One Month!

Guys, as of today, I've been here for a whole month! Wow, that feels like so long and so short. It's weird. Some things I've gotten really good at, like riding public transportation (for the most part) or walking around the city without looking like a tourist. But other things I feel like I still am bad at. Like Spanish. Sometimes people will say things to me, and I'll seem like I've never heard anyone in the world speak any language before in my life. Like, the elevator is the worst place, because people will assume I speak Spanish and will just talk to me and I'll be like, "5th floor?" And they'll be like, "Who are you?" in a Darth Vader-y voice. So it's been a weird time, but mostly okay.

Last week, I said that I might get tacos, but alas, that didn't happen. Instead, though, we went on an adventure to find pizza! I've had pizza while I've been here, but it's definitely not the same as United Statesian pizza, but we found a place that even has pepperoni, which is honestly a miracle. It's like something I know I miss, food, I mean, but until you retaste something that you haven't eaten in a long time, you don't really understand how much you've missed it. (Am I even homesick, or just homesick for food?)

And today we had "hamburgers" (it's been so long since I've had them, I apparently can't spell hamburger???) and they were okay. But like, not the hamburgers I have at home. So, Dad, my only request is when I get home, we have hamburgers, like immediately. All the other important food can wait. It doesn't even matter that might flight gets in at 9:40 am Minnesota time. It's fine.

Anyway, in other news, last weekend, we went to some fairs, which were basically like craft fairs, but larger and more permanent. I bought a small orange turtle to add to my collection of turtles, and also as a nice comfort item for here, because I didn't bring any turtles with me, apart from turtles I can wear. I haven't decided on a name yet, despite some average suggestions from some of my friends.

I also got these strawberry candies, which were very good, and cost like 10 cents a piece, and I ate them all and didn't share with anyone, like the good person I am. I think they were homemade and everything, so that makes them even more delicious!

The less good part of that day was all my friend people were like gone on a trip to the far south, and so there weren't a whole lot of people to hang out with? Like everyone is nice and stuff, but I don't know them as well, and because of who I am as a person, it's sometimes hard to figure out how to fit in to social groups where I'm not already accepted as one of the main members. So that was a little tricky, but I survived. And some of us went to get ice cream after we were done wandering around the fair, so that was a yummy time. However, I don't always understand regular person conversation. Again, unknown if it's just because of who I am, or if I am somehow weirdly unknowledgeable about small talk conversation in general, but it is hard for me. Like, all these people were just talking about hair. What can there possibly be to say about your hair that could last for a half hour conversation?!?! And then someone asked me about my hair? And how I got it to look so naturally blonde? Like, I HAVE NEVER DYED MY HAIR IN MY LIFE THIS IS JUST HOW BLONDE IT IS I'M SORRY. So I kind of left after I had finished my ice cream, and took the subway home all by myself.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I did classes, which were good. I didn't have my translation class, because it's on Friday, and Friday was a holiday this week, so that was sad. But we had homework for class, and we were supposed to translate this thing from English into Spanish, which I did, but it vaguely sounded like someone had taken something already in Spanish, averagely translated back into English, and then told us to put it back in Spanish. Some of the grammar was super weird, and I was like, no one would write this. But I guess we'll see when we discuss it on next Friday.

The holiday was the 24th of March, which is a memorial sort of holiday to remember the first day of the last military dictatorship of 1976. So there were lots of marches and stuff apparently (but I couldn't find any to go to) and activities and stuff. Because it's important to remember all the people who "disappeared" during these years.

So because it was a holiday, we went out to party! or not party and just hang out and drink. And also we wanted to watch the "soccer" game, because we couldn't get tickets to it, like the nerds we are. So we started off at this one chicken place that I wanted to try. I had some Nuggets, which is what they're actually called. And I tried some beers, and they were not good. But then my friends suggested that I try a different drink that was supposed to be fruity. So I purchased my first drink. It was underwhelming; they didn't even card me, and they just made it. But I think someone somewhere has a picture of me floating around with my first drink ever.

But it was still kind of gross. Like, who even likes alcohol? It tastes like the worst cough medicine. I don't understand. But apparently the goal is to make me like it by the time I'm done here. Unclear if that will actually happen or not. But they can always try.

Today I tried to go do homework at the university, but this guy stopped me when I got there and said the library was closed because it's a long weekend. And I asked if I could just sit on the chairs and stuff and do work in the upstairs lobby that's always open, and he said no? Like, what is the point of the university being open if no one can go in? This guy is just paid to keep the door open and tell people to go away?? So instead I went to Starbucks to study.

Not that I frequent Starbucks often in the US, but it seems like there are less choices here for things to get. I don't like coffee, so it's probably my fault for limiting my options. But there was something called Strawberry Yogurt, and I ordered that and was like, "please be a smoothie please be a smoothie" and lucky for me it was! So I did homework there for a while, and was generally distracted by the extreme PDA of other cafe patrons.

And then I went to a polo match! For anyone who doesn't know what that is, it's where people ride horses around a giant field with like croquet mallets and try to get a small ball into a goal. It was a really interesting time. I feel kind of bad for the horses, though, cause sometimes they get hit by things, but it seems like they do okay. Except for the one horse that was apparently done with getting hit by things and rolled his rider off his back and crushed him with his body. That was a scary time. They have high-speed ambulances for any crushing that occurs though, and the guy seemed to be okay.

Next weekend we get to go to Uruguay! We get to take a ferry across the river that usually fakes people out because it looks like an ocean, but it's actually a river. And we'll just hang out in Uruguay for the day and then come home! I'm pretty excited for that, and I get to get another stamp in my passport, which will be a good time. Hopefully I'll have the chance to go to at least Chile while I'm here.

Also, today while I was at Starbucks, they asked me for my name, and based on previous encounters of people asking for my name, I said, Jen, with a J, but in Spanish. And when I got my smoothie, it said Jan. So, I mean, closer than previous attempts, which have ended with either Yen or Llen, both of which are pronounced with a J sound here in Buenos Aires. I'm thinking maybe I should adopt one of those. I don't mind. It gives me the cool name I've always wanted!

I think that's all the exciting news I have! Only four more months here, I will try and keep you all updated as much as possible! Don't die!

PS: FoOdS?!?!?!

• Strawberry candies
• American Cookie Ice Cream - Oreos with dulce de leche mixed in
• Campari con naranja - this was the alcohol that I ordered
• Nuggets??
• Chocolate and Vanilla striped cookies filled with quince fruit (which according to Wikipedia looks like a pear, but according to me tastes like raspberries)
• Chocolate chip mousse - I count this because it's definitely different from the mousse I've had in the US, but still good, but also very filling and I couldn't finish it all so my host mom said she would save it for me for the next day but the next day someone had eaten it probably my host mom's son who lives here and is weird but I'm not mad it's fine

PSS: Here is Xander who deals with panicking by making himself into a burrito and listening to Coldplay:

Xander is never a metaphor for me in these blog posts. Never. 

Observations

Hello friends! For this post I'm just going to be giving some general observations about things here in this lovely country. I'm literally just going to look through my special journal that I bought specifically for this trip, and if there's something interesting that I haven't shared with you that seems important, I'll type it here! We'll see how it goes! Maybe if I remember something else important that'll go here too. It's endless possibilities.

So, starting with last weekend, we took a trip to Luján, which is a nice place in the province of Buenos Aires. The way it works here is that there are neighborhoods inside cities, so I live in Belgrano, in Buenos Aires, the city, and the city of Buenos Aires is in the province of Buenos Aires. All of which are contained in the large country of Argentina. So in Luján, we first stopped at a basilica, which was really cool. Apparently pictures aren't showing up for anyone? So if you want to see a picture of the basilica, you'll have to check out my facebook page. Sorry for the inconvenience.

The basilica is called Basílica Nuestra Senora (there should be a squiggle over that n? Apparently I can do all other accents except that one? No one knows) de Luján. Which translates to Basilica of Our Lady of Luján. The story is that people were traveling around Argentina, like you know, old people do, to get to new places and settle, and they were bringing this image of the virgin Mary with them, and at one point they stopped at the place where the basilica would be built, and their horses were being nerds and wouldn't move. So the people tested all the luggage they had, and they figured out that the horses would only move when the image of Mary was on the ground so they were like IT'S A MIRACLE WE MUST BUILD A CHURCH HERE AND DEDICATE IT TO MARY. And so they did, and now that image is still in the church and it's pretty cool.

And after that we went to a ranch place, where they had horses and cows that you could milk and drink the milk immediately after milking it, which I did not do because I'm not about dying. And they gave us food, which was interesting, and I didn't really like it that much. Everyone's like, Argentina is known for their beef, the best beef in the world? (I don't know I might have made that world part up, it's fine). But so far I have yet to be impressed. One of the things I most miss about being home is flavors. Like, they had this barbecue--called asado here--and they just put the meat on the fire and let it cook, and then it's done. And so it just only tastes like the meat, which sometimes tastes like nothing. So I don't know. There's nothing spicy here, really. There's just like, vegetables, or bland meat. I don't know. I'm figuring it out.

And after lunch at this ranch place, they had someone to sing songs for us, but it was so loud and the worst, and so I left to escape and sit on a stump in the forest, like the cool kids do. And then a very nice person from my program came and found me and we wandered through the woods to find horses! And we got many mosquito bites which was not a good time, but we eventually found horses to look at and some to pet. And then it was time to go, so we had like a two and a half hour bus ride home through the traffic of Buenos Aires.

Going back to previous statements about the structure of cities here, it's interesting to learn about the school systems in Buenos Aires. Since I've been here, which is about three weeks (wow that simultaneously feels like forever and zero days), there have been teacher's strikes for almost the entire time. School was supposed to start on March 6, but many kids missed a week and a half of school because the government refuses to give more money to education. But now, the city of Buenos Aires has school, because their government is different than the government of the province of Buenos Aires. So kids in the province still don't have school because their government is like, Yeah, teachers don't need more money, it's fine. I don't really understand why the city gets to be governed by someone completely differently than the rest of the province, but that's apparently how it works.

I know I've already mentioned the food here, but let me go on a little more of a rant about it. So, mostly they eat vegetables. Remember that post I wrote over a year ago where I tried to be a vegetarian and lasted for like four hours, because I didn't eat in those four hours? So basically now I'm like a real vegetarian four three or four days out of the week. It's a weird time. I'm not cut out to be a vegetarian! I know it's good for me, probably, but I just want like, pizza or something or chicken or a potato. I don't know. And it's weird, because I never really expected there to be a language barrier with food, but there kind of is. Like, on my first day, my host mom gave me a salad with tomatoes, which was good, because I like raw tomatoes, but there were so many, and I couldn't eat them all, and she thinks that if I don't finish something, it means I don't like it, but I'm having a hard time explaining to her that sometimes I'm just not hungry for a whole tomato for dinner! Or like, globe squash, that's not really something I eat at home, so if I don't finish it all, it's not that I don't like it, it's just that I'm not used to it and maybe only give me a small portion of it, who knows. Or just because I don't want to eat 60 tomatoes for dinner doesn't mean you have to make pizza without the tomato sauce! BLAH. So that's been an interesting obstacle that I didn't foresee.

Something else strange is the weather. My host mom always tells me that it's going to be cold today, and that I should wear a sweatshirt or jacket and then I look at the weather on my phone and it's like 70 degrees! I'm wondering what people wear when it's actually cold, like 50, which is as cold as it really gets here. Like parkas? I didn't bring a parka, and they told us that even if we're not cold, we should still dress like we fit in, which means wearing warmer clothes. So I'm not really sure. I have a jacket? Maybe that counts for something.

Classes have also been going well. I feel less prepared for them than I would were I in the US, but I think that will change once we all get settled into our real classes and routine. On Thursday, I had a literature class, and we were supposed to buy the book for it, and I tried, but I went to the wrong place, so the guy there gave me an architecture workbook instead of the literature book? And then said I couldn't return it. So that was frustrating, but it was like 45 pesos, which is $3. But still. So I was unprepared for class, and I felt bad, and like I was disappointing the professor, but also this culture is way less preoccupied with perfection in schools than the US? So I just told her I got the wrong book and she was like, Oh can you share with someone for today? So it wasn't the worst, and I didn't die.

There have also been news about like protests in the street? And people just standing around protesting the government, in general blocking traffic. I understand the need to protest bad things, but I am vaguely worried for the safety of these people. Like, on a regular day, if there is any sort of delay in someone driving their car forward, ALL of the cars behind them will begin honking continuously. And motorcyclists will speed through anything that is in their way, with their tires squealing. Someone is going to get hit by a car, I can just see it in the future.

Also, the other day when I was walking home from school, I saw a stop light that had fallen over! That was exciting, and all of the car drivers were super mad, because it was blocking a road. There were police that were directing traffic, which was good, because people are generally less willing to do bad things when there are police, although not altogether completely unwilling. But the next day I walked by and they had put up a new stop light already, and it looked kind of temporary, but in general it worked, so that was good.

Yesterday, I got to play with my host mom's granddaughter who is like 1 and a half. She is super cute, and also, if I ever think understanding adult people speaking Spanish is hard, I should just remember that I understand nothing of toddler Spanish. She made me draw a duck for her like seven times. And she always wants to share her food with me, because she is worried that I'm not eating enough, or something I guess. And also she only likes to chew grapes and not swallow them, so she always just spits them out after chomping on them.

It's so interesting to think about toddlers and language. Like, I knew in my head that people grow up as babies speaking different languages, but I never really experienced it until now. It's so cool that people can learn different languages, and learn to speak differently and be weird and stuff, I don't know what I'm say, I'm just very excited about language acquisition. Also, talking to her forces me to use the Castellano grammar that they use here, because she won't understand if I use other Spanish. Like, they say vos instead of tú, which means you. And there's a little bit of different grammar associated with that, and most adults will understand what I'm saying if I mess up and use the wrong one, but a tiny child will not. So I have to practice all the time so she doesn't just stare at me and say, Pato! every second of the day.

I think that might be everything exciting I have to say. I have to spend the rest of the day doing homework, because we're doing something tomorrow. And also I might eat tacos today. That is the goal. Tacos and homework. What a good time.

PS: Foods

• Pumpkin - I don't count pumpkin pie (which I have had before) as this, because this was weird
• Chorizo - a kind of sausage, not the worst
• Chinchulín - intestines of meat, kind of the worst
• Flan
• Asado - it's basically steak, but apparently different
• Eggplant pizza - I think my host mom might have told me the wrong vegetable, because it didn't really seem like eggplant, which is gross-ish but it's fine
• Pan frito - fry bread, which I actually had in New Mexico, but this is different, but still very good
• Dulce de leche - just straight up ate it, like a fiend. It's basically caramel that's a little less thick. Eating it reminds me of a certain roommate I have who just eats Nutella straight out of the jar
• A strawberry dessert, unclear what it's called - this was from when we went to the Israeli restaurant, and I forgot to write it down before. It tasted like sunscreen, but wasn't bad
• Budín de banana - basically banana bread, a little different texture, literally called Banana Pudding

PSS: Here is Xander with my journal; he's jealous that he doesn't get to write in it

How To: Universidad

So it was the first full week of classes! That was a cool time, for the most part. The way classes work here is that you don't technically have to attend for the first two weeks, although you probably should, because if you don't, you're going to miss a bunch of important stuff, and then fail. But if you want to, you could probably just not show up. So that means what people do is just try and take as many classes as possible to test them out and see which ones are the best/easiest, I guess.

On Monday, I went to a class called Narratives of the Monstrous in Latin America. It was so good, and we're going to read a lot of things, and also the professor is basically my favorite Spanish professor back at United Statesian school. She would love this class so much, I just know. We spent the first and second day watching a famous Argentinian movie about, kind of, revenge I guess. I can't remember what it's called, but it has a bunch of little stories in it, and a lot of people die. In the first story, a guy gets everyone he knows onto a plane, and then seals them in there, and then crashes the plane onto his parents, because he blames everyone for all his problems. And that's only the first story Imagine how it goes from there!

Then on Tuesday I tried a class with local students called Contemporary Social and Political Movements. There is a 0% chance that I am going back to that at this point, I think. It was okay, and the professor was nice, and so were the students, but also, I was dying. I think the worst part was when the professor told the girl in front of me to take my notebook and write stuff down for me. I just don't really want to take a class with a professor who's not about trying to let me learn stuff on my own. Like, maybe if I asked for help, but it feels weird that she just had this girl take my stuff from me.

Also on Tuesday, I got to go to SOCIOLINGUISTICS the best thing ever! Have I ever mentioned that I really like linguistics on this blog here? Probably not. I really like linguistics. That will be a great class, I super hope/know! Then I had a boring history class that I might drop depending on whether or not I email my favorite Spanish professor to get approval for not dying. And also there's an Argentine Literature class on Tuesdays and Thursdays that I'm now taking instead of the deathly class, because reading is a good time.

Then, today, Friday, I'm supposed to have my literary translation class with local students, and I got up "early" and walked all the way to school, only to wait. Now, as far as I can tell, typical Latin American culture is more relaxed with regards to time than the culture I'm used to. So I was prepared to wait for the professor to show up, as I've done with all of my other classes. However, after almost an hour of waiting, I was slightly annoyed. And then the scheduling lady came in and told us that the professor forgot that class started this week, and thus was not coming, and so we were free to go! That fiend!

But this nice lady and like six other students invited me to go get coffee with them at a cafe, so I accepted and we walked a couple blocks and I had orange juice that was warm and everyone was nice, and I couldn't really follow the conversation, but it was nice to be included.

And then I went back to school to try and do homework, which I only read like a page, so we all know what I'll be doing tomorrow. I kind of have forgotten how much work having actual classes is, since I haven't taken any actual classes in SIXTY YEARS. It's fine.

So school has been an interesting experience! The university is just basically one building that's like 20 stories tall, and they have a cool elevator (actually 4) that goes to only four floors, probably so it's not stopping all the time, and you can see the ground fly away from you as you go up to the 17th floor, where they put all the international students, probably so we're out of the way.

There are also some people from my program in most of my classes, so that will be nice if we have to do projects or study together or something, but I also want to meet people outside of the program so we can have more friends! Friends......

Also today we had a mate workshop, which was good. We learned how to prepare mate, which is a traditional drink here in Argentina, and also in some other close by countries. It's like a tea, but with 9000% more caffeine, and also it tastes horrible. But I tried it, so be proud of me. Actually, I tried it before at Spanish camp, but like, 13-year-old me had good instincts about what not to like. If anyone wants to know how to prepare mate when I get home, I am now a proficient preparer of mate, and also I have a mate cup, that will probably be underutilized, so you can borrow it. Also, you drink mate out of a "gourd" with a metal straw and it is very hot and you could probably burn your tongue. It's fine.

In other news, I might actually being going out tonight, like a fiend. Who knows? It's very late, but apparently that's how the night life is here. So if I die, let this post serve as my last words. Actually probably not. There's nothing very witty here today. I'll try and update you about how going to bars goes.

PS: Foods - Okay, it's been a long time, so forgive me if I forget something important.

• Lentils
• Shawarma - We went to an Israeli restaurant: this is like chicken and vegetables and beans and rice and hummus and salsa on a special kind of flat bread
• Globe squash
• Torta - in this case, eggs mixed with TERRIFYING VEGETABLES
• Mate - I'm putting it on here and you can't stop me
• Medialunas - basically crescents, but more crunchy and less buttery
• A kind of meat, I don't remember what they called it, but somewhere between a chicken patty and a small steak
• Alfajores - cookies with sweet stuff inside, and probably coconut
• Dulce de leche inside a waffle (literally so good)

Okay, also, I forgot something about the mate. So, mate looks like the word "mate" as in like, two animals get together to make babies, but that is NOT how it's pronounced. It's pronounced like pot-eh? but like with an m. I realized that this is not obvious as I tried to title this post "How To: Mate" and was like, "wait FRICK no that is INCORRECT". So just so you know. I am sorry for the inappropriateness of this paragraph. 

PSS: I have shown you all the exciting places in my room, so here is a picture of Xander and me being awesome! (He's not very good at looking at the camera.)