Open Your Eyes

"Oh my god, Buenos Aires is so beautiful. It´s like the Paris of South America."


I can´t begin to explain to you how many times I have heard, and subsequently cringed, at the sound of study abroad students/foreigers repeating this overused guidebook phrase since I´ve been in Argentina. I, myself, even used to regurgitate this line back in Minneapolis when I was telling people about my future study abroad plans. Every guidebook, be it Frommers, Lonely Planet, or TimeOut, always introduces Buenos Aires in the exact same way...


"Welcome to Buenos Aires, the Paris of South America, where sensual tango music escapes from the confines of a San Telmo milonga while cigarette smoke lingers in the French-architecture lined cobblestone streets."

I have two arguments against this whole "Paris of South America" image that tourists and travelers cling to so strongly.

First and foremost, this is Buenos Aires, not Paris. Give the city credit where credit it due! Yes, French, English, Spanish and Italian architecture exist in the city, but these types of architecture also exist in New York City, yet I don´t see people calling New York City "The Paris of the New World." New York City gets the celebrated destinction of being called a melting pot, whereas Buenos Aires get the distinction of copycat. Buenos Aires is a smorgasbord for the senses with its slums and mansions, cumbia villera and tango, as well as the large and thriving immigrant populations nestled in the hidden corners of the city.

Argument number two never would have occured to me if it wasn´t for staying in Argentina for more than one semester, and actually seeing the REAL Buenos Aires. To all those tourists and students who boast about how Buenos Aires is the South American Parisian paradise, I pose the following questions:



Have you ever gone south of the Riachuelo, the southern border of Capital Federal, which seperates Buenos Aires City from Buenos Aires Metro? Do you even know what the Riachuelo is? Have you ever taken a train into the western metro area from the Once train station. Or, for that matter, have you ever gone south of Avenida Rivadavia, the north-south povery/wealth divide between the city. Have you seen the sprawling slums, like the one above, scattered throughout the city? Have you taken a city bus from somewhere besides Recoleta to somewhere other than Palermo?

To everyone who claims Buenos Aires is Paris, please break your comfort zone and get out of Palermo, Recoleta, Belgrano and Barrio Norte. These barrios are not a fair representation of what Buenos Aires is as a city. They are 4 of 48 barrios that make up this city. Take a bus from Plaza Constitucion and go south until you cross the Riachuelo, one of the most polluted rivers in South America. You won´t need any forwarning about its whereabouts. The horrid smell of the river is noticeable hundreds of meters before you ever cross the bridge. I translated the following quote from an Argentine news site:

"The problem is agravated by the more than 88,000 square meters of industrial waste poured into the river on a daily basis by the 3,000+ factories that reside along its 40 miles of shoreline."














I am in no way trying to talk down or disrespect the city that I have come to love so strongly. I cherish my bike rides through the different barrios, each with its unique "vibe" and demographic. Everytime you turn a corner, you´re likely to be surprise by a unique building or a beautiful plaza. I am, however, trying to explain that if you claim that Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America, you obviously haven´t seen the majority of it. If you really want to see and feel what Buenos Aires is all about, take the first bus south.

That being said, I understand that a guidebook isn´t going to direct its readers to the less beautiful parts of town. They try to make the city shine in the best light possible. This post isn´t directed at them. It´s directed at those travelers who come to Buenos Aires without ever seeing the other side of the city, without ever leaving the comfort of Barrio Norte.



Looking back at the last 14 months here, and all the experiences which I have had, I guess I could call this city "The Paris mixed with New York mixed with Milan mixed with Detroit mixed with Bogota mixed with San Francisco of South America" but I just prefer to call it Buenos Aires.







Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Free College? Healthcare too?

I just recently watched Sicko, the Michael Moore documentary on the US health care system(and our society of debt), and I realized that I never wrote about one of the first, and most surprising, incidents I had when I came to Argentina.

The UBA(University of Buenos Aires), where 14 Argentine presidents have graduated from and four Nobel Peace Prize winners have taught at, is the most famous university in Argentina, and arguably in South America.

Oh yeah, it´s free too.

I don´t remember the first time I heard that the UBA was free. I believe I was talking to a group of friends down here and I asked them how much it cost to attend the UBA, a public school. I attend a public school, the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, and still pay between $10,000 and $15,000 per year. They couldn´t believe what they were hearing.

"A public university that isn´t free? Isn´t that completely against the point of being a PUBLIC school?"

I, growing up in the US, equally couldn´t believe what I was hearing. A free University? How could such a thing could ever exist. Everyone(in the US) knows and expects that after college,
you´re going to have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of dollars in loan debt.

Another thing that surprised me was about the quality of education. The majority of the top professors in the country teach/research at the UBA, despite a large number being paid less than what they could make teaching in a private university. These professors want to give back to the UBA, the university which taught them, despite the money.

On this similar subject, Anabel is a medical student at UBA, the top medical school in Argentina. Everyone will agree that the doctors that come out of UBA are the best in the country, without a doubt. The majority of the internationally published doctors from Argentina graduated from the UBA. And, like the other 12 faculties, it´s free!

Beyond that, quality public healthcare is free too. Talking to Anabel about my envisioned return to Argentina in 2011, I told her I was worried about not having insurance. Here is the summed up conversation.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick: I´m hoping to come back to Argentina after I graduate. The thing is, right now, I have insurance through my dad´s employer. However, after I graduate, I won´t have insurance.

Anabel: And...

Patrick: Well, what if something happens and I need to go to the hospital?

Anabel: You, um, well, go to the hospital.

*enter "I was raised in the USA for 21 years" mindset*

Patrick. Yeah, but you don´t understand Anabel, I won´t have insurance.

Anabel: No, I understand completely, but it´s free!

Patrick: Free, I don´t believe it?

Anabel: What do you mean, you don´t believe it.

Patrick: A hospital can´t be free, it´s impossible.

Anabel: What do you mean, public hospitals aren´t free in the USA?

Patrick: (Laughing at the outrageous thought of a free public hospital existing in the US)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An expat english-teacher friend of mine recently had to go to the hospital after a few nights of painful vomiting. I went with him, hoping to see how the hospital was. We waited no more than 25 minutes to go see a doctor. After the examination, they said he probably had a intestional something-or-other and gave him some medication. We left the hospital without paying a dime with a prescription in hand. At the farmacy, the 30 pill prescription cost US$4! No insurance necessary.

Pretty impressive isn´t it. Maybe we should think about a makeover of our system.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Asado at Eugenio´s

A couple days ago, Miguel, Eugenio´s cousin, returned from a month in Australia. To celebrate his return, and to also wish him off as he heads back to Mar del Plata, his city, we decided to have a get together. Instead of having it at our place, Eugenio´s parents are in Paris for awhile, so we decided to have it at his place.

About 12 people were there in total, Anabel and myself, along with friends of Pablo and Eugenio. The night was filled with amazing meat, as usual, lots of wine and fernet, and plenty of laughing. We started out with a great salad of greens, tomatoes and onions, followed by choripan, which is Argentine sausage, eaten on a little baguette. After that, the meat started flowing, lots and lots of it. The last food was something I´ve never had before, but was absolutely amazing. Red peppers, sliced in half and grilled. However, when you´re grilling them, you crack an egg and put it into the pepper half. They look like overeasy eggs inside the pepper and are amazing. Definitely going to make these when I get back.

As the night continued, we snacked on the leftovers and hung out around the dinner table for hour upon hour. This is the common asado. No one was itching to go out, or looking to get drunk. We all just happily sipped on our drinks and talked the whole night. On top of it all, Eugenio has a gorgeous 4th floor terrace at his place, which is nicely hidden away in the Almagro neighborhood. A clear sky and 70 degree temperatures accompanied us the entire evening.

Back in November, when I was apartment searching, I was really hoping to find a group of Porteños to live with, so I could spend my last three months perfecting my slang, drinking fernet and coke, and having tour guides of the city at my disposal. It appears I found exactly that.

Eugenio Monitoring the Meat

The Parrilla


Eugenio Cooking
The Group

Anabel and I



Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Drinks of Argentina

Seeing as my time as a bartender has come to an end, I´ve composed the following to help you understand the popular drinks in Argentina, and who´s drinking them.

The Drink: Quilmes Cristal, the most popular Argentine beer in existence.
The Who: "I´m just hanging out in the bar, looking to meet people and have a good time. My nationality isn´t obvious because everyone loves Quilmes."


The Drink: Fernet and Coke, the most Argentine mixer one can order.
The Who: "I´m a true Argentine, just hanging out with my friends for a night or maybe scoping girls with my friends. Either way, I´m Argentine."


The Drink: Melón con Speed, a ridiculously sweet, awful tasting/looking liquor, mixed with an equally sweet Redbull-like drink.
The Who: "We´re just a bunch of fun 20 year old girls, looking to flirt with the boys, party hard, and smoke cigarettes until dawn.



The Drink: Chandon, or any bubbly mixed with the aforementioned Speed energy drink.
The Who: "Me and my boys are ready to party and we´re hitting the city up. (see South American Guido post) We´ve decided to start the night with Chandon and Speed to get some female attention. I´ll have my blacked-out sunglasses on pretty soon, and I´ll eventually wind up in a techno club until 7am, with the Melón con Speed girls above."



The Drink: Caipirinha, a sickly-sweet drink made with muddled limes, sugar, and Cachaça aguardiente liquor from Brazil.
The Who: "I have no idea what this drink is, let alone can I pronounce the name. Therefore, seeing as I´m a tourist, I´ll order it!"


The Drink: Any Shot
The Who: "We´re definitely North American tourists in Argentina, between the ages of 18 and 25 years old. We´re looking to get hammered. However, We´ve already forgotten that bars are open until 6am, and seeing as we haven´t paced our drinking, we´ll be passed out by 2."


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

It´s Dead...

Well, as you´ve probably guessed it, the Mac went back to sleep...maybe forever. It´s difficult to make headway on the blog using a locutorio. However, the roomies are heading on a two week vacation starting tomorrow. Pablo said I can use his computer, so I´m going to be doing some insane posting this coming week. I`ve got Christmas pictures, days in the park pictures, and lots of other good content in the works.

With the house to myself, I´m going to get in some quality reading and studying...anything to increase my vocab. Also, I´m starting to plan my next trip. The talk about Patagonia is absolutely crazy. I met a cool business women from Atlanta when I was working the other night, and she´s traveled the WORLD. She told me that Patagonia was absolutely mind-blowing. Coming from her, that means a lot. I think it´ll be my last big adventure, minus Iguaçu Falls when Holly comes. Mendoza and wine are just that...wine and Mendoza. The city itself doesnt seem too exciting besides wine tours, and I´ve already done one in California. If mom comes down, we´ll probably hit it up though. Timmy said the north of Argentina was worth a journey. I could take the train there for ridiculously cheap too.

In reality, who knows. I´ve got 4 months left here, and I´m really going to take advantage of it.

Besos,
Patrick

ps- Miranda, if you´re reading this, send me an email at pmichaeljones@gmail.com or add me on Facebook. I´d like to hear about your plans for when you´re here.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Life Is Great...Version 2.0

I just got back from looking at the apartment...amazing! I met one of my future roomates, Eugenio, and two of his friends were over hanging out. Nice apartment, and they´re in the process of painting it right now. I´ll have my own room with lots of sunlight every day, and a 9th floor view too. After the quick apartment tour, all of us sat in the living room, drank a couple Fernet and Cokes, and just chatted for about an hour. Both of the roommates are from Buenos Aires, and the two friends lived two neighborhoods away. I envision lots of warm summer nights hanging out at city parks in the future. This will be PERFECT to increase my Porteño vocabulary, and really experience an Argentine summer. On top of that, work is going fantastic. I´m starting to really mesh with my coworkers at the bar. I get along with my mangers well, and they know that I´m a hard worker and good at what I do. Plus, I´m getting some very valuable experience that I can bring back to Minneapolis. I couldnt have asked for anything more!


ps- This past weekend, my friend Mariel invited me to her family´s Sunday asado(bbq) and I have a bunch of pictures to post. Soon to come.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The Move

Moving time again.

Moved out of the apartment yesterday. A LONG day filled with bleach cleaning and sweeping. Still don´t have a new apartment, but my friend is letting me crash at her place while I continue my search. I´ve got a couple nice places lined up, its just a matter of taking a look at them, and figuring out which to choose. I found one with two 22 year old Porteños who are going to school here and working. Sent a few emails and they seem pretty cool. Plus, one is a biker and I would LOVE to start biking again. I biked 500 miles last summer in the States, and I really miss it.

Besides the move, everything is going well. It´s starting to get hot now. The days are all around 85* and sunny. Honestly, I´ve never lived in a place where almost every day is blue skies and sunny. It rains once every two weeks or so. However, when it rains, it RAINS! It downpoured last week for an entire day. The streets near the house were flooded with about 1.5 to 2 feet of water. Carlos and I ran through the streets enjoying it. If we would have had innertubes, we could have travled around 20 blocks riding the current.

Well, I´m off to work. Friday night, should be pretty busy!

Les mando un abrazo,
Patrick


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Newest Bartender on the Block

I got it!

Ladies and gentlemen, you're reading the blog of the newest bartender at the hippest cocktail lounge in Buenos Aires, Argentina...Portezuelo Lounge Bar & Music.

What can I say...I just got done working my first night at my favorite bar from last semester. I always thought it would be cool to work there, but never knew if it would happen. Well, it did.

From now until sometime in April, swing on in and say Hi.




Patrick


ps- the place is amazingly similar to the Loring Pasta Bar back in Minneapolis. Vintage chandeliers, lots of brickwork, very cool ambiance.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Keep On Keepin´ On

Sorry for quoting such a cliche lyric, but it just came to me, like most cliches things, which most people reject using, pop into one´s mind. However, it´s rather fitting for the situation.

So, what have I been doing lately. Well, for one thing, I speak pretty good spanish right now. As I was telling Dad the other day, I was hanging out with a friend in a park, and we were just talking, back and forth, about this and that. After a while, it just kind of hit me, that I was having a good conversation with someone, completely in spanish. It was a cool feeling to remember back in April and May, when having a conversation was incredibly stressful, and you kind of wanted to run the other way. Much like Adrian back in the States, I feel that I´m in the sponge stage. Instead of hearing a super long word, I can now pick out each sound, and that super long word turns out to be a sentence. At this point, seeing as I can hear the words, I can start to figure out words via context clues. However, sometimes, like Lindsay said, it´s very easy to just block out the words that you don´t understand, because you understand the general idea of what the person is saying. I need to start really training my ear to pick out the words and make sure I really listen, rather than just pull out the main idea. All in all, it´s very cool. I´m learning. I remember just being amazed watching Holly and Lindsay speak this foreign language after they came back from their studies abroad, and now, I´m part of the cool kids group. When we all get back, it´ll be the United Nations of Spanish Speakers. I speak like a Porteño, Holly like a Mexican, Lindsay like a Colombiana, Adrian is Colombia, and Juan Felipe rounding out the group with Salvadorean.

So, I´ll clue you all in on my plans now. Here´s how it goes down. Classes end the first week of December. Now, it would be possible for me to come home in early December, and start school back in Minneapolis in January. However, when thinking about this, I get sick. December will be the start of 4 glorious months of summer vacation with my friends. There is no way I could leave warm sunny Argentina at the start of summer, to return to cold, miserable Minneapolis at the start of a grueling winter. The mixture of reverse culture shock and change in lifestyle/temperature would put me over the edge. So...I´ll be staying in Argentina until around March or April. After classes end, I plan on getting a a job at a hotel as either a bellboy or a catering worker. Lots of English-speakers come down here, and hotels look for extremely handsome, well-versed native english speakers, so it looks like I have that job all wrapped up! It´ll be nice to make some tips in greenbacks. Haven´t seen any of those in a while.

Besides that, all is pretty well. Being down here, I see business ideas left and right. So many possibilites for tourism and so much new money available. I think it´d be interesting to come back here after graduating and seeing if I could get something set up. Like Dad said, after 4 months at a nice hotel, I very well could meet some successful local business people who are looking for business students. That, OR, get a job with a US company down here, and get paid in dollars. If you can make around US$30,000 a year, you´re living REALLY well off. Steak and wine every night of the week if you wanted.

Probably time I should wrap this up, but one thing, can SOMEONE please send me SOMETHING! I don´t even care if it´s just a random postcard. I´ve been here for seven months, and the only letters I´ve received came from my University´s Office of Transcripts. So, I pose a challenge to those who read my blog. Maybe you know me and are a friend, maybe you´re a fellow study abroad student, or maybe some blogger from England. Either way, I´d love to get some mail. If you write me, I´ll write back!!!

IES Buenos Aires
c/o Patrick Jones
Carlos Pellegrini 1069, Piso 13
C1009ABU, Buenos Aires
Argentina

I´ll try to write a little more often. Feels good to let ya´ll know what I´m up to. Two friends and coworkers from the Loring are coming down to my part of the world. Brett is currently in Peru, and is slowly making his way to Buenos Aires. Brittney is somewhere in Europe, but is meeting Brett in La Paz and joining him on his way to Buenos Aires. If either of you read this, prepare for greatness! Buenos Aires is absolutely amazing. You´re going to be here during, in all likelihood, the most beautiful time of the year.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Life Is Great!!!

Hey ya'll,
Just to let you know, I'm unbelievably happy with my life in Buenos Aires right now. I'm living in a great apartment with two really fun young Mexican guys who are living in Buenos Aires and going to school. I barely speak English and it feels great. It's not like last semester where I was speaking more English than Spanish. Now it's 100% the opposite. My classes are all going great, and the professors are all very accomodating to the foreigners in class, which consists of me and four Germans, who I have become good friends with. I've met a lot of people through my school, the Universidad Museo Social Argentino, and we are hanging out a lot. It's part of a language exchange that the school does and I've become good friends with two of my language partners. All in all, life is going really well. I'm not writing as much as I was last semester because I'm having too much fun to sit down and write it all down. Just know that this semester is amazing and I'm enjoying every second. PLUS, Spring is on the way and every day is a bit warmer, with a bit more sun. Life is good!!

Your Argentine Connection,
Patrick


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

A Brief Hiatus

Hey everyone,
Well, Colombia was a great experience. I had a great time with the family for the first week in Bogota. Jimmy got there the second week and we really started tearing it up. Adrian's family is absolutely amazing and I had a great time. However, now I'm back in Buenos Aires and life is even better.

The first four months in BsAs were very fun, but it still like I was this new study-abroad student. However, after taking a month off and getting away from the city for awhile, it feels so much more like home to come back. I've moved out of rich, touristy, old-money Recoleta, and I'm currently living on the border of Palermo Viejo and Almagro. Both of these barrios have a really great vide, or as they say in BsAs, buena onda. I'm not surrounded my tons of clothes stores and expensive tourist restaurants anymore. I'm just living in a really Buenos Aires-ish barrio now, and I'm super happy. If you come here, you'll see what I mean.

I am also living with some new roommates. I had a good time with Sylvia and Carlos, but it was kinda like living with my grandma and her really old stay-at-home son. Either way, it was an experience and I have quite the stories to tell from those first four months. Now, however, I'm living with two young Mexicans who are living in the city. One of them is a chef and the other is in culinary school. We'are always cooking something good, hanging out with our friends, and just chilling. It's so nice to have my freedom back again. I can play music loud, I can cook my own meals, and I can invite my friends over for drinks....life is good.

My spanish has come along amazingly. It had to be the month of intense spanish in Colombia, but wow. I recently saw an Ecuadorian friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in a couple months because of school. When we were hanging out in May, my spanish was pretty miserable. However, two weeks ago, I went to her place to have drinks with her, and her Colombian friend. Well, Carolina was making drinks and her friend and I were just talking about my trip in Colombia. Midway through the conversation, Carolina comes out of the kitchen and basically yells, "Patrick, your spanish. It's amazing! I can't believe how much better is it." I never noticed it getting better, but it's those really slow changes that take someone you haven't seen in awhile to notice. Also, all the IES(my program) staff were thoroughly impressed by my increased level. Now, living with my roommates, taking all my classes at the spanish-speaking university, and living a mostly spanish-speaking lifestyle, I'm really confident I'll just keep getting better.

There you have it. A little update on what's going down in Buenos Aires. I'll post pictures soon. I'm pretty much the slowest picture poster ever.

With love from the 34th parallel south of the Equator,
Patrick

ps- I have a place for people to crash now if anyone is looking to come to BsAs? Everyone says that spring here, which is September through December, is AMAZING!


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

All Finished Up!

I know this post is coming about a week or so late, pero mejor ahora que nunca.

I've successfully completed my first semester in Buenos Aires and I'm extremely excited for the second. I wrote around 35 pages of essays and had to take some difficult exams, but I did very well. I also wrote, what I think, a really great research paper on the International Monetary Fund's influence on Haitian rice growers. Thanks Holly for giving me that idea. Classes were definitely tougher than expected and the last two weeks was probably my most antisocial period of the entire time here. I was consistently in the library researching or writing a paper. However, this semester is all over, and now I have a month long break which I will be utilizing while I'm in Colombia! Next post.

It has been quite the experience so far. I really didnt have the intention of making a large group of American friends while I was down here, but, against my expectations, I made a group of amazing friends. Everyone is experiencing the same culture shock and feelings, and I think that because of this, stronger relationships are formed much quicker. Everyone is leaving or has left, and it's kinda sad not having my crew and thinking that I might not see any of them again. This next semester, I'll be able to concentrate on hanging out with my Porteno friends and speaking spanish, because I won't need that 1st semester safety net. On that note, I can't imagine having to leave Buenos Aires right now. I feel like the first four months were a nice introduction period. I feel very comfortable living and functioning here. I know how to use the subte(subway) and the collectivos(city buses). People can reference barrios(neighborhoods) and I know where they are talking about, and how to get there using several different modes of transportation. Exactly as Holly and Lindsay (my sisters who've both done study abroads) said, staying for a year in the only way to go. If you really have the ganas(desire) to learn about the country and learn the language, staying for two semesters is the only way to go.


All in all, it has been a great learning experience, and I'm sure it's only going to get better as I start my second semester.

Te mando un abrazo
-Patrick


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Just a Rich College Kid

Being from the middle class of the United States, everyone has a chance to go to college, tech school, vocational school, etc, and go out there and make something of themselves. It might be expensive, but you just take out your loans, do your schooling, and one day, pay them off.

I can't help but feel like some rich college kid, just spending some time in Buenos Aires; partying, drinking, learning Spanish, etc. I'm currently staying with a friend who's house-sitting a nice house in the suburbs right now. I've been talking with the maid, which every middle class and higher family has, and just chatting. She was a teacher in Peru, but moved to Buenos Aires to be with her siblings, who moved here, and to find better work...she's currently a maid. Maids, on average, make about $6 pesos/hour here. That's around US $2/hour. I'm going to be spending a month in Colombia pretty soon, and I'm sure I'll be spending around US$1,500. That's an unbelievably large amount of money here...and I'm just going to Colombia to hang out and travel. When I'd talk with the maid at my homestay(I've moved out now), it was hard to talk about the stuff I was planning on doing, and the places I wanted to see. I'd talk about jet setting to Colombia, or spending a weekend in Mendoza in the wine country, and she would just happily listen and smile. I could financially afford all of them, but the 55 year old maid can't financially fathom spending ARG $300 for a bus ticket, which is CHEAP to Americans. She's helping support her family on US $2/hr, and I'm out blowing a week's worth of her salary in one night drinking with my friends...and not even batting an eye. It's saddening. I don't know if I should feel lucky being from the US and having the opportunity to do this, or sick because I'm doing things, at 21 years old, that the majority of this country can't even imagine.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

And...

I'm alive! The surgery went really well today, and I'm already back at home writing this. A brief synopsis:

So, I got to the hospital and went through the obligatory paperwork. Finally got to my room, put on the ass-revealing hospital gown, and chilled with an IES worker who came along with me. After about an hour of waiting I was taken upstairs and the games began.

I was in the surgury waiting room watching some field hockey on TV when the anathesiologist came in. Really cool guy who's family is from Florida. We chatted for a bit and he asked what kind of anasthetic I wanted. I was debating if I wanted a local so I could watch what they were doing, but I chose to go with general anathestic, the full knock out punch and wow, it was fun.

I'm in the middle of the operating room, and there is a team of like 10 doctors. I felt honored to have so many people watching my hernia surgery. I continued to chat with the anathesiologist, and after he gave me the IV in the arm, he said I'd start to feel funny in a little bit. Sure enough, about 15 seconds later my body wanted to get a little groovy, yes, that's right, groovy. I was in a very relaxed state. I tried to resist it as long as possible, but as soon as the gas mask went out, I was done. Very relaxing little nap. I think I dreamt about Chilton, but I can't remember for sure.

The next thing I know, I open my eyes, and I see the doc pull a huge breathing tube of my throat. "All done" he says. I was still quite under the influence of the drugs, so I got wheeled down to my original room and relaxed. Sylvia, my host mom, was there to hang out when I arrived and stayed until Belen, the gorgeous IES assistant came to hang out and take me home. Which is where that leaves me right now, at home.

I can walk pretty normally, and the doctor told me that I don't need to use gauze or bandaids or anything after tomorrow. I guess they did some special type of cut that they sewed up from the inside. I'm looking forward to getting a look at it tomorrow. I also got some painkillers, so I'll let you know how those go. On an end note, with the hopes of getting my $6000 peso surgery money's worth, I stole soap, conditioner, and the bottle of water from my hospital room! That's how we do.

I've got some more to write on other topics, but I'm going to go watch some TV.

Besos


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Homestay Experience

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about my homestay experience.

When I signed up for IES, I told them that I wanted a homestay with a family and kids. I wanted siblings and hanging out. When I got here, I was somewhat disappointed with my situation. I would be living with a 73 year old women and her 45 year old son. I've had my ups and down here, but I've come to the realization...I couldn't have asked for a more fitting South American homestay experience. I'm living in the epitome of South America. An older women and her son living together. This is exactly what Buenos Aires, and South American in general, is all about.

In the ups and downs, we've had both. Sometimes we don't talk much during the day. I'm constantly coming and going throughout the day, and they're sometimes sleeping or sometimes watching TV. Other times however, we have great conversations. Tonight was a great example.

Carlos, Sylvia, Muki(nickname for Sylvia's daughter who came to eat with us) and I were eating dinner. As usual, I wasn't let down with the food content. Little spinach dumplings, mashed potatos, lentil soup, and some fried chicken.

Carlos saw me eat the piece of fried chicken skin and immediately jokingly called me out for being hypocritical. I don't, and never will, eat the pieces of fat on steak. Carlos loves them. He claimed that there was no difference between chicken skin fat and steak fat. A hearty discussion/fun argument ensued. Slyvia and I on one side saying that they are VERY different, and Carlos debating the entire time.

I'm coming to realize that I've had many great experiences in this current situation. Studying abroad is about experiencing new things, and I can say that this was DEFINITELY a unique experience. I had become so accustomed to having my personal freedom in Minneapolis that moving into a house where my meals are cooked and my room cleaned was quite a shock. I'm absorbing these last two weeks with the family and I can happily that I've learned a lot this semester.




ps- For you spanish speakers out there. In Argentina, I'm not sure about other spanish-speaking countries, they use the phrase "Algo + Adjective" a lot. "Ella esta algo loca!" "She is something crazy!" I've found myself using it in english writing/talking quite a bit now. It's like when Holly and Lindsay say something that has such backwards syntax, you know it has to be a direct spanish translation.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Learning the Culture

A little something you take for granted when you live in your home country:

When you're having a conversation in your home country, you make references to pop culture all the time. You reference the latest news stories without even thinking about it. You reference important people and events in the history of your country all the time. It's part of your life and you weave it into conversation without even thinking about it.

However, when you're in a foreign country, you're at a complete disadvantage. Right now, I feel that my language ability is relatively high. I can understand a great deal of conversation and respond when I feel it necessary. I love conversation. Portenos love conversation. But, the thing that frustrates me is that when you're part of a large conversation, those previously mentioned references keep on popping up non-stop. I sucks being at such a loss when someone references a bombing in 1955 that you never knew existed or a politician in 1984 that everyone disliked.

Therefore, a bit of advice. When you go off to learn a new language...do your research. Learn about the big events and people in that country. Commit them to memory because they're bound to come up and you'll feel great when you can finally make that reference you've been longing for.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Little Language Mix-Up!

This is a story for which everyone who has learned a foreign language can relate. False Cognates!


I don't like tomatoes in the United States. I've never liked them. Mom always forced me to try them, but everytime was the same. I didn't like them. I don't know what it is, but they just don't do it for me.

When I came to Buenos Aires, I told my host mom that I'm not a fan of tomatoes. Because of this, she never served me any when we had dinner. However, one night, Carlos cooked, and we had a salad with tomatoes. I was reluctant to eat them, but because I always finish my plate here, I ate them. To my surprise, they were great. There is something about tomatoes here that makes them amazing. They taste nothing like the tomatoes in the United States.

Well, on to the false cognates...words that look/sound similar, but don't mean the same thing at all. A good example is "actualmente," which doesn't mean "actually," but "currently." Another is...preservativo.

One would think this means preservative, like the things you put in food to make them last. Therefore, I told my host sister,

"I think the tomotoes are better in Argentina because they don't have preservativos in them."
"Pienso que los tomates estan mejor en Argentina porque no tienen preservativos."

Direct Translation:

"I think the tomatoes are better in Argentina because they don't have condoms in them."

That, my friends, is a false cognate.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ohh Cristina...

Remember that strike that I wrote about about two months ago. The farmer strike against the government. Well, it's still going. Here's the lowdown over the past few months.

In October when the soy farmers planted their crops, the government retention rate was 26%. This was only the base retention that the gov't charged, not including taxes and all that other fun stuff. When Nestor Krischner left office in December, he increased the retention to 33%. Nestor's wife Cristina took over presidency in December. The week before the soy harvest, she increased the renentino to 45%. This put the farmers over the edge, so they strikes. Rightfully so. Within the past seven months the rentention has nearly doubled.

The middle and upper classes have been strongly supporting the farmers. Why aren't you taxing big business like you are soy farmers. Well, the strike has been going on and off for 90 days now. The farmers stop it for a week to talk with the gov, nothing gets accomplished, and they start striking. This has been the situation for the past two months. It's a repeptive cycle.

However, just this week, Cristina pulled a good one out. The government really didn't say anything about what they were going to use all the retention money for. Everyone knows it would have been used to buy more votes in an election or magically dissapeared. This is the common feeling about all tax dollars. Well, Cristina gets on the podium and says along the lines of, "We've been plannning to use this money to rebuild hospitals and public schools. The farmers are horrible, money-hoarding bastards for not wanting to help fund schools and hospitals."

This REALLY fired up the people. So now, after three months of not telling anyone where the money was going, she pulls this out. "If you would have told us this three months ago, we wouldn't have had a problem" is the basic farming community response. "We're not stupid and we know exactly what you're trying to do to us." However, it's not working. The people are even more pissed at the government for trying to swing public opinion.

It's an definitely an interesting situation down here. It's refreshing to see people actually stand up for what they believe in. If they don't like something, they hit the streets and protest. In the States, everyone is too apathetic to do anything. Prices of tuition go up, "shucks, I guess we'll pay it." Gas prices going through the roof, "darn, I guess we'll just wait until prices go down." The US could take a page out of Argentina's social demonstration chapter.


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Argentine TV

In the United States, we have "Dancing With The Stars." In Argentina, they have "Dancing For A Dream." Not many differences between these two prime-time programs, except the Argentine version really loves thongs, 1/2 naked women and sparkles. I had the pleasure of watching it tonight with my mom when this gem of a dance couple performed!

It was like watching a porn with your 73 old grandma. She is completely cool with all of the nudity though. She even called that the girl was going to be naked once she started her routine. She always says "Siempre la cola!" which basically translates to "Always the ass!"




Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Motivation

It's 11:29PM and I'm currently listening to Radiohead's album "In Rainbows." A big thanks toAaron and Brett for getting me hooked on them. I must say it sounded much better on vinyl whilesmoking hookah though. I'm trying to find the motivation to write a short little paper for my Cultural Icons class. It's on Evita. Pretty cool cat. We start talking about "El Che" tomorrow, so that should be quite interesting. The professor is a 29 year old NYU Phd student and super intelligent. I really enjoy his class. Ok, off to write...I think.



I just found this quote while I was facebook-surfing and it was a breath of fresh air. Very very true if you're ever planning on learning a new language.

"The true work of improving things is in the little achievements of the day."

Much love from south of the Equator,
Patrick


Capital Federal, Buenos Aires, Argentina