Home Sweet Home

Hello from the USofA!

So, both my suitcases were overweight by about 15-20 pounds each. Oh dear. There is a US$150 fee per overweight bag. Luckily, the customer service agent asisting me in Buenos Aires took pity on me. As I went to sign the recipt, instead of US$300 it only read US$150, he winked at me and told me to have a nice flight home, PHEW! The flight home was easy; there were no delays, no swine flue scares, no screaming children on the flight, and the cheese ravioli dinner was even good. I landed in Boston at Logan Airport without a hitch where I was greeted by my boyfriend Jason holding 2 dozen pink roses just for me :)

I've been home for almost 3 weeks now and the time really seems to be flying by. In the last 3 weeks I have been quite busy and very active. My first 2 weeks (July 8-20) were spent in Boston. My first few days were spent unpacking in my old apartment, saying hi to old friends and getting settled in Boston. Sunday, Jason and I took the ferry accross the Charles River to Charltown and toured the Tall Ships which were at anchor in ports around Boston taking a week long break from their Tall Ships Atlantic Challenge. Monday, I was excused from jury duty and attended game night with Jason and his boys at Jillians were we bowled and played pool. Tuesday, I went to Jason's New Hampshire property to play in the woods and on the lake. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I worked at Grace Lutheran Church and Needham Massachusetts Public Library doing community service work. I did, however, take a break from community service work to see the new Harry Potter movie which was great, although, as always not as wonderful as the books. Saturday and Sunday, Jason and I attended a fantastically fun graduation party for one of my sorority sisters in Newport, Rhode Island. Monday I finished up my community service and again attended game night, I bowled a 93 (a vast improvement from last weeks showing), yahoo! Since I'm 21, I had a couple drinks at Jillians, I'm officially a fan of the dirty martini.

Tuesday I almost missed my flight to DC but in a strange stroke of luck made it to Logan Ariport in 15 minutes via cab and arrived early in DC. I saw my dad for the first time since May and we took a flight together to West Palm Beach to stay with Grandma Hannah and Grandpa Milton for a week (July 21-27). We played tennis every day, my serve is coming along quite nicely and I was even able to play sets with Grandma Hannah and all her tennis gals which was a total blast. My Aunt Janet made the 2 hour treck from Melbourne, FL to West Palm Beach, FL twice to hang out with all of us which was also lovely.

Yesterday evening, I arrived HOME in Washington, DC. My mom picked us up at the airport with my puppy Lilly (who is actually not a puppy at all and is actually 13 years old). It is so nice to be home, I've missed this house and my room and of course my Mommy Carmen! I'll be spending a week here in DC (July 27-August 5) and then heading back to Boston.

I have had a wonderful study abroad experience, I loved Argentina and all the people I met there. I want to return someday soon to visit the wine country of Mendoza and the UNESCO Jesuit site in Cordoba. I know I will find my way back to the land of bife, malbec and tango it is just a matter of time. But now, for a little while, I am going to savor being home in the United States of America beacuse I really love it here too.

This concludes my semester abroad and this blog, thank you for reading!

Abrazos y besos,

Raquel

Twas the night before departure

Twas the night before departure and Raquel was packing packing packing! I can't believe I'm leaving Argentina in 25 hours. I've never been so excited in my life to return to the United States of America or so sad to leave a foreign country.

I was talking with my 3 close girl friends over a "goodbye lunch" this afternoon at one of our favorite cafés, Natural Deli. Natural Deli is an all organic restaurant and organic foods store in my neighborhood, an anomaly in Argentina. They have the most delicious scrambled eggs I've ever eaten that are served over a large slice of baguette toast and drizzled with basil pesto, yum. The girls and I were talking about the opinions that locals hold of "Americans". Opinions are mostly positive but a huge problem many people in South America have with citizens of the United States is that we refer to ourselves as Americans. I had never thought of this as wrong or offensive until arriving in Argentina, talking with locals and taking classes I've learned to watch my language.

My Geography of the Americas class here in Argentina showed me that the term America refers to North, Central, and South America; the term extends to 35 different countries, 35! America occupies the space from Canada to Belize, through Panama, islands off the shores of Florida and Guyana, in to Colombia and ends at the most southern tip of Argentina. With America being so vast, for citizens of the United States to refer to ourselves as American is perhaps globally patriotic in that we are referring to the entire land mass known as America but more just obnoxious. The television network TNT is broadcasting a new TV series called "Real American Cowboys" which will also be airing in Argentina. In the subway, I watched as someone scribbled over an advertisement for the show, he wrote in "North" making the advertisement read "Real North American Cowboys", he was offended and didn't want to be associated with the United States. When I think about it, I can see how people would perceive this as rude, we don't speak for all of the Americans in America, just the United States.

I realize this is nit-picky and that the United States of America is the only country in America that has "America" in its title, logically we are Americans, it is the name of our country. People in Argentina are called Argentines, what are people in the United States supposed to be called, United Statesians? No, we are Americans. Unfortunately, the rest of America hates this. Food for thought.

I'm gonna get back to stuffing suitcases. Homeward bound tomorrow, so excited. Cross your fingers that I don't have to pay overweight baggage fees. God Bless America (for clarification, I do mean the United States of America)!!

Love,

Raquel

Maybe not all men are dogs

Location: The neighborhood of San Telmo, the 500 block of Perú Street

Setting: Museum, a 4 story night club with neon lights and disco balls

Time: Wednesday's "after office" party around 1am, "early" because the club modestly closes at 3am

Music: Jump by Madonna off the "Confessions on a Dance Floor" album

Plot Line: Girls night out dancing!!!

The Story: I am dancing away to Madonna screaming at the very top of my lungs with my girls when a drunken idiot falls in to me and shoves me against the circle of my friends. I spin around and give him my very best death stare as if to say, "How dare you shove me when I'm dancing to the goddess!" Before I even get the chance, a well groomed older guy, late 20s early 30s steps in, takes the drunken idiot's arm, and says in beautiful Argentine Spanish, "Excuse me, you just bumped in to this girl. Please be careful, I think you owe her an apology." Of course this didn't go over well with the drunken idiot and he tried to start a fight. My protector hands my roommate Stef his drink and the two boys start arguing. After a few minutes and lots of hand gestures, the drunken idiot sincerely apologizes and the two men do the traditional Argentina face cheek bump hello/goodbye kiss. We hand the older man back his drink and I thank him in Spanish for dealing with the drunken idiot. He continues in Spanish and says to me, "I would really like to dance with you but you do have the liberty to say no." To which I responded, "You should know that I have a boyfriend in the United States." He responds, "No problem, I understand. Enjoy the rest of your time in Buenos Aires." We do the traditional Argentine face cheek bump and say goodbye.

Wow.

I didn't dance with a single boy all night and spent a wonderful evening dancing with the girls, we had so much fun. I've never had a man act such a gentleman in the club before! Tío Mikey, maybe not all men are dogs. Or, these two guys were working an angle and planned the shoving and ensuing argument as a ploy to get girls to dance with them, dear me I'm a suspicious being.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Raquel

Spice up your life!

Hola,

I don't have much time left in this crazy city. I've been trying to do things I haven't gotten around to doing. My friend Cat and I went on a Friday adventure to the Botanical Gardens and the Japanese Gardens last week, both were beautiful. Most recently, my roommate Stef came up with the idea for Restaurant Week BA. Starting this past Sunday and ending this coming Thursday we are going out to dinner at a different restaurant in a different neighborhood every night. Sunday was Mexican food at "La Fabrica del Taco," literally the Taco Factory. Argentines have something against spicy food so it was delicious to eat a taco smothered in picante green salsa. Monday was Moroccan food, probably some of the best lamb I've had in my short life. Tuesday was Spanish food, the tapas were really very awful. Tonight is Sushi, Wednesday will be Italian and Thursday will be French. It is so much fun to go out to dinner with all the friends I've made here and so weird to be saying goodbye as everyone leaves!

I'm almost done with finals, after an oral exam on Thursday I'm all done! Stef and I are heading out shopping to a housewares bazar, we've broken enough glasses and plates in our rented apartment that we need to buy replacements.

Hope everyone is doing well.

Love,

Raquel

GRIPE PORCINA aka SWINE FLEW at my University

I feel bad for the pigs so instead of Swine Flu I have been trying to use the official title, Influenza A (H1N1). During my break in class today, I ran in to a lady from the International Student Office who informed me that an acquaintance of mine, a female study abroad student from the US who attends my university, has contracted Influenza A (H1N1). She is doing fine and undergoing treatment, but I know someone who was Swine Flu, AAAHH!! I also just got home from class and upon checking my email received notification from the US Embassy that there are 800 confirmed cases of Influenza A (H1N1) in Argentina including 4 deaths. 

If it's not Dengue Fever, it's Swine Flu. At least it's too cold here now for the mosquitos to get me, although I did see one flying around in the elevator of my apartment building yesterday...I can't get over the fact that its June and on most days I'm walking around in a white wool coat wearing my favorite colorful plaid scarf and sometimes even my hot pink gloves. Brrr.

Even though the World Health Organization raised its worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 6, meaning a global pandemic is underway, I'm really not too worried about this (I'm figuratively looking at you Grandma Hannah, don't worry!). I practice obsessive hand washing thanks to my Mommy Carmen and I'll be back in the US in less than 3 weeks. I have no flu-like symptoms to date and I intend to keep it that way. 

Best,

Raquel

Malba and the movies

Estimados Damas y Caballeros, esteemed ladies and gentleman:

¿Que pasa? I finally got out this week and had some fun!! Wednesday the modern art museum of Buenos Aires is free for students with Argentine student IDs. I LOVE my Universidad del Salvador student ID, it has gotten me discounts in Patagonia for entrance to Glacier National Park, in Puerto Iguazú for entrance to Iguazú National Park and free entrance to museums galore. Thanks USAL!

Malba is a smallish museum boasting 4 floors of very interesting artwork. Modern art isn't my favorite as I'm partial to older works in a more Degas, Monet or Renoir-like style. There were some famous artists represented in Malba like Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Fernando Botero and Antonio Berni. Unfortunately there were no cameras allowed inside the museum so I didn't get to take any pictures. My favorite piece was by Berni, one of the great names in Argentine art. Although I couldn't snap a picture of it, thanks to the worldwide web and google images the piece is below:

La Gran Tentación

The Great Temptation

A tour guide was talking to a group as I was admiring the picture. The piece of art is collage and paint mounted on 2 planks of wood about 15 feet wide and 20 feet tall. The piece is supposed to represent Berni's frustration with commercialism, note Cinderella in the top left with blue paint dripping down her face.

Thursday "Fantasmas de mis ex Novias" or "Ghost of Girlfirends Past" with Matthew McConaughey came out in Buenos Aires. My friend Cat and I went directly from class at 5pm to Abasto movie theatre to buy our movie tickets.  We waited in line for 1 hour to buy 4 tickets for to the 10:30pm showing. Movie ticket purchases work differently than in the states. You don't just buy tickets, arrive when you want and sit where you can, OH NO. When you buy tickets, you approach the ticket counter and pick out your exact seat on a computer screen, you are buying assigned seats like in a theatre, for example Row G, Seat 9 and that is where you sit. Everyone sits in their seat because if you sit in someone else's seat they ask you to move!

The movie was very fun and silly, a typical romantic comedy-in English with Spanish subtitles, yes! Afterwards we went to my favorite bar, El Living, and spent the night lounging in leather arm chairs and watching 70s music videos on the big projector screen. 

Hope everyone is doing well!

Live long and prosper,

Rocky

Cultural Differences

Hola todos,

I have been very busy the last few weeks, not becuase I have been doing anything particularly exciting but because I´m in the home stretch of my semester and FINALS have begun. So far I have written a 15-page paper (in Spanish) on ancient cultures and artifacts from northwestern Argentina and taken 3 in-class written essay exams (also in Spanish) in the History of Argentina, Geography, and the History of Art and Cultures in Ancient America and Argentina. All this work and studying doesn´t leave very much time for fun but on the plus side I have finished work for 2 of my 5 classes. Goodbye History of Argentina and History of Art and Cultures in Ancient America and Argentina!!

Now in my 4 months living in Buenos Aires, I have come to realize some interesting cultural differneces which are sometimes funny and sometimes astonishing.

COMMON COURTESY
Cat Calls: The women in Argentina ENJOY receiving cat calls and consider them compliments! Men often say "nice" things to you like "what lovely eyes you have", "you look beautiful today", "that shirt looks fabulous" etc. Women don´t respond but they do secretly smile and keep on walking. When women don´t get cat calls they are upset because it makes them feel that they are no longer young and beautiful enough to receive them.

Lost Items: In the USA I have returned to others and had returned to me various items like cell phones and wallets. In Argentina, I have had a broken digital camera stolen out of my suitcase by LAN airlines workers and I have had my wallet pick-pocketed out of my bag. Most recently, I misplaced my cell phone and when I called it a day later a crazy woman answered and has since been avoiding my phone calls and using my cell phone.

Tardiness: This typical Argentine charicteristic is most noticable in classes. Professors often arrive 10 minutes late, sometimes they arrive 40 minutes late, either way students are expected to wait! In the USA, if a professors arrives more than 15 minutes late class is cancelled.

TRANSPORTATION
Subway: In the US there is an unspoken rule that everyone on the subway gets off before people on the platform start boarding. In Buenos Aires as soon as the doors open everyone is on their own, get off if you can or get on quick!

Bus: When riding the public bus, men allow all the women in line to board first! Also, you will rarely see a man sitting down if there are women, especially older women, standing. Not the case in the USA.

Elevator: When getting on an elevator women are always allowed in first and when getting off an elevator women are always allowed out first, this sometimes but not always the case in the USA.

FOOD
Sick Food: In the USA when you are sick the absolute staple is some kind of chicken noodle soup/matzo ball soup. In Argentina not only is it rare to come across a chicken based broth it is rare to find clear soup. When people are sick they are given "bife de chorizo con hueso y pure de calabaza", 1/2 a T-bone steak with sweet orange squash puree. I miss Campbells!

I have another 2 in-class written exams, 1 more 15-page paper and 1 oral before I can be DONE with my semester. Hope this entry finds everyone happy and healthy.

Love to all from the southern hemisphere,

Raquel