El Punto Medio

Alright folks. I feel so incredibly bad for not updating this blog like I said I would. NO EXCUSES KAYLA, however, there are some obstacles making it hard:

1. My host mommy, however wonderful she is, doesn’t have WiFi.
2. My house in Rosario is about 15 blocks from the program site and free WiFi business.
3. So many things happen a day that I am completely overwhelmed with everything: the things I’ve been learning in class, trips to crazy places, nights with my mom and host family, daily culture encounters and shock. Nut shell: my brain is in a constant state of EXPLOSION.
4. Lastly, because I have been learning and speaking (or attempting) to speak Spanish all day, my English is starting to get pretty choppy. Although this little unexpected obstacle is interesting and at times humorous, it is frustrating for me because it is difficult to produce something I can be proud of. I don’t like publishing sloppy writing.

Bueno, I have split this post into sections of the most important trip aspects and experiences so far. I hope you enjoy and I promise to give more detail and fill everyone in when I get home. For now, a teaser…

BUENOS AIRES
Buenos Aires was pretty amazing. Took a private bus to the city early early Saturday morning (around 5am) and checked into a hotel downtown. There we had a little time to get into our game gear. After the horribly tragic loss to Almania, we shopped around the giant mall where we watched and ate lunch: four stories of awesomeness. After mall time we loaded onto the bus again and headed for tours of the Modern Museum of Art and the famous cemetery where Eva Perón (Evita) is buried. One of the prettiest places I have seen yet: Mazes of marble buildings and crazy elaborate tombs of old wealthy families in Buenos Aires. Also, this was the first place we have seen cats in Argentina, it was a little odd. It was very “The Mummy Returns”-esque. Outside of the cemetery was a crazy cool street “feria” with food, entertainers, and hundreds of artisan stands. Scoped out some gift ideas: get excited. Finally we returned to the hotel, spiffed-up a bit, and walked the river to an amazing Tango dinner-show. The dancing was amazing. And the dinner: delicious. Steak, crepes, pasta, wine, cake, the works. Amazing night.

Walking Through Recoleta Cemetery

The next day we checked out  and walked a few more city tours were we visited the most prominent catholic church in BA, La Casa Rosada (equivalent to our White House), and an old outdoor market plaza (name is escaping me now, but it is a pretty well-known antique shopping street). All in all, Buenos Aires was incredible. I think I’ve fallen in love. One day, when my Spanish skills are (hopefully) MUCH more advanced, I want to live there. You can’t really fathom how big it is by being there: it is HUGE. But the areas I visited, with all the things to do and to see, and all the history: you could spend a lifetime exploring and getting lost in that city. Me encanta. So glad I am here for another 5 weeks and get to go back.

MAMÁ EMILCE
I have been so blessed here in Rosario for one huge reason: I could not have asked for a better host mom. Her name is Emilce Espinosa. She lives alone in Rosario, a widow, and is such a strong woman. For the most part it is just her and me and she speaks no English which is such a great learning experience. However, it is very exhausting having to constantly struggle to communicate with the person you are living with but I love every second of being in her home. She is an amazing cook: I have never had so many delicious dinners in a row. She has a beautiful family: two daughters and a son, Maria Emilce, Maria Cecilla, and Fernando. All have kids and live pretty close. She spends a lot of time watching her grandson Ariel, whose 4, and is one of the most adorable kids ever. I played with him for a couple hours the other night and he reminds me so much of my little monkeys Max and Alex. Also, Emilce is a TWIN of my Nana. Looks and everything, but especially personality. She is constantly making sure I am happy and comfortable, very hospitable and incredibly kind. Out of the other girls she has had stay with her, I probably have had the least amount of Spanish speaking ability. But she still loves me, it is pretty hilarious. She even knitted me a scarf, my favorite thing here. Also, she extremely complimentary. She always tells me “Sos muy linda y dulce!” and compliments a new part of my face like everyday, pretty entertaining. There was a night in the second week when I was feeling the first stab of homesick combined with the weight of culture and language shock. Everyone was going out and I was in such a crabby mood that I decided to stay at home to spare them the grump that was me. I am pretty sure Emilce could tell I was upset even though I couldn’t explain it to her and invited me to watch T.V. with her on her bed. I cannot believe how quickly she pulled me out of my funk. We watched her favorite soap opera called Doc Martin (produced by Craig Ferguson, yesss), an English show with Spanish subtitles, which is great because we can both watch and understand it, something that doesn’t happen often. Even with my amateur Spanish skills we are able to talk about some pretty serious topics. Sorry for the lack of photos, I need a photographer!

My Extended Host Family

AMIGOS
One of the coolest aspects of this trip is how close I have become with the other students and how quickly we became so close. When Cydni and I arrived at the airport we were able to find two others from the program on our plane, Alison and Nico. The four of us braved the Buenos Aires customs together and found the Tienda Leon bus terminal and bought our tickets. This was when we met the first round of students, who were also waiting for the bus to Rosario. I laugh when I think of how shy we all were (ok, I wasn’t shy, but many were. I was probably too bubbly. It happens). We love to talk about the first night: we were served dinner at the hotel and everyone was officially introduced, but it was so incredibly awkward and no one really knew each other! But of course a few students and I suggested an impromptu hotel room fiesta and the rest was history. All it took was a night with a little social drinking and we were all instant friends! It has been almost five weeks and I have already made friends that I know I will always have. The best part is many of them go to University of Oregon (Vamos Patos!) and the others to OSU or WOU, and we’ve already discussed plans to get together after we return. You go through so much with these people that it seems impossible to not become close, but our closeness is different, not forced.

AMIGOS DE ARGENTINA
Along with my friends from the program, I am surprised about how many friends I have made from Argentina! The first was Juan Manuel, who has been my closest Argentine friend so far. Juan lives a block away and is a medical student at a private university in Rosario. One of my first nights in Argentina I was having a small panic attack because I hadn’t been able to communicate with my family for a couple days and I (very stupidly) went in search of internet after dark. The small kiosco and internet cafe below my building had a few computers so I went to check it out. The computers had Skype and webcams but they weren’t working well, so I tried to see if anyone in the kiosco could help me. Everyone spoke Spanish of course, and just before giving up Juan walked in and tried to help (he speaks very good English). When he couldn’t figure out the webcam situation he offered to walk with me to find bars with WiFi. Family and friends, I realize this was a very bad idea to go with a random guy alone and at night (Juan frequently tells me this, also), but my instincts told me it was okay and I am very glad I did. He has been a great friend and I feel so much safer in my neighborhood knowing I know someone from around here who I trust. The other friends I’ve made have all been in Iguazu. Leticia from from Buenos Aires was staying at our hostel and we hung out with her the most: I just love her. From cooking dinner to Zach’s impromptu  hair cut, we all had so much fun with Leticia and we are going to try and meet up with her in Buenos Aires. She even brought us to Las Tres Fronteras (The Three Borders), the view point where you can see Brazil and Paraguay from Argentina soil. Next there was Marcos, who we met on a train at the falls. Marcos is a lawyer from Buenos Aires, and was visiting the falls alone (as was Leticia, many people here travel alone, I don’t get it). We ended up talking with him for a long time (in Spanglish) and invited him to the hostel to eat and spend the night with us. That night Cyd and I decided to cook Spaghetti for whoever wanted it at the hostel, best decision ever. Start of an amazing night that can only be described in pictures (for many a laugh, view the Iguazu album on FB). Other friends from the hostel include Florencia and Jere from Cordoba, visiting the falls with their dad, Victor from Germany, who played pong with us one night, and David, an American student from Whitman in Washington who was currently studying Spanish in Buenos Aires.

With New Friends at the Tres Fronteras

IGUAZU
Where to start with Iguazu… Firstly, if there is any way you could possibly ever travel to the province of Misiones, Argentina, even just for the day: DO IT. Iguazu Falls (the town and cataratas, or waterfalls) is THE most amazing place I have ever been. We stayed in an awesome hostel, ate awesome food every night, and were able to meet awesome people from all over the world (sorry for the not awesome variation of adjectives). Nathan, Kim, and I arrived in the jungle town after a 16 hour, almost missed, bus ride to Iguazu. The day we left was the start of the weekend de independencia, and we did not know that ALL taxis would be full. Thus began the epic “sprint across Rosario.” In a nut-shell: many events somehow fell into place so that we did not miss our bus (including frantic help from our Spanish-speaking school secretary, random bus rides, sprinting through the bus terminal… it’s an epic story, ask for more details). Anywho, the first night in Iguazu we spent exploring the town, eating parilla (traditional Argentine grill, complete with blood sausage, intestines, and other mystery organs, Kent and I can say we tried them all. Unlike OTHERS in our group Zach and Cydni…). The next day we woke up early and the whole group went on a zip-line, hiking, repelling adventure in the jungle. Amazing, so much fun and again met some pretty cool people. Upon returning from the forest adventure we took a few minutes to readjust and Zach, Cyd, Nathan, Rachel and I headed to the falls. Here is where I get to the “If you ever have the ability to go to Argentina” lecture. Most spectacular thing I have ever witnessed in my whole life. It is borderline depressing knowing that I will never be able to explain its splendor with words or pictures to anyone. It is one of those things that you cannot understand until you’ve seen it with your own eyes. Miles and miles of the most powerful waterfalls you’ve ever seen. And the grand finale, La Garganta del Diablo (The Devil’s Throat), was the most insane thing I have ever seen. I will go back someday and bring others with me. Amazing. After we returned from the falls, Cyd and I went to the market down the street and bought spaghetti makings and cooked dinner for the group and some people we had met at the hostel, one of my favorite parts of the trip. This was followed by teaching Leticia and Marcos many juegos de bebidas, cutting Zach’s hair, and dancing at a dance club in town. Other highlights: found a cockroach in our hostel room and traveled to Tres Fronteras. All in all, the best weekend in Argentina thus far. So impressed that we planned this trip ourselves, turned out to be the best.

The Grand Finale: Garganta del Diablo

CLASSES
Classes have been going very well. I still cannot believe that it is summer back in the states and I decided to keep studying, going to class, doing homework, and taking tests, since I love all those things so much. No, it’s been great. Absolutely LOVE our conversation teacher Gabi. I’ve learned so much in her class and she makes it so fun. Also, she is a total mom. When I was having troubles planning the Iguazu trip and stressing about missing grammar classes she pulled me aside and put everything into perfect perspective for me. We all really trust and respect her and are currently trying to figure out something to do for her before we move to the next level. I also LOVE my human rights class (taught in English). It is the most amazing thing to be able to look at your country through the eyes of someone from another country. I feel like after this class I will be able to take so many ideas and discussions home to the U.S. Also, I am so interested in international relationship and policy now (as nerdy as it sounds) and cannot wait to begin PR work, hopefully for internationally involved non-profits or hospitals. And the idea of universal human rights and the different mechanisms to protect and enforce these rights are so incredibly interesting to me! I am having such a good time discussing and debating in that class. Not that my opinions and outlooks on human rights have done 180s but they have definitely changed and have become reinforced with the things I have learned in this class. I’ve also asked my Argentine friends about these issues (Leticia and Juan) and their opinions and ideas about The U.S. and international policy are the most interesting things.

Level 2 Together at the Goodbye Dinner

Again, I apologize for the totally scatter-brained and choppy writing here. I haven’t yet figured out how to calm my brain and calmly share all my stories. Every day is like a new individual cultural experience. From making mistakes with language to getting lost, from traveling across the country to meeting life friends within days of meeting them, so many things are going through my mind on a daily basis. I miss everyone back home to much. I am doing great here, I really do love it, but I am looking forward to coming home soon. Two and a half months is such a long time and the first 5 weeks have gone by pretty slow (mostly because of the incredibly long days and mental and physical exhaustion).

Thank you for your patience, I will try and make shorter and more frequent updates so not to bore you all with my crazy disorganized thoughts. I miss everyone so much and I promise to return to you, hopefully, but not guaranteed, in one piece.

Muchos besos y abrazos para a todos. Se extraño y voy a volver pronto.

Chau Chau

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