Hello!
I leave tomorrow! I can't believe how fast it's all gone! Here's what I did my last few days here...
Monday- Walk down Puerto Madryn for a final churripan, visit to the Botanical Gardens, stroll through the Palermo Parks (beautiful and full of people but also unfortunately very full of mosquitos), visit to the Gran Ateneo (an old theatre converted into a bookstore, definitely the coolest bookstore I've ever been in), and last night at the Bomba del Tiempo drumming show.
Tuesday- Visit to the Buenos Aires rose gardens and a friend's roof-top going-away pool party, final visit to the Catedral for one last milonga (a milonga is a place where normal people dance tango , as opposed to a tango show.
Wednesday- Visits to ESMA (one of the biggest clandestine detention centers used by the government during the Dirty Wars) and the Memorial Park for the thousands killed and disappeared during the Dirty Wars, afternoon coffee at the historical Cafe Violettas, boot shopping in the leather district, and farewell to a bunch of kids from my program at Bangalore.
Thursday- Walk around Recoleta's giant metal flower, visit to the University of Buenos Aires Law School, visits to the two most popular art museums in Buenos Aires (MALBA and Bellas Artes), lunch at one of my favorite empanada places, dinner at Desnivel (my favorite steak restaurant) and last night at Cronico (favorite bar).
Friday- Lots of goodbyes. Most of my friends left and I also stopped by Help Argentina to say goodbye to everyone there. Also, went out to Plaza Serrano for dinner and drinks with my host mom and her friends. Last ice cream in Buenos Aires!
Saturday- Shopping at the Recoleta fair where we got caught in a torrential downpour and had to hide out in the cultural center for a while, final cafe con medialunas, walk down Avenida Florida (an outdoor mall), and delicious dinner of steak and squash stew at Cumana.
Sunday- I cooked brunch for Eli and Guillermo then went with one of my friends to wander around San Telmo fair.
As excited as I am to go home and see everyone, I can't believe that my South American adventure is really over! Thanks to all for keeping in touch! Having such a great support system was a huge part of me being able to be gone for so long! Hope to see you soon!
Love, Melanie
LAST PICTURES FROM BUENOS AIRES
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Trip to Patagonia, Dec 6-13
Hi! Just got back from my last adventure here in Argentina. Patagonia was one of the most incredible places I've ever been to!
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn is a city on the mid-Atlantic coast of Argentina, and one of the northernmost points in Patagonia. It's right at the base of the Valdes Peninsula, which is one of the most important places for marine wildlife in South America.On Sunday the sixth, I left on a bus from Buenos Aires bound for Puerto Madryn. Traveling by bus is very typically Argentine, and I wanted one more long trip before leaving. After 20 hours of watching the Argentine landscape change, watching the sunrise and sunset, watching a few movies and sleeping, I arrived in Puerto Madryn. I spent the afternoon exploring the beach and visiting the ecological museum. Later that evening, my friend Carolyn (who had opted to fly instead of bus) arrived.
The next morning, we left for our full day tour of the Peninsula Valdes. First, we went on a whale watching boat trip to see the endangered southern right whale. We spotted a bunch of whales, most memorably a mother with her calf. Next, we drove around the island to see elephant seal conolonies, sea lions, a penguin colony, guanacos (a type of wild llama), armadillos and many other animals. The whole experience was absolutely incredible!
On Wednesday the ninth, I spent the morning swimming and napping on the beach, then in the afternoon hopped on another bus bound for Rio Gallegos. After another 20 hours of huge open spaces and mystical landscapes, I arrived in Rio Gallegos and 2 hours later got on another bus for 4 hours to Calafate.
El Calafate and El Chalten
El Calafate is a town in southern Patagonia right outside of the Glacier National Park. Upon arriving in Calafate, I tried to find a hostel. I had made reservations before because I wasn't sure what day I was going to be arriving. I couldn't find a single reservation for Thursday night, so for half price I reserved a bed in the common room of a hostel. I spent the afternoon hiking around the incredibly teal blue glacier lake (Lago Argentino), then went back to the hostel for an all-you-can eat barbeque. I hung out some other travelers from Germany and Holland and we watched the sunset from the hostel's enormous windows (at about 11:30, since its so far south in the summer there are only about 5 hours of dark per day).
Friday morning, I woke up early to go on my mini-trekking expedition on the Glacier Perito Moreno. Perito Moreno is a giant glacier fed from the Southern Patagonia Icefield. It grows and shrinks every year. It's an amazing blue color and the water it's in is teal. First, our bus stopped at the boardwalks so we could explore around on our own. I watched huge chunks fall of the glacier (as it's summer, the glacier is receding). It is a really incredible sight and sounds like really loud thunder or some type of explosion. After the boardwalks, we road a boat up close to the glacier to get an even better view. On the other side of the lake, we strapped crampons on to our boots and walked across the glacier for a couple hours. It was really incredible- everything was jagged and blue and it almost felt like being on another planet. At the end of the trek, we had whiskey on glacier ice then road the boat to the bus and the bus back to El Calafate.
Friday evening, I met up with my friend Elise who had just flown down from Buenos Aires. We rented a car and set off on the 3 hour drive to El Chalten. It was the most beautiful road trip I've ever been on. We left at about 9:00 pm so we got to see the sun set. We stopped a few times along the way to see the view, and also got to drive a few hours along the famous Argentine Route 40. At about 1:00 AM (we got a little lost), we arrived at our hostel in El Chalten to sleep for a few hours before hiking.
El Chalten is the trekking capital of Argentina, and is at the base of some of the most amazing hikes in South America. We decided to go up to where we could better see the mountain Fitz Roy. The whole hike ended up being about 7 hours, complete with snow-capped mountains, enormous valleys, a mountain stream, a bright blue glacier and a waterfall. The Patagonian Andes are absolutely incredible! After the hike, we had another beautiful and memorable drive back to El Calafate. We spent the evening hanging out at the hostel with another group of travelers. It was an incredible way to finish my backpacking experience here in South America.
Sunday morning, I flew back to Buenos Aires. Since then, I've been living the tourist life here, trying to cram in everything I didn't get the chance to go when I still had to go to school. We went for a stroll along Puerto Madero, the Botanical Gardens, the beautiful parks of Palermo, an old theatre converted into a bookstore, and an outdoor drumming show. On the 21st I leave Buenos Aires and will be back in Colorado the morning of the 22nd. Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PATAGONIA PICTURES
Puerto Madryn
Puerto Madryn is a city on the mid-Atlantic coast of Argentina, and one of the northernmost points in Patagonia. It's right at the base of the Valdes Peninsula, which is one of the most important places for marine wildlife in South America.On Sunday the sixth, I left on a bus from Buenos Aires bound for Puerto Madryn. Traveling by bus is very typically Argentine, and I wanted one more long trip before leaving. After 20 hours of watching the Argentine landscape change, watching the sunrise and sunset, watching a few movies and sleeping, I arrived in Puerto Madryn. I spent the afternoon exploring the beach and visiting the ecological museum. Later that evening, my friend Carolyn (who had opted to fly instead of bus) arrived.
The next morning, we left for our full day tour of the Peninsula Valdes. First, we went on a whale watching boat trip to see the endangered southern right whale. We spotted a bunch of whales, most memorably a mother with her calf. Next, we drove around the island to see elephant seal conolonies, sea lions, a penguin colony, guanacos (a type of wild llama), armadillos and many other animals. The whole experience was absolutely incredible!
On Wednesday the ninth, I spent the morning swimming and napping on the beach, then in the afternoon hopped on another bus bound for Rio Gallegos. After another 20 hours of huge open spaces and mystical landscapes, I arrived in Rio Gallegos and 2 hours later got on another bus for 4 hours to Calafate.
El Calafate and El Chalten
El Calafate is a town in southern Patagonia right outside of the Glacier National Park. Upon arriving in Calafate, I tried to find a hostel. I had made reservations before because I wasn't sure what day I was going to be arriving. I couldn't find a single reservation for Thursday night, so for half price I reserved a bed in the common room of a hostel. I spent the afternoon hiking around the incredibly teal blue glacier lake (Lago Argentino), then went back to the hostel for an all-you-can eat barbeque. I hung out some other travelers from Germany and Holland and we watched the sunset from the hostel's enormous windows (at about 11:30, since its so far south in the summer there are only about 5 hours of dark per day).
Friday morning, I woke up early to go on my mini-trekking expedition on the Glacier Perito Moreno. Perito Moreno is a giant glacier fed from the Southern Patagonia Icefield. It grows and shrinks every year. It's an amazing blue color and the water it's in is teal. First, our bus stopped at the boardwalks so we could explore around on our own. I watched huge chunks fall of the glacier (as it's summer, the glacier is receding). It is a really incredible sight and sounds like really loud thunder or some type of explosion. After the boardwalks, we road a boat up close to the glacier to get an even better view. On the other side of the lake, we strapped crampons on to our boots and walked across the glacier for a couple hours. It was really incredible- everything was jagged and blue and it almost felt like being on another planet. At the end of the trek, we had whiskey on glacier ice then road the boat to the bus and the bus back to El Calafate.
Friday evening, I met up with my friend Elise who had just flown down from Buenos Aires. We rented a car and set off on the 3 hour drive to El Chalten. It was the most beautiful road trip I've ever been on. We left at about 9:00 pm so we got to see the sun set. We stopped a few times along the way to see the view, and also got to drive a few hours along the famous Argentine Route 40. At about 1:00 AM (we got a little lost), we arrived at our hostel in El Chalten to sleep for a few hours before hiking.
El Chalten is the trekking capital of Argentina, and is at the base of some of the most amazing hikes in South America. We decided to go up to where we could better see the mountain Fitz Roy. The whole hike ended up being about 7 hours, complete with snow-capped mountains, enormous valleys, a mountain stream, a bright blue glacier and a waterfall. The Patagonian Andes are absolutely incredible! After the hike, we had another beautiful and memorable drive back to El Calafate. We spent the evening hanging out at the hostel with another group of travelers. It was an incredible way to finish my backpacking experience here in South America.
Sunday morning, I flew back to Buenos Aires. Since then, I've been living the tourist life here, trying to cram in everything I didn't get the chance to go when I still had to go to school. We went for a stroll along Puerto Madero, the Botanical Gardens, the beautiful parks of Palermo, an old theatre converted into a bookstore, and an outdoor drumming show. On the 21st I leave Buenos Aires and will be back in Colorado the morning of the 22nd. Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PATAGONIA PICTURES
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thanksgiving and Help Argentina, Nov 23-Dec3
Hi! I hope you're all doing well. Lots of studying this week (just finished my last final today!), but also some fun too. Here's a little summary...
On Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving dinner here in my host mom Eli's apartment. Five of my American friends came over, as well as my Argentine "cousin" (Eli's nephew) Jonny, and Eli and her boyfriend Guillermo ate with us too. We cooked chickens (couldn't find turkey), stuffing, roasted vegetable, corn bread, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. Delicious! Although I was sad not to be at home with family, we had a really great time!
Although I spent most of my time studying in preparation for my last week of school (2 oral final exams, both in Spanish!), the culinary fun continued for the whole weekend. As one of my American friends had a brother visiting, we went to La Cabrera, one of the best steak restaurants in town. We waiting for about 3 hours to get in, while drinking free champagne, and then ate a dinner of enormous, delicious steaks with lots of different little sides to put on the steaks. On Friday night, another friend had parents visiting, so we went to an Argentine-American fusion restaurant, which was also delicious. The transition back to eating the food I cook for for myself at Georgetown is not going to be easy!
My friend Sondi and I, who is also volunteering at the organization Help Argentina, decided to organize an end of the year fundraising event. We chose to give the money we raise to the organization Quilmena Deporte y Salud (Quilmena Sport and Health). Quilmena is an organization founded by Pedro Franco, an ex-nacional champion boxer from Argentina. After his boxing career was over, Pedro started a boxing gym in the back of his father's house in Quilmes, a very poor area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. His goal was to provide the boys and young men of the area with an alternative to the drugs and violence that are all to common on the streets of Quilmes. In the past 15 years, Pedro has expanded the boxing gym and started a food kitchen out of the same house. He's a really incredible man, and we spent the day on Friday in Quilmes helping in the food kitchen and watching the boxers training. Tonight, we have a happy hour at a local bar, and we hope to re-build the floor of the boxing ring with the money we raise.
This past Wednesday was my last day at Help Argentina. I had a really great time working there- learned a lot and really liked the people. I'll miss them all a lot!
This week was also my last week of classes. It was pretty stressful, because both of my exams this week were oral. My last test was today, and in true UBA fashion, they only let my partner and I give 2 minutes of a 20 minute presentation before telling us to stop and giving us a passing grade. Apparently a lot of groups had already given presentations on the same theme, and they were bored of listening to the same presentation over and over again. Overall, although UBA made my study abroad experience much more academically demanding then I expected it to be, I'm really glad I decided to take my two classes there. I learned a lot, met some really cool people and got a completely new perspective on university education.
I did, however, have one little problem this week. After stepping on the needle a couple of weeks ago, my foot never stopped hurting. I went to the ER the day after and they told me to wait a week and it would heal, but it never did. By the time I finally got an appointment with the podologist, it was two weeks after the initial incident. At the doctor, I was extremely surprised when they pulled about an inch of needle out of my foot. My foot feels way better now, and hopefully everything will be ok after they get the last little piece out tomorrow. This experience has taught me 2 things...1.) not to trust the Argentine ERs and 2.) i should probably live in a bubble for protection.
All in all, I'm extremely excited to be done with classes. I have a little less than three weeks left here in Argentina, and I'm very sad to be leaving but very excited to come home. If all goes well with the foot, I head down to Patagonia on Saturday to see penguins and glaciers, then Ill have about a week left in Buenos Aires to see everything I haven't seen yet.
Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PHOTOS FROM THE WEEK
On Thursday, we had a Thanksgiving dinner here in my host mom Eli's apartment. Five of my American friends came over, as well as my Argentine "cousin" (Eli's nephew) Jonny, and Eli and her boyfriend Guillermo ate with us too. We cooked chickens (couldn't find turkey), stuffing, roasted vegetable, corn bread, mashed potatoes, and apple pie. Delicious! Although I was sad not to be at home with family, we had a really great time!
Although I spent most of my time studying in preparation for my last week of school (2 oral final exams, both in Spanish!), the culinary fun continued for the whole weekend. As one of my American friends had a brother visiting, we went to La Cabrera, one of the best steak restaurants in town. We waiting for about 3 hours to get in, while drinking free champagne, and then ate a dinner of enormous, delicious steaks with lots of different little sides to put on the steaks. On Friday night, another friend had parents visiting, so we went to an Argentine-American fusion restaurant, which was also delicious. The transition back to eating the food I cook for for myself at Georgetown is not going to be easy!
My friend Sondi and I, who is also volunteering at the organization Help Argentina, decided to organize an end of the year fundraising event. We chose to give the money we raise to the organization Quilmena Deporte y Salud (Quilmena Sport and Health). Quilmena is an organization founded by Pedro Franco, an ex-nacional champion boxer from Argentina. After his boxing career was over, Pedro started a boxing gym in the back of his father's house in Quilmes, a very poor area on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. His goal was to provide the boys and young men of the area with an alternative to the drugs and violence that are all to common on the streets of Quilmes. In the past 15 years, Pedro has expanded the boxing gym and started a food kitchen out of the same house. He's a really incredible man, and we spent the day on Friday in Quilmes helping in the food kitchen and watching the boxers training. Tonight, we have a happy hour at a local bar, and we hope to re-build the floor of the boxing ring with the money we raise.
This past Wednesday was my last day at Help Argentina. I had a really great time working there- learned a lot and really liked the people. I'll miss them all a lot!
This week was also my last week of classes. It was pretty stressful, because both of my exams this week were oral. My last test was today, and in true UBA fashion, they only let my partner and I give 2 minutes of a 20 minute presentation before telling us to stop and giving us a passing grade. Apparently a lot of groups had already given presentations on the same theme, and they were bored of listening to the same presentation over and over again. Overall, although UBA made my study abroad experience much more academically demanding then I expected it to be, I'm really glad I decided to take my two classes there. I learned a lot, met some really cool people and got a completely new perspective on university education.
I did, however, have one little problem this week. After stepping on the needle a couple of weeks ago, my foot never stopped hurting. I went to the ER the day after and they told me to wait a week and it would heal, but it never did. By the time I finally got an appointment with the podologist, it was two weeks after the initial incident. At the doctor, I was extremely surprised when they pulled about an inch of needle out of my foot. My foot feels way better now, and hopefully everything will be ok after they get the last little piece out tomorrow. This experience has taught me 2 things...1.) not to trust the Argentine ERs and 2.) i should probably live in a bubble for protection.
All in all, I'm extremely excited to be done with classes. I have a little less than three weeks left here in Argentina, and I'm very sad to be leaving but very excited to come home. If all goes well with the foot, I head down to Patagonia on Saturday to see penguins and glaciers, then Ill have about a week left in Buenos Aires to see everything I haven't seen yet.
Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PHOTOS FROM THE WEEK
Saturday, November 21, 2009
November 11-21, Soccer Tournament and Game and Brazilian Party
Hi all!
It's been a great week! Pretty consumed by homework, as I will continue to be until I finish December 3rd. I do manage to still have some fun on the weekends, though. Here it goes...
Friday we went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant (not the best of the cuisine of Buenos Aires, but still a welcome break from steak and wine) and saw the movie Abrazos Rotos with Penelope Cruz.
Last Saturday, one of the small private universities in the suburbs of Buenos Aires hosted a soccer tournament and invited teams from all the exchange student programs. Our program sent a teams to the boys' and girls' divisions. However, when we got there we discovered that the 3 other girls' teams had all canceled. Instead of sitting out, the girls' team decided to play in the boys' division. It was really fun, and though we only won one game, we played them all pretty close and the Argentine guys were very surprised to see girls who could actually play sports. A very fun day.
Saturday night was Mueseum Night in Buenos Aires. From 8 pm until 2 in the morning, the government sponsors an event where all the museums in the city are open for free to the general public. They supply maps, guides and free bus tokens. We planned to see a few of the most popular museums in the city, but drastically underestimated the popularity of the event. the line for the MALBA (one of the most popular art museums) stretched around an entire city block. We instead ended up going to the Metropolitan Museum, which had some modern art and a piano concert, and the Planetarium, which had it's telescopes open for public use (we never got to use them due to line problems). For me, the best part of the event was how many diverse people were out in the city that night. Everyone was wandering around, maps out, looking for the best museums and the best ways to get there.
On Sunday, I went to my first Argentine-league soccer game. Although I already went to the Argentina-Peru game, I wanted to go to a league game because they're a more typical part of the Buenos Aires culture. We went to a River game, which is one of the two most popular teams in Buenos Aires. The two groups of fans were separated by an empty sections of seats so that they couldn't throw anything at each other. There were police men in riot gear everywhere, and the players had to enter the field through giant tubes so that no one could hit them with flying objects. The game was very fun, the two groups of fans sing songs back and forth at each other the whole game. River won 3-1 after scoring 3 goals in ten minutes in the second half. By the third goal, the whole River side was absolute chaos. 4 little boys sitting in front of us spent the entire game singing, jumping, and spinning their shirts around their heads (pretty adorable). After the game, no River fans could leave until they cleared the entire other side to prevent fights between the two groups.
One slightly less fun experience... on Wednesday night, I stepped on an unidentified object in my bedroom and got a pretty deep puncture wound in my foot. We never found what I stepped on, and I'm still hoping it's not floating around somewhere in my foot.... My host parents took me to a hospital to get it checked out and get a tetnus shot. Although the situation wasn't ideal, it was very interesting to see how another health care system works. There was lots of waiting involved, and we actually had to walk around the block to the pharmacy, buy the medicine and then come back so a nurse could give me the shot. I've been hobbling around the house since, getting a little frustrated that I can't go out and do all the things I want to do. I'm hoping it heals up soon...
My host mom's boyfriend has a friend who organizes parties, and he got me two tickets for a party with the Brazilian on a boat in the Rio de Plata. I went with my friend Rob, and it was very fun. The boat was full of dignitaries from all different embassies in Buenos Aires. They had a famous Brazilian women sing, and everyone was dancing. Very fun.
School's trucking along. My host family is great, and I still absolutely love the city. I'm trying to start planning a potential trip for the couple weeks between when I finish and when I leave to go home. It feels like I just got here even though I only have less than a month less!
Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PHOTOS FROM SOCCER STUFF AND NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
It's been a great week! Pretty consumed by homework, as I will continue to be until I finish December 3rd. I do manage to still have some fun on the weekends, though. Here it goes...
Friday we went out for dinner at a Japanese restaurant (not the best of the cuisine of Buenos Aires, but still a welcome break from steak and wine) and saw the movie Abrazos Rotos with Penelope Cruz.
Last Saturday, one of the small private universities in the suburbs of Buenos Aires hosted a soccer tournament and invited teams from all the exchange student programs. Our program sent a teams to the boys' and girls' divisions. However, when we got there we discovered that the 3 other girls' teams had all canceled. Instead of sitting out, the girls' team decided to play in the boys' division. It was really fun, and though we only won one game, we played them all pretty close and the Argentine guys were very surprised to see girls who could actually play sports. A very fun day.
Saturday night was Mueseum Night in Buenos Aires. From 8 pm until 2 in the morning, the government sponsors an event where all the museums in the city are open for free to the general public. They supply maps, guides and free bus tokens. We planned to see a few of the most popular museums in the city, but drastically underestimated the popularity of the event. the line for the MALBA (one of the most popular art museums) stretched around an entire city block. We instead ended up going to the Metropolitan Museum, which had some modern art and a piano concert, and the Planetarium, which had it's telescopes open for public use (we never got to use them due to line problems). For me, the best part of the event was how many diverse people were out in the city that night. Everyone was wandering around, maps out, looking for the best museums and the best ways to get there.
On Sunday, I went to my first Argentine-league soccer game. Although I already went to the Argentina-Peru game, I wanted to go to a league game because they're a more typical part of the Buenos Aires culture. We went to a River game, which is one of the two most popular teams in Buenos Aires. The two groups of fans were separated by an empty sections of seats so that they couldn't throw anything at each other. There were police men in riot gear everywhere, and the players had to enter the field through giant tubes so that no one could hit them with flying objects. The game was very fun, the two groups of fans sing songs back and forth at each other the whole game. River won 3-1 after scoring 3 goals in ten minutes in the second half. By the third goal, the whole River side was absolute chaos. 4 little boys sitting in front of us spent the entire game singing, jumping, and spinning their shirts around their heads (pretty adorable). After the game, no River fans could leave until they cleared the entire other side to prevent fights between the two groups.
One slightly less fun experience... on Wednesday night, I stepped on an unidentified object in my bedroom and got a pretty deep puncture wound in my foot. We never found what I stepped on, and I'm still hoping it's not floating around somewhere in my foot.... My host parents took me to a hospital to get it checked out and get a tetnus shot. Although the situation wasn't ideal, it was very interesting to see how another health care system works. There was lots of waiting involved, and we actually had to walk around the block to the pharmacy, buy the medicine and then come back so a nurse could give me the shot. I've been hobbling around the house since, getting a little frustrated that I can't go out and do all the things I want to do. I'm hoping it heals up soon...
My host mom's boyfriend has a friend who organizes parties, and he got me two tickets for a party with the Brazilian on a boat in the Rio de Plata. I went with my friend Rob, and it was very fun. The boat was full of dignitaries from all different embassies in Buenos Aires. They had a famous Brazilian women sing, and everyone was dancing. Very fun.
School's trucking along. My host family is great, and I still absolutely love the city. I'm trying to start planning a potential trip for the couple weeks between when I finish and when I leave to go home. It feels like I just got here even though I only have less than a month less!
Hope you're all well!
Love, Melanie
PHOTOS FROM SOCCER STUFF AND NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Uruguayan Adventures
Hello!
I just got back this morning and can't yet force myself to confront the looming pile of homework, so I decided to update the blog as a relatively useful way of procrastinating. I went on a four-day trip to Uruguay this weekend, had a really incredible time and became somewhat of a lighthouse consieur. It was really relaxing to get away from the hubub of Buenos Aires one last time before super crunch time in November. Here's a summary...
We (my friend Carolyn and I) left Thursday in the middle of the night on a ferry headed across the Rio de Plata for the city of Colonia in Uruguay. Colonia is an old city the Portuguese built in the 18th century to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires. It has a really beautiful and well-preserved old quarter that was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got there at about 3:30 in the morning, spent the rest of the night in a hostel and then ate some fruit and bread on the beach for breakfast after getting a few hours of sleep. We spent the day wandering around the old quarter. We went to a bunch of old museums with old Portuguese art and artifacts. My favorite exhibit was of a lot of the old maps of how they used to think the world looked. We saw some really pretty old buildings, churches and the old wharf. We also climbed up the lighthouse to get a better view of the city. My favorite was a street called the "Street of Sighs," which is a street with the original Portuguese cobbling and beautiful red and yellow buildings, and a nice view of the water. After a nice nap, we cooked at the hostel for dinner then went to a cool bar called the Drugstore for some wine a live guitar music.
Friday morning, we caught an early bus from Colonia to Montevideo (Uruguay's capital). In Montevideo, we spent the day exploring around the part of the city called Ciudad Vieja (old city). First, we went to the Mercado del Puerto, a really pretty old building that holds a lot of parilla restaurants (barbeque). We were lucky to be there on Saturday, the most popular time of week for the Mercado, and we sat at the bar and watched them grill our meat (delicious). Then, we walked along the waterfront to the Plaza Independencia (main square of Ciudad Vieja). From there, we saw the presidential residence, some cool old buildings, palaces, museums and a cathedral. We wandered through a flea market in a plaza and found lots of cool old books. After another quick little nap, we watched the sunset into the water from the wharf. We went to dinner and to watch a band at an Irish Bar with a few guys we met from the hostel (although we were looking for something a bit more authentic, the woman at the hostel assured us that the Irish Bar was the best place to go). We slept as much as we could, considering that we were sharing our hostel (and our door room) with a Brazilian rugby team.
Early Sunday morning, Carolyn caught a bus back to Buenos Aires and I continued on up to the coast to a little beach town called La Paloma. The bus ride was really beautiful, the Uruguayan countryside is very green and full of cows. Gauchos kept climbing on the bus along the way. La Paloma is on a point on the eastern shore of Uruguay. As it's still late spring/early summer here, there weren't alot of turists in La Paloma so it was really peaceful. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so after checking into a hostel, I took a little nap in the sun on the beach. Then I took a little walk down the point to the lighthouse (biggest in Uruguay). I climbed up the lighthouse for a really pretty view of the point and the Atlantic Ocean. As the lighthouse is on the tip of the point, the Atlantic surrounds it on 3 sides. After the lighthouse, I found a spot on the rocks with the waves crashing and read for a while. In the evening, I grabbed some dinner and watched an absolutely incredible sunset from the beach.
Monday morning, I caught a 5:45 bus from La Paloma to Cabo Polonio. Although I was pretty tired, it was cool to watch the sunrise from the bus. Cabo Polonio is a little town nestled between sand dunes and an enormous seal colony, accessible only by foot or a 4x4 truck ride. I caught the first truck at 7:30 and went on a rough but very beautiful ride across the dunes to Cabo. Cabo was even smaller than I expected, consisting of nothing more than a collection of little houses, shops and shacks to get food. There is definitely a very hippy attitude- the town doesn't have running water (because it would be too difficult to lay pipes) or power (because the residents prefer not to have electricity). I scrambled across the rock beach to the seal colony, where I watched the seals swim, sleep, snuggle, and fight for a while. I was the only person there and it was really cool to be there with just me and the seals. Next, I climbed up lighthouse #3. At the top, I met a young Uruguayan navy guy painting the lighthouse. He took a break to teach me about the seals, explain the lack of whales (unfortunately I missed them by a few weeks), and the history of the town. He also showed me how to light the lighthouse. Next, I walked through the town and then along the beach to the dunes (accompanied by a very friendly local dog). The dunes were beautiful, but with the wind the sand really hurt my skin so I didn't stay for long. I hung out on the beach for while, then got fish for lunch at a little shack and hung out with a women selling bracelets and sandles. Finally, I caught the 4x4 truck down to the road for the trip back to Buenos Aires. Although I loved all the places I visited, something about Cabo Polonio was extra special and I hope to return someday.
After a long series of bus and ferry rides, I got back to Buenos Aires at about 8 am this morning. I plan to spend the next couple of weeks trying to somehow get all my work done, then travel in Patagonia for two weeks before one final week here in Buenos Aires. I can't believe I'm leaving so soon- it still seems like I just got here. I've avoided picking up the ever-present smoking but gotten hooked on drinking mate, and although I'm looking forward to getting home will definitely miss the city a lot.
Hope you're all well! All my love, Melanie
PICTURES FROM TRIP TO URUGUAY
I just got back this morning and can't yet force myself to confront the looming pile of homework, so I decided to update the blog as a relatively useful way of procrastinating. I went on a four-day trip to Uruguay this weekend, had a really incredible time and became somewhat of a lighthouse consieur. It was really relaxing to get away from the hubub of Buenos Aires one last time before super crunch time in November. Here's a summary...
We (my friend Carolyn and I) left Thursday in the middle of the night on a ferry headed across the Rio de Plata for the city of Colonia in Uruguay. Colonia is an old city the Portuguese built in the 18th century to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires. It has a really beautiful and well-preserved old quarter that was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got there at about 3:30 in the morning, spent the rest of the night in a hostel and then ate some fruit and bread on the beach for breakfast after getting a few hours of sleep. We spent the day wandering around the old quarter. We went to a bunch of old museums with old Portuguese art and artifacts. My favorite exhibit was of a lot of the old maps of how they used to think the world looked. We saw some really pretty old buildings, churches and the old wharf. We also climbed up the lighthouse to get a better view of the city. My favorite was a street called the "Street of Sighs," which is a street with the original Portuguese cobbling and beautiful red and yellow buildings, and a nice view of the water. After a nice nap, we cooked at the hostel for dinner then went to a cool bar called the Drugstore for some wine a live guitar music.
Friday morning, we caught an early bus from Colonia to Montevideo (Uruguay's capital). In Montevideo, we spent the day exploring around the part of the city called Ciudad Vieja (old city). First, we went to the Mercado del Puerto, a really pretty old building that holds a lot of parilla restaurants (barbeque). We were lucky to be there on Saturday, the most popular time of week for the Mercado, and we sat at the bar and watched them grill our meat (delicious). Then, we walked along the waterfront to the Plaza Independencia (main square of Ciudad Vieja). From there, we saw the presidential residence, some cool old buildings, palaces, museums and a cathedral. We wandered through a flea market in a plaza and found lots of cool old books. After another quick little nap, we watched the sunset into the water from the wharf. We went to dinner and to watch a band at an Irish Bar with a few guys we met from the hostel (although we were looking for something a bit more authentic, the woman at the hostel assured us that the Irish Bar was the best place to go). We slept as much as we could, considering that we were sharing our hostel (and our door room) with a Brazilian rugby team.
Early Sunday morning, Carolyn caught a bus back to Buenos Aires and I continued on up to the coast to a little beach town called La Paloma. The bus ride was really beautiful, the Uruguayan countryside is very green and full of cows. Gauchos kept climbing on the bus along the way. La Paloma is on a point on the eastern shore of Uruguay. As it's still late spring/early summer here, there weren't alot of turists in La Paloma so it was really peaceful. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so after checking into a hostel, I took a little nap in the sun on the beach. Then I took a little walk down the point to the lighthouse (biggest in Uruguay). I climbed up the lighthouse for a really pretty view of the point and the Atlantic Ocean. As the lighthouse is on the tip of the point, the Atlantic surrounds it on 3 sides. After the lighthouse, I found a spot on the rocks with the waves crashing and read for a while. In the evening, I grabbed some dinner and watched an absolutely incredible sunset from the beach.
Monday morning, I caught a 5:45 bus from La Paloma to Cabo Polonio. Although I was pretty tired, it was cool to watch the sunrise from the bus. Cabo Polonio is a little town nestled between sand dunes and an enormous seal colony, accessible only by foot or a 4x4 truck ride. I caught the first truck at 7:30 and went on a rough but very beautiful ride across the dunes to Cabo. Cabo was even smaller than I expected, consisting of nothing more than a collection of little houses, shops and shacks to get food. There is definitely a very hippy attitude- the town doesn't have running water (because it would be too difficult to lay pipes) or power (because the residents prefer not to have electricity). I scrambled across the rock beach to the seal colony, where I watched the seals swim, sleep, snuggle, and fight for a while. I was the only person there and it was really cool to be there with just me and the seals. Next, I climbed up lighthouse #3. At the top, I met a young Uruguayan navy guy painting the lighthouse. He took a break to teach me about the seals, explain the lack of whales (unfortunately I missed them by a few weeks), and the history of the town. He also showed me how to light the lighthouse. Next, I walked through the town and then along the beach to the dunes (accompanied by a very friendly local dog). The dunes were beautiful, but with the wind the sand really hurt my skin so I didn't stay for long. I hung out on the beach for while, then got fish for lunch at a little shack and hung out with a women selling bracelets and sandles. Finally, I caught the 4x4 truck down to the road for the trip back to Buenos Aires. Although I loved all the places I visited, something about Cabo Polonio was extra special and I hope to return someday.
After a long series of bus and ferry rides, I got back to Buenos Aires at about 8 am this morning. I plan to spend the next couple of weeks trying to somehow get all my work done, then travel in Patagonia for two weeks before one final week here in Buenos Aires. I can't believe I'm leaving so soon- it still seems like I just got here. I've avoided picking up the ever-present smoking but gotten hooked on drinking mate, and although I'm looking forward to getting home will definitely miss the city a lot.
Hope you're all well! All my love, Melanie
PICTURES FROM TRIP TO URUGUAY
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Madres del Plazo Mayo and Halloween, Oct 29- Nov 5
Hello! It's been a great week in Buenos Aires. Not super eventfull due to the 12-page research paper (in Spanish) I had to turn in on Tuesday, but still did some cool stuff...
On Thursday, I went to the Plaza de Mayo to watch the Madres del Plaza Mayo march. It was a beautiful but very hot and humid day. I grabbed a sandwich and found a spot on the grass near the Casa Rosada to watch. The Madres started marching in the 1970s in protest of the military dictatorship. They were formed as a group of mothers of disappeared people and wore white hankerchiefs and carried signs as they marched. They continue to march today in rememberance, as part of their support for the tribunals against the military leaders that are still going on, and in a more general support of human rights in Argentina. There were two groups... one was the larger original Madres del Plaza Mayo, and the other was the smaller splinter group Madres del Plaza Mayo Linea Fundadora (they split in the 80s over political differences). The women marched slowly through the heat, helping each other out with umbrellas to block the sun and engaging in lively discussion. Many held photos of their disappeared children, brothers and sisters. The whole experience was extremely moving.
This past Saturday was Halloween, an event that still hasn't quite caught on here yet. We went and got costumes at a little shop that was filled almost exclusively with Americans. I dressed as Cleopatra. We had a little party and watched the World Series in costume and then went out to a Halloween party at a club. It was a very fun and throughly un-Argentine experience.
Now that I have my camera back, I`m on a mission to take pictures of the inside of the UBA. It's a little intimidating... I don't think the students would love for an American to come in and take pictures of all their Che pictures, so I try to sneak my camera out whenever I happen to be in a hallway by myself. Look for random pictures over the next couple of weeks.
It's seems like the time has flown by, and I only have about a month and a half left here in Argentina. Classes all finish the first week of December, so life is about to get very hectic. Within the next month I have a test on service learning, a final paper on Argentine fiction, a final portfolio of my volunteering at Help Argentina, a research paper on water privitazation in Bolivia in Argentina, and an oral presentation on the history of Cuba, Bolivia and Chile (all in Spanish). Also, there are a ton of things I`m still hoping to do in Buenos Aires. I've loved the city the whole time I've been here, but the spring (southern hemisphere is opposite seasons) here is really incredible. I'm taking a little trip to the Uruguayan beaches this weekend as a final hurrah before school gets super tough. I'm also planning to spend a couple weeks in Patagonia in December between the end of school and my flight home on Dec 21. I'll try to keep posting pictures though!
Hope you`re all very well and would love any news of how you're all doing!
Love, Melanie
MADRES, etc.
On Thursday, I went to the Plaza de Mayo to watch the Madres del Plaza Mayo march. It was a beautiful but very hot and humid day. I grabbed a sandwich and found a spot on the grass near the Casa Rosada to watch. The Madres started marching in the 1970s in protest of the military dictatorship. They were formed as a group of mothers of disappeared people and wore white hankerchiefs and carried signs as they marched. They continue to march today in rememberance, as part of their support for the tribunals against the military leaders that are still going on, and in a more general support of human rights in Argentina. There were two groups... one was the larger original Madres del Plaza Mayo, and the other was the smaller splinter group Madres del Plaza Mayo Linea Fundadora (they split in the 80s over political differences). The women marched slowly through the heat, helping each other out with umbrellas to block the sun and engaging in lively discussion. Many held photos of their disappeared children, brothers and sisters. The whole experience was extremely moving.
This past Saturday was Halloween, an event that still hasn't quite caught on here yet. We went and got costumes at a little shop that was filled almost exclusively with Americans. I dressed as Cleopatra. We had a little party and watched the World Series in costume and then went out to a Halloween party at a club. It was a very fun and throughly un-Argentine experience.
Now that I have my camera back, I`m on a mission to take pictures of the inside of the UBA. It's a little intimidating... I don't think the students would love for an American to come in and take pictures of all their Che pictures, so I try to sneak my camera out whenever I happen to be in a hallway by myself. Look for random pictures over the next couple of weeks.
It's seems like the time has flown by, and I only have about a month and a half left here in Argentina. Classes all finish the first week of December, so life is about to get very hectic. Within the next month I have a test on service learning, a final paper on Argentine fiction, a final portfolio of my volunteering at Help Argentina, a research paper on water privitazation in Bolivia in Argentina, and an oral presentation on the history of Cuba, Bolivia and Chile (all in Spanish). Also, there are a ton of things I`m still hoping to do in Buenos Aires. I've loved the city the whole time I've been here, but the spring (southern hemisphere is opposite seasons) here is really incredible. I'm taking a little trip to the Uruguayan beaches this weekend as a final hurrah before school gets super tough. I'm also planning to spend a couple weeks in Patagonia in December between the end of school and my flight home on Dec 21. I'll try to keep posting pictures though!
Hope you`re all very well and would love any news of how you're all doing!
Love, Melanie
MADRES, etc.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Catch-up from Buenos Aires (until October 28)
Hi!
I kind of lost motivation with my blog after my camera broke. However, my new camera just arrived yesterday and seems to be a perfect excuse to start back up (hopefully weekly again). I'll try to give a quick summary of what I've been up to this last month or so...
School's been going well. I'm really interested in both of my UBA classes. In politics, we did separate two hour reviews of the current political situations in almost ever South American country, which was extremely interesting. In history, we learned about the Mexican Revolution, Brazil under Vargas and now we've moved on to Bolivia and Cuba. A lot of the class discussions (especially in politics) get very heated, and it's really cool to see how a whole different groups of students conceptualize all these political and historical issues. I just finished my first round of midterms, which were pretty intimidating (all in Spanish), but I think I did alright. Overall, I'm not only learning new information but also learning a new way to think about it all.
Volunteer work at Help Argentina has also been going very well. I just finished up a step by step guide so that the member organizations can create their own fundraising home pages on the Help Argentina website. More importantly, I really like the people that I work with. We eat lunch for about an hour everyday, read each other's horoscopes and chat. It's only the Argentines, however, who take part in this lunch break. The two Americans in their office sit at their desks and eat while they work. Overall, it's been a very interesting way to compare the American and Argentine work styles.
Everything is still going great with my host family. We hang out and drink mate and eat beef together almost every night. They recently cooked me rabbit, which was a little bit sad but absolutely delicious. One study snack they brough me during finals was cocktail shrimp and champagne (a little unexpected and not exactly conducive to me getting work done). Last weekend, we had a barbeque in a park in a pretty area of the city called Belgrano. My host mom is a wonderful friendly person and I`m extremely lucky to be living with her.
One of the most fun things I've done over the past month or so was to go to the Argentina vs. Peru World Cup qualifying soccer game. Argentina had to win this game to keep a chance of qualifying, so it was a pretty big deal here. We decided to try to go to the game the morning of, so we looked on line and found a place we could get the tickets for super cheap. We bought a bunch of Argentine soccer gear and snacks in front of the stadium, and in we went. The stadium was utter madness. It was packed, and everyone was jumping and screaming songs the whole game. The first half was relatively mellow, but and Argentina scored in the beginning of the second half and the stadium errupted. Shortly after the first goal, a torrential downpour (complete with lighting and thuner) started. The game, however, would go on. Although we could hardly see what was going on because of the rain, with about 30 seconds left in regulation Peru scored to tie it up. The stadium was super tense, and 3 minutes into stoppage time Argentina scored again to win with about 30 seconds left in the game. The crowd turned into a bouncing, screaming mob of people and Argentina's coach Maradonna did a belly slide across the muddy field. Possibly the best single sports moment I`ve ever witnessed. A few days later, I went to a bar to watch Argentina beat Uruguay to officially qualify for the World Cup.
Another fun thing I did was to go to the Recoleta Fair. It's an open market in a really pretty part of the city, where various artesans and food vendors gather every weekend. I wandered around, bought a bunch of Christmas presents, listened to some guitar and drumming music, and saw the beautiful metal flower near the fair. I also went to an architecture exhibit at a near-by cultural center.
One of our Argentine friends took us to a corporate party for the 20th birthday of a company called Radio Argentina (basically like Radio Shack). It was a very formal affair, and we were all very underdressed. We danced with a bunch of corporate guys in suites and listened to the popular Argentine band they had brought in for the night. The party was in a really fancy room of a place called La Rural, which we never would have had access to otherwise, and that was fun to see too.
Last weekend, we finally went to the Japanese Gardens, which is the biggest Japanese gardens outside of Japan. It was beautiful (first place I went with my new camera) and very relaxing. Spring has just started in earnest here, and it's beautiful weather for walking around the city's many wonderful parks.
I`m having a really incredible time here in Buenos Aires, even though midterms have kept me inside a little more than I might prefer. I`ll try to do a better job with blogs and pictures. I hope you`re all very well!
Love, Melanie
JAPANESE GARDEN PICTURES
I kind of lost motivation with my blog after my camera broke. However, my new camera just arrived yesterday and seems to be a perfect excuse to start back up (hopefully weekly again). I'll try to give a quick summary of what I've been up to this last month or so...
School's been going well. I'm really interested in both of my UBA classes. In politics, we did separate two hour reviews of the current political situations in almost ever South American country, which was extremely interesting. In history, we learned about the Mexican Revolution, Brazil under Vargas and now we've moved on to Bolivia and Cuba. A lot of the class discussions (especially in politics) get very heated, and it's really cool to see how a whole different groups of students conceptualize all these political and historical issues. I just finished my first round of midterms, which were pretty intimidating (all in Spanish), but I think I did alright. Overall, I'm not only learning new information but also learning a new way to think about it all.
Volunteer work at Help Argentina has also been going very well. I just finished up a step by step guide so that the member organizations can create their own fundraising home pages on the Help Argentina website. More importantly, I really like the people that I work with. We eat lunch for about an hour everyday, read each other's horoscopes and chat. It's only the Argentines, however, who take part in this lunch break. The two Americans in their office sit at their desks and eat while they work. Overall, it's been a very interesting way to compare the American and Argentine work styles.
Everything is still going great with my host family. We hang out and drink mate and eat beef together almost every night. They recently cooked me rabbit, which was a little bit sad but absolutely delicious. One study snack they brough me during finals was cocktail shrimp and champagne (a little unexpected and not exactly conducive to me getting work done). Last weekend, we had a barbeque in a park in a pretty area of the city called Belgrano. My host mom is a wonderful friendly person and I`m extremely lucky to be living with her.
One of the most fun things I've done over the past month or so was to go to the Argentina vs. Peru World Cup qualifying soccer game. Argentina had to win this game to keep a chance of qualifying, so it was a pretty big deal here. We decided to try to go to the game the morning of, so we looked on line and found a place we could get the tickets for super cheap. We bought a bunch of Argentine soccer gear and snacks in front of the stadium, and in we went. The stadium was utter madness. It was packed, and everyone was jumping and screaming songs the whole game. The first half was relatively mellow, but and Argentina scored in the beginning of the second half and the stadium errupted. Shortly after the first goal, a torrential downpour (complete with lighting and thuner) started. The game, however, would go on. Although we could hardly see what was going on because of the rain, with about 30 seconds left in regulation Peru scored to tie it up. The stadium was super tense, and 3 minutes into stoppage time Argentina scored again to win with about 30 seconds left in the game. The crowd turned into a bouncing, screaming mob of people and Argentina's coach Maradonna did a belly slide across the muddy field. Possibly the best single sports moment I`ve ever witnessed. A few days later, I went to a bar to watch Argentina beat Uruguay to officially qualify for the World Cup.
Another fun thing I did was to go to the Recoleta Fair. It's an open market in a really pretty part of the city, where various artesans and food vendors gather every weekend. I wandered around, bought a bunch of Christmas presents, listened to some guitar and drumming music, and saw the beautiful metal flower near the fair. I also went to an architecture exhibit at a near-by cultural center.
One of our Argentine friends took us to a corporate party for the 20th birthday of a company called Radio Argentina (basically like Radio Shack). It was a very formal affair, and we were all very underdressed. We danced with a bunch of corporate guys in suites and listened to the popular Argentine band they had brought in for the night. The party was in a really fancy room of a place called La Rural, which we never would have had access to otherwise, and that was fun to see too.
Last weekend, we finally went to the Japanese Gardens, which is the biggest Japanese gardens outside of Japan. It was beautiful (first place I went with my new camera) and very relaxing. Spring has just started in earnest here, and it's beautiful weather for walking around the city's many wonderful parks.
I`m having a really incredible time here in Buenos Aires, even though midterms have kept me inside a little more than I might prefer. I`ll try to do a better job with blogs and pictures. I hope you`re all very well!
Love, Melanie
JAPANESE GARDEN PICTURES
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