I changed families for the thrid and las time almost a month ago now. I live with Graciela, the mom of Miguel (who is the other half of my exchange living in the States) and with her niece, Eugenia, who works as a dentist down the road.
It´s really nice living with them. We don´t eat lunch together, but Graciela and I go to the gym together and we go to Corrientes and hang out for dinner the three of us.
Graciela is a really involved mom. Lately, she´s been taking me to get to know all the little towns in Corrientes.
We went to Saladas, her home town, and met ALL of the family. She is one of 6 siblings and I met all but one of the siblings and their families. Her mom is a great cook and had me eating delicious food all weekend! The house that Graciela grew up in is also beautiful. It´s in the old Spanish colonial style huge tall rooms that all connect and open up into a central garden with all different types of fruit trees and places to sit. It as a really beautiful visit.
Growing up with a mom who´s crazy about cooking, I think Graciela realy caught the bug. Last Sunday instead ofeating asado, we went on a day trip to a little town in Corrientes: Itati; famous for having a virgin who did miracles. People walk there every year to go to masses for the virgin which take place in a gigantic cathedral with gorgeous stained glass windows.
We had looked at the church and were talking a stroll down to the river when GRaciela saw the grapefruit tree. She culdn´t get over how full the tree was with ripe grapefruits.
-It´s such a shame that no one eats those grapefruits
She kept on saying. Luckily for her, there was a woman standing n the other side of her wall, watching us.
-do you by anychance have a hook and some plastic bags?
Asked Graciela, appoaching the woman and the fruit tree. Well, the woman was happy to help us get the grapefruit don. I climbed up on the wall and knocked them down while everyone ran around picking them up. We finished with three bags of big ripe grapefruit.
We continued our walk to the river without another interruption until Graciela looked over into the graden of another house and saw none other than a little tree full of kumquats! KUMQUATS. It was such a shame, such a shame that no one was eating them that Graciela went up to the gate of the house and clapped her hands to get the owner to come out.
- Will you give us some of your kumquats?
She asked the lttle old man who attended the gate alongside a big grey dog. The man was happy to share his harvest and ushered us into the house, gave us bags, and followed us out to the tree,talking all the time as we picked kumquats about his dogs, his chickens, his childhood in Buenos Aires. When we had two bags full of kumquats (although we had made no impact on the numbers still on the tree) he brought us back to the house to show us the room her was making for when his kids visited, the wood stove he had had installed, and even brought us intot he kitchen to try some dulce de kumquat.
So when we finally left Itati, we had 5 bags of fresh fruit, a new friend in the little town, and a good story to tel you all about how serious Graciela is about making the best out of any fruit tree she sees!
I´m reall yhaving a good time in this last family :)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
North Trip
As some of you know have seen a lot of Argentina, but I haven´t written a whole lot about my journies. To remedy that, I will record here and now some of the entries out of my journal from my days on the Rotary North Trip. What I've written will be indented so you all can tell when I make other comments, and of course, are translated from Spanish, so sorry if there is very little vocabluary :)
Well, I was really excited about the trip. I had all these errands to run and I made a list of the things I had to pack, and I even stayed home from school on the monday before the trip to make sure everything got done.
Well, I was really excited about the trip. I had all these errands to run and I made a list of the things I had to pack, and I even stayed home from school on the monday before the trip to make sure everything got done.
Jorge and Cheli (my host parents) both went with my to the bus terminal and they sayed there with me until I got on the bus, even though there were lots of other people there who could have looked after me. I thought it was really sweet. Luca (friend), Roree (exchange friend from Califonia) and Graciela (3rd host mom) also came to see us off! I was so happy to see all of them. I love that Graciela has made an effort to be a part of my life this whole year, even though I haven´t been living with her.
The bus trip was really nice!
(I think I wrote this because it was nice to see all the people from the South trip; 12 hour bus reides are never "really nice")
We got to Cordoba in the morning and did a tour of the sity. I had already seen most of what they showed us because I went to Cordoba with my first host family, but it was nice to have another view of the city because it is just beautiful. The buildings are all in an older style; there´s actually a law now that if you want to remodel a building, you can´t modernize the outside. This means that the shopping mall in the center looks like a big old government building or museum and not like a mall at all.
April 29 - Today we arrived in Medoza. The hotel is gorgeous; at least on the outside! The rooms have awkward turquoise bed covers and the water was freezing when I took my shower. One of the best things about the hotel? We found a little mama cat with four kittens living on the roof outsife our window. I stole some ham from breakfast andwe fed it to her. We took a tour of the city and went to a beautiful park wth fountains, trails to walk on and a big lake. We also went walking up alittle mountain to see a statue of General San Martin who, as some of you may remember, wanted to liberate all of South America from Spanish colonization. He achieved at the very least Argentina and Chile and all over Argentina, he´s comemorated with statues of himpointing west toward the cordillera de los Andes which he had to cross to getto Chile. He points west in every single statue without fail... except the one we climbed to see in Mendoza where he is on horseback with his arms crossed, contemplating how to cross the Andes, whose formidable height is clearly in view.
What a badass, really. I mean, how incredible is it to have your legacy, your life´s work, commenerated so elegantly throughout an entire country?
Well, that´s where I´ll stop for tonight. But don´t worry, tomorrow I will return with more stories about the trip :)
XooOxxOoXXo ox
Saturday, April 11, 2009
5o 4a
School here is in full swing, and for the students of fifth year (that´s me) that means that everyone is thinking about all the things that we have to do to graduate.
A big tradition in Resistencia is the class t-shirt. Every class in the school gets together and thinks up a design for a t-shirt that they can all wear together to the numerous school relates events that happen throughout the year. And although these kids have spent five whole years with each other, it´s still a really big deal to try and figure out how the t-shirt will look.
After school one day, we all got together in Virgi´s house. A few kids brought pictures and examples of what they liked, but eberyone had a differnt itde. What colors should it be? What color will everyone look good in? No, we can´t juse white, grey or maroon because those are the school colors! There will the 54 go!? Do we really have to make it a polo shirt? It will look like Nacional just gave it to us; it looks too much like the uniform! Do you REALLY expect the boys to want to wear that?
After about 2.5 hours of heated, unbridled discussion, impromtu votes and lots of general arguing and agreeing... there was no real agreement. Plus, everyone said, since not everyone had come to Virgi´s, there would have to be a final vote in school on Monay.
In the end, everyone came to an agreement, and I think what we came up with will be great. In the end, even though everyone fought a lot, we cae up with something that will look good, not be too expensive, and most importanly, that we can wear as a class. And that´s what I´m really excited about.
A big tradition in Resistencia is the class t-shirt. Every class in the school gets together and thinks up a design for a t-shirt that they can all wear together to the numerous school relates events that happen throughout the year. And although these kids have spent five whole years with each other, it´s still a really big deal to try and figure out how the t-shirt will look.
After school one day, we all got together in Virgi´s house. A few kids brought pictures and examples of what they liked, but eberyone had a differnt itde. What colors should it be? What color will everyone look good in? No, we can´t juse white, grey or maroon because those are the school colors! There will the 54 go!? Do we really have to make it a polo shirt? It will look like Nacional just gave it to us; it looks too much like the uniform! Do you REALLY expect the boys to want to wear that?
After about 2.5 hours of heated, unbridled discussion, impromtu votes and lots of general arguing and agreeing... there was no real agreement. Plus, everyone said, since not everyone had come to Virgi´s, there would have to be a final vote in school on Monay.
In the end, everyone came to an agreement, and I think what we came up with will be great. In the end, even though everyone fought a lot, we cae up with something that will look good, not be too expensive, and most importanly, that we can wear as a class. And that´s what I´m really excited about.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Happy Birthday Daddio!
Since I know you like when I write in my bolg, I figured I would make you a special post.
Today was a nice day. I woke up at about 11 to go to Paso de la Patria with Germán (my host brother) to eat asado. Mabel (who lives with us, but is not related) got up at about the same time as me, and while she drank mate, I ate an orange and we watched part of a George Clooney movie in spanish. Germán brought Vero (his girlfriend) home, and then we got in the truck and drove off to Corrientes, listening to Joaquin Sabina (Spanish musician with singular voice). It was very hot. When we got to Paso, Jorge made a joke about the heat. It´s actually fall here, I think.
Clarita and Jeimie (Cheli´s good friend and her husband) ate asado with us and we talked about being kosher (since they are jews) and about sacred cows in India (where Fede, my other host brother, went for an exchange year). I slept a nice siesta, and then drove home with Ger.
I went to a friend´s house for a bit, then walked home. By that time, it was really nice out; balmy with a little breeze.
I stopped at a kiosco on Avenida 9 de Julio to call you, dad, but you weren´t home, so I left a message and called your cell, but either you can´t get international calls, or youñre having too much fun to pick up (which would be the best situation!) Then I walked the rest of the way home, through the Plaza 25 de Mayo, where there was an aoutdoor chamamé concert going on and people were dancing. I looked for my tango friends who usually hang around any folkloric event, but they weren´t there, so I went home and wrote this post, because I wanted to tell you what the weather was like here on your birthday, beacause I thought that would be kind of interesting. It´s tropical.
I love you very much, Dad,
Today was a nice day. I woke up at about 11 to go to Paso de la Patria with Germán (my host brother) to eat asado. Mabel (who lives with us, but is not related) got up at about the same time as me, and while she drank mate, I ate an orange and we watched part of a George Clooney movie in spanish. Germán brought Vero (his girlfriend) home, and then we got in the truck and drove off to Corrientes, listening to Joaquin Sabina (Spanish musician with singular voice). It was very hot. When we got to Paso, Jorge made a joke about the heat. It´s actually fall here, I think.
Clarita and Jeimie (Cheli´s good friend and her husband) ate asado with us and we talked about being kosher (since they are jews) and about sacred cows in India (where Fede, my other host brother, went for an exchange year). I slept a nice siesta, and then drove home with Ger.
I went to a friend´s house for a bit, then walked home. By that time, it was really nice out; balmy with a little breeze.
I stopped at a kiosco on Avenida 9 de Julio to call you, dad, but you weren´t home, so I left a message and called your cell, but either you can´t get international calls, or youñre having too much fun to pick up (which would be the best situation!) Then I walked the rest of the way home, through the Plaza 25 de Mayo, where there was an aoutdoor chamamé concert going on and people were dancing. I looked for my tango friends who usually hang around any folkloric event, but they weren´t there, so I went home and wrote this post, because I wanted to tell you what the weather was like here on your birthday, beacause I thought that would be kind of interesting. It´s tropical.
I love you very much, Dad,
Saturday, March 28, 2009
March
One thing I really like about Resistencia is that they take their orange jucie seriously. I remember the first time I had really excellent orange juice. It was in a little cafe in New York City the time I went with my mom and HLL and Jenny, and I don´t remember anything else about that breakfast other than the big glass of freshly squeezed ornage juice that I was served.
Well here, all orange juice is like that. There is no other good juice. All the other juice is Tang or Clight and people usually only drink it for tereré. But the orange juice is unbelieveable. It´s always freshly squeezed and cool with a big piece of ice in the glass. There is always pulp and the flavor is always perfect.
School has started again and it´s going pretty well. The only class I really like is math. It´s kind of weird how they do school here. They´re not really into doing photocopies so on the first day of classes, insted of handing out a paper with the objectives and schedule for the class (like we usually get in classes in the states) We all had to copy down a dictation of what we were going to be learning that year. It was such a waste of time! I don´t understand why they do it that way. They don´t even save paper or anything, because everyone copies on to paper they have. They do a lot of dictations here, I don´t really think it´s a great way to learn because the kids are just writing, they´re not listening, processing and then writing their own version of what´s going on. I mean, maybe they learn that way and I´m just wired differently, but I think it´s important to write everything in your own words, instead of copying so much.
Well here, all orange juice is like that. There is no other good juice. All the other juice is Tang or Clight and people usually only drink it for tereré. But the orange juice is unbelieveable. It´s always freshly squeezed and cool with a big piece of ice in the glass. There is always pulp and the flavor is always perfect.
School has started again and it´s going pretty well. The only class I really like is math. It´s kind of weird how they do school here. They´re not really into doing photocopies so on the first day of classes, insted of handing out a paper with the objectives and schedule for the class (like we usually get in classes in the states) We all had to copy down a dictation of what we were going to be learning that year. It was such a waste of time! I don´t understand why they do it that way. They don´t even save paper or anything, because everyone copies on to paper they have. They do a lot of dictations here, I don´t really think it´s a great way to learn because the kids are just writing, they´re not listening, processing and then writing their own version of what´s going on. I mean, maybe they learn that way and I´m just wired differently, but I think it´s important to write everything in your own words, instead of copying so much.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
CARNAVAL
The man in the white is my salsa teacher, Ariel!
My daddio recently informed me that it´s Marti Gras up there in the motherland. Here we don´t celebrate that (it´s no New Orleans, folks) but there is CARNAVAL, which is really huge in Brasil and in Corrientes Capital, the city over the bridge. They claim themselves the federal capital of Carnaval, although most of the peopel you ask here will tell you that 10 years ago, they comparsas were even BIGGER, the dancers even SEXIER and the joda... inexplicable.
I went for the last night of carnaval (it goes on from the end of Jan to the end of Feb) with Graciela, my third host mom, her boyfriend, and a friend of hers. I was going to go with Juampi and his sister, but that fell though on account of him having a Y-chromosome and my host father being strict. That´s okay though because I really wanted to go. I really wanted to have the experience of being there- carnaval in South America isn´t something I would have been happy about missing.
CARNAVAL was excellent. The people were so excited, and the dancers were absoluely amazing. Everyone was spraying foam (they call it snow) so we all got soaked.
At first, I really didn´t know where to look. All of the dancers were incredibly good looking (at least in the body department), recklessly close to nakedness and moved so well. It made me want to go to the gym and to dance classes every day :P There were also groups of little girls dancing, it was crazy how well some of them already knew how to dance, they just grow up with it, I guess.
There were lots of men there who obviously went to oogle the ladies. There were two me in the bleachers in front of us (there was the lane for the dancers in the center) who spent the ENTIRE night (22:30-06:30) leaning over the enge of the rail and asing the dancers to kiss them. They were both kind of large and not very handsome, but by the end of the night their faces were covered in red lipstick kisses.
I wanted to take pictures, I really did, but my camera ran out of battery during the first comparsa and that was that. Luckily, tucorrientes.com took a ton of fotos, and so I´m taking some from the illustrious website (which you sure can visit if you want more pictures of the ladies) and posting them here so you all can get a taste of the excitement!
A word about the outfits. They are all handmade of tailor made but the dancers or their families. No one pays you to be in carnaval, not even in the drum section. No one pays you to make your costume and if you want to dance, you certanily don´t complain about the fact that you have to get a new outfits EVERY YEAR. People spend thousands of pesos making thos things, buying the feathers, gluing the beads... God knows how they get the unsupported, side-strappless thong bottoms to stay on, and I sure don´t want to find out.
Okay, I really do, but that´ll be a story for another post.
Friday, February 13, 2009
New Family!
Gee, I guess it really has been a long time since I posted anything!
I spend the holidays with my first family... we had big parties for both Christmas and New Years, which was a lot of clean fun. Most of the kdis here actually go out dancing on both those holidays. Yes, my friends, underage children go out and party on Christmas Night. I was okay with staying in.
Then I switched families! My new familiy lives about 25 quadras from my old house in an entierly different neighborhood. I am now only 5 blocks from the center of town, but everything is pretty peaceful here, relatively speaking.
We have some crazy neighbors. The man to the left of our house leaves his garbage in our parking space and the woman to the right finds it necessary to peep out from behind her door whenever she hears us getting the car out to go somewhere... City living?
At first, I didn´t actually spend much time in the house, which is very beautifully decorated with the many souvenirs that my mom brought back from her trip to India when Fede was there on exchange.
I moved in one night, and the very next day we went off to visit family in Tucuman. It was a whirlwind trip in which we visited the majority of the many landmarks in the Argentinian capital of independence, San Miguel de Tucuman.
When we got home, we visited some family in Corrientes, the city across the bridge, and then went off to Paso de la Patria, a vacation town in provincial Corrientes where my family has a house.
For my host mom, Cheli, Paso is the ultimae vacation spot. I am sure that she could spend a while mothe there with nothing to do other than hang out in the pool, watch TV and enjoy Paso, and she would never get bored.
I, on the other hand, got a little bored after the first week and a half, but luckily found some of the boys from my class on the beach and spent some time getting to know them. They cooked me asado one night, we hung out on the beach fishing under the stars and another night we all went out to dance (all the dance clubs from Resistencia move to Paso for the summer). My mom was alittle worried about letting me go out, but the boys came to pick me up and bought me coke since I wasn´t allowed to drink and walked me home as the sun came up. And I had a very nice time.
I cam home from Paso a week early becasue Helena, my friend from Switzerland, had finished her year and was heading home. The eschange girls and I went to her house at 5 on wednesday and stayed for her going away party, and then Ellie and I spent the night there, to see her off the next morning. It was very emotional to leave her there on the step, but men, it was so great to be there with her and see how much she had accomplished in her year. There she was, speaking perfect Argentine Spanish, laughing with all the wonderful friends she had made. Her host family fell in love with her (they drove her all the way to Buenos Aires to see her off) and she had success in tango, in tennis, and in school. Really, I can´t think of a better way to end my year than with a group of people that have come to mean so much to me and I hope that I gain (and give) as much here as she did.
I spend the holidays with my first family... we had big parties for both Christmas and New Years, which was a lot of clean fun. Most of the kdis here actually go out dancing on both those holidays. Yes, my friends, underage children go out and party on Christmas Night. I was okay with staying in.
Then I switched families! My new familiy lives about 25 quadras from my old house in an entierly different neighborhood. I am now only 5 blocks from the center of town, but everything is pretty peaceful here, relatively speaking.
We have some crazy neighbors. The man to the left of our house leaves his garbage in our parking space and the woman to the right finds it necessary to peep out from behind her door whenever she hears us getting the car out to go somewhere... City living?
At first, I didn´t actually spend much time in the house, which is very beautifully decorated with the many souvenirs that my mom brought back from her trip to India when Fede was there on exchange.
I moved in one night, and the very next day we went off to visit family in Tucuman. It was a whirlwind trip in which we visited the majority of the many landmarks in the Argentinian capital of independence, San Miguel de Tucuman.
When we got home, we visited some family in Corrientes, the city across the bridge, and then went off to Paso de la Patria, a vacation town in provincial Corrientes where my family has a house.
For my host mom, Cheli, Paso is the ultimae vacation spot. I am sure that she could spend a while mothe there with nothing to do other than hang out in the pool, watch TV and enjoy Paso, and she would never get bored.
I, on the other hand, got a little bored after the first week and a half, but luckily found some of the boys from my class on the beach and spent some time getting to know them. They cooked me asado one night, we hung out on the beach fishing under the stars and another night we all went out to dance (all the dance clubs from Resistencia move to Paso for the summer). My mom was alittle worried about letting me go out, but the boys came to pick me up and bought me coke since I wasn´t allowed to drink and walked me home as the sun came up. And I had a very nice time.
I cam home from Paso a week early becasue Helena, my friend from Switzerland, had finished her year and was heading home. The eschange girls and I went to her house at 5 on wednesday and stayed for her going away party, and then Ellie and I spent the night there, to see her off the next morning. It was very emotional to leave her there on the step, but men, it was so great to be there with her and see how much she had accomplished in her year. There she was, speaking perfect Argentine Spanish, laughing with all the wonderful friends she had made. Her host family fell in love with her (they drove her all the way to Buenos Aires to see her off) and she had success in tango, in tennis, and in school. Really, I can´t think of a better way to end my year than with a group of people that have come to mean so much to me and I hope that I gain (and give) as much here as she did.
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