So the longer I’ve been here the busier I am and the less motivated I am to write because of how tired I am all the time… so here goes nothin…
I’m now taking espanol for 4 ½ hours per day and it’s very hard for me to sit still for that long…I’m learning a lot but anytime I space out for one second my teacher is in my face saying “ENTENDES?!” which means “you understand?” I like having the one-on-one tutoring but I’m used to spacing out in class in Boston, so I’m workin on that… it’s kind of cool that I’m starting to be able to express myself (slowly) and have conversation with my teacher (who doesn’t speak any English… it feels like an accomplishment haha). Although I’m struggling to find the words it’s nice to be able to get my ideas across and we can actually discuss different things besides what I did the day before.
Last Saturday I went to Carlos Paz with some friends… Carlos Paz is a beautiful city about an hour away from Cordoba by bus. It’s got a huge lake and a river…most people go there on the weekends to escape the city, to swim & get some sun. We showed up at Carlos Paz on Saturday and a half hour later there was a HUGE storm. Of course it’s the 2nd time it’s rained in the 3 weeks I’ve been here (the other time was when we were on our other trip…go figure) So we spent 2 hours drinking beers and having lunch because there was nothing else to do… It rained all day so we barely even saw the river. Guess we’ll have to make another trip… we had hours (seriously, like 8 hours) to kill before going to the club so we saw Avatar in Spanish… that was interesting. We finally got to the club at 2am and just as the german boys were complaining about the music, the whole club lost electricity from the thunderstorm. FANTASTIC. We didn’t bring anything to stay over in a hostel because we had planned to stay out and party all night so we waited for an hour and a half for the electricity to come back on… finally around 3:30am the electricity came back, and we stayed until 6:30am. The boys were exhausted and dragged Helena and I out (I would have never guessed how late it was, the club was packed until 8am apparently..) We walked to the bus stop about 20 minutes away and of course it was still pouring outside so we got completely soaked. We caught the next bus back to Cordoba and with our luck the bus actually had AC (I had NEVER been on a bus in Argentina that has AC before…) By the time we got back to Cordoba we were all shivering and I was sure I was going to have pneumonia… haha by the time I arrived back at my doorstep it was 9am. My host parents were eating breakfast and saw me, dressed and hair soaked completely, and they responded with “todo bien in Carlos Paz? no tenemos suerte..." I sleptmost of Valentines Day away which was absolutely fine with me :) Unfortunately they celebrate it here just as much as in the States...
This week I started at the orphanage in Villa Allende. I love it, but there are definitely going to be some (many) challenges. The kids are great, but the language barrier is very tough. The kids speak even faster than the adults around here, and they most of them think it’s really comical when you can’t understand them. The location of the orphanage is really beautiful, but dirty. There are a couple of volunteers from Germany there, but it’s hard to know who works where because most of the volunteers split their time between the boys house, girls house, house for disabled, elderly house, and other locations in the vicinity. It seems like I’m going to be the only one working in the afternoons at the girls’ house. There are over 50 girls in my house, along with the young boys (under 5 years old). In the past I’ve had experience working with boys in Jumpstart (ages 5-6) and I thought that if I could handle young boys and their energy that girls would be a piece of cake. I was SO WRONG. Girls are much harder to handle and harder to entertain. And they are constantly fighting and teasing each other. There are other Argentine volunteers (I think they are volunteers? They are older and I see them everyday…maybe they live there… no one tells me anything so…) but they pretty much just sit there, smoke cigarettes, and yell at the kids occasionally to shut up, sit down, eat, listen, etc. It’s tough to watch the way the younger kids are treated sometimes because they are pushed, hit, or their hair is pulled by the older women even when it seems like they aren’t doing anything wrong (and those that are doing something wrong, aka pulling others hair or kicking the other girls, don’t get in trouble of course)… but it’s not my place to do anything.
Today I brought the kids Oreos (they were selling 10 cookies for 2 pesos on the bus… 50 cents… I couldn’t resist) The kids had a hayday! Well the kids that were lucky enough to get one. It’s crazy to see the smallest things that make these kids happy. On a different note, I feel so bad for these girls because they all have lice… they are constantly itching and asking their friends to pick the lice out… it’s awful. Today I was brushing one girls hair and there were eggs and lice crawling everywhere…I can’t imagine what that must feel like. I’m so paranoid I’m going to get it but I’ve been super precautious keeping my hair up while I’m at the orphanage...
So far, I have been working from 3pm-7 or 8pm depending on the night. The other night I helped take the kids to the Ash Wednesday service (they have a room where they hold services every Sunday and for holidays for the kids) which was cool. The kids sang beautiful Spanish hymns and were the most behaved I ever saw them. Anyways, for regular days, there isn’t really a routine for the kids, but depending on the weather the kids are allowed to play outside by the pool (I know, they are really lucky to have a pool), or they have to sit inside in the “TV room”. The entire house is made of rock and it’s a really cool set up…it’s kind of like a maze. At 5pm we round up the kids in the garden and hand out plastic cups with hot milk in them (I don’t know why the milk is hot, even on hot days…) the kids also get this Argentine bread. The kids love teaching me clapping games, and I’m slowly learning terms and how to play cards (similar to Unos, but it’s called Lolamentos) with them. The kids also love counting my freckles…since I have about a million of them. They think it’s hysterical for some reason… The kids that are fighting for my attention are the 2 year olds – 10 year olds usually. The older the girls are, the more of an attitude they have. The older ones LOVE to lure the younger girls away by saying “la chica no habla espanol…no entenda NADA” It’s discouraging but I know that it’s just the age. It’s just tough because I don’t want to practice my Spanish when I know I’m going to get made fun of when I pronounce something wrong…ughh I guess it can only get better from here.
That’s pretty much all that’s new, the kids have been taking a lot out of me… my daily routine is now class from 9:30-2pm (leaving for the bus at 8am), then taking the bus straight to Villa Allende to work and getting home around 8:30pm on a good day. I can’t believe that this weekend will mark exactly a month since I arrived. The time needs to slow down… part of me is wishing that I had only chosen to stay in one place for 6 months instead of switching it up but it’s too late to go back now…
Besos de Córdoba <3
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Roadtrip to Alta Gracia, Villa General Belgrano & Cumbricita
Okay its been awhile since I’ve written… I started writing a post last week but I got distracted (no surprise) so the first part is from a week ago…
Before I arrived to Argentina, I was warned that I would feel extremely lonely because of the language barrier between me and most of the people here. I know it hasn’t been long, but I honestly have not felt lonely since I have gotten here. In fact, sometimes I feel like I need my space because there are so many people! I think the biggest change for me so far has been learning to listen ALL the time. As you all know, I’m a talker. I’ll admit it…I love to talk about anything and everything. Heart to hearts, random conversations with strangers, small talk with acquaintances… todos (everything). In Argentina, I haven’t met one person who doesn’t love to talk (especially at the bus stop, and on the bus, back home in Boston everyone wants to be left alone with their headphones on). As a talker myself, I feel as though I have definitely came to the right country. Argentines speak with passion and persuasion, and sooo fast. One skill I have been working on immensely is my listening skills. I know it sounds stupid, but it really does take practice to listen to these people talk. It’s much easier to zone out when you don’t understand a topic of conversation, but I have been learning to try to catch onto key phrases or words to try and stay in the conversation (mentally, not really talking haha). Like I said, it’s been difficult because I want so badly to be able to express my opinions and views. Hopefully it will become easier with time as I learn a million more vocab words and verbs…man am I getting a lot of homework from my Spanish teacher!
Okay so since last week I’ve gotten a lot busier…last weekend was pretty slow because the only kids I knew in Cordoba were away for the weekend. That left me with pretty much nothing to do but hang out. I’ll admit I was alittle bored and disappointed…but eh what can ya do. This past week of class I’ve had 4 ½ hours so it’s feeling a bit long. I’m learning a lot though, so it’s good. On Wednesday, Pascal and the other boys were finally back from their trip to Iguazu, and Pascal’s friends from Germany were visiting so he was taking them on a tour of the city. I tagged along since I haven’t seen much of the city myself. It was gorgeous! There are so many old churches, cathedrals, and buildings. We got caught in a rainstorm though, which is when I realized that the city barely has ANY sewers. The city has many hills also, so all of the water rushes down the roads like rivers, and has nowhere to drain. Literally after only 5 minutes of rain, the streets were flooded, and the puddles ruined my favorite pair of shoes. Pascal, his two friends and I were all running to try and find a place to eat dinner during the downpour, and of course the electricity was out in the part of the city that we were in so we couldn’t see ANYTHING. Just imagine trying to run through a city like Boston when there is absolutely no light except for the lightning flashing. His friends said that they felt like they were in World War 3… it was nuts. We had lomitos and cerveza at a place near our school and it was soo good.
On Thursday, after class, Pascal spontaneously invited me to go visit Alta Gracia with Marco, and his two friends that were visiting. They had rented a car and had room, so I packed an overnight bag and we were on our way. We saw the museum of Che Guevara which was pretty cool, but I’m not as interested in history as the others were. We then walked around Alta Gracia and checked out the festival that was going on…almost every country was represented, and they were selling food and traditional items in the tents. Since we skipped lunch, we were all starving by around 6pm and NO restaurants were open. Most restaurants in Argentina open around 8pm because they traditionally eat dinner so late. We walked around for an hour and finally found a place. We then watched a parade of all the countries. I have to say I was pretty unimpressed with the United States. All of the other countries showed off their music, culture, dancing, or costume. The United States was announced, and they were literally just a bunch of kids walking their bikes down the street. Ummm…okay. It’s safe to say I was pretty embarrassed seeing as I was the only American among my 4 German friends… I didn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the night. I guess another American stereotype that I had never even heard of is that Americans drink their beer with ice… Pascal lived in Florida for a year and he claims that everyone does that there…I told him that I had never heard of it and now every time we drink beer he always asks me if I want ice in mine. Grrr…
So after dinner we attempted to find a hostel to stay over in… but we were out of luck because every hostel was full from all the people visiting for the festival. All except for the dirtiest hostel I’ve ever seen in my life. We walked into this hostel and there were about 10 bird cages tacked all over the wall of this one room. They were full of parakeets… so random. And they were all chirping SO loudly. This huge guy showed us this room for us to stay in, and it was disgusting. The sheets were stained, it was so grimy… so we ended up just going back to Cordoba and staying at Pascal’s house in the city. The next day we drove to Villa General Belgrano, a Germany town in Argentina (go figure, the Germans want to go to a Germany town…of course). We walked around and got coffee and saw the sights… then we drove to Cumbricita and hiked up to this waterfall. It was beautiful! We were on a time limit to get the rental car back on time though, so we didn’t get to stay as long as we’d wanted to. The drive to Cumbricita was literally an hour on a terrible dirt road weaving through the mountains. It reminded me of Devlin’s driveway in Dunstable…only it lasted FOREVER. Oh, and we had to stop about 3 times because there were cows in the road. We only passed about 3 cars in an hour on that road…it was so isolated it was crazy!
Another thing I learned during this roadtrip was some of the crazy driving rules here. For example, in rotarys here, the people that are entering the rotary have the right of way, and the people in the rotary have to yield to those entering. It’s the weirdest thing to watch because everyone in the middle of the rotary is always slowing down for everyone else. Also, they don’t believe in having stop signs at 4 way intersections. You are supposed to yield to whoever is on your right. I can’t even tell you how many times I thought we were going to get hit while driving downtown because someone was flying down the road and not yielding to us because they were going so fast they didn’t see us.
Saturday I hung out with my argentine friend Jorge, and he took me swimming at a pool a town over. He’s teaching me phrases (unlike my professor who is pretty much only teaching me verbs…so its nice to know both) and words that are typical in Argentina and what words to not use because they are used in Spain only. It’s difficult because he really doesn’t speak much English but it’s getting easier to have a conversation (elementary level, but hey its better than nothing). I got reallyyy burnt at the pool but it was nice to not be sweltering for a day. That night I went into the city and met up with the German boys and Helena for dinner, and met another American, Brian, who just moved in with Marco and Helena. He’s from New York, and it was nice to finally meet another Americano. I also met Mike who is now my new roommate in my house with Adrianna & Pepe. He’s 20 and from South Carolina. Apparently my host family told me a week ago that he was moving in but I didn’t understand what they were saying so I was a bit surprised when he showed up at the house with suitcases in hand…haha that’s Argentina for ya. After dinner we went to our friend’s house for a couple drinks, and then went out to the club at 2am. We were there until 5am when it closed, and everyone was saying how that club is the one that closes the earliest. Normally clubs close at 6am or 7am. I couldn’t believe it! Although I have to say it didn’t feel that late because of the amount of people that were out and about… Mike and I took a taxi back to the house and we slept until the afternoon. That’s the latest night I’ve had since freshmen year of college I think…
After I woke up on Sunday I went to the city instead of doing my homework. I figured that practicing verbally beats the hand written stuff… I met up with Marco and he took me to the Mercado that they have every Saturday & Sunday. It’s a huge open market where they sell lots of hand made crafts, and pretty much anything you can think of. It kind of reminded me of a flea market type of set up. Some of the stuff was super nice, while other stuff was cheap. It was cool to see though, and a good place to practice my vocabulary words.
This week I'm supposed to be starting at the orphanage, although there has been ALOT of miscommunication with my program. They havne't given me much information as to what day I'm starting, and what time... so I keep waiting on that. Another issue that I've had is miscommunication about the food provided to me. My family is supposed to provide 1-2 meals for me a day, or at least 1 sufficient meal. All my family has been giving me is bread and tea in the morning, and that's it. They offer me dinner, but I have to pay seperately for it. Grrr...it's been so frustrating because although my advisors and coordinators from the US are trying to fix it, it's taking forever to communicate with my local advisors because no one can get ahold of them. So that would be my one frustration with being down here... other than that, I can't complain.
Thanks for reading :) hasta luegooo
Before I arrived to Argentina, I was warned that I would feel extremely lonely because of the language barrier between me and most of the people here. I know it hasn’t been long, but I honestly have not felt lonely since I have gotten here. In fact, sometimes I feel like I need my space because there are so many people! I think the biggest change for me so far has been learning to listen ALL the time. As you all know, I’m a talker. I’ll admit it…I love to talk about anything and everything. Heart to hearts, random conversations with strangers, small talk with acquaintances… todos (everything). In Argentina, I haven’t met one person who doesn’t love to talk (especially at the bus stop, and on the bus, back home in Boston everyone wants to be left alone with their headphones on). As a talker myself, I feel as though I have definitely came to the right country. Argentines speak with passion and persuasion, and sooo fast. One skill I have been working on immensely is my listening skills. I know it sounds stupid, but it really does take practice to listen to these people talk. It’s much easier to zone out when you don’t understand a topic of conversation, but I have been learning to try to catch onto key phrases or words to try and stay in the conversation (mentally, not really talking haha). Like I said, it’s been difficult because I want so badly to be able to express my opinions and views. Hopefully it will become easier with time as I learn a million more vocab words and verbs…man am I getting a lot of homework from my Spanish teacher!
Okay so since last week I’ve gotten a lot busier…last weekend was pretty slow because the only kids I knew in Cordoba were away for the weekend. That left me with pretty much nothing to do but hang out. I’ll admit I was alittle bored and disappointed…but eh what can ya do. This past week of class I’ve had 4 ½ hours so it’s feeling a bit long. I’m learning a lot though, so it’s good. On Wednesday, Pascal and the other boys were finally back from their trip to Iguazu, and Pascal’s friends from Germany were visiting so he was taking them on a tour of the city. I tagged along since I haven’t seen much of the city myself. It was gorgeous! There are so many old churches, cathedrals, and buildings. We got caught in a rainstorm though, which is when I realized that the city barely has ANY sewers. The city has many hills also, so all of the water rushes down the roads like rivers, and has nowhere to drain. Literally after only 5 minutes of rain, the streets were flooded, and the puddles ruined my favorite pair of shoes. Pascal, his two friends and I were all running to try and find a place to eat dinner during the downpour, and of course the electricity was out in the part of the city that we were in so we couldn’t see ANYTHING. Just imagine trying to run through a city like Boston when there is absolutely no light except for the lightning flashing. His friends said that they felt like they were in World War 3… it was nuts. We had lomitos and cerveza at a place near our school and it was soo good.
On Thursday, after class, Pascal spontaneously invited me to go visit Alta Gracia with Marco, and his two friends that were visiting. They had rented a car and had room, so I packed an overnight bag and we were on our way. We saw the museum of Che Guevara which was pretty cool, but I’m not as interested in history as the others were. We then walked around Alta Gracia and checked out the festival that was going on…almost every country was represented, and they were selling food and traditional items in the tents. Since we skipped lunch, we were all starving by around 6pm and NO restaurants were open. Most restaurants in Argentina open around 8pm because they traditionally eat dinner so late. We walked around for an hour and finally found a place. We then watched a parade of all the countries. I have to say I was pretty unimpressed with the United States. All of the other countries showed off their music, culture, dancing, or costume. The United States was announced, and they were literally just a bunch of kids walking their bikes down the street. Ummm…okay. It’s safe to say I was pretty embarrassed seeing as I was the only American among my 4 German friends… I didn’t hear the end of it for the rest of the night. I guess another American stereotype that I had never even heard of is that Americans drink their beer with ice… Pascal lived in Florida for a year and he claims that everyone does that there…I told him that I had never heard of it and now every time we drink beer he always asks me if I want ice in mine. Grrr…
So after dinner we attempted to find a hostel to stay over in… but we were out of luck because every hostel was full from all the people visiting for the festival. All except for the dirtiest hostel I’ve ever seen in my life. We walked into this hostel and there were about 10 bird cages tacked all over the wall of this one room. They were full of parakeets… so random. And they were all chirping SO loudly. This huge guy showed us this room for us to stay in, and it was disgusting. The sheets were stained, it was so grimy… so we ended up just going back to Cordoba and staying at Pascal’s house in the city. The next day we drove to Villa General Belgrano, a Germany town in Argentina (go figure, the Germans want to go to a Germany town…of course). We walked around and got coffee and saw the sights… then we drove to Cumbricita and hiked up to this waterfall. It was beautiful! We were on a time limit to get the rental car back on time though, so we didn’t get to stay as long as we’d wanted to. The drive to Cumbricita was literally an hour on a terrible dirt road weaving through the mountains. It reminded me of Devlin’s driveway in Dunstable…only it lasted FOREVER. Oh, and we had to stop about 3 times because there were cows in the road. We only passed about 3 cars in an hour on that road…it was so isolated it was crazy!
Another thing I learned during this roadtrip was some of the crazy driving rules here. For example, in rotarys here, the people that are entering the rotary have the right of way, and the people in the rotary have to yield to those entering. It’s the weirdest thing to watch because everyone in the middle of the rotary is always slowing down for everyone else. Also, they don’t believe in having stop signs at 4 way intersections. You are supposed to yield to whoever is on your right. I can’t even tell you how many times I thought we were going to get hit while driving downtown because someone was flying down the road and not yielding to us because they were going so fast they didn’t see us.
Saturday I hung out with my argentine friend Jorge, and he took me swimming at a pool a town over. He’s teaching me phrases (unlike my professor who is pretty much only teaching me verbs…so its nice to know both) and words that are typical in Argentina and what words to not use because they are used in Spain only. It’s difficult because he really doesn’t speak much English but it’s getting easier to have a conversation (elementary level, but hey its better than nothing). I got reallyyy burnt at the pool but it was nice to not be sweltering for a day. That night I went into the city and met up with the German boys and Helena for dinner, and met another American, Brian, who just moved in with Marco and Helena. He’s from New York, and it was nice to finally meet another Americano. I also met Mike who is now my new roommate in my house with Adrianna & Pepe. He’s 20 and from South Carolina. Apparently my host family told me a week ago that he was moving in but I didn’t understand what they were saying so I was a bit surprised when he showed up at the house with suitcases in hand…haha that’s Argentina for ya. After dinner we went to our friend’s house for a couple drinks, and then went out to the club at 2am. We were there until 5am when it closed, and everyone was saying how that club is the one that closes the earliest. Normally clubs close at 6am or 7am. I couldn’t believe it! Although I have to say it didn’t feel that late because of the amount of people that were out and about… Mike and I took a taxi back to the house and we slept until the afternoon. That’s the latest night I’ve had since freshmen year of college I think…
After I woke up on Sunday I went to the city instead of doing my homework. I figured that practicing verbally beats the hand written stuff… I met up with Marco and he took me to the Mercado that they have every Saturday & Sunday. It’s a huge open market where they sell lots of hand made crafts, and pretty much anything you can think of. It kind of reminded me of a flea market type of set up. Some of the stuff was super nice, while other stuff was cheap. It was cool to see though, and a good place to practice my vocabulary words.
This week I'm supposed to be starting at the orphanage, although there has been ALOT of miscommunication with my program. They havne't given me much information as to what day I'm starting, and what time... so I keep waiting on that. Another issue that I've had is miscommunication about the food provided to me. My family is supposed to provide 1-2 meals for me a day, or at least 1 sufficient meal. All my family has been giving me is bread and tea in the morning, and that's it. They offer me dinner, but I have to pay seperately for it. Grrr...it's been so frustrating because although my advisors and coordinators from the US are trying to fix it, it's taking forever to communicate with my local advisors because no one can get ahold of them. So that would be my one frustration with being down here... other than that, I can't complain.
Thanks for reading :) hasta luegooo
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Corte la luz = No Electricity
So in my last post I know I mentioned that the city loses electricity for 3-4 hours a day, usually during the morning. What I failed to mention is that we are now losing our electricity at our house in the suburbs for hours a day too. It doesn’t sound like it would be a big deal during the day, but it makes the weather even more unbearable because we can’t even use fans. The last couple days I’ve been wanting to explore the city after classes but literally the only thing I have energy for is taking my hour bus ride home and laying in the shade or in the pool (which is about the size of a baby pool and is probably about 85 degrees from the sun but feels cool compared to everything else…) until the electricity comes back. The other thing about the electricity going out is that all of the traffic lights in the city (obviously) go out. Cordoba is a lot like Boston in the fact that even though it’s a smaller city, it is still busy nonetheless. Another thing about Cordoba is it’s made up of so many one way streets that are sometimes 3-4 lanes wide. Now just imagine what that looks like everyday at around 9am when the electricity goes out and all of the traffic lights are blinking. And I’m just trying to sprint across the street in my flipflops/heels (you can’t wear sneakers here if you don’t want to look like a tourist) without getting hit by a car. I’ve almost lost a shoe at least once a day trying to cross the street quick…good thing that I don’t really know anyone in this city (yet). I’ve never so badly wanted those stupid “walk/don’t walk” lights from back home, telling me when its safe to cross...
Another thing about the busses that I’ve noticed this week is how even though it takes so long to run a relatively short route, the bus drivers barely even stop when it’s only one or two people getting off the bus (aka me because I live way far out from the city so no one gets off at my stop usually…) People literally have to be standing on the second to last step as the bus is slowing down, and the bus driver opens the doors while it’s still got some good speed. You have approximately 3 seconds to leap off the bottom step before the bus speeds up again, in which case if you haven’t made the leap, then it looks like you’ll have to try again at the next stop. Considering that Cordoba is a pretty laid back city and not rushed, I’m surprised about this…but maybe the bus drivers just think its funny to see people leaping off the bus. I mean I think it's funny to watch when it's not my turn...
On Wednesday night I met up with a couple kids in the centro (center of the city) so we could go to this so called “fiesta” together. Another lesson learned – just because someone says it’s a fiesta, doesn’t always mean a big party. Pretty much all a fiesta means is food, beer and wine, no matter how many people are there. That was fine with me anyways because I was really in need to meet some kids my age. I saw Pascal from my Spanish classes, and he introduced me to his friends who are also students studying in the city from Germany (Marco, Elena & Christian). We had a goodbye party at Karin’s house for a german student who was finishing her stay. I tried my first lomito (pretty much a hamburger with a way better meat, thinner with more flavor). I also had a drink (or two…), I can’t remember the name of it now but oh well. It's some drink that Argentina is known for. The night was a mixture of speaking English, Spanish, Spanglish and German (and I threw some Hungarian in there…they were impressed since practically no one can speak it haha). They filled me in on the night life in Cordoda and it sounds like its going to be a blast. However, I’m probably going to end up going out with my sister, Jemenia, because the boys are going to Igauzu falls for 5 days. It’s good to know I at least have some kids my age who know some English…
Thursday night I went to my host mom’s sisters house (so my adopted aunt? I guess…haha) for a family dinner. On the way there there were 7 of us adults in Pepe’s tiny manual car. I wish someone could have taken a picture of this… they were blasting some Spanish music and everyone was singing. It was so much fun. At the aunt (Alejandra)’s house, there was so many different family members I can’t even remember. We had churri pan for dinner which is my favorite food so far. It was a make-your-own sandwich bar with amazing fresh bread, a sausage like meat, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, mayo and some Argentine sauce that I can’t pronounce or spell that’s pretty hot. Ahhh so good. It was really cool to see such a big close family that all lives so close to each other. I live relatively close to my mom’s side of the family, but not close enough that all the cousins (even the older ones in their 20’s) all make it out to the weekly meals. Everyone welcomed me into the family like I was one of their own and they wanted to know everything about me which was so stressful because I get nervous trying to speak Spanish in front of more then a couple people. It’s enough pressure just talking one on one…but it turned out okay. I can’t wait until it becomes easier for me to join in the conversation without sounding like a fool with my misconjugated verbs and messed up vocabulary…haha they said I speak well considering I’ve only been here 5 days, but I’m sure they were just being polite.
Friday I missed my bus by 2 seconds so I had to wait an extra 45 minutes for the next one in the beating hot sun. The worst feeling is feeling gross and sweaty before your day has even begun. I carry deodorant and hand sanitizer around with me 24/7 hahah I feel like such a mom. After class, I was so hungry because my host family doesn’t eat breakfast in the morning…so around 2pm I got some empanadas from a little hole in the wall shop around the corner from my class. I was pretty proud of myself using my Spanish all by myself…it makes me nervous but I need to practice. I am still in disbelief at how cheap some things are here. It was 5 pesos for 2 empanadas (and I was full after two…) and that’s less than $2. Crazy!
Waiting for the bus, once again a bunch of people were asking me questions about which busses passed. The last one to ask me was this really old woman. I told her I didn’t speak Spanish well, and she took the opportunity to test me on my knowledge. She spoke very slow in Spanish, asked me questions and carried conversation (while I answered what I could, but mostly just nodded my head like I understood even when I didn’t…) for a good half hour at the bus stop, and then she sat next to me on the bus and chatted until she got off 30 minutes later. I was exhausted from trying to translate and react to the entire conversation but I really liked how she took the time to try and communicate with me. In broken Spanish I told her about my family, why I was there, what I was studying. I swear, people in this country (mostly strangers) really want to know what’s going on in your life, and I’m not used to it. I could never imagine an adult in the city of Boston wanting to stop and chat about the things going on in my (or any other stranger’s) life. It was a breath of fresh air for sure. Before she got off the bus, she told me that I am learning fast and that it was a pleasure to talk to me and kissed my cheek (its tradition here to kiss on the left cheek when you meet/greet someone). I love how friendly people are here, it makes you feel like you’re home even when you’re so far away. Although I am still skeptical to a point that I’m not naïve. I don’t want to live out the American girl stereotype...
chau, besos <3
Another thing about the busses that I’ve noticed this week is how even though it takes so long to run a relatively short route, the bus drivers barely even stop when it’s only one or two people getting off the bus (aka me because I live way far out from the city so no one gets off at my stop usually…) People literally have to be standing on the second to last step as the bus is slowing down, and the bus driver opens the doors while it’s still got some good speed. You have approximately 3 seconds to leap off the bottom step before the bus speeds up again, in which case if you haven’t made the leap, then it looks like you’ll have to try again at the next stop. Considering that Cordoba is a pretty laid back city and not rushed, I’m surprised about this…but maybe the bus drivers just think its funny to see people leaping off the bus. I mean I think it's funny to watch when it's not my turn...
On Wednesday night I met up with a couple kids in the centro (center of the city) so we could go to this so called “fiesta” together. Another lesson learned – just because someone says it’s a fiesta, doesn’t always mean a big party. Pretty much all a fiesta means is food, beer and wine, no matter how many people are there. That was fine with me anyways because I was really in need to meet some kids my age. I saw Pascal from my Spanish classes, and he introduced me to his friends who are also students studying in the city from Germany (Marco, Elena & Christian). We had a goodbye party at Karin’s house for a german student who was finishing her stay. I tried my first lomito (pretty much a hamburger with a way better meat, thinner with more flavor). I also had a drink (or two…), I can’t remember the name of it now but oh well. It's some drink that Argentina is known for. The night was a mixture of speaking English, Spanish, Spanglish and German (and I threw some Hungarian in there…they were impressed since practically no one can speak it haha). They filled me in on the night life in Cordoda and it sounds like its going to be a blast. However, I’m probably going to end up going out with my sister, Jemenia, because the boys are going to Igauzu falls for 5 days. It’s good to know I at least have some kids my age who know some English…
Thursday night I went to my host mom’s sisters house (so my adopted aunt? I guess…haha) for a family dinner. On the way there there were 7 of us adults in Pepe’s tiny manual car. I wish someone could have taken a picture of this… they were blasting some Spanish music and everyone was singing. It was so much fun. At the aunt (Alejandra)’s house, there was so many different family members I can’t even remember. We had churri pan for dinner which is my favorite food so far. It was a make-your-own sandwich bar with amazing fresh bread, a sausage like meat, tomatoes, lettuce, mustard, mayo and some Argentine sauce that I can’t pronounce or spell that’s pretty hot. Ahhh so good. It was really cool to see such a big close family that all lives so close to each other. I live relatively close to my mom’s side of the family, but not close enough that all the cousins (even the older ones in their 20’s) all make it out to the weekly meals. Everyone welcomed me into the family like I was one of their own and they wanted to know everything about me which was so stressful because I get nervous trying to speak Spanish in front of more then a couple people. It’s enough pressure just talking one on one…but it turned out okay. I can’t wait until it becomes easier for me to join in the conversation without sounding like a fool with my misconjugated verbs and messed up vocabulary…haha they said I speak well considering I’ve only been here 5 days, but I’m sure they were just being polite.
Friday I missed my bus by 2 seconds so I had to wait an extra 45 minutes for the next one in the beating hot sun. The worst feeling is feeling gross and sweaty before your day has even begun. I carry deodorant and hand sanitizer around with me 24/7 hahah I feel like such a mom. After class, I was so hungry because my host family doesn’t eat breakfast in the morning…so around 2pm I got some empanadas from a little hole in the wall shop around the corner from my class. I was pretty proud of myself using my Spanish all by myself…it makes me nervous but I need to practice. I am still in disbelief at how cheap some things are here. It was 5 pesos for 2 empanadas (and I was full after two…) and that’s less than $2. Crazy!
Waiting for the bus, once again a bunch of people were asking me questions about which busses passed. The last one to ask me was this really old woman. I told her I didn’t speak Spanish well, and she took the opportunity to test me on my knowledge. She spoke very slow in Spanish, asked me questions and carried conversation (while I answered what I could, but mostly just nodded my head like I understood even when I didn’t…) for a good half hour at the bus stop, and then she sat next to me on the bus and chatted until she got off 30 minutes later. I was exhausted from trying to translate and react to the entire conversation but I really liked how she took the time to try and communicate with me. In broken Spanish I told her about my family, why I was there, what I was studying. I swear, people in this country (mostly strangers) really want to know what’s going on in your life, and I’m not used to it. I could never imagine an adult in the city of Boston wanting to stop and chat about the things going on in my (or any other stranger’s) life. It was a breath of fresh air for sure. Before she got off the bus, she told me that I am learning fast and that it was a pleasure to talk to me and kissed my cheek (its tradition here to kiss on the left cheek when you meet/greet someone). I love how friendly people are here, it makes you feel like you’re home even when you’re so far away. Although I am still skeptical to a point that I’m not naïve. I don’t want to live out the American girl stereotype...
chau, besos <3
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
First few days & it feels like home already
So it’s been a few days since I arrived in Cordoba but I feel like I’ve been here forever (in a good way). It didn’t take me long to get some sense of direction and to get to class and home on my own even though I live an hour bus ride from the city. I’ll try to remember the last couple days…
Monday was my first day of clase de espanol. Since I didn’t have a cell phone my host parents drove me into the city…it took about 25 minutes. From what I saw from the car, the city was beautiful! Once we got to the building, I was expecting an actual class, but once again there was a communication breakdown somewhere and I ended up with a tutor. But hey I am not complaining because it’s much easier to learn when the teacher’s attention is on you. However, one small problem is that this teacher doesn’t speak English. The only other language she knows is French besides a couple phrases and words in English…so once again it’s a challenge but in reality its helping because it makes me learn faster. There is one other student studying with a separate tutor at the same time as me. His name is Pascal and he’s from Germany. Finally a person that speaks some English! I was so relieved. He explained a lot of things to me, such as what kind of cell phone plan to get and the fun things to do in the city on the weekends. He’s only been here two weeks so he has tons of traveling planned with other students from Germany to go to Buenos Aires and Mendoza, two places I am dying to see while I’m here.
My classes are 3 hours long from 9:30am to 1pm with a half hour break in between. It sounds like its really long, but honestly the time flies by so fast because I am learning so much. It’s so different from learning in school when you don’t need to speak it to be understood. I literally feel like my mind is a sponge as corny as it sounds…I’ve never had the feeling that I was really soaking in so much information. My host parents even noticed when I came home that I was able to form sentences (when they picked me up from the airport all I could say was “hola, como estas?” ugg FAIL haha). So I’m feeling better about that. Mi padre is so funny…literally all he can say in English is “thank you very much” and it sounds like “thank you BERRY much”. He’s kinda crazy but I love it haha it makes things interesting. He’s always saying to me “tranquilla…tranquilla!” which means relax…
I just realized a day ago that I also have a host sister staying in the house. I had mi mama write out a family tree to me (she was trying to explain all the family with words and my head was spinning) and I finally realized that Maria Jimenia lives here with us. She’s 30 years old, but she seriously looks 24. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Argentines…you can never guess their ages. It’s impossible. I’ll get more into the differences I’ve noticed later…
Mi madre also wrote me out a homemade map of the city and how to walk to and from the bus stop to class. The walk is about 20 minutes after the hour bus ride to the city but it’s not that bad. It only costs 2 pesos to ride the bus from my house (an hour ride) and 2 pesos is about 50 cents…SO cheap. My sister was telling me how it was expensive and I told her how its $2 bucks (almost 7 pesos) to ride the T and that doesn’t even go outside the city. She was shocked haha. Good ol USA robbing us of every penny that they can…can’t say that I miss that at all. I made it home on the bus fine but it was SO hot. No AC on the busses of course, and theres always so many people squished together. Blah. Can’t complain though, at least I don’t have to walk all the way home…
Today I had class, and then I had lunch with Pascal and his teacher, Karin. We got freshly made empanadas that were AMAZING. I had 4 of them and was stuffed, and it was only 9 pesos (alittle more then $2…crazy!). I walked to the bus station, and I swear everyone today thought I was Argentine. The bus stop was packed, and out of everyone to ask, at least 4 people walked up to me to ask what number bus just passed. I feel so stupid with the whole “yo no hablo espanol…” but I’ll get there. One older guy seemed concerned that I wouldn’t get on the right bus (even though I told him which bus I take) so he grabbed me by the arm and made sure I had no problems paying the bus driver. So I guess people here are friendly and care about foreigners…haha.
On the bus ride to Villa Riverra Indarte (the suburb where my house is), the only open seat was next to a guy who looked my age. I was tired and felt like vegging out so I put my head phones on. I noticed his notebook was filled with drawings, and he was drawing the guy sitting in front of us on the bus. Once it was done he caught me looking at it and I said it was good (in Spanish of course). Then I was inspired to work on my Spanish homework on the bus to make the time go faster. The next thing I know I look over at his notebook and he’s drawing ME. I didn’t know if I should pretend I didn’t see it or something… when he was done he got my attention and I took my headphones out and said my normal Spanish saying: “yo no hablo espanol lo siento” and he’s says “oh do you speak English?” in almost perfect English. We start talking about how he studied in Germany and learned English there too. Finally another person who speaks English! Haha I told him we could only be friends if he only spoke to me in Spanish so I could practice and he agreed. He gave me the picture he drew, and he said he wanted to finish the drawing and that’s why he had missed his stop 20 minutes before…I felt so bad because it was so hot outside. It made me feel good to meet my first amigo de Argentina though :)
One really annoying thing about the bus is that you have to pay with cospelos. It’s not even change…it’s a specific coin you need for the bus which I don’t see the point in because they don’t even go into a machine on the bus, you just had them to the bus driver. You can only get them as these little shops on the street which makes it a pain but oh well. More opportunities to use my espanol.
It’s been SO hot here. It’s been in the high 90’s all week, and I haven’t been in one place (besides Walmart last night) that has AC. I wore capris to class Monday & Tuesday but it was so hot that I finally gave in and wore shorts today. Bad move on my part, I got so harassed at the bus stop in my neighborhood, walking to class in the city, walking back to the bus stop, and walking home. I don’t know what’s worse…boiling in pants in 98 degree weather, or having to ignore the catcalls all day. I wasn’t even wearing anything revealing (I promise, Mom and Dad). My building where I take class is also unbearably hot. I’m on the second level and from 9am-12pm the city’s electricity is shut off. People have tried to explain why to me, but all I’ve been able to translate is “problemas de gobierno” which is problems with the government. So yeah… without the fans in the building its super hot… I’m getting used to it. Also, there are protests almost every day in the street of the city. I heard gun shots and it was like my teacher didn’t even notice that there was a noise… she said they are peaceful protests but I don’t really see how guns can illustrate a peaceful protest…oh well.
Anyways, this is a lot for one post so I apologize, but there is so much to write about things that I see that are different. I feel so aware of everything around me. I’m going to lay outside in the sun so I don’t look so American with my white pale skin and then I’m going to my first Argentine BBQ fiesta with the other students in my school :) According the host of the party it’s ending early at 2am because we have class in the morning. Now I know why Argentines take ciestas every day…
Hasta luego, besos <3>
Monday was my first day of clase de espanol. Since I didn’t have a cell phone my host parents drove me into the city…it took about 25 minutes. From what I saw from the car, the city was beautiful! Once we got to the building, I was expecting an actual class, but once again there was a communication breakdown somewhere and I ended up with a tutor. But hey I am not complaining because it’s much easier to learn when the teacher’s attention is on you. However, one small problem is that this teacher doesn’t speak English. The only other language she knows is French besides a couple phrases and words in English…so once again it’s a challenge but in reality its helping because it makes me learn faster. There is one other student studying with a separate tutor at the same time as me. His name is Pascal and he’s from Germany. Finally a person that speaks some English! I was so relieved. He explained a lot of things to me, such as what kind of cell phone plan to get and the fun things to do in the city on the weekends. He’s only been here two weeks so he has tons of traveling planned with other students from Germany to go to Buenos Aires and Mendoza, two places I am dying to see while I’m here.
My classes are 3 hours long from 9:30am to 1pm with a half hour break in between. It sounds like its really long, but honestly the time flies by so fast because I am learning so much. It’s so different from learning in school when you don’t need to speak it to be understood. I literally feel like my mind is a sponge as corny as it sounds…I’ve never had the feeling that I was really soaking in so much information. My host parents even noticed when I came home that I was able to form sentences (when they picked me up from the airport all I could say was “hola, como estas?” ugg FAIL haha). So I’m feeling better about that. Mi padre is so funny…literally all he can say in English is “thank you very much” and it sounds like “thank you BERRY much”. He’s kinda crazy but I love it haha it makes things interesting. He’s always saying to me “tranquilla…tranquilla!” which means relax…
I just realized a day ago that I also have a host sister staying in the house. I had mi mama write out a family tree to me (she was trying to explain all the family with words and my head was spinning) and I finally realized that Maria Jimenia lives here with us. She’s 30 years old, but she seriously looks 24. That’s one thing I’ve noticed about Argentines…you can never guess their ages. It’s impossible. I’ll get more into the differences I’ve noticed later…
Mi madre also wrote me out a homemade map of the city and how to walk to and from the bus stop to class. The walk is about 20 minutes after the hour bus ride to the city but it’s not that bad. It only costs 2 pesos to ride the bus from my house (an hour ride) and 2 pesos is about 50 cents…SO cheap. My sister was telling me how it was expensive and I told her how its $2 bucks (almost 7 pesos) to ride the T and that doesn’t even go outside the city. She was shocked haha. Good ol USA robbing us of every penny that they can…can’t say that I miss that at all. I made it home on the bus fine but it was SO hot. No AC on the busses of course, and theres always so many people squished together. Blah. Can’t complain though, at least I don’t have to walk all the way home…
Today I had class, and then I had lunch with Pascal and his teacher, Karin. We got freshly made empanadas that were AMAZING. I had 4 of them and was stuffed, and it was only 9 pesos (alittle more then $2…crazy!). I walked to the bus station, and I swear everyone today thought I was Argentine. The bus stop was packed, and out of everyone to ask, at least 4 people walked up to me to ask what number bus just passed. I feel so stupid with the whole “yo no hablo espanol…” but I’ll get there. One older guy seemed concerned that I wouldn’t get on the right bus (even though I told him which bus I take) so he grabbed me by the arm and made sure I had no problems paying the bus driver. So I guess people here are friendly and care about foreigners…haha.
On the bus ride to Villa Riverra Indarte (the suburb where my house is), the only open seat was next to a guy who looked my age. I was tired and felt like vegging out so I put my head phones on. I noticed his notebook was filled with drawings, and he was drawing the guy sitting in front of us on the bus. Once it was done he caught me looking at it and I said it was good (in Spanish of course). Then I was inspired to work on my Spanish homework on the bus to make the time go faster. The next thing I know I look over at his notebook and he’s drawing ME. I didn’t know if I should pretend I didn’t see it or something… when he was done he got my attention and I took my headphones out and said my normal Spanish saying: “yo no hablo espanol lo siento” and he’s says “oh do you speak English?” in almost perfect English. We start talking about how he studied in Germany and learned English there too. Finally another person who speaks English! Haha I told him we could only be friends if he only spoke to me in Spanish so I could practice and he agreed. He gave me the picture he drew, and he said he wanted to finish the drawing and that’s why he had missed his stop 20 minutes before…I felt so bad because it was so hot outside. It made me feel good to meet my first amigo de Argentina though :)
One really annoying thing about the bus is that you have to pay with cospelos. It’s not even change…it’s a specific coin you need for the bus which I don’t see the point in because they don’t even go into a machine on the bus, you just had them to the bus driver. You can only get them as these little shops on the street which makes it a pain but oh well. More opportunities to use my espanol.
It’s been SO hot here. It’s been in the high 90’s all week, and I haven’t been in one place (besides Walmart last night) that has AC. I wore capris to class Monday & Tuesday but it was so hot that I finally gave in and wore shorts today. Bad move on my part, I got so harassed at the bus stop in my neighborhood, walking to class in the city, walking back to the bus stop, and walking home. I don’t know what’s worse…boiling in pants in 98 degree weather, or having to ignore the catcalls all day. I wasn’t even wearing anything revealing (I promise, Mom and Dad). My building where I take class is also unbearably hot. I’m on the second level and from 9am-12pm the city’s electricity is shut off. People have tried to explain why to me, but all I’ve been able to translate is “problemas de gobierno” which is problems with the government. So yeah… without the fans in the building its super hot… I’m getting used to it. Also, there are protests almost every day in the street of the city. I heard gun shots and it was like my teacher didn’t even notice that there was a noise… she said they are peaceful protests but I don’t really see how guns can illustrate a peaceful protest…oh well.
Anyways, this is a lot for one post so I apologize, but there is so much to write about things that I see that are different. I feel so aware of everything around me. I’m going to lay outside in the sun so I don’t look so American with my white pale skin and then I’m going to my first Argentine BBQ fiesta with the other students in my school :) According the host of the party it’s ending early at 2am because we have class in the morning. Now I know why Argentines take ciestas every day…
Hasta luego, besos <3>
Sunday, January 24, 2010
My Arrival :)
So I finally made it to Cordoba after 24 hours of traveling. It was weird traveling so far by myself but it was easier then I expected...my first flight from Boston to Miami was entertaining because my seat assignment was next to two native Cubans (young guys...of course) and they saw me studying my Spanish expressions/vocabulary book (I figured I'd get in some cramming before arriving in South America... better late than never). They asked me (in broken English) why I was learning Spanish and they attempted to help me even though it was very difficult to understand either one of them. I just kept saying "Si" and nodding my head...seemed to work well enough.
I had a 4 hour layover in Miami, I hate layovers more than anything. The second I got on my plane from Miami to Chile, it felt like everyone stopped speaking English...maybe it was my imagination... I got super lucky because the seat next to me was empty so I got to stretch out and catch an hour or two of sleep on the red-eye flight so that was nice. I finally got to Chile at 8am and I saw my first glimpse of the Andes mountains. They are AMAZING. I saw the sun rising over them when we first landed in Chile and my face was literally glued to the windows of the plane I couldn't look away. People probably though I was crazy haha but hey we don't have mountains like that back home (no offense New England but the White Mountains don't compare..)
My last flight was to Cordoba, with the Chilean futbol team of course...anyways, I was surprised at how easy it was to get my bags (thank God) and to get through customs. I walked out of the exit and sure enough there were the cutest two Argentine people I'd ever seen jumping and waving with a sign that said "KRISTINA" on it. No doubt these were my host parents...they welcomed me with hugs and besos and we stepped outside into the 93 degree humid weather. But hey, I'm not complaining...I can't wait for my pale skin to disappear :)
My host family consists of Adriana and Cezar (who goes by Pepe). They are in their 50's and their kids are out of the house. They barely speak any English which I somewhat expected but it is much harder to deal with the language barrier then I thought it would. But it's forcing me to practice. Either I learn Spanish or I'm going to be communicating by sign language by the time I leave because there is no other way. They live about 25-30 minutes outside Cordoba Central, which I was bummed about at first because it's not wicked close to the center of the city, but now I'm glad because it's a safer area and it's a bit quieter then being downtown.
pepe y adriana :)
Their house is really cute, and has a fenced in backyard with a small pool in it, and a dog named Machinta (no idea how it's spelled...but the dog is going to be my new best friend). We had a roast for lunch, along with fresh tomatoes and grapes from their yard...I was so nervous to eat uncooked vegetables/fruit because they are usually washed with the water and its really easy to get parasites...haha I brought a lifetime supply of any stomach medication you can imagine. But despite all the warnings, I couldn't say no to the tomates y uvas so I risked it. And I feel fine! So I'm going to continue to be careful because I don't think its possible for me to not eat fresh fruit/vegetables for six months...
After I unpacked and showered, I sat out by the picina (pool) and got some sun while attempting to tell Adriana and Pepe about my family...I'm already learning a lot. Later, Adriana took me into town (not downtown Cordoba, but to the shopping center of the neighborhood she lives in). She spent half the time fending off Argentine men that were making comments about who knows what. She told me to never walk anywhere alone around here... at least thats what I got from the broken english and our sign language. Argentines are crazy drivers, it reminds me of Boston. Only instead of everyone driving alone in their own car in Boston, the Argentine are expert carpoolers (with 7+ people in 5 person cars, including no carseats and kids sitting on laps). There are also lots of mopeds. I even saw a couple riding a moped with their NEWBORN CHILD. I couldn't believe it! There's no rules about stopping for pedistrians here so I'm going to have to cut my jaywalking habits if I want to live to see Boston again...
I don't know how my host-mom has the patience for me to constantly look at her with a blank expression on my face (especially since I only had 2 hours of sleep last night...I've been sleepin walking all day). I'm really glad that she is willing to work with me. I brought my little pocket Spanish dictionary with me to the shopping mall haha..yes I was that girl. I need to figure out how to exchange my money for pesos...another thing that Adriana and I are having trouble communicating to eachother. We'll get there.
It didn't get dark until 8:30pm...I love that about the summer (verano) months. We had dinner around 9:30pm with their daughter who is 23 (I think, and I already forget her name..I fail at life), we had sandwiches with the leftover meat and more tomates y uvos. Muy rico! Adriana told me I need to get a cell phone (I was planning on it anyway), just in case I miss my bus or get lost (which will most likely happen sooner or later). She wanted me to take the bus tomorrow to clase de espanol and to work, but since I don't have a cellphone she's letting me off the hook and is going to drive me. I think I would have a heart attack having to take the bus my first day... it was hard enough for me to get here by plane alone. I guess it can only get easier from here.
I'm exhausted and I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day so I'm going to get some sleep...but hopefully whoever's reading this isn't bored to tears about my first day in Argentina. Buenos noches, besos <3
I had a 4 hour layover in Miami, I hate layovers more than anything. The second I got on my plane from Miami to Chile, it felt like everyone stopped speaking English...maybe it was my imagination... I got super lucky because the seat next to me was empty so I got to stretch out and catch an hour or two of sleep on the red-eye flight so that was nice. I finally got to Chile at 8am and I saw my first glimpse of the Andes mountains. They are AMAZING. I saw the sun rising over them when we first landed in Chile and my face was literally glued to the windows of the plane I couldn't look away. People probably though I was crazy haha but hey we don't have mountains like that back home (no offense New England but the White Mountains don't compare..)
My last flight was to Cordoba, with the Chilean futbol team of course...anyways, I was surprised at how easy it was to get my bags (thank God) and to get through customs. I walked out of the exit and sure enough there were the cutest two Argentine people I'd ever seen jumping and waving with a sign that said "KRISTINA" on it. No doubt these were my host parents...they welcomed me with hugs and besos and we stepped outside into the 93 degree humid weather. But hey, I'm not complaining...I can't wait for my pale skin to disappear :)
My host family consists of Adriana and Cezar (who goes by Pepe). They are in their 50's and their kids are out of the house. They barely speak any English which I somewhat expected but it is much harder to deal with the language barrier then I thought it would. But it's forcing me to practice. Either I learn Spanish or I'm going to be communicating by sign language by the time I leave because there is no other way. They live about 25-30 minutes outside Cordoba Central, which I was bummed about at first because it's not wicked close to the center of the city, but now I'm glad because it's a safer area and it's a bit quieter then being downtown.
pepe y adriana :)
Their house is really cute, and has a fenced in backyard with a small pool in it, and a dog named Machinta (no idea how it's spelled...but the dog is going to be my new best friend). We had a roast for lunch, along with fresh tomatoes and grapes from their yard...I was so nervous to eat uncooked vegetables/fruit because they are usually washed with the water and its really easy to get parasites...haha I brought a lifetime supply of any stomach medication you can imagine. But despite all the warnings, I couldn't say no to the tomates y uvas so I risked it. And I feel fine! So I'm going to continue to be careful because I don't think its possible for me to not eat fresh fruit/vegetables for six months...
After I unpacked and showered, I sat out by the picina (pool) and got some sun while attempting to tell Adriana and Pepe about my family...I'm already learning a lot. Later, Adriana took me into town (not downtown Cordoba, but to the shopping center of the neighborhood she lives in). She spent half the time fending off Argentine men that were making comments about who knows what. She told me to never walk anywhere alone around here... at least thats what I got from the broken english and our sign language. Argentines are crazy drivers, it reminds me of Boston. Only instead of everyone driving alone in their own car in Boston, the Argentine are expert carpoolers (with 7+ people in 5 person cars, including no carseats and kids sitting on laps). There are also lots of mopeds. I even saw a couple riding a moped with their NEWBORN CHILD. I couldn't believe it! There's no rules about stopping for pedistrians here so I'm going to have to cut my jaywalking habits if I want to live to see Boston again...
I don't know how my host-mom has the patience for me to constantly look at her with a blank expression on my face (especially since I only had 2 hours of sleep last night...I've been sleepin walking all day). I'm really glad that she is willing to work with me. I brought my little pocket Spanish dictionary with me to the shopping mall haha..yes I was that girl. I need to figure out how to exchange my money for pesos...another thing that Adriana and I are having trouble communicating to eachother. We'll get there.
It didn't get dark until 8:30pm...I love that about the summer (verano) months. We had dinner around 9:30pm with their daughter who is 23 (I think, and I already forget her name..I fail at life), we had sandwiches with the leftover meat and more tomates y uvos. Muy rico! Adriana told me I need to get a cell phone (I was planning on it anyway), just in case I miss my bus or get lost (which will most likely happen sooner or later). She wanted me to take the bus tomorrow to clase de espanol and to work, but since I don't have a cellphone she's letting me off the hook and is going to drive me. I think I would have a heart attack having to take the bus my first day... it was hard enough for me to get here by plane alone. I guess it can only get easier from here.
I'm exhausted and I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a long day so I'm going to get some sleep...but hopefully whoever's reading this isn't bored to tears about my first day in Argentina. Buenos noches, besos <3
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Getting a bit anxious...
I can't believe my last week in the US till july is finally here. I have so much to get done and I'm starting to get so stressed...lately, everyone I've talked to has just been asking me over and over if I'm nervous to be going overseas alone and not knowing anyone in the city of Cordoba, Argentina. The one girl from Northeastern that was going, bailed last week. She was there for a couple days and then messaged me to tell me she wasn't staying...I almost don't want to know why she's leaving.
I'm starting to feel like this is going to be harder than I thought. At work, some of the guys keep asking me if my parents have enough money to pay the ransom for when I get kidnapped. I laugh it off but the reality of it is I am scared that I'll be alone down there. I definitely don't know enough of the language at this point so hopefully I will pick it up really quickly once I get there and start taking lessons. I'm also getting nervous about feeling sick from the water/food...I reallyyy hope that's not too big of a problem since I already have a sensitive stomach :( ah mann what was I thinking when I got myself into this?!
Anyways, I have countless lists of things I need to do/get/think about before my departure... my favorite jeans are so worn that they ripped, and I can't think of what to bring my host family as a gift. I also still haven't signed a lease for an apartment for the fall which is SO stressful but I guess I'll just have to leave that up to my roommates...
This entry was pretty pointless but i promise next time I write I will have something of substance once I arrive in South America!
I'm starting to feel like this is going to be harder than I thought. At work, some of the guys keep asking me if my parents have enough money to pay the ransom for when I get kidnapped. I laugh it off but the reality of it is I am scared that I'll be alone down there. I definitely don't know enough of the language at this point so hopefully I will pick it up really quickly once I get there and start taking lessons. I'm also getting nervous about feeling sick from the water/food...I reallyyy hope that's not too big of a problem since I already have a sensitive stomach :( ah mann what was I thinking when I got myself into this?!
Anyways, I have countless lists of things I need to do/get/think about before my departure... my favorite jeans are so worn that they ripped, and I can't think of what to bring my host family as a gift. I also still haven't signed a lease for an apartment for the fall which is SO stressful but I guess I'll just have to leave that up to my roommates...
This entry was pretty pointless but i promise next time I write I will have something of substance once I arrive in South America!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
So much to do...so little time
So another checkmark off my list of things to do...my blog is made. I know, huge priority. But I knew if I didn't make it now that it would never happen and I want to be able to stay connected with everyone somehow since I don't even know what to expect when I board my flight in 2 weeks (hoping for hot water and occasional internet access, and hopefully no bugs where I'm sleeping...that's all i ask).
I just got an email from my host family, so hopefully that means we have internet at the house (doubtful I've heard). They seem nice, but I couldn't understand a word they said and had to have my friend translate the entire thing. This will be interesting once I arrive in Argentina...guess I'm going to be learning as much as I can the next 2 weeks so I can use a little more than sign language when I move in. ahhh why didn't I start my Rosetta stone lessons months ago...
I just got an email from my host family, so hopefully that means we have internet at the house (doubtful I've heard). They seem nice, but I couldn't understand a word they said and had to have my friend translate the entire thing. This will be interesting once I arrive in Argentina...guess I'm going to be learning as much as I can the next 2 weeks so I can use a little more than sign language when I move in. ahhh why didn't I start my Rosetta stone lessons months ago...
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