Feliz Tres Meses, Argentina!

He estado aca en Argentina por tres meses! Que rapido paso! Estoy muy feliz estar en Chilecito. 

Now my three months was officially on December 10th. Now that I've spent a sufficient amount of time here, I'm no longer living the inconsistent, every day's completely different life of a newly arrived exchange student. I've settled into a sort of groove over the past month I'd say and I'd love to share it with you. Settle in, folks, there aren't any pictures in this post. 

Argentine Life

School

For my first three months here, I had to attend school. School starts at about eight and ends at noon every day except for Wednesdays, which ends at one. Each day (excluding Wednesdays) we had three different classes. My schedule included biology, mathematics, literature, English, art, geography, and social sciences. No, I am not going to pretend that I was an active participant in class. At first, I didn't understand anything that any of the teachers said. By the time I started to comprehend, it was time for me to leave on the South Trip. When I returned after missing two weeks, I was so behind on the information that I could hardly do anything. I did, however, excel in math and English (surprising, I know), and didn't actually do too bad in art. Luckily, no teacher insisted that I take the final tests and I didn't exactly plead with them to let me.

After School

After school was always the same. We all collectively left the school and walk a block to the center. For my first two months, I would always pass time in the plaza by talking to friends and classmates until it was close to 1 o'clock then wander over to my host mom's office and ride home with her. Then, after I changed families, I would stay in the plaza until my host sister was ready to go to her dad's work, a clinic a few blocks from the plaza. From there we would ride home with my host dad. Almost immediately after school is always lunch. Lunch is always a fairly large sized meal and, when I was in school, was almost always promptly followed by a nap.

Activities

For my first two months, I was mostly occupied by only my tango classes on Mondays and Fridays at 10PM and gym classes at 3PM on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Upon returning from the South Trip and switching families, I finally joined a volleyball team, joined an aerobics class and started attending weekly Roteract meetings. With my volleyball team, I practiced irregularly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, usually around 5PM. Games were at 6 or 7 ish on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My aerobics class was Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 8PM to 9PM. Roteract, which is a part of rotary, but for young adults from the ages of 18 to around 30, has meetings every Thursday starting at about 10-10:30 PM and ending close to midnight. My Dutch friend (who also attends Roteract) and I started a tradition of cooking for ourselves before Roteract meetings. 

Weekends

Without a doubt, my favorite part of being in Argentina is Saturday nights. Now it isn't because I've become a crazy party girl (please, I'm a proper Rotary exchange student), but because Argentine parties are something I know I'll never find anywhere in the USA. Saturday nights are when my friends and I go to the club, typically the outdoor club at this time of year due to the heat, and there's always loud music and dancing. The best part is, the dancing isn't at all similar to the dancing seen at clubs in the US. It's fun and needs some practice to be good at including spinning, twirling and fancy moves. I love it! 
However, one of my least favorite parts of Argentina are Sundays. Usually we don't get in until between five and six in the morning on Sunday and can only sleep a few hours before we're up again. The blame for our lack of sleep can be placed on asado. Eating asado is a Sunday tradition. Sometimes my family will stay in and eat at my house, but other times we head over to someone else's home to eat. Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy eating asado! However, being sociable when I'm tired has always been a challenge for me.

Spanish

It's not the fault of my teacher's in high school that I don't appear to know anything of Argentine Spanish. The language notably different than from what I learned in school. Let me list a couple of differences that I have noticed:

1. Stem changes. They aren't used unless you are speaking to someone in a formal tense. I was confused for quite some time by seeing verbs written like "tenes" or "podes" and still can't bring myself to remember to write it like that myself. I'm just a very polite person, I suppose.
2. Vocabulary. Here they do not say "camiseta" but instead "remera". I still don't know whether I'm supposed to say "usar" or "llevar" when I'm talking about what I'm wearing. I learned that "buscar" is used when someone is going to pick you up (there was quite a bit of confusion before that was properly understood). "Derrecho" means straight, which is uncomfortably close to "derrecha" which means right. "Salir" means both to leave and to go out (like on a Saturday night). I was a little confused when people always asked me if I was going to leave this weekend and I would answer, no, I'm staying the whole year . . .
3. The biggest difference in Spanish here is undoubtedly the use of "vos" in place of "tu". "Vos sos" takes the place of "tu eres" when conjugating the verb "ser". I'm so used to hearing "vos" now that if I were to listen to a Spanish conversation using "tu" I might be confused for a while. Additionally, "vosotros" is never used but instead "ustedes" is applied when asking about more than one person or "you all". For example, the question "What are you guys doing?" would be "Que hacen ustedes?".

The thing is, everything I just told you is about to change. I'm now officially I'm summer vacation, starting last Friday! Unfortunately, everyone (adults included) are starting their summer vacations as well. This means that my activities are winding down as my teachers go on their own vacations and I'll have to start searching for new things to do. With all the heat that's headed my way, my new activity might just be sitting poolside and tanning. No snow for me this Christmas!

South Trip

So if the trip from Calafate to Ushuaia seemed long, it was nothing compared to the journey from Ushuaia to Bariloche. After 38 long, continuous hours on the bus including a return trip on the ferry and through the treacherous Chilean roads, we arrived in Esquel. After a morning adventure and lunch, it was another 4 hours still until we finally arrived in Bariloche, the final destination of the South Trip!

Fourth Stop

Bariloche is widely known in Argentina for two things; amazing skiing (something I didn't get to experience) and copious amounts of clubs/partying (as a model rotary exchange student, of course I didn't experience this either ...). On the bottom of the map you can see the city of Esquel, nothing too remarkable. From there we visited the Parque Nacional los Alerces which included a small museum and a lovely lake. Look a bit further north and you arrive at San Carlos de Bariloche! Here we visited a night pub, went shopping and spent the day in Complex Tom Wesley!

Esquel

Esquel wasn't a main event. It was more of a pit stop we took after 38 excuriating hours on a bus. The hotel was decent, a bed had never felt more comfortable to me in my life . . .

The ferry we took in Chile to cross the Strait of Magallanes presented by the lovely Julia Ferris and stunning Bregje Vanden Biggelaar.

Rolling Travel claimed that we had to take the bus everywhere we went so we could appreciate the landscape of Argentina. Here is the landscape we passed on the way to the Parque Nacional lo Alerces.

We appreciated it.

Upon arriving at the Parque Nacional los Alcerces, we first visited the small museum. Here is the sign we happened to notice while entering. The sign claims that the danger index of a fire starting was extreme! (Allow me to note that it was drizzling at some points that day).

This is a rather strange tree that is typical in this region. It's kind of like a pine tree and a willow tree mixed together. I can't recall the name.

 

The beautiful lake that we went to after the museum. We spent quite a bit of time sitting by these shores, braving the brisk air. It wasn't as cold as Ushuaia, though. 

Of course we weren't just standing there. We were posing for pictures. We are always posing for pictures.

The place where we went for lunch in Esquel had a sort of classic rock and roll bands theme. I happened to notice this poster outside of the bathroom! Elvis in BUFFALO, NEW YORK. It made me feel appreciated. I live where Elvis was and the world knows it. Also, this reminded me of my Grandma! 

San Carlos de Bariloche

Bariloche is a very famous tourist city in Argentina. It's a prime spot for buying souvenirs and chocolate, to go skiing and, of course, go clubbing. 

The view from our hotel rooms. Well some hotel rooms. Some of us (me) were stuck with the lovely view of the white wall of an office building . . .

 

We arrived in the evening in Bariloche. After dinner, we went out to a pub that had specifically been reserved for only us exchange students. Needless to say, it was a blast.

The following day in Bariloche we were given the chance to wander around the city for the morning. It was the perfect place to buy souvenirs. I can guarantee that at least half of the exchange students bought chocolate here as gifts for their host families. 

One of the many chocolate stores we passed. The main stream ones (main example being a store named "The Tourist") were overpriced and not that much more special than the little side stores of chocolate. Argentine chocolate is the best in the world, but Bariloche chocolate is something worth mentioning.

Complex Tomy Wesley

This place was the best. I couldn't think of a better final destination on the south trip. It was raining the whole time, but that didn't stop us from horseback-riding and playing soccer outside. We also had hot chocolate, a great asado dinner and played traditional Argentine games with a group of Argentines that happened to have been there with us!

The famous Llao-Llao hotel on the Lago Nahuel Huapi. It was too foggy from the rain to see the snowy peaks in the background.

Cheesing it in front of Lago Nahuel Huapi.

 

Horseback riding! You can't see it in the picture, but it was drizzling quite steadily. I think my hands froze to the reins. But it was so much fun! I went twice, first on Moo Moo (left) and then on Caramel (right). At the end we even got up to a trot. I had no idea what to do when the horses went fast. It was awesome.

 

After horseback riding we warmed up in a small lodge with hot chocolate, a fried-dough sort of snack and a cozy fire!

Then came the games! The games included musical chairs, some game where we had to jump over a string every time a dude said "Gato" or "Perro" and some thing where we were attached to long slabs of wood and had to walk simultaneously. The exchange students admittedly didn't do as great as I wish we had. After the games ended, we danced, obviously. We're in Argentina.

Speaking of not doing great, after games and dancing, we all headed out to the soccer field! It was still raining and by the time we finished I was almost soaked to the bone, but it was too much fun. It was exchange students versus the Argentines and we lost horribly. 

After a lovely asado dinner, we climbed back aboard the bus and headed back to the hotel. We spent some time chatting about the trip and even gave a short presentation of all of our countries' national anthems to not only the other exchange students, but a small crowd of Argentines that gathered in the lobby as well. 

EL FIN

We woke up bright and early the next day and climbed aboard the bus for one last haul. I spent most of this trip being uncomfortable as I had gotten sick the day before and it had only gotten worse. A little over twenty four hours later, we arrived at the Cordoba bus terminal.

After two amazing, memorable weeks together, these incredible, cultured people are my family.

Unfortunately, after all our travels, the three of us exchange students from Chilecito had to spend the day in the city before taking a seven hour night bus home. We walked around, looked at shops, crashed at a future outbound's home for a quick nap and took advantage of the movie theater since there isn't one in Chilecito!

Getting to know the South of Argentina was an incredible experience and I'm so thankful I had the opportunity to do it! You can learn a lot about the world in two short weeks.

South Trip

So after Calafate, we hopped on the bus again at about 3 in the morning and travelled to the southernmost city of the world! It was a long trip and included a several hour excursion through Chile. We crossed the Strait of Magallanes by ferry and many fields full of sheep and baby lambs. Most of the time while in Chile, the road was an awful dirt path. But we arrived in Ushuaia late in night.

Third Stop

The city of Ushuaia is in an area of Argentina named the "Tierra del Fuego" or Land of Fire. I hear that it's titled such because of the way the sun looks as it sets. I, unfortunately, heard this after the last sunset had passed. Up on the left, to the left of Punta Arenas, is the Strait of Magallanes. The green line that continues past Ushuaia goes through a body of water called the Canal de Beagle, where we went on a half-day excursion on a boat. Additionally, we visited the national park of Tierra del Fuego and a sled dog hatchery!

Ushuaia

Just thought I'd throw in a quick photo of the Strait of Mallagane

Ushuaia was surrounded by snowcapped mountians. It even snowed when we were there! This was definitely the coldest place we visited on the whole South trip.

Ushuaia is on the shore of the ocean (Pacific/Atlantic ?) and is, of course, a fishing town. Like Puerto Madryn, a majority of the fish is exported. However, I did happen to see a few seafood restaurants and even one sushi restaurant! I haven't seen these anywhere else in all of Argentina.

Parque Nacional de la Tierra del Fuego

After a morning spent walking around town, the exchange students headed to the National Park of the Tierra del Fuego!

We stopped by the sea. It was freezing and snowy, but lovely.

There was a bridge!

After the sea, we went on a walk around a lake area. The snow had stopped and the air was the chilly kind of fresh that I'm used to around this time of year, but haven't felt in all of the rest of Argentina.

Our lakeside views.

With a view as lovely as this, Bregje and I absolutely had to capture it with a handstand. However, we were not so successful with our attempt. Sometimes life (and handstands) is hard.

We happened to see a fox wandering around. That was cool! We didn't happen to figure out what it says though ...

Views of the National Park of the Tierra del Fuego.

 

We visited a train station on the way out.

Beagle Channel

Our second day in Ushuaia started with an optional boat ride around the Beagle Channel with included features like a lighthouse, sea lions and birds that looked like penguins, but weren't! I opted to go on it.

The other exchange students that also opted to go on the boat trip as we waited for the arrival of the boat. It was a very, very cold day.

 

Here are the islands that included the sea lions, birds and lighthouse! The sea lions are on the left of the islands while the birds inhabit the right. The sea lions were quite noisy.

My two home countries.

Sled Dog Hatchery

After lunch we headed to a sled dog hatchery! And here, yet again, was a sign indicating just how far away I was from everything. In this sign, New York is 10,508 km away!

First we went for another lovely walk that was cut short by a washed away bridge.

After the walk we learned about how to properly raise, train and race dogs in a video presentation while we were served some delicious hot chocolate. Then we visited with the darling dogs! They were unexpectedly skinny, but very happy with the attention.

Ushuaia is a fun place to have tucked into my travel resume, but it admittedly wasn't the most interesting. It's a small, cold city with a beautiful view, but not too much else. If you ever plan on visiting, I highly recommend traveling via plane because the drive by bus is just a nightmare! Lucky for me, I hopped right back onto that bus and embarked on a 38 hour bus ride headed to Bariloche.