Mugged

While I still believe in the philosophy of what I said in my last post, about being proud of my country and my culture, I don’t know if I agree with my tactics anymore for security reasons. My friend Emily and I got off the subway and were walking in a well-known town during the afternoon, and a man and a woman were standing on the street where we were about to pass by. The man did some sort of weird jump (maybe to distract me?) and before I knew what was happening, the woman sprinted to the side and ran behind me, grabbed me by the neck and put me in a headlock. My mind was frozen and I had no idea what was going on; it seemed like a dream. At first I had an absurd thought that she was hugging me. Now we know where my mind goes in a life or death situation. I was making some sort of loud noise, I don’t know if it was screaming, but I gave her my purse and they both ran off. I was dizzy and confused and couldn’t stop crying. My friend was freaked out too; she tried to help me breathe and stay calm. Two young men from Israel came up to us and asked us if I was robbed. They were very nice and walked us to the subway stop. In my purse was: my phone, my camera, my apartment key, directions to get to my apartment, and my wallet (200 pesos, $20, my health insurance card, and my debit card). Oh and they also ripped my bandana off my head. Was that really necessary? I liked that bandana. It was red, my favorite color.

Anyway, that completely sucked but I guess it’s pretty common. It happens to Argentines too, but it’s a lot more common with North-Americans. No matter how hard I try to speak Spanish and fit in, it doesn’t matter. And since it was daytime and I was with a friend, I honestly don’t know how to prevent something like this from happening again. I don’t think I was being stupid about anything. I guess in the future I just won’t carry my debit card around.. but my camera? Maybe I will just bring that in large group situations. My mom at home is canceling my debit card and we have to change the locks on this apartment. That sucks but now I totally understand when people who get mugged say they are glad that they still have their lives. I think it was also more terrifying at the time than it is a bummer. Of course this means more hassle and lots more money, but that’s nothing compared to how much worse it could have been. Since I am from the suburbs of Chicago, I am not used to this kind of thing. It is common in big cities, so I know that I shouldn't be completely terrified every time I walk out the door. But the best part is that I have my life and my friends and family. That sounds completely corny but I really do consider myself lucky right now. The things I lost are things that can be replaced. And now I will take a long nap.

Proud to be an American?

After grocery shopping, buying two pairs of earrings, ice cream, and lunch yesterday, I spent 143 pesos. That sounded like a ton, and I was worried about how much I was spending. But then I realized that this is only $37 in the States. I get scared off by the high peso amount and forget the exchange rate. Sometimes I can get a pretty good dinner with only 5 US dollars.

After a day of feeling a bit depressed, I found a good remedy. Family. I skyped with my brother Kevin at home and we caught each other up on our lives. I love him so much! I spent the night at home with my familia here in Argentina, also. This was just as effective at cheering me up :) I met Juanita, the 4 year old granddaughter of mi mamá. She is absolutely precious. She has white blonde hair and is very cute. It is a whole new experience trying to speak another language to a child, in the way that they shout exclamations every few seconds, invent words or phrases, and ask really to-the-point questions. It is also more nerve-wracking for me to try and communicate with a 4 year-old than with a teenager or adult. Maybe because I feel more pressure to understand what they are saying, since they don’t yet have the inhibitions to be polite when I totally screw up the grammar or use a word that they don’t use in Argentina. It’s awesome how astute children are. As soon as I introduced myself and left the room for a moment, Juanita asked her grandma why I talked differently from her. We watched almost 15 episodes of Tom and Jerry, and I realized how poor my Spanish vocabulary is. I don’t know the words for “snoring", “kangaroo”, and a number of other useful words that prevented me from expressing what I was thinking during our television time. This is a problem! My Madison friends helped me write a to-do list for Argentina, and now I can cross something off: Talk to someone in each age category in Spanish: a toddler, a child, a teenager, an adult, and an elderly person. Check! I even did extra credit and talked to a dog.

Bringing one suitcase of luggage was a pretty tough thing for me to comprehend. How am I supposed to live off one suitcase for 5 months? Especially when running shoes, a rain coat and a fall coat take up so much room. I definitely minimized my wardrobe here, and I enjoy the feeling. Of course there are times when I really feel like wearing that one shirt that I left at home.. But I’ve come to the realization that nothing is wrong with wearing the same dress twice in a week. I haven’t gone to the laundromat yet because I am avoiding it, but I am doing okay without it for now. Sometimes I look in my small closet, see the limited amount of stuff that I brought, and wish that I really did only have that much stuff. Of course, if I really did wish that, I would Skype my mother and tell her to give all of my stuff to charity. I guess I am just too used to having things. Maybe one day I can be more of a minimalist.

I have come to another realization that maybe it isn’t such a bad thing when people immediately know that I’m North-American. Why is it imperative that I abandon my culture and try desperately to blend into theirs? I will not be rude and try to stand out, of course, but if someone from Argentina came to the US and started talking, I would know where they were from. Is that such a bad thing? We are a part of our own cultures, and we take a part of that culture with us no matter where we go. While it’s great to learn new languages and try out new traditions and customs, I know that I do not have to be embarrassed when I am identified as a norteamericana. Maybe at first it struck me as unfortunate because of all of the negative stereotypes that go along with being from the United States. However, I often times forget about the positive ones. A new doorman (Luis) guessed my origin and was thrilled; he spoke of what a beautiful country it was and how beautiful its people were. He spoke to me in Spanish but also a bit in English, and I have learned not to take offense by this either. Some people just really want to practice their English, and are delighted that they know a few words so they can try to relate to you. It is the same as when I speak with one of the cooks at my restaurant from Mexico in Spanish. If someone from Peru came to the US, I would by no means want them to pretend to be from anywhere other than Peru. Our cultural differences are one of the things that make us all different, and we should have pride for our country. Being proud of my mother country and having an interest in integrating into this new country is a tricky balancing act, but I am going to strive for success.

Power Outage and Exhaustion

Part I: I attempted to obtain pesos from the ATM using my debit card two times, and it didn’t work. I called the company before I left the country and put a travel notification on my account that says I am in Argentina, so I really don’t understand what the problem is. I had to cancel my credit card right before I left for Argentina and I do not have my new one yet, so this leaves me with few options. I will try to call the debit card company soon and figure things out; I hope things piece together soon or I will be broke in Buenos Aires!

It is difficult to communicate to people in my program when and where you are going out on week-ends because no one has that much money on their pay-as-you-go phones, and calls can be pretty expensive. Skype and facebook are good options if people are at their computers, but right as I was planning out a meeting location with friends, the power in my house went out. This made it difficult to find out where people were going and how to get there. No one else was home at the time, and I had no idea where candles were.. And I guess I could have blamed the power outage on how I ended up dressing (flower dress, magenta tights, and a bandana), but I have a feeling I would have worn something similar even if I could have seen what I was choosing from my closet.

I headed out around 11:00 and took the bus right near a bar. It was fun and friendly and after a while upstairs, we went to the basement and danced. This was my favorite part. There were disco lights flashing across the ceiling and walls, and fun, upbeat music. I didn’t feel at all uncomfortable and I had a really good time. Lots of people from my orientation met up there and it was nice connecting names with faces again and finding out more about each other, even if it involved yelling over the loud music (which causes me to completely lose my accent when speaking in Spanish, by the way). Normally I am very outgoing and have no problem speaking to people I don’t know, but when it comes to people who speak a different language, I can be more timid. I have this idea in my head that they don’t want to talk to me or could be doing something better with their time. Perhaps I will soon come to the realization that this mentality is ridiculous and I will muster up the courage to talk to porteños. Being out and about was fun but by 3:30, I was pretty tired, which is still considered early for Argentines. I have to get used to this crazy way of life that seems to lack a key element that I am accustomed to: sleep.

Part II: I went to three different ATMs and my debit card finally worked at one of them, so I do not have to worry about being lunch-less and ice cream-less (and perhaps some important things-less). Today I did a lot of walking, down many streets and into many stores. It was a beautiful day once again; I need to start wearing sun-block! I love the artisan markets here. There are so many beautiful hand-made purses and scarves, as well as intricate jewelry. Sometimes the owners at the tents tell me stories while I am browsing through their merchandise. I did not do so well on my anti-North American look today.. Two girls and I were walking down the street and a couple passed us and said “tres americanas.” Great.

I feel exhausted. Yes, from all the walking and staying up late, but also from trying so hard to do every little thing. Everything with my credit and debit cards, my electronics, the internet not working when I need to communicate plans and messages to people, no one understanding me in my attempts to speak Spanish, and lack of a strong friend group that I can trust and be myself around. A girl in the study abroad office at Madison told me about a study abroad curve that many people experience, where they are first excited to arrive in a new country, then fall into a slump of not knowing anyone or anything and missing home, then sky-rocket toward loving every minute of everything, and then fall again once they have to return home and leave all of their new friends and the culture they have grown accustomed to. Maybe this is what I am experiencing. It seems like everyone else in the program is having such a wonderful time partying and living the life that it’s hard to know if anyone else is feeling a bit down. I enjoy new experiences but I miss people that I love. And I miss familiarity. Even though there are many nice people here, I feel like they don’t know me. I miss my friends and family who already understand what kind of person I am. No questions, no confusion, just comfortable coexistence.

En Español: Mi tarjeta de débito está funcionando ahora, y estoy alegre de que no tenga de preocuparme de estar sin pesos en Buenos Aires. Salí anoche con estudiantes en mi programa y estuvo divertido. Bailé por un rato; esto es mi actividad favorita para hacer durante una noche con amigos. Hace mucho calor y el día está hermoso. Me encantan todas las tiendas pequeñas de ropa y joyas en las calles en mi barrio. Me cansan todos los problemas con la electricidad y las cosas que no funcionan, pero tengo que vivir con esto por el momento. También es difícil no tener un grupo de mejores amigos acá. Sé que solamente es la primera semana, pero les extraño a mis amigos en los EEUU igual.

Politics and Purses

Life is pretty glorious. I am feeling more comfortable cada día (each day). However, I am still far from feeling like a porteña (what the residents of Buenos Aires call themselves). I have been quite prone to bumping my head and various body parts into counters, windows, and bed posts. I am not sure if it’s because my body notices that I am not in the United States and isn’t used to this country.. But that doesn’t make much sense. Maybe my mental disorientation is transferring its energy to my physical being. Side note: They don’t recycle here, and it is difficult for me to throw my cans and containers away in the trash. When I was on the bus earlier, the driver passed a street and the girl close-by asked me, “No es una parada?” (this [street] is not a bus stop?) And I was so happy! Because this means that I must have not exposed myself as 100% North-American today. I will keep working on that.

Anoche (last night) I consumed something similar to a Spanish tortilla but different. It was made of eggs, and had an omelette-like consistency, but instead of vegetables or meat, it had pasta inside! Interesante. I have eaten many wonderful duraznos (peaches). I love peaches. But only really good ones. You know? Apples are generally tasty, but peaches have to be at the perfect ripeness and softness and sweetness, and then they are amazing. While breakfast and lunch are often mere snacks, dinner here is a big deal. Mi mamá and I sometimes spend an hour and a half talking and eating. It is a lovely time to talk over our days, discuss culture differences, and to hear all sorts of amusing stories about her friends and family accompanied by dramatic hand gestures the whole time. It’s an awesome feeling when she tells a story and I actually understand all of what’s going on, and then realize that we have something else in common. I sometimes struggle to get my exact point across when we are discussing complex issues, but she is very patient. When I finally convey my message in the way that I would like, I see a light of understanding cross her face, and she always has more stories to tell in relation to what I said. We usually leave the apartment at different times in the morning, and sometimes she leaves me sweet notes, telling me what options there are for my breakfast. I wrote a note to mi mamá when I was going to bed and she wasn’t home, and mi hermana (sister) Ana Lucía told me that it was written very well, but it is awkward to sign “amor” (love) at the end of a letter. It doesn’t translate the same here as it does when we say “love” before signing our name. She suggested using “chau” (bye!) or “besos” (kisses). That’s helpful to know.

I made some friends who seem really cool. It’s funny because in the program, there are 150 people and sometimes the different groups get out of orientation at different times, so I usually just walk around Recoleta (the barrio where we have orientation) with whoever gets out at the same time as I do. Often times, it’s different people every day. This is fun, but it is difficult to form lasting friendships since I don't see the same group repeatedly. I am becoming closer with a few people that are very laid-back and accepting. During our hour and a half break today, we walked to the obelisk and saw a demonstration. I don’t know exactly why these people were on strike, but they were parading around “el centro” with posters that said “Nestor vive” and also things about Perón. Nestor is the deceased husband of the current president of Argentina, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner. Protests are very common here since Buenos Aires is a very politically-oriented city. Sometimes professors at the universities go on strike and classes are canceled! We walked around and enjoyed the beautiful weather, and I felt genuinely happy to be alive.

In orientation today we talked about the political spectrum here and which political views the different social classes generally have. It is very confusing because the Spanish word “conservador” means “liberal” in English, and the Spanish word “radical” means “center” in English. This is backwards for North-Americans and hurts my head to discuss. In the “castellano” section of my orientation, we are improving our Spanish and learning the proper way to speak like an Argentine. There are different verb forms and a different accent, like I mentioned in my second post (i.e. “cah-shay”). There are only 5 distinct vowels in Spanish, while we have many forms of different vowels. I have learned before and was told again today that there is a critical period for learning languages and being able to speak a different one from your native tongue without an accent. After this critical period (I’m not sure exactly what age), you will always have an accent in other languages (even if it’s not too noticeable) no matter how long you study it. Because Spanish only has 5 vowels, my instructor told me that he will never be able to distinguish between the vowel sounds in the English words “ran” and “run.” He knows that there is a difference, but since he didn’t learn English until later in life, his brain does not register these sounds as distinct from one another. It is the same for some subtle phonetic differences in Spanish words that I will never be able to detect.

Nicknames here are very common and while some might sound mean or rude to norteamericanos, they are meant affectionately here. For example, “gordo” means fat, and people might call their friends “gordito” or “gordita” in a caring way, sometimes even if they are not fat. There is less hyper-political correctness here, and it is not at all offensive to call someone “negro” or “negrita”, while in the United States, this might create tension. I admire this attitude in a way, because while I understand the intention of political correctness, I think it is sometimes so overblown that one is drawing more attention to people’s differences rather than making them feel more included or comfortable. I guess it’s a difficult issue to resolve and maybe it’s impossible to make everyone happy.

One of my new friends and another girl got robbed a few days ago on the bus. They didn’t even notice it happening, but someone cut their purses with a knife and stole their wallets. I don’t understand how the people here are so good at this! My first thought would be: how could you not notice that someone was cutting open your purse? But apparently it’s a mischievous art form.  Knowing that this is happening to people that I know and it’s not just a myth to scare us into being safe, I am starting to count my blessings every time I come home and discover that all of my possessions are still in my bag.

The elevators in my apartment building are not automatic, which is a different experience for me. I never understood how people could fall down an elevator shaft like they show in TV shows (like in Boy Meets World when Cory is having nightmares about pushing all of his friends down one), but now I understand. It’s a bit scary, realizing that you can open the gate when the elevator is not on your floor and fall right down into the depths of doom. I hope they have a trampoline at the bottom, just in case!

On the public buses, conversations are rare, even between friends. Everyone always appears to be tired from waking up early to haul themselves off to work, or worn out from the day's trials. It appears that everyone is distant from each other mentally even though we are all so physically close together. However, when we pass a Catholic church, it is amazing to see most of the people on the buss cross their hearts at the same time and look toward the sky. The majority of the population in Argentina is Catholic, and it is interesting to see this gesture that brings people together, even when they are not talking or interacting. It helps me see the unity in this country. Everyone is traveling to different places, but we are all riding the same bus.

Rain or Shine

Okay so I caved and got ice cream again today. Woops! Many women here are tall and have bodies half the width of my leg. It’s quite ridiculous. People put a lot of effort into their appearance, and they definitely look beautiful. I don’t care too much about creating an image of perfection; I hope they don’t think I’m an insult to their cultural atmosphere.

The dog Tango and I are at best friend status now. It is quite swell. I also made another friend from the study abroad program named Whitney; she is lovely. She lives a few blocks away from me, which is very convenient because we can take public transportation together when we go out at night. We have a lot of the same interests and we also try to speak in Spanish as much as possible. We went to a kiosk to add money to her pay-as-you-go cell phone, and we tried to communicate what we wanted in Spanish. I thought we did a very good job, but the vendor could tell that we are Americans and made fun of us. It was hard for me to tell that he was being sarcastic at first with the language barrier, but we left the kiosk feeling a bit confused and uncomfortable. One minute later, a man and his girlfriend who were buying something at the kiosk came over to us. The man spoke in English and asked if we spoke English also. He had such a good accent that I thought he was from the States, asking for directions or something of the sort. However, he said he was from Argentina and that he wanted to apologize for the vendor’s behavior. He confirmed that the man was insulting us, and said that this was awful behavior since we were making the effort to speak Spanish. He told us that this is not the typical way that Argentine people speak with Americans, and hopes it doesn't reflect badly on their culture. I really appreciated and was reassured by his efforts to make us feel comfortable with the city and the people here. As I have said previously, the majority of the Argentines that I have encountered radiate warmth and helpfulness.

I talked with Ana Lucía today, the daughter of mi mamá. She is 26 years old and lives a few blocks away from my apartment, but sometimes teaches students here during the day. I had a conversation with her about her students and adapting to new cultures. She is very open and very sweet. I hope I am able to spend more time with her in the future, but I know that she is very busy with her many jobs and classes at an art institute. Hopefully, by the end of the program, she will feel like my real sister!

Everything is making more sense, even since yesterday. I didn’t get lost today - Horray! In time, I will recover from “culture shock.” Things seem friendlier, but I have to make sure not to put my guard down since things can still happen. During the day I feel comfortable to walk alone, and it is really liberating to explore my surroundings. It rained most of the day today, but it was a nice rain, and still warm. I walked around Palermo and saw a shop with lots of pretty dresses from India; I hear that clothing from India is fashionable in Buenos Aires. I still need to get used to the greeting; a kiss on the right cheek of everyone you are friends with, and everyone that your friends are friends with. I have been hanging out with mostly norteamericanos at this point because of my orientation, but I am really excited to further integrate into the culture and make Argentine friends when I start attending the universities in a month.

In some barrios of Buenos Aires, the majority of the population is of the middle class. In mine, there are more extremes on both ends of the spectrum. Palermo is a high-end barrio, but I pass many homeless people on the streets daily. It breaks my heart to see moms with small children, begging for pesos. Sometimes parents have the little children beg, which makes it even harder to refuse their pleas. I feel so conflicted because I want to help, but I feel like I can’t just give my money to every person that asks. I hope I’m not being cold-hearted.

I had a written Spanish test today in orientation in order to see what level I’m at and put me into an ability group for.. something. It wasn’t horrible but at first I couldn’t understand any of the words in the newspaper article that I had to write an essay about and then my mind went blank due to anxiety for about 5 minutes. I skipped to the second part, which was an essay asking about American culture, and then later returned to the first one and understood it mejor (better). Tomorrow I have an oral interview with one of the instructors. Wish me buena suerte!

Dulce de Leche

So much español, ¡todos los días! I did not realize how exhausting it would be to listen to people talk and to have conversations in Spanish 24/7. It takes a lot of mind power and even my body feels fatigued. That might also be because of the walking to and from subways, standing on the colectivos (buses), and walking down calles (streets), looking for cafés. Usually I can stay up pretty late without any caffeine, but all of this learning and experiencing new things is wearing me out and preventing me from having the Argentine energy late at night. It’s 12:57 AM and I just finished dinner with my mamá! She is a wonderful cook and I like everything that she prepares. Tonight was cooked eggplant with Italian spices and a cheese, zucchini, and tomato bake. We had a lively conversation and I understood more of what was going on than last night. I can tell I’m not completely thinking in Spanish yet because I will see a sign on a chair that says “No apoyarse” and I will immediately translate it into “do not support yourself on this”, the literal translation, rather than “don’t sit on this.” Ay carray.

Today was my first long day of orientation. 11 AM til 6:30 PM. The staff answered questions for us and then told us how to use the buses and subways, and they talked about security. I have been told many times that I should never walk around the streets alone in the nighttime. It’s kind of like the lakeshore path at UW-Madison! You can potentially walk there and not have any problems, but better not take the risk. Unless you’re with people. And they recommend traveling with locals.. People wearing American clothing and yelling in English are more likely to get mugged. I can’t imagine why.

I thought my converter wasn’t working because it wouldn’t charge my laptop.. Turns out, I am foolish and the MacBook charger cord has a built-in adapter, so the transformer isn’t necessary. I never thought about the purpose of the large white box on the cord because I've never taken my laptop out of the country. I just don’t understand why it worked at the hostel but not in my apartment. Oh well. It’s times like these when I need my engineering and math friends at Wisconsin with me to explain simple technological dilemmas like this. Or maybe just someone with a bit more common sense.

By the end of today’s orientation, I felt like I was even worse at Spanish than when I woke up this morning. Perhaps that’s just the result of learning a lot in a short period of time. Sometimes I feel myself forgetting basic words that I learned in high school and use often. I took the bus today and it wasn’t too difficult, but when I came back to Palermo on it and had to find the way to my house, I turned the wrong way and got lost for over half an hour. It was frustrating, but I get lost often anywhere I go due to my poor sense of direction, so I guess it was a familiar feeling.

Once I finally started recognizing cafés and tiendas (stores) near my apartment, I rewarded myself with my first helado (ice cream) in Argentina. It was ¡INCREÍBLE! Seriously the best ice cream I have ever tasted in my life. And that is saying a lot, considering I am a frequent consumer of Wisconsin’s Babcock ice cream, and have also tried many a gelato while in Italy. I got half dulce de leche (creamy caramel) and half banana split. So ridiculously amazing! AHH. I have to make sure I don’t buy it every day! Muchos pesos.

I feel pretty alone when I get very lost or can’t understand anyone, but I know that this feeling will pass. It’s crazy that I’ve only been here for 3 days.. It feels like so much longer! Hopefully after a few semanas (weeks), I will feel more adapted to the culture. When I feel very lonely, I cuddle with Tango, the happy Argentine dog living with me. He's very comforting and makes me feel like I’ve always had a dog even though I never have. Perhaps he just brings out part of myself; I have a theory that my soul animal is a prairie dog.

Toto and Tango

After a nap and a shower, Monica and I left our hostel and walked around a plaza in San Telmo. The barrio was lively and loud even though it was Sunday night. Students are on summer vacation here, but many working adults were out, too. There were young people playing drums and a really cool clicky instrument of which I should find out the name. People of all ages surrounded the musicians and danced with merriment. I love seeing all of the generations hang out together and have fun. In the books that I've read, the authors say that people of Buenos Aires are always impeccably dressed and jeans and shorts are a rare sight. However, while there are many women in lovely dresses and men in nice jackets, I have also seen plenty of people in casual wear. This is comforting, since dressing up is fun, but I would not want to do this all the time.

We arrived at a café in perfect time for cena (dinner) - 10 pm. While I'm here, I feel very relaxed and laidback. I can understand why everyone is so nonchalant about schedules and time here; the relaxed attitude is contagious. I took my time eating my mozzarella pizza and empanada caprese (pastries filled with cheese or meat; in this case, cheese, tomato and basil). Everything is at a much slower pace here (an exception being the traffic). I ordered café con leche (coffee with milk) because while I'm not usually much of a coffee drinker, I want to be a part of this highly-caffeinated city.

While I can generally carry on conversations in Spanish, buying a cell phone was a different story. The different accent really confused me and at the first store that I went to, the clerk told me that the system was down for all telephones, and then she tried to explain in English by saying "white." This made absolutely no sense to me, but later I wonder if she meant to use it as an expression, as in what we call a "black-out" or something like that. The next store sold me a phone but I originally heard the price wrong and thought it was 100 pesos less than it turned out to be. But by that point, I was so frustrated that I didn't care. Now I just have to figure out how to activate it..

I arrived at my host home; it is very charming and full of flowers and has a cozy feel. I have my own room and it has lots of colors and a vestidor (a closet with hangers and shelves). It was fun staying in a hostel and meeting Xavier from France and Nelson from Colombia, but I enjoy this better because it means that I can finally unpack and stop living out of a suitcase. I'm living in Palermo, a classy barrio with excitement happening at all times. To my delight, we have a cat named Toto and a dog named Tango. This is a nice change because I love animals but do not have any of my own since my dad and brother have allergies. My family has a mother and three kids, but the kids are all grown up with families and do not live in the house. My host mamá is wonderful. She is very sweet and when I don't understand what she's saying, she explains things again and again. She made me a delicious lunch of vegetable salad, arugula with various cheeses, and a pumpkin quiche. She thankfully has no problem with my vegetarianism and is happy to accommodate. The water here is safe to drink, which is a relief since I would prefer not to spend all of my pesos on bottled water.

Mi mamá took the subte (subway) with me today to get to my first orientation, which was very kind of her. She showed me the different lines you can take and advised me to keep an eye on my possessions because the packed subte is the perfect place for someone to steal from you without you noticing. A girl at my orientation said that someone stole all of her important documents out of her backpack without her noticing. I was also told that it is common for pickpockets to "accidentally" spill something on you and then try to help you clean it up, and then steal your bag while you are distracted. To add to the list of tourist disasters.. The ATMs here take your debit cards and then give them back to you after you are finished with your transaction; many people forget to take the card afterward!

It is glorious and sunny today - 80 degrees F! I believe it stays like this for another month and then starts getting "colder".. which means warm by Chicago and Madison standards. Now I have orientation for a month before classes start. That seems like ages but our director told us that we aren't ready to study in real Argentine classes yet. And when I think about it, I agree. It will take me a while to get used to the culture differences and Argentine Spanish before I can even think about listening to lectures, taking notes, writing essays, and doing everything else... All in Spanish. I am anxious to improve so that everything makes more sense and I don't have to constantly be saying "repite, por favor." My electronic converter worked in the hostel but isn't working here, so I hope to figure that out before too long. My computer is running low on battery! Hasta luego; and I will sometimes sum up a few of my points in Spanish if I am in that sort of mood. Gracias.

Después de tomar un descanso y una ducha, mi amiga Monica y yo salimos del hostel y caminamos por una plaza en San Telmo. Comí una cena fantástica de pizza y empanadas. Me encanta todo de la cultura de Buenos Aires. Me siento relajada y alegre. Vivo en el barrio Palermo con una mamá argentina. Ella tiene tres hijos pero viven en otros lugares porque son mayores y tienen sus propias familias. El tiempo aquí es perfecto; hace sol y hace calor. Anduve en subte y no fue demasiado difícil. Estoy emocionada para mejorar mi español y empezar las materias. ¡Buenos Aires es increíble!

Let's All Be Amigos

¡Hola che! I am feeling a bit worn out from my flights out of Chicago and Miami (3 hours and 9 hours), but they went as smoothly as I could have hoped for considering it was my first time flying without my parents or teachers. I flew with my new friend Monica from Madison and it was nice to have someone to talk to and share cookies with :) I sat next to a man named Tomás on the 9 hour flight and it was quite joyous. He’s from Buenos Aires and was visiting family in Orlando. At first I was having trouble communicating a full sentence in Spanish, but after a little while I was speaking pretty fluidly. When I get nervous, I forget everything all at once! I need to work on confidence with my speaking. I told him that I am a vegetarian and asked if I would be outcasted in Buenos Aires (that’s what my culture book on Argentina told me), but he said his sister doesn’t eat meat and vegetarianism is actually very common, despite all of the beef craze here. Argentina has the largest per capita meat rate consumption in the world! And I’ve noticed that within the few hours I’ve been here.. Parillas (grilled beef restaurants) are on almost every corner!

The first thing that I really took in about Argentina is that everyone is so incredibly friendly. Waiting in line for customs, Monica and I met a wonderful man named Leonardo, a PhD student at U of I who is visiting his family in Mendoza, Argentina. We spoke in Spanish for a half hour and understood each other without any problems. I noticed a bit of the Buenos Aires accent in his speech, but it wasn’t as strong as most of the people I have met here. For example, when you ask  “¿Dónde está la calle?” (where is the street?), instead of pronouncing calle, “cay-yay,” the Argentinian accent switches the “ll” to a “j” or "sh" sound, and it changes to “cah-shay.” It’s really lovely sounding and once I am more comfortable with the Spanish I know, I hope to pick up this interesting accent. Their inflection is also really Italian-sounding in the way that it rises and falls, which makes sense because the majority of the Buenos Aires population is comprised of Italian immigrants.

But back to everyone being friendly.. Two women and a police officer offered to help us when we couldn’t find our specific cab stop outside the airport. While many people here speak at least some English, they seem to genuinely appreciate it if you make the effort to speak Spanish. They won’t laugh at you, and they will try very hard to understand what you’re saying. Since there aren’t many indigenous people left in Buenos Aires, everyone is a mixture of everything and looks different from each other. This is interesting and surprising because I never know if the next person I see on the street is going to open their mouths and speak English, Spanish, or a number of other languages that I can’t even place. When I interact with people, it is comforting knowing that they can’t immediately determine where I am from based on how I look. This is helpful because it makes it easier for me to improve my Spanish since people don’t just make assumptions (like when a waiter gave my family and I forks and knives at a restaurant in Japan).

After the long period of standing in lines, we experienced a fast-paced cab ride with a man named Luis who kept up a lively conversation. He didn’t speak any English and we managed for the most part. Occasionally there would be a slight miscommunication, but that’s when I just smile and nod and change the topic. At the end of the ride, he gave us his card and told us that if we ever needed to go anywhere or even if we just needed advice about Buenos Aires or finding novios (boyfriends), we should give him a call.

After dropping off our bags, we left the hostel with no particular direction in mind, wandering the cobblestone streets of San Telmo (one of the many barrios of Buenos Aires). After walking only one block, we ran into artisan tents bursting with scarves, blankets, mate cups, jewelry, leather goods, photography, and paintings. In the middle of the tents, there was a plaza where a man and a woman were tango dancing to music on loud speakers. It was 10 in the morning and Buenos Aires was already alive and bustling. I felt like I was reading stories in my culture book and imagining them really vividly rather than being somewhere where these cool things actually happen. Before I knew it, they started playing “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” in Spanish.. A lovely song from the musical “Evita.” Aside from the kindness that people have shown me, another factor about the culture that has made me feel welcome here is the clothing style. While at home I might wear a pair of cheetah tights and a bright blue skirt and look slightly out of place, I saw a middle-aged woman wearing exactly that this morning and no one gave her a second glance! There are lots of crazy dresses and loosely fitting rainbow pants. I will definitely be taking a pair of those home.

It’s a bit frustrating to speak Spanish with American friends because you know that they will understand what you mean so much better if you just explain yourself in English. I hope that after some time of being around Spanish constantly, I won’t feel the need to resort to English when something gets too complex. Right now my body and mind are completely drained and I am really looking forward to sleeping in my hostel bed. We are sharing a room with two other people, so that will be an interesting experience. Then tomorrow I will try to purchase a local phone so I can call people here, and then I get to meet my host family! I hope we get along well and can share traditions and smiles so I can learn more about them and Latin American culture.

Fare thee well, North America

I am waking up in less than 5 hours and leaving for the airport in less than 7.. I’m not fantastic at getting adequate amounts of sleep. At least that seems to be less of a shortcoming in Buenos Aires! According to my research, they tend to eat dinner around 11, hit the bars around 2, and party until work the next morning at 8.. Slight exaggeration? Who knows; maybe it’s a town of superhumans! I will have to confirm or deny the existence of this extreme lifestyle after a few days in my new hometown.

I am feeling a bit disoriented, not just because it’s 2:56 in the morning, but because I cannot believe that after all this preparation and time (2 months of winter break!), I am finally leaving. Sometimes I have to stop whatever I am doing and let it sink in. It hasn’t sunk in yet, but maybe it won’t until I set foot in this exotic, European city in South America. I am going to miss friends and family in Madison and Chicago so much, but this feels right for me at this point in my life. I love new experiences and being thrown into crazy situations that help me learn more about the world and myself.

To sum up this last entry before I am on a different continent, in a different time zone, and consumed by a different reality, I am simultaneously ecstatic and on edge. I am anxious about so many things.. That I won’t know where I’m going, that I won’t be able to understand anyone, that I will fail all my classes, and that my suitcase might be over 50 pounds.. I should probably weigh that before I leave. Okay, time to stop worrying. Yay everything! I hope to change people’s lives and I hope that people change mine. I have no idea what to expect, but maybe that’s the best way to go sometimes.