The Passion for Futbol and Other Sports

I had many classes this week as it is the last week to try out classes before I need to sign a paper saying which ones I am for sure going to take. It has been very tough to figure out what the classes are going to like because of the olympics.

The people here have so much passion for their sports teams. It is amazing how everybody gathers around to watch the games. The other day was the semi finals for futbol or soccer. It was Argentina and Brasil; A border battle. Only 7 people showed up to my computer class because everybody was watching the game. The professor gave us a break to go watch the end of the game in the Cantina or cafeteria here. It was an unbelievable sight.

The Cantina was packed. There wasnt a place to sit or even stand. Everyone was hovered around the TV watching the game. I felt like I was in a bar during the superbowl, or at a Twins World Series game. Anytime something happened the place erupted. It was really cool to see everyone so into the olympics and their country. Argentina won 3 to 0, and advanced to the gold medal game. The Gold Medal game is tonight at 1 am local time. I plan on going out to watch with some friends.

Its not just soccer that they go crazy about, however soccer is the most famous sport. Last week my professor cancelled the first part of class to watch the Argentina basketball game. Today was the semi finals basketball game. It couldn´t have been any better because Argentina played the United States. Again everybody skipped class and huddled around the tv. This time, I was right up front with my fellow USA friend Brad. We accidently forgot where we were a couple times. Lebron James nailed a three pointer and somebody else dunked on an Argentina player. Brad and I accidently jumped up and cheered. We received some dirty looks, but they were all in fun.

Alright well I am off to cheer for Argentina in the Gold Medal game for futbol. It should begin around 11pm in Minneapolis. You all should watch.

Otras fotos durante el viaje

Amber right before jumping in the water.

Me with Francsiso the snorkling instructor
Ferron and Ashley cooking dinner
Brenda and Chelsea jumping for joy on the beach
Chelsea and Brenda freezing on the boat with me.

El viaje a Puerto Madryn tercero parte

Sunday, we woke up nice and early again. The hostel told us about a tour they set up to the Penninsula Valdez. The girls arranged for us to go on the tour. We were picked up by a tour bus at 8 in the morning.

First we drove toward the Penninsula and had 20 minutes to walk along the beach. We stopped to look at las ballenas or whales in the water. It was so cold along the coast. I thought I was gonna die because I knew we had a boat ride later in the day. We also stopped at a museum and looked around a little bit. It was really interesting.

We finally drove to the penninsula. It costs 45 pesos to go into the penninsula but only 15 for natives. We had to fight to prove that we were students in Argentina, but with our insurance cards and international student ID cards, we were able to get the discount.

We drove to small town on the coast of the penninsula and stopped there. We boarded a boat to go whale watching. It was really cool. We were on the boat for about 2 hours. The whales came so close to our boat. I could almost touch one of them. Another whale jumped right in front of us. It was amazing. I tried to take pictures, but it was extremely difficult as the whales did what they wanted when they wanted.

After the boat excursion, we ate lunch at a restaurant on the coast. We then took a bus tour around the penninsula, and we stopped at different places to take pictures. We saw the elefante marinos (sea elephants). One of them was about to give birth, but we couldn´t stay long enough to see it.

After our long excursions we returned to the hostel. We went out for dinner at a nice restaurant. After that we wanted to go out, but we all fell asleep pretty early. The next morning we woke up, packed, and headed back to the bus station for 20 more hours on the omnibus. We were almost late to the bus station, but we made it. We arrived back to Cordoba at 8:30 in the morning on Tuesday. I had class at 10:45. I went home, dropped my stuff off and ran to class.

The vacation was great but a little expensive. I probably spent 400 to 500 U.S. dollars in total for the bus rides, tours, and hostel.

El viaje a Puerto Madryn segundo parte

Saturday morning we woke up very early. We were met by a friend of Ashley´s from England. We had free breakfast in the hostel which consisted of coffee and cookies. We had an appointment to go snorkling at 8:30 in the morning. It was not just regular snorkling though. It was snorkling with los lobos marinos, which translates in english to ¨sea lions¨.

We all know how great of a swimmer I am and how much I love spending money. For these reasons I passed on the snorkling and swimming with sea lions. Snorkling cost 500 pesos per person. Brenda, Chelsea and I decided it was worth the 100 pesos to go with on the boat and see everything without having to jump in the freezing cold water. It was hilarious to watch the girls get into the water suits too. It was also hilarious getting onto the boat. We had to be carried on the backs of the swimmers to get into the boat. The picture is of Chelsea being carried back from the boat. The others enjoyed it that we didn´t want to snorkle because we could take a bunch of pictures for them. I don´t know how they survived because it was freezing out on that boat and probably much colder in the water.

After swimming with los lobos marinos, we went back to the hostel, warmed up and then went to lunch. Lunch was very fancy, but very good. After lunch we walked along the beach and the pier. For the first time in my life, I danced the tango on the beach. My friend Ashley and I danced alone on the beach. It was great.

That night we cooked dinner again. this time we bought some chicken and pretty much had Fajitas with out the tortillas. It was delicious. We ended up hanging out in the hostel and watching movies. It was really cool because there was a variety of people staying in the hostel. There were people from England, Austria and Argentina. We had so much chicken that we shared it with everyone in the hostel. It was really cool to interact with so many different types of people.

El viaje a Puerto Madryn primero parte

This past weekend I went to Puerto Madryn in Pategonia. This trip was not with the program here. It was planned seperately, but not by me of course. If I had to plan it, we all know I would have been sitting in my bed at my host home. The girls planned it and for some reason invited me. There was a holiday on Monday so it was a three day weekend. I skipped my classes Friday to make it a four day weekend. My friends Ferron, Ashley, Brenda, Chelsea, and Amber took a 20 hour busride thursday night to Puerto Madryn. Yes, me and 5 other girls. (Very long bus ride haha).

We arrived Friday early in the evening and walked to our Hostel. We walked about 10 blocks along the beach. We went to the store and bought some food to make dinner. The girls cooked dinner and it was delicious and CHEAP. After dinner I went for a walk a long the beach with Chelsea and Brenda. It was great, but a little cold.

The first picture is the table before dinner and the second picture is during our walk from the bus station to the hostel.

Y More

Pictures tell a thousand words right??

WOW... I am lost again, but making so many friends.

Last week was the start of the semester for me, but this week was the official start for all the regular Argentine students. Let me say, it´s completely different with all of them on campus too.

Being that this is the official start of the semester, the past weekend was perfect for a big party. There was a big party at my friend Abby´s house. I hung out early in the evening with my friends that did not want to go to the party. They cooked chili and we had dinner together. Afterwords, I went to the party by myself. It was a lonely walk at 2:30 in the morning by myself, but hey. Finally my tutor Pancho picked me up in his auto because I didnt know where the party was.

The Party was awesome. There was many people, many drinks, and a lot of music. The best part though was that there was one of the blow up castles that you can jump around in. My flips worked perfectly to draw attention new argentine girls. Before I realized it, it was me and my new friend Majo playing wrestlemania in the castillo. Then I was learning how to dance the Cuerteto better. Needless to say, I met another girl and actually got her phone number this time. Again its great,because it really makes me want to learn spanish better. I think I have officially mastered the word ¨Beso¨ haha. I eventually got dropped off by my new friends at 7 in the morning.

After the big party all weekend, I started classes with other students today. My first class was a level II computer class and I was the only exchange student in it. Hahaha, I dont understand computers at all, especially in level II and now in another language. It was pretty funny. However I didn´t miss anything because the professor gave us an hour in a half break due to the Argentina Olympic basketball game happening at the same time. I watched the game with 4 new girl friends and a guy named Angelos. The students in class with me were very patient and helped me understand the little of class we had. I am already in a group for our group project too. They refused to leave me out.

I tried a few more classes during the day including a history class and pop culture class consisting of only exchange students. Then I tried a contemporary art class with a mixture of exchange students (2 from Brasil) and regular argentine students. None were quite as fun as watching basketball and having girls laugh at your broken spanish.

I am completely lost again because I dont understand anything in my classes, and I have so many classes right now. It is easier to remain calm though because I am making friends so fast. I also have things to look forward too. If I survive this week, I am on my way to Puerta Madryn (or whatever its called) to see Penguins and Whales Thursday night. Yeah thats right I am skipping class Friday. Hope to have good stories when I return.

The start of the semester...And new friends from Brasil!!

This week we started our classes for the semester. We have a two week trial period where we can try classes to see if we like the material/teacher and so on. This week starts the classes with other exchange students like myself. Next week I start classes with the native students. I need to take one class with the native students and the rest I can take with my friends who also don´t speak spanish real well.

The schedules are ridiculous. I am having trouble deciding between two history classes. Argentina Modern History or Argentina Popular Culture. I could take both and have 15 credits or choose one and have more time with 12 credits. Anyway, enough with the boring stuff. I will let you all know what I decide to do next week. Don´t worry, I am for sure taking Tango and horseback riding.

More importantly... This week we gained a few new students. Some of which are from Brasil. My friend Brad and I went to this extra class about the Aborigenes because it sounded interesting. Little did we know it would only be us and these three beautiful Brasilian girls to show up. We of course became best friends with the girls right away and got invited out to the pub that plays Brasilian music.

These girls are very pretty and nice. The best part though is that they don´t speak English. They speak portueguese and I speak English. Talk about needing to learn spanish quickly. My spanish probably improved a ton yesterday as I flirted with these girls in Spanish.

Anyway, Brad and I ate lunch with our new friends and then that night were the only exchange students to show up to the ¨Brasil Party¨. It was very fun. I learned the Samba dance from the girls. Of course, We all had a test this morning at 9:30, so it was an early night. I crawled into bed at 5:30 in the morning only to wake up 3 hours later regretting my decision to go out the night before. I was tired today, but I dont regret it. These new friends of mine are awesome.

My Friend Caitlin

I met this girl here named Caitlin. She is real cool and relaxed all the time. And she lived near me. Unfortuanaely Caitlin had previously decided to only stay for one month, so she went home the other day.

She was great because she and my other friend Brenda were always ready to share a lomito (the best sandwich ever with eggs, meat, cheese, tomatos etc.). The last night here we went out and drank some wine and had a lomito. It capped off a great month getting to know this girl from NY.

For those of you wondering. Caitlin is not the love of my life. The love of my life might be this Brasilian girl in two of my classes. I met her yesterday and she is really cute.

Buenos Aires (el tercero día)

The third day of my wonderful trip to Buenos Aires started at 9 in the morning again. We boarded the city tour coach bus and took it somewhere to the Fería. There were many streets blocked off with little restaurants and stands to buy things (especially souvegnirs sp?). Don´t get excited because I didn´t buy YOU anything. Just kidding.

It was really neat seeing all the different cultural things and small stores. We spent three hours there and I ate lunch there as well. I bought my first Mate and a non authentic cheap argentina soccer shirt/jersey. I might have to buy a real one later, but its really expensive.

After the Fería, we went to another museum and walked around. It was really old and run down. It was pretty tall and overlooked El Río de la plata.

Then we returned to the hotel to grab our luggage before going to the airport. We took a nice short plane ride back to Córdoba and said our goodbyes to the one month exchange students before they headed back to the states.

El Tango en Buenos Aires

On Saturday night in Buenos Aires our group went to this dinner and a show at the theatre. We all know how much of a slob I am. I hardly do my laundry, I shower every once in a while, and for goodness sakes we know that I cannot eat anything without wearing it at the same time. But there was Brian dressing up for a super fancy nice dinner and a show.

There was red carpet in this theatre with table cloths and everything. This was clearly not a place I would fit into, but I put on my nicest shirt here and would you believe it was not wrinkled at all. At dinner I only managed to spill a little bit of wine on my shirt. I don´t think anyone noticed.

During our huge steak dinner, we watched a tango show. This tango show was probably the most amazing thing I have ever seen. I want so badly to learn how to handle a woman like the guy on stage did. We were not allowed to take pictures, otherwise I would have. After half a bottle of wine and being seduced by the dancers, I tried my best to imitate afterwords. I have included a sexy picture of my imitation.

I finally know where my tuition money is being spent. This was the nicest and most fanciest thing I have ever been a part of in my life. I am so glad I decided to come to Argentina, and cannot wait for my Tango class which I have in about an hour.

El Viaje a Buenos Aires (El segundo día)

The second day of our trip began at 9 in the morning after about four hours of sleep for me and less for others. We woke up and had another huge continental breakfast. Then we went on more of the City tour. We went to two museums. The museum of Evita which was of this lady who was the first female President or something. I feel bad because I don´t actually know my history, and didn´t really pay attention at the museum. Actually NOBODY paid attention. Everyone was either hung over or super tired. The guide talked really fast too, so nobody even wanted to try and understand. The second museum was an Art museum and was pretty cool, but I don´t remember what it was called.

After that we got to walk around the town that the museum was in. It was crazy because all the street people kept coming up to us to try and get us to buy things. These dancers came up and took a picture with us and then wanted money. Me being me, I took the picture of course and then didn´t pay them. They hated me, especially when my two friends each gave them 5 pesos. We found some little place for lunch, and then walked around some more. It was real interesting because this pueblo was very run down.

Later we returned for a siesta before going out to the Tango at night. The tango was so sweet it will get its own post later.

After the Tango show, we played some cards at the hotel before going out to the boliche. Of course the boliche was 60 pesos to get in, so me and a few people returned to the hotel. We had some good chats before bed. It was a sad night because it was the last night for a few people in our program. I made it to bed that night around 530 am and woke up around 9 am.

Viaje a Buenos Aires (el primero dia)

To celebrate the end of the intensive course session our group took a vacation to Buenos Aires. We took a 9 hour bus ride from Córdoba over night to Buenos Aires. Nobody slept much on the bus even though we had tons of space to recline our seats almost all the way back.

We arrived early in the morning and checked into our hotel located downtown. We had continental breakfast which consisted of all you could eat pastries like croissants and other cinnemon type rolls. There was also scrambled eggs and cookies and different kinds of juice. It was the best ¨continental¨ breakfast I have ever had.

After Breakfast we boarded a coach bus. We began our three day city tour. We got to see many museums and statues throughout Buenos Aires. We even stopped at the Cathedral. I think I have now been to a Cathedral Greg has not also. I made sure to take a picture of the outside. I was only able to grab two bullitens here though. We ate lunch for free at a nice restaurant. All you could eat buffet. We received a bottle of wine per 3 people. It was fantastic.

After our first day of tours and eating so much, we all took a siesta in the hotel. I also took the best shower since I have been in Argentina because I finally had hot water. That night we went to an all you could eat pizza place for 20 pesos. Again I ate way too much. After dinner a lot of my friends drank some healthy beverages and went to the boliche. I ditched out on the boliche and walked around Buenos Aires for 2 hours with my friends Andrew and Colten. Tours are a lot more fun when you do them yourself. I made it to bed around 4 am.

Stay tuned for Day 2... I have posted a few photos above.