28th, and then I venture to Lima, Peru where I'll be living until the end of May. I better be fluent by the time I get back! (Some of these posts may be in Spanish, so....for those of you who can't understand Spanish, tough luck ;). )

I love all of you to death and will miss you all like crazy!! xoxoxo