Playing Catch-up

Well, as you can see, the last month of my trip was so hectic, I hardly posted anything.  It was by far the best month of the trip.  Not only could I enjoy the accomplishments of having finally settled in, but I was ecstatic to be home.  The last few weeks were filled with a whirlwind of activities and trip-planning every night.  All of the roomies wrote out an Argentina "bucket list" so to speak, and we set out to leave Buenos Aires with no regrets.

They were beautiful memories of truly appreciating the scenery, smells, sounds and every detail of our experience trying to savor it and capture it forever before we departed back to the familiar. Already, some of the intensity of the days have worn off, but I will attempt to cover our last exciting trips and the emotions that overwhelmed me as the days in Argentina dwindled.

Heading Home

Things I'll miss about Argentina
It was 4 months of ups and downs.  I have loved and hated Buenos Aires and every emotion in between.  I'm sure I won't realize how much BA has become dear to my heart until the ecstasy of being reunited with friends, family, and familiarity fades back into humdrum everyday life in Missouri.  There are a few things that it's going to be hard to part with.


Plaza Francia- We're guaranteed to have something to do every weekend with just a short stroll from our house.  Whether I want to shop, grab lunch, listen to music, or just hang out on the grass with a mate or beer, it's the place to go.  That just doesn't exist back home.  Who doesn't love simple, free fun?

Fresh-Squeezed OJ- Getting your vitamins never tasted so good.  There's nothing like sweatily marching to class dying of thirst only to see on the corner ahead the tempting refreshment of orange juice made especially for you.  Or perhaps to wake you up before an early morning bus ride at Retiro.  No matter what the time of day, it's hard to pass up this deliciousness that surpasses any boxed oj by far.


Dar un paseo- Buenos Aires is a city of pedestrians, but I think Recoleta is especially filled with people taking a stroll.  No need to have somewhere to go, just meander around the neighborhood people-watching.  I do think a lot in downtown Columbia, but it's much more normal here and the surroundings of parks, sculptures, and vendors for an spontaneous treat make it even more enjoyable.

Cheap Transportation-While I miss the freedom of driving my own car anywhere, anytime and being able to blare my music, it sure is nice to take a bus home from a bar.  My 30 cent bus rides to anywhere in the city are a nice break from filling a gas tank every week.  I will NOT miss, however, having to carry coins every day of my life.  



Things I can't wait to have back home
Ok, so I definitely don't need these things to survive.  I'm use to living without, but I'll have a whole new appreciation of the smallest things.

For starters, a double-side sink. See?  How stupid does that sound?  Of course my life has gone on just fine without it, but to be able to wash dishes without soaking the entire countertop would be nice.

Speaking of washing dishes, a dishwasher, is gonna be glorious.  What? You just put it in and it does the work?  I know, I know, even my parents lived without dishwashers most of their lives, but it will be so nice to not have to worry about it after you just put in all that effort to cooking dinner.

Who am I kidding?  I miss pretty much every kitchen appliance there is.  An electric stove, blenders, tupperware, you name it...

MEXICAN FOOD!!! I promise you it deserves that kind of exaggeration.  I know I'm not in Mexico or anything, but these people didn't even know what a jalepeño was.  Any ingredient to make our own Mexican food at home is sooo expensive.  Tortillas, beans, salsa, limes are all not easy to come by.  Hellllooo Santacruz when I get back.  Even their margaritas are weird here.

This undying craving is made worse by the fact that there is NO spicy food here.  None.  Pepper is not even normal.  Spicy food has a "mal sentido," is thought of badly, here.  I'm dyyying.  The only flavor to any food here seems to be tomato, basil, and mozzarella. In empanadas, pizza, pan relleno, every food they eat.  If you want to mix things up, one of your few other options is ham and cheese.

America might not have many original cuisines to consider it's own, but I have an incredible appreciation for the variety and accessibility we have to every international cuisine or style imaginable.  We've read blogs of people who gain like 20 pounds when they return home because they're so happy to have their own food back.  I'm crossing my fingers it doesn't happen to me, but feel free to take me out to dinner every night of the week.  It will be quite some time before I get sick of remembering all my old favorites.

"My" room- I never have the same house for long.  Even when I return to the states, I only have a makeshift bedroom I still don't consider entirely home yet.  I'll be moving within two weeks of getting back.  But I can not take the tiny room with dreadfully boring white walls and creepy paintings anymore.  I bought a plant to make me happier, but nothing can replace the brilliantly colored tye-dyes that cover the walls of whatever place I choose to make home for a few months.  Pictures of friends, awards, all the things that decorate a space to make it mine.  Also, my bed might be as old as I am, but it's a queen and I can't wait to divebomb on that badboy.  I'm going to sleep spread out like a starfish for like a week, just because I can.


Well folks, it's time for me to leave work, and you're prolly bored anyways, so I'm going to call it quits for the day.  I have lots of blog updates coming soon, including our trip to the world's second-largest waterfalls! So check back soon!


Hasta luego,
Amelia

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” - Maria Robinson

Bariloche part 2: pretty as a postcard

As much I enjoyed the educational part of the trip, what we were all really waiting for was the nature excursion.  Settled in the heart of the Patagonia region, Bariloche is a world-renowned tourist destination, known for its beauty, ski resorts, and chocolate.

Even before any of the tours or excursions, we were impressed just with the drive in and the view from our hotel balcony.

After following Canal Seis all morning Tuesday, we snuck out of the newscast early to take a city tour while it was still light out.  The main strip of town runs along the shore of Lake Nahuel Huapi, named after the indigenous Mapuche people.  Other names in the Bariloche have Swiss and German influences as well.

The town is very narrow and long, as it runs the length of the lake.  We drove all the way through to a neighboring village, both of which are located inside the Nahuel Huapi National Park.  In the nearby town, we took a skylift to the top of the mountain.  Nothing could have prepared me for what we would see.

It was a 360 degree view of lakes, rivers, and mountains for miles without end.  Nothing has ever reminded me of how small I am, and how magnificent Mother Nature is.  The view brings tears to your eyes, and makes you wonder how terrible things like the villas exist in such a beautiful world.  It also made me so sad that society cares so little about protecting the earth.  If they spent a day in Bariloche, maybe the'd have a new perspective.  Carolina told us there were refuges all throughout the mountains for hikers to stay and get food.  No matter how thankful I was for this FREE trip that required no planning because it was organized by school, it was hard not to regret only being there 2 days.

I stood at the top for quite some time trying to soak up very angle and imprint the landscape into my mind forever.  I was literally speechless, which we all know is rare for me.  Pictures are nice, but they come nowhere near capturing the majesty of what we saw and felt standing up there.  I'm sure this all sounds like an exaggeration, but may I remind you, I haven't even been to Colorado.  I don't get experiences like this often.  God has truly blessed me so much in giving me the opportunity to come to Argentina.

Not only did I appreciate being there in that moment, but if this was so amazing, I wondered what else the world had to offer that I have been missing out on.  I want to see it all!  If anyone knows money doesn't buy happiness, it's me.  But it's hard to ignore that money does buy a lot of awesome things.  Not that I want a huge house or fancy car, but you can't exactly travel the world without money either.  Standing at the top of that peak definitely overwhelmed me with emotions.

Next, we went to Llao Llao, a world-famous hotel and golf course.  From there we could see one lone snow-covered peak, which happened to be the border of Chile.

There was also a port where people could take boats trips out on the lake.  It looked like my ideal place to live. Literally, everywhere you looked was a postcard waiting to happen.  If only my family or friends could have been there with me.  If I was that moved and in a state of ecstasy just from being there with random kids I was assigned to live with, I can't begin to imagine what it would be like that share that experience with the people I love.  My boy would have been in heaven there, and though this was a million times more breathtaking, I was still reminded of family vacations to the Smoky Mountains or Mt. Rushmore.  I was happy to be there and sad my family would never get the chance to know that same happiness with me.

Next, we went to a panoramic looking point that literally is on every postcard I've seen for Bariloche.  I think Hans showed us every angle of the mountains.  It never ceased to leave me awestruck with butterflies in my stomach.

Lastly, we visited the aldeañas area which is where the mouth of a river met the lake.  Sorry I don't know exact names.  Anyways, it was known for fly-fishing and the Alamos, the beautiful trees that turned bright yellow for a couple weeks in fall.

I'm still impressed with my pictures, even if they don't do the live scenery justice.  In fact, I look at them every night before I go to sleep.  This trip has truly given me a second wind as the end of the trip draws near.  21 days to go and I've never been happier to be here or more excited to go home.

"Gratitude is an action." I have renewed happiness and peace, and can't wait to spread love and positivity as actions of my gratitude for this wonderful experience I will never forget.

Note: My blog is misbehaving

Just to let everyone know, my blog has been acting really strange lately.  When I create a new post, the pictures will look fine and be aligned with the text exactly how I want it, but when I view the post later, the pictures aren't working.  I then have to change the size randomly until it works.  So I apologize if pictures aren't working or the posts aren't as proportioned as they should be!

Bariloche part 1: media excursions

Although we were only in Bariloche for 44 hours, it was nothing short of action-packed.  Our media portion of the trip began bright and early Tuesday morning at the lovely hour of 7:45 a.m.  If you think that sounds early, Bianca and I actually woke up at 5:45 to catch the sunrise, which didn't occur until around 8 anyways.  Silly us.  Either way, it was nice to wake up to mint tea and yoga on the balcony while taking in the magnificent landscape.  Luckily, I had a cozy night in Monday, making the most of my JACUZZI tub at the fantastic four-star lodge nestled in the mountains, Nido del Condor.  Another plus was the best breakfast I've had since being in Buenos Aires.  It was a buffet of sweet treats and gluttony with some fruit thrown in.

our favorite German-Argentine, Hans

Anyways, back to the media excursion.  We piled in the van to Canal Seis, Bariloche's most important news station where we met Hans, the best city guide. Ever. Because he was born in Bariloche in 1955 when the population was a mere 30,000 or so, he "grew with the town," so he said, to its current population of almost 150,000.  He knew all the prettiest places to see, best places to dine, most cultural experiences not to miss, and most certainly, everyone in the town.  His charismatic commentary kept us intrigued and always wanting more.  But more on Hans later.  Back to Canal Seis...

We followed around one of their field reporters Matias and a cameraman as they gathered the morning's news.  We stopped at places including the City Council, the police station, an electric co-op, and the Civic Center.  All but the electric co-op were in the town's main square.  While the buildings exude the charm of a snowy mountain town, the same can't be said for the police station on the other side of the square.

 In 2010, the police shot and killed a young person who had stolen something.  Not only did they kill him, he was shot in the back from about six feet away.  The grieving community protested the wrongful death in the town square, where police shot and killed two more people.  The heartbroken, and now infuriated town set fire to the police station in an act of vigilante justice.  The police then left the damage to be seen as an example.  

So along with ending police corruption, what are other important topics in Bariloche? Most we saw had to do with the growing population.  More prevalent than immigration, the rate and age at which lower-income residents are having children is causing rapid internal growth.  40% of the population lives in poverty, and many don't have a safe place to live, especially when the rain and snow seasons come.  Therefore, housing is a hot topic right now.  Also, the city is interested in finding ways to provide enough energy for this growing population, hence the interview with the electric co-op.  

Later that afternoon, we returned to Canal Seis to watch the news go live.  I'm not a broadcast student and I've toured KOMU in Columbia, so it wasn't all that exciting, but it was interesting to see what news they picked to show and to see the fruits of our labor, well Matias' labor, on-screen.  

Oh yeah!  I got interviewed for the radio too! En español! I had a nervous pit in my stomach, feeling they were going to pick me.  With the mic suddenly in my face, I turned bright red and tried to blurt out the most relevant thing I could think of in Spanish.  My Spanish is pretty darn good, but when you're on the spot, things are a bit more tricky.  Hopefully I represented Missouri well and didn't butcher the language too bad.  I have yet to hear the interview.  

The news station concluded the media activities that day, but fear not, we started early again Wednesday.  I'll admit, I was not feeling well and was more excited to soak up nature than spend time doing whatever else Carolina had in store, but man was I surprised.  We visited the housing projects we'd heard about in the interview the day before.  Due to the desolate conditions about 150 families were living in right in the center of town and the danger they were facing as the winter weather loomed near, the organization of the Mothers of the Disappeared used private funds to build new houses for every single family.  

After walking through the newly constructed homes, we took a deeper look inside the slums.  I felt as though I was invading the residents' privacy, embarrassed to be the privileged American looking in on them.  Carolina, our director, assured us it was okay since we were with the director of the housing project who knows the families very well. 

The houses these families lived in before (and many still do) didn't have water or gas.  They barely even had walls.  Several people lived in a one room building constructed of plywood, aluminum scraps, or whatever other materials were available.  As part of this project, the new houses were custom built depending on the size of the family.  The workers have constructed 16 houses in 3 months.  It's incredible really.  

Of course there is poverty in the United States, but we seem to have so much more help.  We have low-income housing, welfare assistance, and shelters for the homeless.  The impoverished in Argentina are often invisibilisados, forgotten.  They are left to make do with nothing.  The irony of their situation was sickening; the town's water supply was located across the street from the shantytown where people lived every day without water.  So close, but so far away.  

After the housing project is complete, there already plans to incorporate these debilitated families back into society.  The house is provided free of charge.  Theirs to keep. Forever.  Personal property is something they have never really known.  Therefore, they will be responsible for paying for water and utilities.  Also, the children will be sent to a separate school, just for them. This sounds segregated, but as they have been left home alone for years of their childhood with no social interaction while their parents are at work, their development has been severely delayed.  Once they catch up, the goal is to start integrating them into public schools. The parents will also be given resources to find and keep jobs.  

It was an inspirational trip that only fueled my desire to find a job that helps the common good when I graduate. 

In between these educational and eye-opening endeavors, there were equally inspiring views that can not be put into words.  However, I'll try in Bariloche part 2: pretty as a postcard. To be continued...

Música/music part 1

Music (along w/ food) is by far one of my favorite aspects of culture.  Fortunately, for what the cuisine lacks in variety, the tunes do not.  You can here anything from pop to reggae to tango to romantic ballads on a given day.  That said, we have definitely figured out what's hot right now.  Like American radio, the same ten songs play over and over and can be heard everywhere.  I thought I'd give you a little taste.

Up-and-coming reggae star Dread Mar I is one of my personal favorites.  He won us over with his song "Tu sin mi." We're going to see him in concert at Luna Park on the 27th.

Next up in the reggae genre is Fidel Nadal and his auto-tune hit "Te robaste mi corazon."

Looking for something more familiar?  Ricky Martin may have disappeared off the charts for quite some time in the States, but he's back and bigger than ever in Argentina.  His sentimental "Lo Mejor de mi Vida Eres Tu" is a bilingual success.

What about the local sounds of Argentina?  Vicentico, opening act for Shakira at the 2011 Pop Festival, has been making it big with songs like "Ya no te Quiero."

Another local star is Luciano Pereyra.  His provocative "El Vestido Rojo" is very representative of the porteño men who are anything but shy.

Last but not least is your favorite pop princess of South America, Shakira.  Thank goodness, she finally released the single "Sale el Sol" because her club smash "Loca" was going to send me to an asylum if I heard it one more time.

Well, that's all for now folks.  But with my passion for music, you can definitely expect more to come.  I can't wait to bump my BA playlist back in the States.

Note: None of these music videos are my property and were only meant to support these artists and share their music.  They are from YouTube and were not intended to infringe on copyrights in any way.

Typical Food/ Comida Típica

Although I'm pretty sick of it after three months, Buenos Aires has high quality, delicious food. Consisting mainly of meat, cheese, and bread, it does ,however, lack some variety.  Italian food and empanadas were heavenly the first two weeks, but now I'm dying for pancakes, mexican food, salads, and sushi. Anyways, I thought I'd walk you through a typical day's meals.

Breakfast/Desayuno

2 Crescent rolls with butter, jam, and dulce de leche / 2 medialunas con manteca, marmelada, y dulce de leche or
Grilled ham & cheese / Tostada con jamón y queso 
Coffee w/ milk / Cafe con leche
Orange Juice / Exprimido de jugo

Lunch/Almuerzo

Chicken fried steak with tomato and cheese / Milanesa napolitana or

Vegetable, spinach, and/or cheese pastry pie (kinda like quiche) / tarta or









Cross between a hot pocket and pot pie filled with beef, chicken, cheese, or veggies / Empanada










Snacks/ Meriendas


Choripan- a grilled sausage served between bread.  Chorizo (sausage) + pan (bread) = choripan

Pan relleno- bread stuffed w/ lots of combos of meat and cheese sort of like a mix of stromboli and calzone.  A popular flavor is Caprese, which is tomato, mozzarella, and basil.

Dinner/ Cena

Obviously there are a lot of different dinner choices out there, but I'll pick a few of the most popular.  Italian food such as pizza and pasta and grilled meats tend to dominate.

Pizza with cheese, pepper, olives and hearts of palm/  Pizza con jamón, queso, huevo, pepino, y palmitos


Spinach-stuffed ravioli in sauce of choice/


Traditional assortement of grilled meats/ Asado

Dessert & Sweets/ Postre y Dulces


Dessert and snacks are endless and everywhere.  It's really hard to resist the temptation when it's fresh baked, and the yummy scent is drifting around every corner.  It's pretty varied, but there are definitely some "usuals."


I guess I should start off with dulce de leche.  It's not a dessert in its own right, but it's in just about every other dessert there is.  It's the national pride of Argentina.  It's a thick, caramel-like spread.  I think it's pretty much just caramel, but the porteñans beg to differ.  They scoff at the comparison.  Well, whatever it is, it goes on everything here.  Bread, cookies, ice cream, you name it.  The one thing we thought made perfect sense and justified its ridiculous caloric content was using it as a dip for apples.  That's apparently the one thing they don't use it for.


Alfajor- the national sweet.  There are lots of different types but it's the basic setup is two shortbread cookies sandwiched together with dulce de leche.  Sometimes it's dusted with coconut, but the best way is bathed in chocolate or merengue.  If you want to completely indulge yourself, you can even get a triple stacker like these bad boys.
How do people eat like this and stay so darn skinny?!



Flan- a firm vanilla custard with a caramel sauce








Mil hojas- layers of flaky pastry and dulce de leche.  Sometimes it's served with honey and nuts.  My personal favorite is covered in chocolate, then rolled in nuts.

Ensalada de Frutas-fruit salad. Pretty self-explanatory, but it's a very popular snack and dessert.

Well, there you have it.  So take it easy on me when I get back a little thicker and softer than when I left.  You would too if you ate like a porteñan.