I am in a great state of happiness right now! I have had some amazing days this past week and despite feeling really overwhelmed, anxious, and scared, I feel like I may have made it past my initial fear. I have officially been here one week. It feels much longer than that, I don’t know why. I LOVE the area that I live in – I have been to a few other neighborhoods now, not all, but most, and I definitely feel like mine is the nicest and safest. It may not be the best place to go out at night, but there are great cafés and shops, and amazing places to walk. I love just walking out the door and being able to walk around and do anything just a few blocks away. Yesterday Orly, Becca and I (yes, I have friends!! Finally!! More about them later) went to Palermo Soho, which is literally an area of like 5 square blocks, maybe more, of boutiques. Al the boutiques are named after the designer and the stores only carry that designer’s collection. It is so cool. Most of the stores are seriously cheap, its amazing. I didn’t get anything yesterday, but I am not worried – we pretty much shop 24-7 when we are not in orientation, so I have plenty of opportunities. Some of the clothes are really funky, but most are so cute. There is a Polo store (not Ralph Lauren, but clothing and boots and bridles and everything for the sport).. it reminds me of the barn! There are so many amazing leather stores and most everyone in the stores are really nice. They help us a lot and we ask them stupid questions like how to say “hangar” and “too tight on my boobs” and “I need 4 sizes bigger or smaller” and “Can you speak a LOT more slowly please?” and “please only speak to me in Spanish, not in English, cause even though you assume I am American, I am actually from Poland and speak not a word of English.” Haha. We try to practice Spanish, cause its kind of pointless to practice with each other, so we try to speak everywhere else. Its fun when we try together; alone it is just sad.
So anyway, the shopping rocks and I can’t wait to collect more items for my wardrobe. People don’t dress up as much here to go out, mostly just wear jeans and a top, so I need to get more of that kind of stuff. Last night we went to a place called Sucre. It was a restaurant and reminded me so much of something in America.. it was really boring haha. Woke up early and went to orientation again, except Becca and I got so caught up shopping that we missed one of the lessos. Oh well. :/
Now I am here in the casa, listening to Pedro take his piano lesson and looking out the window to the Alvear Palace Hotel. Its so beautiful. I can’t wait for tomorrow to start so I can explore more. I don’t think I have it in me to go out tonight, I have to register for classes and stuff like that, plus my throat hurts. I was so tired today in my class that I was practically falling asleep and I had to white-lie to my teacher that I was sick .. which I might be, but still. Need to sleep more.
I think that’s all for now…I am having a great time and love the girls that I have hung out with so far. The city is incredible. It never sleeps, except on Mondays.
I hope it never ends…
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Reality Check
Friday: After a nap from 730 - 1030 and dinner at 11, I went out with some friends to a close bar called Milión. It is an old mansion so its has 3 floors and all the bedrooms have been turned into private rooms in sofas and seats and things like that. It is really beautiful and in the summer they have a huge outdoor patio. There weren't too many people there, but we met 2 Argentine boys who we talked to for a while. They were nice, but not that cute..One of them looked totally Irish and the other one had a flavor savor beard and a lisp. Whatever. So we called it an early night and went back around 3. Slept until 12:30. When I woke up, my host mom apologized profusely for being loud and for waking me up so early...I said, early?? It's the middle of the day! I had a fine day, I walked around Recoleta again and saw the cemetery, gardens, and park a block away from my house. It was a really nice and it was a surprisingly warm and sunny day.
I took another nap Friday night and had dinner plans with 6 girls from the program at an amazing Argentine restaurant called La Cabrera. It's in a cool area called Palermo Viejo, a neighborhood where a lot people go out and eat and dance. We had reservations for 11 but were not seated until 12:30. We had AMAZING chorizo and filet...the rarest steak I have ever had..it was practically alive..but the lights were so dim I couldn't see it and it was one of the best things I have ever tasted. Don't tell anyone...:) So after a few bottles of red wine and lots od food later it was 2:45 AM and we were ready to party! We were going to a party nearby the restaurant hosted by a friend of a friend on the program. It was only about 5 blocks away, so we asked people if we could walk and they said that for sure we could walk. So we are 6 American girls, ready to go out, all of a sudden we find ourselves mostly out of sight from the bustling restaurant area. The street was dark and fairly empty. There were a few sketchy people around, but we held on tight to our purses and to each other because we knew we were almost close to the party. I was walking a few paces ahead of the group with another girl and I heard Amanda scream. Then I heard a man scream and saw him bolt away from us, laughing and screaming. At first I thought he molested her or something, but then I realized, as she did too, that he had stolen her Marc Jacobs clutch...which held her camera, credit cards, cell phone, drivers lisence, ATM/credit card, insurance card, and just 100 pesos. The worst part about it was that he probably would just throw the clutch away and sell the camera and cell phone..and what? 100 pesos? That is like $30. It was SO scary we were all SO shaken up..luckily just moments after he robbed her a Radio Taxi pulled up and we piled in, promising a big tip. We all came back to my apartment because my host mom is never here to discuss what happened. We realized not soon after the incident that we were being total idiots walking down a dark, empty street alone in a city we barely know, speaking loudly in English. We were such obvious targets and we are SO lucky that this asshole didn't pull out a knife or a gun and take everything from all of us. In the end we all learned from it -- never, ever walk anywhere alone at night, even in a group, and never carry all of your important things on you at one time. Always have your purse wrapped around a wrist or across the body...it was so easy for this guy to just rip her purse out of her hand. We talked in my room for about an hour about how different it is here and how much we realized that we're not in America and all those boring lectures in orientation about safety and everything are worth it and helpful. We were so stupid and extremely lucky that no one got hurt and that nothing violent happened.
As if I wasn't paranoid, now I am terrified. It was so easy for that man to come up to Amanda and we could not do anything about it. We were totally helpless. I'm even nervous walking alone during the day now. My host mom said that I don't have anything to worry about and that it was no surprise we got robbed on that street at 4 am. There is a difference between walking alone at 7 pm and 4 30 am. I will just have to take taxis whenever it is dark out now, which is fine since they are so cheap.
So we were all shaken up after that, but I think we learned a lot. We had a reality check - we thought we were in New York City and could do whatever we wanted. We're not, and we can't. It sucks to go about the day nervous and scared that I am going to get robbed or someone is going to cut my purse open with a knife (happened to my host mom) and take everything, but its reality here, especially for tourists. When poor thieves see American people all they see is dollars, which are very valuable to them. Amanda will be checking for her Marc Jacobs clutch on E-bay tomorrow.
I am home safe now and trying to figure out classes. Then I might meet up with some friends for tea or a movie, but I am so tired I just want to sleep and be safe in my bed!
Ready for another long week...
Oh a few more things -- Amanda' (host mom)'s friend has a cabin in the south of the country and said that me and 5 friends could rent it for like $1000-- split 6 ways is really cheap. It would be fun, but I don't know if we want to travel alone yet. Also, my friend Amanda's host mom invited us to her daughter's wedding this coming weekend so i think we are going to go :)
That's about it for now, I'll write again soon! oxo
I took another nap Friday night and had dinner plans with 6 girls from the program at an amazing Argentine restaurant called La Cabrera. It's in a cool area called Palermo Viejo, a neighborhood where a lot people go out and eat and dance. We had reservations for 11 but were not seated until 12:30. We had AMAZING chorizo and filet...the rarest steak I have ever had..it was practically alive..but the lights were so dim I couldn't see it and it was one of the best things I have ever tasted. Don't tell anyone...:) So after a few bottles of red wine and lots od food later it was 2:45 AM and we were ready to party! We were going to a party nearby the restaurant hosted by a friend of a friend on the program. It was only about 5 blocks away, so we asked people if we could walk and they said that for sure we could walk. So we are 6 American girls, ready to go out, all of a sudden we find ourselves mostly out of sight from the bustling restaurant area. The street was dark and fairly empty. There were a few sketchy people around, but we held on tight to our purses and to each other because we knew we were almost close to the party. I was walking a few paces ahead of the group with another girl and I heard Amanda scream. Then I heard a man scream and saw him bolt away from us, laughing and screaming. At first I thought he molested her or something, but then I realized, as she did too, that he had stolen her Marc Jacobs clutch...which held her camera, credit cards, cell phone, drivers lisence, ATM/credit card, insurance card, and just 100 pesos. The worst part about it was that he probably would just throw the clutch away and sell the camera and cell phone..and what? 100 pesos? That is like $30. It was SO scary we were all SO shaken up..luckily just moments after he robbed her a Radio Taxi pulled up and we piled in, promising a big tip. We all came back to my apartment because my host mom is never here to discuss what happened. We realized not soon after the incident that we were being total idiots walking down a dark, empty street alone in a city we barely know, speaking loudly in English. We were such obvious targets and we are SO lucky that this asshole didn't pull out a knife or a gun and take everything from all of us. In the end we all learned from it -- never, ever walk anywhere alone at night, even in a group, and never carry all of your important things on you at one time. Always have your purse wrapped around a wrist or across the body...it was so easy for this guy to just rip her purse out of her hand. We talked in my room for about an hour about how different it is here and how much we realized that we're not in America and all those boring lectures in orientation about safety and everything are worth it and helpful. We were so stupid and extremely lucky that no one got hurt and that nothing violent happened.
As if I wasn't paranoid, now I am terrified. It was so easy for that man to come up to Amanda and we could not do anything about it. We were totally helpless. I'm even nervous walking alone during the day now. My host mom said that I don't have anything to worry about and that it was no surprise we got robbed on that street at 4 am. There is a difference between walking alone at 7 pm and 4 30 am. I will just have to take taxis whenever it is dark out now, which is fine since they are so cheap.
So we were all shaken up after that, but I think we learned a lot. We had a reality check - we thought we were in New York City and could do whatever we wanted. We're not, and we can't. It sucks to go about the day nervous and scared that I am going to get robbed or someone is going to cut my purse open with a knife (happened to my host mom) and take everything, but its reality here, especially for tourists. When poor thieves see American people all they see is dollars, which are very valuable to them. Amanda will be checking for her Marc Jacobs clutch on E-bay tomorrow.
I am home safe now and trying to figure out classes. Then I might meet up with some friends for tea or a movie, but I am so tired I just want to sleep and be safe in my bed!
Ready for another long week...
Oh a few more things -- Amanda' (host mom)'s friend has a cabin in the south of the country and said that me and 5 friends could rent it for like $1000-- split 6 ways is really cheap. It would be fun, but I don't know if we want to travel alone yet. Also, my friend Amanda's host mom invited us to her daughter's wedding this coming weekend so i think we are going to go :)
That's about it for now, I'll write again soon! oxo
Friday, July 25, 2008
The days here seem to last forever, which is great. I have to be at orientation at 9 most mornings and I am out and about until 7 or so. This morning I was supposed to leave around 8 30 to walk 6 blocks to my orientation, but Amanda knocked on my door at about 8:25! I guess the alarm on my cell phone doesn't work here.. or maybe it does and I will have an alarm go off at 7:30 am. So I had a quick breakfast of creamcheese (kind of) and jelly on toast, a bowl of granola, and some grapefruit juice. It was great. Then I went to orientation all day and learned about the different grammar things that are exclusive to BA. It was really helpful since it was even difficult to understand really easy phrases. Now I can recognize the use of "vos" which they use instead of "tu" (for you). We also learned some slang, most of which I knew from the brothers, but in less 'dirty' ways. I walked around after orientation... I live in an amazing area called Recoleta which is probably the wealthiest part of the city and a lot of people compare it to Paris. I live across the street from the Alvear Palace Hotel, which is one of the nicest hotels in the world. I also live around the corner from Valentino, Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton. I bought an incredible pair of leather boots today from a great shop right up the street from me. I have trouble in most stores and restaurants, but my Spanish is no problem when it comes to shopping. When I walk into a store I feel home lol. After that I went to the gardens and cemetery and cultural center really close to my house. Everything is SO beautiful. My camera died but I'm going to go back tomorrow. Eva Perón is buried at the cemetery and there are all these little vendors selling everything from leather to fur to Cuban cigars, jewelry, paintings, photographs and hot dogs. Its my favorite place I have been so far. Juan just returned home as I am writing this and now he will probably skip dinner and wake up around midnight to eat and then go out. Crazy. I hope to go out tonight if I can get in contact with my friends-- its hard living in different houses and neighborhoods..no one really wants to take the bus alone. I still take cabs at night, and I will until I look like I know my way around so people don't mess with me. For the most part, every time I pull out my map someone asks me if I know where I am or if I need help. It's great and I am very thankful for them!
I hope to have some fun stories to post here tomorrow! Have a good weekend!
xo
I hope to have some fun stories to post here tomorrow! Have a good weekend!
xo
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Ahh finally!!!
ahhh oh my god...where do I start???? I am in BA finally after a over 24 hours of travel, broken airplanes and no one to pick me up in Buenos Aires. I guess the adventure started when I got off the plane in BA and couldn't find anyone from COPA (my program) to pick me up...so I called them and they told me to take a taxi but make sure it was a Radio Taxi or else I could get kidnapped. I was really excited. So then this really nice guy from Canada/Uruguay (weird I know) took me under his wing and helped me get on a bus to where I needed to go. The south part of the city is extremely poor and I thought that I would be living in one of the tall high rises with no walls no windows, etc. That was the first time I felt like crying. But we kept going and going and finally got to what I would imagine a European city looks like. I got to COPA at 10 am with all my shit and didn't leave there until 7 pm to go to my host family's home.
My host mom is Amanda and she has 3 sons, 2 who live at home lucky for me! Her sons are Juan and Pedro...Juan is 23, has a mullet but is totally cute (like every single man in this entire city except the really young and really old ones of course). Pedro is 22, he studies medicine at UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and is a member of an acrobats club (more om this in a second). Juan sleeps mostly during the day when he is not working. He says that he doesn't feel well so that Amanda will bring him all his meals in bed. Then at around 11 or 12 at night he feels better and goes out until 4 or 5 am. No wonder he needs to sleep all the time.
Yesterday was my first full day here-- we had a tour scheduled with COPA at 9 am at the Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada (like our white house) and most other government-related buildings are located. It is called "El Centro" of the city. Its so amazing, that is where all the protests occur and where Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo unite every Thursday to protest the loss of their children in the 70s during La Guerra Sucia. We had a tour of the surrounding barrios (neighborhoods sort of) called San Telmo and Monsteraat. All the streets there are cobblestone and its really cute and old. On one street alone there is over hundreds of years of different architectural styles of buildings.. its really cool. Our tour guide spoke really fast and the accent here is really different, so I didn't get all the information but I got some of it haha. After the tours we went back to COPA for more orientation about classes and things like that. The day was really long but we have tiempo libre (free time) for about 4 hours every day in small spurts so that's when we can walk around and buy all the stuff we need to, like cell phones, adapters, food, anything we need.
I got home around 7 and we had dinner here about 930 I think. Juan had a friend over and the three of them gave me a lesson is Argentine slang and all the swear words that I need to know, apparently. It was pretty interesting haha. Amanda was laughing the whole time, yelling "Basta!" (Enough!) but they boys don't care... they are sooo spoiled. They get whatever they want. Pedro speaks some English, he's actually pretty good, but neither Amanda nor Juan speak any English. Its best that way - I am learning so much from them. So last night after dinner we decided we would go out that night - there was another American girl here who was volunteering, but she left today :( She ha been here only a month but wanted to do it up big for her last night. So of course I wanted to go with them (Eve I took your advice...never say no!!) We went to Rachel's friend's apartment in Belgrano I think it was, it was really cute. We had some red wine from Mendoza that turned out teeth and mouths purple and then we took the colectivo (bus) to a boliche (club) called Museo. It was $a30 (30 pesos) to get in but that got us a slip for a free drink... are you ready...Speed and Vodka was the drink. I freaked out of course when I heard the name but I realized soon that Speed is just RedBull. It was good, and I needed it since it was midnight and we wouldn't come home again until like 4 am, which is an early night here by the way.
Inside the place is TOTALLY packed and its bigger than any club I've ever been to. It had 3 stories. We our drinks, went to the bathroom, inhaled wayyy to much second hand smoke and started to dance. The music: they play ABBA, Madonna, Cher, J.Lo (old school style), "My Humps," "Could this be love?" umm what else, Bon Jovi...Lots of old stuff that of course we know all the words to. The funny thing is is that they locals know ALL the words too and they have no idea what they mean. Its great. So when people tell you that Argentine men are aggressive and passionate, they are RIGHT....If you give ONE guy a smile or just look at him wrong he will not leave you alone. That's what happened to me with some old guy with an afro but my friends took care of it. I think they said I was married- they don't care if you say you have a boyfriend. They just want to MSN messenger with you and take you to a telo, which is...get ready..a TWO HOUR hotel where you can go to you-know-what. So trashy! But apparently its not at all..most of the guys our age live with their families and they can't exactly bring girls to the house at 4 am to hookup. A lot of the guys would come up to me and whisper in my here "te amo" or "rubia rubia!!!" (blonde hair...). It was weird but funny..its hard not to be flattered by the marriage proposals but you have to be really careful. Its really amazing though and I can't wait to make some friends. So when the place started to wind down around 3ish and the people were ready to move on to bigger and better things, me and Rachel and Juan and Pedro and a girl for Pedro came back to our house and hung out for a while. Amanda always sleeps in the apartment below us with her novio Julio so we have the place to ourselves at night. Pedro started doing some crazy handstands and acrobatic stuff on the floor and Juan and Rachel were making out on the couch. I figured since it was only my second night I didn't need to be with anyone. I hung out with them for a while and then went to bed.
I woke up with a bit of a headache and ate breakfast with Amanda - some granola, a piece a fruit, and that's it. They don't to breakfast here like we do, at least from what I have seen. They really just have something light... i miss half day!!! for dinner we have had chicken because on my housing form I said I didn't like red meat very much, but we had some last night with pasta and it was really good.
I just had dinner with my host mom (so sorry if I repeat things...dinner was like an hour..) but she asked me who I was going to vote for and we talked about the current politics in Argentina.. there have been a ton of protests/manifestaciones against the grain tax and lots more about money and taking it from the rich to the poor, I don't really know. I try to read La Nación, a newspaper here, but I don't get a lot of it. I don't know anyone's names or anything like that.
Its kind of lonely between the hours of like 6 and 10 or whenever we go out...Juan always sleeps and Pedro is really busy, Amanda goes to Julios around 9 every night and I don't have a lot to do (yet!). I have to register for my classes tomorrow... classes start around 11 de agosto. I have to take 4 classes to satisfy Emory and I have to take 15 credits to satisfy COPA. Each university's classes count for different credit hours at Emory... so I will probably take one class at UBA and 3 at the private catholic university, in literature or human rights or women's studies, things like that.
I have a big day tomorrow with lots of stuff, getting my student visa tomorrow... but saturday and sunday are free days.. finally!! so i am going to buy some leather boots (they have sooo much amazing leather and fur here!) and shop and look around and maybe get to know the other parts of the city a bit.
The directors of the program gave us maps of the most dangerous places and such, places we should never go.. parks are really dangerous at night, but that is just like in any city. Except here supposedly they kidnap people, I don't know, I think they were just trying to scare us but I wont take any chances. I walk around a lot alone during the day but at night I usually take cabs. There are a lot of stray and strange animals, and some people who walk around with like 15 dogs on leashes, its so strange. But as a result there is a lot of dog poo and I stepped in my first one today, yay! Luckily i was wearing bad shoes...last night when we were out I wore flats and they are now destroyed..between cobblestone streets and the dirtiest floor filled with glass and food and cigarettes, they are so gross. (Emory kids: way worse than maggie's hair/smell the morning after!).
Well I think that is all for now....I miss all of you and I love you!!!!
ciao
My host mom is Amanda and she has 3 sons, 2 who live at home lucky for me! Her sons are Juan and Pedro...Juan is 23, has a mullet but is totally cute (like every single man in this entire city except the really young and really old ones of course). Pedro is 22, he studies medicine at UBA (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and is a member of an acrobats club (more om this in a second). Juan sleeps mostly during the day when he is not working. He says that he doesn't feel well so that Amanda will bring him all his meals in bed. Then at around 11 or 12 at night he feels better and goes out until 4 or 5 am. No wonder he needs to sleep all the time.
Yesterday was my first full day here-- we had a tour scheduled with COPA at 9 am at the Plaza de Mayo, where the Casa Rosada (like our white house) and most other government-related buildings are located. It is called "El Centro" of the city. Its so amazing, that is where all the protests occur and where Las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo unite every Thursday to protest the loss of their children in the 70s during La Guerra Sucia. We had a tour of the surrounding barrios (neighborhoods sort of) called San Telmo and Monsteraat. All the streets there are cobblestone and its really cute and old. On one street alone there is over hundreds of years of different architectural styles of buildings.. its really cool. Our tour guide spoke really fast and the accent here is really different, so I didn't get all the information but I got some of it haha. After the tours we went back to COPA for more orientation about classes and things like that. The day was really long but we have tiempo libre (free time) for about 4 hours every day in small spurts so that's when we can walk around and buy all the stuff we need to, like cell phones, adapters, food, anything we need.
I got home around 7 and we had dinner here about 930 I think. Juan had a friend over and the three of them gave me a lesson is Argentine slang and all the swear words that I need to know, apparently. It was pretty interesting haha. Amanda was laughing the whole time, yelling "Basta!" (Enough!) but they boys don't care... they are sooo spoiled. They get whatever they want. Pedro speaks some English, he's actually pretty good, but neither Amanda nor Juan speak any English. Its best that way - I am learning so much from them. So last night after dinner we decided we would go out that night - there was another American girl here who was volunteering, but she left today :( She ha been here only a month but wanted to do it up big for her last night. So of course I wanted to go with them (Eve I took your advice...never say no!!) We went to Rachel's friend's apartment in Belgrano I think it was, it was really cute. We had some red wine from Mendoza that turned out teeth and mouths purple and then we took the colectivo (bus) to a boliche (club) called Museo. It was $a30 (30 pesos) to get in but that got us a slip for a free drink... are you ready...Speed and Vodka was the drink. I freaked out of course when I heard the name but I realized soon that Speed is just RedBull. It was good, and I needed it since it was midnight and we wouldn't come home again until like 4 am, which is an early night here by the way.
Inside the place is TOTALLY packed and its bigger than any club I've ever been to. It had 3 stories. We our drinks, went to the bathroom, inhaled wayyy to much second hand smoke and started to dance. The music: they play ABBA, Madonna, Cher, J.Lo (old school style), "My Humps," "Could this be love?" umm what else, Bon Jovi...Lots of old stuff that of course we know all the words to. The funny thing is is that they locals know ALL the words too and they have no idea what they mean. Its great. So when people tell you that Argentine men are aggressive and passionate, they are RIGHT....If you give ONE guy a smile or just look at him wrong he will not leave you alone. That's what happened to me with some old guy with an afro but my friends took care of it. I think they said I was married- they don't care if you say you have a boyfriend. They just want to MSN messenger with you and take you to a telo, which is...get ready..a TWO HOUR hotel where you can go to you-know-what. So trashy! But apparently its not at all..most of the guys our age live with their families and they can't exactly bring girls to the house at 4 am to hookup. A lot of the guys would come up to me and whisper in my here "te amo" or "rubia rubia!!!" (blonde hair...). It was weird but funny..its hard not to be flattered by the marriage proposals but you have to be really careful. Its really amazing though and I can't wait to make some friends. So when the place started to wind down around 3ish and the people were ready to move on to bigger and better things, me and Rachel and Juan and Pedro and a girl for Pedro came back to our house and hung out for a while. Amanda always sleeps in the apartment below us with her novio Julio so we have the place to ourselves at night. Pedro started doing some crazy handstands and acrobatic stuff on the floor and Juan and Rachel were making out on the couch. I figured since it was only my second night I didn't need to be with anyone. I hung out with them for a while and then went to bed.
I woke up with a bit of a headache and ate breakfast with Amanda - some granola, a piece a fruit, and that's it. They don't to breakfast here like we do, at least from what I have seen. They really just have something light... i miss half day!!! for dinner we have had chicken because on my housing form I said I didn't like red meat very much, but we had some last night with pasta and it was really good.
I just had dinner with my host mom (so sorry if I repeat things...dinner was like an hour..) but she asked me who I was going to vote for and we talked about the current politics in Argentina.. there have been a ton of protests/manifestaciones against the grain tax and lots more about money and taking it from the rich to the poor, I don't really know. I try to read La Nación, a newspaper here, but I don't get a lot of it. I don't know anyone's names or anything like that.
Its kind of lonely between the hours of like 6 and 10 or whenever we go out...Juan always sleeps and Pedro is really busy, Amanda goes to Julios around 9 every night and I don't have a lot to do (yet!). I have to register for my classes tomorrow... classes start around 11 de agosto. I have to take 4 classes to satisfy Emory and I have to take 15 credits to satisfy COPA. Each university's classes count for different credit hours at Emory... so I will probably take one class at UBA and 3 at the private catholic university, in literature or human rights or women's studies, things like that.
I have a big day tomorrow with lots of stuff, getting my student visa tomorrow... but saturday and sunday are free days.. finally!! so i am going to buy some leather boots (they have sooo much amazing leather and fur here!) and shop and look around and maybe get to know the other parts of the city a bit.
The directors of the program gave us maps of the most dangerous places and such, places we should never go.. parks are really dangerous at night, but that is just like in any city. Except here supposedly they kidnap people, I don't know, I think they were just trying to scare us but I wont take any chances. I walk around a lot alone during the day but at night I usually take cabs. There are a lot of stray and strange animals, and some people who walk around with like 15 dogs on leashes, its so strange. But as a result there is a lot of dog poo and I stepped in my first one today, yay! Luckily i was wearing bad shoes...last night when we were out I wore flats and they are now destroyed..between cobblestone streets and the dirtiest floor filled with glass and food and cigarettes, they are so gross. (Emory kids: way worse than maggie's hair/smell the morning after!).
Well I think that is all for now....I miss all of you and I love you!!!!
ciao
Monday, July 14, 2008
5 days left
Hi! So I realize this is kind of lame, but also kind of fun. I also plan to write on this blog so much in hopes of becoming the next Perez Hilton. I leave for Buenos Aires in 5 days and I'm freaking out. I'm so excited, but I'm also really nervous. I've only been to Mexico (Nat, Haylay, Caro, Ivan whatup) and I have no idea what to expect in Argentina. I'm living with a host mother named Amanda and her two sons, ages 22 and 23, in an area called Recoleta. I just wanted to write before I left - I can't wait to have more exciting stories and pictures to put up here!
P.S. watch Camp Rock (dedicated to Alexandra Nicole Jonas)
P.S. watch Camp Rock (dedicated to Alexandra Nicole Jonas)
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