Putting the "Study" into "Study Abroad'

Though it may not seem like it, I am actually in Argentina to study. I've mentioned before how we have a "shopping" period where we get to try classes before deciding, and I have finally come to a decision about which classes I'm going to take (which is good, seeing as the deadline is this week - I'm still being my typical indecisive self!). I'm taking four classes: a mandatory Spanish class with my program, 2 Argentine literature classes, and a sociology class about the social construction of memory, which seems interesting. This weekend has consisted of a ton of reading and catching up with homework I hadn't done because I wasn't sure what classes I was going to take. I'm excited to have a routine now!

Even though I've been doing tons of reading I still got to get out and have some fun this weekend! Friday night I went with some friends to a play about a guy who travels to the future in search of the forgotten tango. I'm still not completely sure what happened, seeing as I didn't understand a lot of it and I think it was one of those plays that's meant to leave you questioning what you saw, but it was a lot of fun!

Saturday I went to the semifinals of the World Tango Competition, and the dancers were unbelievably good! There are two different competitions - one is more of a milonga style, where nothing is choreographed, and the one that we saw was more showy, with choreographed routines. I was so impressed by the dances - I just want to be them! It was awe-inspiring to watch some of the best tango dancers in the world. The dresses were beautiful too, and super sparkly! After the tango festival, I went with some friends to a festival celebrating Ecuador en la Plaza de Mayo. It was kind of small, but still neat to see. We finished off the day with dinner at Burger Joint, which was delicious - and I don't normally even like hamburgers! And of course helado (ice cream) for dessert.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died and I keep forgetting to charge it, so I don't have many pictures from this week. But enjoy these pictures from the tango competition!

5 Day Weekends + Friends + Dancing = Happiness

Due to holidays here in Argentina, I had a 5 day weekend this week, which gave me a lot of time to explore!

On Thursday I went to el Jardín Botánico (Botanical Garden) with some friends. It was a beautiful day, and a beautiful garden. To explore it, we decided to play a game of sardines - it's like hide 'n seek, but one person hides and the rest of the group has to find that person and hide with them. To give you a sense of how big it was, it took nearly an hour to play one round. It was a lot of fun!

My friend Kevin, who also happens to be my dance partner, is studying in Montevideo, Uruguay this semester and came to Buenos Aires for the weekend! We explored Recoleta on Friday. We went to El Cementerio de la Recoleta, which was huge and very neat to see. There were so many ornate tombs, but there were also ones that were falling apart, which was sad to see. Everyone is just dying to get into this cemetery (ha!) - seriously, you know you're a big shot when you're buried there. This is where Eva Peron is buried. I didn't see her tomb, but I saw many others. I definitely want to go back and wander more there sometime.

This week and the next week, the El Festival Tango Mundial (the World Tango Festival) is in Buenos Aires. Kevin and I went to a show Friday evening, and it was awesome. There was a band playing tango music, which I loved, while a couple danced. It was so beautiful, and I'm definitely planning on checking out many of the (free!) events of this festival. It was so crazy to realize that we were actually watching a tango show in Argentina!

On Friday night, I went to a salsa dance lesson, and it made me so happy to have dance back in my life. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I started dancing again. It was a different way of learning salsa than I've ever experienced, but it was still tons of fun. I also went to a milonga to take a tango lesson on Saturday with some friends, and it was very cool. I think the best part was when I was dancing with one of the really good leads, and even though I'd barely done any tango, he told me I was doing really well and that it was obvious I am a dancer. It was so awesome to hear that! The teacher also told me I was doing really well, and asked me how old I was. She was surprised when I told her 20 - she thought I was much younger. Story of my life. I want to find a place I can consistently go to dance - I feel like it will give me a purpose here.

I also went to a monthly food festival this weekend with some friends in a park in Palermo, which was fun! There was a ton of organic food, either to buy and eat there or to take home. I of course had to try the desserts, and I had something similar to a croissant with chocolate in it, and it was delicious! The park it was in was beautiful, and I definitely can see myself spending hours there when it warms up.

It's crazy to believe that I've been here for a month. It feels like it's flown by, but also like it's gone by super slowly. I'm feeling much more comfortable here, but I'm definitely still getting fully adjusted. I'm looking forward to what the next four months have to bring! 

Here are some pictures from my weekend:

 La Catedral - the milonga where we took a tango lesson.

 El Cementerio de la Recoleta.

 This flower opens during the day and closes at night!

 The best picture I had of the food festival - there were tons of people!

 Sorry this is sideways I'm technologically challenged and unsure how to rotate it, but it's a tomb at el Cementerio de la Recoleta.

 El Jardín Botánico on a beautiful day.

 El Jardín Botánico again.

Classes

Last week, classes finally began. I guess that means I'm officially a junior? Eek. Time flies!

With my program, I get to take classes at any of the 4 universities here. There's a "shopping" period until the end of August, where I can sign up for a bunch of classes, try them, and drop the ones I don't want to take. It's pretty cool, but it makes for pretty long days when you're trying 3 classes in a  day, all at different universities. I've tried a myriad of classes - literature, psychology, cinema, and sociology. I wanted to take linguistics classes, but to get credit I'd need to take classes that are a higher level, and would therefore be pretty much impossible to understand in Spanish. I've found a couple classes that I like so far, but I'm going to keep trying them and then decide!

It's definitely a bit of a struggle taking classes in Spanish. Most of the time I understand most of what the professor is saying, but I took a class today where he spoke so quickly - there were a few other exchange students in the class, and they were all as lost as I was. However, I think I'll quickly adjust to it.

I've met several Argentines in my classes that have been super helpful. They've noticed how lost I (and other exchange students) have felt at times, and have offered to help with whatever we need.

After a super long week full of classes, I got to enjoy a 3 day weekend (no class on Fridays, woo!). One day, I explored San Telmo with some friends. I went there the weekend before for their festival, and we wanted to see what it was like on a normal day. There were a bunch of antique stores and mercados that were really neat!

On Saturday, I went to El Museo de Humor (the Museum of Humor) in Puerto Madero with some friends. We wandered around forever trying to find it, thinking that the humor is that the museum actually doesn't exist! We eventually found it though, and were a bit surprised. We were expecting humor like jokes, puns, and the like, but it was all political cartoons. Interesting, definitely, but when you don't know many specifics about Argentine history, they don't make sense. However, it was a beautiful day so afterwards we just wandered around for a while. In the evening, we went to a Peña Folklórico, where they had traditional folk music and dancing. It was really interesting to watch the dancing, and the music was very cool!

This week I'm continuing with classes, and starting with homework (unfortunately). There are festival days on Thursday and Monday, though, so I have a 5 day weekend, which I'm looking forward to! So much exploring to do, and I think I'm going to (finally) tango!

Here are some pictures from my week:

 Walking through San Telmo

 Mafalda! She's a very popular comic here - kinda like the Peanuts of Argentina

 La Puente de La Mujer (the Bridge of the Woman) in Puerto Madero. The artist designed it to look like a couple dancing the tango.

 El Museo de Humor

Puerto Madero

Navigating the City

This weekend has been a crash course in figuring out how to get around Buenos Aires without getting (too) lost. IFSA gave us this nifty little thing called the Guía T, which is a collection of maps of the city. You look up where you are, where you want to go, and it tells you which colectivo (bus) or subte line can get you there. Super handy, once you figure out how to use it. I think my navigation this weekend would have made Tour Guide Jim (my dad) proud!

Saturday I met up with two friends to go explore an art fair in Recoleta, next to the cemetery. There were so many neat things that people had made! After that, we went to an art museum and then a photo-journalism museum. Both were very cool. I especially enjoyed the photos - there were so many moving images, of both atrocities and happiness. It made me wonder, though, how the photographer was able to be there at the most intimate moments of these peoples' lives so that he could capture these moments on film.

After these museums, we had to get from Recoleta to Palermo to meet a group for dinner. This turned into an adventure. First we had to figure out which bus would take us where we need to go, then we needed to find where the bus stop was (we asked several shop owners, who were super helpful and friendly!) and then we needed to figure out when to get off the bus. We eventually made it, and even after wandering around looking for the bus stop and then walking several blocks because we got off way too early we ended up being an hour early for dinner. Our solution? Explore the local grocery stores, which is a terrible idea when you're starving! Eventually we got seated, ordered, and got our food - and by then it was 11:45 pm. I don't think we left dinner until 12:30 or 1 am, which is quite different than what I'm used to at home! However, it was a delicious meal and a fun night with friends!

Today I went with some friends to a fair that happens every Sunday in San Telmo. Getting there was also an adventure. I met up with a friend who also lives in Caballito (which is far away from practically everything) to figure out what bus to take. We tried to get on one, but the driver told us it wasn't going to San Telmo and we needed to take another. We waited 15 minutes for the other, only to be told that it was also the wrong bus. We ended up eventually asking a shopkeeper and finally got on a bus, only to have to walk about 10 blocks to get there. However, it was worth it! It was a huge fair, with tons of crafts, food, live music, and even tango dancers! It was a lot of fun exploring, and I want to go back sometime. 

After lots of walking around, getting lost, walking around some more, and getting on the wrong bus, I feel like I have a better grasp of how to get around (knock on wood). Now I get to put my newfound navigational skills to the test as I try to find where my classes are, which begin this week. 

I know this was a long post, so to reward you for making it all the way through here's some pictures!

 Recoleta! Right by where the fair was.

 The view from a bridge in Recoleta. This follow was made to open up in the sun and close at night, though I heard that it doesn't close anymore.

 Tango dancers at the San Telmo festival!

 One of the signs at the San Telmo festival.