Neagley in Buenos Aires

Nicaraguan Socks

2010-04-25T06:46:00.000-07:00

Eeeek. It's been FOREVER since I actually finished these socks and I never updated or uploaded my pictures to share with the world. Shame on me.

I started these socks when I was on my way to Nicaragua. Then I put them down to work on my thesis. Then teaching ensued. Finally I finished the last one. I love wearing them.

Janelle’s recommendation for the twisted rib is a perfect pattern for socks. This was also the first sock pattern I basically made myself out of my head. It was a toe up construction. It was a great learning process. I know that I will definitely make several modifications with the next pattern. I'm also quit interested in learning how to shape my socks.

P.S. - My friend Janelle just made her first sock pattern. Try it out. I can't wait to knit up my own pair!

Manly Mits

2010-04-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Oh dear I have been remiss in updating my blog with my latest knitting and life escapades. I'm going to try and do several knitting posts to get it up to date over the next week or two...

I’m back to my good ‘ole blue colors…

I did some altering because I liked the yarn and I liked the pattern I got with gauge, but I had about 4 more stitches per inch than the pattern called for. I just scaled the pattern up with some handy math and the gloves turned out fantastic!

I really enjoy how they turned out, too. They were super-warm this winter.

Tale of an Army Nurse afflicted with a debiliating disease

2009-06-12T06:22:00.000-07:00

The Butcher's Daughter: The Story of an Army Nurse with ALS by Sandra Lesher Stuban

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
An Ivy-League educated person in tip-top shape notices that she begins having difficulties climbing stairs. Little did she know that this would causer her life to change radically, as it was the beginning of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Stuban does a marvelous job at telling her life as a highly energetic, focused nurse in the army driven to high standards and community improvement, referring often to her country morals from growing up in Elizabethville, PA. While her narrative is tough to read at times as she retells losing one ability after another, Stuban will inspire you not to pity her and others with ALS, but instead to live each day to the fullest and contribute to your own community. Stuben recounts the difficulties transitioning from a caregiver to a patient in a new community and in a chaotic healthcare system. This is required reading since we never know if we, or a loved one, may be diagnosed with a debilitating illness like Stuben.

View all my reviews.

Sad week for Argentina

2009-04-02T06:36:00.001-07:00

On March 31, 2009, Raúl Alfonsín died (82) years old. He was the first democratically elected president of Argentina after the series of devastating military dictatorships that ravaged Argentina for decades. This is a sad week for Argentina and South America because Alfonsín represented in many ways hope for the future of South America in a post-dictator world. Alfonsín is lauded for bringing many people to justice that committed various crimes during the military dictatorships in Argentina. He was highly criticized during the time because he brought many of his own political party (los radicales) to justice.

Sadly Aflonsín stepped down in result of rapid inflation and defaulting on foreign loans. But the contributions that this president made with negotiating and mitigating human rights violations in Argentina cannot go unremembered. In the US we have heard little about this important leader's death, which is sad since this man was a stalwart support of justice, equality and the virtues of Human Rights.

See the NYTimes Article Below:
New York Times Article

Book Review - Deep Economy

2009-03-13T07:28:00.001-07:00

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future by Bill McKibben

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Deep Economy will force you to reevaluate your purchasing patterns and (hopefully) your consumer behavior. He illustrates that the current economic model most nations are using may end up with many more losers than winners. While the world is growing at an enormous rate, we are consuming at an enormous rate. He illustrates how unsustainable this is for the US and the arsenal of countries on the verge of becoming developed.

In exchange, he offers a new way of looking at economics. He develops a model through a local community in place of a growth model. In the first chapter, he shows how our food system could be altered in order to be more sustainable and to build community at the same time. Later he extends this model to other issues pressing our future on the earth: energy production, transportation, etc.

From my perspective growing up on a farm, everything McKibben makes sense: Buy local, and all of the money goes to the farmers in the community and at the same time, food is the freshest. Live within your means in a way that is in concert with the environment. Over consumption doesn't equal happiness, but family, community, and relationships will lead to lasting happiness.

I appreciate that his ideas are not radical nor ideological. McKibben reinforced his ideas with common sense alternatives to our typical consumerism in the United States. I think that you would be inspired after reading this book, and realize how much control we do have to shape the world. Reading this after my recent travels to Nicaragua inspires me to start my professional life living within my means; Central America more than many places shows us the consequences of United States decisions. I will definitely try to thwart off all of the pressures for hyper-consumerism.

My friend recommended this book to me last year and I decided I should pick it up and read it before McKibben comes to my campus in April. The book surely did not disappoint, and I'm excited to see his talk in April.

View all my reviews.

Family Day!

2009-01-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

My parents and grandma visited me at Gettysburg. I thought I'd share the photo with my friends and family!

Follow my adventures from 1/3-1/13 in León Nicaragua. Visit our blog: http://cps-pgl.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year

2008-12-31T09:05:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year to all. I hope you all have had fulfilling years and an even more prosperous year next year!

Latest Book - Eat, Pray, Love

2008-11-29T16:14:00.000-08:00

Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I think this book was amazing. I have a funny story about it. While I was studying abroad in Buenos Aires, Argentina I started this book in Spanish--my first libro en español. It was hard reading in Spanish, but I managed through two sections of the book until it was stolen on my trip to Northern Argentina when I had the last section--Love--to finish.

I just finished it and I'm really impressed with her writing style. I think its a book for anyone who's trying to search for life's purpose(s). I really am impressed with how she communicates to the reader the potpourri of emotions she feels throughout her year long voyage. I relate with her right now as I'm facing with pivotal life decisions post grad.

I recommend people to read this is they're facing a huge obstacle in life or would like to reflect you on life's obstacles. I know this book really challenged both of these chapters in my life.

View all my reviews.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T04:40:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all. Have a great day with family and friends.

Stranded Ear Flap Hat

2008-10-28T07:56:00.000-07:00

My knitting friend made two of these hats while I was in Argentina, and I got jealous. So I had to make one for my friend! (P.S., said friend has a new blog--check it out!) I finished this project in July--boy am I behind at posting!

This was my first stranded knitting project. I bought the yarn in Buenos Aires and knitted it with US 5 needles--they were circulars I bought in Argentina, they were nasty! I used the "Ear Flap Hat" pattern, but I altered the stranded knitting pattern significantly.

I really like the outcome. Since Lindsay reported that they had snow in Wisconsin this week, I definitely know it will be put into good use this winter in cold Madison!

We don't want your support - Read my friend's blog

2008-10-28T07:13:00.000-07:00

This is hysterical. I heard about this problem from a friend in Argentina. Then my friend wrote about this on his blog:

We don't want your support - no queremos tú apoyo

Enjoy!

Argentine Economic Situation

2008-10-25T15:51:00.000-07:00

My friend Matt from Buenos Aires sent me this insightful article about the Argentine economic situation. There debacle is different than many other countries, but represent some problems facing many other nations:

Argentine Bonds, Stocks Sink as Takeover Fuels Default Concerns

A NYTimes Article that's very interesting on currency issues across the world. Argentina isn't specifically mentioned, but neighboring Brazil is:

Some Currencies Plunge as Stocks Sink Worldwide

EI Fellows and Chris Matthews

2008-09-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

Chris Matthews came to Gettysburg College this evening. As a fellow, we got to meet him. Here's the stunning group of us Eisenhower Institute Fellows!

http://www.eisenhowerinstitute.org/

Memories - A glass of wine

2008-09-14T17:03:00.000-07:00

Never time for anything in life is there? I still have a lot to expand upon post-Argentina, and I will post it sometime soon, damnit!

What is it about a glass of wine?

I am above my head with work. I'm applying for a grant, doing calculations for instrumental, reading for molecular...all while breathing. I think it's funny how quickly I've re-assimilated into my US life. Some things are good, most things aren't. You might find that as a shock, but it's the truth honestly.

It's funny things that still bother me. Mostly things that I'm ashamed of my fellow Americans, e.g. the polls, why are we so stupid?

But if I take a moment to breathe, it's amazing what happens. I have just been taken back to Buenos Aires by having a glass of Malbec wine during a break. It makes me think of all the funny glassware the folks bring out at an Argentine restaurant. It makes me think of all my amazing experiences I had in Santiago del Estero, when we shared glasses of wine before we volunteered. Oh my, it makes me think of maté and talking for hours with my host mother.

Odors, flavors, scenery...they all can make us bring back fond memories. Have you thought about the fond memories in your past?

Book Review - The Bonesetter's Daughter

2008-08-04T13:17:00.000-07:00

The Bonesetter's Daughter by Amy Tan

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars

I picked this book up at a book exchange in Iguazú Argentina for the bus, and it really had me spell-bound. I read 200 pages on a long bus ride and reserved the last 100 for my last week in Buenos Aires. Tan is a phenomenal author at developing characters that are easy to relate to.

LuLing is Ruth's mother and immigrated from China to the US. We learn through Ruth during the first part that life has not always been easy for LuLing, and as she ages, Ruth has more burning questions about her past.

Ruth, on the other hand, is a strong woman who is a provider for her family. She is caught between the abuse her mother and her partner's children give her. I fell in love with Ruth's character because I relate to her desire to hold her family together. At the same time I also relate to her grand emptiness that sometimes is experienced while doing everything for everyone else.

I certainly will be reading more of Tan after this amazing novel.

View all my reviews.

Arrival

2008-08-03T07:46:00.000-07:00

I arrived safe and sound yesterday. I will be posting all kinds of information about my travels last 3 weeks in Argentina throughout the remainder of August and September.

Chau!

Photo of the Day -- Churripan

2008-07-24T08:00:00.001-07:00

Churripan with lots of spicey chimi-churri and a side of French Fries. How yummy.

Chorripan is a staple of "street food" in Buenos Aires. I bought this on a trip in June to La Plata at a street restaurant outside of the cathedral.

Chorripan describes the chorizo, or sausage, serged in a baguette roll. The Argentines usually put Chimi-churri, a great spice combination, on the sausage roll, too. Many times they serve it with French Fries, like it was in this photo. You often can order it at street venders or at parilla's (Argentine steak houses).

Many people have this idea that all South America eats spicy food, likely from many countries in Central and Northern South America that do have spicy cuisine. In Argentine, spicy doesn't exist. The porteños especially hate spicy food. My mother yells "¡Lo Pica! ¡Pica! ¡Pica!" any time I use Black pepper to season food. Their sausages aren't any exception. They are seasoned, but definitely not spicy--something that my family's Pennsylvania Dutch non-spicy palate could even handle.

Photo of the Day -- Cats, Cats everywhere!

2008-07-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

This cat was sighted in Recoleta Cemetery. Just was watching and chilling on the cool tile.

Buenos Aires is notorious for the feral cats. Part of the problem is that the kitties are being fed by many older people in the community that creates more of a problem. Like in the US, people drop the cats off at a place if they no longer can care for them, which is very sad.

I've been taking a series of photos of feline friends this semester. I'm most intrigued that there are very few colorful cats here--mainly black and white. These calico cats are special and rare. Although they look similar, they both live in very different parts of the city.

This cat was found in the Jardín Botánico close to my apartment. Isn't it cute?

Photo of the Day -- Sunset at Colonia del Sacremento

2008-07-21T08:00:00.001-07:00

This was taking from the boat leaving from Colonia del Sacremento after a wonderful weekend there several months past. The sights were divine and make me want to move there immediately.

Photo of the Day -- Building in Recoleta

2008-07-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

I love this building that is in Recoleta. I think it sits on the intersection of Callao and Santa Fe (I will have to check).

It's a running joke between Lindsay and I that the architecture is beautiful, however I won't bore you to tears with our running joke...

LINDSAY: Isn't the architecture on this building amazing?

Photo of the Day -- San Telmo

2008-07-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I found this photo in San Telmo one weekend. Words aren't needed to describe it. I think it's hysterical!

You never know what you're going to find in San Telmo.

la basura = garbage/trash

Arrival in Tucumán

2008-07-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

After a whirlwind tour of Cordóba, my friend Allison and I left yesterday for Tucumán. After a 10 hour bus ride, we got here and stayed at a hostel for the night. Of course before going to bed we needed to grab some food at a local pizzeria. Our friend Dara arrived this morning at Tucumán and we´re heading to meet up with a friend who has family in Tucumán today.

After my trip, and probably more likey after I return to the US, I will write about everything that we did here. But until then, give the Wiki a quick glance for facts and interesting stuff about Tucumán.

Arrival in Córdoba

2008-07-12T13:14:00.000-07:00

I arrived this morning after a 9 hour bus ride in Córdoba, Argentina. We´re touring the city for the day and then will hop on a bus tomorrow afternoon and take off to Túcuman.

I´m passing through, so if you want to read about Córdoba, I suggest skimming the WIKI Article.

Photo of the Day -- El submarino

2008-07-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is one of those genuine Argentine treats you can order in the afternoons. This is a submarino, which is a version of hot chocolate. You order the drink and usually the waiter brings you piping hot milk and a chocolate bar--either already in the milk or waiting for you to drop it in on the side as in the photo. After several minutes and a little stirring, the chocolate melts creating a wonderful hot beverage.

My friend Lindsay is addicted to them. According to her, the best part is that the chocolate doesn't completely dissolve. Then at the end you're left with a "chocolaty" treat with all of the little chocolate pieces that float to the bottom. I'd have to agree; it's quite tasty.

I don't know why it gets its name as a submarino. However sometimes the chocolate is shaped like a submarine. However since I've been looking for one of these elusive bars of chocolate, I haven't been able to find one!

Make one of these tasty Argentine treats at home to give you a version of the Porteño life!

Pictures courtesy of my friend Ronald, since I didn't have my camera with me.

Photo of the Day -- Sleeping people

2008-07-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

I'm continuing a series of "random" photos that describe my experience. These photos were observed when Matt, Ron and I were getting coffee at the food court at Alto Palermo 2 weeks ago. It was hysterical because these people are in the middle of a highly trafficked area conked out to the world, completely sleeping and not aware of their surroundings. The lady's neck is in a quite horrid position.

I've since returned to Alto Palermo during the afternoon and they were there again. The waitress told me they're always there. You should see the way people react as they pass by these sleeping folks. Some take a double take when they realize they're sleeping. Others just stop and laugh. Then there is the group that walks past in their own worlds and realize when they almost leave the area that these folks are sleeping, and quickly turn around and laugh. Lots of people stop to take pictures, too.

Matt and I laughed for at least an hour watching people's expressions. We were worried that it was a reality show. Apparently not, they are REAL, but not part of a show.

Pictures courtesy of my friend Ronald, since I didn't have my camera with me.

Knitting -- Mi Bufanda, Reversible Cable Scarf

2008-07-06T02:20:00.000-07:00

Winter started in Buenos Aires. I panicked! I had to make a scarf. I couldn't buy one because that would just be counter productive when I'm a pretty skilled knitter, right? I actually finished this the end of March, but I didn't have time to blog and to take pictures until now.

I usually just like working with wool or other natural fibers, but since I didn't have any other options, I settled with this cotton/acrylic mix I found at a local yarn store here.

I have recently had an interest in cables, and reversible cables are pretty nifty since they are perfect for scarves. I found this pattern on Lion Brand Yarn's web site that I thought would do the job. I liked it quite a bit because the pattern was pretty simple to memorize. By the 3rd or 4th round I didn't have to count any of the rows any more.

I knitted this scarf with the only circular needles I could find in Buenos Aires. I really abhor these needles and I am going to buy a complete set of the Interchangeable needles from Knitpicks the second I get back to the states--I should have listened to my friend Janelle and purchased them before I left. Oh well, I'll learn to listen to her the next time.

For the yarn being cotton, it did knit up well and quickly. I had this finished in about a week, and of course let it sit around for several days before I finally tucked in the ends (my least favorite part of the knitting process). I've been wearing it a lot and it keeps my neck warm!

Scarves are sure "la moda" or the fashion here. Thanks to this pattern I have a stylish scarf that I'll always associate with Buenos Aires.

Check this out on Ravelry.

Starbucks Opening in Buenos Aires

2008-07-03T18:50:00.000-07:00

Starbucks comes to Buenos Aires opening in Alto Palermo, which is a large shopping mall in Palermo. For many weeks the lines have been incredibly long, all waiting to get inside for the beloved "Starbucks" coffee. One night coming home from USAL, I stopped to get my favorite peppermint latè.

I've been back 1 other time. I like Starbucks coffee, but seriously I can get it in the US anytime. I much prefer Argentine coffee culture. It's much more about the "experience" of coffee.

Argentines like to have coffee in the afternoons while reading a book or socializing with a friend. Usually this starts from 4-7PM. Often times they will munch on a cookie, portion of cake, tostado (a toasted ham and cheese sandwich, more to come on this), or empanada. This whole "grab your coffee and leave" American model of Starbucks is different.

I will say that Starbucks has implemented a lot of products with Argentine things. It will be interesting to see how business continues after the main craze wears off.

Where did the time go?

2008-06-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

I'm preparing my final papers and studying hard for my neuroscience exam, but I find that I'm asking myself where did the time go? This semester flew by faster than any other semester I've had. It's sad, I'll be leaving Buenos Aires in about a month and this semester will be history, as they say.

I have much to post about--trips, knitting, reflections, photos--however no time right now. Hopefully Saturday when I have no more classes or assignments, I'll have time to start updating things.

¡Chau!

The last piece of cake!

2008-06-17T08:46:00.000-07:00

Aren't the last pieces of cake always sad? It usually means it's the end of another celebration. For me it means that my time in Argentina is running out, too.

My Birthday - June 14

2008-06-16T07:32:00.000-07:00

This is my birthday group at La Cabrera. Matt, Dave (me), Lindsay, Stephanie, Holly, and María (from left to right). María arranged a special birthday toast of champagne after she told our waiter that it was my birthday.

Saturday was my birthday when I turned 22--another year for the wiser! I had a really fun and special birthday. It started the night before with a cocktail at midnight at Milion, which is a classy bar in Buenos Aires.

Saturday morning María woke me up and surprised me with a lovely cake topped with Strawberries. She told me that it was "my" cake.

I went to Chinatown with Matt for lunch and returned later in the afternoon. In the evening 4 friends, María, and I went to La Cabrera which is a fantastic parilla (Argentine steak house) in Palermo. The food was great. I have pictures of our entrés in my birthday web album.

This is a special picture of my host mother and I.

I decided to share my cake and invited my friends back to the apartment to share my birthday cake. Afterwards Steph, Matt and I went out to a bar for a little. What a wonderful birthday. My 22 birthday will always be special since I celebrated it here among friends in one of the neatest places in the world!

My birthday Picasa Web Album is in this link. Check the photos out!

Artwork - San Telmo

2008-06-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

"Puerto Madero" by Angel Carrasco, 2008, acrylic on paper, 15 x 15 cm.

I bought this small painting at the San Telmo Fería on 5/18/2008. I was very attracted to Carrasco's use of color and value. It reminds me of a painter my friend Faith used to admire when I took art lessons with her.

I really liked a different work of Carrasco's, but it was beyond my budget. My goal is to collect small paintings of Argentine painters on a student's budget--con suerte. I need to find some tango paintings that aren't so merchandised...

La bolsa mercado - Market Bag Project

2008-06-09T08:13:00.000-07:00

This is the bag filled with yarn for my scarf project, yes, hanging from the ceiling fan.

I have finished this project for some time now, but I haven't had a chance to blog about it. I whipped this up right after I got here because I found myself going through all of these plastic bags--Argentines notoriously wrap and bag everything. I try to be as environmentally conscious as possible, so I wanted to cut down on the number of plastic bags I used.

Here's a close up of the bag.

Janelle, one of my knitting buddies from Gburg recommended the project to me, too, since I have been wanting to make some lace. This is a lace pattern of sorts, and it uses cotton yarn--there's no shortage of cotton yarn in Argentina.

I chose Elisa's Nest Tote that was posted on the Purl Bee's Blog. It is a very easy pattern to memorize since its really only 2 pattern rows and they are highly repetitive. I could have easily finished the bag in one sitting, but it took longer since I am not sitting and knitting a whole lot right now. I do it in between things or right before bed.

I do have some comments about the pattern that I have fixed in my second bag. After you make the body of the bag, I would highly recommend to seam the bag inside out so that you don't see the seam from the outside.

Also, the pattern calls for you to cast-on the handles with a traditional cast-on and then Kitchener them together at the end. I think this would be accomplished much easier by using a provisional cast-on (that Janelle thankfully explained). I used Judy Becker's Magic Cast-on, but you could use whatever you'd like. I provisionally casted-on the stitches and the Kitchenered them when I finished the handle.

Ravelry Link

Photo speaks more than words.

2008-06-04T17:28:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken at Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay behind the boardwalk.

I've had rants about graffiti before and likely will continue to have them, sorry Morgan. I think it's really interesting when I see graffiti in English in a Spanish-speaking country. This was right behind the boardwalk at Colonia del Sacramento. I have to wonder what the intention of the people putting the writing on the wall must have been.

Do you think they were apathetic to government? A group of high school hell raisers? Or quite possibly an American tourist. It's something to ponder...How does graffiti effect you?

Rachel Ray Ad

2008-06-02T15:02:00.000-07:00

Rachel Ray and Dunkin' Donuts created an ad where Ray is wearing a scarf that is traditionally worn by Arabs. These scarfs are called kaffiyehs. The company has stopped the ad in result of right wing bloggers and commentators saying that the scarf represents characteristics that terrorists harbor. Since when does a scarf--or any other clothing--mean anyone is a terrorist?

It is ridiculous that an ad was removed over this scarf. First off--my friends and family will vouch--I really dislike Rachel Ray's show; in fact if its on the TV I switch it off immediately. I dislike her over-animated and giddy style. Even though I dislike her show, I think there's a niche for her on Food TV and now on daytime television.

I think it is insane that any article of clothing insight's terrorism, or is representative of terrorism when the clothing is usually worn by a collective culture. I mean that would be like saying all blonds are horrible people--that statement makes no sense. Furthermore, I find it ironic that the kaffiyehs scarves are fashionable. They should be since they're beautifully made and have pretty designs on them.

For the Associated Press article: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-Dunkin-Donuts-Ad-Pulled.html?scp=1&sq=dunkin+donuts&st=nyt

If Ray is a terrorist, then most of my friends are too. All of them seem to have multiple scarves, since its part of popular fashion right now in the US, Europe, and, believe it or not, South America.

Furthermore, I think this demonstrates our misunderstanding of Arab culture more than anything. Part of the reason why they're the fashion now is that the handiwork of these scarves is amazing. In America, we are a nation built by the complex mix of people from all walks of life and all parts of the world. We're supposed to harbor this respect to all of the cultures and integrate them into our unique mixed American identity. We are a country that was born out of varied identities, why would a scarf be a threat now?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfMLqHCsEf8&feature=related
This is an excerpt fromt The View talking about it.

I like one of the points that was made on the view about the Holocaust. In Denmark the president during WWII wore a yellow star. Therefore everyone else in the country did, too, which made it impossible for the Nazi's to know who was Jewish and who wasn't. (I don't know the validity of this claim, I want to do some checking). However the point remains, we all should buy these scarves and wear them.

Fellow bloggers, blog about this. Ask people to also encourage wearing the scarves as a sign of cultural unity.

Surprise Visit, from past student Alex

2008-05-30T13:31:00.000-07:00

Family shot. Alex is in the back. The second row is Matias (Marías son), Ingenuo (Carolina's Daughter), Carolina (María's daughter), María. In the front is "la bruja".

Last week we had an unexpected visitor from one of María's past students. Alex is originally from Minnesota, however is studying in Phoenix, Arizona now. He was in town because he and a friend, Kirk, were taking a course in Microfinance in Paraguay. They decided to swing by Buenos Aires and say hello to the family.

It was cool to meet Alex. He stayed at María's house for a year. They have a neat connection because of how Alex learned a lot of spanish from María.

When Alex was studying in Buenos Aires Carolina, María's daughter, was living very close to María. Therefore Alex was around Carolina quite a bit. Ingenuo was apparently Alex's daily alarm clock during his stay at María's house.

The last picture is adorable with María and "la bruja". I worked for about 45 minutes to get a picture of her smiling and finally it happened while María was bouncing her up and down on her lap. So precious...but apparently this one is very "attitudinal".

I'm glad I grew out of that phase...maybe my mother wouldn't agree with that statement...jeje

The Paro Returns for a week (at this point)

2008-05-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

As I'm editing my monografía, I want to inform all that the paro/strike/blockade has returned to Buenos Aires once again. There was a news break this evening that for the next 7 days there will be a a blockaide of all farm-products, we'll see, it could surely be more. This is a return of the "paro" I blogged about several weeks ago when the city was without meat for around a month. This time it's including all farm products.

Accordingly the government has closed negotiations with the farmers. The farmers subsequently decided to reopen the blockaide until the government decides to start negotiating again. It's an interesting situation that will be developing over the coming weeks.

Article on Clarín (in Spanish)

Artwork

2008-05-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

I like finding small paintings these days, since these are usually what I can afford. I collected a few when I was in México and now I'm starting to do the same in Buenos Aires.

"Vietnan", 2008, by Etche Verry. Acrylic with medium on foil.

I like Verry's very abstract style. He had quite a mix of different abstract works. I thought this was interesting because of the texture--you can't see that with the picture. The title was also quite interesting.

I bought this in a little fería 3 blocks off of Plaza de Mayo (in Microcentro) a few weeks ago on a Sunday afternoon. It was neat to talk to the artist, too.

Cornell Capa - Photojournalist

2008-05-24T11:21:00.001-07:00

In the NYTimes I just read that Cornell Capa died at 90. "Cornell Capa, Photographer, Is Dead at 90". I always admired his work. He was known for doing a large project, with a group of other photographers, to cover the first 100 days of John F. Kennedy's family. He took pictures of a lot of people significant in the 20th century, like Marilyn Monroe, Babe Ruth, British Monarchy, Billy Graham, et al. I guess I have always been drawn to his work in addition because he took many pictures in Latin America, and specifically in Argentina around the time Perón was overthrown.

The NYTimes article also has a photo section that has one of the Argentinian photos.

I admire that he worked almost--if not exclusively--in black and white.

If you're interested, check out a larger collection of his work on Magnum Photos collection.

Football or Fútbol...the same

2008-05-21T16:09:00.001-07:00

I'm sitting here trying to study for my Neurociencias midterm tomorrow and am interrupted by cheers, horns, and yelling from all over Buenos Aires. You might wonder why. It's not the paro yet--even though it might return. It's fútbol.

We are having yet another game among the thousands of games that take place here all of the time. This time it is Boca vs. Alta (from México). Matias, María's son, is a fan of Boca. Shall I say a little obsessed over Boca? Then I have María cursing while she's watching them score and saying nasty Argentine words so fast that I never can pick them up--it's clearly intentional so I can't learn them. Anytime Boca makes a goal the whole neighborhood lights up with cheers and screaming.

Time for a more esoteric question: Why is man and woman so obsessed with games that involve balls? I've often pondered this question.

I've never really been a huge sports fan...with the exception to the Olympics. I'm always captivated to watching hours of Olympic content every 2 years--love weird sports like Skeleton. The only other sports I watch are figure skating, some swimming, and speed skating. However, many wouldn't really consider those real sports.

In conclusion, I don't think it matters. Fútbol--soccer in Argentina--or Fútbol Americana--football in the US--insights the same barbaric behavior.

I couldn't resist posting this. I usually dealt with this while living at Gettysburg with Morgan when the Ravens games weren't on our TV lineup. ¡Qué pena!

Learning how to make Empanadas

2008-05-19T12:00:00.000-07:00

This is María, my host mother, teaching me how to correctly fold up these Argentine delicacies.

This recipe is changed depending on the tastes of the family. Essentially this is the basic outline that is adjusted to taste:

Empanadas de Carne

Ground beef
Onions, diced
Hard Boiled Eggs, chopped
Raisins, white raisins are the more traditional (los pasos)
1/2 tsp. sweet paprika (pimenton dulce)
1/2 tsp. cumin (comino)
Salt to taste.
* I would add black pepper to adjust it a bit more to the American palate. Argentines usually use exclusively white pepper and they don't like spicy food. I often times add pepper so that it tastes seasoned to me. It's not 100% Argentine, but I know I have purchased them before at different places with pepper in the meat mixture.
**Pizza spice (espica pizza) This is something she only adds sometimes. I think if I were substituting I would whip out a mix of oregano, basil, and seasoned salt.

Chop onion and egg finely. Begin by sweating the onions with a bit of butter or oil. Add beef and brown with salt (and pepper). After its browned, add chopped egg and raisins. Also add the spices and let heat for 10 mins for the flavors to permeate. Taste and adjust seasoning to taste.

Since this is a recipe many people cook here, the seasonings are always adjusted to taste. I suggest that you experiment with this to find a spice mixture that's appealing to you.

Let mixture cool until its warm and fill in empanada shells. I don't have a recipe for them now, but I will be getting one of them soon :-D

Here is a close up of the folding process. You'll see how important it is to pinch the dough to seal the empanada following up with creasing the empanada with this scalloped edge.

You can substitute chicken breast for the ground beef. If you do this I suggest cooking the chicken breast in a little water and with chopped peppers (red or green). Remove the peppers and allow chicken breasts to cool. Shred the chicken breasts with a fork, and follow the same recipe for the traditional "carne" empanadas.

These empanadas I made all by myself. María prefers to cook them twice. This is the first stage.

I hope this won't be the last empanada post. I hope to dig up some more recipes and fill you in on my experiments along the way, too.

Temaikèn Zoo

2008-05-15T23:50:00.000-07:00

The flamingos inspired me to do some painting/sketching. This is a colored pencil drawing done on a sketch pad.

Matt, Lindsay and I went to Temaikèn Zoo on a federal holiday a few weeks ago. This was about an hour and half drive from Buenos Aires by the #60 semi-express bus. This zoo was one of the neatest zoo's I've ever been to, however I might have to have conversations with my zoo-expert-cousin-Anya to completely verify my claim to its greatness.

The cool part of the zoo is that it is much larger than most zoo's since it is not in a downtown section of the city. I think this is a much more humane way to have zoo's, especially since it still can serve its educational purposes and increases the overall health of the animals. Also since the collection focuses on local species, it helps educate people of the wild life around them instead of the typical zoo collection.

I really appreciated the fact that this zoo focused on mostly exhibiting species indigenous to South America. I was especially impressed of their collection of South American fish, too. The flamingos were a highlight and definitely inspired some creative juices, as you can see one of my paintings on this post.

This sign greeted us as we went into the zoo.

We had a lot of fun, and I took a lot of pictures. Make sure you look at the gorgeous flamingos. I also thought the pictures of the little bird underneath a four-footed-friend was particularly interesting.

International Book Fair in Buenos Aires

2008-05-14T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is the entrance to La Rural where there was the 34th annual book fair.

On April 24-May 12, the largest book fair in the Spanish speaking world came to Buenos Aires for the 34th year. The Fería Libro came to La Rural Exhibition center (similar to a state convention center) that is about 5 blocks from my house in Palermo.

There were tons of books inside the convention mainly in Spanish, but there were several stands of books in German, English, and French. I went with Lindsay and Matt on a Saturday, but I didn't purchase anything (maybe I'm finally recovering my book buying addiction, probably not though).

It was a fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon for AR$10, which is about US$3.

RENT! the musical in Buenos Aires at the Konex!

2008-05-09T17:03:00.000-07:00

A photo of the 3 Argentinian friends in front of the Konex: Me, Lindsay, and Matt from left to right

I had an amazing time two weeks ago when I took my friends to see RENT! in Buenos Aires. I can say this is easily one of my favorite Broadway shows to date. It was really exciting because the musical was completely in Spanish. I didn't ever have the opportunity to see this show in the US, and it was way cool to see it here.

The Konex is a cultural center that is in the heart of Abasto, which is a part of Once. The center was renovated from what seems to have been a warehouse. This was a really neat thing since Rent takes place more or less in a warehouse too. One of the great things is that part of the actual theatre blended into the set.

Like in New York, they have a Sorteo or raffle for the best tickets in the house--front row. Here it takes place every performance day at 5PM. I went earlier that afternoon and entered my name and received FRONT ROW TICKETS!!! I also should add that they only cost me $8US. (Take that, all my European Study Abroad friends...jejeje...bet you can't beat that in Denmark). I definitely would like to go back. Matt, Lindsay, and I surely had a great time!

525,600 minutes, how can you measure the life of a woman or man?
525.600 los minutos, ¿cómo podés medir la vida de una mujer o hombre? (¡en Buenos Aires por el semestre!--In Buenos Aires for the semester!)

NBC Today Show's Matt Lauer Visits Buenos Aires

2008-04-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

On the NBC Today Show there was a special this morning as Part of the segment on "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?" focused on Buenos Aires, Argentina. I had known about this ahead of time through a friend who was doing some ghost writing, but it was funny that several people from the US contacted me about it via email throughout today.

Lauer stays mostly in Buenos Aires, but does trek to Bariloche Patagonia. Through the segment they touch on Tango, Argentine Beef, the legacy of Eva Peron, wine, and many travel tips.

NOTE: One inaccuracy was the price of the taxi from the Airport. Its about 20-25 US dollars to get from Ezeiza International Airport to Buenos Aires.

If you missed the segment, I highly recommend you check out their web site. If you have high speed internet, you can watch the whole segment from the internet.

WARNING: You might impulsively want to buy a ticket an visit Argentina.

Milanesa Sandwich!

2008-04-25T17:41:00.000-07:00

Since I gave a recipe for milanesa earlier this month, I thought I would show you a real finished product.

This was my great lunch today. I bought a milanesa sandwich and I made a salad with watercress and tomato. Conforming to the Argentine style, I've abandoned all salad dressings (quite good for my waistline, too) in exchange for olive oil and balsamic vinegar and a dash of black pepper and salt. I hope you're hungry, because it was quite tasty.

When I don't make my own lunch, I often will get a milanesa sandwich at the local panadería called Santa Elena (Lafinur 3245). After repeated visits, everyone there knows me as "The America student" or el estudiante americano. Often panadería which sell lunch are called confiterías here, and this place isn't an exception.

Quite a good lunch...usually the sandwiches are about $A6.50, so it doesn't break the bank. However, I try and cook for myself most lunches and only splurge on occasion. I want to make my pennies count this semester!

I also have been making sauteed vegetables quite a bit. today I had some sauteed eggplant with garlic, Tabasco, and balsamic vinegar.

Ravelry Ticker is Functional!

2008-04-25T09:55:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited because I got the Ravelry status ticker to function on my blog. I have seen them on many other blogs and I wanted one for mine since I do occasionally post stuff about my knitting. I'm a little backlogged now...several projects behind.

Take a look...its on the right panel of the blog and has a picture of all of my current knitting projects. I'm on Ravlry, too, if you want to add me my screename is "neagley".

Chau...

PA Primary--Part 2

2008-04-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

Oh my...primaries are over in Pennsylvania and Hillary won (54.6%) over Obama (45.4%). This was the first election I really had to struggle to decide my candidate. I know that they both have problems, but I also firmly believe that either of the candidates could positively benefit the US. My main concern is that now we run the risk of fragmenting the party and not having enough time and energy to elect a Democrat in the White House.

It's funny because a few Argentines asked me yesterday about my state. I continue to find it interesting that they're all inequitably in favor of Obama. I think it's quite interesting. They all seem to like his youthful vision and feel that it is much more important than experience. However I think Argentine's associate bad things with experience (i.e. corruption) given their tumultuous history.

I called my grandma Tuesday evening to see what happened in my precinct. That was a lot of fun. It's really awesome that with the advent of technology, i.e. Skype, it's possible to keep a sense of normality with family. She told me I sounded like I was in Gettysburg :-P How cute.

I love my grandparents!

...and back on topic...it's still a long time until November--and an even longer time until January.

PA Primary--Part 1

2008-04-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

It is PA primary day and I'm in Argentina.

My friends have impact all the way around the world, I just received this email:

Hello,

I will be on Danish news tonight! I would tell everyone to watch it, but since you obviously don't get Danish TV, I will try to find it online.

Denmark covers the US primaries very extensively, so the entire country is talking about the PA primaries. The local news organization knows that DIS is the place for American students to be, so they were looking for PA Democrats this afternoon. I told them that I am a registered Democrat in PA, so I was interviewed for the news! They were excited to find someone who can vote in these primaries. I talked about why I am voting for Obama, and how exciting it is for our state to have this world spotlight today. They asked about issues specifically important to PA, and about the issues important for students and those living abroad.

Happy Voting Day for the Pennsylvanians!
Rebecca

This is my dear friend Rebecca interviewing in Denmark! I'm sooooo excited for her.

I'm watching the polls closely. It's going to be a tight race.

Smoke Filled Aire in Buenos Aires--eeeek!

2008-04-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've been lax for posting last week. I had full intentions of writing several things, however with the advent of smoke all over the city I had little energy or desire to do anything other than sleep.

Buenos Aires has been filled with smoke since last Wednesday. I first noticed this foul smelling smoke's arrival after my class at USAL on Wednesday evening. I left USAL and boarded the bus in the midst of the smoky fog. Believe it or not, the colectivo (bus) actually slowed down due to visibility--this is a first for Buenos Aires because the buses never slow down.

This was a complete accident. We are now entering winter in Buenos Aires and the farmers have harvested most of the season cereal crops. Many farmers will burn their land to return ash to the land at the end of the growing season. They also burn the fields to prepare new crop land for plantings for the next year. This year many farmers are turning pasture land into land to plant soybeans and corn since it is economically lucrative.

Usually this isn't a huge problem. The farms start at the perimeter of the Provincia de Buenos Aires outside of the city and move toward the center of the country. The wind generally flows from Buenos Aires Northwest and the smoke generally misses Buenos Aires completely. This year the wind decided to play cruel games on all of us by changing direction to South East, therefore sending all of the smoke directly to Buenos Aires!

I should mention that it could have been a lot worse. I am putting a figure that was in the Clarín (Argentine newspaper/diario) on Friday. You can see that along the left panel there are 3 pictures showing the spread of smoke from 12PM to 4PM. On the larger picture here is a diagram of all of the smoke in the region and Buenos Aires is marked as "Capital Federal". If I was in Tigre or San Pedro the smoke would have been much worse.

None of the Argentines were happy, as you might predict. Anyone with respiratory problems--asthma, allergies, and the like--were suffering. I am included in the allergy group. It felt like being in a Pennsylvania Bar all night with that high concentration of smoke--my eyes itched, it was hard to breathe, and the worst was being tired.

The president, Cristina Kirschner, released a statement. She seems out of touch to me when she mentioned that the smoke ruins clothing--who cares about clothing! What about all of the people with medical conditions?!?! The Argentines gave her no slack on that comment, often just cursing when the comment was mentioned.

I read many articles in the newspapers about the smoke problem, and I was left wondering in the all of the articles the horrible ramifications for Global Warming. It seems like few people care about global warming or conservation here in Argentina, sadly. I tried to talk to María about its impact on global warming and she didn't understand why this was bad for the environment. I think South America really needs some public education on this issue.

These pictures were taken on Plaza de Mayo in the Microcenter on Sunday. The smoke had almost receded at this point--on Thursday you wouldn't have been able to see most of the building. I should have taken pictures then, but I had no energy or motivation to do so since I was quite sick.

Hopefully I'll be posting more this week! However, I have a busy week since I lose time Thursday-Saturday while allergic. Un beso!

I want to be a famous blogger!

2008-04-20T15:08:00.000-07:00

I guess I have to become famous first, darn.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Final Classes

2008-04-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

This past I finally have confirmed the classes I'm taking this semester. As I mentioned in a previous post about the 13 classes that I was "trying" before I decided on my actual classes for the semester. Finally I have gone through that process and I turned in my class choices for the semester to the program (COPA).

I've decided to take two course at USAL. The first is a sociological seminar on public health and the other is an Introduction to Neurosciences. These two courses will add to the two courses I'm taking through COPA (Independent Study and Castellano/Spanish Culture and Society). I'm happy with my choices.

This semester I seem to have more things to read then I ever had at Gettysburg. I think that it's a mix of the fact that all of my courses are in Spanish and all the reading takes longer. I'm finding it rewarding to do the readings since I can tell that my Spanish reading is improving in result of reading so many texts. I'll save my lament about Spanish literature for a future post :-P

Since I have a ton of reading this week, I hope to work on updating my blog during breaks. I have quite a few new things to share :-D Chau, un abrazo.

Making Milanesa

2008-04-10T16:12:00.000-07:00

Mattias, son of María, taught me how to make milanesa this weekend. I thought it might be cool to add a few Argentine recipes to my blog. You could bring Argentina into your home with this traditional Argentine dish. Milanesa is served in almost every cafetería and restaurant in Argentina and there are many variants on this dish that you'll see in every restaurant or confitería (cafeteria to buy lunch) in the city.

Recipe - La receta
Marinade:
3 eggs
2 Tbsp. Red Vinegar
1/2 tsp. garlic powder or minced garlic
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 tsp. parsley or oregano
1/4 tsp. celery salt
Black pepper to taste

Order a chuck roast or sirloin roast (deboned) to be sliced thin. You want the slices between 1/4 and 1/8 of an inch. If you can't get the beef sliced that thin, you can also pound a 1/2 slice into thin slices appropriate for milanesa by putting the beef in between wax paper or seran wrap and beating the meat with a meat hammer. This is a perfect activity to do on a day when you're stressed :-D

It is very important that the meat is very thin so that it flash fries very quickly. This is the important part of a milanesa!

Matias is trimming the fat off of the milanesa. He runs his knife through any flat veins to cut them so the milanesa will stay flat when fried.

Put the meat in the marinade mixture and mix it thoroughly. Refrigerate covered for 1-4 hours before proceeding to the next step.

Matias is mixing the meat with the marinade.

Put plain bread crumbs in a pan and using a fork take one milanesa at a time and coat it with the breadcrumbs.

Matias is breading the Milanesas with bread crumbs. He's careful not to touch the wet milanesa with his dry hands...that way you don't have to get quite as messy.

You can either Freeze the milanesas at this point or fry them until they're golden brown (usually 3-4 mins per side). If you decide to freeze them, I would suggest putting wax paper between them.

Some other ideas:

It is very popular to serve this on a sandwhich with lettuce and tomatoe.
Milanesas can be eaten as is. To be truly Argentine, drizzle lemon juice, chimi-churri, mayo, or ketchup.
Milanesa Napolatina includes a slice of tomato and cheese over the milanesa just after it's fried, sometimes they'll also add a slice of ham or a hard boiled egg, too.
It is also common to see Milanesa de Pollo (chicken milanesa) or Milanesa de berenjena (eggplant). For chicken they pound chicken breasts thin and repeat the same process and for Eggplant the key is to slice them very thin before marinating.

Hope to try to make this wonderful Argentine Meal! Buen Provecho! Chau!

Gettysburg Politics

2008-04-04T11:26:00.000-07:00

I am not missing a lot of things from the US. I have a few things I do miss; like real mayonnaise that isn't lemon flavored and perhaps I would also like some real ketchup, too. I also miss getting together with my friends and having random conversations with people on campus. But the one thing I am missing is US POLITICS!

The year that my state is playing the largest role in presidential politics I'm on another continent--figures. I love politics--the analysis, the mud, the policies, talking with people...

I guess it could be worse. I at least can check the NYTimes every day and Washington Post from Argentina. Plus the Argentines all love to talk about politics be it Argentine, US, European, or Asian politics, they generally love to talk about all of them.

This article came through Gettysburg College Democrats alias about Gettysburg and I thought I'd share. It was written for the Philadelphia Daily News by John Baer. I know a lot of the people in the article, so it's very cool for me.

The one thing he indirectly touched upon was the attitude of apathy toward politics at Gettysburg. I'll be anxious to see if the attitude changes when I return in the fall with the presidential race.

Chau.

Día de la guerra de Malvinas

2008-04-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

April 2 in Argentina is a federal holiday in rememberance of the Malvinas War in 1982. The Malvinas Islands are a group of islands off the southeastern coast of Argentina. Historically the islands have been a part of Argentina, but they have been occupied formally by Britain since 1828. The British renamed the islands to the Falkland Islands, and built a large naval base on this group of islands.

Argentina, under direction of a dictator, invaded the Malvinas Islands in 1982. The British took over 10,000 people prisoner, who were later released. Britain lost 236 people, while Argentina suffered 655 deaths. Because Britain was prepared with a naval base, it has been said that they have a large advantage over Argentina. The United Nations issued a resolution for both parties to retract there forces and seek a diplomatic answer. According to my history professor yesterday, a large reason why Argentina invaded them at the time was because Britain had reduced their troop levels. He reported that afterward Britain built the forces back up.

Today, even though Argentina lost this important battle, it is remembered. Strategically Argentina hopes over time that Britain will relinquish control of the Malvinas Islands and return control back to Argentina. President Kirschner has arranged trips, and continues to plan more trips, to convince Britain of the need to return the Malvinas Islands--or British named Falkland Islands--back to Argentina.

I think that the chapter of history on the Malvinas Islands is just beginning to be written...

Here are two links I read and have more information:

Hoovervilles in the US

2008-03-30T12:36:00.001-07:00

My friend Cat passed this report from the BBC onto me about the sad position many people have found themselves in the US after the mortgage crisis. Accordingly the US press isn't following it. That's very sad. I hope you watch the video:

BBC Report on Subprime Shantytowns

Please consider sharing this with others.
Chau...

New Look

2008-03-29T07:19:00.001-07:00

I wanted to change the template for awhile, but I hadn't gotten a chance. I took the time this morning. Hope you like it. I think it's easier on the eyes.

NYTIMES Argentine Nights

2008-03-29T06:50:00.000-07:00

Last week there was an article in the NYTIMES about Buenos Aires Argentine Nights. I recommend you to read it if you have any interest in BA, but today I read a post from another blog that cites the author of nearly copying an article written for Newsweek.

It's a very well written article. There always be a debate about ethics in journalism, I suppose.

NYTIMES Argentina Story Lifted Material from Newsweek

Chau!

Argentine University Experience

2008-03-28T18:20:00.000-07:00

My favorite study abroad coordinator at my college posted a comment the other day asking me about my classes. I realized I have only blogged about them once. I haven't really talked about my classes very much since I feel as though I'm in a constant state of changes. After being here for a month and a half I can't still tell you exactly what classes I'm taking this semester, yet.

The COPA program has a shopping period where all of the students are allowed to try courses at the four universities, USAL, UCA, UBA, and di Tella. We have until April 10 to decide exactly which classes we want to stick with for the semester.

For the official COPA program, we have to have a course load between 15 and 18 credits. Everyone has to take a class in Castellano (Spanish) for 3 credits. Those of use who have decided to take a track (e.g. Independent Study, Gender and Minorities, Film, or Human Rights) are required to take a foundations course and a practicum totaling 6 credits. I am enrolled in the Independent Study program, therefore I already have 9 credits between those requirements.

Each university then adds a dimension. Courses at USAL and UCA, di Tella, and UBA are worth 3, 5, and 6 credits, respectively. I want to take 2 courses this semester so I opted to try courses at USAL, UCA, and di Tella. It's a good idea since I want to explore career opportunities in Public Health. Plus these are courses I can't necessarily take at Gettysburg. Therefore I'm trying a ton of courses. I'll give you the list--and yes, it makes my head spin:

Business and Biotechnology (di Tella)
History of Art (di Tella)
History of 20th Century World (di Tella)
Intro to Political Sciences (UCA)
History of Art (UCA)
History of Argentina Siglo XX (UCA)
Intro to LA (UCA)
Investigación Epidemiología y Comunidad (USAL)
Sociology Seminar III : Topics in Public Health (USAL)
History of Ancient Egypt (USAL)
History of Jewish Culture (USAL)
History of Argentina (USAL)
Neurosciences I (USAL)

You might ask why I needed to try all of these courses. Well it was the sensible thing to do! Every university starts at a different time and also registers at a different time, therefore I had to register in a ton of courses in case a section was canceled or I couldn't understand the professor or I didn't like the course.

Out of all of those courses, at this point I'm only sure that I want to take #9 Sociology Seminar. I love this course! It's an overview of the sociological public health literature. It's team taught by a social psychologist and a psycho sociologist (they're different types of training).

As for the other courses, I still have another week to decide. 2 of the courses won't start until next week. Therefore I will have to make quick decisions once I try those last two courses out.

As for my other courses, I love my independent study. I am studying Mal de Chagas which affects many people in Central and South America. My Castellano class is interesting, there are only 6 students in it. I like the professor, Lucía Dussaut. In this class we're reading a lot and subsequently doing literature analysis, which worries me since I'm not a huge fan of analysis. We're reading Boquitas Pintadas by Manuel Puig first. I guess I'll see how the course goes...

I'll fill you in on more experiences with the classes at another time.

Demonstration in BA

2008-03-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

I came home from class two days ago, María told me, "¡No hay nada carne en este ciudad! / There isn't any beef in this city." I immediately knew why.

Over the past few weeks there has been a brewing controversy between the new president Kristina Kirschner and the agriculture sector. I will attempt to summarize what I understand about the situation.

Kirschner is imposing taxes on the Argentine farmers raising crops and cattle, thusly reducing their profits. The farmers are outraged because now in the worldwide market soy grain is a very lucrative crop, and they feel as though this tax is unfair if Argentina continues a free market economic policy. They started striking two weeks ago by blocking the main arteries into the main cities of Argentina--Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Cordoba, Rosario, etc--and are not permitting trucks to get through to deliver meat or milk. They are blocking the roads with farm equipment like combines, tractors, grain drills, et al. At this point it seems they're allowing chicken through, but beef is nonexistent within the city and the milk is being rationed.

What has been really interesting has been the response by porteños. As an American citizen--raise on a farm--I would never expect Americans in general to support farmers. I actually don't even think American farmers would support themselves in the way that they're doing here in Argentina. At any rate for the past 3 nights the porteños have been taking part in a protest of solidarity for the farmers. Between 8PM and 10PM they have been going on the balconies of their apartments and partaking in cacerolazos, literally translating to "big casserole". The people take pots and pans out to the balconies and bang them and are joined by a chorus of honking horns from the buses and cars throughout the whole city.

It's contagious. It starts in one barrio and progressively fills the city with this eerie form of protest. It is really neat. María and I went out on the balcony and were banging some pans both nights.

Last night I was on the way to our program director's house for dinner and I was walking on the streets during the cacerolazo. It was really interesting to take it all in. In a very haphazardly organized fashion, porteños were all coming together for farmers; it was amazing.

Here's a video from Reuters showing some of the protests that have also been going on:

Last night María and I watched Presidenta Kristina Kirchner's address to the nation, we thought was about the strike. The address took place at place filled with Peronist Supporters (her political party). The address included the Argentine national anthem and the Peronist party song. The funny thing was that she started her speech out with a long lament about not treating her fairly because of her gender as a female. I was disappointed by this, as well as many other Argentines, because the topic at hand had nothing to do with her gender.

When she finally talked about the protests, she said that the farmers would have to halt the protest in order for her to talk to with them. The point of the protests in the first place was for the president to come up with a different way to approach the problem. After her speech the farmers initial reaction was to continue with the protest.

Today it seems that the reaction has been to have a 48 hour halt for negotiations. There still with be a large protest on Plaza de Mayo tonight.

At the dinner last night several students from the program and I were grappling with how to describe our American perspective on the nonviolent form of protest to our host families. I tried repeatedly to explain to María that this type of thing just wouldn't happen in the US. She kept saying that we're a democracy and we have a 2nd amendment. I agreed, but explained that it would be halted. María just didn't understand why.

I used this example: I said that if I spoke against the government, I would be able to say whatever I wanted, but it could potentially impede my ability to get a job with the government in the future and/or depending on the remark I could be investigated. With the Patriot Act--that's still enacted--anyone who is suspicious--and suspicious is a term that is used vaguely--can be investigated. For example, while I don't condone the actions of the governor from New York, I would rather not have the government snooping in my bank records--or whatever else for that matter--like they did in his case.

This has been an awesome experience. I am experiencing a process of Argentine culture that is far different from my cultural perspective in the US. I didn't plan on coming to Buenos Aires to see cacerolazos, but it is impacting my experience.

I have picked out a couple articles/blog posts in English that describe the current situation if you'd like to hear more:

Tax Hike Fight (Reuters)--Slideshow showing protesters in BA.
Argentine Farmers Call off Strike (Reuters)--Article from today talking about the response to Kristina's speech.
Line of Sight Blog Post--Interesting blog post about the return of the cacerolazos.
Adventure in Argentina Blog Post--Another study abroad student recounts her current experience in Mendoza.

Farmers on Strike

2008-03-25T03:29:00.000-07:00

Let me begin by saying that Argentines in general have more political demonstrations than what we're accustomed to in the United States. It is good that they are that way because over the years it has lead to a lot of liberties and fundamental Human Rights laws that are in result of demonstrations (i.e. Las mamas de los deparaceidas, casino workers, wage cuts, revolts over presidential leadership, economic situationas, et al.).

Yesterday I read my first article in English about the farmers on strike here. I find the situation fascinating. The farmers have been using their tractors and combines and are blocking major highways around Argentina. The day before Easter Vacation (Thursday) they blocked something like 15 highways leaving Argentina towards the provinces.

They are protesting the price of grain and the export taxes.

I wonder how the US would react if our farmer would strike? I wonder if our farmers actually would strike? Farmers continue to get the short end of the stick in the US, while the government often ignores them in favor of stronger advocacy groups.

Trip to Bariloche - Part 4, last part

2008-03-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

This is the center of Bariloche. The artesian market
was right behind this plaza.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in the hotel and checked out early. There was a short group hike that day, but several of my friends and I elected to go back into Bariloche to shop before we left for the airport. It was Dianna, Lindsay, and Holly. We had a great time because it was low key. We ate at a nice pizzeria for lunch and ended up sitting in a park and relaxing before the bus picked us up. All of us were very tired from all of the excitement from the weekend.

This is the motley crew: Dianna, Lindsay,
and Holly (from left to right) chillin' at the
park. Note the people making out in
the background--so Argentine!

We had a lot of fun. I bought some great cheap t-shirts, and my friend Holly was hit on by a store owner and got free sunglasses over all of this. It was a pretty day.

This is Diana showing off her flashy new ring
purchased at the artesian market (turquoise) and
wielding Holly's beautiful amethyst earrings.

Our bus picked us up and we headed to the airport. We had a 22:00 flight back to Buenos Aires’s Newberry Jorge Airport. I think everyone was very tired during the flight. It was a very smooth flight until we got to Buenos Aires, which was still having bad weather. (apparently there had been a tornado touchdown earlier in the day) The landing was rocky. I was glad to be back in Buenos Aires because I love this city.

The program arranged us to go back to our homes in buses. I got home after midnight. María had her nieces there and they got home just a little bit after I got home. Therefore, she had a meal for all of us. Usually we have empanadas de carne on Sunday nights. Matias (María’s son) burnt them, therefore he whipped up some milanesas and María made my favorite tomato-cucumber-basil salad. Everything was very tasty and it was good to be back home with my Argentine family.

P.S. María thought my story about my underwear being soaked was hysterical. I think I have a true Argentine mom now, she says the same sarcastic things my family is prone to do at times, haha. Also, hotel’s laundry services are a godsend. I only had 2 pairs of jeans, and my clothing was cruddy, and they laundered one pair for me!

Trip to Bariloche - Part 3

2008-03-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

I decided that I didn’t want to go with the group on Saturday, because I wanted to go horseback riding in Patagonia. I’m glad I didn’t go with the group because I had more fun on my own. I also had more time to spend with my friend Lindsay.

The group didn’t have very good luck. The itinerary included a lot of travel by bus. Unfortunately, one of the buses broke down. Then the group was 8, but they didn't return until after 9. I’m glad I did my own thing.

This was my guide overlooking the lakes from one of the vantage points on the trail.

So in the morning I headed to Tom Wesley's Cabalgatas by bus. (Side note, the bus system for Bariloche is great and is very simple to use.) The bus left me off at the main road and I walked about a quarter of a mile back to the estancia (estancia is about the equivalent of ranch). It seemed at first that it was a small estancia, but my opinion changed once I saw all of the land that was part of it. Also this was one of two different locations that Tom Wesley’s family owned in Patagonia. The estancia in Bariloche just had trained horses, mostly quarter horses. On the other larger estancia in another part of Patagonia, they have a breeding and training facility It was about 40 pesos to go on an hour and half trek. It was exciting because I haven’t rode a horse for quite awhile.

This was my horse, saddled up and ready to go!

The guide was very nice. After I was on the horse we were able to talk for quite awhile. It was great because he didn’t speak any English, which surely helped me continue to use Spanish. It was really neat because we departed from the shed with a boxer-dog that accompanied us the whole time. I thought this was amusing because I doubt horses would like my dog, Molly--Lord knows the sheep detest her!

The trail was a bit steep at points. The horses were very used to going the same way, and I almost didn't have to any directing. It was cool because I would be in the middle of a forest and all of a sudden we’d walk to an amazing vantage point. Some of the views were completely amazing. I took some pictures of the experience. The next picture is one of my favorites, with the reflection of the island on the water. It was breathtaking to see.

This view is spectacular.

I definitely want to go on more cabalgatas, horse riding tours, while I’m here in Argentina. I had a lot of fun. We never had horses at the family farm growing up. The cabalgatas surely are an interesting way to see the terrain.

After the almost 2 hour ride, my guide was able to recommend several restaurants to eat lunch or dinner in Bariloche. We parted ways and I headed back to catch the bus. I also called Lindsay since we had previously decided that we would try to get together in town after my ride. We connected downtown and ate lunch at one of the recommended restaurants. We had a wonderful afternoon walking around the streets of Bariloche and going into several little shops.

Then I had this genius idea of going into a book store because I was looking for postcards, soduku, and pens. For my parents and friends who might find it strange that I went into a bookstore not to buy books, I will tell you that I have made a pact with myself only to buy 1 book at a time here—the one I’m reading—otherwise I’ll purchase so many books that I’ll never be able to return to the states with two suitcases.

However, I found my equal. Lindsay loves buying books as much as I do. She ended up with a hefty stack that just solidified our friendship. We’re both bookaholics. She admired my control. I had a bit of a quiver to buy a book, but I resisted through lots of breathing, haha. I’m sure my mother will be thrilled!!! I never found my soduko book here, but I did find pens—now my mother is rolling her eyes—this was a kind of pen that my research investigator used this summer, so I had to buy 2. See, I was controlled—we both decided we better get out of the store before we bought anything else.

…then we stumbled onto an artesian market…

I’ve learned that artesian or food markets are among my favorite places wherever I travel. Usually the people at artesian markets are interesting to talk to, and I also prefer home crafted things to the traditional over merchandized tourist items that are at many of the shops in towns like Bariloche. Lindsay went crazy and bought several pairs of earrings and other jewelry. It took longer for me to find some things, but I did buy some presents for friends/relatives. Some of you might be the recipients of them…hehe…

Many of the booths at the artesian market had knitted items in wool. So I started asking them if it there was a local yarn store, and I got the directions. I was very excited because the lady said that this particular store had great alpaca and llama yarn. After Lindsay and I were finished with the market, we walked up there. Of course the 2 shops closed about an hour before we got there. I’ll have to find natural fiber elsewhere. On a positive note, the one lady gave me a recommendation for a yarn shop here in Buenos Aires.

Lindsay and I got back early to Hotel Amancay so that we could prepare for dinner ahead of the group. Before we got ready, we decided to have an afternoon cocktail—oh the life! I had a wonderful daiquiri de frutilla—strawberry daiquiri. It was amazing. I have pictures of this drink in my album. It had really strawberries! Also for those Spanish speakers out there, frutilla is fresa here. If you say fresa people will just give you a “look”.

The group was supposed to get back at 8 so we would all take a bus back into Bariloche to eat in different restaurants in Bariloche. After dinner we would have the option to go out to different bars/baliches. The program had a bus that would pick us up at 1AM and 5AM to return to the hotel.

The night ended up to be pretty funny because the bus broke down for the group and they never got back until close to 9:30PM. Lindsay, myself, and all of the others who didn’t go on the trip that day were all waiting back at the hotel for them. We ended up going to the hotel bar and socializing over a bottle of wine.

We left to go to dinner shortly after 10PM. My friends and I decided we were going to go out that night. Our guides wanted us to eat quickly. I really wanted to go to a restaurant that had Patagonian lamb, but it ended up there wasn’t time for that. A group of us had a nice meal of carne de chorizo, which was quite good. We met our guides and they showed us some nice bars and later boliche’s to go to.

I think we had guides this night because typically Bariloche is a tourist area, and the prices change somewhat depending on how the opinion of the person that is at the door of the bar—if you get what I’m saying. We went to a Pub first for a few hours. Then the group headed to a baliche. I had a headache from the smoke in a pub so a friend and I took a taxi back to our hotel. It turned out to be a great day!

Trip to Bariloche - Part 2

2008-03-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

We departed early following breakfast. Plans had changed due to weather since it was supposed to rain—making it a perfect day to hike (sarcasm). We got to the mountain, as it drizzled, and started climbing. It was a steep climb for about the first 800 feet, but it got easier because the terrain changed from rocks to dirt and vegetation. The only problem was that it continued to rain for longer periods.

See the nasty rain clouds. They're awful.

We got to the first vantage point and it was only misting, therefore I was able to take a few photos. Then we started up the next bit, as it progressively begins to rain more. Keep in mind I wasn’t equipped for this trip since I didn’t have a jacket appropriate for hiking nor hiking shoes—just sneakers and a t-shirt. Also keep in mind that with every 500 feet the temperature reduces half a degree or so, therefore I was starting to get quite wet and cold. Also I was very worried that the rain would ruin my camera. The camera bag I bought is supposed to be waterproof, but I still was concerned. Luckily the guide told me that I should put my camera in his waterproof hiking backpack—what a godsend.

The guide was really nice. I told him of my interest in plants, therefore he was pointing out to me some species that weren’t indigenous to Patagonia. I also found out that Argentina doesn’t have many government enabled programs to preserve forest land. This struck me as kind of strange when it seems to be a huge priority to preserve/maintain green spaces in the cities. I’ll go back to my new catch phrase, “Es Argentina / It’s Argentina.”

At the second vantage point the view really wasn’t that good because of all the rain clouds. The rain would come and go for the next two hours as we ascended up to the third and fourth vantage points. Eventually the group came to easier trail, while it also started to pour cold rain. Of course it put everyone in a certain foul mood at this point. This part of the trail didn’t have tree cover; all of the rain was coming down directly on us.

At the second vantage point the view really wasn’t that good because of all the rain clouds. The rain would come and go for the next two hours as we ascended up to the third and fourth vantage points. Eventually the group came to easier trail, while it also started to pour cold rain. Of course it put everyone in a certain foul mood at this point. This part of the trail didn’t have tree cover; all of the rain was coming down directly on us.

We got to the top of the mountain eventually where we were supposed to eat our lunch. At the top was this large pink house/shelter. All of the COPA students when in there, but the lunches kind of stunk. We had these pretty awful (now soggy) milanesa sandwiches and some little thin sandwiches—very popular in Argentina—that tasted awful. We were there for an hour and a half as it continued to pour outside the building. The guides confirmed with the weather report that it was going to continue to rain. Just at the point that most of us were warming up, they decided to take us down—only this time it was raining harder and it was freezing.

Our ascent was about 4.5 hours. Luckily going down the mountain went faster—we made the trek in less than 2 hours. In my humble opinion, it was because we all wanted to get out of the rain.

This picture is when the sun was coming out at the last vantage point.
The sun was shining to brightly that it hurt your eyes to look at it.

When we finally got down to the first vantage point, the rain decided to cease—praise God! However we were still very wet. The last part was the hardest to come down since it was also the steepest part—it was miserable. It’s good that I have been maintaining a state of fitness because several people on the trek suffered exhaustion. I was very good until I twisted my ankle, thusly jerked my knee. I still have lingering problems with steps sometimes. I think I twisted something.

The guides were worried that the buses wouldn’t be there when we got to the base of the mountain since the hike took about 5 hours instead of the intended 8 hours. We got to the base of the mountain and stood under a roof at a Pancho (hot dog) stand at the base of the mountain and luckily someone had called for the buses to return early. We were all wet, hungry, and miserable. It was good the buses were there—it avoided a coup d’état.

Apparently rain isn’t very typical for this part of the year in Bariloche. Usually it only rains 1 or 2 days per month during the dry season. Obviously we got the short end of that stick.

All in all the day of hiking kind of stunk, but I’m glad that I went on the trek. It was a good experience. There’s nothing like returning to the hotel soaked, leaving your mucky sneakers at the door, and ringing your soaked underwear out in the hotel shower, to wake yourself up to the reality of nature.

When we were cleaned up—and dry—we went into town to eat. The group split up into groups and went to different restaurants.

My group went to a great Swiss restaurant that had local trout. They also had lamb, fondue, and beef. Sadly it was a tough decision for lamb or trout. I decided on the trout with roasted almonds because it sounded good and the waiter assured me it was very tasty—“Es muy rico”. We ate in table and shared a bottle of wine. The deserts were amazing, too. I had a chocolate mint mousse that was amazing. It was a good meal and a lot of fun. After hiking for as long as we did, I believe anything would have tasted good, however.

Trip to Bariloche - Part 1

2008-03-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

Finally I’m going to write about my Bariloche trip 2 weeks ago. I apologize for its tardiness, but I had it written, but didn’t have time—or energy—until now to revise/edit it. Now you’ll have the story to go along with the pictures that I posted.

As part of our study abroad program, COPA sponsors a group trip during orientation for each of their programs. For the Buenos Aires, the trip was to San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina (Bariloche). Bariloche is part the lake region of Patagonia, and is located on the western border of Argentina very close to Chile. The program flew us there in two groups for a 4 day vacation.

The trip was organized by the program office. On the onset the program director, Mario, made a deal with us: If everyone talked Castellano (Spanish) for the entire trip, the program would buy alcohol, wine and beer, to accompany our meals. I think it left a little bit of an impact. It was a pretty easy deal to make too, since they planned on taking us to a microbrewery in Bariloche.

The focus of the trip was 4 days of hiking. For those of you who know me, you’re aware that hiking isn’t exactly my cup of tea, however, we were told that everything in the trip was option, except one thing: una parasilla.

A parasilla, or chairlift, translates to living hell if you don’t like heights. I don’t like heights—I abhor them. More on this later.

We planned to leave Buenos Aires at Thursday, 28 Feb at 10:22 AM, but we ended up leaving late from Buenos Aires because it was down pouring in BA. We left about 4 hours late. When we finally left, it was about a 2 hour flight from Jorge Newberry Airport in Buenos Aires to Bariloche International Airport. The ascent was amazing into the airport because there are mountain ranges and lakes surrounding this part of Argentina. The view was incredible! However it was really scary for a moment because you couldn’t see a runway anywhere since there didn’t seem to be life for miles. All of a sudden we landed!

We ate our boxed lunches the program provided at our first stop since we weren’t permitted to eat in the bus. We pulled up to this mountain with a huge “parasilla”. Just seeing it made my heart quiver. I sucked it up, closed my eyes, and prayed as I ascended up the freaking thing that all would be well. I think I would like chairlifts much better if they didn’t do the creaking and intermittent stopping—the creaking is 100% worse at each of the transfer poles. My heart still raced the whole time…

The view definitely was worth the pain of descending up the stupid chair lift. You really could see the entire area. I got some of my best pictures from the whole trip from that vantage point. Still I would have rather just compared my pictures to the other people than actually experiencing it for myself. Of course what goes up must come down, and the descent down was worse than going up the damn thing.

Next we went to another area for a small hike before dinner. This was a trail that was close to several lakes and we hiked for about 15 minutes to get to the first vantage point. Later we did another 25 minute hike to get to a better view. We ran into a snake during this hike. I took a picture of it for my favorite—and only—cousin since I know she LOVES reptiles.

Later we went to a restaurant for dinner—it was about 8PM by now, early for dinner by Argentine standards—to a microbrewery that served a family style meal. The waiters brought all kinds of things to our table: bread, meat, cheese, nachos (argentine style), lamb, stew, etc. They also brought 2 pitchers of beer per table. They had light, dark, and raspberry beer; I’m not a big beer fan, but I did like the light and raspberry flavors. Then they served us ice cream for desert. Afterward we went our Hotel Amancay (the web site has great pictures) and my roommate and I talked until 2AM.

Sadly that killed us the next morning when we had to get up at 8:30 for the hike.

Food Costs Surge

2008-03-17T15:44:00.000-07:00

I read saw this NYTimes article originally on one of the blogs I follow, What to Eat.

The article discusses surging US food costs. I have a unique perspective on this since I was raised on a farm. Since my FFA days in high school, I think it's interesting to follow the market prices in conjunction to the consumer prices.

Right now corn and soybeans are more lucrative for farmers to sell. There is argument in the industry if its due to speculation for corn/soybean ethanol usage, or if it's an actual demand. Either way retail milk prices have also increased but not to the degree that expenses have risen for farmers. Farmers--like my parents--have to pay more to purchase their grain and to fuel their enterprise, but are not being fairly compensated for the added expense.

I know that the middle industries all repeatedly say that they have increased costs, too, but why aren't they paying the farmers more? This is yet another example why verticalization in the agricultural industry has been bad.

I know have another culture to compare this to. In the US, by and large, we're not used to living in economic conditions with constant inflation. In Argentina, however, it seems like inflation is a social institution. There was an article in the Clarín the other day that talked about vegetable inflation. According to the article and anecdotal evidence from my host mother, retail potato prices have nearly tripled since I arrived a month ago. I have yet to figure out how the farmer is compensated here, though. A part of me could tolerate the US food costs rising, if I knew it was being redirected to all parties within the system.

It seems that the Argentines beef industry is highly subsidized here, which keeps beef prices low. The farmers and advocacy organizations are not happy with it because it limits their international trading opportunities, for some reason. The farmer advocacy group here wants them to lift the subsidies so that they can export beef again, but the consumer groups are very opposed to it since it would cause beef prices to soar.

I find this situation to be very interesting and conclude that we must take some action into our own hands. We all have the power to support our local farmers. We can buy food direct from farmers-or nearly direct--at local farmer's markets, road side stands, or small businesses. We can buy local and reduce the ecological footprint we have on the earth by eliminating the extensive shipping that our fruits and vegetables usually have. I always prefer eating fruit, vegetables, and meat from local orchards, farms, and butchers. When you eat this way, the food is picked when it's ripe, the food is more nutritious since it had more time to ripen properly, and the money goes directly--or almost directly--to the farmer and/or local businessmen.

Chau!

Go VEGAN! - The contradictions of BA

2008-03-17T15:30:00.000-07:00

I took this picture with one person in mind, followed by a group of other people. This photo is especially for Madeline, but also for all of my vegetarian friends and readers.

I found this graffiti on the side of the zoo walking towards another Jardín Japones. I thought it was neat because it is very contradictory to Argentina's cultural attitude toward vegetarians.

Generally Argentines don't understand Vegetarianism. There are actually a lot of vegetarians in the program and they are finding it difficult to communicate especially to waiters. A lot of of times you'll ask the waiter, "¿Tenés opciones para vegitarianos?" (Do you have vegitarian options?) Then the respond will include some entré that has chicken. Then you say again, "Quiero comida sin carne o pollo o carne de animales," (I want food without meat--aka beef--or chicken, or meat from animals) and then they'll finally give you some options. It's funny. Believe me it is possible to eat very well here as a vegetarian, it's just that you have to make an extra effort to get your point across. However, I think it would be trying to adhere to a vegan diet.

When I saw this graffiti post I just laughed because almost all of the traditional meals here revolve around meat: empanadas, milanesa, bifé de chorizo, raviola espinaca con salsa roja carne, et al. I would argue that graffiti is an art form and, as art, it is a reflection of culture. I've been thinking for over a month how I could interpret this. I guess I just have resolved that it is a social commentary on the large amount of meat (primarily beef and chicken) that Argentines consume.

I was looking for something way more profound, but I couldn't think of anything. There you have it.

Chau!

Finished a Pair of Socks

2008-03-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

So I finally finished this pair of socks that was kind of being drug out from before I arrived here. These were knitted with Knitpicks 'Felici' Yarn with the Arugula colorway. It's 75% Merino Wool and 25% Nylon Acrylic. It was really nice to knit with.

I used a toe-up pattern and I did a 4x4 rib. I decided to vary it by ever 2 rows doing 4K, 4P, and then alternating with 4K, 1P, 1K, 1P. I like the effect. This was my first toe up sock. I think I will do more like this because they look a bit more professional to me--only my opinion.

I would encourage anyone making these to look at Cat Bordhi's YouTube Videos for wrapped stitches. They really made it easy to learn this technique. I believe her patterns call for single wrapped stitched, but mine called for double wrapped stitches.

I used the Knitty Pattern pattern for Universal Toe Up Socks, and it was very easy to follow. However I made some changes. I used Judy Becker's magic cast on--Cat Bordhi demonstrates on YouTube--and I multiplied the the circumference number by .85 instead of .9. All this did was made the sock a bit more snug, reducing the final circumference by 15% instead of 10%. I like how it turned out and I will do it again.

So I was really proud to wear this socks because I finished them. I wore them to my meeting yesterday morning with my Independent Study advisor and accidently stepped in a puddle while walking home. You can see how dirty my brand new sock got. Erg...was frustrating.

My host mother wanted these socks. It was too bad they didn't fit her--since they were created for my feet. I will make her a pair before I leave.

Meanwhile...I want more of this yarn...its really cool.

School Starts for me, Spring break for GC

2008-03-11T11:11:00.001-07:00

It's March. Usually by this time I'm sick of the semester. This year, however, my calendar has been turned on its side, as I'm only beginning my classes here in Buenos Aires this week. This week I've been afforded the opportunity to hear many stories about Spring Break from my friends. I want to pass this one in particular onto all of you because I think it's something very important.

Two of my friends Morgan and Alli--both future teachers--had the opportunity to go to Wisconsin during Spring Break not for vacation, but to learn. They were learning about the Bernstein Center for Learning model of teaching in the midwest. In fact Alli was featured in this article in the Des Moines Register.

I think what's really fantastic about this is that this model of teaching harnesses student and teacher creativity in a way that assists students to reach their academic goals. The program emphasizes teaching a subject through the arts and humanities. It's an approach more teachers should adopt.

One example might be to create a lesson about the Holocaust through photos--or even poetry--from the Holocaust. Then have the students experiment with taking their own pictures or making their own "history" through the arts. Afterward the teacher would bring them back to reflect on the topic history with the gained experience of the history and the way that a historian reflects images when they write history.

Anyway, hope you'll browse to the web site and the article. It's great information for everyone.

Photos from Bariloche

2008-03-09T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

Sorry for the suspense, but I have finally uploaded my pictures from Bariloche. The stories from there will come in a separate post later today.

Pictures of Bariloche

Chau...

More Pictures from Buenos Aires

2008-03-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

I've finally had some time to follow up on posting pictures. Since some of you had troubles seeing the photos on Facebook, I decided to change my service to GooglePublish Post's Picasa.

I hope you enjoy these 3 sneak preview photos. There are many more. Most of the photos are of Puerto Madero, Plaza de Mayo, San Telmo, La Boca, etc.

If I have enough energy tonight I will post my pictures from Bariloche, otherwise that will be tomorrow night.

Click Here for My Google Album

Argentine University System from Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina

2008-03-01T12:00:00.000-08:00

I haven´t had a lot of time lately to post because orientation has been demanding. Finally I´m going to take some time to explain some idiosyncrasies about the Argentine university system, so the next blog posts might make some sense. I´m blogging from Bariloche, Patagonia, Argentina, and I promise you I will be posting photos from this experience in the next two days.

One of the main reasons that I picked the Butler University program (aka COPA) was because it is a very unique program. I found no other program that permited students to take courses in 4 different internationally acclaimed universities. It is certainly something that makes this program unique and (at times) complicated.

With COPA it is possible to take courses at Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Universidad de di Tella (Di Tella), Universidad de Salvator (USAL) and Universidad de Católica (UCA), which are all located in Buenos Aires. While this is an awesome opportunity, it also creates some logistical problems.

First let me speak to these problems. All of the universities in Buenos Aires are at different locations--or one university at multiple locations. This is partly because the concept of a campus is nearly nonexistent in Buenos Aires, rather the schools are loosely held together by a University name and scatterred throughout the city. You might compare Argentine universities to Georgetown or New York City University since they are two universities that don't have a "traditional campus". To compound the problems, multiply the sprawl of 4 universities over one of the world´s largest cities and you will realize how complicated scheduling and getting to class can be--a logistical nightmare.

The good thing is that each university has its own charm. Di Tella is known for its International Relations and strong academics--also a private school. UBA is known as the most prestigious public school in Argentina and has the reputation of being the hardest, too. UCA and USAL are reputable universities in their own rights, but they´re private schools. It´s been neat to visit each school during orientation and seeing their individual character--almost like hunting for college all over again.

To give you a better idea, let me give you an example day: A student could start the day by taking a bus, or colectivo, to Belgrano for a class at Di Tella. Next, take a bus back to Microcentro for a noon class at UCA. Study at a café in a small group after class in Puerto Madero and then take the Subte (subway) to Caballito to take a 5:45PM course at UBA Filosofía de Letras. Go back home for dinner via colectivo, and then head out for a group study session over coffee or a glass of wine...all before sleeping around 11:30PM.

This is only possible due to the generally organized transit system that exists in Buenos Aires, because literally a typical student´s day in COPA covers many kilometers mixed with public transportation and walking. Clearly this is not something you could do in most cities in the US. This makes selecting classes and having a cohesive schedule difficult, but the rewards are definitely going to be worth it.

The other unique thing about this program is that there are very few requirements and lots of flexibility. For example, the only required course within the program is spanish or Castellano class. COPA does provide "Tracks" in multiple areas, such as Gender studies, Human Rights, Film, and Independent Study tracks.

Now for the downside to all of this. Because there are technically 5 university systems, if you include COPA in this, there are a host of different deadlines and credits. Each university has their own rules governing registering for classes and dropping classes, but by and large, it´s possible to register for many courses and select which ones you want to take over a 1 month period.

Going back to my first "day" scenario: Add the pressure of trying upwards of 20 classes out within a two week period and you´ll realize how crazy my life will be for the next 3 weeks. The good thing is that after these three weeks, I don´t think I will have any problems navigating the city at all.

I learned a lot this week about the differences between US classrooms and classrooms in Argentina, but I will save them for experiential anecdotes.

I will share this. In Argentina, the textbooks cost crazy amounts of money. In general the professors select a photocopy place near the university. The professor puts everything from the syllabus to the readings in these places. This adds another task to the to-do list for the first week of classes.

I have much more to share, but not now. I will add more soon. Thanks for all of your emails; I enjoy hearing from all of you.

¡Chau de Patagonia! Dave

Interesting Article on Recoleta Cemetery

2008-03-01T11:57:00.000-08:00

I found this article on one of the Argentina travel blogs I follow. I think you might enjoy reading some of the history behind the cemetery I blogged about two weeks ago:
Recoleta Cemetery History

¡Chau!

More Pictures from BA

2008-02-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

I found out that my links may not be working if you are not a member of facebook. I'll try to do this a different way. Let me know if you still have troubles.

Recoleta Cemetery

Dave

Photos of Buenos Aires: Leaving, Botanical Garden, and Japanese Garden

2008-02-24T08:41:00.001-08:00

Here is the first group of pictures. More will be coming today.

You shouldn't have to be a member of facebook to see this photos. Let me know if you have any troubles.

Chau! Dave

I hopefully fixed the links. Let me know if you still have troubles--Dave

Try this at home: Experimental Success

2008-02-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

Before I left for BA, a car salesman at a local car dealer asked my mom for me to find out which way the water spins in the Southern Hemisphere. This gentleman always asked foreign exchange students this question and stumped them. After 2 weeks in Argentina, I can tell you finally the correct direction of water.

This solution wasn't easy to come by. Usually its very easy to fill a drain or a tub and leave the water out. In this case, I have had to observe water in bathrooms and sinks for two weeks to come to a definite conclusion. The reason is that the commodes here are set up different. They don't just drain, they also have this secondary tube that spurts water out preventing me from getting my answer.

So finally, this morning, I got this brainstorm. I could block the drain in the shower and gather more water with more velocity. Then I would know for sure what direction it flows. So I blocked it with my foot, and FOUND the answer.

KIDS: You can try this at home.

The water in the Southern Hemisphere spins without a doubt counterclockwise. See for yourself what it does in the Northern Hemisphere and let me know what it is with a comment :)

More posts coming soon...

¡Chau! Dave

First Full Day in BA (split post) Part 2 - 12 Feb 2008

2008-02-13T06:34:00.000-08:00

---Secondo Parte---

This was my first experience with dulce de leche. It’s a famous desert/sweet here in Argentina. Dulce de leche is sweet caramelized milk. I remember when Hanna studied in Argentina with Sra. Rolón, she told me how wonderful this stuff was. It really is quite good.

Oh for my knitting friends, I found my first yarn shop in Recoleta. It probably was more of a notions shop because it had hundreds of buttons, stuff for sewing, and a bit of yarn. I can’t wait to go to the area of Palermo that has more yarn, but my wallet will hold me back.

After my lunch I was heading to explore the acclaimed Recoleta Cemetery. When two men approached me with vests that had Red Cross’s on them. The funny thing is that I usually avoid these kinds of people when I’m traveling, but they caught me because I was gauking a bit too much when I turned onto the street toward the cemetery. I took it in stride because it ended up being a good conversation. They wanted to know how long I was in BA and for what purpose. They made a bunch of different recommendation, i.e. go to Puerto Madero and La Boca. We chatted about the cemetery and church, too. They then told me their purpose. They are volunteers for a nonprofit organization in BA Asociación Civil “Si a la Vida”, or Yes to Life, Civil Organization. Their organization provides two functions: First, they provide educational resources to citizens and foreigners traveling to BA about HIV/AIDS and second they provide services to children stricken with HIV/AIDS specifically.

They asked for money, and I gave a few pesos, in return they gave me a red ribbon. After I knew all of this, I chatted to them about things I’m involved with at Gettysburg College with World Aids week. They told me where their volunteers are at and said they would permit me to interview them if I needed it for my research. They also said there are doctors I could talk to affiliated with their association! It was an exciting mistake. Wear red tomorrow, and tell someone about HIV/AIDS awareness—better yet, inform them about the risks of Heart Disease, too.

Next I went to Del Pilar Cloisters, or Our Lady of Pilar Basílica. This church and convent was built by commission in 1715 by the King of Spain Felipe V for Franciscan monks. Later Juan de Narbona from Spain commissioned a chapel, office, and 4 cells, which was ultimately dedicated to Our Lady of Pilar. The tradition goes that the Christian Apostle James crossed a bridge over the river Ebro when the Virgin appeared on a marble pillar. Accordingly James called her Virgin of the Pilar and the name stuck. In 1822 the monks were kicked out of the convent and the church was reopened as a parish of the Catholic church on 18 November 1829. Finally Pope Pio XI raised the church to the title of Basilica in 1936.

I thought the Prayer to Our Lady of Pilar was quite nice (It was from their brochure, so I lay no claims to its validity):
Show us the Father each day.
Show us Christ,
Who lives in our brothers.
Teach us to live simply the fecundity of sanctity.
Show godless and embittered men
who only trust weapons and live the explosive temptation of violence that
Peace is still possible
because Love is possible.

I didn’t find anything out of the ordinary with this basilica fashioned with guidelines from the Middle Ages. The museum was interesting because it had many very old relics from the early convent that are still used for special services today. A man was there taking down an exhibition of Nacimientos from Christmas and I talked with him a bit. (Nacimientos are also known as Crèche or Nativity’s). The other great thing for a strange perspective on photos is that there are really neat windows that look onto the cemetery from the 2nd and 3rd floors. These are great places for an interesting perspective on the cemetery. In fact the windows make the cemetery look overwhelming.

My cousin Jennifer told me to visit the cemetery—without her knowing that I have a bit of a fetish for cemeteries. I guess I get it honestly; my grandma is the recording secretary for St. John’s Cemetery, Berrysburg, PA (aside St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church). This cemetery was very different than cemeteries in the US or the cemetery I spent time in Cuernavaca. I’ll try to put in words some history of the cemetery and some of my reflections on why this was quite interesting.

The cemetery was started after the monastery had begun, but didn’t really come into full service until after the Basilica of Our Lady Pilar became a parish. Because this is located in a historically wealthy and aristocratic part of town, over time this became the cemetery that the elite were buried in BA. To be buried in this cemetery, you had to be part of an elite class in BA. It’s interesting because the mausoleums are quite posh; most are constructed out of stone, granite, or marble. The tombs are full structures. They usually have multiple people in the same family buried within their walls. Many of the rooms have an underground section, too. The acclaimed Evita Perón is buried here.

I’m just starting to learn about Argentine history, so I will be brief with my remarks about Perón. Evita was the wife of Juan Perón, who led Argentina in the 50’s. You might remember her when Madonna played Evita while serenading to ‘Don’t Cry For Me Argentina’ on a balcony of la Casa Rosada. Evita had humble beginnings born out of wedlock and become someone fantastic.

One of the plaques on her grave says: “Es y será la guia de los trabajadores argentinos y su legado iluminara por siempre el camino de la justicia social sindicato unico de trabajadores del estado de la ciudad de Buenos Aires,” or loosely in English, “She is and will be the guide to Argentine workers and her legacy will always iluminate the walk toward united workers in labor unions in the city of Buenos Aires.”

One thing that kind of resonates with me is that internationally we are all drawn to leaders like Perón. Her legacy will never be forgotten. After talking with my host family about this, it seems like Argentines think of Perón very highly, too. When I saw her grave, I was taken aback at the shear number of people congregating at her grave—it was an international moment. Some were Argentines, French, German, English, Americans, Japanese—it was neat. It was the first time I actually heard all of these languages at once since I arrived in BA.

The sad part of this cemetery is that it is falling into disrepair. The upkeep of these burials is incredible, since most of the graves themselves are like small houses. Accordingly this has gotten much worse since the economic recession in 2001 and the government has started to assist in its upkeep since it is a major venue for tourism.

It’s really interesting to me how much resources we put into death. In modern day, we plan for it, some of us try to put it off—while others try to quicken death’s pace—but inevitably graves seem to the last thing we are entitled to on this earth. It amazes me that Archaeologists tend to find a lot of their information about a past culture through grave yards. I guess the question I’ve been pondering is: Why do societies put so much emphasis on death? Sometimes I think we put so much emphasis on dying and planning for death as a society that each of us forget to live the days we have. I guess in some cases our religious persuasion creates this climate, since most major religions believe that the afterlife will be better than the present, earthly life. I think it’s something worth pondering. What do you think?

So the day got more entertaining as time marched on. After the cemetery, I got this amazing idea to walk through Recoleta on the way to Alto Palermo and then back to my home in Lafinur. In theory it was great—if I only would have been paying attention to the map. I went through Recoleta and went to Avenida Santa Fe which runs parallel to Alto Palermo. I just went the wrong way—not realizing it at the time—and ended up on Avenida 9 Julio de Septiembre towards town center. I saw a Subte (metro) station close by and realized what I had done at that point. (I know my mother will be rolling her eyes at this point when she reads this…) So I decided to use the Subte to go to estación Bulnes, near Alto Palermo. It was a silly mistake in hindsight, but I got to walk down one of the prettiest avenidas in BA, so it all turned out quite good!

At Alto Palermo I shopped around and got the cheapest cell phone I could find at the many kiosks. It will be adequate for my time here. The guy that sold it to me talked fast, but I understood him. I headed back to the apartment for dinner around 8, and that completed my first full day in BA.

I had problems getting the cell phone to work—even Mateo tried to help me. But we are going to return to Alto Palermo tomorrow to talk to the people at the kiosk again. We’ll see what happens.

I think I am supposed to study here.

On a language note, generally I don’t have a lot of problems getting around. Strangers on the street are hard for me to understand because of their thick Argentine accent, but its improving a little at a time. It is taking me quite a bit of time to think with the right past tense forms again. Preterite tense is kicking my butt once again. I always confuse the ‘I’ and ‘he/she/it’ forms. Though, I know it will improve since it is a recurring problem I have had since my second year of Spanish in high school.

Para ahora, ¡Chau!

Address for Asociatión Civil “Si a la Vida”:
Mar Dulce 385
Ciudad de Buenos Aires
Phone: 4268-1350
Ministry of Health Argentina

First Full Day in BA (split post) Part 1 - 12 Feb 2008

2008-02-12T06:55:00.000-08:00

PART 1

Today was an exciting day: I went to many gardens, walked around BA, and got a bit lost all in one day. What more can you ask for? I can say that all is good when it ends well!

I started my day by going to Jardín Botánico very close to where I live. Its really a gorgeous garden, reminding me of Jardín Borda in Cuernavaca and Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania. This garden has many statues and tons of interesting and diverse plantings. It is free, so I intend on spending time studying and reading there in the future. The cats in this garden are hysterical. I must have counted at least 50 of them while I was there, and people love petting them and feeding them. No wonder there is so many of them. I’d hate to see what they would do with my grandfather’s cat concoction because the people here feed them top of the line food: bread, meat, etc. It’s funny.

Attached to the botanical garden is a school that people can take courses about plants. Depending on the time of year, the classes are different. I find it interesting that most of the annual plantings here are the same that we would use in America: impatiens, petunias, portulacas, et al. Also they plant a huge variety of hydrangea’s that are all in bloom right now. Another interesting thing is that a lot of trees are in full bloom now yielding gorgeous pink, blue, and lavender flowers all over the city.

After Jardín Botánico, I walked down Avenida Sarmiento and saw the Sociedad Rural Agricultura. It seems to be a complex very similar to the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, PA. I found out that they have a Farm Show-like exposition in June and July. And I will be able to go to it! I decided to save the zoo for another time and then headed toward the Jardín Japones or Japanese garden.

It’s hard to explain the vast number of parks that exist in this part of Buenos Aires. I assume there must have been some urban planning involved because it would be highly contended land, I would assume. There are vast pristine parks on every side of the streets. Many Argentines stroll with their children or are reading at the many park benches.

Everywhere I go I see Argentines reading. They seem to be reading novels more than newspapers, too. If the number of bookstores, or librarías, are evidence to how much they read, I’d say they read more than Americans! For book lovers, this is the place to be because there are definitely more bookstores here than in New York City. In fact probably in Palermo there are 4 times the number of bookstores than in Harrisburg area. The cool thing is that each bookstore seems to have a specialty: literature, magazines, tourism, children’s literature, gently used, etc. It’s very different than México in this respect.

At a store similar to Borders, I bought a book to read that I was familiar with since it would probably be easier to read in Spanish. Comer en Italia, Rezar en India, Amar en Indonesia, or Eat, Pray, and Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. It was featured on Oprah several months back and I was going borrow Karel’s copy when I got back, but I decided to read it now. So far the book is going well. I think it will be a good book for my while traveling abroad since Elizabeth did traveling after her traumatic divorce. The reading seems to be getting easier, thankfully…poco a poco…

Ok…sorry about that rant, but those that know me understand my constant ranting J. Next I went to Avenida Adolfo Berra (close to Avenida Presidente Figueroa Alcorta) to visit the acclaimed Japanese Garden, or Jardín Japones. This is an incredible place. It is founded by la Fundación Cultural Argentino Japonesa, or the Argentine-Japanese Cultural Foundation and by a small entrance fee into the garden (about $1.50 dollars). There is a pretty large lake with hundreds of koi fish in the garden. The garden itself was very relaxing to sit or walk around. You could buy bread in the garden to feed to the ducks and fish. A girl was feeding the fish, which was when I actually realized just how many fish were in the pond. I took several pictures here of the fish, gardens, and the many bonsai for my Asian Studies friends, aka Beth, Cat and Aubrey. There also was a sushi bar, library, and museum in the garden. (Sushi is all the rage here right now; maybe I’ll muster some courage to try some different varieties).

After the botanical gardens, I decided to walk down Avenida Presidente Figueroa Alcorta toward el Museo del Arte Latinoamericana. I knew I wasn’t going to go into the museum because the guides tell me that it’s free on Wednesday’s. So I’m going to this museum on a Wednesday in the future.

By this time I was getting hungry, and I knew I wanted to go to the famous Cemetery in Recoleta, so I figured I would get something close to there. I ended up eating at a fantastic restaurant called Monaco in Recoleta. They have lunch specials and I got chicken in a leek cream sauce with mashed squashe, red wine (a Malbec), dessert, and coffee for well under $10. This restaurant was a rotiserrie, so the chicken had a great smoky flavor. The desert I chose was a pastry, similar to a cream puff that was filled with ice cream—I chose mixed fruit and lemon ice cream—and it was drizzled with dulce de leche and chocolate. ¡Buenismo! After I left the restaurant, I read in the guidebook that this is one of the best restaurants in BA.

There will be a second part to this post. I will write it at home and then upload it at a cibercafé later.

¡Hasta luego!

In BA for a day -- 10 Feb. 2008

2008-02-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

¡Estoy en Calle Lafinur en Buenos Aires!

View Larger Map
For the non Spanish speakers among us, I just announced that I’m in Lafinur Street in Buenos Aires! I had a rather uneventful flight into Buenos Aires from Atlanta. I definitely will travel again, especially when you arrive and realize where you’re at.

While I was in Atlanta I was able to catch up with Stacy, my mom, Anya, and Aunt Karel. It was a good time to talk to them since I had about a 3.5 hour layover. Atlanta’s airport is super easy to navigate thanks to the wonderful metro-like transports. It’s definitely an airport that’s handicapped accessible. I was prepared for these metro cars thanks to my cousin Anya and Stacy. (P.S.—they were neat, Anya)

According to my seating preference, I had an end seat. I sat with a gentlemen from Boston who was coming to Argentina to go on a dove hunt in Córdoba. (…after speaking with him, if I could just convince my dad to take a flight to the airport, he’d have the vacation of the lifetime…pssst…if you see him, remind him that passports can be expressed). In the seats behind me I was able to talk to two students, one from Washington, D.C., and the other from Holland. The girl from Washington, D.C., will be staying in Buenos Aires for a year working on her Master’s Degree, and the other guy from Holland is staying for two weeks to work on his language skills. The girl who is getting her Master´s her in BA received a scholarship from the Rotary Clubs. I think it would be a great program to apply for in the future.

The plane didn’t have much turbulence; we had some from time to time when we crossed the equator and again when we were over Columbia. The plane took a different trajectory than I has assumed. We left Atlanta and flew over Cuba and started to curve over to Columbia, through Bolivia, and then into Argentina until we got to BA the flight ran 30 minutes ahead of time and landed around 9:15AM in BA; however, we were tied up in customs for quite awhile. I have a visitors pass, but I will need to upgrade it to a student visa at the embassy.

I was easily able to navigate the airport, got money out of an ATM (cajero automático), and paid for a remiso, or paid taxi car to take me to my family. I know I have a lot to learn about Spanish, but I definitely know enough about the language to mitigate through any travel related circumstances without thinking—way cool.

The taxista took me to my semester-home in Palermo in about 30 minutes. I got to look at the streets first hand when we got off of the autopista (highway). The city is very pretty. I think it has a certain enchantment because there are little parks hiding every few blocks, and the porteños walk there dogs everywhere. When I got to my house, I rang María Inés’ apartment and she came down to greet me. I live on the second story of a multiple story apartment complex. It’s very secure since you need a key to get into the foyer and the elevator and it appears that we live on a nice street, too.

María probably is in her 50’s or 60’s and is full of pep. She lives here with her son Matias. Matias is 36 years old. It’s quite common for children to live with their parents until they’re married like many other parts of the world. She welcomed me with “los brazos abiertos” or with open arms. The apartment is functional with a kitchen, 3 bedrooms and a living room. She has several little patio areas that are covered with plants, reminding me of both of my grandmas. Both Matias and her are very eager to talk with me. Matias took me to a store to get a phone card so I could call my mom, and I got a mini-tour of the area.

My first meal in Argentina consisted of one of my cousin’s favorite regular foods. She heated up a rotisserie chicken from a supermarket and made salad. Anya: you would have loved the chicken. We had small talk and discussed briefly about my home, Buenos Aires, arriving early, etc. They were very patient with my delusional state, since I didn’t sleep more than 2 hours on the plane. It made my Spanish very interesting. After that, I slept for 3.5 hours. After I woke up and went for a walk.

I figured that it was good to get my bearings. Since its daylight savings time, there was light until around 9PM. I live so close to many things! The Botanical Garden is literally across the street and the zoo is about 2 blocks down. I didn’t go in them because it was too late and they had shut down for the Sunday. However it was comical to see the great number of feral cats in the Botanical Garden, which it is known. There probably were probably 75-80 cats there. It reminds me of my uncle’s place…

I then continued to walk and stumbled upon Alto Palermo, which is a 4 story mall complex. I found a wonderful bookstore, Yenny, and bought a book in Spanish to start reading. I also browsed the mall a little bit. Since I wasn’t really ready to shop hard core, it was good to get a sense of what was there. I might go back today to get a cell phone. They had a great mixture of stores with some American fashion labels (Dior, Tommy Hilfiger, McDonalds) and some Argentine-specific stores, too. Oh, and there were 2 McDonalds that have slightly different product lines than our McD’s—one even had a McCafe that served pastries that looked good, but nothing as good as the pandelerías in the streets.

The streets around my house have many café’s, parrillas (Argentine steak houses), heladerías (ice cream shops), and tiendas (stores). There is also several supermarkets within a few blocks of the house.

For dinner around 9:30 María made empanadas, an Argentine staple. Empanadas are made with dough shaped similar to a turnover. They are often filled with cheese, beef, vegetables, or fruit. She had beef and hard boiled egg in them. Mateo made a pizza, too. The water here tastes very good; it has a similar taste to the water at my paternal grandparents. María paid me a great complement. She said that my Spanish is far better than the other 6 students she has had in the past. She told me that she had one student that didn’t talk as good as I do after 6 months in Argentina. Maybe there’s hope fluency while I’m here!

If I understand my María correctly, I will be able to have the internet around March 1. It’s expensive for her to have it all of the time, but for 40 pesos (about $11) it’s possible for me to pay for it. Once I get the internet, it will be easier to communicate with everyone outside the country. She already has a wireless router, so I just will pay her for the service.

Interesting aside particularly for my dad: The electrical outlets here are very strange. Most outlets run 220V power (in the US we use 110V). On most plugs it says what kind of power the thing accepts. For example, my computer accepts 105-240V, so I can just plug in my laptop directly (and same for my cell phone). But if I have something requires 110V power only, I need a charge converter for that.

So for now, I’m going to figure out my plans for tomorrow. I want to head to the downtown district, which surely will be another adventure, and maybe try the buses—I’ll see how brave I am.

¡Chau!

At the Airport -- 9 Feb 2008

2008-02-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

Now finally its setting in that I'll soon be in Buenos Aires. The past week I've been going through the motions of gathering my things, but it didn't "hit" me until yesterday morning.

My parents took me to my Aunt Karel's this morning, who then took me to the airport. I am departing from Washington-Dulles International Airport at 3:26PM and have 1 layover in Atlanta. I arrive in Atlanta at 5:26PM. I will then head on another flight to Buenos Aires International Airport (EZE) at 8:40 PM. The flight then will arrive in BA the following morning at 10:45AM. I'll take a taxi from the airport to my semester home Palermo.

How exciting!

Reflection about México -- 8 Feb 2008

2008-02-12T06:41:00.000-08:00

Before leaving the states, I thought it would be important to contextualize my experiences with traveling and studying abroad.

Last year was the first time I was out of the country, and it was exciting! I studied in Cuernavaca, México with Universal for 3.5 weeks and then travelled to México City for a week before returning home.

The experience was quite good for several reasons. After studying Spanish for several years, I feel it really helped me develop a different linguistic and cultural understanding of the people behind the language. You can learn how to translate every word of another language, in fact computers can do this; what separates a fluent person from a computer is that we can go beyond the literal translation and make sense of the cultural metaphor, which is in essence how we communicate.

Take for example two particular events from the trip. First La día de la Virgen Guadalupe, or Day of the (Patron saint) Virgin Guadelupe. Virgin Guadalupe became the patron saint after a miracle was formed. This is perhaps one of the most spiritual holy days for Mexicans. Most Mexicans go to mass on this day, prepare special foods, and put rose petals on the graves of loved ones.

Another example is the tradition of Las Posadas. Posadas is a great tradition I also learned about in High School Spanish. The weeks before Christmas each local parish and/or street (depending on the town/city) reinacts Mary and Joseph's sojourn to Bethlehem. In many parishes, its a special honor for a the girl in the town to be chosen as Mary. This celebration becomes a social celebration for the town block. The young and old come out together and join the Posadas parade, followed by the ceremonial breaking of the piñata and drinking poncho. (Poncho is a hot cider-like drink with spices, fruit and sugar cane in it.) This is another example of how the Mexican community comes together as a group or family for celebrations.

For both of these examples, I recall learning about this holiday when I was in my High School spanish class (taught by on of my favorite HS teachers Sra. Shuey). She always included culture in the study of language. Even though I was aware of the holidays and could tell you a lot about them, I never was able to "understand" their full purposes before I experienced them.

I think this gets at the heart to why it is good to study abroad: Books can only teach you so much about a given topic, what we each need to learn something fully is to experience the world. This changed my perspective on the world, I process the world through a different lense.

I think it also taught me another valuable lesson about respecting other people's lives. I think all cultures to some extent are centered on our lives and our way of life. While this can be helpful, I think we need to push beyond our culture and push towards a cultural understanding of acceptance of difference. We may be have different cultural identities such as American, Mexican, Argentine, or Nepalese, or different religions, but at the end of the day we're all humans. We're all on this planet together. At the risk of sounding like a bleeding heart (which I probably am), we need learn about each other, understand our differences and similarities, and accept every person for their own unique characteristics we each bring to the world. If we could do this, the world would look very different.

As I challenge myself to engage in another cultures social quirks head-on, I challenge us all to acknowledge the differences between us and celebrate them. After all, if we were all the same, this nation--and world--would be boring.

Address in BA

2008-02-08T22:39:00.000-08:00

Address for mailing me will be the following:

NAME
c/o COPA Argentina
Institute for Study Abroad
San Martin 948, 1°
C1004AAS, Buenos Aires
Argentina

Limit clothing and electronic items because I will have to pay HUGE customs fees. Send me some letters, they're fun!

Saludos...

Tengo suerte!

2008-01-26T07:56:00.000-08:00

For non Spanish speakers, the title to this post means that "I have luck". I hope that's an accurate statement as I embark on a very interesting journey since I will be leaving for Buenos Aires, Argentina in about two weeks. I'm very excited since for the past year it has been my goal to study abroad in South America. It's almost surreal that my goal is finally coming to fruition.

Studying abroad was always something that I wanted to do. I believed before I went to college, that it would be an opportunity for me to learn about another culture, hone my language skills, and, hopefully, come back to the United States with a deeper understanding of the world in which I live. Even though I am a science major, I feel this experience is essential for my future career in the States. It's long been my assertion that the problem with the US is that we say we want to compete in the global marketplace and we say we want to understand other cultures, but we don't end up doing it. I think a large part of this is in direct result of not spending time in the countries that we profess to want to understand.

Last year whetted my appetite for extended study abroad when I went to Universal during the last week of December and into mid-January. I went to Universal mostly due to the recommendation of Off Campus Studies (OCS) because of their great language immersion program. I took Intermediate Spanish I (201) at Universal and I feel it re-inspired me to continue studying Spanish. It was a perfect learning environment being situated in a medium sized city, Cuernavaca, and immersed in Mexican culture. The best part of the program was the home stay; it really complemented the academic program by providing an environment to learn to effectively communicate in Spanish. I hope to add more reflections on this experience from last year in the future.

After 2 more semesters of Spanish at Gettysburg, I am ready for my next challenge. I am excited to learn the ins and outs of the Argentine dialect and ready to work hard in the program. I am attending Butler University's program for Buenos Aires, Argentina, which will permit me to take classes at 4 different Argentine Universities (more on that later). I will be staying with a family during my semester there on Lafinur Street in Palermo, which is a section of Buenos Aires.

This past week I had the opportunity to visit campus. It's strange that all the students are back and in session while I'm not. I planned my visit around a committee meeting that I serve on (the Diversity Commission) and was able to catch up with Rebecca Bergren (OCS director) during that time and also catch up with different committee meetings. It was great to see all of my friends, but strange since I'm not leaving for another 2 weeks.

The excitement is building. In 2 weeks, I will begin my journey in Argentina.