Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Buenas Ondas

In my third week of living here in Buenos Aires, I'm beginning to understand what the porteños mean by a popular phrase "buenas ondas" (good vibes). In my short time here I've found myself in many situations where I've felt some definite buenas ondas- sunbathing in the parks in Palermo, watching live drum performances, drinking mate with friends, and dancing in the rain all night at a club.
There's a certain dichotomy present here in Buenos Aires. It is, after all, a fast-paced city with lots of traffic, an incredibly confusing (but also very cheap- apparently the cheapest in South America!) public transportation system, and tall, tall buildings. And yet it is one of the less daunting cities I've visited, as the people walk slower and take long lunches, there are parks and public spaces on every block, and (as I've mentioned before) national holidays are frequent. I like that people here are so passionate about politics (dinners with my host mother often consist of her ranting about her dislike of Cristina Fernandez, who is Argentina's president, and public assistance programs) and yet at the same time they don't seem to sweat the small stuff. I get so aggravated when I'm on a crowded, hot bus that keeps stopping to pick up even more sweaty people, but the porteños around me simply shift around to make more room. I need to keep that in mind and chill out, which will guarantee some buenas ondas!
In other news, I'm halfway through my spanish intensive course and just had a midterm. The class is going well and is helping me a lot with my interactions outside of class. I'm continuing to explore the city and have had a lot of great experiences lately. The last two Monday nights I attended a live improv drum performance called La Bomba del Tiempo. It's an incredibly fun dance party where they serve gigantic beers and that will inevitably end in a mosh pit. The rhythms that this group can create are so catchy and lively, and they are so cohesive; it really is amazing.
(Not my photo; I was having too much fun to take any!)
The last two Saturday nights my friends and I have gone to a boliche called Terrazas which is a huge club with indoor and outdoor bars and dance floors right on the river, and both nights I have danced until the sun came up. Watching the sun rise at Terrazas is something I will never forget!
I've also been hitting up the touristy stuff and have visited the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano Buenos Aires), which displays art by prominent Latin American artists, the Jardin Botanico (Botanical Garden), and the Jardin Japones (Japanese Garden) in Palermo.
MALBA
Frannie enjoying art at MALBA
Jardin Botanico
Jardin Botanico
Jardin Japones
Two weeks ago our program went on a tour of the Recoleta Cemetery, which is apparently the third best in the world (according to the experts). It is where Buenos Aires' richest and most powerful citizens are kept in huge and extravagant mausoleums after they die. There I got to see where the famous Evita is buried, interestingly enough in her family's modest mausoleum and not her husband Juan Peron's (as he remarried after her death it was thought to be inappropriate to bury them together).
Recoleta Cemetery
Evita's tomb
I've found my favorite bookstore in the world, and it is literally a block away from my apartment! It's called Ateneo, and it's an old theater that has been converted into a bookstore and cafe. I like to go do homework there because it's just so fancy!


That's all for now! I've bought a plane ticket for Patagonia for my Spring Break the first week of March which I'm very excited about. More updates later.

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Back to school!

It hasn't been that long since I last wrote, and yet already so much has happened! School has started; therefore it has become necessary to establish some sort of daily routine- which is proving difficult as the city is still so new and exciting and there is much to explore. Nevertheless, I am here to learn spanish, so focusing on school is essential. We had a placement test on Monday, and I was placed in Intermediate Level 2 with a few other people in my program. Today was our first full day of class (5 hours of intensive spanish learning) and while it was long, it felt great to do some grammar review and lots of practice. University of Belgrano is interesting because it is only one very tall building with classrooms and offices on each level, which is so different from the sprawling, landscaped campuses I'm used to in the states. I'm actually really excited about the academic portion of the program!!

This weekend was really amazing. On Saturday, we hopped on a bus and drove about an hour to an estancia (ranch) outside of the city. While it was open for tourists, it is also a working cattle ranch and we got to learn about its history and how it is run today. We basically had the day to ourselves to ride horses or bicycles around the property, but we spent the majority of the day in the pool, getting sunburnt and escaping the heat. We got to experience our first traditional asado (barbecue- soo much meat) complete with wine and a musical performance by a gaucho (Argentine cowboy). Afterward there was a demonstration of "breaking the horse"- how gauchos would tame wild horses. It was...interesting, to say the least.
El asado
"Breaking the Horse"

Anna enjoying a bike ride!
 To top off a long day at the estancia, a bunch of us went to a pub crawl that night. A pub crawl is when you (as a group) bar-hop until you end up at a boliche (night club). It was my first introduction to the Buenos Aires nightlife, although the pub crawl was very touristy. The boliche was so much fun- the DJ played a ton of great remixes of Top 40 songs with latin music and we danced the night away! We didn't leave the club until almost 5 am! All the locals were still going strong but I was about to pass out from such a long day/night. On Sunday we slept in, then explored the antiques market in a neighborhood called San Telmo. The market was full of fun trinkets and street performers, and San Telmo has quickly become one of my favorite neighborhoods. It is older than other areas of the city and its walls are filled with fantastic, colorful street art- I was obsessed.
An example of San Telmo street art
Later in the evening we went to an American bar in Recoleta called Casa Bar, an old mansion-turned-sports bar, to watch the Super Bowl. Despite the outcome of the game, it was a fun night!

While I enjoyed myself at the pub crawl and watching the Super Bowl, I am completely aware that these were very touristy/gringo activities. I'd like to find the more local spots and interact with more Argentines with the limited time that I have here! I'm thinking of doing an intercambio where I am paired with someone who is trying to improve their english so that we can practice  speaking each other's language together.

More soon! This weekend is Carnevale in Buenos Aires and while it is very small compared to the celebrations of other parts of South America, we still get two days of holiday from school so I'm sure I'll have more adventures to share next week!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Settling In

As my fourth day in Buenos Aires comes to an end, I finally have some time to start a blog of my experiences- largely thanks to the raging thunder and lightning storm outside preventing my housemate Frances and I from going out. Hopefully it'll cool the summer air a little- but I'm thinking not.

Where to begin?

My life has been pretty non-stop since I arrived on Tuesday with the rest of the UCEAP Argentina program. The first couple of nights we stayed in a hotel in el centro (downtown) near the Expanish office where we had our program orientation. With early mornings and long days of learning about local customs, safety, and the nature of the intensive language program, we haven't had a lot of time so far to explore on our own. Nevertheless, we were able to take a walking tour of the downtown, seeing notably the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada (Argentine equivalent of the White House).
Casa Rosada in Playa de Mayo
We also had a city tour by bus in order to orient ourselves beyond the downtown (Buenos Aires is huge, with lots of barrios, or neighborhoods). On the bus tour we visited La Boca (home to the popular Boca Juniors futbol team) and specifically El Caminito- a touristy block of colorful buildings where poor immigrants used to live and where now exist lots of souvenir shops, cafes, and art galleries. Additionally, we ate our first traditional Argentine steak dinner and enjoyed a brief tango lesson.

El Caminito
Yesterday evening we all moved into our respective homestays- where we'll be for the rest of the program. I live in an apartment in Recoleta, which is known as the Upper East Side of Buenos Aires- very fancy. Our homestay host is a wonderful woman named Alicia. She works downtown and has four grown children (and many adorable grandchildren!). Although she seems busy she has been preparing wonderful meals for us and is more than willing to help us with our language skills (we only speak spanish with Alicia!). My housemate Frances and I went out to a super hip bar in Palermo where I tried the favorite cocktail of the locals, Fernet and Coke (Fernet is a spirit that tastes like Jagermeister but stronger) and we talked with porteños (locals of Buenos Aires) until the bar closed. It was so much fun to practice spanish and meet locals- I only hope it counts as homework when school starts on Monday!

Culture shock: Things to note-

Thursday was a national holiday- the whole city shut down and there were scarcely any cars or people on the usually bustling streets. The thing is, this holiday only came to exist two weeks ago, when the government decided to create a holiday to commemorate the 200th anniversary of some battle. Apparently the creation of new holidays is common and can happen at any time!

The daily schedule is so different. People don't eat dinner until 10 pm and it can last for a few hours. When young people go out to the boliches (nightclubs) they don't arrive at the club until around 2 am and party until 8 am (I have not experienced this yet- but I'm sure it will be soon!!).

It is so HOT! It is currently summer in Argentina and the daily temperatures are around 85-95 degrees F during the day and not much cooler during the night. Air conditioning exists, but not in most places (or often it's broken) and not in my apartment. The good news is it'll be cooling down in the next few weeks.

Overall, though I only just arrived and I am still adapting to the climate, the culture, etc., I can already tell I am going to love it here. This city is beautiful, and I cannot wait to settle in and continue to explore my new home for the next few months.