Mi cumple

So its a few days late (better late than never, and I wanted to not leave my blog completely hanging) but I had a great birthday weekend a week ago now. My birthday is June 13, and the last day of class was the 12th so of course we had to go out that night to celebrate the end of the semester (finally). On the night of the 12th, after meeting up with some friends at a friends house, we went to a soccer game, my first one of the trip. But I couldn't leave Argentina without seeing a 'futbol' game. We went to see tallers (I was not about to go to a game where Argentina played, those national games get crazy). I had been warned about the dangers of even a regional game, and they were definitely warranted. I spent much more time paying attention to the other people at the game than to the game itself. It was a Wednesday night but even so, it sure was packed, but only our half, exactly our half. I was standing crowded by my group staring at empty stands, completely empty, not like only a few people, completely empty. The crowd on my side had constant energy, but more than just yelling, they had several songs they would sing and everyone would know them. How they knew what song to sing next I have no clue. There were no loud speakers playing music, also there was no screen showing the score board or the time, just a little TV on the opposite side showing advertisements. But the people on my side, there was some of everything, but mostly males dressed (or not dressed) in navy and white, some waving quite large flags. We were a couple rows behind the wall overlooking the entrance on which several very young boys were sitting without any parents in sight, one slip and they fall 20 feet down onto concrete. Next to these boys were several men, probably fairly drunk, standing on that wall. I remember one of the men standing up there took his shirt off and had some very large, visible scars clearly from puncture wounds, as if from a knife. That made all of us a little uncomfortable. But the game went great, I think they lost in a shoot out, not positive, but I enjoyed pretending I could sing the songs along with the rest of the half of the stadium that had people in it.

After we went to a bar for a bit to celebrate the beginning of June 13 (My birthday!) and then went home, because it was only Wednesday. And hanging from the roof of the bar were these fruits that I'm not sure about, but I think they were called Maracuya which may mean passion fruit. They were pretty good, if you like bland fruit with little taste.

The next day we had horseback riding class, but I was not up for more horseback riding after the last one of those classes where we rode through the river, so I just did the cooking part of the lesson which was really fun. We made alfajores and pastafrola, both desserts that use flour so I didn't have any, but they were fun to make! I took a chill afternoon, probably had a nice nap, and then that evening after dinner I went to Tyler's house to bake myself a gluten free cake! It was really good, I ate most of it that night, probably should not have eaten so much cake, but it was really really yummy and I dont get a chance to eat much gluten free cake. Also, it was really easy to make, it was one of those just add water recipes, and they had direction in English, though it was British English so that did make it a little more difficult. Like the first direction was: turn on the furnace, which I didn't know how to do, but luckily Tyler already had the oven preheated so I just used that. After the cake, we went downtown and had a good night, walked to the bus stop at 4am, and I was in bed by 5:30.

I slept most of Friday to save up energy for the big show that night: my final presentation, also because I had gotten home after 5am. Friday evening the show went fairly well, there were several hiccups like the group forgetting the dances, being late in the costume change, and me not having anything to eat because they only served pizza and beer, but other than that, it went great. After the idea was that we stayed and had a party there, but that was a little awkward with all the families and teachers standing around - it felt too much like a middle school dance, except some of my friends were drunk. But instead we went across the street to Tyler's house to have an After(party) in which I think we all had a great time, and we showed some of the Argentinans here how we party US style. I made it home that morning before 7am, so still before the sun came up.

Saturday I slept all day because Ryan wanted me to go with him to the gay club that night to be his wingman. So after sleeping all day, I went with Ryan to the gay club to be his wingman (or wingwoman, I'm not sure how effective I was as a wingwoman at a gay club, but it was fun) at 1am. Except we didnt take into account that it was Saturday night and at 1am, no one would be there. And when I say no one, i mean no one was there, it was us and the staff of the club. Finally other people start showing up at like 2:30 and then its kind of full by 3am and we have a good time. Leave around 6am, home by 7am. I had a nice sleep Sunday. And that was my lovely birthday weekend in Argentina.

And to continue the post up to the present time because I'm too lazy to make another one. Monday I went shopping and bought a pair of jeans, jeans shopping in this country is much easier, once I learned all the clothes vocabulary, because the people on average here are shorter so the jeans are shorter too so they actually fit - its great. Hung out with some friends Monday night and re discovered stereograms, those were a blast from the past. Tuesday I passed my Cine final with a 9 and Wednesday I passed my Spanish final with a 10! And now the baby has finally stopped screaming so I can go to bed. I made the mistake of trying to go to bed last night at 12 and I wasted 2 hours tying to sleep just listening to the sounds of a screaming child. Its sad to say but I will miss that baby, certainly not between the hours of midnight and noon, but I've gotten used to seeing it everyday, not gotten used to referring to it with a gender, but very used to seeing it.

Un Jueves

I know it has been awhile, but I thought I would post about just another day in my life in Argentina.
Thursday edition: Horseback riding final and the Doctors office

And of course, I'm going to start with yesterday. Between classes yesterday, I went to the international office to tell them I wasn't feeling well and would like to see a doctor. So, the nice one tells me how to get to the hospital, what bus to use and everything. I get there and find the information desk and the person hands me the phone and tells me to call the number. Ok, I call the number and tell the person on the phone I would like to see a doctor. The person on the phone is like ok, next Friday... I was like wait, I would like to see a doctor now. She responded, ok next Monday - And I interrupted again, no, I would like to see a doctor soon. So finally she makes me an appointment for the hospital in the center today at 3:30.

So today was my horseback riding final at El Encuentro. I had to get up early for it so I was alone in the kitchen about to pour myself cereal when Bety bursts in and tells me, like its the end of the world, that there isnt any yorgur. So I'm like fine, I'll cook myself some eggs. She didn't understand. 'Huevos?' So I'm about to cook myself some eggs when she's like no, I'll do it. So I did get eggs for breakfast, but I didn't get to cook. But later that day I would have the opportunity...

But first, I have had exactly 2 horseback riding classes adding up to a full hour and a half of time on a horse. I was not ready, at all. So we get on the horses, and they tell us we are going on a ride through the woods. I was thinking like a path sort thing, not too worried. We enter the woods and the path is like 2 feet wide and very overgrown, so I just being whacked by tree branches and other plants. And the horse is not listening to any of my commands, it stopped to eat, walked off the path, refused to stop when I pulled the reins. Then, all of the sudden we get to this stream, no river. The two guides go across like its no big deal and I nearly just turned around right then, ready to take a failing grade. The guides were on pretty big horses and both of their boots got wet going across. And just to give the setting, when I had left the house that morning at 9:30 it was 45 degrees outside. At least it was sunny. So I'm third in line, the two guys in front of me start going across and their horses stop in the middle. I have 0 control over mine, and it just follows theirs in, except I think it tripped, because right when we get in the water it stuck its head under the rushing water and my entire left leg got soaked in water. This is 5 minutes into the ride. The ride continues, with continuing struggles. I still cant get the horse to stop when I pull the reins, it would just throw its head and keep going. The only time it did stop was to eat, which is when it should not have been stopped. We finally get out of the low branch forest and into a nice field. Well, not a nice field, the grass was really tall, so it was still whacking me, and the path was even narrower. At one point my horse nearly started galloping headed right towards the fence that separated the school playground from our trail. Luckily I avoided that catastrophe of riding a horse through a school playground. We keep going and going and finally we reach a road that will take us back. I thought riding a horse through a trail was difficult, but I hadn't known what riding a horse on a road with cars was like. Luckily we crossed back of the river at a lower point, though it was really rocky and the horses kept kind of tripping but we all made it back and passed.

Then it was cooking class time. I had a great time in cooking class. I tried to make sure that I washed my hands a lot because of my cold, but the Argentinians have no concept of germs - which I will get to later. I fried up some pastelitos (some sort of pastery), and we made humito (basically creamed corn soup) which involved putting corn in a blender - that was a first for me. And as a complete opposite of breakfast that morning  the cooking teacher did not even give me instructions other than 'cook'. Luckily deep frying and boiling soup aren't too difficult. Also, I was the only person the teacher let near the food on the stove, not sure why.

I made it back to the house for an excellent lunch: baked chicken, potatoes, and sweet potatoes. And I get ready to go to the doctor. I've had a couple friends here go to the doctor so I had some ideas about what to expect. But I got so much more than I expected. The hospital was the most confusing un-labeled building I've been in, in my life. I go up to the third floor like the lady on the phone said but I ended up in the nursery so I just went back the way I came until I found the Informacion desk. Apparently I took the wrong hallway to the third floor. So I find the doctors office, and the only information they ask for is my insurance card. There was no filling out 5 pages of my name, personal information, medical history, signing my name - none of that. The doctor calls me back, and he was a very nice old man that spoke some English, so I had the appointment in Spanglish. First thing he does, greet me with a kiss on the cheek. Obviously I have a severe cold based on the color of my nose and the way my voice sounds, but does that stop the Argentianinas, noo, there is one, and only one, proper way to greet someone here. The kiss must be given. The first thing I notice on walking in the exam room, is the mound (as in messy piles) of pill boxes of free samples on the side table and on his desk and on the window sill. It was impressive (I considered taking a picture but that could be considered strange). So we sit down and just start having a conversation. Like: so where are you from, oh yah, thats cool. Finally we get down to business, which includes, name, address, birthday, ect.. but it't not just an exchange of information, it was a conversation. He had a comment on nearly every personal fact I gave him. Oh thats my wife's birth date, oh thats the neighborhood I used to live in, now I live... and so on. And finally, after a good 20 minutes of chatting, he's like, so whats wrong. And I describe my issues. At this point he still has no medical history on me, so I kind of weave that in to my story. It was great fun trying to say the medical words in Spanish  Even if they didn't translate at all, just saying them like they were Spanish words was enough for him to understand.

When I told him about what medicine I take every day he was like NO, your only 20 (he can almost do math), that cant be right, why are you on that. So we spend a good amount of time talking about my medical history some more, and he re-diagnoses me, probably more correctly than any doctor in the US had. So that was super exciting, resolving previously un-resolved medical issues. But, he had no clue what is wrong with me right now (story of my life), so I have a broad spectrum fasting blood analysis tomorrow, after which I am to call him on his cell phone to find out my results. That too will be an adventure. So I have with me a list, on a piece of paper off of a regular note pad, all the tests the lab is supposed to run. I could always add some more for fun haha. As I was leaving he gave me the customary kiss on the cheek goodbye, and I found my was out of the maze, to the bus stop, and made a friend, because this is Argentina and that's what happens here. Also, and this is for everyone here with me that has been to the doctor, he gave me a list of foods not to eat for the next 2 days, which includes no fruits and no raw vegetables. I understand the no chocolate or milk products since I have a sore throat. But the no canned food is a little strange, and the no fruits or raw vegetables is very strange but that seems to be a standard doctor's order in this country.

So that was just another day of my life in Argentina. Thursday to be exact. Though apparently, since I missed history class, I missed having class outside and everyone being attacked by biting ants and one girl needing Benadryl. And now for a weekend of resting up and writing essays. Yay.

Buenos Aires: esta vez con Michelle

And while the family left on Sunday (Easter) to go home, I stayed in Buenos Aries to explore some more.
Sunday I went to the Zoo with Michelle. After going to zoos in other countries, they are never the same in the US with all their animal safety policies and visitor safety policies. There were children running around feeding all of the animals. If the animal came close enough to the closure they had no problem with you petting it. There were even some animals they just let run around the zoo without enclosures. Kind of like squirrels in the US except these were a lot bigger than squirrels.

The Mara Patagonica that we also saw in patagonia but i thought it was a rabbit 

The SUBTE was pretty cool and a lot less sketchy than I thought it would be

Found this amazing Peruvian restaurant on a side street!

The struggle getting home, with every flight delayed or canceled

And make it back I did, 4 hours late but, story of Argentina. And after two easy days of class, and on to the weekend. Which after traveling so much, I did take a chill weekend, and did my homework. I think school is about to pick up the pace though - I have some full weeks and tests coming up.

Patagonia: El fin del mundo

Back to school for two days, and back to exploring the country - this time Patagonia: El Calafate y Ushuaia

A very different landscape

Crampons

The whisky they served in the middle of the glacier, just for fun

Ushuaia

Fall is coming

Las cataratas de Iguazu

Well it has been quite a while since I have updated, and I have done quite a few things so this will just be one of several posts about my fun adventures with the family and beyond.
But pictures are more interesting than words so:

Not letting the raccoon like thing steal the backpack

Teaching mom "selfies"

And the baby who sat next to me on the plane ride. He really liked giving me hugs. 

And that was Iguazu