Sunday, I was boring and decided to stay home and get a bunch of administrative stuff done, but it felt great to be productive and cross a lot of things off my to do list.
One of the things I'm most excited about is that I applied to write for AAUW, my women's organization I helped found on campus. They're looking for people to write editorials and press releases to create a lot of publicity around Equal Pay Day, the day when women's salary finally catches up to men's from December 31st of the year before. They want to generate a lot of publicity so that hopefully this year Congress will pass the Paycheck Fairness Act which died in the Senate last year. How can you go home and tell your mother, "Sorry, you're not worth as much as a man." The slogan for the campaign this year is awesome: "Girls are not worthLESS." Me gusta! : )
Sunday night, Alyssa, Anna, and I went to La Viruta to watch tango. Kylie couldn't come because she had to be up early for her internship the next day. Having a job definitely changes our schedule once again. Argentina seems to be all about "going with the flow." We mainly went to observe, but La Viruta has classes earlier in the night, too! Unfortunately, Sunday was for swing dancing, but we still had a lot of fun. Tables line the dance floor so you can watch everyone while you eat dinner. After all the swing lessons, finally, there was tango. To watch it is mesmerizing. It's so fluid and sexy. The women close their eyes with their heads on the shoulder of their partner while their legs, in high heels of course, snake around in beautiful shapes on the floor or around the body of their man. It's really hard to explain because it's breathtaking to watch! It is the exact opposite of learning steps and repeating them; the couple is so in tune with each other that they just move as one. I even got up to try a couple songs after warning the man who invited me that I had never danced in my life. "No, seriously, I'm reeeally, really terrible." I was the farthest thing from the graceful beauties I'd watched earlier, but it was still incredible. Except, I was wearing sandals, and they kept falling off. Graceful, huh?
We left early (1:30 am) to get plenty of rest before Monday when we all had a ton of things to get done.
I woke up early to practice using the subways and getting around town to all of my internships and classes, which surprisingly I did successfully with ease. Every day, I feel more and more like a porteña. While walking from the subway to my second job, I stumbled across a wonderful store where everything was 20 American dollars or less. I spent probably 3 hours in there trying absolutely everything on. I had nothing else to do that day anyways, and it was the first store I'd seen with clothes I could afford. I got a bunch of clothes to wear to work and some shoes too. It was a perfect day.
That night, I met Matías, one of the guys we had met on Kylie's birthday, to take tango lessons. This time, we went to La Catedral. Viruta was fun to watch, but La Catedral was much better for taking lessons. There were only 12-15 couples in a smaller, more intimate space. Couples were dancing tango when we first arrived and waited for classes to begin. Matías was awesome; we talked about politics and history and music and our families. We had so much in common; it was conversation I have been missing since I got here. My roommates are great, but we are all so different. I love hearing their stories to learn about them, but we don't share very much in common at all apart from Journalism and Spanish. Finally, it was the moment of truth. I was wearing a dress and heels this time, so I thought I looked much more the part, but as we started with warm-ups, I realized my dress was not the right thing to be wearing at all. Not to mention, I'm incredibly out of shape compared to when I was rock-climbing and running every day. If I would have tried tango in fall when I had an awesome core and balance from climbing, it would have been so much easier. But now I'm curvy and lazy, and it was MUCH harder than I expected. After warm-ups, we divided into beginners and more experienced dancers. I learned the basic 8 count and felt pretty confident; however, when it got time to add a partner, the game totally changed. This is one time in my life where being a perfectionist was probably the worst characteristic I could have. Tango is all about surrendering to your partner; not just memorizing steps. I had such a hard time following Matías. He would say, "Where are you going? Why are you leaving without me? Maybe I wanted to stay here a little longer." It was an incredibly humbling experience; my face had to have been bright red the entire time. As conceited as it sounds, I'm used to being good at a lot of things, and even when I'm not, I will work my ass off until I get better. Tango was something that no matter how many times we did it, I had to mess up something every single time. I didn't really mind looking or feeling stupid, but I felt bad for how frustrating it must have been for my partner to be with the worst girl in the room!! After classes, we went back to Matías' house and ate boca burgers for dinner and realized how much of hippies we each are. His house has an awesome view of the skyline of Buenos Aires. Having to start my internship the next day, I didn't want to stay out to late and took a cab home after dinner.
Tuesday, I woke up plenty early, got dressed nice, successfully took the subway to work and even had enough time to grab some breakfast at Forrest Gump cafe before. Dressing for work here is a lot different; it's much more casual. It's kind of strange because this is my first "real" job doing something other than waitressing. It's so exciting to not have to wear a Hooters uniform to work and hate my body, not use my brain, and feel grimy from all the nasty guys in there looking at me all night. Buenos Aires work attire is a good cross of casual but still nice looking. Most people wear a tank and skirt, but I wanted to wear all my new clothes I just bought!! Another great thing (but I'm still getting used to) is that NO ONE, no seriously, not one person, wears makeup. This sounds fabulous, and it is. It saves time and you're just gonna sweat here anyways, but here the thing: I have blonde eyelashes and white skin!! These people are all beautiful with perfect, clear, tan skin and long black eyelashes. Me without makeup looks a lot different, so I'm getting used to it. I'm comfortable with myself, but normally at work, it's a competition of who has the most/perfect makeup. Hooters is obviously all about looks, and here, they could care less.
Well, I have no idea how to design mobile apps. I'm not a software programmer! There are several companies that provide generic software, and I could just fill in their info, but I'm in no position to be making decisions about what kind of companies to purchase! I was already going into Account Executive mode planning a SWOT analysis, but Alicia sent me away to work as she was busy in her office. A SWOT analysis is an in-depth look of the current situation and the organization's needs/desires to design the perfect app for them. The one thing she did show me was an app for La Nación mobil as her inspiration. Oh man, this is off to a bad start. The example Web site was barely functional and I couldn't even install the app after trying several times on different phones. Also, the host was a very new company and was designed mainly for facilitating business transactions (think Ebay). This is my inspiration?? Oh, no! I thought I'd research other companies, but realized it's really difficult when you have no idea what it's primary use is going to be. After this, I decided it would be best to start with creating the Twitter account. I did this in about 20 minutes and "followed" several people and organizations that were listed on Periodismo Social's existing Web site. I showed Alicia who 1) was amazed I'd done this so quickly and 2) couldn't figure out how to use it at all. I think she was expecting that Twitter would be a project that would occupy a lot of my time spent at the internship this semester. Oh well. Everyone then proceeded to go to lunch without inviting me or telling me, so I kept myself busy "following" more people on Twitter. Could be worse; at least I like Twitter. FINALLY, it was 2:30. Time to go: WOOOOO!!!
I didn't have to be at my next internship until 4 so I grabbed some lunch at Ugi's pizza. It was phenomenal; it got 2 yummy pieces of pizza and a pop for 3 dollars. Can't beat that, right?
Unfortunately, I got to ICW Global, my second internship an HOUR early. I didn't want to walk around and get lost and I didn't have my computer to keep me busy, so I just read more materials on ICW. I guess I could tell you a little about what it is. ICW stands for the International Community of Women living with AIDS/HIV. They provide information to women on 5 continents in 4 languages to connect women living with this terrible illness. They distribute magazines, have a Web site, and sponsor several events a year. The information is about how to get medical help, how to get support, how to prevent spreading it, what to do if you've passed it to your children through birth, etc. It's an incredible opportunity to work for such a well developed NGO, especially when I am leaning more toward working for a non-profit every day as my career. I also couldn't stop thinking of ideas to take back to AAUW when I return.
The director was a grizzly-bearded older man who was funny and sweet. I am so excited to work with him. He was interested in not just having interns who come improve things, but interns who truly understand the purpose behind their cause. There is still stigmatization and discrimination all over the world of people living with AIDS/HIV, but in South America, it's especially bad. Catholicism still heavily influences the daily lives of Latin Americans, and to have this illness is to be an outcast. Many women never even seek out help or take their medicine because they don't want their families to know. Also, there are still many doctors who discriminate and won't treat it. It's heartbreaking, and I'm honored to be a part of helping people.
That's why I think that I need to work for a NGO or some sort of institution that helps people. It unites both of my passions; journalism and service.
Our main goal is going to be to finish the Spanish version of the Web site and improve what already exists. This internship is a million times better than Periodismo Social; I have a clear purpose and things to do, and I'm giving back to society. Yet somehow, I have 15 hours a week at Periodismo Social and 2 hours a week at ICW. Wah, wah, waaaaaahhh.
Alyssa also works at ICW with me, so we decided to kill some time before our first class. We were walking down 9 de Julio, the biggest street in the world and at the heart of the city in broad daylight when someone came up behind me. He grabbed my shoulder, and as I turned around, he proceeded to yank my favorite necklace, a gift from my best friend for my 21st birthday, off of my body. By the time I realized what was going on, he was already running across the street. Unfortunately, even on a 12-lane road, he didn't get hit by a car. Too bad. As sad as I was about the necklace, I was upset about so much more. I was mad at myself for my slow reaction time and for even wearing a necklace when I knew better. It really sucks when all the other girls walk around in tiny clothes, high heels, and jewelry; yet, we're told don't do any of that. I also felt like he robbed all my sense of security. Kylie just got pick-pocketed last Friday and now this? I know it's a big city, and these things happen; even in the United States. Heck, probably even in St. Louis. But for some reason, I felt like you can avoid it. Don't walk alone. Don't be out at night. Avoid the bad parts of town. Try your best not to act like tourists. Duh. But we we're walking in broad daylight on the biggest street in town with tons of people, including cops, around. If I can't even walk there safely, what's going to happen over the next four months?!!? We have a lot of time and a lot of walking to do. Plus, I have to bring my laptop to school and work every day.
Tuesday was also our first Gender Seminar Class. I loved it! It's taught by our advisor, Carolina, who is such a feminist. But, we already knew that from our jobs, which employ almost all women and have themes related to helping women or other minorities. We learned about the history of the feminist movement, dating back to Greece and the different ways sexism still occurs in South America. It was mainly just an overview of the class.
Carolina also tried to ensure us that we don't have to walk around scared all the time. It's still hard to believe. I think everyone should spend some time being a minority. I can dress porteña, hide my hair in a bun, hide my eyes behind sunglasses, get tan, and speak Spanish, but now matter how much I assimilate over this trip, I am still very obviously white. It's really frustrating. I've taken classes on fair and accurate reporting of minorities; I have several friends who are minorities; and I am part of lots of activist groups that work on behalf of minorities. I even know what it means to be discriminated against because of my gender, but you will never know how it feels to be different because of your skin until you have been there. It's a shocking new understanding of all the history we have studied about discrimination. It's not that we've been treated badly or anything, but it's very isolating to feel so different. I stand out absolutely everywhere I go, even when there are other blonde people around! 24 hours a day I feel like I'm under a magnifying glass or in a zoo with everyone staring. I now also feel like every time people stare and whisper, they're identifying me as a target. I have to be alert at all times in a city that seems so relaxed. I also can't understand why everyone asks where we're from as if they don't already know. I get whistled at and followed every single time I leave my house. I guess I'm probably making it sound a lot worse than it is, because it's just part of being abroad; it's just really eye opening. White people can recognize acts of discrimination, but they still don't see how much we take for granted. It's little things like knowing that wherever you go, there are always going to be other people like you.
Anyways, today I'm working at ICW (not until 5:30 pm!) and then off to more excruciating but fun tango lessons tonight! Wish me luck!
Hasta luego,
Amelia
"Find out who you are, and be that person. That's what your soul was put on this earth to be. Find that truth, live that truth, and everything else will come." -Ellen DeGeneres
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