The Winning Continues

Hi again family! It's been a couple weeks, I'm doing the best I can to set aside time to update you! So much to do...

So the last two weeks consisted of the last week of orientation and the first week of classes. Orientation wrapped up with an amazing dinner downtown at La Bistecca, which they had set up like gourmet buffet for our program. With made to order pasta and pizza and every type of steak imaginable, it was probably my favorite meal since I've been here. Aside from Gra's cooking, which seems to get better each and every day. Carne asada and different steaks, this ham egg and cheese quiche, milanesa...and always with some sort of dessert, usually fruit salad or something with dulce de leche, cake and chocolate. I'm truly roughin it down here.

Also during orientation we toured la Bombanera, the Boca Juniors soccer stadium. It was a pretty cool trip, even though I am now a diehard Riverplate fan (their rival)

the 12th man, supposedly rowdier than any fan section we've ever seen

press conference, river fans

Last Saturday was the Tiesto concert, which was without a doubt the best I've ever been to. Tiesto is known as the best DJ in the world, and he definitely showed why Saturday night. The concert was held at the Autodromo, a racetrack in Buenos Aires:

The actual concert was held on the huge infield, and was pretty much packed to capacity with what seemed like hundreds of thousands of people. We got there early, which was a great decision because it was the only way to get close. The combination of the music and light show in the outdoor venue was unbelievable, something I'll never forget. This is what he tweeted the next day: Tiesto Tweet

and here's some pictures

Monday morning my classes started, all of them in Spanish. In addition to my Spanish grammar and language class, I'm taking comparative government, foreign relations, social entrepreneurship in latin america, and a marketing class at a local university, UCES. This class is with actual Argentinean students, so it will be both challenging and a great opportunity. Although it's 5 classes, I anticipate the workload to be very manageable considering the difficulty of classes at Michigan. Or so I hope...

Monday night we went to "la bomba", which is a drum show downtown. It's every monday, and one of the best things to do in town. I'll definitely be a regular. Check out the videos and pictures on their website: La Bomba

La Bomba

St. Patty's was Thursday, and we did our best as Americans to celebrate to the fullest. The locals, however, don't quite share our enthusiasm. After my class ended at 1, Jay and I decided to head to the Irish pub called Shamrock for some lunch and a beer, but to our utter disbelief Shamrock was not yet open. The bar is called Shamrock and it's not open at 1pm on St. Patty's day. Unbelievable, South America. So we tried another bar Sullivan's, which worked perfectly. We saw a couple other American guys sitting next to us and started talking, and it turns out the one guy went to Jay's high school and they could literally "throw a baseball from his backyard to mine". Such a small world. They graduated from college about 4 years ago, and couldn't get over that "Wait, you guys are in Argentina for the semester and then are going back to college for another year?!?!". Living the dream. They repeatedly told us to "cherish it" and "stay as long as you can!" a la Billy Madison. They were great guys, and insisted on picking up the tab.

Friday we went to the Alamo, an American bar, to try to watch the Michigan game. Apparently the game was on the only channel we don't get, so we sat around a computer and watched the score change on espn.com. Not ideal, but the fact that U of M won by 30 POINTS made it all better.

I also met and befriended a club/bar promoter, so now my friends and I get free entry and VIP access when we go out, which will save me a bunch of money considering the most costly thing in the country appears to be cover fees.

Things are going great and I'm having a blast, but I definitely miss home. The only thing that could make things better is if you guys were here to share it with me. Love you all.

End of week 1 and Punta del Diablo

Hola Familia!

So week 1 flew by, but at the same time I feel like it's been ages since I've been in the states. I've been doing my best Jake Sully impression every day, trying to act/become less Gringo and embrace the culture. I try to turn out the lights each and every time I leave a room, but there are still times when I go to the bathroom and return to my dark bedroom. Seems extreme, especially living in what appears to be a wealthy home, but I'm getting better. Coming from a lifestyle based on many quick meals, I've had to almost completely cut this concept from my routine. Even fast food takes nearly a half hour, and forget about getting in and out of a restaurant in less than an 2 hours. It seems like everyone is moving to the pace of Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, and I'm learning to love it. Also, you know that feeling you get when you leave a store after buying nothing and you're worried people think you stole something? Well its 10x worse here. There is a security guard at every exit, and I always am eyed down head to toe and sometimes even stopped. Theft is a huge issue obviously, and it almost makes me want to buy a candy bar or something to get them off my case.

Last Tuesday Gogo had her son and grandkids over for dinner. The kids Matias (17) and Jose (19) were really cool and we hung out for a while. We are now friends on Skype, and they signed me up for this video game called "Conquerers" which the whole fam plays online. They are all big time Riverplate soccer fans, which I want to be, so they told be all about the team and their best players. Take some time to google the "Superclasico"which is the huge soccer rivalry between the Boca Juniors and Riverplate. Recently ranked the #1 sporting event to see before you die, it supposedly puts Yankees-Red Sox and Michigan-Ohio State to shame (I'd contest the latter). The game can be impossible to attend if you don't know someone, and it appears Gogo's son is this connect. He's a lawyer, and seemed to fit into the arrogant Latino male stereotype nicely, bossing around the made and not really giving me the time of day.  Dinner was excellent, as Gra made milanesa and some Jello (gelatina) for dessert. The fam did not hold back at all during dinner, speaking very fast and engaging in some heated political debates. I'm getting better, but I did a lot of smiling and nodding to say the least.

More orientation continued Wednesday, with some useful power points on the use of slang. After class I went to buy my cheap local phone, expecting a long process as I had heard some horror stories. It could not have been more on the contrary, as I walked out 30 minutes later with my fully active pay-as-you-go phone. Anytime I need more minutes/txts, I can buy a calling card at any one of hundreds of locations around the city. Gra continued her culinary dominance for dinner, making these little lasagna rolls called canelones. I assured her they were fantastic and reminded me of my abuela's cooking, who truly is the best in the world. Dessert was this sugary pancake with dulce de leche inside. Unreal...

Since we had a long weekend coming up for Carnival, for which South America basically shuts down Monday and Tuesday, we decided to shoot over to Punta del Diablo, Uruguay for the weekend. I hope that was as cool to read as it made me feel when I was typing it. Going based on the advice of friends, Punta del Diablo is a little, almost hippie-like beach town in Uruguay that was supposed to be gorgeous. And they weren't lying. It was a lot less touristy than places like Montevideo and Punta del Este, which made for an amazing weekend. We took the Buquebus from Buenos Aires to Colonia, which was pretty incredible. The Buquebus is a huge, 4-story boat/ferry complete with parking lot for cars, shopping, restaurants, and airplane like seating (all pics except the first are on the boat):

A major difference in the seating for public transportation is that it spares nothing when it comes to reclining. Both on the Buquebus and the connecting buses to Montevideo and Punta del Diablo, The seats basically recline all the way, not like the 3 inches we are accustomed to in the states. It was pretty weird the first time I noticed this, as all of a sudden the head of the lady in front of my was basically resting on my lap. It was awesome though, as it made snoozing much easier.

So I'll let the pics do most of the talking, but it was one of the most relaxing weekends of my life. The final crew ended up being my buddy Jay from school, our new friend John from Vanderbilt, and about 8 girls who were mainly from Michigan or Vandy. We stayed in two different hostels, one directly on the beach:

view from the balcony outside of my room

and one about a block away:

The staff at the hostels was pretty cool, mainly consisting of Americans who decided one day that fast-paced American life wasn't quite their style, quit everything and went to work at a hostel in Uruguay. They live a very stressful life nowadays, with top worries consisting of sunburn and the size of the waves. But they were pretty cool, and we participated in some Carnival games in a hostel v hostel competition. Highlights included: 

-A lot of beach lounging

- $1 dollar empanadas and $1 churros (made in a stand right by the beach, filled with chocolate and dulce de leche, too amazing)

 -the shops/stands in town

-climbing/lounging in the rocks

- a carnival themed party with the locals

-surf lessons with Santiago (yes I managed to stand up on the board Day 1...athlete)

 -amazing food: incredible seafood (catch of the day topped with mussels in sauce, italian food, and I was adventurous enough to try chivito or goat (not too bad, topped with ham and a fried egg)

-the puppies: there were about 5 little puppies that lived at the hostel, just chillin, living the dream. I've never seen animals get so much love. Miss Leo...

And I'll leave you guys with a few more random pictures. Miss and love you all! I'm truly living the dream and I'm taking advantage of every second here. Big week coming up with class selection at partner universities, completing the visa process, and the world's best DJ next Saturday.

breakfast every morning

Our hostel for the first 3 days, right on the beach

"Il Tano", little Italian place, probably the best restaurant in town

First few days

Hi Family!

Now I'm reluctant to do this, I've never considered myself the blogging type. I mean come on, I'm too cool for this. But this seems like it'd be easier than sending emails. I'll try to update it as much as possible...

So the day finally arrived, after more than a year of preparation and anticipation I was heading off to South America. I was a little nervous the night before, but it all turned to excitement when the big day was here and as we heading to the airport. I go to college an hour away from where I live, so needless to say this was going to be a different experience. I'm pretty sure I'd still be back in Michigan if it wasn't for Mom, who had a detailed prep checklist for every step of the way including picture descriptions and exact mapquest locations. I love her, and I'm taking my claritin every day!

A few months ago, right before I purchased my plane ticket, I was waiting in line at Ricks, a bar on campus. I began talking to my friend Stacey, who at the time was more like a friend of a friend. We established that she was flying down to Buenos Aires to visit friends right around the time I wanted to go. She sent me her flight confirmation on her blackberry, and the next day I was booked on her flight. This was a fantastic move, as having someone with me for the long flight and more importantly arriving in a foreign country was amazing. The flight was uneventful, besides the fact that in our enormous plane, my seat was one of about 4 in which the video monitor didnt work properly. Everyone around me was watching movies and playing video games, and I had nada. I was a little frustrated, but I took my advil (not tylenol) PM and slept most of the way.

The bus/shuttle that took us from the airport was very cheap, but the guys' apt where I was staying was just outside their boundaries. However, I put my Spanish skills to use for the first time and was able to bribe the driver to break some rules for a whopping 20 pesos, or 5 dollars. I was worried that  once I arrived at their place, which was around 9 am, that they would all be sleeping and not answer the door. Luckily they were prepared, and slept on the couch by the door for just that reason.

So after hanging out at the apt for a while, we decided to meet up with people at la plaza armenia near by. There aren't really beaches that close, but lounging at this park is almost as good. There seem to be very few rules here, as we grabbed some beers and some food and laid around in this beautiful park, which is surrounded on all sides by restaurants and little stands on the street selling food, clothes, art, and other items.

That night we invited some girls over to the apartment and went out on the town for the first time, to a boliche (club) called Crobar. This is when I truly realized the difference in time schedules in Argentina. We ate dinner around midnight,  the girls arrived around 1, we went to Crobar around 330, and returned around 7...a fairly average night? It'll take some adjustment to say the least. Crobar was awesome:

But the next night, at la Terraza, was even better. This place just opened and is HUGE, big enough that there were about 6 different genres of music playing in different places. The best part is the outdoor portion by the water where everyone goes to watch the sunrise...yes sunRISE, not sunset.

The next day I met my host family, and it could not be a better situation. The house is gorgeous, and I live with my housemom Gogo (real name is Elvira but everyone calls her Gogo) and the maid Gra, short for Graciela. Here are some pictures of my place. I have my own room and bathroom, and Gra is a great cook.

Yesterday and today have been pretty dull, as the orientation is long and detailed. The highlight was a walking tour of San Telmo, one of the oldest barrios in Buenos Aires:

 But I did manage to successfully maneuver the Subte, or subway, by myself. It was intimidating at first, and I did take it one stop in the wrong direction, but it worked out great. Very cheap and easy, and I know I'll be an expert in no time.

A few things to note. I now have met people in 3 different study abroad programs, and every program has about a 5 to 1 girl to guy ratio. Not sure exactly why that is, but I think somehow I'll manage. Also there is a huge lack of efficiency here. Since the servers don't really get tipped well they have little to no motivation to do a good job, and it shows. It takes forever just to get menus, and ages to get food. At the bars, you wait in one line to purchase a drink, they give you a ticket, then you wait in another line to get your drink. It truly makes a lot of sense...But in the end, how mad can I be? Take your time Señor Terribleservice, I'm just chillin in South America.

And just for Uncle Jim...we met Brazilian girls on our first night