Contraband and Canoes

This is where I live! The window on the corner is my room!

Cenashow:
One of our activities last week was a cenashow, where people go to eat dinner and watch a Tango Show. It was a very classy event and I felt like a princess. I ate salmon, and saw the coolest (quite sexual) tango show. One lady danced a whole number with a blindfold on! I was like whoa!!!

Iguazu:
The Iguazu Waterfalls are beautiful. We walked along a trail to view them and at every corner there were more waterfalls. There was a huge storm the night before we arrived so the Falls were bursting! The parks are well-crafted because they give you opportunities to see the falls from above, below and the sides. So awesome. Unfortunately, I had hastily packed for the trip and forgot to bring pants. So, I wore the same sweatpants for the whole weekend, even though it was gorgeous 70 degree weather. But no worries, that didn't stop me from having tons of fun with Niha and Mateo and Aditya!

Contraband:
On our way to the waterfalls, I saw two mud-covered bread vans that popped up out of nowhere. I asked the taxi driver about them, thinking maybe it was a jungle-trekking adventure that we could go on, but he nonchalantly informed me that they were filled with onions and potatoes to be sold illegally in Argentina.

Canoeing:
Last Wednesday, the temperature was about 6 degrees Celsius. It was the coldest day we've had so far, and it also happened to be the day that the program decided to take us canoeing. Half the students opted out of the activity because of the chilly weather, but I joined the adventurous half who trekked out to Tigre to row along the Delta river (it's either called the Delta river or we rowed in the delta of the river, hehe.). It turned out to be really fun! There were some intense waves and it was def freezing, but luckily my friend Jordan had kindly lent me some warm clothes (because she lives right next to school), and I did have my REI down mittens with me! It also didn't hurt that the tour guides were extremely good looking and friendly locals of the Tigre area. : ) We went around some islands and saw the houses there too. When the tide is too high, the houses flood, and when it's too low, nobody can leave because the boats get stuck in the mud. We were also able to the see the roots of some huge trees because the tide was low and that was really cool because it's like a huge labyrinth of giant roots. We also stopped for tea and cake which was delicious, so delicious that the cats wanted some, but then the guides kicked them away.

End of the program:
I have finished my Spanish program at UDESA! There were a lot of presentations and exam-stuff to do, but now I am so happy to have free time for 2 weeks! We celebrated Thursday night by going to a Bar and then this guy got us into a boliche called Kika for free! I didn't stay long because the music was super loud, but a few friends and I chilled at a bar nearby.

The next night, I went out to Jack Flash, a bar in San Isidro. Allie's host siblings and I enjoyed some good drinks (one had chai tea and orange juice!) and dancing! We were out til 5am both nights, which is the norm here - when do people sleep??

Puerto de Frutos:
Tigre is also home to a huge market called Puerto de Frutos. They have everything from chairs to clothes to food. I got a shirt and some dance pants. I also met a man named Fer who wanted to sell me a very expensive boatride, and I didn't want to take the boatride but then he talked to me in Castellano (Spanish, here) for a long time anyway.

JFlo and LeRenzo
And I went out to Chinese food today! The food wasn't that great, but the conversation was! I also went out to Chinese food with my Argentine granny, but that food wasn't great either. I did make scallion pancakes for the fam though with harina integral - whole wheat flour!

Potlucks and Cowboys

Feliz 9 de Julio!
To celebrate, my host family and I hosted a potluck at the house, and all but one person from my program came to hang out for a bit. It was so cool to see everyone in a non-classroom setting and to hang out with some of the host siblings for a while. I made a orange cake with chocolate ganashe and a cream cheese frosting. It came out a little hard, so you have to eat it with milk or coffee...lol, but next time, I'm going to poke holes in it to pour in the frosting in, to create moisture, hehe. Can't wait. There was also chinese food, empanadas, apple crispt, delicious drinks, corn bread, milanesas, flan and so much more.

La Estancia:
Today, we went to an estancia, a ranch! We went to a blacksmith shop where this guy named Draghi used to make ornate belt buckles and tack out of silver and gold. Depending on someone's status, there's more metal and money attached to the gear. Then, we went to another museum, just opened in April, which showcased the work of Molina Campos. Lots of cartoon-like paintings with titles in BA slang.

Asado:
We ate asado - a very popular barbeque-like meal inside the ranch's dining hall. They served all types of meat, including a coagulated blood sausage...it was a black egg-shaped wonder, I couldn't quite get myself to have more than an itty bitty bite. The meal was followed by a performance of traditional BA dance with tango, milonga, and a cowboy dance competition. This tiny, young cowboy went on stage and did some pretty slick moves!

Gauchos:
Afterwards, the same cowboys that served us our meal competed in a game with horses. Each cowboy gallops really fast towards two small rings (size of a one inch binder ring), and tries to hook the ring with a foot-long point stick. It seems really hard, but the gauchos slipped the stick through the rings while galloping crazy fast. Afterwords, the cowboys gave away the rings they won and it's customary to kiss the cowboy who gives you a ring, and I got one!

Riding:
Next, I got to ride a beautiful, and extremely well-trained chestnut horse. He was ready to run, which I love, so we galloped across the open plain, while the gauchos yelled "despacio! slow!" Haha, but I wanted to go fast, and you know, it's hard to stop a horse who wants to run....right? Amazing.

Bars and Boliches:
After the estancia, I took a little nap and then went out with my friends to a bar and a boliche to celebrate Lisa's birthday (fellow student at UDESA). I had a delicious mellon ball with wine, and enjoyed the live band. One guy could get us into a boliche (dance club!) for free so we went, along with 2 new friends (whom we met at the bar) from Germany! We were out until 4:30am ish, and Allie's host brother very kindly took us all home.

I woke at 2pm today.

Museums

3 days, 3 museums. After the Carlos Gardel house, I went to the Museo de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts), and today I went to Malba - which was my favorite by far, even though I am not much of a museum person. I saw one of Frieda Kahlo's self-portraits, which was way awesome.

Tomorrow we don't have class because it is Argentina's day of independence! I am hosting some people at my host parent's house and am going to bake a delicious cake! I'm thinking chocolate orange ganosh! Yum!

I also discovered this delicious bread treat called "Cremonas" and today I went to a huge supermarket called "Carrefour." It was like Costco. Yup, that big.

The Dancing Begins

This is my host family. : )

Hiphop:
Last Monday, I went to hiphop dance class and met two awesome dancers named Cesar and Tini. They taught the class and had a freestyle session at the end, where EVERYONE was involved and it was just so cool. Then, Cesar and his sister waited with me outside while my ride came. During our conversation, I learned that Cesar is studying dance therapy as a psychologist and I was like, "WHAT?!?!?! That's awesome!!!" because I study psych and love dance too!! I hope we become best friends. lol.

The next day, Tini texted me and invited me to her more advanced hiphop class and I had a blast again! I met a whole bunch of high schoolers from one of the Carolinas. Now, there are no dance classes because la gripe is scaring people away.

La Gripe:
The swine flu has hit Buenos Aires. Apparently, the government took all the tamiflu from the local hospitals so that they could keep track of everyone with the disease, but they only gave it to people in certain risks groups (old people, diabetics, etc), so a bunch of sick people were sent away without medicine. They then spread the disease, etc. Now that the elections are over, the government is more honest and saying that they're hecka cases, and now all the universities are closed, which is bomb because students get more time to study, but now us foreigners are the only people in session and we are in a huge classroom where we sit far apart. Needless to say, safety precautions are definitely being taken. (Don't worry, Mom!)

Tango:
I am in love. With my tango instructor. Our whole group got a private lesson at a milonga (where peeps dance) called "El Niño Bien." It was super funny because the instructor shipped in a bunch of male dancers because our group is mostly girls. I was a little scared to learn at first because I heard that tango was very different and hard to learn, but holy smokes, I had the best teacher out of the bunch (for a while, we switched it up too), and he taught me so much! He did this bomb move where he flicked my foot, and twisted my body so I ended up like a beautiful pretzel. AND THEN!!!! As we were all leaving, my teacher stopped me (only me!!), and said "you have potential." I just about melted. I, of course, was wearing the hottest outfit of tennis shoes and a granny sweater because I had thought that we were walking a lot to WATCH tango. He then said that I should buy tango shoes this week, and then he gave me his contact info. I felt so special and happy and I love tango.

Yogur:
I don't know why I did not know this but one serving of yogurt with live bacteria can turn 3 litres of milk into yogurt!! Maddie, did you know that?!?! It's like magic, and delicious too.

Submarino:
Chocolate submersed in hot milk. uh-oh......

4th of July in Colonia, Uruguay:
Some friends and I made a weekend trip to Uruguay for the 4th and 5th. It was a one hour ferry ride, and Colonia is the cutest, chillest town ever. Apparently, nothing ever happens there, but we were so lucky and ran into Colonia Jazz Weekend, and got to listen to a delightful concert for $3 US! The weather was like 80 degrees both days. This is winter? I like. We also went horse-back riding along the beach and I galloped as fast as a lightening bolt!~ We also went to a delicious creperie. Basically, I ate delicious French food in Uruguay to celebrate the independence of the United States of America. : )

My host dad:
My host mom was describing an animal to me, "It's like a small monkey with teeth." Just then, my host dad's face light up as he thought of the perfect way to explain it to me in english. With the biggest smile ever, he said, "A. Big. Rat" : ) Love it.

Carlos Gardel:
Famous guy who sang tango. Went to his house in Abestos with a huge mall today.