Mar Del Plata Part 1

So I went to Mar del Plata, locally known as Mardel. It is one of Buenos Aires' most famous beach towns. Here's some pictures from the first day. A word of warning: at first you may giggle when you hear that there is a whole street dedicated to sweaters and that street is known as Avenida de Pullovers, but soon that smile will be wiped off your face. Mar Del Plata is cold!! mainly because of the wind that sweeps over the coast.







These last two are of the argentine countryside as we rolled by in the bus.


p.s. this is where they keep all of the cows that argentines eat. (I actually have no idea but) ;)

Puerto Madero

So I forgot to mention the locations of the various universities. I'm going to skip straight to UCA because it is where I am the most and because I took pictures. ;)
UCA is located in puerto madero, which is a really nice and recent, in the scheme of things, area. here are some pictures.




you can see the back of the Casa Rosada peeking out. UCA is literally 5 mins away from the Casa Rosada. I pass it everyday I go to UCA and back.



A lot of the buildings are modern in design, which i like.



The long brown brick buildings seen below in the rest of the photos is UCA. they have some pretty prime real estate there and it is very nice when the wind blows through, especially on the hot days.

Classes? Education? What's that?

As some of my readers have pointed out, ahem mom, they want the scoop on what classes I am taking, where, when, etc. Basically they want to know if I am even going to class... he he rest assured I am going to classes and not spending all my time in cafes drinking coffee or dancing in clubs at all hours of the night (which hasn't happened yet). Anyways, IFSA gave us the choice to take classes at 4 universities; The Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), Universidad de Buenos Aires (UBA), Universidad del Salvador (USAL) and Universidad Torcuato di Tella (Di Tella or UTD). All except UBA are private universities. UCA is catholic based, USAl is jesuit based, and Di Tella just had loads of money to found a school.

I tried out classes at UBA, UCA and USAL. I decided not to take classes at UBA because it was hard for me to understand the professors because a/ my spanish isn't that good and theirs is too good and b. the windows in the classrooms were open, letting in the noise of all the busses and trucks rumbling by, which obscured the prof's voice... Long story short, no classes at UBA for me.

I am taking 3 classes at UCA and 1 class at USAL. The classes at UCA are Art, Architecture and Identity in Latin America, Social and Political Processes in South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Religion and the State. All of the classes are taught in Spanish and most of the readings are in Spanish as well. These classes are a little different from the regular UCA classes in that the teachers talk a little slower and phrase things a little differently so it will be understood. Most of the students in my UCA classes are foreign students as well. I have people from Denmark, Germany, the U.S., and Columbia, among other countries, in my classes. My favorite class at UCA would be the Art, Architecture and Identity class. I mean, who doesn't like architecture?

My one class at USAL, I only decided on, definitively, last night more or less. It is a History of Argentina but from a political perspective. I was deciding whether to take this class, which meets at night on mondays and the same class, but it meets today at 11. (the Prof is the same prof for both of the classes). The other difference is that the monday class is at a higher level, which means it requires more background info than the one today, which is for beginners. But I like the monday night class because the material is more interesting.

My last class is a required IFSA castellano class, which is taught by IFSA personnel. Oh all classes are once a week but they usually last about 2-3 hours, which makes up for the whole once-a-week-issue. And there is a lot of reading.

When you add that all up, it is 15 credits, which is the exact amount I need to make Scripps happy.

Parilla

This is a picture of me and the parilla that I ordered in El Tigre. Look at all that meat! That black sausage is the blood sausage...

Colonia, Uruguay

Last weekend, IFSA treated us to a trip to Colonia, Uruguay. We took a boat, more like a mini cruise ship, across the Rio de la Plata to Colonia. When we got there, we were bused to Mario's house, which is actually a bed and breakfast, in the countryside. ( Mario is the director of the IFSA program here). And wow, is his house nice and very picturesque. I want to stay there when I come back to Argentina or Uruguay. He has a bunch of lemon trees that he grows, so his property is pretty big. When we arrived, there was a very yummy lunch set out for us starving students, as well as dessert. Afterwards, we had a bunch of free time to swim in the pool, relax, or go swimming at the beach. (I always forget but beach is not ocean beach, its river beach).

In Colonia, we stayed at this tiny hostel, which was also really nice. Breakfast was provided in the morning and the beds were really comfy, actually better than my bed here at home. Colonia is a really small town but it is very touristy and there a lot of tourist from all over, including Japan, which I thought was funny. I don't have pictures right now, as I forgot my camera, but other people do, so as soon as people post them, I'll post them here.

In Colonia, the money used there is the Uruguayan peso but the argentine peso and the american dollar are also accepted there. the exchange rate was the argentine peso was horrible; 1 arg. peso = 4.5 uruguayan pesos, and for the u.s. dollar, $1=20 uruguayan pesos. A group of my friends and I went to a restaurant for lunch while we were there. There were 6 of us. When the bill came, we paid with Argentine pesos, U.S. dollars, and Uruguayan pesos. It was horribly confusing but lucky for us, our waitress was able to figure it out.

Sin Ozone

I just realized why I had a flip-flop tan after El Tigre. It had really confused me, as I usually only get them in the dead of summer at home when I spend 24/7 at the beach. Well, mystery solved.



I completely forgot this but there is no ozone layer over Argentina! I'm not sure if it is all of Argentina but definently a good part of it; "As the ozone hole over Antarctica has in some instances grown so large as to reach southern parts of Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina, and South Africa, environmentalists have been concerned that the increase in surface UV could be significant.[24]" WIkipedia.

Duh! No wonder a lot of people here look like tan french models. Its because just walking a couple blocks to their house or work is a tan in itself. No need to go to the beach. Just walk a few blocks. Time to invest in some sunscreen before I end up with some nice melanoma.

Jugo de Naranja

Ok you are not going to believe this. I almost can't believe this myself. The orange juice here in Buenos Aires is to die for. It is the fresh kind with the pulp and everything, the kind I like. When one goes to a cafe and orders a coffee, usually a little cup of orange juice comes along with it. It is good but not enough. A big glass of orange juice in a cafe is around 16 pesos, which is 4 dollars. Not bad. But you can also get fresh squeezed orange juice on the street corners.



To crib this unknown guy's picture off the internet, it shows a juice stand on the street. Most are a little more simple, a cart with only the oranges, the juice squeezer, and the man or lady behind it. The price?



5 PESOS!!!! It can vary. For a medium coffee cup amount of fresh juice, this is a deal breaker and an amazing way to get your daily Vitamin c!!!

Carne!

Buenos Aires is known for its high quality meats, and it is justifiably so. While my host mom doesn't make too much meat (i think there is some weird fixation with atun(tuna), i've ordered meat twice when dining out with friends. And their meat is soo good and cooked just perfect.


(the first time at El Tigre)

The first time I had a parilla (mixed grill) when when I was at El Tigre with my friends. On of the guys and I decided to split one,mainly because it would have been expensive to each get a single one. Our waitress assured us that there would be enough food for the both of us. Boy, was she right. The parilla came sizzling in on a mini grill set in the center of the table. Piled on the mini-grill was chicken, steak, chorizo (sausage), blood sausage, something we think was brain and the other was possibly liver (sweetmeats?), ribs, more steak, and i think, flank steak ( the really thin one that could be used in a pulled pork sandwich but cow). Everyone's eyes in the group just bulged. I thought; "dang, what did we just get ourselves into?"



I ended up really enjoying it, despite the massive amount of carne just sitting there. It was enough to turn someone vegetarian on the spot. I even tried a bit of the blood sausage. the texture was really smooth and it tasted kind of savory, like someone stuck some cinnamon and christmas spices in it. I did NOT touch the sweetmeats.

Last night we went to a restaurant and i split some steaks with some friends. They were really good; the meat was tender and juicy although it was a little rare for me. Some of the pieces were more well done but it didn't taste as good. No matter what people say, los portenos can cook some meat!
(I'm not sure if it is pricey or not. the first time when I split it, i paid 55ish pesos. The second time was about the same. so not bad, in my opinion.

El Tigre

Yesterday, I went with a group of my friends from the program to el Tigre. All of us, for various reasons, didn't decide to travel anywhere far away for the long weekend. Some of my friends had already planned this, so for me, it was spontaneous but so worth it.
The train Station at El Tigre


At the beginning, the forecast was for overcast clouds and rain. I brought my umbrella just in case.


El Tigre is the delta region of the Paraná. It is famous for its myriad islands and waterways, most which host tiny summer homes. Many people from Buenos Aires come to escape the heat of the city for el Tigre, where they can fish, sail, sleep, row, buy crafts, or even visit the amusement park. There are a lot of rowing clubs situated in the area and many have boats, kayaks and canoes to rent for a couple hours during the day. The other popular option is the take a catamaran/boat tour down the delta.









I, with two of my other friends, decided to go find a kayak to rent. We walked up and down the dock for about a half an hour, trying to find a place that would let us rent a couple of kayaks for an hour or two. Every place we went to said that all of their boats were reserved, blah, blah, blah. Finally, after following a couple of leads, we found a place that was willing to rent us some kayaks. We were only able to rent 1 single and 1 double kayak for 3 hours, (which was the minimum for about 200 pesos). We kayaked across the river into one of the myriad inlets, where we saw many summer homes and camping grounds. There was even a small lake off on the inlets, where a lot of people went swimming. I did not go swimming, despite the fact that my skirt was already damp, mainly because I like seeing the bottom! (the river is brown and murky, not because its dirty, but because of the minerals in the mud). I thoroughly enjoyed my day at El Tigre. (Although now my shoulders are sore because of all the kayaking). There was so much sun that I even got a flip-flop tan, which hasn't happened in ages. ;)






To leave you with some words from Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges about El Tigre: "no other city do I know that adjoins a secret group of green islands, which get lost at unknown waters of such a slow river that literature called it frozen..."

Riding the Bus

Riding the Bus here is Buenos Aires is an experience. There are two options one faces when about to board one of the buses here, known as collectivos. It is either crowded or half-empty.

If you are lucky, there are not very many people on the bus and you can even get a seat.

If you are unlucky or catch the bus at the time when everyone is going home, you face the Crowded Bus. The Crowded Bus is something out of claustrophobic's nightmare. You get on, tell the bus driver where you are going, pay your fare, receive your bus stub, and then face the crowd. You are expected to move to at least the middle of the bus, or back if you prefer. This involves a lot of murmurs of "perdoname" and squeezing past the people, your bag leading the way. ( An important feature of riding the bus is that if you have a backpack, you put the bag in front of you, like a baby sling, to prevent thievery. The same goes to your purse or messenger bag or whatever bag-like object you have.)

While you are squeezing past people, the bus has already been moving, which is often an erratic ride. Hence, a lot of the times, one has to grab ahold of the bars above or in front of you as the bus lurches forward. When you do find a spot to stand, you are usually squished in between two-three-four people. Just when you think relief has come because the bus lurches to the curb to drop off passengers, more people crowd the bus. It is an like a choreographed dance, where you move a little this way, hold on to this bar, let someone sidle past, grab onto the bar again, almost bump into the person next to you because of the driving, actually bump into another person, shuffle into a new space, grab a new bar to hold on to...the dance goes on. The only respite you have is when you get off or your stop is near the end of the line, which usually means less people. All the while, you have to keep one eye peeled as to where the bus is and where your stop is. The bus stops are not announced and one has to know by sight by either memorization or looking at the street signs as they flow by. All in all, it is a very unique experience.

Notes on Buenos Aires 2

I'm back with some more short musings on my time in Bs. As. so far.

1. Water is NOT free!!!!! Its sooo lame. I guess its a U.S. thing, but when you go to a restaurant, you have to pay for your water. And the water comes either sin gas or con gas. I like con gas because its like a cheap version of San pellegrino o Perierre. Also, when you go to the corner store and buy a drink, a lot of the juices come sin gas or con gas, which makes the juice more special.

2. The cheese on the pizza here is really good! they have a lot of pizza places here because of the italian influence ( there is even an italian section somewhere) and there are a lot of places which sell home-made pasta. I haven't eaten pasta here yet but I have hopes.

3. The traffic here is still killer-crazy and the people who ride motorcycles are absolute nutcases, they ride soo fast! at least they wear a helmet though.

4. I am always dehydrated here because of the lack of aforementioned water. I'm not saying I can't go buy some water, which I do, but it is never enough.

5. People drink coffee here after dinner. My host mom asked me the first two nights and then never again. But that's alright because I really don't like coffee. I kind of wish I did because they have a lot of cheap coffee here but oh well.

6. Money is sooo Cheap here for me!!! A 100 pesos is nothing!!! I need to ration my money. The exchange rate is 4 pesos to 1 american dollar, which is really good for us.

7. I went to the Japanese garden and will post pics later.

Che the revolutionary

Tonight at dinner, my host mom and I started talking about Che, the revolutionary. (I am going to see a movie called Che this weekend). She commented that in the United States, people don't really like Che because he was a communist along with Castro in Cuba, and the U.S. definently does NOT like Cuba. While it is true that Cuba is a persona non gratis in the halls of power in Washington, I would still say that people like Che.



Che is a true idealist and revolutionary who fought for his ideas quite literally. He first fought in the Cuban revolution, and then went to Venezuela to help the fight there; a man who was ready to help anyone in the struggle for freedom and equality. The famous photograph of Che taken by the photographer Korda. Called Guerrillero Heroico, it was taken on March 5, 1960, in Havana, Cuba, at a memorial service for victims of the La Coubre explosion. But Korda's photo was more that just an image of a stoic rebel leader, he captured, i believe, the very ideal of revolution itself. He personified revolution through the image of Che. For the first time when people thought about revolution, one image came to mind, no matter where the revolution was. It became an image that everyone could own; an image that currently adorns every other dorm room in colleges across America. Much like the whole weed-smoking, Bob Marley listening phase that most college students go through, there comes a phase of obsession with heroic revolutionaries, counter-culture, intellectuals, and Che.

Who cares if he was a communist in Cuba? Sure, Castro is bad (not my view necesarily) but Che is cool! Just seeing him brings to mind revolution. Even if the use of his image gets blown out of proportion a little, (Smirnoff anyone?), it will always return to its true roots of revolution. Each person who discovers Che for the first time, I believe, becomes a little obsessed with his heroism, his gallantry, his idealism. (Motorcycle Diaries?) The intrepid few will even pick up one or two of his manifestos to read, thus claiming a snobby intellectual superiority over those who merely idealize him. I do realize though that those who have time to learn about Che is due to their own enthusiasm or because they are of a privileged class economically and socially. And besides, we need something to rebel about, so what is better than Che. Down with the establishment!

FInally, I will leave you with a quote:
"Che was the revolutionary as rock star. Korda, as a fashion photographer, sensed that instinctively, and caught it. Before then, the Nazis were the only political movement to understand the power of glamour and sexual charisma, and exploit it. The communists never got it. Then you have the Cuban revolution, and into this void come these macho guys with straggly hair and beards and big-dick glamour, and suddenly Norman Mailer and all the radical chic crowd are creaming their jeans. Che had them in the palm of his hand, and he knew it. What he didn’t know, of course, was how much that image would define him."