Barrio Chino y Estancia!

So Caitlin missed her flight for the weekend, making me very very sad! :( But I rebounded to the best of my abilities.

On Friday during the day, we went to get our yellow fever vaccines. I guess I never realized I was in a 3rd world country until I went to the public hospital's vaccination clinic. It was a little scary and I guess we will just have to wait and see how it works out for me. But I am vaccinated against yellow fever! YIPPEE.

On Saturday, we went to Barrio Chino (the China Town) here. It is very pequeno (like 4 blocks) and very cool! There are lots of delicious little stands, cool little stores, yummy restaurants and chinos. Chinos here, in a what I assume is a not racist way, means supermarket. All of the supermarkets are owned by chinese people so, supermercados=chinos aca. We had lunch and made probably the most important discovery thus far on the trip. Not only does barrio chino sell peanut butter like I expected, they also have a WHOLE MEXICAN SECTION, SIRACHA, and NUTELLA. So that is where I will be grocery shopping from here on out. I've been sincerely missing spice in my life, which was unexpected.

Today was AMAZING! We went about 2 hours out of the city to a ranch (una estancia) that was one of the best experiences I've had to date. We got there around 11:30 and were welcomed with a house tour and some empanadas. After that, we took a little horsie ride. My horse was named Canario and he was beautiful and well behaved (ideal).

                                                           (My main caballo Cana)
After that little ride, we had a traditional gaucho asado. Asado is a way of grilling here and always means disgustingly copious amounts of meat are coming your way. I'm still full 9 hours later. While eating/ taking coffee we were serenaded by an adorable old gaucho named Oscar who was incredibly talented and sweet. The next activity was a horse show from the young, attractive Pablo the Gaucho. The gauchos here learned their tricks from the Indians, who obtained horses by luring them away with their gentle nature. Here is Pablo and his horse life-mate being adorable.

And then we got to pose with his horse life-mate. I really should work on my body positioning for pictures.

After the horse show, we went for another, longer ride. I didn't get Canario and got a really grumpy caballo, which wasn't that awesome but still very fun.

I haven't been feeling well lately so I'm hoping that I'm not getting sick! It was definitely worth powering through today to do such an amazing thing!

Mi primera fin de en Buenos Aires

So this weekend our cultural outings were:
Thursday- salsa y bachata lessons (dance lessons)
Friday- MAMPA: modern art museum with an exhibit featuring the lovely Yayoi Kusama
Saturday: Bersuit concert

First things first: despite my best attempts, I will not be becoming a famous Argentinian dancer. Second, apparently I have a stamp on my forehead that says "I know how to dance, ask me about it". My salsa and bachata lessons were tannn awkward because (for a reason unbeknownst to everyone in my group) I had like 3 guys come up to me each break and ask to dance. Don't worry, I set them straight almost immediately with several toe crushing dance moves.

We don't have classes on Friday. So our cultural activity this Friday was to go to the modern art museum that is currently featuring Yayoi Kusama. Eclectic is an understatement. The exhibit was incredibly interesting though, and on another floor I got a picture of me with a Frida Kahlo painting (hey mom).

Here is the website for Kusama's work. Beware, lady's gots some issues. She has been voluntarily living in a psychiatric hospital since the 70s. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yayoi_Kusama For a long time, her work had a lot of phallic images. So... here's me and some amigos in a room that is in the exhibit.

Then last night we went to a Bersuit concert that was quite far away en collectivo but VERY VERY fun. I was just glad I was standing at the top and not in the crowd because everyone was very enthusiastic about the music and it could have been dangerous!

Today Stephanie (my roommate) and Ryan (both in the picture above) meant to walk to an artisan fair in Recoleta but got side tracked by pizza and cake for 3 hours. Woops! Maybe next weekend. Then we got in a taxi ride back where the cab driver asked if the Ku Klux Klan existed. So... that was awkward. In case you hadn't heard, politics are every Argentinians favorite topic with americans. Que raro.  Anyway, must do homework because my law class is very aburrido y dificil. (boring and difficult)

Words can not even describe.

So we went to Salta and Jujuy (hoo-hooey) this weekend and I can't even describe what I saw. We started off with a 22.5 hour bus ride from BsAs which was....interesting. We spent the next day doing a guided tour to Jujuy, Las Salinas (the salt flats), and Punta Marca. These amazing cities and places in the Andes. So all I think I can really do is show you some pictures to describe it.

...And then Stephanie and I sat behind a smelly man on the 20 hour bus ride back who took of his shirt and began burping.

Clases empezo

Today I went to my first day of classes. It is super super easy to walk to school, but of course I got incredibly lost this morning and left my map at home. I have classes from 10-3ish every day Monday through Thursday and so far I like my classes. I've been buying empanadas for lunch for ~ar$7.5 each, roughly 90 cents. My host mom is a FABULOUS cook and I'm going to return approximately 100 pounds heavier. This way you are ready when I arrive and I'm very very fat. I also have lost my ability to speak English, so now I'm down here and can't say anything at all in any language...which is interesting. We had a tour of the city and went to La Boca which translates to the mouth. It is where the river starts and its pretty dangerous but very cool. It is where a lot of immigrants used to live so the houses are made from strange, cheap materials and are known for being super colorful. Aqui es una fota!

Aqui estoy, Argentina!

Estoy en Argentina en la casa de mi familia aqui! BsAs is just as amazing as everyone has said and the weather is insanely perfect. My roommate and I got settled in and, after a massive nap, roamed around for a little bit. We are going to go to the market and get snacks for later and tomorrow starts our orientation! Argentina is so interesting. The city has very few sky scrapers and every single building face is different, making for some very cool streets. There is a lot of what we would call graffiti, but are really spray paint masterpieces on sides of the buildings, which creates a very eclectic vibe. Can't wait to start seeing everything!