One Month Down...

I cannot believe that I have already been here for one month! It makes me sad to think that I am 1/4th done with my program. At the same time, I miss my friends and family from home a ton. I guess life is always a trade off--I am here having the time of my life, but I still miss home.

Anyways, this week has been another great one. I have finished my second week of classes and I am still enjoying all of them. I switched out of my Argentine Environment class into a class called "Media and Society," it very cool because all semester we will be splitting into groups and making our own documentaries having something to do with life in Argentina. Then we will have professionals edit it for us and we will have a viewing of each film somewhere in town. We are not sure of what we want to do yet, but I think it will give us an opportunity to explore even more of the city every week.

This past Thursday a couple of my friends and I went to El Alamo after class to watch the Superclasico (Boca Juniors vs. River Plate). This is one of the biggest sports rivalrys in the entire world and people fly in from Europe just to see this game. I was cheering for Boca since my host mom loves Boca and I've been to their stadium. Boca won 2-0, it was so fun to see how excited the fans get--its unreal. I have to go to a game before I leave Argentina.

After watching the game I went back and had dinner with my host mom, Nelida (who makes THE best food) and then headed over to my friend Braun's Apartment. I really like my homestay, but seeing where those guys live makes me a little jealous. They have a huge balcony that has a great view of the city. After hanging out at his apartment we decided to meet up with our friends who were doing a pub crawl for our friends Lily and Troy's birthday. Though we didn't actually do the Pub Crawl we basically followed them around from bar to bar. We ended up at this place called Lost which played a lot of Rap/Hiphop. It was so much fun!!! A huge group of IES students were there and everybody had a great time. I danced on a platform with my friends for hours! The sun was coming up as I was getting home... Saturday, Daniella and Megan and I took a bus out to La Boca. I hadn't been to that part of town yet so it was fun to check out the flea markets and traditional artwork down there. After La Boca, I walked over to the park near my homestay to look at some other flea markets and stuff. I ran into my friends Max, Chris, and Zack at the park and ended up hanging out on their blanket, drinking Mate and playing chess. Overall a very great day.

The more I am here, the more I learn about my host mom's life story. She was telling all about her family the other night, and I found it so interesting to hear her perspective on all the major historical events that have taken place in Argentina. Some of the stories she tells me are things I could never hear about in a history book and It makes me appreciate the fact that I am here learning all these new things. This week I have 3 days of classes and then it is "Santa Semana" or what we would call Easter break. About 11 of us are flying to Mendoza from Thursday-Sunday. Mendoza is on the other side of Argentina (near Chile) and is known for it Winery's. I am so excited!!

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks:
Some Girls at Carnal--Tuesday was reggae night, soo fun!
Megan, Daniella and I at Casabar watching some March Madness!
Lily, Hilary and I striking a cheesy pose in San Isidro. Haha
Lily, Matthew, Hilary, Me and Sam looking at Rio de la Plata in San Isidro.

Big group at Roxy in Mar de la Plata!
St. Pattys day at Casabar!

My buddy Braun and I @ Alamo watching the Wofford game! Go T-Dogs!

End of Week 3!

As another week goes by I am loving Buenos Aires everyday. There is so much to do and see that I am never bored! This past week has been the first week of classes (which is never fun), but before I go there let me rewind to last weekend! Thursday night, IES sponsored a dinner for all of the students at a nice restaurant in Puerto Medero. It was a "end of orientation, I am sorry you have to start school on Monday" type of get together. Very nice food and a fun dinner with tons of friends. However, earlier on Thursday and group of friends and I decided that we would go to Mar de la Plata--a beach that is about 5 hours outside of the city. We heard that some other people were going to be going too and we wanted to take our first unoccupied weekend to travel! When we got to the bus station we realized that pretty much all of our IES program was also going with us to the beach.

We hopped on our bus, which was surprisingly nice, with about 30 other students and arrived at Mar de la Plata at around 9:30. Daniella, Megan Y, Megan N, Paige, Abigail, Jenn, Punky, Jack, Jim Allen, Ben and myself checked into our hostel, "El Refugio" and then headed to dinner. We made a bad dinner choice and went to Coyote Ugly (the American chain) because we were craving some Mexican food. The food ended up being pretty bad, but we still had fun eating together and being in a new city.
After dinner we went to this bar called "Mr. Jones" because we were told it was pretty fun. As it turned out, there was live music playing, and this really fun band who played American music--Lady Gaga, Michael Jackson, ect. We got so excited to be hearing some MJ, that we all stood up on our seats and sang our hearts out, meanwhile all the Argentines were casually sitting in their seats. I guess we were being the obnoxious Americans, but we had a great time dancing and singing. After the music ended we headed back to the hostel at around 3--which is pretty early.

The next day we were up and at the beach by 11:30. It was so fun to lay out and swim in the ocean all afternoon. There were so many of our fellow IES students on the same beach--it was good to see everyone there! We ended up hanging out on the beach until around 4:30 and then we all headed back to our hostel to nap/shower for our next night out. The boys really wanted to go to the casino in town and the girls were not really wanting to do that, so we decided to split up and meet after dinner. It was only 8:30 when we left our hostel and a lot of restaurants weren't even open, but we eventually settled on a nice little Italian place near the casino.
We had so much fun being out with only the girls! Two hours later after a few bottles of wine and some delicious food we caught a cab to the same street we went to the night before which was lined with different clubs and bars. As we were walking down the street some Argentine guys told us to come to Roxy, a bar that they actually worked at. We went over there and we were the first people in the bar! The bartenders were really fun and gave us free drinks all night. Even though we were the first people there, the bar eventually was PACKED with IES students and everybody ended up having a great time.

The next day we woke up, grabbed some lunch and then headed to our bus to go back home to B.A.! It was a great weekend and I am glad we planned the trip at the last minute!

This week started with classes, I am very happy with my schedule even though I have class at 9 AM on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Wednesdays I have class at 1 PM, and Fridays I don't have class at all! This is amazing because it will give me more opportunities to travel on weekends! So far my professors have been really nice and I think I am going to enjoy most of them (as much as anybody can enjoy classes haha).
The rest of my week went as follows:
Wednesday: St. Pattys day-- we went to a place called Casabar and Shamrock which were both extremely crowded but a lot of fun!
Friday: A group of us went to Alemo to watch the Wofford game on TV--what a heart breaker!! It was so funny because all the bartenders and a bunch of students from another program went to Wisconsin and then we had our Wofford faithful on the other side of the bar. It was so sad to lose but I was still very proud of my team for having such an incredible season.
Saturday: A group of students went to San Isidro, which is kind of the high end suburbs outside of Buenos Aires. It was beautiful! There were cobblestone streets and old historic houses all throughout the town. If I ever lived in Argentina I would want to live in San Isidro! We went to a museum and had Tea by Rio de la plata. It was a very relaxing day with friends.

Last night 5 other girls and I decided to have another girls dinner at this little Italian restaurant. My pasta was great, but everyone else was iffy about their food. We saw that their were drink specials at Casabar, so we went over their and hung out for a bit. Three guys in our program have an apartment right on that same street as the bar so we all went up there and hung out there for a while. Everybody left after a while to go to Crobar (which is a big club) but I decided to call it a night around 2:30.

It has been a great week, but the work is just starting to begin! Time to crack down on my studies and stop spending so much money! (Sorry Dad :) )

Hasta Luego!

Amazing!

I had no idea what to title this post so I just went with the one adjective I could think of to describe the past 6 days. Amazing. I wish I could count how many times I have simply stopped what I was doing and just thought, "I can't believe how lucky I am to be doing all of these incredible things." Everyday I wonder how Buenos Aires could get any better--but then it always does! I guess I will start with Friday...

On Friday everybody in the IES program went to an Estancia about and hour outside the city. It was gorgeous! The second we pulled up to the estate there were horses pulling carriages that we all got on which took us towards the main building. There were drinks and appetizers waiting for us in this grassy area. We all had a few empanadas (because we had no idea the amazing meal that was to come!) and lounged on some chairs and chatted it up with new friends. Soon they called us into the actual dinning room and there was HUGE salad bar with every kind of veggie you could ever want! I even tried some rabbit--I didn't like it a lot but its just another thing that I can say I have tried courtesy of this semester. Finally the meat came out which was rediculously tasty. It was my favorite meal here by far! Not only because the food was so good but the 8 people sitting at my table had the funniest conversations. We were talking about differences in how everybody talks which proved to be a hilarious topic. Our Penn State friends think that Jack and Punky have really bad southern accents! Haha

After the meal our table jumped up and went over to where the horses were and attempted to "montar un caballo." I ended up getting the really tiny horse which ended up being really funny cause I would not do anything I told it to, so I was just sitting on my horse in the middle of a field. After horses, we went into a little Zoo area that was full of all these cool animals. I saw a cute pair of armadillos! My friend Paige and I found this tandem bike thing--but it was a lot harder to ride than we expected. Paige broke her shoe which I thought was the funniest thing ever.

After all the activities we ended up getting a few beers and hanging out by the pool and catching some rays. Once it got later in the day they put out some desserts and Mate (which I really enjoy!). The key lime pie was TO DIE FOR. Great food, great company--an Amazing day.

That night we got a big group and went to Plaza Serrano--a really cool plaza that is surrounded by fun bars. I went to a club finally! My first time ever! It was alot of what I expected it to be, but we ended up having a really good time. By the time I got home in the morning it was light outside. I left the club at 6 and it was still PACKED.

On Saturday we had to go on (another) tour of the city. When we got there we found out that it was 4 hours long in a tiny bus, so my friends Ryan, Matthew, Ben, Amanda and I decided to leave and do our own tour! We walked about 2 miles to the National Art Museum which was verrrry close to my house. Afterward, we saw a cool park that had a huge flea market set up along with people playing live music. We found out that the flea market and performers are there every Saturday and Sunday--so I am definitely going to be there every weekend! I didn't end up going out on Saturday night was good since I had been seriously lacking in sleep.

On Sunday Ryan and I went back to the park to watch this really talented guitar player/singer. We ran into a couple guys (Pat, Sam and Matthew) from IES there and all went to dinner at a nice restaurant. We thought it would be cool to go to Alemo and watch the academy awards--there were tons of Americans there! One of my "golden moments" of the entire time I have been here was when the Argentine movie "El Secreto de tus Ojos" won the Oscar for best foreign film.. the bar went CRAZY. Everybody started chanting, "Argentina, Argentina"-- It was one of those moments when I looked around and thought, Is this really my life right now? How am I so lucky to be here?

On Monday we had a walking tour of a different part of the city but me and the Wofford crew kind of dipped out early and grabbed some empanadas and pizza. We were all wishing we could be in Charlotte for the big Southern Conference championship game to cheer on the Terriers. We thought we would call Alemo and see if they got ESPN2-- and they did! We all donned on our Wofford T-shirts and went to the bar way early to get some good seats. All night I could not stop smiling. I had the best of both worlds--I was in South American but I was watching My good ol Wofford Terriers play on TV. Other people in the bar started a friendly rivalry with us and started cheering for App State. By the end of the game the entire bar was on their feet chanting "WOFFORD, WOFFORD" and "APP STATE SUCKS!!!" I couldn't believe I could see all my friends on TV from so far away. The next day we were all in agreement that it was one of the coolest experiences of our lives. It was a top five favorite night of my entire life. The ultimate "Golden Moment".

As if I could top the night before, on Tuesday I went to Rio de la Plata with my friends Lily and Hilary from GW. We walked down this board walk and it happened to be the same day all of the Navy was heading out to sea. I must say, I got a little bit teary eyed when I saw mothers saying goodbye to their sons, couples crying and hugging, and fathers playing with their kids. It was very cool to see all the huge ships and sailors in uniform. We got a huge lunch and some Margaritas/Bloody Marys. We ended up meeting up with Ryan and going back to Lily and Hilary's apartment. Another friends Max met up with us there and we sat around and played card games and drank a little bit. After taking the Subte (subway) back to my house, I took a little cat nap and then met up with Megan, Abigail, and Daniella. We went to a bar called, "Jobs" that was HUGE. There were tons of pool tables and even Archery! It was our friend Amanda's 21st birthday at midnight, so we all bought her some shots and birthday cake! She started crying because she felt so special and loved..... or maybe because of the alcohol... haha She even took a turn at Archery, which was probably extremely unsafe but funny nonetheless. I even met a guy who went to St. Pius at the bar! Small world, right?

Then today I woke up early in the morning and went over to the IES center and hopped on some buses to La Bombonera--The Boca Juniors soccer stadium! We took a tour of the stadium and even went into the locker room and stood on the field. Another major highlight of my trip so far! I have to go to a match there! It was Amazing!

Like I said, this entire time has been incredible and I know there is just more to come!

Things I have learned/noticed

Over the past 5 days I have seen so much about Buenos Aires and Argentine people in general, so I thought I would describe some of the things I found interesting:

1. The country is beautiful, and I am not talking about the landscape. All of the men and women here are very attractive. Also, a persons appearance (especially the women) is one of the most important things to Argentinians. This country has one of the highest plastic surgery rates in the world and bulimia and anorexia are very common. All the clothes here come so small the government actually passed a law a few years ago which said all clothing stores had to have regulation sizes! Nobody adheres to this law though.

2. The food here has been great! (so far...) I was so afraid that I was going to come to Buenos Aires and eat horrible food for 4 months but so far all the food has been very good. I have eaten empanadas, pizza, fish, chicken, ravioli, and sandwiches. The only things that bothers me is that the salads dont really come with dressing--they give you little oil and vinegar packets to use. Also when you get a drink there is usually very little ice--which is DRIVING ME CRAZY. Haha Everybody knows I have a terrible problem with chewing ice, maybe I will finally break that habit here! haha

3. Argentine men are very forward and love las chicas americanas. I was at a bar on wednesday and these guys would not leave me alone and it was really starting to bother me. Thank goodness I have my guy friends here to help me out when something like that happens. Beside that, all the locals have been very nice to me and my friends.

4. Not only am I adjusting to the Argentinian culture but I also adjusting to the different types of people in the program. I have friends from Penn State, Michigan, LA, GWU, and Texas. It funny to see how different people act just based on where they are from. Some guys are more rude than I am normally accustomed to--but it is all apart of this different experience.

5. Buenos Aires is PDA central. Seriously, I see couples making out all the time in public places. It is so strange to me--they are always all over each other. Apparently there is no such thing as personal space. Everybody wants to hug or kiss you on the cheek, something that is still throwing me off a bit. I guess the lack of a touching barrier is why some of the Americans are scared of the Argentine men also!

Okay, thats all of the major things I have noticed...

Today I went to class and we took a tour of La Recoleta (which is where I live). We went to a famous cemetery where Evita Paron was buried! SO cool to actually see! We also walked around to some book stores and other parks and museums. Then I went to a restaurant (I forget the name) with 2 girls who go to GW, one from Conneticut College, and one from California. It was weird because it was a mix between Asian cuisine and like wraps and sandwiches. I was a little afraid of the Asian food so I went for a turkey sandwich with avocado, lettuce and tomato. Muy Bien! Then we did academic advising and I signed up for my classes. I am taking History of the Argentinian Environment (which should be cool because we will be traveling around to see different types of land), Contemporary Latin American politics, and Marketing in Argentina--along with my 6 hours of basic Spanish classes.

I also signed up for some field trips and activities that are going to be happening this semester. I am going to Tigre, Uruguay and Lobos which should be really cool. I am also going to be going to polo matches, futbol matches, festivals, an opera, and other things. I am so excited to do each one! I was supposed to go on a bike tour on Sunday for 4 hours but that had already filled up. I heard there is a Boca Juniors futbol match on Sunday afternoon so hopefully I can get tickets to that!

I cannot believe I have only been here for 5 days--I feel like it has been so much longer. I absolutly love the fast paced city life and I am becoming more comfortable everyday. Somebody outside my window was just playing the song "Chicken Fried" by the Zack Brown Band (who is from Marietta, Georgia) It made me happy but sad. I know its going to be hard to be away from home for so long but I know I will be a better person because of it.

Ciao!

Pictures!

This is Florida (street, road?) which is lined with shops and there are always a ton of people walking around. I had dinner the first night close to this road.


@ El Alemo (the american bar)! They have cheap beer by the gallon! Me gusto mucho!


Tango is everywhere in Buenos Aires! It actually started in Buenos Aires and then spread all over the world. On any given day you can go to a plaza and see professionals dance!

Had to bring tweety to Buenos Aires! This this picture was taken in the Miami airport at around 12 when Dani, Megan and I had already taken tylanol PMs and we were acting stupid!

Rio de la Plata! Que bonito?


Buenos Aires is so beautiful because there are so many parks and plazas that are surrounded by trees. All of the tree are unique too--it is definitely one of my favorite things about the city!


This is Carlos Pellegrini--the street where the IES center is located. It is also the busiest street ever and crossing it every day scares me to death!

Orientation!

I have been in Argentina for four days now, and everyday I grow more and more comfortable in this amazing city. The first few days here have been quite the adjustment but I am learning so much and experiencing so many new things. Orientation started on Monday at 9 AM at the IES center which is about a 10 minutes bus ride or 25 minute walk. My host Mom helped me use the bus to get to the center and then suddenly I was surrounded by 100 other students in my program. Since I am in the Beginner/Intermediate program and the rest of the Wofford crew is in the Advanced, I have not been able to use my friends as a crutch. I have been all by myself and was forced to make friends on my own. While this has made things harder, I know it is better in the long run.

After the first day of a museum tour and a long walk around the city I had made friends with a few girls and we all went to a little cafe and had a few glasses of wine. It was great to hang out with a bunch of cool girls and I had so much fun. I couldn't figure out how to get home after that so I ended up walking around Buenos Aires for an hour looking for my homestay. I finally gave up and got a cab who delivered me straight to my door. After dinner I met up with Abigail, Ryan, Jim Allen, and Punky and went to a bar called "El Alemo." This bar is a "gringo bar" and many American students hang out there. We met up with a bunch of other IES students and ended up having a really fun time. They have a really beer prices which was nice.

The next day we had class at 9:00 AM. We took another tour of the city which was about 3 hours long. (A 3 hour tour... haha) Anyway, after the tour the same girls I went to get wine with all decided to go get cell phones. Which is nice to finally have! When I got home my host mom cooked the best ravioli! My mouth is watering just thinking about it! After teh delicious dinner I met up again with all of the wofford crew at EL Alemo. It was very crowded but a great time. I need to get used to how forward the Argentine men are--it kind of caught me by surprise how aggressive they can be. Thankfully I have guy friends with me who always have my back in case anything happened. At EL Alemo we set up some tables and played beer pong in the corner! It was so much fun!

Today we had class from 9:30-12:30 where we went over some essential spanish words. After class about 8 other people and I went to this really good restaruant called "Filo"-- I had a veggie pizza which was muy bien! After the 3 long days I came home today and took a nap from 3-7. Today is Abigails 21st birthday so we are definitely going out again tonight!

I feel like I have been in Buenos Aires for way more than four days. I honest can say that I love the fast paced city and so many people in my program. I can see myself becoming more and more comfortable and acclimated everyday. I like orientation but I am excited to start classes so I can get into more of a routine! Anyways-- its dinner time at my homestay so I must go!

Ciao!

First Impressions

Greetings from Argentina!

I am finally here in Buenos Aires! I cannot believe I have arrived after waiting so long to leave for South America. I forgot how exhausting traveling is, I can't remember the last time I was this tired before. I took off out of the Atlanta airport at 5:35 PM and got to Miami at around 7:30 PM. After a few minutes of searching I found Megan and Daniella at our boarding gate. It was good to see some familiar faces and have some travel buddies. We flew out of Miami at 11:55 PM and arrived in Lima, Peru at 5:45 AM. That flight was rough to say the least. After getting breakfast in the Lima airport (some ill-advised yogurt choices) we finally headed to Buenos Aires. We were extrmely surprised to see some IES staff members still at the gate waiting for us because it was 3:00 and we thought they were leaving by 1:00. They were all very nice and helpful and one girl even took the taxi with me to my homestay! Buenos Aires is MASSIVE. I didn't understand how huge it was until I was driving into town from the airport. I was nervous (to say the least) because we passed several slum areas on the way to were I was living. The IES girl pointed these slums out to me and told me they were very dangerous but I was not living anywhere near them (much to my relief!!).

I was completely blown away when we got to the part where I am living, called the Recoleta. It is one of the nicest parts in town and I am so happy with where I am. I was blown away by how beautiful the streets were--there are so many trees lining the street that add a very cool ambiance to the city. I also noticed that the city seems to have a very european feel. There are tons of Italian restaurants lining the streets, and many people who look completely American.

As I walked into my homestay my host Mom, Nelida, started screaming HOLA TESS and gave me a huge hug as I walked into the room. We sat down and had some of the Banana Muffins I brought her from the states and chatted for a bit. After about five minutes I knew that my host mom and I were going to get along great. She is so lively, funny, and is the type of person who won't sugar coat anything but just tell it like it is. I know that I am going to be very comfortable around her and for that I am so so thankful. She showed me my room and bathroom which are quaint but definitely adequate. My bathroom is basically a shower that has a toilet and a sink in it. While I am taking a shower it is going all over the toilet and sink--so strange! Ha!

After getting to know Nelida and settling in for a bit I met up with my friend Ryan and walked around the city. Now, I am from Atlanta but I have never lived in the actual downtown area. Right now I am living in an apartment right in the middle of everything! I almost feel like I am living in New York! There were people all over the place and buses/taxis were nearly running me over! After some debate on where to go to get food we decided on going into a little empanada place close our apartments. These empandas are so cheap and so good! I know I am going to be eating many more of those over the next four months. Ryan and I were going to go grab a beer at another restaurant nearby (horay for me finally being legal!!!) but we were both so exhausted from the past 24 hours of traveling that we decided to just go to bed early.

Tomorrow I have to be at the IES center at 9:00 AM for the begining of orientation. Although I have 8 other friends with me here, they are all ISB majors and are in advanced Spanish while I am bringing up the rear in the beginner level. That being said, they are doing a separate orientation and classes so I am going to be all by myself again tomorrow. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to meet some new people while I am there!

Like I said, I cannot remember the last time I was this tired so I am gonna head to bed. I wonder what adventures tomorrow will bring! :)