Puerto Madero

Puerto Madera used to be a large port. They don't use it like that anymore but it is very beautiful. One day about 2 weeks ago I went there and just spent an hour taking pictures. Amalia's University is there so I was waiting for her to get out of class. I ended up getting a mad sunburn.

There is a boat on the water that is used as a museum sort of thing. Then there is El Puente de la Mujer. It is a famous bridge designed by Calatrava, who had also designed alot in Spain, centuries ago. It was a good photo subject.











Argentines are very expressive when they are with their boyfriends or girlfriends. You always see them holding hands, making out, hugging, cuddling. It makes me sick. Haha.

One the way back Amalia told me which bus to get on to get home. But I missed the stop, and although I knew where I was and could've gotten off still just a little bit later but I thought it would just go in a loop in the city, and I'd just wait until the next time around. Um, actually the bus goes an hour and a half out of the city. So I had to wait till it unded it's route, and then had to get onto another one to go back home! It was great.

American Sentiment

So far, I have not noticed any bad feelings towards Americans. It seems like as an American, there is no mystery about me. No one asks me too many questions. Most people have studied english, and they watch our movies and tv shows and listen to American music. The only funny thing that has happened was when I was at the hostel one night sitting with the german people that I met. Some other girl had been rude to one of the guys, and they were talking about her, when another german girl, named Veera, who had been talking to that girl came to talk with us. So everyone was like, so you were talking with the enemy, huh? as a joke. and so it went on with that and then the Veera said something like, no i´m not against you, but i´m not against her either, and Sina responded "then your our enemy." and Veera goes "oh, so you´re like the Bush now, if your not for us your against us." hahaha, it was funny. and what made it funnier is that they remember that i was american and Veera said something about making enemies with me for saying that. anyways... good story i know. but, it makes me laugh thinking about it.

Alfajores

Alfajores are simply amazing! The things so far that I love best here are the desserts! I´m serious they are buenisimo! Alfajores are chocolate on the outside, then cookie, with dulce de leche in the middle. Dulce de leche is like carmalized milk, so it´s like carmel but alot creamier, and it is my most favorite taste in the world! Click the title to see a picture!

Campo contra Gobierno

So right now the country is protesting against the government about the taxes that the farmers have to pay. I don´t understand it all, but they have to pay 44% in taxes, perhaps in exports. Either that, or they have to pay 44% in taxes AND the government isn´t letting them export (they would make more money exporting their goods). Or maybe it´s, since now they are allowed to export and they make more money, the government raised the taxes from 20% to 44% on their exports. It´s something like that. So anyways, so the farmers (they are all outside the city, around the whole country) have blocked roads going out of buenos aires, and stopped selling meat and milk (omgah milllkkkkkk :( ) and now in the city people are supporting them by walking around the streets, and blocking streets so only like 1 car can pass at a time, clapping and hitting pots and pans. Two days ago, I was walking from class, and noticed people from their windows banging pans, and people clapping and honking in the streets and had no idea what was going on. And then alot of them go to plaza de mayo, where there is a huge monument, to protest. It´s all peaceful though and I love it. I think it´s wonderful that the entire country is coming together to protest when the government is taking advantage of it´s people. They are protesting about one specific cause too. I love the the people in the city, who are not part of the campo (the farmers) but are located where the government is are supporting them. It´s beautiful to me. My host mom, Marta, loves the protest. We watch the news everynight about it.

Iguazu Falls

Holy Week here is called Semana Santa, and it is a time when everyone vacations and travels. Last minute, I bought a package to go to Iguazu falls in Missiones, because I knew I wanted to go somewhere and it was the one of the only packages left. The bus left at 8pm the 19th, and we finally arrived at the hostel at 5pm the 20th. The hostel was really nice, and I was really surprised. I met some German girls the first night and hung out with them some.

On Friday, I couldn´t go to the Brazilian side of the falls because I didn´t have a visa, so I went on this horseback riding thing. Our guides were Guarani, the natives of the area. There is alot of history there about the spanish coming over and teaching them about christianity, and they established alot of churches and communities, but there was conflict with the portuguese at the time.

On Saturday, we went to the Argentine side of the falls and they were INCREDIBLE, BUENISIMO. The most impressive and amazing place I have ever seen. It was paradise.

And then on Sunday, we did this thing called Iguazu Extreme. We did a zipline and went on a boat on the Iguazu river. It was funny because all of these things that we did, I never had to sign a waiver form, we never had any kind of safety talks, we just went right ahead and did it. That was nice. We climbed up this wall to get to the zipline, and it was really annoying because the guy that was belaying, like if you paused even for a second, he just kept on pulling. It was like, you had to climb at his pace or he would just yank you up there. And I got so nervous getting on the zipline, but I just went ahead and did it and it was really fun.

The most amazing part of the trip though was when we went on the boat. They took us to a spot where we could get out and swim, and you know I was one of the few that did. The water was so clear, and the weather was so beautiful. The Iguazu river runs between Argentina and Brazil, and both sides were all nature and it was gorgeous. We swam just past the border marker within the river, so technically I´ve been in Brazil! And then we rode the boat to where the Iguazu River meets Paraná. The form a T and at the top is Paraguay, the left, Argentina, and the right Brazil, so I could see all three countries at once! I´m so glad that I went.

Overview

I have been in Buenos Aires for over a week now so I am going to include and e-mail that I sent to the Saia's to catch this thing up.

Well I wanted to send you guys a postcard, but I haven´t
been to alot of the
places that the post cards picture.  Today marks a week here.  
I thought that my spanish was better than it actually is.  
I have moved locations already, the first place that
I stayed at was not a host family situation,
it was a woman who was renting out all of
her rooms
and sleeping in the kitchen (2 american and 1
british boys are renting from here).
Slightly not what I expected, but I asked to be
moved that night and surprisingly
for Argentines, they gave swiftly me the i
nformations of another family who
I promptly met with and it was perfect.  
So I moved on my 3rd day.   
I live in the nicest ¨neighborhood" in
buenos aires
called Recoleta.
I am right next to the cemetary where Eva Peron is 
burried and the famous 
church of Pilar.  Today or tomorrow I am going to
go take pictures of it.  

My host mom´s name is Marta and my host sister is
Amalia, she is 24 years old
and is taking classes at a different university in buenos aires.  
there are a whole lot of them.  Seriously things here are
 not even close to being
as organized as at home.  Today I met with an advisor,
 and online some
courses still don´t have their schedules up. So I asked
 her, when are the
classes especially for international students going to
start, and she said ¨
we don´t know yet, it will be online when they do".  and
 classes in other parts
of the university already started this week!  My host family
 is very nice.  
My host mom has 5 kids,
Amalia is the youngest.  Her oldest son just got engaged
 so all
her children plus their spouses and Amalia´s boyfriend
came over
for dinner last night.  I couldn´t understand almost any
thing!  
The accent is very difficult to understand
and then its almost impossible to understand when there is
a group of people
talking to eachother all at once.  My friend Diana´s sister in
 law is from
Argentina and so before I left I met with her a couple of times,
and now that
I´m here she´s given me lots of contacts.  I already met a family
that she
knows on Sunday, and they were very nice and have an 18 year old
daughter who said that she will take me around and
hang out with me.  And tonight Amalia and her boyfriend and
then another of
Virginia´s friends are going out to eat with me.  
Buenos Aires is alot like New York City.  
Amalia and I went running yesterday, and I´m glad we did because she
showed me how right near where we live there are beautiful parks.
It was nice to see grass! I will be able to send pictures and keep in touch
better when my family gets the internet.  
for now i have to find time to go to an internet cafe, but they are
getting internet
by next week!  Hope all is well, I miss you guys and everything
else in North Carolina!