Welcome to my blog, the first and probably only blog I will ever create. I am blogging for two reasons, one to keep everyone updated for the next 5 months while I frolic around the fabulous city of Buenos Aires attempting to emulate the porteños (the individuals lucky enough to be born in Buenos Aires) and two to keep a record of my adventures and experiences for Northeastern University and the Office of International Study Programs office.
I arrived in BA on the morning of Friday February 6, 2009 by way of a 9.5 hour direct flight from Atlanta. After the 18 hour flight to India that Mom and I did over Christmas, 9.5 hours was a piece of cake. Representatives from the Universidad del Salvador met me at the airport. Three other students and myself were piled in to a bus with all of our luggage and dropped off at Proyecto Alfa 2000 Residencia Universitaria and basically told to enjoy our weekend.
We definitely enjoyed our weekend.
Friday was spent walking around the city and getting acclimated. Saturday the school arranged for a guided tour bus to take us on a tour of the city. We saw many of the main tourist draws the highlights of which were the following:
-The Plaza 9 de Julio, the 14 lane avenue with 7 lanes of traffic going in each direction complete with the enormous obelisco
-La Plaza de Mayo where la Casa Rosada (the Pink House, their version of the White House) stands containing Argentina's first democratically elected female president
-La Bombonera soccer stadium, home to Argentina's most famous local soccer team, Club Atlético Boca Juniors
-A colorful open air market in bohemian San Telmo with tango dancers on the street
-And my favorite, Cementerio de la Recoleta where Evita (Don't Cry for me Argentina!) has finally been put to rest.
Saturday night some of my new girlfriends and I took a 15 peso (5 dollars US) cab over to San Telmo to eat at a local Parilla, literally meaning grill, restaurant. I ordered "bife de lomo" a tenderloin cut of beef. The waiter does not ask "How many ounces? How would you like that cooked?", the steak just appears and gets plopped on your plate from a large platter with a rather severe looking metal fork. Of course the steak is perfect, medium, hot, juicy, tender-the best steak I have ever had. The bottle of local San Telmo Malbec that we enjoyed was also fantastic.
The university is not providing us with much direction or information in regards to classes, tuition, books, the only thing I do know is that tomorrow is my oral exam to determine in what level of intensive Spanish class I will be placed. I will take intensive Spanish 4 hours a day Monday-Friday until March 9 when semester classes start. The 5 subjects in Spanish seem daunting but March 9 isn't for some weeks, I am going to focus on the material in front of me, brushing up on my spanish and learning to live with the porteños in Buenos Aires.
May the force be with you,
Rocky
Rock! I was surprised to hear about this Argentina thing. I knew about India, but nobody mentioned Argentina! How exciting! I can only imagine how cool this is going to be for you. I look forward to your blogs. Who knows, you may end up with a couple of cousins at your doorstep. This is an experience you will carry with you for the rest of your life. Enjoy it to the fullest! With Love. Dave
ReplyDeleteHey girlie! You'll be missed this spring/summer. I've had BA on my list for years (not sure how I didn't get there when I backpacked in S. America) -- I'm so jealous! Perhaps I'll have to visit! ;) Have fun! And don't lose anything! ;)
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