Montevideo and Buenos Aires with Friends

Last week I finished all of my classes and began a whirlwind, travel-filled final 3 weeks in Argentina. On Thursday, my friend (and future roomate!) Meghan, who's studying in Santiago, Chile, came to Buenos Aires. Together we went to Montevideo, Uruguay to visit our friend Kevin for the weekend. We got there late Thursday, so we just got dinner and checked into the hostel.

On Friday, we took a day trip to Punta del Este, which is about a 2 hour bus ride away from Montevideo and full of beaches. It was a beautiful weekend - the weather was perfect. We decided to follow a circuit thing around Punta del Este that had different stops and cool things to see, but we ended up misreading the map and going the completely wrong direction and getting quite lost. However, it was an adventure and we ended up seeing a part of the city tourists don't normally see! After getting un-lost, we went and hung out at the beach for the afternoon. It was awesome being able to relax and catch up with some Northwestern friends in South American. After the beach, we went back to Montevideo, cleaned up, and went to a parrilla for dinner. It was so delicious - I'm going to miss these parrillas when I go back to the US!

On Saturday, we took a walk around the boardwalk of Montevideo in the morning. It was beautiful, and made me wish that Buenos Aires had beaches. Everywhere we went we saw people drinking their mate - they're super obsessed with it there. After walking around the boardwalk, we went to la ciudad vieja (the old city), which is the oldest part of the city, and walked around. They had a bit of a craft fair, so we did some shopping. We also got chivitos for lunch, which are the food to eat in Montevideo. They're like hamburgers, but with ham, bacon, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, different kinds of mayo, and tons of other stuff. They're huge, but super delicious! I have no idea how people can finish them (see below for a picture). Saturday evening Meghan and I returned to Buenos Aires, and she stayed here for a few days with some of her friends from Santiago and I got to be Tour Guide Sarah once again.

On Sunday, we went to the feria in San Telmo and bought some souvenirs - specifically, some awesome, colorful, super comfy Argentine pants! Afterwards we went to La Casa Rosada (the pink house) which is where the president works, and got a tour inside. It almost looked more like a museum than a government building. After that, we went to dinner and had some delicious pizza with ice cream for dessert.

On Monday, I took Meghan and her friends to Recoleta. We went on a tour of the cemetery. I've been to the cemetery a couple times before, but never took the tour, so it was cool to hear the history behind several of the tombs. After that we walked around a bit, got lunch, and saw the giant metal flower that opens during the day and closes at night. We tried to go the the Museo de Bellas Artes, but it was closed. After that we went to a parrilla where they were having a happy hour - 40% as long as you finished in an hour. It was super, super delicious, and a mountain of food. After we were stuffed from dinner, Meghan and I went back to her hostel and we skyped some friends together.

Tuesday was a dreary, gray day. However, we didn't care and went to the Jardín Japonés (Japanese gardens) and walked around a bit. This was my first time going there, and they were very beautiful. I'm sure they'd be much prettier on a sunny day. After that, it started to rain more so to get out of the rain we went to the Evita museum. I'd been before, but it was just as interesting the second time as the first. After that, Meghan had to catch her flight to return to Santiago, ending a super busy but super fun weekend. I'm so happy that I got a chance to hang out with friends while in South America.

Tomorrow I leave to go back to Uruguay with my program to celebrate Thanksgiving. This is my first Thanksgiving ever not at home, which is kind of weird. I miss my family, but I'm excited to celebrate it with all my friends here! We're going to the house of our program director in Colonia, then spending a couple days in Punta del Este. It should be a great weekend. After that, I have 1 day in Buenos Aires and then I leave with 2 other friends to go to Patagonia for a week, which I'm SUPER excited about. We're going to the "end of the world" to see glaciers and penguins! After that, I only have 3 days left in Argentina, and then it's back to the US for a few weeks. So much to do, so little time!

Here are some pictures from my travels this weekend:

 La Mano - a sculpture on the beach in Punta del Este, Uruguay

 Still can't figure out how to rotate these, but my friend Meghan and me!

 The 3 of us in Punta del Este

 La playa

 Chivito!

 Other view of a chivito - it's huge!

 Selfies in La Casa Rosada

 Painting in La Casa Rosada

 View from the balcony of La Casa Rosada

 Cemetery of Recoleta

 Parrilla!

 La Jardín Japonés

Where did the time go?

It's hard to believe, but I only have 3.5 weeks left in Argentina. There's still so many things left that I want to do, and not enough time to do them!

A couple weeks ago I went to La Noche de los Museos, which is the night of the museums (not like the movie though - unfortunately, nothing comes to life after dark!). It's a night where all of the museums in the city and the transportation to and from the museums is completely free. I took advantage of this with some friends and we went to El Museo de la Lengua y el Libro (Museum of Language and Books), MALBA (Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires) and the Planetarium. There were long lines and huge crowds, but it was definitely worth it cause everything was free.

I also went to the Teatro Colón to see the ballet Cenicienta (Cinderella) with a couple of friends, which has been on my bucket list forever! Our seats were super high up so it was difficult to see, but it was still awesome. It's a beautful theater (see pictures below).

Last weekend my friend Kevin, who is studying in Montevideo, came to visit me for a couple days. I became Tour Guide Sarah, and we only got lost a couple times! We went to see the march of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, who march every Thursday at 3:30 in the Plaza de Mayo and have been since the dictatorship in search of their loved ones who have disappeared and to protest the dictatorship. It was really neat to see. We went out tango and salsa dancing at night, which was a lot of fun because we're dance partners back at Northwestern. We visited El Ateneo, an old theater-turned-bookstore (and only walked 8 blocks in the wrong direction trying to find it!), stumbled upon an orchestra concert, and went to the feria in Recoleta to buy gifts for friends back home. We also had tons of good food - we found a delicious cafe for brunch and I ate Nutella french toast. Om nom nom! It was a great weekend.

I've already finished two of my classes, and I finish my other two tomorrow, which is crazy to believe. I feel like I just started them a week ago! Once classes are finished, I'm going to be traveling a lot. I'm planning a trip to Montevideo to visit Kevin with my friend Meghan who is studying in Santiago, Chile; a trip back to Uruguay with my program; and a trip to Patagonia to (hopefully!) see some penguins (my mom wants me to take one back to the US for her - I'm not sure that's such a great idea!). These last few weeks here are going to be super fun, but super busy.

As it's almost Thanksgiving and my friends at home are getting ready to go on break to see each other, I'm starting to miss home a bit more. I love it here, but there's just some things that I miss from home, like:
1). My mom's banana bread. And chocolate chip cookies. And macaroni and cheese.
2). Food with lots of flavor. Seriously, no one here can handle any bit of spiciness in their food.
3). Friends and family and the boyfriend, of course!
4). Personal space while traveling - not having to share your personal bubble with 5 other people when it's 90 degrees on the subte. Gross.
5). Being able to walk to class. At Northwestern, it takes me 10ish minutes to walk to class. Here, my closest class is about 35 minutes away by bus or subte. So much time is spent in transit here.
6). Being able to make puns. Anyone who knows me knows I make puns all the time, but it's so hard to make them in a different language.

As much as I miss these things, I love it here, and I'm planning to make the most of my last 3.5 weeks here!

Pictures:

 My friend Rachel and I outside the Teatro Colón

 Inside the Teatro Colón (sorry for the bluriness).

 Inside the Teatro Colón.

 La marcha de las Madres de la Plaza de Mayo.

 Nutella french toast and pancakes with fruit!

 The awesome orchestra we stumbled upon.

Tango!

The Past Month

I'm currently chatting with my dad, and he pointed out that I haven't posted in awhile and that I'm really slacking with my blog. Therefore, Dad, this post's for you.

I've been super busy here in Buenos Aires lately. Classes are ending, and with that comes end of the semester papers and exams, which have been keeping me busy. However, I will be all done with classes a week from this coming Tuesday! And I go home 5 weeks from today - it's crazy how fast time flies!

Other than studying, I've been doing a lot. One day I went to Tecnopolis, a giant, outdoor science center thing (that's the best I can describe it) with some friends for a food festival. After a trip of about an hour and a half to get there, we wandered around all day trying all sorts of food. I also met a guy dressed up in a turtle suit named Raphael, who is a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, loves pizza, and asked me what a fanny pack is. I never thought I would end up describing fanny packs to a turtle in Buenos Aires, but it happened!

I've also spent my time going to various plays, movies, and even an opera here! IFSA (my program) a lot of times takes us to see plays and whatnot (for free!) so I've taken advantage of that and gone. Definitely a fun time! One of the theater-related things I went to was "La Bomba del Tiempo" (the time bomb). It's a bunch of guys on drums, improv-ing. There's a leader, and he gives out hand signals which all of the drummers understand and follow to create their music. It's spectacular! We also ran into a YouTube star while we were there, so we creepily took pictures of him from afar. Don't judge. This weekend I'm going to go see a ballet in the Teatro Colón with some friends, and I'm super excited! It's a beautiful, huge, super fancy theater and going there has been on my bucket list since I've gotten here.

The weather here has gotten really nice (it's spring!) so I took advantage of that one day and went to a park with some friends to rent bikes and enjoy the day. After biking, we explored the rose garden, which was beautiful. I'm so glad the weather is so nice here - it's going to be such a shock to return home to winter.

Last weekend I took a short trip up to Rosario to visit a family friend: a woman who studied in the US and lived with my uncle years ago. She showed me around the city, which is right on the river and very beautiful! We say the monument of the flag (where the Argentine flag was created), lots of the university buildings, some churches, a play, and even went to Oktoberfest! It was a packed, busy weekend but I really enjoyed it, and it was very nice of her to host me!

I've also found a milonga that I like to go to to tango! I really miss dancing all the time, like I do at home. It's such a great way to be active and to make friends with people, and it makes me happy! I'm planning on going back there this weekend.

The other day for a class I went to see a documentary about a woman who's parents were kidnapped and killed during the military dictatorship in Argentina during 1976-1983. I've been learning a lot about it in one of my classes, so it was really interesting to be able to hear a story first hand like this. The documentary was about the woman's search for what happened to her parents and her search for justice, and it was very moving. Afterwards, she talked to us more about it and we got to ask questions. I was so amazed at the strength she had to talk about all the tragedy in her life, and the strength to face it and share it with the world. It was one of the most meaningful experiences I've had here in Buenos Aires.

This isn't nearly all that I've been up to, but it's a good summary! My plans for the coming weeks are to finish classes, travel, travel more, and hang out with friends before we leave. I know time is going to fly by, so I'm going to make the most of it!

Here's a few pictures (sorry I've been slacking and keep forgetting to bring my camera with me):

 A GIANT dessert we had after a play one night. Also I apologize that it's sideways - I can't for the life of me figure out how to rotate on this blog.

 A giant person made out of Coke crates at Technopolis.

Me and my new friend Rembrandt the turtle (he's kinda creepy looking, actually...)