Putting the Study in Studying Abroad

After my last post on Sunday, I got down to some more studying for my exams this week. 

On Monday, I had my Listening and Conversation Examen Parcial. The exam wasn't too bad. It basically entailed doing new versions of exercises we had been practicing in class. Sometimes, the audio wasn't really clear, but I think that's part of the challenge(!), but I assumed I did well enough to pass, especially since there wasn't more I could have done to study for it.

That night and last night, I poured over my Economic Development of Argentina notes, which was really boring. But the exam today wasn't that bad, I think. I'm pretty sure I did fine and I'm so glad that it's finished. Next week, I have my midterm in my World Economic History class. I don't think it will be too challenging, but I definitely have a lot of studying to get down this weekend/next week to be ready for it.

 My class at UBA is turning out to be quite challenging. Last night, I barely understood what was going on in the first hour and during the second two hours I was just lost. Hopefully, when I have time to get around to readings for that class (after my midterm next week) I'll have a better understanding of everything for that class. Plus, the other kids from my program in that class and I are planning on meeting with our program's tutor for that class (who is also the TA!) sometime in the next week, so I'm sure I'll be caught up before our midterm for that class which isn't until May.

This weekend I'm off to Tandil, for a trip that the program is throwing for us. Originally we were going to Entre Rios, but because of the incidents of dengue in the north, we've changed our locations! 

And here's a picture of me from Puerto Madryn:

Soccer, Burritos and Dengue

After two weekends outside of the city, I'm glad to be spending this one back in Buenos Aires. On Thursday, I had my last class of the week and then ran into some friends in the Plaza de Mayo. After "doing work" for about an hour, we headed to California Burrito, which was great and reminded me a lot of Chipotle. That night, after doing some work, I headed out to a the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires, where the Madres de La Plaza de Mayo, were having a discussion about a new book called, "Silencioso no es una palabra" which was about the disappearances of thousands of people during the Dirty War in Argentina about thirty years ago. Although I didn't understand everything that was said at the event, it was still pretty interesting to go to and hear the different speeches.

The next day, Friday, we had our Dengue informational meeting. For an hour, we all learned about the life cycle of a mosquito. Apparently, it's really really hard to get Dengue in Buenos Aires, it almost seems like you have to go out of your way to get it here. Plus, one of the girls in our program actually had dengue a few years ago in the Dominican Republic and assured us that as bad as it is to get it, it's not the end of the world. The first time you get it, there's no chance of dying, but the second time there's more of a risk. That afternoon, a friend and I had lunch in one of the parks in Palermo.

Yesterday, I went to a soccer game. I was really excited to go to one, and the game did not disappoint. The weather was perfect as we watched Velez play Arsenal at the Velez Field. The crowd really got into the game and sang encouraging songs for ninety percent of the game. I tried to remember the words, but all that I could make out was Ganador, winner. Velez ended up winning 2-0, after ninety minutes of intense playing. Then last night, I headed home and studied some economic history of Argentina for my midterm this week. Hopefully it goes okay, but I gotta get back to studying now! Hope all is good with everyone!

The Puerto Madryn Trip

Hey All,

So, it's been a while since my last post! and i'm sorry, things have just been really busy here.

First, last Wednesday, I headed down to Patagonia! I went via bus, which meant the trip was incredibly long. But since I had a long weekend for Easter, I figured why not? After 23 hours on a bus to the city, I headed to the hostel, which was great. The next day, I headed around the Port, which was really interesting. There's a lot of history of the Welch influence in this area, which was shown in many of the statues around the city. One painting I thought was interesting was this one:

Which essentially means, A ship is safe in the harbor, but that's not why it was built. 

Puerto Madryn seemed to have a long history of naval ties in various wars within the Argentine path and I thought this was an interesting sentiment.

On this first day, I headed to the museum called the EcoCentro, which had tons of information on all the wildlife of the area, but I really wanted to do a tour of the Valdez Peninsula right to the north of Puerto Madryn, so I booked a tour for the next day.

After getting picked up from the hostel at 8, we drove to the peninsula. There was so many amazing sights in the Peninsula, which has been designated as a national park. We covered the whole peninsula, saw orcas, sea lions, sea elephants, more penguins, llamas, and tons of other wildlife. It was a long day, but it was definitely a really cool place to go to. It was probably my last trip to Patagonia and even though I'm sad that it was my last time there because it's such a beautiful place, I'm excited to have the opportunity to spend more time in Buenos Aires, the lake district of Argentina, and other areas in the north!

Classes are really picking up too! By this time next week, I will have finished two midterm exams, one in Listening and Conversation and one in the Economic Development of Argentina in the Context of Latin America. I'm not too worried about Listening and Conversation, but I still have a lot more to study for Econ, so I'll probably be spending a lot of time this weekend in the library, but it'll be good, and all my classes are just pass/fail, so I'm not too worried. 

I Left My Heart (and Cell Phone) in Mendoza

Hey everybody,

I can't believe that it's already April. This past weekend was amazing. I headed down to Mendoza, which is the wine country of Argentina. After my two classes on Wednesday, which felt really long, I went home and packed. I got to the bus station, where I realized that I had printed off my confirmation, but not my ticket! So I had to get my ticket printed at the station. However, I managed to get onto my bus with minutes to spare and settled in for a fourteen hour bus ride. The ride wasn't too bad. They served us food, which was a milanesa (breaded beef) and a (surprise!) ham and cheese sandwich. After midnight, I fell asleep and successfully stayed in that state till we arrived at 9 the next morning.

We checked into our hostel, and then planned to go paragliding. I had never paraglided before, but I thought that it would really be a cool experience. I'm also a bit afraid of heights, but figured I would be able to overcome it to see Mendoza from a different perspective. So, we headed up one of the mountains that overlooked the city. Then, we signed waivers (which got me a little nervous) and waited to head up to the highest point of the mountain to jump. When I got up there I was still pretty worried, but after I was harnessed in the backpack with the parachute and instructor behind me, I finally relaxed and was able to run off the cliff! The view was extraordinary and I was able to take some pictures from the air!

That night, we went out for dinner at a really cool restaurant. It was a holiday in Argentina on that day, and in the plazas, there were lots of people holding some sort of festival. It seemed like a really fun, end-of-summer fair where lots of people came to just relax and enjoy the awesome weather. 

The next morning, my friend and I decided to go on a guided hike up the mountains in the Andes. We took this van to a mountain about an hour and a half from our hotel. Twenty minutes after getting out of the van, I realized that my cell phone had slid out of my pocket when I was in the van and I had lost it. Bummer, but since there wasn't anything I could really do to get it back at that point, I decided to just enjoy the rest of the day. 

Then we got to the trail. Hiking was quite a physical task. The way up wasn't too difficult, and we stopped many times to refill our water bottles and catch our breath. But, the way down was quite treacherous at points. I slid many times and was definitely in danger of falling a few times. But we all reached the top and bottom of the mountain without any real problems.

 

Finally, on Saturday, our last day in Mendoza, we set out for the wineries, aka the bodegas. After a short bus ride to Maipu, we rented bikes from a place called Mr. Hugo's. Then we followed the map that Mr. Hugo gave us to the wineries. The first place we went, was actually an olive oil bodega. We went for a free tour and tasting. Though I'm not a huge olive oil aficionado, the olive oil did taste delicious and it was cool to get all the info on how it was made. 

Next, we headed off to a family-winery. The winery specialized, as did most of Mendoza, in making Malbec wine. For ten pesos, we attended a wine-tasting and tour. Though I have very little knowledge of wine, I could definitely tell which kinds I liked and which I wasn't a huge fan of. 

Finally, we stopped at the chocolate factory. There were countless different options of combinations of chocolate and liquor. For another ten pesos, we participated in a tour and tasting. I chose the "Chocolate" option, a little boring, but I definitely wanted to see what the original flavor was like. Although the chocolate part of the drink seemed tasty, the taste of the liquor in the drink really diminished my liking of the drink itself. The factory also gave us pieces of real chocolate to eat and it was quite delicious.

After a free glass of wine from Mr. Hugo when we returned the bikes, we headed back to the hostel, picked up our bags and were back at the bus station for our 8:30 back to Buenos Aires. The bus ride went by very quickly and when I got back to Buenos Aires, I realized that the weather seemed cooler than when we had left, and as sad as I am that the summer is winding down, I'm certainly welcoming this drop in humidity.