Cooking and Volunteering

This week, we had a regular week of classes, but with two interesting extra-curricular activities - a cooking class, and my first day of volunteering. Both were interesting, in different ways, with each providing their own little slice of Argentinean culture.

Most alfajores you buy in stores look like this,
with a chocolate shell on the outside.

After classes on Wednesday, we all walked over to a place called Celia's in downtown Córdoba, which is apparently a cooking school. There, we learned how to make empanadas and alfajores, two staples of Argentinian culture. There are many varieties of empanadas around the world, and even in Argentina, and we were told that we were specifically learning about Cordoba-style empanadas. Like most empanadas, empanadas Cordobesas (adjective form of Cordoba!) are made by wrapping a certain type of dough around a variety of different fillings. The first part of the class mostly involved observation, and not any real hands-on activity. Our professional chef explained to us how to make empanada dough, which is pretty simple - a whole lot of flour, some water, and a bit of animal fat, along with a pinch of salt. After making that, it's supposed to sit for a while, so we moved on to the alfajores, a type of sweet cookie that also has a lot of variations, depending on where in South America you go. In Argentina, they consist of two small, plain, sweet biscuit/cookies with a sweet spread like dulce de leche (a caramel type spread) in the middle. He made the dough for that, and we moved back to to the empanadas. He prepared the filling, which for Cordoba-style empanadas includes ground beef, olives, potato, hard-boiled eggs, raisins, and onions. When that was ready, we finally got to do some hands-on cooking, rolling out the dough for the two foods, and cutting them into circles, so they'd be ready for cooking. The alfajores went into the oven to bake, while we filled the empanadas and fried them (although you can also bake them). The empanadas were absolutely delicious, especially fresh out of the oven, even if I don't care for olives (they're everywhere here, and probably my least-favorite part about Argentinian cuisine). Then the alfajor cookies were ready, and we got to spread dulce de leche on them and roll them in shredded coconuts, and they were delicious too. All in all, a very delicious and rewarding experience.

This pictures isn't mine, but it is almost
 exactly what our alfajores looked like!

Thursday was our last day of classes, but later that evening, I had a volunteer assignment at a "nocturnal refuge" near downtown Córdoba. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it ended up being a very interesting, and generally enjoyable experience. Based on its name, I expected it to be more or less like a homeless shelter, but it wasn't really like that at all. As I learned, this shelter is more like a hostel, catering to people who come to Córdoba from somewhere else and need a place to stay for a few days, and can't afford a hotel. According to the women working there, most of the people staying there fall into one of two categories: they're here looking for work and stay at the refuge until they have a more permanent option, or else they're here for some sort of medical treatment or health reason, and stay at the refuge while they or their friend/family gets treatment. Most people stay the night there, and then go out and tend to their business for the day before returning for food and sleep in the evening.

I got there at 6pm, and my first task was to sort and organize clothing, which I found a bit ironic, since I'm not all that orderly and organized with my own clothes. The refuge receives clothing via donations, and they have to go through them to see what clothes are serviceable for use, and what clothes are too dirty or ripped for use. I sorted through and depending on what shape the article of clothing was in, I either put it on the appropriate shelf or put it in a trash bag. At about 7pm, people started arriving, and I helped prepare dinner. Dinner that night was a big stew of meat and vegetables, so I helped with chopping vegetables. It was just me and one other woman working, and we were preparing a lot of food (for about 35-40 people), so it was a fairly time consuming venture. When dinner was finally ready, we served it in a small dining area, with a long table that could seat 14. There were obviously more people in the refuge than could fit at the table, so as soon as people were finished and got up, more people came in and sat down, so we were more or less constantly serving people. 

Everybody in the refuge was very polite and helpful, and they even washed their own dishes after finishing eating, which was somewhat of a surprise, although definitely a pleasant one. As dinner wound down, I talked with some of the people, who asked me where I was from and what I was doing in Argentina. I had some enjoyable conversations with people, and they were all very nice to talk to. When I said where I went to college, one man even said to the others "Did you know that the capital of the state of New York isn't New York City? It's Albany!" I was both impressed and amused by this, considering how close I am to Albany at Union, and also because there are quite a few people in the U.S. who don't know that. I left at 10pm, and was quite tired after a full day of classes and volunteering, but I was glad I did it, because it was definitely a unique experience. I spent Friday doing a whole lot of reading and relaxing, and then on tap for Saturday was a tip to La Cumbrecita, a tiny mountain town to the southwest of Córdoba. That deserves its own entry though, so I'll put a new post out just for that in the next couple days!

Mendoza!

Museum about the foundation of Mendoza

Hello everybody, I hope all of you in New England survived winter storm Nemo! While many of you were trudging through the snow, we in Argentina spent the weekend in the city of Mendoza and the surrounding area. Like Buenos Aires, Mendoza is a fair ways away from Córdoba, but in the opposite direction, near the Chilean border in the foothills of the Andes. We left from Córdoba Friday evening by bus, and arrived in Mendoza Saturday morning at about 8 am or so, after a 10 or 11 hour bus ride. One of the most obvious differences between Mendoza and Córdoba is the existence of actual trees and vegetation in Mendoza. Córdoba has some trees scattered around the city, but by and large, the streets are devoid of any sort of greenery. In contrast, Mendoza had streets that were lined with tall trees, which accomplished the dual tasks of making the city look nicer and making it feel cooler. The first thing we did Saturday morning after checking into our hotel was go to a museum that focused on the foundation of Mendoza. Apparently Mendoza was struck by a serious earthquake in the 1800s, and they had to rebuild much of the city. When the did so, they moved the city center from its original spot, so this museum was located at the original founding area and had exhibits describing the history of the city.

Me, next to a memorial statue at the
top of the hill in the park we went to.

After that, we headed into a large park in Mendoza, which looked like it was the rough equivalent of a state park in the United States. In this park, there were apparently a number of different buildings and institutions, but what I really enjoyed was the large expanse of forest/woods that we drove through. I enjoy being in nature, and Córdoba doesn't really have much to offer in that regard, and getting out of the city takes a good deal of planning. We drove up this large hill in the park where we were able to take in some very nice views of the surrounding area, until we eventually arrived at the top, which offered some great views in all directions, and the feeling of being at least sort of out of the city. After driving back into the city center for lunch, we had a little down time before heading out to a winery located outside the city. 

View from the top. Very nice.

Wines for tasting

From there, we started one of the more interesting and unusual activities we've done on this trip. We took a tour of the winery and tasted some wine before getting on bicycles and biking en masse to another winery, which was about 30 minutes away. There, we took another tour in which we noted some of the differences from the previous winery, and again tasted a couple more varieties of wine. We get on our bikes once more and rode to another winery (the final one) where the tour was basically non-existent; we walked around the grounds for about a half hour tasting grapes and such before going into a formal wine-tasting event. Overall, it was a very fun and enjoyable experience, despite the fact that I don't like wine all that much. Even though I'm still not a huge fan of it, I was able to learn a lot more about it, and I did begin to make some distinctions in taste between the different wines.

Grapes on grapes on grapes.

After that, we headed back to the hotel and enjoyed some nap and relaxation time (or at least I did, because I hadn't slept that well on the bus) before heading out to dinner. All the girls opted to go to a relatively fancy restaurant a little ways away from the hotel, while the guys opted to go to a taco bar located a few blocks from the restaurant. The taco bar was a bit of a risky proposition, since we didn't know how good it would be, but it ended up being a fantastic choice, because the food and atmosphere were absolutely fantastic. The restaurant had a relaxed and fun vibe to it, and the food was delicious and cheap. We all hung out there for quite a while before finally heading back to the hotel, talking for a while, and eventually going to bed. Earlier in the day, at lunch, the guide who had come with us asked us what we all wanted to do on Sunday, our free day. There were several options presented to us if we wanted them, for which we would have to pay, including rafting, horseback riding, and paragliding. We could forego all those options if we wanted, but those all seemed pretty fun, so everyone opted for one of those options. Eventually, the group split into those who would go horseback riding and those who would go paragliding. I've been horseback riding before, and it was enjoyable, and I knew the scenery would most likely be fantastic. However, paragliding seemed like a once in a lifetime opportunity, so I joined the others and signed up for that. So going to bed Saturday night, we were all discussing what paragliding would bring, and what we should expect.

The next morning, we were able to sleep in, because the paragliding trip didn't begin until the afternoon. We all got a good night's sleep and then around 8 of us picked a spot for lunch. The food was good, but the service was rather slow, and there was some confusion with paying the bill, which leads me to a point I've been thinking about for a while now; Argentina has a very cash-based economy, but nobody ever has change at restaurants or businesses. The exchange rate is roughly 5 Argentinian pesos for $1, so unsurprisingly, banks dispense 100-peso notes from ATMs, as they are roughly equivalent to $20 bills. However, people rarely have change if you try to pay for anything with a 100-peso note, which seems ridiculous. For example, my meal at lunch was 55 pesos, which is roughly $11. I tried to pay with a 100-peso note, but I was told that they did not have change. In the U.S. you can pay for almost anything with a $20 bill and receive change easily, especially if you're trying to pay for something over $10. However, nobody ever seems to have these small bills for change, which is frustrating and strange, because everybody pays cash all the time, and banks dispense 100-peso notes. How can any transactions be completed in these situations? Well for us, it was with difficulty, after people put money in and traded bills to get proper change. I'm not an economist, but I'll bet that this inability to properly deal with cash is one of the reasons that the Argentinian economy has had significant struggles in recent years.

On our way to paragliding

At around 3pm on Sunday afternoon, the group going paragliding (12 of us in total) met in the lobby and were picked up by the paragliding company, and driven to their operating base. Their base is located in the foothills of some very significant peaks, and was a pretty relaxed and mellow operation, reminiscent of surfer culture. I think many of the adrenaline-seeking sports have a similarly laid-back culture. After everyone arrived at the base, we were driven in groups of four to the launch spot (one group at a time), located higher up in the mountains. I and the three other guys in the group volunteered to go first, so we were driven up a rocky dirt road in the mountains to the launch spot. The drive up was almost as exhilarating as the paragliding itself (well maybe not, but it was interesting) because it was a narrow mountain road with a lot of switchbacks and some incredible views. 

Me ready to go!

Bird's eye view - except we were
higher than the birds!

Eventually, we arrived at the launch spot, located on a plateau/peak area, more than a mile above sea level. We were partnered up with one of the professionals, because it was a two-person operation. In reality, we were just along for the ride while the professional steered and controlled the whole apparatus. We got harnessed up and put on our helmets, and then one by one, we went off. To initiate take-off, they got the sail off the ground, and then the two people took off running towards the edge of the plateau. It wasn't really a cliff so much as a steep incline, so at the point where you would normally stumble forward and fall because of the slope and your momentum, we were simply lifted up into the air and then we were flying! 

The apparatus is really like a giant sail, so we weren't going all that fast up in the air, but rather just sort of sailing and gliding along. It was a strangely calm experience, being up so high in the air and just looking at everything floating down below you. I took the option of paying a little extra to have a camera-on-a-stick gadget, which you could hold out in front of you and then use a button at the bottom of the pole to take a picture. I didn't want to risk taking my camera out in the air, so that option made the most sense. And as a result, I got some really awesome photos! The total flight time lasted about 15-20 minutes before we coasted into a surprisingly smooth landing right near the base where we drove off from. 

When we landed, there was an incredible feeling of giddiness and excitement, which I suppose might have been the adrenaline. Most of the guys landed within a couple minutes of each other, so then we immediately ran back up to where the rest of the group was waiting and told them how great it was. We then had a long wait while the other two groups of four went up and we waited for them to come back down, but it was alright because the weather was nice, and it was relaxing to just sit and chat and then watch the others as they sailed in. And as an extra bonus, there was a ridiculously cute puppy running around the area as well!

Very cute puppy

We finally drove back to the city around 8pm (still very light out) and then met our professor and guide and went to a buffet at a restaurant near the hotel. The food at the buffet was varied and delicious, and I went to town on everything (well, most things at least) before finally leaving and feeling very satisfied. We then went back to the hotel where we hung out, watched the Grammys, and talked to the other group about their adventures on horseback. All in all, it was an excellent day, and I went to bed very tired and very satisfied. Monday morning, we were able to sleep in once more before grabbing breakfast and leaving from the hotel at 11am for our 12pm bus departure. The bus ride home was once again very long, but it was well worth it, given all our fantastic adventures in Mendoza this weekend.

This was definitely one of the most fun weekends I've had in Argentina, and probably ever in my life as well. We're now halfway through the term, and it's been great. There are apparently some other students arriving from North Dakota who are using the same general program as us so I guess we might see them around when we go to classes (it's really been our own personal wing of the building thus far). If so, I'm sure we'll all be glad to pass on our knowledge about Córdoba and Argentina in general, since we've certainly gained a while lot of knowledge in our short time here. Hope everybody's well back in the U.S. and thanks for reading!

Classes behind, Mendoza ahead

¡Hola, todos!

Shortly, we will be departing Córdoba for Mendoza, located on the western side of the country in the foothills of the Andes, near the Chilean border. Mendoza is known for it's exquisite wine and it's abundance of natural offerings, including rafting, hiking, paragliding, and horseback riding. Hopefully we will be able to partake in at least some of these adventures. We have a day full of scheduled events and such on Saturday, but we're completely free on Sunday, and we'll be able to embark on adventures of our choosing.

After a full week of classes that included two tests, this excursion is quite welcome. In fact, Monday and Tuesday of next week are holidays (seems like February in Argentina is full of holidays), so we only have classes on Wednesday and Thursday. Seems like the opposite of Union, where we don't spend as much time in classes, but have precisely one day off during the entire year apart from winter and spring breaks. One interesting development this past week is that we are beginning our volunteer assignments, although calling it volunteer seems a bit misleading since nobody volunteered for this; we were all given assignments by the program. Still, it should be interesting - I, along with a number of my classmates, have been assigned to a nocturnal refuge in Córdoba. This is a small shelter that takes in people who don't have anywhere to go during the night, and gives them food and a place to sleep. It seems similar to a homeless shelter, but not identical, because they seem to host people who just need somewhere for a short time before they get back on their feet. Among these people are those who come looking for jobs and need somewhere to stay while searching, and those who might be in a tough situation for some reason and need a place for a short time while doing some sort of transition. I will be there once a week from 6-10 pm doing whatever they need me to do, which sounds like it will include making beds, distributing food, moving things around, and engaging the people staying there with conversation. It seems like it'll be a good opportunity to see the real/non-touristy side of life here, and really immerse myself in the culture. That starts next Thursday, and since I'm only there once a week, I'll really only have 5 nights working there, but I'm betting those nights will be pretty interesting.

I must go now, since it's time to pack and prepare for Mendoza. Like the trip to Buenos Aires, we will be taking an overnight bus, so I'll get to practice my sleeping-on-bus skills once again. We'll have all day Saturday, all day Sunday, and part of Monday there before coming home Monday evening. I'll put up another blog post sometime on Tuesday I think, so you can look forward to some (hopefully) good stories and photos about my weekend in Mendoza.

¡Hasta luego!

Doing American Activities in Argentina

I meant to post this yesterday (Monday) but I wrote most of it, got called down to dinner and forgot to finish and publish it. Woops!

Hola everybody! Sorry in advance for not posting photos this week - a result of not going out of the city this weekend and not bringing my camera anywhere in the city.

Anyway, we had a short week last week because Thursday was a national holiday, commemorating the elimination of slavery in Argentina. What that really meant for me though was that I got a 4 day weekend, since we don't ever have classes on Friday! It was a fairly standard school week, although we did have our first real test, in history, which nobody really enjoyed all that much. If only they could just eliminate tests from classes... On Thursday, I just took advantage of the day off by sleeping in and relaxing most of the day. I have a high tolerance for relaxation, so I was fine with a day of unwinding most of that day. Interestingly, I find myself more tired here than at Union, probably because we're getting up at 7am every morning, and we're actually in class for longer than at Union. Combine that with more commute time, and then having to whatever other miscellaneous things I have to do, I'm usually more tired at the end of the day than I would be at Union.

Friday, I went downtown with a few others and partook in some decidedly American activities - we first went to a bowling alley type place in a mall, although it was inside a larger arcade-style area. There we bowled and played pool, at which I am spectacularly average and unremarkable. It was good fun though, especially since I hadn't done either in a while. After that, we didn't have anything going on, so we decided to go see Django Unchained, the new Quentin Tarantino movie with Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It was in English, with Spanish subtitles, and I often found myself following along with the Spanish subtitles just because I was curious how they translated certain phrases. The movie itself was tremendously entertaining, and probably one of my favorite movies ever. It's extremely violent which might be a dealbreaker for some, but it's very well directed, it has great acting and dialogue, and it's got a very unique and bold style that I very much enjoyed. After the movie, I went back to the house of two of my classmates, since they live closer to the center and we were planning on going back out again. After meeting their host mom, who was quite the character (older, single woman who was alternately amusing and crabby), we met up with some of our other classmates and enjoyed a night out on the town.

Saturday morning, I met Prof. Mosquera (our accompanying professor from Union) and several other students at a pool/sports club that happened to be conveniently located near-ish to my house. There, I was able to swim and play basketball, both of which I haven't done in a while (I hadn't played basketball in a month, while I hadn't swam since summer, but the gap for basketball felt just as long). I was a little rusty on the court at first (might have had something to do with a hoop that I suspect wasn't exactly 10 feet, nor exactly straight and level) but I soon got my groove back and was dropping buckets. We spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon there before I came back to my house to relax and read, which was how I spent the rest of the evening.

Sunday was spent sleeping in and getting work done until the Super Bowl, at which time I sat down on the couch and tuned in to hear...not the dulcet tones of Jim Nantz, Al Michaels, or Joe Buck, but rather the Spanish commentators for the Argentinian broadcast! It was a different experience, but still enjoyable, especially since the game was an entertaining one. We've got a slate of classes this week before leaving Friday evening for Mendoza, where we will have a set program Saturday, but a free day on Sunday, which it seems will be used for student-organized rafting excursion (also means we're footing the bill ourselves). I'll put up another post on Friday before we leave, and I'll include our (hopefully) finalize and definitive itinerary. Thanks for reading!

Buenos Aires!

This past weekend, the whole group took a trip to Buenos Aires, and it was a great deal of fun. We left by bus Thursday evening and returned by plane Sunday evening. There are many photos, and much that happened, so I'll break it down by day. This will be a rather long entry, so I'll be sure to put in a lot of photos for those of you who don't feel like reading 2,000 words. 

Thursday

Our prepackaged meal. Not bad, but nothing great either.

We went to the bus station Thursday evening and left on our bus at around 9:00 or so, with everyone slightly wary of the 9 hour ride ahead. The bus terminal was fairly similar to what you might see in the U.S. for companies like Peter Pan or Megabus, but for this long trip, our bus was different in a few different ways. This first was that it was a double-decker bus - this didn't make a whole lot of practical difference for anyone riding it, but it was still pretty neat. Second, because this bus is used for long, overnight trips, the chairs are large and cushioned, and can be reclined quite far back to make a semi-bed of sorts, and there's a little section from the back of the chair in front of you that you can flip out to rest your feet on. Not as comfortable or as spacious as a real bed, but far superior to trying to sleep on an airplane. They also served us drinks in the beginning and then a pre-packaged meal a little after we were on the road, so it did sort of feel like a flight in that regard. They did have TV screens with some Eddie Murphy movie showing, but I was pretty tired, so I didn't watch, and went to sleep before too long.

Friday

One side of the room, with my compañero, Mike.

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 6:30 or so Friday morning, and got off the bus at our hotel around 7:00. Fortunately, our rooms were ready at that point, so we were able to drop off our stuff in our rooms, shower, and come down to eat breakfast. The hotel and an American-ish breakfast, which was nice, because normal Argentinian breakfast seems to consist of bread and a drink, if it exists at all. They didn't have pancakes, waffles, sausage, or bacon, but they did have a variety of pastries, some cereal, and scrambled eggs, so that was nice. Our hotel room was quite nice and spacious, and included a balcony from which we could look out, so that was a nice treat for the weekend.

Other side of the hotel room, looking nice.

View from over our balcony down to the street.

View out from our balcony.

La Casa Rosada 

Around 10:00, we left the hotel and headed into downtown Buenos Aires, which was pretty close to the hotel. We viewed some relevant cultural and historical points from the bus, and then disembarked at the Plaza de Mayo, which is probably the most famous place in Buenos Aires. Plaza de Mayo is where Argentina declared their independence from Spain, and it has been host to a number of gatherings, protests, and demonstrations over the years, particularly during the dictatorship in the 1970s. Unsurprisingly, there were banners and posters for all sorts of different causes all around the plaza. Plaza de Mayo is also home to la Casa Rosada, aka the Pink House, the Argentinian equivalent of the White House, where the president conducts her business and whatnot. It was somewhat remarkable how close you could get to the building; it wasn't set back from the street and surrounded by fences like the White House.

An impressive looking building,
although I can't remember what it is...

The plaza with some banners.

That afternoon, we ate lunch, and then went to a few different places. First we stopped by the law school of the University of Buenos Aires, a well known building that we had just seen a couple weeks in the movie Tesis sobre un Homicidio. It was very cool to see it in person right after seeing it in a movie. Right next to that building was a large park with a gigantic metal flower in the middle of the park, although I can't recall whether it was purely decorative or if it was supposed to memorialize something. Either way, it was an interesting and impressive site. 

Large metal flower

Law School, looking impressive.

Not long after that, we stopped by a park next to Rio de la Plata, the big river that Buenos Aires was built around, and which serves as a port to the Atlantic Ocean. In this park, there were a number of signs that looked like street signs, but with social messages of variou sorts, often explicitly political. It was very interesting to see, and it made me think about who sponsors this and whether we would ever see anything like that in the US. Many of the messages were about the time during the dictatorship, and represent some sort of legal or social injustice, while others are more abstract statements on society.

Rio de la Plata. It's a very big river.

One of the signs in the park. 

Another sign, with more in the background.

After the park, we went to a famous cemetery that's home to many famous and/or rich Argentinians, including Eva Perón. Unlike a standard American cemetery, this cemetery consisted entirely of above-ground mausoleums, and one could walk between the various memorials, looking at the lavish and elaborate nature of the graves. It was impressive, but also a bit creepy, because you were essentially walking through a town of dead people. Still it was definitely a unique experience, and the memorials were worth admiring, although it did make me think about the practice of spending such large sums of money to memorialize someone with stones and engravings.  

City of dead people. Cool and creepy.

Eva Perón's grave.

Finally, we spent the evening eating a very nice dinner and watching a tango show. We had watched tango in Córdoba, but this was a slightly different set up. In Córdoba, we saw a show in a small restaurant that had a small stage. There was an accordion player, a bass player, and 2 singers and 2 dancers. This place was more like a banquet hall, with a large raised stage in front. The performance was much more elaborate, with more dancers, more musicians, and a generally more theatrical feel to it. It went on for a little long, but it was very enjoyable, and all the performers were extremely talented.

Saturday

Saturday morning, we ate breakfast and enjoyed a leisurely departure before heading to a museum dedicated to Evita Perón. I was familiar with the basic facts of Evita before this, but I did learn a lot of new and interesting information at the museum there. The tour got a little boring at some points, but it was interesting more often than not, mostly because Evita was such a unique figure. Maybe the best reference would be a combination of Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Eleanor Roosevelt, but neither of those women combined political activism with popular appeal the way Evita Perón did. 

"May God grant that in this blessed land the Foundation for Social Aid may soon disappear, because if this occurs, the complete prevalence of social justice will have occurred. And it will have fulfilled the Peronist agenda of a woman who, trying to interpret the ideals of the people, was creating institutions worthy of that people."

After the museum, we went to the neighborhood of La Boca, which literally means the mouth, so named because of its location as a key port near where Rio de la Plata flows into the Atlantic. La Boca is known primarily in Argentina for its small touristy section, and for its extremely successful soccer team, Boca Juniors, one of the most decorated soccer teams in Argentina, and in the world. For a small price, I went in to the stadium to explore and take pictures, along with my friend Dean, who plays on the Union soccer team. Even though I'm not particularly invested in Argentinian soccer, it was still a great experience, and I could tell that the stadium was a really special place.

Me and the field.

Estadio! Capacity is ~50,000.

After checking out the stadium, I walked around touristy area, looking at the market and admiring the brightly colored buildings. Interestingly, this very brightly colored tourist area comprised an area of around 5x5 blocks, and once you got beyond that, it was not really a very touristy neighborhood at all.

Meeting this rather strange fellow in the red hat and cape
who tried to sell us a strangely professional looking DVD
that was apparently about his own life. Did not buy.

People walking around, enjoying the day in La Boca.

After exploring La Boca, we went back to the hotel and had the rest of the day to ourselves. The rest of that afternoon and evening consisted mostly of napping, walking around the city, grabbing dinner, hanging out, and getting some late night pizza. 

Sunday

Our last day, we enjoyed our last substantial breakfast, checked out, and headed to the neighborhood of San Telmo, which has a massive market on Sundays, stretching along one street for around 15-20 blocks. There we spent most of the late morning and early afternoon, exploring and checking out the trinkets and goods for sale. There were all sorts of things available, from professional looking jewelry to  incredible art to regular clothes and shoes. There were also a great deal of people, with a significant amount of tourists mixed in among regular Argentinians. The market was crowded and hot, but still a fun experience, and great way to see the culture.

Market, with nice looking buildings.

Straight shot of the crowded market.

After poking around the market and grabbing a fantastically delicious and cheap lunch (2 decent size empanadas + slice of pizza + juice, all for ~$6) we went to the neighborhood of Recoleta, near where the law school and giant metal flower were. There, we had the option to explore randomly, to go to another market, or to go to a museum of art. After the past couple days, I was pretty tired of markets, so I opted to just walk around for a while. I poked around the museum for a bit, which was free entry, and was moderately impressed by some of the pieces, but I could only stay there for so long before I felt the need to go back outside again. I walked around, took some photos, and eventually just sat down by a tree and watched people go by. It was a pleasantly relaxing way to end the weekend. 

Nice bridge with the law school in the background

View from center of said bridge.

View fromt the other side of the bridge.

We flew back that evening, which was far quicker than bus (only an hour and ten minute flight) and then started back on school the next day. Luckily, Thursday is a national holiday of some sort, so we only have a 3-day week (we get every Friday off). Being in school from 9:00-2:00 makes me feel like I'm in high school again, so I'll be grateful for the extra long weekend. We have a history exam tomorrow, but after that, we have a free and unencumbered weekend. I don't know what I'll do, but there's apparently a pool club of some sort nearby with basketball courts on the premises, and I haven't swam or played basketball in a while, so a chance to do both would be quite nice. Hope you all enjoyed, and I'll keep everyone updated!

More Fun Times

Hello again,

Sorry for not putting up a new post for a while; I've been slacking in my blogging duties. Over the past week, things have been very nice. After going to Jesus Maria last weekend, we had a pretty standard week of classes this past week. To get to the university campus by 9:00, I have to catch the bus by 8:00, which means I have to be up around 7:00 or so, which is a full hour and half earlier than I would have to get up for a 9:00 class at Union. So that part of my schedule is less than ideal, but I suppose it's a small sacrifice to make. For my Argentinian cinema class, we watched a movie called Nueve Reinas (Nine Queens) which is a tremendously entertaining crime caper from around 10 years ago. I'm sure you can get it with English subtitles, so I would recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, twist-filled film. As a full group, we also saw another movie this weekend in theaters, called Tesis Sobre un Homicidio (Thesis on a Homicide). This was apparently a very highly anticipated movie here, and had some well known Argentinian actors, including the star of Nueve Reinas, which was an interesting little coincidence. It was about a university professor who teaches a class on crime and criminal justice who becomes in trying to solve a homicide. Although it was a well-made movie, I wasn't very fond of the movie's ending, but it was still an interesting experience, especially because it didn't have subtitles or anything, so we really had to listen carefully and pay attention to know what was going on. Adding to our authentic Argentinian experience was our outing on Friday, for which the whole group went to a restaurant that also has tango shows. So we enjoyed a nice dinner and then watched several talented performers sing and dance quite impressively. The whole night felt quite Argentinean, although I think that place does get a good amount of business from tourists, both domestic and international. Still, a very enjoyable evening.

Nice looking Jesuit mission.

This past weekend, on Saturday, we went to the town of Alta Gracia, which is about 45 minutes to an hour to the southwest of Córdoba. According to Wikipedia, it has 43,000 residents, so it's a nice, small-ish town with plenty of history. We first toured an old Jesuit residence from the 1600s that has been converted into a museum. The Jesuits had a big presence in the whole Córdoba province when it was first being settled, so there are various Jesuit museums and such throughout the area. This one was quite pretty, and had some nice interesting exhibits that we were able to explore on our own. We've visited several historical sites that belonged to the Jesuits, so much of the same sort of information pops up each time we visit such a place. Still, it's interesting and usually very nice to look at, at the very least.


After that, we grabbed lunch at a nice restaurant in town and then went to visit what is possibly the main attraction in Alta Gracia - the childhood home of Che Guevara. Che Guevara was born in the city of Rosario, but he lived in Alta Gracia from the ages of 4-16, and they have converted his house into a museum that attracts a fair number of visitors. That was moderately interesting, especially since I didn't know a whole lot about him, aside from the basics. One of the more interesting exhibits was an add-on that had photos of Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez visiting the house about 10 years ago or so, and signing the guestbook and everything. The exhibits tended to focus on the life of Che before he was very well known and how his childhood shaped his future, since this was the place he really grew up. Overall, Alta Gracia was a nice trip; I particularly enjoyed the more relaxed and condensed feel of the smaller town, as opposed to the busy sprawl of Córdoba. I guess I'm just not really a city guy at heart.

The welcome sign to the museum/house of Che

Me and Che.

We've got another standard week of classes now, but Thursday evening, we will leave for our first overnight/multi-night excursion - ¡Buenos Aires! Although I'm no stranger to long rides, I'm still not looking forward to the ~8 hour bus ride there. Still though, it should be quite a fun time, and I'm looking forward to it. Buenos Aires is the 4th biggest metro area in the Americas, so it'll be interesting to see what it's like and explore everything. Thanks for reading, and I'll keep everyone updated!

PS - A couple bonus photos of my house and the street I live on, just for some context. As you can see, my neighborhood's pretty suburban and residential, although it does get busier and a bit more urban-like a few blocks away.

Jesus Maria!

All continues to go well here in Argentina, especially with the weekend here; the freedom of weekends allows for quite a bit more fun than during the week, when we have classes. Thursday evening, we all met up with our speaking partners in a restaurant downtown. Most of them are around our age, but their level of English varies greatly, from nearly fluent to very basic. My partner is a girl named Belu, whose English is fairly basic and limited, but is very nice and friendly. After meeting with our speaking partners, we split up into several different groups and explored the city as we walked, talked and ate. Friday was the first day that we didn't have classes, so I took that opportunity to sleep in, for which I was very grateful.


Then in the afternoon, the whole group went to the town of Jesús Maria, a town about 50km north of Córdoba that hosts a festival of doma and folklore every year. Doma refers to the Argentinian equivalent of rodeo, in which people ride around on horses performing various tasks, such as lassoing horses, guiding them through a course, and riding a bucking bronco, all of which is supposed to be in honor of traditional gaucho culture. Folklore referes to a certain type of music also from the same culture, although I don't know it well enough to identify any defining characteristics. This festival happens each night in Jesus Maria for about two weeks, so we were really only seeing a snapshot of the whole thing. After arriving in the afternoon, we toured the city, visiting several spots in particular. The first spot was a Jesuit mission, hundreds of years old that is now a museum of sorts. We took a guided tour and heard about the history of the mission and looked at various rooms, paintings, and artifacts. Interestingly, they allow cameras on the grounds, but not inside any of the buildings.

A serene pond scene, and the main building of the mission, below.

After visiting the mission, we went to a winery, where we toured the place, and saw all the equipment that they use to produce the wine. The place was quite expansive, and they showed us all the places where they make and store the wine, which was interesting to see.

Our next stop was a meat-packing place where they packaged and sold various cuts of meat, including salami, which was their specialty. It was really just a small house-looking place on a street, that didn't look like anything special from the outside. Inside however, were rows and rows of salamis hanging from the ceiling. We got a tour of the place (if you can call it a tour, considering it was a pretty small building), and we learned about the process of getting the meat, and doing everything they have to do to sell it - store it, season it, package it, etc. While the information was mildly interesting, the real focus of the tour was the fact that having tons of meat hanging everywhere gave the entire place a rather distinct aroma, and not an entirely pleasant one. Like some sort of weird challenge, the smell got stronger the further into the building you went. There were two rooms on the first floor, and then two rooms in the basement, and each room had a stronger smell than the last. Some people couldn't even stand to be in the first room and had to go back outside. As the tour progressed, more and more people bailed out as we ventured further into the depths the meat rooms. By the time we got to the last room in the basement, probably only 1/4 of the original group was left. Although the smell was strong and unpleasant, I didn't find it as horrific as others seemed to find it, and it was relatively easy to avoid smelling it just by breathing through your mouth only. All in all, a most interesting experience.

After this, we went into the center of town, where it steadily got more crowded as people gathered for the events of the festival. We ate at a roadside stand, where we got choripan, which was a delicious sausage sandwich (chorizo [sausage] + pan [bread] = choripan). Afterwards, we ventured into the center of town, where they had blocked off all the streets for the festival. The streets were filled with people, and there were roadside vendors everywhere, along with the restaurants and such that were all open as well. After walking around and exploring for an hour or so, we went into the stadium, where the actual festival was happening. The stadium was fairly large, and could seat probably 25,000 people, and it was filled to capacity and then some. All the seats and benches were filled, and people were standing all around the stadium behind the seats as well. In addition, there were more people walking around the inside of the stadium, eating, sitting, and talking. All told, there might have been 30,000 people in the stadium, plus thousands more out on the streets. The events consisted of various rodeo-type events, such as lassoing horses, guiding them through a course, and riding a bucking bronco. In between the various events, there was music performed on a big stage by different performers, all of whom are apparently known in Argentina.

Overall, it was a unique experience for me, and

really interesting to see the celebration of this culture. There were all sorts of different people there, from Argentinian city dwellers, to people had come in from the country, to foreigners like us. I'm definitely glad we got the chance to go to this festival, especially because I don't know if I'll see something like this ever again. I'll keep updating here, so stay tuned! ¡Hasta luego!