Study abroad...

by becrach

Another fun and exciting trip… am I really in school??

Wednesday afternoon, we all ran around town shopping, packing, and preparing for our trip. We got on the bus at 7pm and sat for 20 hours. We arrived at Puerto Iguazú on Thursday afternoon and enjoyed the day at our campsite. The weather was beautiful with the sun shining on the endless greenery. Palm trees, grass, and other tropical plants all around us and our little tent. (very little…). We cooked hot dogs, went swimming, hung out, cooked pasta, made a campfire, relaxed, and went to bed. Friday morning we woke up and headed for the Parque Nacional del Iguazú. We were able to enter the park as Argentine residents (because we live here) which saved us a bunch of pesos! Then we went on this awesome “safari”/ boat ride through the jungle and the falls. We got super soaked and then laid out on a little beach right next to the falls. I’m pretty sure under the top ten most relaxing things someone can do; lying in the sun on the sand next to giant waterfalls, in the middle of the tropics, is up there. After that, we walked around the park some more, saw the devil’s throat (la garganta del Diablo) and took in as much sol y agua as we could. That night, we were able to enjoy a nice meal from the restaurant on our camp ground, relax some more, and hit the hay. At about 6:30am Saturday morning, I felt a rain drop on my forehead. I proceeded to get out of the tent, run to the front desk and beg for a cabin. Haha. We spent have the rainy day inside our cabin sleeping. After the rain died down, our hero hombres came to rescue us. They made us go to the falls again, and I am glad we did. The waterfalls (if possible) practically doubled in size from the rain. We hiked some more, took more pics from different views, and enjoyed las cataratas. My favorite part of the trip was standing on a ledge right in front of the waterfall. We were all there screaming and shouting, getting splashed, with our hands in the air, so glad we chose Argentina!!

On another note, it’s the half way point and I need to take a moment to reflect on the time I’ve had here from all aspects…

My Spanish: I maybe know 50 more words, and can tell my madre what I did and ate each day, but have not advanced much more than that

My health: I haven’t been sick once, besides the normal Becca stomach aches. And of course, I’ve been very tired – but I’m enjoying my awake time!

My friends: the people here are great. We all think it’s funny that even though the students here are from all over the country, we are all so similar. Humor translates.

My classes: oh I’m in school?

Home and PSU: I miss you every day

My feelings/ emotions: I’m on an emotional roller coaster every day. I love life, I don’t want to wake up, I love life. But some recent events have made me wonder what’s so great about life. And then I saw some pretty waterfalls, and now I know the answer to that – life is what’s great about life.

Thoughts on the present: I am grateful every day I walk down the dirty BA streets. I’m grateful for this opportunity and grateful for life. I thank God for putting me here, teaching me things, and introducing me to new people and experiences. I’m grateful for Argentine culture and American culture. Sometimes when you travel, you realize how much else there is out there in the world that is possibly much better than where you came from. Here, I just feel like, BA is okay and State College, PA is great and sunny Cali is better.

Thoughts on the future: I don’t really want to go back to school. I want to visit my friends and family, but being back in a class environment doesn’t really strike me as a good time anymore. I also feel like I don’t have a lot to look forward to anymore being in PA. I know that’s not true, but it’s how I feel. I want to drop out and be a nomad, but since I can’t do that, I’ve decided that when I graduate, I’m taking a year off before the real world.

All in all, todo bien. This is a growing experience in more ways than I’ll ever know. This week: midterms. Next week: spring break!!!

A Weekend of Fun (yeah, another one...)

Thursday night, we went dancing at a hip hop club called Lost. We had lots of fun and danced all night. Friday, I went to a Frida Kahlo exhibit and a walking tour. Friday night, we went to Asia de Cuba, a ritzy restaurant/bar/club, for Emily's bday and we ate and danced and then went to bed a little early. Saturday, we spent all day in Tigre, a cute river town and then went to Vinos y Bodegas 2006 for some unlimited wine tasting. MMMM... Sunday, I went to chuch and then hung out with Juan, the girls, and Rodrigo. Fun weekend. I don't have many other words to describe it, but fun!

Las Esteras

I did not want to come back to BA…

September 7, 2006

Today, we arrived at the Posadas Aguape Hotel at around 8am after a long night of omnibus and a 2 hour bumpy dirt road truck ride. I took a nap in the truck and when I opened my eyes, we were completely surrounded by water, driving on a tiny dirt road in the middle of a giant lagoon. It was absolutely beautiful! This morning, we ate a completely homemade breakfast complete w/medialunas, bread, ddl, cereal, and my fav fresh squeezed orange juice. Then we willingly followed our guide onto a boat big enough for just the 14 of us, with no idea of what we were about to experience. He took us through the lagoon a little bit on the boat and we got off at another random chunk of land. The whole time, we’re enjoying every second, taking pictures and taking it all in. the beauty of the water and the green and the absolute glory. When we got off the boat, we were led into a small random jungle. The jungle was cool, filled w/ palm trees and tarzan vines and crazy plants and moss covering everything, but it was all just nice and pretty until we saw the monkeys. We saw babies and mommies and one daddy. We saw some sitting and relaxing and some swinging on the vines and some playing with each other. They were so cute and fun to watch. We also saw crazy worker ants and beautiful birds.
Later after lunch and our siesta, we went on our boat tour where we saw a countless amount of caymans (yacarés – similar to alligators) and capybaras (carpinchos) and chajas and the most beautiful indescribable sunset. It was so relaxing being out there in the open, away from the noisy city, and inches away from all this wildlife. Later, we had guiso for dinner and went for a walk around the area.
I’m so grateful that I got to go on this trip and that I’m seeing the most unimaginable and unplannable things. It’s a wonderful adventure at the same time as a relaxing quiet time with new friends. We spent some time talking to Elvira too (in Spanish), which is always fun. She’s a very sweet woman. Three more days of this place!

by becrach
by becrach

September 8, 2006

Today, we woke up to a cloudy sky with hopes that it would clear. After another great breakfast, we went to the boat – I guess to see more animals. It started to rain though, so we headed back to camp. We had lunch and just relaxed all day. Every one took naps, read, sat by the fire and just enjoyed the storm. We weren’t able to do any more of our planned activities but it didn’t matter. It was a wonderful lazy day. When we needed a little revitalization, Leah, Alicia, Danielle, and I jumped in the pool. Either brave or really dumb, the sky was practically black and it had been raining – but we had to do it. It was pretty freaking cold but it was worth the thrill. The rest of the evening, we relaxed some more, had dinner, sat by the fire, watched a movie, and went to bed. I love storms!

September 9, 2006

We woke up to another day of sunshine and beauty today. We never know what’s planned but we ate breakfast and followed our trustful guides to the trucks where we all squeezed in ready for adventure. We started driving on the roads, muddy from yesterday’s rain. We were headed out to another lagoon for some bird watching. The drive was awesome! We got to see different vegetation, some cows, and just enjoy the bumpy wet muddy ride. We saw lots of cool birds including a pareja de chajas (my new favorite animal). The chaja finds a mate and it monogamous for life and are always together. How cute! We drove along and it seemed like we might be close to our destination when we got stuck in the mud. We all got out and all the girls watched the boys valiantly push both trucks out of the mud. I’m pretty sure the drivers were annoyed but we were all enjoying the scenery and comedy of the event, snapping pics whenever we could. Of course, we had to turn back and it was probably for the better because we came back to an awesome asado. We ate lots of meat followed by some more meat. Then we celebrated Danielle’s BDay with a cake with ddl of course and sang Spanish happy birthday. The rest of the afternoon, we sat by the pool, some swam, I read, and again – we just relaxed. Then we went out on canoes to see more yacarés and carpinchos. All in all, a very exciting and eventful day.

by becrach

We left on Sunday, and now I’m back in BA going to classes again. Spring break is coming up so that’s what’s on every one’s mind now. Yeah spring! Weird huh?

The Luxuries of Buenos Aires

I went to a protest, a bar, and a museum, watched Evita, played Tabu in Spanish, saw a soccer game and went to church this weekend. There were 2 protests in one night; one about asking for more security and harsher punishment for criminals and one was about human rights in general. Pretty intense crowd. There were people calmly singing with candles and the other one had drums and people shouting and marching and waving flags. It was a very interesting night and I got to see what true passion is. La Marcha, the one about needing more security, had a Time Square New Year’s sized crowd.
by becrachThe fútbol game was amazing. We got to see Boca Juniors play Estudiantes in the Boca stadium, which is HUGE. The fans were singing the entire time and we were trying to sing along but all we got was da da da BOCA!! Da dee dooo daaaa BOCA!!!
by becrach I haven’t seen a soccer game all the way through since freshman year of high school, and this was no ordinary soccer game. I definitely enjoyed it. After the soccer game, we went to this restaurant/ bar called the Alamo and it’s apparently owned by some rich dude who just wants Americans in his bar. So they give away free stuff all the time and they play American sports! I was really excited to see my Big Ten highlights on Sunday. I’m going to the same church every week now just because I like the people. I actually understood the sermon this week too, so that was a plus.

Classes are going well and my home stay is wonderful. I get a home cooked meal EVERY NIGHT! And breakfast every morning. I get clean sheets every week and my madre even cleans my room. She’s a lawyer and she’s very smart, religious, and opinionated. She’s definitely my “mom;” every single day she asks me what I had for lunch, and when I told her that I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she said “what would your mother say?” I told her that my mother loves pb & j but she didn’t buy it as a nutritious lunch. Something else besides my madre though, that I think Stephanie Field would appreciate, is there are no laundry mats here. You have to take your laundry to a little laundry woman who washes, drys, and folds all of your clothes. Oh the luxuries of Buenos Aires!

This weekend, I’m going to Esteras de Íbera, which are huge wetlands in the north. I’m going with my “history of the environment” class and I’m really excited!!