Welcome to Wine Country!

Hola Todos!

I realize that I haven't written for quite some time...really, not that much has been going on here (until last weekend).  One quick note before I write about my latest adventure - I have had yet another small language blooper.  In Spanish (or Castellano as they call it here), the word "derecho" means two different things - when it is plural ("derechos") it means "rights," when it is singular ("derecho"), it means "law."  So I am in fact taking "International Law and International Organization," and not "International Right and International Organization"...oh well, it should still be very interesting :) 

So, other than that, nothing of great note happened until last weekend, which was Semana Santa (Holy Week...i.e. the three days before Easter).  It is one of the biggest travel weekends in Argentina, since everything is closed Thursday and Friday, so of course, I took advantage of it!  Lydia, Erica, and I went across the country to Mendoza - i.e. wine country.  It is a beautiful area - right at the base of the Andes.  And, as much as I like Buenos Aires, it was really lovely to get out of the city for a while.  Mendoza is a city, but it is much smaller, quieter, and cleaner than Buenos Aires.

I arrived on Thursday morning (after a lovely 6:30am flight...I wanted to be with my host family for Passover), got to the hostel and discovered that they had lost my reservation.  Thankfully, they could get all three of us in for all three nights, so all is well that ends well, correct?  We stayed at Hostel Alamo, which, if you are ever in Mendoza, I highly recommend - very clean with very friendly people, and a really nice back-yard area.  Erica and Lydia met me at the hostel once their bus got in, and we went back out to explore the city a bit, and book our activities for the following day.  We did some shopping at the artisan fair in Plaza de Independencia, had a really delicious dinner (with fantastic, cheap, wine), and then called it a night.  

The following day, Lydia went horse-back riding through the desert, and Erica and I went on an all day bus tour of Villavicencio (like the mineral water!), and the Andes "High Mountain."  As much as I love riding, I got to see so many incredible sights on the bus tour that I couldn't pass it up.  Villavicencio is BEAUTIFUL - it is tucked away in the mountains (I believe they are the foothills to the Andes).  There is an old hotel there that was once a summer home, and the most peaceful, beautiful, small church I have ever been to.  Here, and at every stop we had, we all got out and took 30 or 40 minutes to just walk around the area.  All in all, I took close to 300 pictures in Mendoza, so if you are interested, I have tons of albums - just let me know!

From Villavicencio, we continued through to the Andes.  We stopped at the top of the foothills to take in a view from above, and then continued to where we could see Aconcagua - the highest mountain in the Americas.  From where we were it didn't look that big - until you remembered that it was BEHIND all of the other mountains you were seeing, and was STILL taller then them.  Our journey continued and we had stops at Aconcagua Park, Cristo Redentor de los Andes, which at 4200m provides incredible views and lets you see what it is like to be at high altitude (you could feel that the air was thinner), and Puente del Inca.  It was a spectacular tour, and I have added yet another place to my list of "places to go back to."  

Saturday we did what all tourists who go to Mendoza do - a biking wine tasting tour.  Think about it Devra + bike + wine tasting. Needless to say, it was a ton of fun!!  We used a company called Mr. Hugo (again, I recommend it), who rented us bikes, gave us a map of the Bodegas we should visit, and then upon our return gave us as much red wine as we could drink.  We saw two bodegas, and an olive oil factory.  At all three, we did a tour of the facilities and a tasting.  The second bodega we saw is the oldest working winery in Argentina, and is a designated historical landmark for its old fermentation tanks.  All in all, it was a great day, and a really fun experience.  Just imagine - biking along a two-lane road (the only downside, the cars), and looking out onto vineyards that run straight into the base of snow-capped mountains...it is quite a sight.

I wish that I had had another few days in Mendoza to do some horse-back riding, hiking, and more exploring of the city.  All in all though, my time in Mendoza was a great escape.  I am now back in Buenos Aires, and trying very hard to settle back into school-mode.  With so many things to do here, places to see, and random streets to meander it is hard to force myself to study!  My classes are very interesting, but whoever said study abroad wasn't a lot of work, clearly did not come to Argentina!  On that note, I am off to a cafe to read...chau for now!

Classes, what are those? Ohh now I remember...

Hola todos!

Well, I have been here for just about a month now, and last week, we finally started classes.  We have until April 6 to completely finalize our schedules, but I think that I have mine all figured out.  I will be taking classes at the University of Salvador (USAL for short), a small, originally Jesuit university here in Buenos Aires.  I will be taking 4 courses - "International Negotiation," "International Right and International Organizations," and two seminars for foreigners ("extranjeros") "Introduction to the History of Ideas and Political Processes in Argentina" and "Latin America: Ideas and Processes."  In addition to these courses (all of which are political science/international relations), I will take a mandatory Spanish class through my program with a sub-topic of "Identity of Argentines."  It should be a very interesting semester!  

Chau for now! 

heaven "is full of mosquitos, small gauchos named Pablo and polo ponies galore." ~ Lydia

As the title tells you, I have seen heaven (though I hope that it is not actually filled with mosquitos...).  This past weekend Lydia and I went to Estancia La Flamenca.  For those of you who don't know, an Estancia is a gaucho (Argentine cowboy) ranch.  It was...amazing.  Lydia and I were the only guests there, which was just fine with us.  We spent two glorious days horse-back riding through the Pampa (the country, complete with the famous Argentine cattle), lying by the pool, and eating some of the most delicious food I have ever had.  Our hosts - Jorge and Patricia - were helpful, hospitable, and just wanted to ensure that we had a wonderful time.  We absolutely did.  

In other news, I have started classes!  Well, most of them...two seminars that I am trying for "extranjeros" (foreigners) start next week, but otherwise all of my classes start this week. We have a three week "shopping" period where we can try out different classes, so at the moment I am taking 8.  I will be keeping the mandatory Spanish class that I take through my program (called "Identity of Argentines"), and a "History of Argentina" class at The University of Buenos Aires (UBA).  In addition to these two, I am trying/have tried: "International Right and International Organizations," "International Negotiation," "Political Communication," "Latin American International Politics," and the two extranjero seminars are "Seminar on the History of Argentine Political Ideas and Processes" and "Latin America: Processes and Ideas."  All of these classes are at University of Salvador (USAL), and I have liked those that I have tried.  I will be sure to keep you posted!

That is all for now!  As they say here, 'ta luego!

Life According to Argentines - part 1 in a series

The following are just a few observations that I have made since I've been down here.  Some are meant to be humorous, some are just very Argentine, and all of them add something special to this wonderful country.  I am not passing any judgments here (except for the first one, there I have a very set opinion), I am just observing, and trying to share a bit of every-day Argentina with all of you.  Enjoy!

• Meat - and especially steak - should be cooked well done.  Medium-well at the very least. (As I said, this is the one thing I will absolutely judge - WHY when you have the best steak in the world, would you cook it to death?!  I am a medium-rare girl and I just don't understand!)
  
• Meat (or fish, chicken, or eggplant) can and should be beaten with a mallet until flattened, breaded, and then fried.  For all of the above, this is called "milenesa."  If it is steak, then it is best topped with an egg.
• Eggs go with, in, or on top of everything.  
• If there is no egg (or even if you do have egg), all things can be improved with onion.  And/or pumpkin for that matter.
• Green olives are also an excellent garnish for just about everything - especially pizza margarita
• Locks on bathroom stall doors are really not necessary
• Soap in public restrooms, restaurant restrooms, or any restrooms outside of the home is just not necessary (nor are paper towels for that matter)
• One should make-out with ones enamorada/o on the street corner, the train, the bus, in clubs, ice-cream shops, or anywhere else for that matter, at any and all times
• Car alarms should not just ring - they should include a song as well
• Everything is to be taken literally - if one says "does this have milk in it?"  the answer is "No, no milk.  Cream"
• Everything starts and ends between 30 minutes and 1+ hour late
• Graffiti looks great on the stairwells and hallways of the University of Buenos Aires
• The internet and wi-fi are totally different things.  Just because you have wi-fi in your cafe does not mean you have internet
• Electronica is the best music on earth.
• Chivalry is NOT dead - if an older woman, or a pregnant woman gets on the bus, you absolutely get up and give her your seat.
• There is no such thing as a "fast" coffee.  Coffee, and all other things consumed, are meant to be enjoyed very slowly
• Coffee is never just coffee - it is always accompanied by a little shot-glass sized glass of sparkling water and small cookies.
• When you meet someone for the first time (and whenever you greet someone or say goodbye to them) you kiss each other one time on the right cheek
• Small squares of wax-paper make excellent napkins 
• All music is better when blasted at full volume 

As I said before, though some of these things have been a bit hard to get used to, they all just add to the charm of living here.  It really is a fantastic place.  Ciao for now!

Take me to Bariloche

Hola Todos!

This past weekend we took a trip out of Buenos Aires, and went down to Bariloche, or the Lake Region of Argentina in Patagonia.  First off, as much as I love Buenos Aires (and I really do like the city here), it was wonderful to get away from the noise and the buildings for a while, and be somewhere a bit more...peaceful (and green).  Not to mention, Bariloche is absolutely one of the most beautiful places I have EVER seen.  Dark blue (and crystal clear) lakes, mountains, forests, beaches.  Basically anything I could ever want all in on incredible, undisturbed place.  Most of the area we were in is national forest, so everything is preserved, with only a few hiking trails running through them.  

We got there on Saturday afternoon, hopped into a bus, and we were off.  We stopped at a few places for pictures, and took a ski-lift type thing up a mountain to get a view of the incredible lakes.  It is more beautiful than you can imagine, and if you ever have an opportunity to go there, I would absolutely say go for it.  After our various stops, we checked in at the hotel (incredible views), and then went into the town center for dinner.  Lydia, Erica and I ate at this fantastic (and cheap!) restaurant where they had live music.  We were singled out as the "Chicas de los Estados Unidos" (The girls from the United States), and the main singer took every opportunity to point us out.  Too bad he didn't realize we actually do speak Spanish...

Sunday we had a free day, and I went white-water rafting through the rain forest with about 18 other people from the program.  Like all things in Bariloche, it was incredible and beautiful, and super super fun.  It was rather cloudy so the colors were different then they would be in the sun, but the water was an incredible blue/green, and some of the rock formations along the river looked like they had been carved by hand.  My luck with rafting finally ran out, and I came out on the second rapid (Lydia got a video of it - I will post the link when I get it), but the water was decently warm, and the rapid not too big, and I remembered the instructions I have heard many times, "If you fall out, don't panic, float on your back with your feet facing down river," so really it was more fun than scary.  Like all things in Argentina, the trip started late and ended late, so we didn't get back to the hotel until about 10:30, at which point I collapsed into bed.

Monday was our last day, and we started bright and early (7:00), with a hike that took us from sea level, up to past tree-line.  Something I noticed - they don't really believe in switch-backs in Argentina.  The majority of the hike was straight up hill (thankfully we took a different path down with a FEW more switch-backs, though not many).  It was a pretty tough hike, but fantastic, and the views were amazing.  

In addition to the natural beauty of Bariloche, I, as a Cohen, feel that I must add one more thing to further explain why this place is so incredible.  The region is known for its chocolate.  And let me just say, it lives up to it's reputation.  

I am back in Buenos Aires now, and I start classes next week.  We have a three or four week "shopping" period where we can try out different classes.  At the moment I am taking "International Conflicts and Security" at Di Tella, and in Universidad Catolica (UCA) I am signed up for "External Politics of Argentina," "Political History of America (South America)," and "International Public Right."  I am also planning on taking one class at University of Buenos Aires (UBA) (most likely "History of Argentina" or "International Security: Theoretical Aspects, Processes, Politics"), and a trying a few classes at University of San Salvador (USAL).  I will keep you posted on what I actually end up taking (probably 4 classes in total).  

Well, that is all for now!  I took tons and tons of photos in Bariloche and I have some from Buenos Aires as well, so if you would like to see them (and you don't have facebook), let me know and I can send you the link. 

Ciao for now!

The First Week!

Hola todos!

Well, here I am in the beautiful, incredible, MASSIVE city of Buenos Aires. This past week has been a whirl-wind of Spanish, orientation, exploration, and just generally trying to settle into what will be my home for the next 6 months. Thus far, everything is fantastic. My host mother, Myrna, is one of the sweetest people I have ever met. She is warm and welcoming, and has been very helpful showing me around our neighborhood, helping me buy a cell phone (which is more complicated than one would think), and just generally making sure that I am happy here (I am). Orientation has been rather long (we generally go from about 9:30 in the morning to 7:00 in the evening), and though some of it has been pretty boring, it has been nice getting to know new people in my program, and exploring the city center.

A few noteworthy things I have either done or noticed thus far:

- During orientation we had a guided tour of the city center. The architecture here is incredible, as are the many parks and plazas. Though there is a definite South American feel to the city, there is a reason Buenos Aires is called the Paris of South America.

- Found a delicious bakery right down the block from our orientation site. Delicious and very inexpensive.

- Ice cream here is fantastic...though they eat it with a spoon (even in the cone).

- We in the US, or at least in DC, do not fully appreciate how reliable and easy our buses are to use. While the SubT (the subway) is pretty straight forward, the buses are another story all together. The routes are not circular, and one never really knows where the bus will stop when you push the button. Every ride is an adventure.

Generally speaking, Argentina is great, my host family is great, and I am really happy to be here. I will try and post again soon! Chao!