setting: Ronald is singing show tunes while nina, emma, him, and I congregate in the hotel lobby (slash dining room table?) attempting to use wireless. i heart hotel reina.
I have failed at my blog. I am too lazy to type a narrative of everything that has happened since my homestay so instead i will make a list, as suggested by the title of this post
1. Arrived at hotel reina, our home while in buenos aires. Nina Emma Tess and I are sharing a room and Kenny and Ronald are next door.
2. Went to China town/ took a picture with a rice hat/ found wanton soup
3. took a picture making awkward turtles under a sign for calle 11 de septiembre
4. turned 20
5. started volunteering at Pupi-- a foundation started by a famous futbol player here that works with children living in poverty in a few parts of buenos aires
6. had a tango lesson
7. started spanish classes
8. had a tango lesson while taking spanish classes
9. got stuck on a subway... twice.
10. experienced the bicentennial celebration
11. got stuck in a real live mob because of the bicentennial celebration
12. wanted the bicentennial celebration to end
13. found the remote for the "non existent air conditioner" in our room-- good thing we have been living with the heat on instead
14. avoided all social networks/ contact until the series finale of lost downloads
15. saw the ghost writer
16. got sold out of robin hood
17. went to an art museum
18. spent over half of my time at the art museum making sense of two abstract paintings, apparently i am a larger fan of modern art than traditional
19. took the subte to the santelmo market/ sat in a cafe while we waited for the rain to pass before turning around and not ever visiting the santelmo market
20. ran across 9 de julio in one light (16 lanes= huge deal, I promise)
21. met wanda
22. ate SUUUUUUUUSHI
23. danced to hotel room service and what a feeling in one night at a club
24. ate empenadas
25. got cat called with emma by a group of police officers
26. found out that McDonalds has a wonderful way of lifting our spirits, especially when we bring food from California Burrito Company
27. skyped with sarah tippy, emi, and other less exciting people
28. put off doing laundry
29. ran out of argentine cell phone credits
30. made a list
So, that is your catch up aka my life. When you speak to me I highly encourage you to ask for details specifically on numbers 5, 8, 21, and the bathroom at my homestay
"YO VEO."
Monday, May 24, 2010
Saturday, May 15, 2010
theme of the day: no comprendo.
So yesterday Tess and I woke up to a note from our madre that said she went to the store and would be back in a little. she left us her phone number and said to call if we needed anything. With no phones and no key, Tess and I waited a little for her to return. After about 2.5 hours we told her daughter we were going to go out and get lunch (in such need of a salad, or just something other than pizza) and try to buy cell phones. She called her mom and threw around some words consisting of "mom, I CAN NOT understand them!" and then walked with us to try to find phones. FAIL. we didn't realize how much they would be and didn't have our ids with us which apparently you need. So we went for lunch and she told us to just come back to the house when we were done and her mother would take us to get phones.
We went for lunch, drank some vino, bought flowers for the daughter to apologize for our inability to communicate and walked back to the house. while it may have been a bit over the top to buy flowers, good thing we did-- when we got back the gate in front of the door was shut and the only way to ring the doorbell was to stick the stem of the flowers through the gate. SUCCESS.
The mom took us for phones which seemed to go very smoothly until we realized that neither of us could make calls. apparently we need to go buy cards to add minutes which we thought we paid for and were receiving. whooo knows. Unfortunately, Emma was in the same situation as us so basically Nina played middle man and tried to communicate for all four of us all night, which as you may guess, got sort of complicated.... oh, and then my phone died when we were in separate cars. FAIL
So at this point Tess and I were out with the daughter at a pool and bar trying to meet up with the rest of our group (which did finally work until the phones died). We felt sooo bad because we were having fun but again, with the language barrier, the daughter could not understand us at all (actually could not understand me at all, Tess is much better) and we heard her telling her mom we were like tourists, which we are. So the daughter and her friend called another one of their friends who showed up and SPOKE ENGLISH! so basically he played translator for the entire night. we ended up at what seemed to be a very trendy club. Apparently it cost 50 pesos to get in and another 200 for the VIP section we were in (around 70 dollars) but I guess her and her friends are very cool because she just gave the bouncer a kiss hello and we walked in without paying or waiting. SWEET.
It was a really fun night and the daughter is soo soo sweet and cool, we could just tell that she was under strict orders to stay with us, not give us our own key, and make sure we were okay. we tried to tell her that it was okay and we were having fun and go out all the time at home, but I don't think we communicated that very successfully.
Today's goals:
1. find the ability to make outgoing calls
2. make a successful plan to meet up with the rest of the group
3. convince the mother and daughter I am not totally lame and incompetent.
...wish me luck.
We went for lunch, drank some vino, bought flowers for the daughter to apologize for our inability to communicate and walked back to the house. while it may have been a bit over the top to buy flowers, good thing we did-- when we got back the gate in front of the door was shut and the only way to ring the doorbell was to stick the stem of the flowers through the gate. SUCCESS.
The mom took us for phones which seemed to go very smoothly until we realized that neither of us could make calls. apparently we need to go buy cards to add minutes which we thought we paid for and were receiving. whooo knows. Unfortunately, Emma was in the same situation as us so basically Nina played middle man and tried to communicate for all four of us all night, which as you may guess, got sort of complicated.... oh, and then my phone died when we were in separate cars. FAIL
So at this point Tess and I were out with the daughter at a pool and bar trying to meet up with the rest of our group (which did finally work until the phones died). We felt sooo bad because we were having fun but again, with the language barrier, the daughter could not understand us at all (actually could not understand me at all, Tess is much better) and we heard her telling her mom we were like tourists, which we are. So the daughter and her friend called another one of their friends who showed up and SPOKE ENGLISH! so basically he played translator for the entire night. we ended up at what seemed to be a very trendy club. Apparently it cost 50 pesos to get in and another 200 for the VIP section we were in (around 70 dollars) but I guess her and her friends are very cool because she just gave the bouncer a kiss hello and we walked in without paying or waiting. SWEET.
It was a really fun night and the daughter is soo soo sweet and cool, we could just tell that she was under strict orders to stay with us, not give us our own key, and make sure we were okay. we tried to tell her that it was okay and we were having fun and go out all the time at home, but I don't think we communicated that very successfully.
Today's goals:
1. find the ability to make outgoing calls
2. make a successful plan to meet up with the rest of the group
3. convince the mother and daughter I am not totally lame and incompetent.
...wish me luck.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Estoy en un barco
Buenos Dias!
Woke up a little while ago. The house is beautiful and I slept great except for the fact that I think they make walls here about a centimeter thick. Every time a car goes past it actually sounds as if it is coming straight for us.
So yesterday we spent mots of the day in Tigre before we left for our home stays in Buenos Aires. We went to a puerto de fruta, or fruit market, in the morning and then took a boat down the delta to another island for lunch. After some mate, we left Tigre and drove to our home stays. Tess and I are together in Polerma (??) (a neighborhood in the north of the capitol city). Our madre has three children, two of whom we have met.
We ate dinner with our madre and her younger daughter who is a little older than us and then went to a tango club. The tango was really cool to watch. Apparently last night was a more "serious" night than they like so neither of them danced but Tess and I did both danced with an 80 yr old man. COOL.
All day yesterday we tried to only speak in Spanish, or at least mostly speak in Spanish. Clearly, not easy for me, but as ridiculous as this sounds, I think I got a little better even in just one day. By the time I was going to sleep I felt as if it was easier to try and think in Spanish than English because my brain was automatically trying to translate things even though I didn't need to. Hopefully my brain will hurt a little less and less each day.
Our host family speaks approx. ZERO english. thank goooodness Tess is here with me or I would probably spend three days nodding my head and saying "esat bien, si, perfecto." Either way, our host mother said something to us possibly including "no no sleep more I am going shopping my daughter is upstairs" but then again, who knows. Today should be rather adventurous...
Woke up a little while ago. The house is beautiful and I slept great except for the fact that I think they make walls here about a centimeter thick. Every time a car goes past it actually sounds as if it is coming straight for us.
So yesterday we spent mots of the day in Tigre before we left for our home stays in Buenos Aires. We went to a puerto de fruta, or fruit market, in the morning and then took a boat down the delta to another island for lunch. After some mate, we left Tigre and drove to our home stays. Tess and I are together in Polerma (??) (a neighborhood in the north of the capitol city). Our madre has three children, two of whom we have met.
We ate dinner with our madre and her younger daughter who is a little older than us and then went to a tango club. The tango was really cool to watch. Apparently last night was a more "serious" night than they like so neither of them danced but Tess and I did both danced with an 80 yr old man. COOL.
All day yesterday we tried to only speak in Spanish, or at least mostly speak in Spanish. Clearly, not easy for me, but as ridiculous as this sounds, I think I got a little better even in just one day. By the time I was going to sleep I felt as if it was easier to try and think in Spanish than English because my brain was automatically trying to translate things even though I didn't need to. Hopefully my brain will hurt a little less and less each day.
Our host family speaks approx. ZERO english. thank goooodness Tess is here with me or I would probably spend three days nodding my head and saying "esat bien, si, perfecto." Either way, our host mother said something to us possibly including "no no sleep more I am going shopping my daughter is upstairs" but then again, who knows. Today should be rather adventurous...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
no funcionado?
just typed a long post. realized i typed it in a comment box. tried to copy but now wont let me paste. phone is not working . Technology= FAIL.
brain hurts from trying to speak spanish all day. will post later but had a great day, now at a homestay with Tess and going to go out and tango with the family!
adioooooos
brain hurts from trying to speak spanish all day. will post later but had a great day, now at a homestay with Tess and going to go out and tango with the family!
adioooooos
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
La Primera Dia
I keep having to remind myself I am in South America.
After a 45 minute delay (which compared to the typical RDU-LGA flight is relatively on time) and a 10 hour flight I arrived in Argentina. The rest of the Robertsons and Martin, our go to guy while here, had already arrived and were waiting for Ronald and I at the airport. I got my baggage/ Ronald got my baggage because it weighs five billion pounds and he is nice, exchanged some money-- love the exchange rate, feeling muy rico, and we drove to Tigre where we are now spending the night
Tigre is located a little north of Buenos Aires. From what I have gathered it is kind of like Long Island in terms of the distance to the city and the way locals describe it. We are staying at a BEAUTIFUL bed and breakfast for the night. The woman who lives here, Alejandra, makes all of her own artwork and it is actually amazing! It was the first B&B in the country and apparently started the trend within Argentina. We ordered in some pizza for lunch, decided t0 take short naps and set an alarm to go exploring before our orientation with Martin and Jean. We all slept through our alarms and woke up 3 hrs later. whooops.
Orientation was pretty standard and then we went for dinner with Martin, his girlfriend, and Jean. In typical Argetinan fashion we had steak for dinner and it was soooo good! After almost a whole 24 hours I got my first diet coke, or should i say pepsi lite, so I was more than satisfied.
Tomorrow morning we are waking up early to go to a fruit market here in tigre and then taking a boat down the river to a nearby island for lunch. Tigre is made up of a bunch of islands which all lie along a delta. After lunch we are going to our "mini home stays" until the 16th aka for the remainder of my teenaghood. strange.
anyway, mom, hope you are happy I made this blog. I make no promises as to daily updates, but figure making it is the first step!
miss everyone a lot but am so, so excited to be here! Apparently starting tomorrow we are only speaking in spanish so not exactly sure how that is going to gooo.... ay de mi?
hopefully I will be able to skype from my home stay but either way, email and bbms are working perfectly!!
buenos noches!
After a 45 minute delay (which compared to the typical RDU-LGA flight is relatively on time) and a 10 hour flight I arrived in Argentina. The rest of the Robertsons and Martin, our go to guy while here, had already arrived and were waiting for Ronald and I at the airport. I got my baggage/ Ronald got my baggage because it weighs five billion pounds and he is nice, exchanged some money-- love the exchange rate, feeling muy rico, and we drove to Tigre where we are now spending the night
Tigre is located a little north of Buenos Aires. From what I have gathered it is kind of like Long Island in terms of the distance to the city and the way locals describe it. We are staying at a BEAUTIFUL bed and breakfast for the night. The woman who lives here, Alejandra, makes all of her own artwork and it is actually amazing! It was the first B&B in the country and apparently started the trend within Argentina. We ordered in some pizza for lunch, decided t0 take short naps and set an alarm to go exploring before our orientation with Martin and Jean. We all slept through our alarms and woke up 3 hrs later. whooops.
Orientation was pretty standard and then we went for dinner with Martin, his girlfriend, and Jean. In typical Argetinan fashion we had steak for dinner and it was soooo good! After almost a whole 24 hours I got my first diet coke, or should i say pepsi lite, so I was more than satisfied.
Tomorrow morning we are waking up early to go to a fruit market here in tigre and then taking a boat down the river to a nearby island for lunch. Tigre is made up of a bunch of islands which all lie along a delta. After lunch we are going to our "mini home stays" until the 16th aka for the remainder of my teenaghood. strange.
anyway, mom, hope you are happy I made this blog. I make no promises as to daily updates, but figure making it is the first step!
miss everyone a lot but am so, so excited to be here! Apparently starting tomorrow we are only speaking in spanish so not exactly sure how that is going to gooo.... ay de mi?
hopefully I will be able to skype from my home stay but either way, email and bbms are working perfectly!!
buenos noches!
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