Mi Viaje...

Fotos de Salta...INCREIBLE!

2007-12-03T15:53:00.001-08:00

SO never got to those pictures of my last weeks in BA, but I think these ones of my last 3 days in Salta will make up for it...a little snipit of each thing I did.

View of the city of Salta from Cerro San Bernardo:

Cerro de Siete Colores (Hill of Seven Colors):

Quebrada de Humahuaca (Humahuaca Canyons):

Llamas... :

Llama. :

Las Salinas Grandes (Salt Flats):

yup, I tasted it, it´s salty...

Inca Ruins in Santa Rosa & Tilcara:

Humahuaca :

Tropic of Capricorn:

Una entrada...por fin!

2007-11-26T07:42:00.000-08:00

Apologies... I have not been very good at keeping up with this blog for the last month or so. I think I've just been caught up in trying to be present here for my last month in Buenos Aires, and now I am down to 4 days left in this wonderful city! I can't believe it! The time has really flown- BUT it's not over yet! I'm leaving Friday to take a 3 week backpacking trip from Salta (Northern Argentina) all the way down south to El Calafate. Now, I'm really starting to get excited. I have heard that the rest of the country, outside BA, is absolutely spectacular. I will be sure to post pictures, but most likely not until after I come home. Sometime this week, however, I will make sure I post the pictures from my final weeks here in BA - so stay tuned!

My last month here has been really great. I decided to stay in BA an extra week because I wanted to take another week of Spanish class and also spend another week in the factory. I think it really has made a difference. Now I feel so much more comfortable in the factory and actually able to talk to people and understand. I will be doing interviews this week to finish everything up. It has really been a great experience. And like all good learning experiences, it has left me with more questions than answers and opened up more possibilities in the future for me to explore. One thing that it has really made me sure of is that I want to be fluent in Spanish. Speaking Spanish and English will be such an asset to me in the future, especially in terms of activism and organizing. I think I will be back to South America and maybe even back to Argentina sometime in the near future, to get more answers and even more questions. We'll see...

Since I didn't write for so long I can't do much justice to how I spent my last month here, so a brief summary will have to do. We'll start with the sad news...Carolina (Evi's Cat) died this past week while I was home alone with her and they were on vacation. It was a debacle to say the least, but definitely needed to happen sooner rather than later. The cat is 20 years old and has been dying since I arrived here. Since Evi and Roberto left for vacation, the cat didn't eat for 3 days, so Evi asked me to call the vet, and he was supposed to come over at midnight that night but Caro couldn't wait, and she died in my arms at 10pm...pobrecita... I was slightly traumatized by the event and the fact that I had to talk to Evi, the Vet and her son-in-law over the pohone in Spanish and tell them all this. But Evi was concerned for me and there was no blame to be had. Betsy came over and she came with me and Evi's son-in-law to bring the body to the vet's office. And that was that. SO the house is certainly a little more empty now and a little more somber.

In lighter news, I went to my first futbol game here this past weekend. It was really incredible to see how passionate people are about the sport. The colors, flags, songs, cheers, and taunts were much more overwhelming than in any Red Sox vs Yankees game. They literally don't let opposing sides sit on the same side of the stadium, the are separated by a wall with barbed wire and a line of police. And the field is sectioned off by a moat and barbed wire as well. Luckily, the game wasn't as rowdy as it could have been because the game ended in a tie 0 - 0. So needless to say, it was much more interesting watching the fans than it was watching the futbol game.

Per usual, I've been hanging out with friends on the weekends getting in my last nights of going to dinner and staying out at boliches (clubs) until the sun comes up. Liz will be leaving to go back to Australia this week as well, so there's definitely a theme of goodbyes. And I've been going to the ferias in San Telmo and yesterday to the Gaucho feria in Mataderos to buy Christmas gifts. I went to Konex with Betsy last Monday and will be going again tonight. Konex is a big drum circle show that they have every week from 8 - 10pm at this cultural center called. It's essentially filled with the same kind of hippy kids you could find at Earthfoods or hanging out in Central that come and watch and dance for two hours. You also have your occasional hippy-at-heart-in-a-business-suit who comes there right after work. It's a really cool mix of people and the drumming is amazing. It's definitely an experience.

This week I will pack up my room and pack my backpack with as little as possible. Thursday night I hope to spend my last night at a Luis Salinas concert, he's a really famous Argentinian musician and then off to Salta the next day. Hopefully we'll get the tickets.

I'll put pictures up before I leave on Friday! Chau for now!

Jill

Fotos por fin!

2007-11-17T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all

These, pictures take an insanely long time to load, thus I couldn´t get them all up, but next time I have 2 hours to kill, I´ll put up some more...

Peninsula Valdes Part 1:

Peninsula de Valdes!

2007-10-30T14:01:00.000-07:00

Holaaaa,

Just got back from another really great trip this weekend. I took and 18 hour bus ride with LB to Peninsula de Valdes on Friday night and then came back Tuesday morning. The whole peninsula is a nature reserve famous for the Southern Right Whales that come there to breed and nurse calves every Spring, and October is the best month to see them. So we took the bus overnight and then got there in the afternoon on Saturday and rented a car. We drove two hours more south to go to what the hostel owner said is "the most important penguin colony in the Americas." One problem, the car was a standard, and between me and Betsy, she was the only capable of driving it. I had tried it once before about a year ago, but the thought of driving a rental car while trying to learn stick shift on the highways of Argentina didn´t sound too appealing, so poor Bets drove there and back. It was definitely worth the drive, or at least for me was worth sitting in the passenger seat playing navigator for 6 hours, haha. (yes 6, there was a gravel road that took an hour for us to go down each way and we got pretttttty lost on the way home). There were penguins everywhere, all in their little holes sitting on their eggs. And there were wild horses, sheep, llamas, and maras (kinda like big jackrabbits). The ride was beautiful, especially on the way home with the sun setting when we were the only people on the road. As far as getting home, we had wanted to go and eat dinner at the Welsh settlements that were seemingly near penguin colony, but ended up getting miserably lost for over an hour. But finally we made it home...

The next day we drove out to the peninsula and took a boat out to see the whales. We were on a small boat, with less than 20 other people. It was very different from whale watches in the cape where you have to elbow your way through a crowd to get a glimpse of a whale. We spent most of our time watching 2 southern right whales, a mother and calf, RIGHT next to the boat. We saw a few more whales on the way back, they were just coming out of the water in every direction. Then came my turn to drive! All the roads on the peninsula were practically deserted if you don´t count the occasional llama, cow, sheep, mara, armadillo, horse crossing. And Betsy was understandably getting tired, so she turned the wheel over and coached me on how to drive. And I am now proud to say that I learned to drive stick shift on a deserted peninsula in Argentina. Wasn´t as hard as a I thought, but I think it helps to have a good (and patient) teacher- thanks Bets! So from there we drove to Punto Norte to see a sea lion and elephant seal colony. We were also told that that is the place to see Orcas (killer whales) hunt the sea loins by beaching themselves. Unfortunately, we hit the end of the season to see that and didn´t see any Orcas. But the sea lions were all over the beach, and the elephant ones were huuuuuge. From there we drove to another point further south in the peninsula to see a few more penguins and seals as the sun was setting. We were probably the only tourists on the peninsula at this point. I pulled over and turned the car lights off at one point to see the stars and it was beautiful, I don´t think I´ve ever been in such darkness outside. Then after about 3 seconds we both got the creeps and turned the lights back on. This is how a New Yorker and a Bostonian roll in Argentina...haha.

We took it easy on Monday morning, went out for lunch, took a walk and hung out at the beach straining our eyes in the sun to see a few more whales. We also watched the news in the morning to see that Christina Kirschner had won the presidential election- not good news. As far as we can tell, she is the most conservative of all the candidates, and Evi has been telling me that her election would mean that she and her husband, current president Nestor Kirschner would just alternate terms and it would turn into another dictatorship. That´s what she says anyway.

This week has gone by, just getting back into the swing of things with going to the internship, Spanish lessons, and the gym. Liz is moving out of our house verrrry soon. She´s leaving tomorrow to go to Uruguay for a week and then she´ll be back in BA for just a few more days before she flies back to the states just in time for thanksgiving. It´s making me realize how I´ll be home before I know it. I´ll miss having her around. And I have to say it has made me a little homesick seeing her getting ready to go back and see her family, friends and boyfriend. Definitely makes me miss everyone I have at home. But Evi had some wise words for me yesterday, she said that I will be home all too soon, so I should focus on being here now and be present. Kinda sounded a little bit like a UACT ground rule, but so true. Home is waiting for me, and will come too soon I´m sure. For now I´m going to enjoy my last 3 weeks in BA. 3 Weeks! That´s so crazy.

No, I won´t be home home in 3 weeks, but I´m leaving on November 23rd to travel around Argentina for 4 weeks before I fly home. I will be starting up in the Andean North in Salta with Betsy, then down to wine country in Mendoza where Mari will meet me, the Bariloche and the seven lake district to meet Kara, and then she and I will continue south through Patagonia and the glacial parks. After all this, Kara and I will come back to BA for two days so she can see the city and I can say my goodbyes. And then home. It´s going to be amazing, all of it.

Ok that´s it for now, I´m going to try to post my pictures from Peninsula de Valdes later today!

Fotos de Colonia en Uruguay...

2007-10-17T08:28:00.001-07:00

The Old City, Beautiful...

Asado with a group of guys having a bachelor party at our hostel:

The beach we "found":

We rented motorbikes:

Sunset as we were leaving:

Sigh...

Dia de la Raza, Chilavert, Uruguay, Asados...

2007-10-15T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hola,

I´ve been meaning to sit down and write in this thing for the past few days, and finally have the chance because today is a feriado (holiday) por el Dia de la Raza, which actually translates into "Race Day". It´s been explained to me as an awful holiday pretty similar to our Columbus day in that it is supposed to signify when the indigenous people of South America were "discovered" by Europeans. SO it´s similar to Columbus day in that all the school children are taught that it is about celebrating diversity, when in fact is is, as my mom put it, a celebration of the beginning of the end for indigenous people here. So yeah, that´s why I have a little time to write, because indigenous people were exploited by Europeans a couple hundred years ago...sound familiar?

ANYWAYS, it has been quite a week for me! Let me start at the beginning...I started my internship at Chilavert on Monday and went three days last week. It was really good. I was pretty intimidated at first about the Spanish and about coming into the factory as an outsider, but as soon as I walked into the factory I realized there was nothing to be intimidated by. LB and I met Ernesto, Candido, and Placido- a few men from the factory. They invited us to eat lunch with them everyday, after they first asked if we were vegetarians, since there´s meat for a meal everyday. When I wasn´t eating lunch or chatting with the workers, I spent most of my time in the archive they have there. Chilavert is known as an "open door factory" because it is an open community space for events and night classes. It is also open to student groups and people who are interested in learning about the movement. The archive is the one place where all the research that has been done (in a few different languages) on el Movimiento Nacional de Empresas Recuperadas. There are a few students from UBA who work there as well. We´re from all over the place, US, Italy, France, Canada, Argentina and the common language to use with each other is Spanish. So it´s been good practice to sit and talk with the other students working in the archive. But it certainly takes a really long time to get through research in Spanish, especially when there´s so many people to talk to! BUT I did get through a few articles about how Chilavert "took" the factory and started to run it as a cooperative. I´ll try to find some info in English to post here, because it´s a long but important story to tell. SO that sums up my first week there, I hope to go there 4 days next week and start working on the floor.

I also finished my Spanish classes at UBA on Thursday, took an oral and written final exam. I´ve decided to start taking private Spanish lessons here at a language institute, because my Spanish really needs to be better. It costs pretty much the same to do that, and I think I will learn a lot more one on one with a professor, two hours a day , 5 days a week. UBA gave me a good review of Spanish and I met some people, but now that I really only have two months left I really want to be doing everything I can to speak Spanish fluently.

On another note, I went to Uruguay this weekend with Mari. The whole adventure was very last minute, we just went to the boat terminal on Friday evening and put our names on a waiting list for tickets, and then there was a 2 hour delay with the boats so we had to wait, not even knowing if we would actually get on. But once we finally got on the boat the trip went perfectly! We obviously hadn´t booked a hostel, but the first place we walked into had rooms. We dropped our bags and found a bar and met these two Uruguayan guys who brought us to another bar where we met more people. And then we just danced the night away. It was so great to go and talk to interesting people and just dance, dance, dance. I like dancing here so much better than at home! The next day we got up and rented motorbikes (so much fun!) and found a deserted beach and just hung out there for a while. And then there was a group of men at the hostel for a bachelor party and they invited us to an asado (BBQ) so we ate and drank, and then walked around the old city. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL. So much calmer than the city. I took lots of pictures, so hopefully I can post them soon. SO our one night escape from Bs As was spectacular. AND I got my passport stamped so that I have another 90 day visa for the rest of my stay in Argentina. Perfecto!

And then last night, I went to a party where I only really knew one person (with the encouragement of Ana Lua...haha) with Alyza. I was invited by Rhiannon, the Canadian student who works in the archive - and I´m so glad that I went! The people there were so nice and welcoming. There were so many strange coincidences. I met a woman there, Vanessa, who graduated from Mount Holyoke this past year. And not only is she from the Valley, but also used to work at Nuestras Raices in Holyoke. She knows all about Nueva Esperanza and YouthBuild. It was so so so nice to talk to someone about my work in Holyoke, because I miss it so much. And attention ASB alumni: she confirmed that everyone who has ever worked at Nuestras Raices has a crush on Eric- haha, ASB alum know alllll about that. Also, Rhiannon knew another UMass student that did the same program as me, Caleb, and so we had a lot of commonalities there as well. All in all, it was great and we partied until 7am today. It just proves that being abroad you have to take risks and make yourself uncomfortable to meet people and have new experiences. Thanks Ali and Lua ;)

And nowwwww....I´m going to an asado at Rhiannon´s house and perhaps the movies later with Banu. And then tomorrow the week starts again, with Spanish lessons and Chilavert and hopefully back to the gym! Vamos a ver!

ALSO! It´s so nice to get comments from everyone, thanks for keeping up with me while I´m away. It´s really nice to hear from friends and family. And Uncle Tom and David, don´t worry, I was already planning on going to Marcho del Orgullo in november! I´ll take lotssss of pictures!

Love,

Jill

Demasiadas cosas...

2007-10-09T13:08:00.000-07:00

Heyyyy all,

Busy week this week, classes are ending at UBA and my internship is starting. Which entails me running between both places while trying to study for my final exams and also comprehend the written and spoken spanish required of me at my internship. I will write a full entry soon, most likely when the week is over. But I´m doing well!

;)

Tightrope walking, Friends, Demonstration, and Waterfalls!

2007-10-01T05:59:00.000-07:00

Slackline walking in the Park with Mari:

Mari & Me:

Mari, Liz and Me:

Banu & Me in Palermo Viejo:

Recuperated Factories Demonstration on front of the National Congress:

CATARATAS DE IGUAZU !!!! AMAZING.

Chau Buenos Aires, hola Iguazu...

2007-09-26T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hey,

So it´s been awhile since I´ve written, I hope people are still reading this. My motivation to write now comes from the fact that I am leaving today to go to Las Cataratas de Iguassu (Iguazu Waterfalls) that lie up North between Argentina and Brazil. I´m reaaaaaalllly excited. These falls are supposed to make Niagara look tiny. And I´m really excited to take a break from the city for a while and see something beautiful. LB and I are taking an overnight bus for 18 hours there, spending two nights in a hostel, and then busing back overnight on Saturday. Woo bus!

To update on the last two weeks, where to start....I went to a milonga (tango bar) and took tango and salsa lessons. It was a big group lesson and hard to see the instructors feet, and I don´t have the best coordination, but I still learned a few steps. It was good too, because they had us keep switching partners, and this one time I was with this guy who was like "HOLA co-mo te YamAS" and I asked where he was from and he said the US, Virginia more specifically. And I have to say he made me feel better about my Spanish, haha. He said he thought I was a porteña (from bs. as.). Anyways, it was a cool atmosphere at the club, old people, young people, good dancers, bad dancers, and everyone was dancing with everyone. I would definitely go back.

On Saturday night I went to a party with Mari, at the house of some Colombian exchange students in her program and had such a good time. the difference between parties with Colombians, Argentines, and others from Sudamerica and the US, is that PEOPLE DANCE. And they all dance well. Talking to Liz about dancing she said that Luciano (her boyfriend) said that people from Australia and the US don´t dance, but they "squeeze"- I have to say that´s a pretty accurate way to describe it. The other difference was that even though the only person I knew there was Mari, everyone was so nice and welcoming, I feel like parties at home are much more cliquey, but maybe that´s not an Argentine thing, but more the community of exchange students. Everyone is here away from home, and their closest friends here they have probably only known for a few weeks. Works for me.

The week before last was rough, probably one of my lowest since I´ve been here. Just felt lonely and missed home and counted the days until I go back. But it all seems to come and go in waves, because now I´m frantically counting how little time I have left. I got a package from my mom and that definitely helped and talked to some people on the phone. It feels good to know that I have people I can call when I´m feeling that way. Thanks.

OH! I almost forgot! And this weekend, at shindig/jam session at LBs place I met a guy from Buffalo who is planning to go to Grad school at BU. At first we were speaking spanish and then he asked where I was from and I said Boston, and he was like "I love Boston! I´m going to BU next year" so there it all awkwardly started, but I found out that he had been an anthropology major in undergrad and he had just finished 3 years doing the peace corps in Ecuador. He stayed an extra year because he loved it so much. When I told him I was thinking about it he said I absolutely have to do it, he said it was the best thing he ever did and that with my background and Spanish ability I´d be starting out much further along than he was when he started. It´s funny how people just fall into your path like that, telling you the things you´ve known all along. He´s really got me thinking about it, him and this whole experience has got me thinking that I want to do the Peace Corps after graduation. Vamos a ver, We´ll see...

Ok, I think that´s it for now. I wanted to post pictures (of me walking on a slack line in the park!) but this computer doesn´t have the hook up, so next time I will have fun pictures and falls pictures!

Miss & Love.

Jill

Un mes!

2007-09-10T15:23:00.001-07:00

Hola,

So to go in line with the rest of my blog titles...it´s been exactly a month since I left home! SO far so good. I just got back from auditing a Human Rights Seminar at UBA, and there was a new teacher who spoke very fast so I only understood what he wrote on the board. Most days I´ve been having lunch with Elsa, the woman who works in the house cooking and cleaning. She speaks only Spanish, so it´s good practice. It´s funny though when I don´t know a word or how to express something, because then I have to point to things or make silly gestures, but it definitely helps break the ice. I´ve also been watching a Telenovela (soap opera) with Liz, the other US student in my house, every night, which is good for my Spanish and good for getting to know her a little better. Some really exciting news is that LB and I went to a cultural exchange center here, called ICANNA, to meet with the director. The director is a friend of LB´s neighbor at home, and she had been emailing her before the trip. The center is a place both for learning Spanish and English, and they have a specific program that makes it very unique for English learners. The classes focus on US English and doesn´t just teach grammar, but teaches the language through other subjects, such as Literature, business, current events, etc. Because of this, Vivian, the director said that there is a possibility that LB and I could assist in teaching one of these courses, in exchange for Spanish tutoring. SO we would be teaching English and learning Spanish at the same time, for free. She asked us to give her CV´s to see if we would fit into any of the subjects. I´m not as confident as LB, with her poli sci and current events knowledge, because there´s no anthro class. But she also said, part of the classes is also about teaching cultural values, that I could do. My past entries have been an example that you recognize what your own cultural values are much more clearly when you are out of the context. So, my job this week is to finish my CV and send it off to Vivian. I hope it all works out.

Another exciting thing is that Evi invited LB and I to dinner with her family on Wednesday to celebrate the Jewish New Year, so there will be lots of good food, lots of opportunities to speak Spanish, and to meet Evi´s family. I definitely like talking to little kids whenever I get the chance, because they, like me, are learning the language. And when they point to a book and say "libro", I can understand them...haha. It is also nice to be around kids because they have no problem correcting you, and and 5 year olds don´t easily offend me. That´s the thing that I wish I had more of, someone correcting my mistakes. There have been things that I have been saying wrong in Spanish for 7 years, and only now am I having to undo those mistakes. It´s really hard breaking the habit. Also, Argentine Spanish is different with different pronouns and the "vos" verb form, and the accent- so it´s definitely taking some getting used to. But hopefully having a private tutor will help.

This weekend I went to "El Museo de Eva Peron" and also "MALBA" the Latinoamericano Modern Art Museum. They were both good for different reasons, but I particularly like the art museum. I saw paintings by Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, and Xul Solar (LB tells me he´s famous, but I hadn´t heard of him before...Maybe you know, Auntie Cindy?) The admission was free for students so I think I will definitely go back.

Lately we´ve also been hanging out with another student from UMass here, an old coworker (Earthfoodie) of LB´s that I know peripherally, Alyza. She´s been here a month longer than us and is staying indefinitely, for now in Bs As, later to travel around and maybe live somewhere else in South America. She was a Spanish major, so her Castellano is much better then mine. Pretty cool to just get up and go for however long you choose.

Next weekend I am going to Tigre with Mari, it´s a nice place a little outside the city that has art museums and a beautiful river. And then the weekend after I´m planning a trip to Iguazu to see the waterfalls between Argentina and Brazil. I´m really excited for that, Liz went on a trip there with her program this past weekend and said it was amazing. I´ll be sure to take lots of pictures and post them!

Ok, that´s it for now, I´m off to make dinner!

Besos.

Mas Fotos...

2007-09-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

La Feria in San Telmo- street vendors, music, lots of people every Sunday:

LB and I in Cafe Tortoni - the olderst cafe in Buenos Aires, where Borges would come.

"Dr. Ernesto Che Guevara Classroom" at the University of Buenos Aires, where he attended.

Sign at the University for the student strike that has been happening for the past month:

San Martin Square:

Despues de 3 semanas...

2007-08-30T08:43:00.000-07:00

Holaaaaaaa,

So tomorrow will be three weeks since I left home. It really has flown by much faster than I expected, at least after that first week. I was sick last week with a chest cold so that really put me down a bit. It's hard enough adjusting to everything, but being sick away from home was just bad. I, ms feeling much better now, emotionally and physically. I´m finally starting to get into the groove of things here. The other day LB and I sat down and made a list of what we wanted to get out of this experience and how we are going to get it. Spanish was number one on both of our lists, so since then I have taken some steps to make sure I'm speaking Spanish as much as I can, because the first week here consisted of LB and I hanging out in Cafes and speaking English, and the second week consisted of me being in bed sick and not speaking any language to anyone but the cat. So week 3, Spanish classes are in gear, for 2 hours a day 4 days a week, I started reading the paper in Spanish making it a goal to understand fully at least one main article (which means I have to sit down with a pen, paper and my dictionary and look up all the words I don't know, write them down and then reread the article). Deliberate exposure was one of the things that LB and I talked about being important, so yesterday I went to the ethnographic museum with Banu and spent over an hour going through the exhibit on Argentine history that was all in Spanish, dictionary in hand. I also posted on one of the boards at the university for a Spanish partner, a porteño (person from Bs As) who is trying to learn English, so that we can practice together every week. And finally I went to the social science dept of UBA and looked up classes that I was interested in, and am going to start auditing them next week. There are 2 anthropology courses I want to audit: Human Rights Seminar and Sociocultural Systems of America. I would also like to audit a third class on History of Argentina. SO we´ll see if I can feasibly fit it all into my schedule. These classes would be entirely in Spanish as they are for regular UBA students, so I would go and just sit in to listen. Should be coooool if the professors don't mind.

I think in one of my first entries I wrote about how it was finally hitting me that I would be here for 4 months, but now it´s hitting me that I am ONLY here for 4 months. Another week and my first month is over, and in reality since I will be spending my last month backpacking around, I really only have 2 1/2 months to be here, learning Spanish and working in the factory (which I don't start until October). The other night I hung out with LB and two friends from her class, Liz (from Australia) and Mari (From Norway) and the two of them had been traveling around for quite sometime. They, like me, were in a transition stage of finishing up school and not quite ready for the next step, which almost inevitably means work. The two of them had were in the middle of a over a year abroad. To think that Liz had been in South America for 4 months already and then is going to Europe and India before she heads home in April is incredible. We all talked a lot about what means to travel in terms of having the privilege to do it, and to have that tourist gaze that automatically comes with it. What I am seeing here and now and will see until I leave is only my interpretation of the world down here through the lens of my own experience, which is of a very different culture. I am free to come and go as I choose and in whatever capacity, and life will go one here or at home regardless of where I am. When I walk by the same people everyday asking for change, or say no to the kinds on the train trying to sell me stickers for a peso, and then go buy a pair of sneakers at the mall for $300 pesos, because to me that's the equivalent of $100 USD - it's really hard to grapple with how much privilege I have. And then the question becomes, now what? I have it, I can't get rid of it, and I remember what Ms. Ruth said in New Road, that if I have it I should use it. SO then the question is really how do I use it best. Travelling around the world, learning for now works, but it won't forever. SO that next step that we (being every traveling 20something I meet here) keep putting off needs to put what I am learning here to use and needs to make some kind of difference. So, maybe we're not putting it off after all, maybe we're just making sure we're really ready to live in the world as working people.

That´s my theory for now.

OK, well the weekend is here since I don't have classes on Friday, so until next week - Ciao!

Algunos fotos..

2007-08-25T11:38:00.000-07:00

My room in Caballito:

A Thursday protest for worker´s rights:

The Obelisk in the center of Buenos Aires and La Casa Rosada (government house):

Scenes from Plaza de Mayo:

LB digging out the remains of our brownies made from nesquick

Lb and I in Puerto Madero, a barrio in Buenos Aires that is on the water:

Cultura, Clases, y Amigos

2007-08-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

Hiiii,

So today was my first day of class at the University of Buenos Aires. I think I´m in the right level, it doesn´t seem too difficult. I made a friend today, her name is Banu and she is from Turkey. I realized that my Spanish class is not really the place to meet people from Argentina as the name of the class directly translates to ¨Spanish for foreigners.¨ Most of the students in my class are from the US. I briefly met a woman from Smith College who was in my room before we got split into two classes. Sadly, we are not in the same section. There was another guy from Boston, but he also was put in the other section before I could talk to him. Hopefully I can bump into the tomorrow. My class is Monday - Thursday from 9-11am, quite early for me. I get up at 7:15, eat breakfast with Evi and then catch the Subte (subway) to Plaza de Mayo, and walk 10 mins from there to my class. Everyone seems nice, but as I said most are estadounidenses (US citizens) Almost half the class is from one particular program, flaxo, and they have already been here a month and know each other quite well, so that kind of killed my hopes of meeting a lot of people in my class, since they already seem to have their group. Butttt we´ll see how it goes.

It was interesting to hang out with Banu today, because she seems to be having an even bigger culture shock than LB and I. It really made me recognize the daily differences. Something that I really love about the culture here is the familiarity and automatic comfortability. Everyone kisses hello and goodbye, whether you know each other or not. I had a stomach ache today and three people at LB´s house were concerned for me and offered to get me medicine. It just feels like family, which is really nice. The lifestyle is also very laidback, which is nice for me. It´s focused on spending time with people. Everyone takes breaks in the day to sit over cafe and ¨Charla¨or chat. Meals, especially dinner, last a long time. Sharing mate is a communal activity and ritualistic in terms of hospitality and who is the server. Also, simply sitting on the bus it easy to see that people are aware and friendly to one another. Most young people give up their seats for older people or women with children, without ever being asked. Today there was a protest in the square, about what I don´t know, but LB´s professor today was complaining of how there are protests everyday. And the culture of going out on a Saturday night is much different. LB and I went out until 8am the other night, and that seems to e a normal thing for argentine youth. It´s one bar, followed by another, followed by coffee at a cafe when the sun comes up. Not something I think I can handle every weekend. LB and I have also found ourselves in a ¨couples culture¨. Usually when you see women on the street they are holding hands with men, which sure enough is a symbol of the machismo. And PDA is the thing to do. Lb and I went for a walk in Puerto Madero and every which way we looked men and women were making out on the street. VERY different to see, and sometimes awkward if we´re sitting right next to it. But culture is culture and certainly takes some adjusting to view it through my own cultural lens. That´s what I have so far of a mini ethnography of my first week. If anything it has all made me much more aware of my own conception of culture in the US. Even the realization that calling myself an American is wrong. Everyone here in South America and in North America are Americans, I´m a US citizen. And even in talking to Banu (who by the way speaks four languages), who was most comfortable speaking with me in English, realizing again (a key learning from GCD) that being a native English speaker is such a privilege, and for me learning a second language is a luxury, not a necessity. I could talk a lot more about that, and I think fellow New Road students would agree, that language is also a privilege that oppresses. Buttt my internet time is running out, so maybe another time.

Ok, love and miss you all.

Jill

Despues de una semana...

2007-08-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

Helllo!

So, nowI´ve officially survived my first week in Buenos Aires. Go me. It´s definitely feeling more comfortable here. Although LB and I defintely had some trouble feeling kind of aimless and without purpose this week. It´s really hard to adjust to a new place without a routine. I was reading this book that my neighbor Maureen gave me about a woman that basically abandons her life in the states to travel abroad by herself, and one of the things she talks about is how important having a routine was to her in her life in the states, and how when she had all this time on her hands, time that was meant for her to have, she would fall back into the idea of ¨keeping herself busy¨. LB and were discussing that a lot this week, because at the prospect of having an entire week with no plans, we were panicked and overwhelmed. We had to keep verbally affirming that we were here for a reason, and we would have a routine in a week or so. In my effort to try to avoid this mentality I spent all of yesterday without a plan, I walked around the neighborhood and then sat in a cafe reading and eating churros with cafe de leche for 3 hours. It was really nice, then LB and I when grocery shopping and made stirfry veggies and rice together. The two of us eat pretty regularly with my host parents, ususally it´s the only time of the day that I see them. It´s nice though, to speak spanish with them and just sit. We eat at 9pm every night and usually don´t leave the table until 11. It´s definitely a different schedule to get used to. Watching the news with them is also very interesting because it´s sometimes hard for LB and I to follow, so Evi usually explains it to us. The pictures on the news this week, however, told their own story. Everyone was talking about the earthquake in Peru. I had a momentary freak out because I knew Deepti and her family were there, but I emailed her and she wrote back that they just missed it. ANother constant part of the nightly news are the upcoming elections. There are two women who are the frontrunners, one of which, Cristina, is the wife of the current president Kirschner, the other woman, I can´t remember is the one that Evi likes. She seems to be more liberal and ëtico¨as Evi was explaining to us the other nigfht. Knowing about the tumultuous election that happened between Kirschner and Menem last time, it will be really interesting to be here for the election here in October. I need to learn more abou tthe politics of the country however, hopefully LB can help me with that. ALso seeing news of the US from the point of view down here is interesting. I heard Bush declared Iran a ¨terrorist threat¨and felt sick at the table sitting there with Roberto and Evi.

On another note, the biggest cultural adjustment for me has been getting used to living in a city. LB and I talked a lot about this, because she is from the city so feels safer here than an Amherst, whereas it is the opposite for me. Getting used to the bus system, and how vast the city is has been tough for me, but I´ve been tackling one neighborhood at a time. Even just getting used to all th enoise and all the people on the street has been a challenge. It feels like even though there are more people, the city feels more lonely because everyone walks the street with their own mission and just seems to ignore everything that´s going on around the,m. This is hard for me, I feel like I get overstimulatedf pretty easily so it´s hard to shut it all out.

Ok taht´s all I have tiome for for now. Today LB and I are going to the ¨bodies¨exhibit with Anival and Jess. I saw this exhibit in Boston, I actually organized a field trip for youthbuild students to see it. And jess was excitedly telling me about it the other day, so it´ll be nice to see it in a different country and also a different language. SOmething familiar out of the original context. Jess is a med student at UBA, so it´s obvious why she was so excioted to see it.

Ok, so now I´m off! I miss and love you all still! The comment are nice too! Congrats Sara on everything, I can´t wait to see you when I get back- all big and glowy. haha.

¡ciao!

Estoy Aqui

2007-08-13T15:56:00.000-07:00

SO I´m here. I´m starting to settle in more or less. My family is very nice, Evi and Roberto. They are an older couple with a cat named Carolina who seems to have an affection for me. Evi is very good about speaking slowly and repeating things if I need it. The first day was really hard, I was so exhausted from the long flight, and so nervous to finally meet them and to have to start speaking spanish. I pretty much clumsily fumbled through day one, tripping over my words and feeling embarassed about not being able to communicate clearly. But one nights rest seemed to make it better. I realized that I just need to keep trying, and Evi and Roberto are very patient with me. I already feel like I´m learning so much. Everyday gets a little easier, although it has really only been 3 days. The second day I struggled with the massive bus system to try to find my way to LB´s place, and finally made it. It is really nice to have her around to talk to and take a break from the spanish. We hung out at her place for a bit, which in itself is so different from mine. A lot of young people, activists, musicians, etc., are in and out all the time. And Walter pretty much sleeps all day and is up all night. I tried mate for the first time there. It´s like a strong tea (yerba mate) that you pass around and take sips from, and it´s tradition when you finish to pass it back to the person who gave it to you so they can refill it and pass it back. Now I understand a little bit more about what it means to ¨share maté.¨ A woman who lives with LB, Jesica, has been our informal guide because she speaks speaks spanish and english and is a student at the Universty (UBA). It´s been really helpful having her around. With all of this, our hosts and people we meet who are willing to help, it´s hard not to feel like a burden because of the language barrier, but it really seems like stumbling through as best I can is the only way to really learn it. Last night was really nice, Evi invited LB over for dinner, and it was the first night that another American student, Liz, was staying at our house. Shes from Boulder Colorado and will be with us until mid-november´. We all had a nice dinner together speaking spanish as best as we all could, and evi said that I had already gotten better in the last three days. IT was really reassuring to hear that from her. Today LB and I hung out at the plaza del Mayo, a famous square where people protested in 2001 and still protest there every single Thursday afternoon. Then we found UBA, and got all the info for registering on Wednesday. Classes don´t start until the 21st, so we have a week to hang out and get to know the area a little better. With the exchange rate the way that it is, 3 to 1, it´s definitely cheap to travel around and eat out. It has been an adventure though doing the most regular things, like I went grocery shopping the other day, and as many of you know I have a hard time grocery shopping on my own even at home because I´m not much of a cook. Anyways, even finding things just took longer. I also went to the camera store and got a memory card, and also bought a local prepaid cell phone- and was proud because I was successful at both. Little accomplishments like these seem to make it better and reassures me why I am here- to stumble and leanr, stumble and learn.

I think that´s it for now. Tomorrow we might venture out to the cemetary where the Peron´s are buried.As my internet access is fairly limited I will probably only be posting about once a week- FYI.

Love and miss you all. If you want to tell me the same my address is:

Jill Meade
Av. Rivadavia 4961 Piso 7, Dto. B
(1424) Ciudad Autónoma de Bs. As.
Argentina

Antes de mi viaje...

2007-07-26T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This will be the place where I will keep everyone updated on my stay in Argentina for the next 4 months. I figured it would be a good way to keep everyone on the same page and also a good place to share photos and such. It also keeps me from inundating people's email boxes . So if you miss me and want to see what I'm up to (which I know all of you will) you can find me here at http://jillinargentina.blogspot.com/.

So 2 weeks from tomorrow I'm off! For now a quiet vacation with the family until I leave. Bet you miss me already.

Love, Jill