Today the ISA program took us on a mini tour of the city, with the idea that we could go back and visit any places that really interested us for longer at a later date. It was a great way to get a generally idea of where important places were in the city and what cool things there are for us to see and do.
I was only 5 minutes late to our 10am excursion, after successfully taking the colectivo to school for the first time. (Woo hoo!) Our first stop was the Universidad de Belgrano, where we have to go tomorrow for our placement exam and where our classes will be. After it was Palermo and its many parks, the Cemetery of Recoleta (where the wealthy would compete for the most opulent masoleum, Evita Peron is buried here), the Obelisk (to commemorate Independence I think?), the Plaza de Mayo (site of many political protests today and historical protest ground of the Madres de Plaza de Mayo who demanded the government tell them where their 'disappeared'(killed, imprisoned) family members were), Puente de la Mujer (supposedly looks like a woman dancing the tango, couldn't really see that...), zoo, the Boca neighborhood (a poor area where new immigrants historically and still do take shelter), and some arts and crafts markets.
Sampled some choripan (chorizo sausage in a baguette) and it was quite tasty with mustard, onions and tomatoes. I would have put some chimichurri on it too but the choripan stand was fresh out.
After the tour we were treated to empanadas (generally always savory) for snacks.
On the way home, I was reminded that the bus system isn't perfect and the 41 bus sadly let me down today... I saw two pass me without stopping even though I put my arm out parallel to the road (I gathered this was like waving the driver down after seeing others do it). They were in the lanes furthest from the stop so there wasn't a chance they were stopping. Very sad. I had to catch another 20 minutes later. Luckily I wasn't in a hurry. Once you board the bus you tell the driver whereabouts you're going and he figures out your fee, from A$1.10 or A$1.20, depending on how far you're going. ($A is now the Karalyn blog symbol for Argentine pesos)
Today there was a runoff election for governor of the city. Last weekend there was an election but none of the candidates won by a large enough majority to be elected so today there was another election to decide between two candidates. You must vote in the election (as in Brazil) and I believe that starts at age 18. They are so strict about this obligatory vote that you can get fined, denied loans, bank service, or passports if you don't vote. If you are away from home (your voting place is near where you live) you have to get a note from the police station or a doctor explaining that you weren't able to make it back to your polling place to vote. One of our directors had one of these notes because she was in Iguazu Falls last weekend and unable to vote. In preparation for voting the city stops serving alcohol on midnight the day of and lots of business close early or altogether.
Once I figure out which kind of widget to add to put pictures on here I'll post them.
Placement exam is tomorrow!
After spending last summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, I'm off to Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, and hopefully more countries in South America.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Movies
Crazy Stupid Love was amazing, Emma Stone is always in great movies. Just like in Rio, you choose your seats when you buy your ticket. The food at the movies is pretty similar to ours here, although the theater we went to was more in a mall/food court setting so there were more places to eat.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Bus!
Saturday we had an Orientation for all the new students. It was super informative and they gave us lots of maps and tips for keeping safe. Fernanda gave me a ride there but pointed out streets as we went so I could get back on my own. After the Orientation I got some money (couldn't change any of my bills because the casas de cambio aren't open on the weekend) and stopped at the pharmacy. I just need to recharge the cellphone Fernanda lent me with minutes and I'll pretty much be set. I also want to get a Sube card that can be used on buses, trains, or the subte (underground metro) but I'll have to wait until Monday to do that at a post office. I made it back home on the bus with no problems at all. The bus driver was kind enough to tell me when my stop came and home is just a few blocks from there.
Empanadas for dinner tonight and possibly a trip to the movies to see Crazy Stupid Love.
This post is title Bus! because I'm pretty proud of myself for taking the bus sin problemas.
Empanadas for dinner tonight and possibly a trip to the movies to see Crazy Stupid Love.
This post is title Bus! because I'm pretty proud of myself for taking the bus sin problemas.
Trip to Argentina
Successfully made it to Argentina yesterday. After saying goodbye to Elise in Montevideo I caught a taxi and headed to the port. Luckily at the port there was a tiny gift shop so I have a few postcards from Montevideo to prove I was there. The Buquebus boat that goes from Montevideo to Buenos Aires was very comfortable. There were big flat screens playing movies throughout the trip and there was a cafe on board too. In Buenos Aires I taxi'ed it to my host family's home and got in with no problems. My host mom, Fernanda, is an account and my host sister Flor is a sports writer from a local paper. I got to see some of her articles in print when she brought some papers home yesterday. There's also a long haired German Shepard named Chacho (sp?) who barks just like Keeva does when someone rings the doorbell. Yesterday night I also met my host mom's boyfriend and his two kids. Everyone was very very nice and patient when I had to ask them to repeat a word (which happens often with Flor because she speaks so quickly). Dinner was pizza followed by almond ice cream. Looking in the fridge I have serious flashbacks of Rio, the milk has a little plastic holder and there's fake sugar everywhere! Luckily Flor doesn't like 'light' soda so there's regular coke for us.
The house is two stories, with a dining room, living room, office, kitchen and garage on the first floor. On the second floor there are three bedrooms and a bathroom.
The house is two stories, with a dining room, living room, office, kitchen and garage on the first floor. On the second floor there are three bedrooms and a bathroom.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Chivito completo
I just had a huge sandwich for lunch, the chivito completo. There were a few versions of the popular chivito, the Chivito, Chivito Canadiense, and the Chivito Completo. I went for the chivito completo since I didn't know what half of the ingredients were. Our waiter was very nice and brought us little samples of all the ingredients I didn't recognize. The sandwich had a slice of steak (lomo), ham (jamon), bacon (panceta), mozzarella (muzarela), tomato (tomate), onion (cebolla), lettuce (lechuga), mayonnaise (mayonesa), slices of boiled egg (huevo), and pickled mushrooms (hongos), palm hearts (palmitos), and bell pepper (morrones) and some pickled hot peppers (catalanes).
A word about Pronunciation
At breakfast when I ordered my tortilla yesterday, the waiter was a bit confused about what I wanted and I had to point to the item. Elise then explained the Uruguayan (and Argentine) accent. All 'll,' or "y" sounds become "juh" sounds. Ella is pronounced "E-juh" instead of "Eya." That's probably a poor phonetic approximation but anyway, the words just aren't pronounced the way we were taught in school or the way the upper half of South America, Mexico, and probably Central America pronounces them. Because the normal names of fruits were just too boring, there are also new names for strawberries (frutillas instead of fresas) and pineapple (anana instead of piƱa). Here's a receta (recipe) for a version of a tutti-frutti licuado. Perhaps the word for pineapple is partially borrowed from the Portuguese abacaxi?
And to keep it exciting, there's a locally invented verb conjugation, 'vos' (not to be confused with the formal third person learned in school) that is used as a 'tu' form.
Dinner yesterday was delicious, we went to a parilla, which serves grilled meat (heaven!) First we had fresh baked bread with sides of chopped tomato and onion in olive oil as well as chopped parsley and onion to spoon on. We had a very tasty local wine (Uruguay makes a lot of wine) to accompany our steaks and salchicha (spicy sausage) and chorizo (more sausage). Quite tasty. The meats are all grilled on a huge rack over wood. I'll try to get a picture next time we go to one. A note about dining: Sides are ordered separately and although bread was brought to our table, we paid for it nonetheless. This was pretty common in nicer restaurants in Rio de Janeiro too.
The neighborhood we're in, Pocitos, reminds me a lot of Flamengo, where I lived in Rio. Lots of apartment buildings and little grocery marts and drug stores. Event the tiled sidewalks are similar. Montevideo is pretty cloud now and a little chilly. Elise says I brought the bad weather because it was sunny and 60 earlier in the week. Oops.
And to keep it exciting, there's a locally invented verb conjugation, 'vos' (not to be confused with the formal third person learned in school) that is used as a 'tu' form.
Dinner yesterday was delicious, we went to a parilla, which serves grilled meat (heaven!) First we had fresh baked bread with sides of chopped tomato and onion in olive oil as well as chopped parsley and onion to spoon on. We had a very tasty local wine (Uruguay makes a lot of wine) to accompany our steaks and salchicha (spicy sausage) and chorizo (more sausage). Quite tasty. The meats are all grilled on a huge rack over wood. I'll try to get a picture next time we go to one. A note about dining: Sides are ordered separately and although bread was brought to our table, we paid for it nonetheless. This was pretty common in nicer restaurants in Rio de Janeiro too.
The neighborhood we're in, Pocitos, reminds me a lot of Flamengo, where I lived in Rio. Lots of apartment buildings and little grocery marts and drug stores. Event the tiled sidewalks are similar. Montevideo is pretty cloud now and a little chilly. Elise says I brought the bad weather because it was sunny and 60 earlier in the week. Oops.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
The Journey
I had a lot of layover time and no free internet, so I wrote all by blog entries in South American airports and am posting them all now.
Disaster narrowly avoided
Late Sunday night I tried to check in to my flight from ABQ to LAX on Southwest. It was around 10 and my flight was at 9:40 so I was within the 24 hour check-in deadline. I kept getting an error message saying I was too earlier but that didn't make sense. So after calling Southwest it turns out I had booked a ticket for Tuesday and not Monday night. Oops. My flight out of LAX was at 1:35 am Tuesday morning so I needed to be in the airport by then. Luckily Southwest is awesome so I switched my flight easily.
In L.A.
Since I was switching airlines, from Southwest to TACA, I had to go pick up my luggage when I got off the plane in L.A. After getting my 50.5 lb bag (no overweight charge, yay!) I took the shuttle to the international gates. When I got to the TACA counter I was amazed at how long the line was. It snaked around in front of the counter and then went outside and down the sidewalk for a ways. After double checking I was in the right line I began the wait. The line was actually moving pretty quickly but there were just so many people! Some people had at 5 suitcases and there were a lot of Smarte Cartes being rented to carry all the baggage. I didn't see many people travelling alone, most were in family groups. When I finally got to the counter I found out passengers were only allowed one carry on (I had two) or they had to pay a $125 fee. So I unloaded the essentials into my backpack and checked my duffle. The rest of the airport was pretty uneventful although I was very disappointed LAX had push faucets, which is so 90's. I had trouble finding a decent electrical outlet too. I had to hold my cell charger just so in the socket. I boarded and as I was heading to my awesome window seat, there was a woman sitting right in my 13A. Luckily the flight attendant was nearby and politely set her straight. She scooted over to 13B but I think she was still envious of my window view since her elbow kept making it waaay over into my seat. Breakfast was a choice of eggs and potatoes of tostada frances (french toast) I went for the french toast which was actually pretty good (I've liked all the airplane food I've had, I'm not really picky).
San Salvador, El Salvador
We landed in San Salvador and I headed to my gate. I passed a souvenir shop (magnets!) but supressed the urge to stop until I found my gate. I also passed a pupuseria (they sell pupusas, which are like little savory pancakes with the filling mixed inside the batter). We recently went to a pupuseria in Albuquerque and I wasn't wowed; they were tasty but nothing to go back for. I found my gate and as fate would have it there was another little gift shop right across from it. I double checked to make sure the shop took dollar and it turns out that's the currency in El Salvador(?) I am now the proud owner of a toucan keychain and magnet that proclaim I've been to El Salvador. The toucan is on my backpack near my map of Brazil keychain and the magnet will eventually get sent home for the fridge. Our fridge is pretty well traveled. It's been around California, all around Pennsylvania, Las Vegas, Disney World, Washington D.C., New York City, Niagara Falls, and around Brazil.
On the plane to Lima, Peru lunch was french toast or ham crepes. Clearly went with the crepes.
Lima, Peru
The Lima International airport is quite nice. We've moved into the 21st century with automatic faucets (LAX...) and lots of nice shops and charging stations. Sadly no free WiFi, you have to pay for the stuff here in the airport. I have become the WiFi Help Desk as four people have asked me if there is WiFi here. Only if you pay for it. Hope I'm right! I guess the pink netbook is inviting. After seven epic hours of layover (not really... I read a lot and stared off into the distance from time to time) it was time for my final flight to Montevideo. Snuggled up in the window seat I went to sleep as we took off. I woke up a little while later to dinner being served. Choices were pasta or BBQ chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans (so yummy). I fell asleep after dinner and it felt like almost immediately I was awoken by our landing.
Montevideo, Uruguay
I made it! And my luggage did too! The TACA line in L.A. had initially scared me but after being fed three square meals by the airline and not having any severely delayed flights, I kind of like TACA. My baggage was coming around the carousel just as a walked past customs, who didn't even ask me any questions. (The TACA rep in LA said I had to show someone my ticket out of Uruguay because I could only be there for 3 months but Ii have yet to be asked for such a document) Now I just had to find a taxi to get to Elise's apartment. The taxis waiting at the airport were reportedly $80 US but Elise suggested I call a taxi as a friend of hers had for half the price. After a few unsuccessful tries with the payphone, I checked with someone working at the Aeropuerto Taxi desk. She said the phone did work and that the cabs outside were indeed a bit expensive.I went back to try the phone a few more times but an older man stopped me halfway and asked where I needed a ride to. It turns out he worked for Aeropuerto Taxi and only charged me $11US to drop me at my(Elise's) doorstep. After explaining I was visiting my friend Elise and that I had just arrived in Uruguay he asked me where I was from and complimented my Spanish (hooray!) It took the whole van full of people to figure out where I was going because the driver wasn't sure exactly where my address was. He circled the block a few times but eventually got it. Elise and I were reunited and I dropped my things in her apartment. We then went to breakfast. I had a Tortilla con cebolla y papas (like a really thick, pan sized latke) con un licuado tutti-frutti (mixed fruit smoothie). Yum.
Off to shower and nap after 24 + hours of travel.
Disaster narrowly avoided
Late Sunday night I tried to check in to my flight from ABQ to LAX on Southwest. It was around 10 and my flight was at 9:40 so I was within the 24 hour check-in deadline. I kept getting an error message saying I was too earlier but that didn't make sense. So after calling Southwest it turns out I had booked a ticket for Tuesday and not Monday night. Oops. My flight out of LAX was at 1:35 am Tuesday morning so I needed to be in the airport by then. Luckily Southwest is awesome so I switched my flight easily.
In L.A.
Since I was switching airlines, from Southwest to TACA, I had to go pick up my luggage when I got off the plane in L.A. After getting my 50.5 lb bag (no overweight charge, yay!) I took the shuttle to the international gates. When I got to the TACA counter I was amazed at how long the line was. It snaked around in front of the counter and then went outside and down the sidewalk for a ways. After double checking I was in the right line I began the wait. The line was actually moving pretty quickly but there were just so many people! Some people had at 5 suitcases and there were a lot of Smarte Cartes being rented to carry all the baggage. I didn't see many people travelling alone, most were in family groups. When I finally got to the counter I found out passengers were only allowed one carry on (I had two) or they had to pay a $125 fee. So I unloaded the essentials into my backpack and checked my duffle. The rest of the airport was pretty uneventful although I was very disappointed LAX had push faucets, which is so 90's. I had trouble finding a decent electrical outlet too. I had to hold my cell charger just so in the socket. I boarded and as I was heading to my awesome window seat, there was a woman sitting right in my 13A. Luckily the flight attendant was nearby and politely set her straight. She scooted over to 13B but I think she was still envious of my window view since her elbow kept making it waaay over into my seat. Breakfast was a choice of eggs and potatoes of tostada frances (french toast) I went for the french toast which was actually pretty good (I've liked all the airplane food I've had, I'm not really picky).
San Salvador, El Salvador
We landed in San Salvador and I headed to my gate. I passed a souvenir shop (magnets!) but supressed the urge to stop until I found my gate. I also passed a pupuseria (they sell pupusas, which are like little savory pancakes with the filling mixed inside the batter). We recently went to a pupuseria in Albuquerque and I wasn't wowed; they were tasty but nothing to go back for. I found my gate and as fate would have it there was another little gift shop right across from it. I double checked to make sure the shop took dollar and it turns out that's the currency in El Salvador(?) I am now the proud owner of a toucan keychain and magnet that proclaim I've been to El Salvador. The toucan is on my backpack near my map of Brazil keychain and the magnet will eventually get sent home for the fridge. Our fridge is pretty well traveled. It's been around California, all around Pennsylvania, Las Vegas, Disney World, Washington D.C., New York City, Niagara Falls, and around Brazil.
On the plane to Lima, Peru lunch was french toast or ham crepes. Clearly went with the crepes.
Lima, Peru
The Lima International airport is quite nice. We've moved into the 21st century with automatic faucets (LAX...) and lots of nice shops and charging stations. Sadly no free WiFi, you have to pay for the stuff here in the airport. I have become the WiFi Help Desk as four people have asked me if there is WiFi here. Only if you pay for it. Hope I'm right! I guess the pink netbook is inviting. After seven epic hours of layover (not really... I read a lot and stared off into the distance from time to time) it was time for my final flight to Montevideo. Snuggled up in the window seat I went to sleep as we took off. I woke up a little while later to dinner being served. Choices were pasta or BBQ chicken with mashed potatoes and green beans (so yummy). I fell asleep after dinner and it felt like almost immediately I was awoken by our landing.
Montevideo, Uruguay
I made it! And my luggage did too! The TACA line in L.A. had initially scared me but after being fed three square meals by the airline and not having any severely delayed flights, I kind of like TACA. My baggage was coming around the carousel just as a walked past customs, who didn't even ask me any questions. (The TACA rep in LA said I had to show someone my ticket out of Uruguay because I could only be there for 3 months but Ii have yet to be asked for such a document) Now I just had to find a taxi to get to Elise's apartment. The taxis waiting at the airport were reportedly $80 US but Elise suggested I call a taxi as a friend of hers had for half the price. After a few unsuccessful tries with the payphone, I checked with someone working at the Aeropuerto Taxi desk. She said the phone did work and that the cabs outside were indeed a bit expensive.I went back to try the phone a few more times but an older man stopped me halfway and asked where I needed a ride to. It turns out he worked for Aeropuerto Taxi and only charged me $11US to drop me at my(Elise's) doorstep. After explaining I was visiting my friend Elise and that I had just arrived in Uruguay he asked me where I was from and complimented my Spanish (hooray!) It took the whole van full of people to figure out where I was going because the driver wasn't sure exactly where my address was. He circled the block a few times but eventually got it. Elise and I were reunited and I dropped my things in her apartment. We then went to breakfast. I had a Tortilla con cebolla y papas (like a really thick, pan sized latke) con un licuado tutti-frutti (mixed fruit smoothie). Yum.
Off to shower and nap after 24 + hours of travel.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The Plan
My journey begins with a late flight from Albuquerque to Los Angeles on Monday night. After LA, I'll be in San Salvador, El Salvador for the first time ever so I'll probably be buying lots of magnets in the airport gift store because visiting the airport is kind of like seeing the country. After that I'm flying to Lima, Peru (where I will return in September) and I'll finally end up in Montevideo, Uruguay on Wednesday morning. I'll be visiting my friend Elise, who's working with local schools to give students the opportunity to use XO laptops. After visiting Elise for a few days, I'll be off to Buenos Aires, Argentina to begin my classes with ISA. Currently packing, hope I don't forget anything important!
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