Week 2- Orientation

This week was busy, busy, busy. I pretty much dropped off the face of the earth in terms of communication with people outside Colombia because I had little internet access, my days began at 7 am, and they ended at the earliest at 11 pm.

The rest of the Fulbright ETAs to Colombia arrived in Bogota Sunday, July 24^th. It was SUCH a great feeling to have everyone all together again! Even though we’ve only technically known each other for a month and were only in the same place in the U.S. for a total of 4 days (teaching orientation in D.C.), the reunion was definitely a joyous affair....so joyous the hotel staff had to ask us to be quiet, oops! It really feels like I’ve known them much longer….

My typical orientation day consisted of breakfast, heading out as a group at 8 am by bus to the building where we had our orientation sessions, orientation until 6:30 pm, dinner, and then an evening activity (aka exploring the nightlife). It wasn’t a super strenuous schedule--we just got a lot of information and were kept busy. Orientation consisted of logistical and administrative tasks, as well as cultural education. On the logistical side, we opened up Colombian bank accounts, sorted out visas, discussed the aspects of our contracts, had a security briefing by a security officer from the US Embassy in Colombia, and were introduced to the Fulbright community in Colombia and key people we need to know. For the cultural education side, we had classes on the following:

• Colombian political history (REALLY interesting!)
  
• U.S.-Colombia Relations
• Colombian Music, Culture, and Diversity class
• Colombian Dance: a dance group came and performed for us and then taught us cumbia and Afro-Colombian dance moves (no surprise, my favorite class from the week)
  
• Civil Society in Colombia and the Roles of NGO’s (I got some great ideas about what types of orgs I want to get involved with)
  
• Culture Shock and Adjusting to Life in Colombia
• The National Bilingual Program and the Higher Education System

So basically, LOTS of information processing!! Our second to last day of orientation we had a 6-hour city tour in the afternoon and evening which was really cool. We went to the barrio La Candelaria, which is the historic center of Bogota. The city began in this neighborhood, which features cobblestone roads and many museums and tourist sites. In Candelaria, we visited el Museo de Oro, el Museo Botero, and La Casa de Moneda. My favorite part of the city tour, though, was when we went to Monserrate, a mountain that dominates the city center of Bogotá. We rode in a téléferico to the top (!!), which granted us the most amazing and beautiful views of Bogota! All of downtown Bogotá, south Bogotá and some sections of the north are visible facing west…if only we could have stayed for sunset.

All in all, a VERY successful week! Now off to my final destination: Cali.

Colombian Foods

From top to bottom:
1) Pollo- flavored chips. They actually taste just like chicken. Dislike.
2) Tamales Tolimenses
3) Fancy chicken in a sauce with rice.
4) The fruit lulo
5) The ingredients used to make the dessert oblea.
6) An oblea. #noms
7) Tilapia Frita.
8) My new favorite ice cream! It is homemade, the different flavors are different fruits, and it comes on a stick. I got maracuyá, Molly--the other Fulbright ETA in Cali-- got maní (peanut), Angie--my new Colombian friend-- got piña (pineapple), and David (an American teaching English at La Santiago for a month) got coco (coconut).
9) Champús: a very popular drink in Cali made from lulo, maize, and pineapple. It is sweetened with panela (unrefined whole cane sugar) and seasoned with cinnamon, cloves, and orange tree leaves.
10) The fruit granadilla/maracuya/passion fruit.
11) Papas Rellenas.
12) The inside of passion fruit.
13) Colombian empanadas.

Mini Attempt At A Food Blog

While Colombia isn’t particularly known for its food, I have found new foods I really like and I LOVE the fruit selection! Food varies based on what region you’re in, but no matter where you are the abundance of fresh fruit (most of which I’ve never heard of before) is overwhelming, in a good way. As I mentioned in my list of “Things I Now Know,” there are 150 types of fruits in Colombia. Literally everyday I am discovering a new fruit I didn’t know existed.

Lunch is the big meal of the deal here. It consists of a soup as the appetizer and then a meat option, rice, beans/French fries, and salad as the main dish. Best part: the entire meal (called Almuerzo Corrientes or Almuerzo Ejecutivo) is a set price of 5,000 pesos, which is $2.50 USD. Although dessert isn’t included, I’m usually too stuffed to want one anyway….that of course doesn’t stop me from finding a sweet snack later on in the day. The average temperature in Cali is 75˚ F, so ice cream and cholados (the Colombian version of a snow cone) are VERY popular. Why restrain myself when ice cream costs the equivalent of 50 cents....

Some of the typical foods:

-->Granadilla: also known as maracuyá or passion fruit

-->Papas rellenas: a ball of rice, potatoes, and ground beef that is then fried

-->Tamales: cooked corn dough filled with meat, chicken and vegetable wrapped in banana leaves; the one pictured above is Tolimenses: filled with chicken, pork, rice, potatoes, carrots, peas and spices

-->Empanadas: a savory stuffed pastry that is fried in Colombia instead of baked like the ones in Argentina; the Colombian empanadas are filled with beef or chicken, rice or potatoes, and/or cheese, and coriander.

-->Arepas: the basic side to any Colombian meal; it is a bread made from cornmeal and looks like a thick pancake....hit or miss in my book. Eaten plain, it is wayyy too starchy and bland for my liking. Definitely tastes better when served with additional ingredients like corn and cheese or mushrooms and cheese.

-->Obleas: a dessert that is two round wafers with arequipe (same as dulce de leche or caramel), cheese, condensed milk, and blackberry sauce in between. I know it sounds weird, but it’s surprisingly good.

WEEK 1

The adventure has begun. I’ve now been here a week and have already had the funniest and most random experiences. My Top 2:

1) Colombian Independence Day: Meg and I spent the day with Brian (her Colombian friend) and his friend Simon doing as the Colombians do. There were fireworks and a military parade in the morning downtown and Alimentarte (a food fair) all afternoon in a park uptown. Alimentarte was like a “Taste of [fill in U.S. city].” Great restaurants of all types had tents with food from their menu and you could find traditional Colombian food, Argentinean food, Peruvian food, Spanish food, etc. I felt like I had traveled around the world via delicious cuisine. I was flooded with nostalgia and memories of all the great places I’ve been the past 4 years and the foods I’ve eaten…I must say, though, I’ve found nothing that beats an empanada as best all-around snack. In addition to food, the fair featured steel drum bands, dancers, singers, street performers, and the Colombian U-20 national soccer team doing tricks with soccer balls.

In true Latin American form, the big event of the evening was the Copa América 2011 soccer match being played that night between Venezuela and Paraguay. Allegiance to celebrating their nation took a major backseat to Colombian’s allegiance to soccer. Personally, I didn’t care which team won, but I still really enjoyed watching the game and re-immersing myself in a soccer culture. I’m still amazed by the power of soccer to unify a people and completely stop all other activity in a nation. I love it. The FIFA U-20 World Cup is being held in Colombia and begins July 29^th. I cannot even begin to express how pumped I am. My current goal is to find a ticket to one of the games. Although the final rounds are being played in Bogota, there will be games in Cali leading up to it. The amount of publicity and excitement for this tournament is incredible! You wouldn’t even guess it was the Under-20 World Cup—Colombians are exhibiting just as much passion and pride as if this were the normal World Cup (memo: need to align my life plans with being in Brazil in 2014).

2) Night Out at Andrés D.C. (BEST club in Bogota): Continuing our decision to “do as the Colombians do,” Meg and I took her Colombian’s friend advice and went out Thursday night to a restaurant-club named Andrés D.C. It’s a restaurant that turns into a club around 11 pm. It has 5 floors, 3 of which feature different types of Latin music and are named heaven, hell, and purgatory; it was QUITE the fun experience (no worries, it’s in a safe, ritzy neighborhood). Meg and I had a delicious dinner around 10 pm, during which we were singled out by the restaurant’s traveling band (4 guys who travel between the floors performing and dancing) and forced to stand up and dance salsa with the lead guy in front of everyone. They put Colombian-colored sashes on us and crowned us, so I guess I’ve finally earned my princess title :P

Post-dinner, we went upstairs to Purgatory and fully immersed ourselves in Colombian culture. We ordered the local drinks and then spent the next 4 hours gaining first-hand experience with Colombian hospitality. We friended Colombians, Mexicans, and Brazilians and I, of course, spent the last 2 hours in bliss on the dance floor. I’m falling in love all over again with Hispanic culture: the people’s joy for life, their love of dancing (actual dance moves), and the omnipresence of salsa music….

Welcome to Colombia.

10 Things I Now Know About Colombia

1) You can buy pollo-flavored Margarita chips. Amazingly (and terrifyingly), they taste like chicken.

2) They sell Smirnoff Ice in a can for $1.40…I explained ice-ing to a Colombian and he thought it was hilarious and great

3) Jaywalking is a way of life…the existence of crosswalks is doubtful most times

4) The real reason behind always wearing boots or close-toed shoes in Bogota: walking on the “sidewalks” is like all-terrain hiking (#UNCpreparedmewell)

5) Colombians find it completely acceptable to stare. Even if you catch them at it and look at them, they won’t look away

6) Age is nothing but a number

7) The extent of Colombian hospitality, kindness, and generosity is endless. Upon meeting you, people will give you their phone number, address, email, and offer you a place to stay

8) Tell any Colombian male that you’re here for a year and they will most definitely inform you that you need to find a Colombian lover....and then not-so-subtly hint that they should be your lover

9) Caleños (people from Cali) love 2 things: enjoying life and salsa dancing

10) Colombia has 150 types of fruits and all the fruits come in different types…I will probably end up drinking more juice than water. My two new favorites: lulo and guanábana

ARRIVAL

My Fulbright orientation in Colombia officially began July 24th, but I arrived the night of July 19^th with my friend, Meg Frost, a fellow Fulbright ETA (English Teaching Assistant). We decided to come early in order to celebrate Colombian Independence Day, which was July 20^th.

In typical Emma style, Meg and I were late to board the plane in Miami—we were the last ones to get on and even had our names called on the loud speakers (we prioritized phone calls, what can we say). Shortly after I found my seat on the plane, a flight attendant came up and asked if I was Emma Din. I thought I was in trouble, but it turns out I was being given a free pass to anything on the plane :) Meg’s Colombian friend (Brian) had told his mom (who works for American Airlines) our flight information, and she had asked her friend on our flight to “take care of us.” What did this translate into: extra snacks, free white wine (put me to sleep every time), hilarious conversation, and consistent check-ups to make sure I was perfectly happy.

Second best part of the flight: Wonderfully Ridiculous Plane Friends. I sat next to Tony, a 52-year-old military contractor from the U.S. who had traveled all around the world through his job. Hearing about his experiences in Afghanistan, Iraq, Europe, and Colombia were phenomenal. Talk about being engaged in conversation. Next to Meg was Alfredo, a 50-year-old Venezuelan petrol man. His favorite topic: politics. He gave his opinion on all the recent U.S. presidents, Colombian presidents, and Venezuelan presidents. He is conservative and owns 2 homes in Venezuela and 2 in Colombia…needless to say, he wasn’t a big fan of Chavez. Thanks to Alfredo, Meg and I landed an invitation to a polo match, an invitation to Uribe’s finca (country house-type farm) outside Medellin, and an invitation to utilize his personal driver.

Best Flight Ever.

On the road again

Tuesday the 16th, Tom and I hit the road again. Before getting on the bus to Mar del Plata, we went to La Boca because I refused to leave Buenos Aires without seeing it. La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of Buenos Aires, with a "strong European flavor" since many of its early settlers were from the Italian city of Genoa. La Boca is known throughout the sporting world as the home of Boca Juniors, one of the world's top soccer clubs. The stadium looks crazy! It's a gigantic stadium that's yellow and blue and a ver different architectural style than any stadium I've seen. I really wanted to see the colorful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tangoa artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. It was the perfect last thing to do in B.A.

At 2:30 pm, we boarded the bus and headed on our 4.5 hour journey to Mar del Plata, on the Atlantic Coast of Argentina. Stop #2 here we come. Bye, bye, Buenos Aires!

Whirlwind of Fun, part 3

Sunday was the perfect end to this FABULOUS weekend! We didn't get up till one pm and then we met up with Chris and Cassandra and headed to the San Telmo market. This market is one of those must-do things in B.A. It goes on and on for blocks and is just a huge open-air market. You can find just about anything and all your senses are accosted. I LOVED it! I'm a sucker for jewelry, and I found so much for sooooo cheap! It was great! I got 3 pairs of homemade earrings for 22 pesos ($6) total. Such a deal! haha and I also got a caricature done of me. It's really funny! Of course my cheeks are GIGANTIC!! I expected that one. The artist totally channeled me though and made me a tango dancer on stage :D It's convenient that Jocelyn is flying back to the States cause I can give her the stuff I bought that I don't want to lug around S. America with me.

After the market and a great lunch, that evening we went to a salsa club in Belgrano...died and went to heaven :D I've decided that when I get back to Chapel Hill in the Fall I really want to find a cool salsa place. Tango can't even touch how much fun salsa is. We danced for 2 hours. The first hour and a half was lessons, and the instructor was great. She was so energetic and full of life and excitement, it just rubbed off on you. Tomtom made me smile and laugh so much. It's amusing (in a good way) to watch him salsa :D He's got all the steps down, but he just looks so robotic. I'm trying to get him to flow. Trying to get him to feel the salsa style, but we both just end up laughing cause he doesn't seem to believe he has hips to use. I have faith in Tomtom though. According to Jocelyn, it's super comedic to watch us as I try and teach him to "flow"- I don't doubt her.

Whirlwind of Fun, part 2

When we got back from Colonia, we showered and got dressed and then headed out to La Faina, which is supposedly one of the nicest hotels in all of South America- definitely the nicest one in Argentina. Tom's uncle is friends with the owner, so we got VIP access and treatment at the hotel. The owner was out of town, so we were shown around and set up by the right-hand-man, Juan. The best way to describe Juan is that he was the equivalent of a George Clooney in Buenos Aires. Juan allowed us to pick which of the really nice hotel restaurants we wanted, so we picked the lounge-bar/restaurant that had a younger crowd and a live band setting up. I've never felt so VIP before! Juan made an older wealthy couple move from their table (the best in the place), so that we could sit there. We got a REALLY nice bottle of champagne given to us compliments of the owner. When our waiter took some time to take our dinner order (not that it'd really been that long) Juan reprimanded the waiter and instructed him to wait on us at the ready. While our food was being cooked, Juan gave us a tour of the hotel and showed us the THREE-STORY apartments the SUPER wealthy people who live in the hotel stay in. I can't even conceive having the amount of money that would require. To stay in the cheapest room for one night is $700 and there were $2000 bottles of wine on the menu. REALLY!!

Dinner was AMAZING, to say the least, and the band was unbelievable. Literally. The lead singer of the band was a girl with an Amy Winehouse-esque voice in a bandeau top, short black skirt, beehive-style red turban, and yellow sunglasses. As she sang, she jumped on the couches and tables and danced everywhere. It was definitely an engaging performance. She got everyone up and dancing. The whole evening, I felt like I was living a Gossip Girls episode. It was very clear that everyone in the room was the uppercrust of B.A.- the socialites- and that everything the other women in the room were wearing were designer and bought from an expensive boutique. Can we say I felt underdressed?! It was a blast though cause everyone knew we were catered by Juan, so they thought we MUST be important people, and the place was just hands-down fun. Going back in after the hotel tour, Juan ushered us through the line of people waiting to get in. We just cut through and had the red velvet rope lifted up for us :D Can I also mention that there was a 500 peso cover (= $150) to get it. Yeah, we didn't pay anything. Surreal night! Guess I know now more what it's like to live the life of the rich and famous.

Little did we know, Juan is super legit. The next day, Maggie informed us that Juan is the big man of B.A. Everyone knows him and he runs the nightlife; kind of like a Paris Hilton, but without all the negatives. A mix of Paris and George Clooney. He comes from old money and is in his 30's and attractive, so he's always being photographed by the tabloids. She said she wouldn't have been surprised if there had been a picture of Juan and us on the cover of some magazine that day. haha now THAT would have been funny!

Colonia

Here's a video of the motorcade campaigning. Blast to the Past!

Whirlwind of Fun, part 1

This has probably been one of the BEST weekends (Fri-Sun) of my life!

Having a native Argentinean friend really has made A LOT of difference in how we've experienced BA...especially since our friend (MAggie) is super eager to show us everything the city has to offer both on the tourist track and on the native-track. Maggie's family consists of a ton of super artistically talented siblings, so Friday night (the 12th), she took us to her sister's Improv Tap show, in which another sister was singing and one of her brothers was the technical director. Her tapping sister is in a professional troupe and they were INCREDIBLE! I'd never seen an improv tap show before and it blew me away. SO much talent involved and SUCH a full body workout. I don't know how they were able to keep tapping so quickly and so emphatically for so long! The tap club had a very bohemian feel and it was very intimate but fun. One of those places that's really cool to go but you only know about if you're in the know. Everyone there was Argentinean and it was a cool atmosphere and way to spend our Friday night. Then after the show they played salsa music, so people randomly got up and danced. Of course I was on cloud 9 :D

Saturday, Tom, Jocelyn, and I took a day trip to Colonia, Uruguay, the oldest city in Uruguay and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. How baller is it that I can say I took a day trip to Uruguay! It's SO random! We took a fast ferry at 10 am, so we arrived an hour later. The historic quarter of Colonia is such a quaint, cute town- I really felt like I'd stepped back into time. Municipal elections are happening soon, so there were motorcades going up and down the main street of the town honking horns and waving signs to convince people to vote for their candidate. Cars, wagons, buses, you name it, drove by covered in signs or ads. Everything about it and where we were really made me feel like I was in some tiny American town in the 1950s. It was gorgeous and warm outside in Uruguay, so the three of us absolutely loved the day. It was so nice that we opted not to go into any of the museums, which everyone told us were really cool and different, and instead just wandered around outside all day. And I don't regret our decision. I wish I could describe in words how lovely Colonia was....anyway, great town + fun people + another passport stamp = MAJOR success.

Tango Fusion style

The professional tango show we saw at the tango club was Tango Fusion. Here's a clip from the performance:....prepare to tilt your head, though, I shot the clip vertically.

FABULOUS cultural night on the town

Last night, Tom, Jocelyn, and I along with 5 other people (a combination of Jocelyn’s Argentinean friends and my UNC friends here for other reasons) went to see The Phantom of the Opera at the Teatro Opera. It was INCREDIBLE!! Unbelievable! I was amazed and impressed by everything from the singing to the stage backdrops and pieces to the special effects. The Phantom of the Opera is one of my favorite pieces and I know all the music, so it was such an amazing experience. It was also really cool to hear it all performed in Spanish. I’m so impressed by the person who translated it to Spanish and still managed to get all the words to fit the rhythm of the music. Uhh, such an unbelievable experience! Soooo worth it! And it only cost the equivalent of $12. This is the life!

After the show, we went to a tango club, where we watched people tango, attempted to tango, and then watched a professional tango performance. Couldn’t have asked for a better end to the evening :D Tango is sooooo much harder than it looks. I am doubly impressed now by anyone who can tango well. It was an interesting experience to be doing a dance that didn’t automatically come naturally and easily to me. My partner literally taught me the same steps over and over again, and it was fun and I’ve got the steps down now, but I was SUCH a hot mess on the tango floor. And it REALLY doesn’t help that there are a bunch of other couples dancing on the same floor super close to you and everyone dances around in a circle, making bumping inevitable unless you’re good (which I’m not). Considering it was my first time tangoing in 4 years, I wasn’t bad. But considering I was expecting to just pick it up and be great, it came as a shock. I definitely would love to take actual lessons in the future. Currently, I prefer salsa to tango…yes, probably because it comes so much easier.

Argentinean Hospitality

I just find it all FASCINATING! I could go on and on. I met with Marina Lembo, who is an autonomous midwife and the country contact for the International Alliance of Midwives. I talked to her for 3 hours! She was the person I was looking forward to meeting the most this whole summer and she was so kind and helpful. She just got back from presenting at a conference in South Africa about midwifery and she was kind enough to give me a copy of her presentation. She’s put me in contact with past patients and other midwifes who work in the public and private sector, so she’s been an invaluable resource.

Another research contact here in B.A. named Hernan Chavez has also been so helpful and kind. He’s a medical student and his uncle is good friends with a Morehead alum, which is how we got his information. He talked to Tom and I about the healthcare system, gave us a tour of the University of Buenos Aires School of Medicine (he is in the Anatomy department, so our tour included seeing cadavers on the dissecting table), and set us up with a School of Medicine lecture we could attend the next day. Argentinean hospitality is incredible! After talking to us about stuff related to our research, he asked if we wanted to get lunch and then took us touring some around the city. And then at the end of that, he invited us biking with him Sunday afternoon because he had 3 bikes. SOOOO NICE!! So Sunday afternoon, Tom and I did a bike tour of the whole city. 4 hours of biking = sore legs the next day, but it was a blast!

Research Update

Regarding my research, it’s going well so far. I’m absolute positive that whatever I do in life I want it to involve maternity. There is no doubt about that. I’ve discovered some really interesting things about midwifery in Argentina and the healthcare system (at least I find them interesting :D if you don’t, feel free to skip this part):

For starters, the public healthcare system is free for both Argentineans and foreigners. You don’t have to be a citizen to get free treatment in a public hospital. WHOA! Crazy, right! There are so many foreigners who come to Argentina to get treated because of this. It’s just not fair though, for example, cause Chileans flood the Argentinean hospitals (paying nothing towards it of course), but Argentineans don’t get that same benefit or treatment when they’re in Chile. And healthcare is divided into different parts. There’s public healthcare, which is government paid. Everything is free and you’ll always get treated, but if you need a surgery for example, you go on a waitlist. Then there’s private healthcare, which is divided into obra social (paid for through your job) and prepaid, which you pay for individually. In both of those, you go to private clinics. Essentially, which type of healthcare you have is determined by how rich you are. Wealthy people don’t use the public hospitals even though they pay for it through taxes.

So that was healthcare system background. In regard to midwifery, there are several interesting paradigms and current phenomena:

1) Midwifery is based on the principles of more personalized maternity experience and natural delivery and birthing with no drugs, whereas obstetricians focus on induced labor, making the delivery as quick as possible, and they use drugs. However, in Argentina, the majority of midwives work in hospitals and in the hospitals you have to use drugs, so midwifery has lost the essential of what it is.

2) The government tried to eradicate midwifery in the 1950’s-70’s so that only the professions of doctor and nurse remained and they banned home births. Doctors used the fact that some out-of-work midwives started doing abortions (which was illegal) to discredit the profession and make people not respect them. Eradicating the profession failed so the government eventually brought back its midwifery programs, but ironically, nowadays doctors are the ones doing illegal abortions. Because of this attempt to eradicate, there are now some provinces in Argentina where midwifery is gone- those programs never reopened.

3) The less autonomous midwives are (which it’s not common to find autonomous ones here), the less they can do. Autonomous midwives can do anything: they practice continuous care, they deliver the baby in a home, and they determine their own schedule; however, if a pregnancy becomes complicated and she has to go to the hospital with her patient, the midwife loses all her powers and autonomy and becomes merely a doula. Midwives in the public and private hospitals have to work in conjunction with a doctor and don’t have the same abilities. Public hospital midwives don’t practice continuous care, they share the pressure with doctors during complicated pregnancies, and they work in shifts, doing also family planning and sex education. In private hospitals, midwives aren’t allowed to deliver babies and they function more like nurses. They do parent classes and inducements/drug injections.

4) There’s a phenomenon of increased student interest in the profession of midwifery. Education is not as good for medicine nowadays because there are sooooo many students interested in becoming a doctor. There are more doctors that needed doctors. Frustrated medical students are changing career paths to midwifery because it’s very similar, and nursing students are becoming midwives because they’ve finished the nursing track and want to do more.

My new mission :P

I’ve already accepted the fact that I will be eating my way through South America, starting of course with Argentina :D The food is sooooooo good!! Where to even start! Our first night here we went to dinner at Los Inmortales, which is supposedly the best pizza in Buenos Aires. Deliciosa!! It was that first night that I realized I’d be eating my way through the next 10 weeks. Even when I was full, I kept going because the food was so good and new. Probably not the healthiest thing, but it’s part of the cultural experience, right…if I’m going to learn as much about the culture as possible, then I gotta keep eating :D Since that night, we’ve hit up all the city’s best restaurants and cafes. And the best part is that it’s SOOOO cheap! En serio! You can have a super super nice meal and still not have spent more than $20-$25. Our meals have averaged $8 including tip (and that’s with all our food exploration). For those people who’ve been here or plan to come here: Los Cuartitos (another great pizza place; in my opinion, better than Los Inmortales); Cumana (out-of-this world empanadas, cazuelas, and calzones); Freddo (BEST ice cream); Café Tortoni (tartas to die for); Café Las Violetas (pastries galore); Torquato Tasso (UNBELIEVABLE steak and flan accompanied by really good tango and samba bands performing); the list just goes on and on.

I easily see myself coming back here again in the future. I could more than easily see myself living here for a year after college…the only possible impediment being the ‘ja’ speech thing. But I will say it grows on you. My mind is already going through all the possibilities for how I can come back and considering the possibilities. You know me and how my life plans are ever-changing and modifying. This could possibly fit perfectly in those 4 years between graduating and 25.

Buenos Aires, "la París de Sudamérica"

While in Buenos Aires, Tom and I are staying with Jocelyn in her family’s apartment, which is in a GREAT location! It’s super safe and near everything. It’s essentially the Upper East Side of B.A. Staying with her and hanging out together has been a fabulous experience. It’s really shaped in a favorable way how we’ve experienced the city. I know our experience would have been so different and not as cool or thorough as it is now had we been staying in some random hostel. Thanks to Jocelyn and her family’s friends here, there are a bunch of places we’ve gone and cool things we’ve done that we never otherwise would have known to do or experienced. And we’re going to be able to use some of her family’s connections in Peru to do more cool stuff there, so everything is just working out really well.

B.A. is such an urban city that it’s easy to forget that you’re in a third-world country. When we go out at night, especially, I really feel like we’re in NYC. There’s a part that looks a lot like Times Square, an area similar to Broadway, we take black-and-yellow taxis everywhere, there are big billboards everywhere and electronic ads…other than the people or families begging for money or the homeless people sleeping in parks (which any city has), there’s not any reminder within the city center or nearby areas that we are in fact in a developing country. Driving into the city from the airport (seeing the outskirts) it was visible, but since then, no. We are going to tour La Boca, the B.A. neighborhood most people know because it’s super colorful and was the home of tango, so I expect that’ll be more of a reminder of where we are because it has a lot of poverty.

ESTOY IN BUENOS AIRES :D

BLOG TIME AGAIN!! I've yet to succeed at keeping a blog for an entire experience, but maybe this summer will be the charm. I'm following Che Guevara's Motorcycle Diaries path, so if I'm going to be inspired to write, this ought to be the summer. He kept a diary, so I should too. So here's to recording my adventure through South America as I follow Che and research the role of midwifery in South American society. Hope you enjoy the ride! :D

STOP #1: Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires (called B.A. by everyone) is AMAZING! I love the city! It really reminds me of NYC at times. There is so much to see and so much to do, both during the day and at night. And it really is a city that never sleeps! Great transition from Spain because the lifestyle is so similar :D While the lifestyle hasn’t taken much adapting to, the Spanish definitely has. It is so…different (I shouldn’t say bizarre just because I don’t like it). It took a lot of adjusting to. I’ve gone from one extreme of Spanish to another. In Spain they cut off the final ‘s’ sound of words, spoke with a lisp, and pronounced all their v’s as b’s. Here in Argentina, they don’t really open their mouth when speaking (MAJOR lack of enunciating) and they pronounce all their ‘l’ and ‘y’ sounds as ‘ja.’

How ridiculously confusing this can be is best exemplified by a woman I was talking to who was saying “I already called her.” In Spanish: Yo ya llamo ella. When she spoke, all I heard was ja-jibberish: Jo ja jjamo eja. Umm, come again! I know I understand Spanish- I left Spain confident in my understanding abilities, but when I first got here I had to think so hard. There’s a friend from UNC who’s also here and her family is Colombian. She’s spoken Spanish and been around it all her life and she even said that her first week here she had major difficulties. Glad to know I’m not the only one! Slowly but surely, though, it’s gotten better. I’ve adjusted to the vocabularly differences (such as the use aca instead of aqui, etc) and I’m finally at the point where the ‘ja’ doesn’t completely throw me off. I expect it now, woot woot!

Comentarios

*The elevators: Although probably more efficient than those in the U.S., they’re not really that convenient- not made to fit more than 2 people comfortably (has a maximum capacity of 4). With two people holding a bunch of grocery bags, it’s a squeeze, so I’ve learned to dispense of the notion of a personal bubble unless I’m riding alone.

*Everything has such exquisite architecture, even the relatively unimportant buildings. The style and design of the post office and job-hunting building are so elaborate that you would also think they were a museum or monument.

*Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way….I don’t know how much faith I have in the crosswalk. If you’re in any part of the crosswalk (even near the other side!) when the light changes from red to green, the cars won’t hesitate to gun it and go. Several times I’ve experienced cars revving their engine right in front of me...such hostility! And traffic is a mess! Other than the traffic lights, it’s questionable whether road rules really exist. Every car believes it to have the right of way, so there is the constant background noise of honking. And honking in Spain is special :P Drivers don’t do a quick honk, they honk for at least 10 seconds. The first few seconds = watch out! I’m here!...the second few seconds = excuse me! (with attitude)…the third few seconds = now that I have absolutely EVERYONE’s attention, don’t ever mess with me!

*Purple leggings are sooooo in….really, purple anything. Apparently it’s the current fashion trend for girls. Typical trendy Spanish style is a dress, leggings, and boots or skinny jeans with boots. Boots, boots, boots! The most amusing trend I’ve noticed is balloon pants for girls. They’re in too, apparently. Bringing back MC Hammer! Too legit to quit :D Lastly, gel, gel, gel for boys (I have my suspicions that this is just a Spain thing though and not a current fashion trend)! It’s rare to see a young guy without gel in his hair…oh wait, they can’t forget to spike it either! :D

*Everyone is named Alejandro! Seriously! Or Carlos, or Juan, or Carlos Juan. I guess that would be the equivalent of our Alex, Charles/Chris, and John.

*American music is EVERYWHERE! Even when we go to places dominated by Spaniards, there’s STILL American music playing. Everything from The Beatles, R.E.M, and Cyndi Lauper to Madonna, Britney Spears, and Katy Perry. And techno is huge! I’m trying so hard to find a place where I can just listen to the Spanish guitar and some authentic Spanish singing, but I’m thinking I’m going to have to go to the countryside to find that.

*There are double rows of parallel parking along street curbs in many streets. I don’t know if it’s legal, but it’s done. This means that it can be quite difficult to get out, though, if you’re one of the cars on the inside row along the curb. I knew the cars would be tiny when I got to Europe, but I didn’t expect to see 5 guys pick up a car off the ground one day with their bare hands and scoot it over, so that they could get out from the curb. Wow! I also witnessed them accidentally put the car done on one of the guy’s foot, which I imagine was NOT a pleasant experience for him.

*Bars and cafés are absolutely everywhere, which I expected to a certain extent. But there is literally one every ten feet! I’m guessing that’s the result of them being the hangout scene. When you need to meet someone or don’t have anything to do, you go to the bar/café.

*And WHOA! PDA!! EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE, EVERYWHERE!! The sidewalk, the restaurant/café, the bus stop, school, the grocery store, the mall…I could go on and on. And it’s not quick either…can we say uncomfortable! For all the Spaniards it’s not a big deal, but it’s definitely been a huge culture shock to us all.

Despite being a different culture and having its own twists and characteristics, though, there’s a lot of stuff that’s universal. For as many differences as there are between Spain and America, there are just as many (if not more) similarities in the behavior and actions and responses of the people.

Mi lista de cosas a hacer en Sevilla:

My list of things to do in Sevilla, inspired by Elizabeth McCain and an 80-year old man she met in E. Europe. The backstory: Elizabeth was on a trip in Eastern Europe with an old man about 80 during her gap year. The old man was about 80, had a thick accent and was hard of hearing. He was completely bald to the point that you could see your reflection on his head and he had a really throaty laugh. His name was Bob. Elizabeth and Bob were eating apple strudel at Schonbrunn Palace (where Maria Theresa lived) one day when his wife asked where she was headed after Vienna. She mentioned Sevilla and Bob literally jumped out of his seat. Long story short: After the war he had moved to Sevilla as a young GI and lived there are several years (so many he was considered a local). He thought Sevilla was the most beautiful city in the world and was convinced Elizabeth would fall in love there. Anyway, he promised to make her a list of all the things she had to do before leaving Sevilla and she has now passed on the list to me (with a few additions of her own at the end).

[] Watch a bull fight in the Plaza de toros
[] Take a long walk in the Maria Thersea Parque
[] Take a carriage ride on one of the last pretty days you are there
[] Go see the Plaza de Espana (that they did for the exposition)
[] Walk through the Cathedral on Sunday-no one goes there then and its free
[] The Alcazar
[] Climb La Giralda
[] Go see flamenco- go see another if you like it
[] Act like an American and have too much Sangria
[] Act like a Spaniard and have too much of something else
[] Agua de Sevilla
[] Party until 6 or 7 am and then go get chocolate con churros
[] Go see a Betis futbol match
[] Walk through the University
[] Go walk around in the really famous/expensive hotel (dress up nice) Hotel Alfonzo XIII
[] Buy some pottery in the Triana district
[] Walk along the river
[] Eat jamon sliced- Andalucia is known for it
[] Eat shrimp in garlic
[] Eat Ice cream at Rayas
[] Go to Morocco
[] Get lost in El Corte Ingles
[] Spend one night just hanging out with locals
[] Walk around by yourself one day with a camera just to see what you didn’t on a regular day
[] Find a spot of grass
[] Go to a procession during Semana Santa