Week in Review

Amigos,

This past week has been really busy. On Wednesday, I headed down to the Immigration Office in order to get my Argentine visa. Right now, along with everyone else in the program, I'm on a 90-day tourist visa. But by the end of the process, which should conclude this week. I'll be considered an Argentine resident. We had to meet on Wednesday morning at 8, which was quite an early time to wake-up in the city. However, that afternoon I headed to the Plaza de Mayo, which is right in the middle of the city. Here is a picture of me and my friend Kelsey at the monument in the center:

On Thursday we gained access to the class schedules. There were so many classes to choose from, but I'm still narrowing down my list. Hopefully, I'll be able to finish two economics classes and a government class while abroad to lighten my loads for my majors during senior year. 

Friday we picked classes at UCA. I signed up for a few, and during the Drop period, I'll be able to drop any classes without any consequence. But the ones I signed up for looked really interesting so hopefully they'll be good. 

Today, I woke up pretty late and headed down to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes with friends from the program. I arrived a bit early so I walked around the surrounding neighborhood, which is Recoleta. Recoleta is a beautiful part of town with many parks and statues. 

 This museum had so many interesting and cool works of art. Unfortunately, there was no photography allowed in the museum. But here's a look at the outside of the building:

hope everythings going well back in the US. I'll post later - with more pictures too, my Internet's too slow to get more up!

Settling In

Hola todos!

So after my tour, I returned to my apartment by way of the Subte, which is the equivalent of the T in Boston, like the red line, or the Metro in Washington, DC. It´s very easy to use and I was able to figure out my way home very easily.
That night, I ate dinner, which is called ¨cena¨here, with my host family around nine/nine-thirty. The meal was delicious - steak with some form of potato bread that was really really good. During the dinner, we talked about the economic crisis in the United States. Sometimes, it was difficult to come up with the right words in espanol, but I was able to tell them about the perspectives of the Americans in general regarding the bailout and the stimulus package. After the dinner, we watched a movie together before heading to bed. It was a long day and I was pretty tired, but I´m going to have to adjust my sleeping patterns. Argentines usually stay up most of the night, till about 6 or 7, especially on the weekends.
On Sunday, we didnt have any official activities for my program, so I woke up pretty late, around noon, which was actually pretty early compared to the rest of my family here. Then in the afternoon, I took a walk to FLACSO which is the center of our program. It´s only about twenty minutes by walking from my apartment which is perfect for me to get there easily. I also had a slight scare with the bank and my atm card. Because the machine was functioning in espanol, I always hit the wrong button when it asked about my accounts and then would reject my card. I came close to panicking a bit, before I realized there was a way to change the language to English, which I did (even though I know it´s bad) and then finally was able to get my card to work---relief!
That night we had cena together which was a Columbian dish. My host madre is from Colombia. The meal was rice, potatoes, pork and black beans and it was delicious. That night I went to bed pretty early because I knew that we had a long day at FLACSO.
On Monday, I headed to FLACSO where we learned all about the classes and the way in which we register for them. In the afternoon, we had a written spanish exam to see how well we knew the language. Then, my friend realized that Georgetown was playing Louisville that night on ESPN, so a group of us Georgetown kids headed to the bar, El Alamo, in order to watch the game.
The game turned out to be a big disappointment unfortunately as Georgetown lost. The bar was pretty crowded, but it was still a great time and it was nice to be able to watch the Georgetown game with other students from Georgetown. Because the game ended at 12 o´clock our time in Buenos Aires, I taxied back to my apartment, which was very inexpensive, and went to bed.

Oh and I wanted to share a funny story about my time in Buenos Aires. I keep having a difficult time recognizing my apartment complex and twice I´ve tried to enter the wrong one, once I tried my key in the doorway of the wrong one, only to find out that it was the wrong one. Oops. The second time the door to an apartment complex was open so I just walked in, thinking it was mine before I realized that it was actually the one two doors down from mine. Oops again. I´ll learn soon though.

Today, we had an oral exam in Spanish which I think went pretty well. I think we get the results tomorrow or the next day so I should know where I stand when that happens for registering for my classes down here. I should be back to post again soon. Hope all is well! Nos vemos!

Argentine Living

On Wednesday afternoon, I left Logan Airport and after a brief layover in Dallas, I arrived in Buenos Aires at like 10 o'clock their time, which would have been 7 o'clock our time. The flight was really long, and I tried to sleep during the last leg of the trip, but unfortunately I was only able to be asleep for about 2 hours. 

After arriving at EZE, the Argentine Airport, I met up with a lot of the students participating in this CIEE program and we took a bus to Hotel Lyon, a hotel in the middle of Buenos Aires. Although it was very hot and muggy, I welcomed this change from bitter cold temperatures in Massachusetts. The hotel was great and I took a few pictures which I'll post. Speaking constantly in Spanish has turned into a challenge, but I'm taking it one day at a time. Hopefully, I'll be able to catch on quickly. The first night the whole group of us CIEE students went to eat at a restaurant together. The food was amazing and it was a great time. That night, I went to bed early, but it turned out to be difficult to sleep because of the hot weather. (There was an air conditioner in the room, but we couldnt figure out how to turn it on.)

The next day, we headed to FLACSO which is the center of the program. We learned about the plan for orientation and how housing and travel worked in the city.

That afternoon, I walked around the city with a couple of people from the program. We ended up seeing a lot of the city and the weather was turning cooler so it was nice to walk around. Once again, I ended up going to bed pretty early, but this time we figured out how to turn on the air conditioning so it was nice and cool.

This morning I met my host family! They are really nice and I'm really looking forward to spending this semester with them. They've been really helpful with speaking to me in Spanish and I'm really grateful. Today, we went on a tour of the the parts of Buenos Aires that have been influenced by the artists and sculptors of France, which have given Buenos Aires the title, "Paris of South America."

Hope everyone is doing good! Miss everybody! I should post again soon!

Here are my pics of the hotel. 

Outside:

Inside:

(above: reminded me of something my sister has in her room)

I'm Back!!!

Tonight is my last night in the U.S. before I head to Buenos Aires. I've just about finished packing, which was not as stressful as I had originally believed it would be. (I ended up making lists of what I needed and then organizing my two suitcases based on the lists.) I just hope I haven't forgotten anything. 

I'm looking forward to my time in Argentina, but I will be sad to leave my family and friends back home and at Georgetown. My flight leaves Boston tomorrow afternoon. I connect through Dallas tomorrow night and will arrive in Buenos Aires on Thursday morning, when I will meet up with everyone in my program. I'm really excited to finally arrive. It's weird to think that by the time I start classes, sometime early in March, students at Georgetown will already be having their spring break. In Argentina, semesters run from March to July and then July to December. 

Expect more posts soon, I should be updating again either later this week or sometime next week, depending on my Internet access.

Welcome and Inauguration 2009

Hey everybody and welcome to my blog! Over the next couple of months I should be updating this site with developments on my semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina. I also thought that since I have a few more weeks before I actually head to Buenos Aires, I would blog about this past weekend that I spent in Washington, DC.

I headed down on the Thursday before the Inauguration. After a twelve-hour bus ride through New York down to DC, I arrived back at the hilltop. It was great to see everybody back at G-town. On Sunday, I went down to the National Mall to see the Inaugural Concert with my roommates, Mike, Paul and Matt and a few other friends. The concert was a lot of fun; luckily, it wasn’t too cold. All the performances were riveting, but I have to say that my favorite part was listening to the then President-elect’s closing speech. The theme of this event – “ We are one” – was a fitting sentiment for this time of unity during the week of the Inauguration. Here’s a few of the pictures from the show:

On Tuesday at 4 AM, my roommates and I departed from Georgetown to watch the Inauguration on the National Mall. Though the weather was quite brisk, everyone who attended the event was excited to witness President Obama’s first moments as President. After both he and the new vice-president took their respective oaths, the President delivered an inspiring Inaugural Address. Although waiting in the frigid temperatures for eight hours was trying, this wait was certainly worth hearing these words live. I’m sure that I will remember this day for the rest of my life.

On Thursday, I headed back to Massachusetts. It was sad to leave Georgetown, but it was great to see everybody there one last time before heading off to Buenos Aires until July.

I should be back in a few weeks after I arrive in Argentina!