From Climbing the Andes to Dancing to Cumbia

Yesterday was lots of fun. My host family and I went to el zonda again to eat at a restaurant and then climb up a rocky, steep hill to a pathway that circled around a few mountains. The food at teh restaurant was delicious (some sort of meat in stew flavored sauce) and under the table was a little table with coals on top to keep you warm. That´s how heating used to always be but then gas and electric came along. Climbing the Andes was fun and it was an amazing view. We took pictures with a big white statue called La Cabeza del Indio. We walked the path a bit but it was super long and then we climbed back down. At the bottome we bought some things from a guy who had different goods in the bed of his truck, all set up on crates. Afterwards, Ago and Mani and I went shopping for clothes to wear dancing that night. I didn´t end up buying anything though.

Going out was fun as always. My feet hurt so bad because I wore my host mom´s high-heels and they were super tall. The boliches are crazy and an experience to themselves. It was like a building with two rooms that a bunch of people squeeze into to dance. Sometimes it´s hard to keep your balance because people are dancing all around you. And when weaving through the crowds I always held Ago´s hand because it is so easy to get lost. There are flashing lights and a disco balls and when I got home my ears were ringing because the music is so loud. I suggest that anyone visiting Argentina should go to a boliche at least once because it´s such a big part of teen life. We returned at 5:00 in the morning and I woke up this morning at 1:00...but I´m tired nontheless.

Today is my last full day here and I`m bummed. A girl told me that it took her one month to feel really comfortably with the language and now I´m leaving after one month! But I really think my Spanish has improved. I promised my family that I will return and I want to come back soon. I also hope that my sisters can come to the States...or the whole family!

One last thing, the strangest thing I´ve eaten here is called mondongo. I tried it at a birthday party and it´s the skin of a cow´s utter! So far it´s been the only thing that I don´t really like. But I´m happy I tried it!

This photo has nothing to do with this week but just for the fun of it, it´s a photo from Bariloche. There are chocolate stores everywhere there and this is one of them.

Now for this week.
The community service at the girl´s orphanage was interesting, but a bit unorganized. We just sort of sat around and played games with the kids. They were obsessed with our cameras and they all wanted to borrow them. I had a lot of deleting to do when I got home. It was the girl´s vacation too so there was no leader there organizing them. The actually building was pretty nice but their bedrooms look like what you imagine an orphanage to look like. It´s heartbreaking to know they have no family. Some of them would just walk up to you and hug you forever. That was only for two days though and now I only have three or four days left.

The other night we made ¨sopaipillas¨which are these delicious funnel-cake like flat doughnuts. Basically it´s fried dough with sugar on top...what could be better? I wrote down the recipe so all I´ll have to do is convert the kilos and make them at home! Also I´m going to make empanadas because they´re really common here.

Yesterday three other AFSers and I planned on going to a tango museum. I was really excited to learn about the tango and visit a museum in San Juan but it didn´t exist. I guess the lady at the tourist center was wrong. So we went shopping instead as siesta was just finishing. We had ice cream and then I bought a few things. We were with a girl who is on a year-long program and has been here for four months. It was interesting to talk to her about her experiences in school and other things she knows. She said it took her about one month to really get a hold of the language and then it just came easily. Great, so I´m leaving right as I´m getting good! But I have improved a lot.

Then after that I went with Ago to hang out with some of her friends. We went to a movie and then had pizza at a friend´s house. Afterwards, we all walked to a gas station to hang out. It´s different the way teens hang out here. Tonight I think I might go out to a boliche again with Ago, we´ll see. Sometimes I´m so used to living here with this family that I forgot what all I´ve experienced. It´s like I´ve lived here forever and different things aren´t so different anymore. I think that when I come home and start telling everyone about my experiences (although this blog is pretty explanatory,) I will realize how much I´ve really done.

See everyone soon!

Whale Watching and Bariloche

Today is my first day back from our week-long vacation. We drove 17 hours last night and got in at 3:00 in the morning. We spent a few days in Las Grutas, saw whales in Puerto Piramides, and skiied in Bariloche. The first picture is of me by the ocean near Las Grutas in San Antonia Este where we collected seashells and enjoyed the rolling waves!

Whale-watching was lots of fun. I loved being out on the water again, only it was much colder than Lake Erie. The water splashed up on the boat and I couldn´t figure out why I was tasteing salt...until I realized that we were on the ocean! Duh. We watched the whales for about two hours but it went much faster. They were not afraid of us but rather curious and swam right next to the boat and under it too. What surprised me is that they have callous like things on their faces...they are parasitic crustacions. There were lots of them too. Sometimes we would watch three all at once, swimming together. And they´re huge, like big gentle giants. They move slowly and majestically. It was awesome. On our way there we also so ¨guanacos¨ alongside the road. They are related to the llama but prance around like deer. I saw two or three of these birds that are like ostriches but smaller. The animals here are so different. Oh yeah, and we also saw six penguins bobbing around next to our boat when whale-watching. It´s weird to think of penguins in such a dry desert-like land.

Then we went off to Bariloched, a ski-village (more like city) that is super popular. Many famous people vacation there along with people from Brazil and Chile and ofcourse, Argentina. We went shopping a lot amond the many stores. There are a ton of chocolate shops with a variety of different chocolates to choose from. And then we rented snow pants and coats and went up into the mountains. Ago, Mani, and I took a ski class with a private instructor who was really nice. It was beginner for me but still cool to ski the Andes mountains! Then I lost my rented gloves...of course I had to lose something, it´s only natural!

Today is the Day of Friends in Argentina and so the last day at Bariloche we played their version of white elephant. We pulled names and bought gifts for our ¨invisible friend¨ and then guessed how bought our gifts. It was fun. We also took our picture with a saint bernard and its puppy who were in the center of town. I would definetly suggest Bariloche to tourists in Argentina!

So now I´m home for one week until I come back to the States. I have two days of community service at a girl´s orphanage and then my community service is over. Some AFS friends and I are going shopping after service today and I´m looking forward to bringing home some Argentine items!

The Patagonia

Right now I´m in a cyber café in Las Grutas in the Patagonia! We traveled for about thirteen hours here and we leave tomorrow to go to Puerto Piramides. I´m really excited to see the whales and penguins. We are by and the ocean and it´s beautiful. It´s also really cold and windy but nothing an Ohioan can´t stand! It was fun to see the Argentine country. Actually, it looks pretty similar to the American West. It is very dry and desserty with shrub-like plants. There are cows, sheep, and horses everywhere. We drove past a body of water that is one of the only places in the world where it is below sea level.

Las Grutas is more popular in the summer when you can swim so there are not a whole lot of people here but the town is cute. We´re staying in a little cabin that is so quant and perfect. Today we went out to the ocean and collected seashells and took lots of pictures. Then we bought a conk shell and starfish at this little stand by the ocean. Afterwards. we ate fish at a little ocean restaurant. Yesterday we had ¨paella¨which is like rice with ¨mariscos,¨I can´t remember the word for mariscos in English. There was a singer there who sang a song for me because I´m from the US and that´s the second time that´s happened. Then I won a little gift because I had the number that was called. My host mom says I have good luck...maybe it´s true! She says I´m going to become famous off of the books I write about Argentina. It would be cool if that really happened!

It´s weird because when someone asks me what a word is in English, or what we call something, it takes me forever to think of it. And sometimes when I write in my journal, I accidently switch into Spanish. Now I`m just waiting for my dreams to be in Spanish! So all is good here...I love spending time with my host family and seeing Argentina. I would love to come back here during the summer and definetly to visit my host family. We want to stay in touch when I leave and after and maybe they can come visit the United States. It´s amazing to know that I have a home to stay in if I ever need one in Argentina! Making friends around the world is awesome.

A Night At Ranqueles

Yesterday was full of activities and experiences! This photo is from last night´s boliche called Ranqueles. I went out dancing with Ago and her friends for the night. We got there around 12 and returned at 5! Then I woke up this morning at 12:15. But I didn´t have a problem staying awake because everything about the experience was new and interesting. There were tons of people at the boliche and we danced to cumbia music and met ¨chicos lindos.¨ It was another taste of Argentina, the nightlife here is hoppin´.



Earlier in the day, my family and I went to their cousin´s first birthday party. It was in a building with blow up games for kids and was pretty similar to our parties. But their sweets are much better than ours. They don´t have classic Tollhouse cookies but they have ¨maicenitas¨ which are the best things ever. They´re like little, moist cookies with dulce de leche in the middle. The other thing that was different was their piñatas. They don´t blindfold themselves and hit it until the candy falls, instead, all of the kids wait below the piñata for the candy to fall and an adult pulls a string and all of the sweets pour out.



After that, I met up with about thirty people from AFS to go bowling. There were volunteers, new students (me,) old students who have gone before, and students who have been in San Juan for four months. It was really fun to meet with everyone and learn about where they were from, etc. My team came in second at bowling by one point! Then I had to leave when they were going to get food because I needed to go get ready to go out with Ago.

So yesterday was really fun and I don´t want to come home in two weeks. One month is really short for an exchange but I definetly want to come back to Argentina and visit me family. I want to bring everyone here home with me!

I haven´t blogged in a long time so here is a run down of the last couple days.

Wednesday:
In the morning five of us AFSers went to the local TV station to be filmed. We are the first exchange students who are here in San Juan to do community service. One of the kids went on the set to talk with the host and the camera swept over the rest of us, watching. It was cool to see everything happening live in the studio. In the afternoon at community service, I worked in the kitchen and helped make gnocchi (spelling?) One of the students was turning 23 and her siblings came in with a cake for her (they are triplets so it was all of their birthdays) and it was really sweet to see her siblings care so much for her.

Thursday:
Thursday was our last day of community service at the school. We got dressed up in traditional clothing and danced El Pericón at another school´s celebration and then at our school. A newspaper interviewer was there and the next day our pictures and an article about us was in the newspaper! I´m famous here! At the school, the parents of the students were there to celebrate and to watch us dance, and the director presented us and explained what we had been doing with them the last two weeks. Then students came up and gave us our finished projects and gifts. It was so nice. Then we gave a million kisses and hugs and goodbyes and left. But I will always remember them. At night, Ago and I went to a friend´s house who is hosting one of the girls I do community service with. We stayed out until like 3:00!

Friday:
Yesterday was Argetina´s independence day and we just sort of hung out. Then a couple of Ago´s friends came over and we read magazines, painted nails, and watched movies. Then Ago and Mani and I looked at funny videos on the computer and joked around. It was fun! We went to bed at 3:00 and I got up today at 12:00, my whole schedule is different.

Today:
Today I have a pretty full day. My family and I goes to the birthday part of their one year old cousin and then later I go bowling with all of the people from AFS. Tonight I´m going out on the town. Ago and her friends and I are going to a party or disco to dance from around 12 to 5 or 6. I don´t know if I will be able to stay awake!

I´ll put up pics on my next post!

Navigating the city...

Yesterday we didn´t have community service so a couple of kids from AFS decided to meet up in la plaza. One girl, Paige, was going to walk to my house and then we would make our way to el centro to meet up with another guy. The walking to my house was successful, however, making our way to el centro was a failure. We ended up in the town next to San Juan, Santa Lucia! We didn´t exactly know when to get off the bus so we just kept riding it until we got to the end of the route and had to get off...in Santa Lucia. But I called my host sister Ago, and she called a cab to come pick us up. Finally we made it to la plaza but 1 1/2 hours later than planned and the other guy from AFS wasn´t there, and all the stores were closed for siesta. But we had the best fries with ketchup and cheese drizzled on them. Tomorrow we are going to try again right after our community service with all six of us when the stores will be open.

Today however, we had community service and we went with the school to a ¨zoo.¨It was a lot different than the zoos in the US because it was less showy and more natural. That´s the only way I can think to describe it. But it was much smaller and we were the only group there. The six of us Americans were interviewed by a guy from the newspaper, ¨El Diario Zonda.¨And tomorrow, a television station is coming to the school...we´re gonna be on TV!

What else...I learned that a characteristic of San Juan is the wind that comes down from the mountains. It´s called ¨viento zonda,¨or, zonda wind. The zondas are the mountains near San Juan, part of the Andes. This weekend I am going to a party with my host sister. They have tons of clubs or discos for the teens to go to on the weekends. It´s common to go to them around 12:00 and leave around 5:00! We´ll see how I hold up!