Photo Update

Iguazu falls! (check out that rainbow)
More Iguazu (pretty incredible yes?)
Happy Hannukah!
Dad loved these big trees (i have about 4 more pictures just like this!)

Well tonight is our last night in Buenos Aires, we just got back from a delicous dinner at my host families house. It was so amazing to go back and see them, it had felt like so long even though it had hardly been more than 2 weeks. It was quite interesting playing the role of translator since my dad speaks no spanish and they speak no english...it was a nice test to see how much I have improved this semester...I think i passed :)

Today we went to Uruguay for the day (now my second time) and spent the day in a small tourist town called Colonial Sacramento...it was fun and exhausting...lots of walking and sight-seeing. We also met two really nice couples who we spent most of the day with and it was nice to have company as well as meet new people...so many people go on so many wonderful adventures, it is fun to hear all about them!

Tomorrow morning (6 am) we head off to Peru, we land in Lima and have a 3 hour layover and then we are off to Cusco. I am so excited to go to a new place and going to Peru means my mom and brother are coming in just a few days! I cannot wait!

I hope everyone is gearing up for a happy holiday season and if you are in CT getting ready for the big snow storm that I hear is brewing.

Peace and love to all,

Ana

And here is a little video treat!!!!!!!!

IGUAZU

Day 1 Iguazu:

Tuesday we got up even earlier and headed to the Jorge Newbury Nacional airport only to find out that our flight to Iguazu was cancelled. Luckily they just put us on the next one leaving a 11 and LAN gave us a voucher for breakfast. So we hung out at the airport for a little bit longer than we wanted but we eventually got off. When we landed it was hot hot hot and humid humid humid! We got to our hostel and were able to put our stuff down and jump right back into the cab to take us the falls. We decided to take a safari and boat tour through the National Park on the Argentina side. The safari ride was a pretty disappointing because most of the animals (400 different species) are nocturnal and are really afraid of people so we didn’t get to see anything. But the boat ride was incredible and absolutely unbelievable. The boat ride was about 30 minutes and of course the boat we went in broke down in the middle of the 6km boat ride to the falls…we didn’t have to wait too long in the boiling sun before they just transferred us over to a new boat which was bigger so there was more room and it was easier to see. I need to mention that these boats were like blow-up rafts for 30 people with a motor…very safe but we were very close to the water. Of course we had to wear super silly life jackets. The boat first brings you close to the falls so you can take pictures and then they tell you too put your cameras away and get ready to get wet. Now my dad and I thought it meant we would get sprayed which wasn’t hard to do because there was so much water coming down and it was coming down so hard that water was spraying everywhere. But we were so mistaken. They literally brought us right under the falls. We were drenched. We couldn’t look up without out having sunglasses on and it hurt a little. But it was the most incredible thing I have ever seen in my life. I am pretty sure my dad would say the same thing too. They then took us to another set of falls and brought us under those too. I can’t even express in words how wonderful it was. The water was amazingly refreshing as well. After the boat ride we walked for about two hours to see the falls from above instead of below and underneath. It was breathtaking. Obviously I have tons of pictures that I am going to put up as soon as we get back to Buenos Aires. At about 6 we headed back to the hotel swam and showered and had an early dinner at 8 across the street from our hostel. We were sleeping y 11.

Day 2 Iguazu:

Our plan was originally to make a trip to the Brazilian side of the falls because my dad and I had both heard that although North Americans technically need a visa to enter Brazil the border by Iguazu was easy and they normally let people from the states through without a visa. We were going to try this but then last minute at about 9 this morning decided that it wasn’t worth the hour and a half bus ride if we had a high chance of just having to turn around. We still had lots to see on the Argentina side and thought it was a better way to spend our last day. So we headed back to the Falls but this time went to see the upper part of Garganta del Diablo (Devil’s Throat…sounds scary right?). It was even more incredible than anything we had seen the day before…which I wouldn’t have believed possible. We stayed there for at least a half an hour looking at the endless amounts of water flowing down into what appeared as a bottomless pit. No other word but extraordinary. We then walked around a bit more and tried to stay cool. It was about 100 degrees here today and needless to say we were dying of heat…the humidity is awful. After a little shopping we got in a bus and headed to the center of Puerto Iguazu, we were really excited to explore but unfortunately there was nothing special there and with the extreme heat we both lost our patience of walking around pretty quickly. Once we got back to the hostel we practically jumped in the pool and cooled down for a while. We are going to take a little rest before we have a bbq in our hostel and then probably get to bed pretty early. The sun and heat have been so draining. We head back to Buenos Aires tomorrow at noon.

I will post pictures soon!

My Daddy is HERE!

My daddy is here!!!! It is hard to believe that he has only been here since Sunday! We have already done so much…he is keeping me really really busy!

We both arrived in Buenos Aires on Sunday at around noon and we quickly headed to the hotel…I don’t have much experience booking hotels but I didn’t do too badly for my first time! We dropped our stuff of and headed out to find a place to eat lunch. Of course I managed to get us lost pretty much right off the bat…so much for knowing a city after 6 weeks. After a quick lunch at one of Buenos Aires many corner dinners we headed straight to one of my favorite places, Plaza Francia. It was really important that we went there on Sunday because it is a huge street fair but only doing the weekend. While I was fascinated by all the shopping my dad couldn’t stop looking at all the trees…typical. After a little shopping and tree watching we went to Recoleta cemetery, the most famous and public cemetery in Buenos Aires, it is where many presidents and Evita are buried…we paid a guy 7 pesos to show us her grave site…dad thought it was worth it. After the cemetery we did a little bit more exploring and then headed back to the hotel to rest a little before dinner. Obviously I took him to Siga La Vaca (the worlds greatest restaurant) and needless to say we stuffed our faces…it was great. We headed back to the hotel and slept a TON!

The next day (Monday) we got up bright and early took a bus tour around Buenos Aires all day. We got off and on at lots of different stops taking tons of pictures and learning all about Buenos Aires. Most of the things I had seen before but it was nice to learn more about them and to share the experience with my dad. We found a wonderful Italian restaurant for dinner and had some of the best calamari we had ever had in our lives (and we eat lots of calamari!) We headed off to Iguazu early Tuesday morning....more to come soon.

The internet at the hostel is not great so I will post pictures when we are back in Buenos Aires.

Goodbyes

Well it has been a busy last few days and now I am finally beginning to relax in the beautiful Santiago sun (it is HOT here!) Our group trip to Algorrobo for oral presentations and re-entry orientation was great. The presentations were amazing, I was sure I was going to be bored listening to 14 different oral presentations each taking at least 20 minutes...but I was really surprised. Everyone worked so hard this past month during our ISP and it was amazing to see how much people improved. I was really excited when people in my group were really impressed by how much my spanish had improved! I also think people were fairly interested in what I was talking about. I thought about posting some of my paper up here but it is all in Spanish so it would probably be worthless for most people. But I am officaly on winter break...well I have been since Monday! One girl in my group was so relieved when she was done that she took a swig from her flask in front of everyone...it was pretty funny. I was relieved, but not that relieved. Monday night SIT treated us to an amazing dinner, a great slideshow of the semester, and a cool t-shirt with a group photo on the the back! I also spent all Monday afternoon at the beach and although I got a little burnt it was so beautiful and totally worth it! A bunch of us also went banana boating which was really fun too!

It was a perfect weekend! The last night we had a big dance party all together and it was really bittersweet!

We got back on Tuesday afternoon and most people headed home to pack and get organized, I just headed home to relax and breathe. It was great! On Wednesday I went over to my friends homestay house and we sat by the pool, but out of the sun, we were still recovering from the sun burn. It was a nice way to end the program. I was able to jump on the shuttle that was going to the airport with everyone and I spent about 2 hours there with 2 other girls who weren't leaving either. I was really glad that I could come to the airport and say goodbye to everyone at once. It was sad watching everyone leave. There are some people from my program who I am sure I will see over the summer but some who live far away and I am not sure the next time I will see them. It is weird how people can just walk into your lives and then share this amazing experience with them and then they just walk right back out 3 months later. It is a little crazy. These last few days I have been relaxing, spending a lot of time with my little brother and sister...I am teaching them english (they are learning a little but they are only 2 and 4).

Sunday morning I leave for Buenos Aires to meet up with my dad!!!! I am SOOOOO excited! My mom and brother come on the 20th and my dad and I will be meeting them in Peru. I think I am going to keep posting when I can to update people on my post-program travel. My dad and I have lots of plans for our week in Bs.As., one of them including Iguazu Falls (I AM SO EXCITED)

Sending lots of holiday love,

Ana

Photo Update!

Here are a few pictures from my trip to Buenos Aires!

My Buenos Aires mom and dad, Ricardo and Yeyi, before our weekly pizza dinner...SO GOOD!

View from the bus on our way through the Andes from Mendoza to Santiago!

Another a view from the bus, but I took this one with my feet in it so you could see the amazing view we had in the front seat of the bus!

The five of us that went to the vineyards in Mendoza, I think this was vineyard #3.

An awful picture of me but trying to show how impressive and beautiful the Andes are. Breathtaking, yes?

So I posted pictures in attempts to procrastinate from finishing my oral presentation but I think it is time to get back to work. Tomorrow at 11:30 am I will be done and officially on winter vacation...I can't wait.

This last week has flown by. It is hard to imagine that just last Monday I was packing up my things in Buenos Aires. Now I am in Santiago packing up my things once again for our 3 day trip to Algorrobo (the beach town where we had our orientation in the beginning of the program). We will be there as a group until Tuesday for our oral presentations (20 minute presentations, 15 people...I will let you all know if I make it out alive), a re-orientation program that all SIT programs do to help you cope with going back to the states (not really sure what that is all about...can't imagine my director knowing too much about re-orientating us since he has never been to that states, and not really sure what I need to be re-oriented for), and then some quality time at the beach with the whole program.

But before I get too ahead of myself I must share a little about my trip to Mendoza, it was fabulous! We left Monday night on an overnight bus, and as I was sitting on the bus reading through my guide book making sure I saw and did everything I wanted to do while I was in Buenos Aires I read a little blurb about the bus system and I thought I would share, " Imagine two stories of big, plush, fully reclining seats, complimentary meals, cheap wine and even apreitifs! Overnight rides have never been so fun." (Lonely Plant). Well Lonely Plant, I couldn't have said it better myself. I felt like such a baller sitting well more like laying in my plush leather seat with a meal of steak and potatoes and plenty of "free" wine. I didn't want to go to sleep because I was having such a blast...but I did finally, and I slept like a baby! When we woke up in the morning we practically in Mendoza and I was having a hard time imagining leaving (the bus that is).

But when we got to Mendoza we all jumped in cabs with all of our stuff (and there was a lot of it!) and we headed to the Hostel. Now this was my first hostel experience, I guess I didn't know what to expect but I was pretty grossed out at first. The hostel was clean but I guess I never imagined sleeping in a room with 10 other people and only knowing 4 of them. It was interesting the first few minutes but I hardly had time to think about all that could go wrong in the next 24 hours before we went off on a bike and wine tour through the wineries in Mendoza. Like I said in a previous post most of the amazing wine from Argentina comes from Mendoza so we had plenty of places to see. We rented our bikes and were handed a map and a bottle of water and were sent on our way. The first place we went was actually not a winery but a liquor and fruit factory. We tried lots of different marmalades and olives and everything was outrageously delicious, I also tried absinthe (sp?), and by tried I mean took a sip and then put it down, the feeling of complete numbness on my lips was enough for me...plus it was green...so not appetizing. We then spent the rest of the day biking and tasting wonderful wine. We drank a lot of Malbecs and I was able to learn a little about different types of wine and why some are good for longer than others...it was very interesting and now I don't feel like a totally dummy when it comes to wine.

After the wine tour we barely made ourselves back to the hostel because of immense exhaustion and not to mention it was hot! But once we did we showered and went out to a mexican restaurant...sounds funny but it was top notch! We were all so pooped from the day that we went back to the hostel to go to bed, although it took me a while to fall asleep and it was so hot in our large room the night went smoothly and I was comfortable and safe! The next morning we relaxed by the pool, listened to music, ate a wonderful "free" breakfast, and drank mate. It was nice to have sometime to reflect on the last month and anticipate what the next week was going to be like. At about 1:30 we hoped on a bus back to Santiago, the trip is only supposed to take 6 hours, but of course, we didn't pull in to the bus station and Santiago until 10pm that night. And even though the bus was comfy and I had we had seats in the front of the bus on the second floor so it looked like a disney ride with all the beautiful mountains 9 hours in a bus without sleep was a little too much for me. When we arrived at the border of Chile and Argentina we waited for 3 hours. Not until after we got back to Santiago did everyone that we know inform us that the border between Argentina and Chile is horrendous. First we waited on the stopped bus for 2 hours, then we all deboarded the bus with our papers to get stamped our of Argentina and stamped in to Chile, then we reboarded the bus, drove about 50 feet, and then were asked once again to deboard the bus with all of our stuff. Now we all had our backpacks up on top of the bus with us but all of our big luggage was underneath. As we were lining up to walk into a new room (keep in mind we are literally in the middle of the Andes, mountains all around us) where we were lined up with a our bags and drug dogs came by and sniffed us and our things. Then we watched as the took all of the big luggage from under and stuck it through the x-ray machine and then asked people to come up and please open their bags for a search if they saw the slightest thing suspicious in a bag. Two of my friends were taking back ducle de leche and marmalade and had to have their bags searched. Needless to say it was crazy and the whole time were were all shaking our head thinking maybe we should have just flown. But besides customs, the ride was stunning, the andes surrounded us most of the trip. It was a little touch and go while we went down the mountains on switchbacks and it seemed to us on the second floor of the bus that we weren't going to make it around each corner with out flipping over.

Since arriving back safely in Santiago, I have been busy seeing catching up with my friends and turning in my paper. All that is left is my oral presentation on Monday.

It was odd to see the Andes mountains again, because while I was in Santiago they were there all the time and they were beautiful, covered in snow, and I many times I felt like I could just reach my hands out and touch them, and then they were gone when I was in Buenos Aires. But coming back and seeing them made this place feel a little bit like home...it was nice.

I have some pictures I want to post from Mendoza and the bus ride home, so stay tuned.

Besos y abrazos,

Ana

Goodbye Buenos Aires

Well I guess it is not goodbye forever since I will be back here in about 2 weeks with my dad but it is goodbye for now because later tonight I will getting on a bus to start my journey back to Santiago. But I am not going to straight back, I will first be stopping in Mendoza...about a 12 hour bus ride from Buenos Aires and on the way back to Santiago. I should arrive in Mendoza on Tuesday morning and then I will spend the day and the night there, hopefully drink some good wine (most of the wine from Argentina is made in Mendoza), and relax. Wednesday morning I will finish the trip back by taking a 6 hour bus ride over the Andes and back to Santiago, which should be incredible as long as I don't get bus sick. I think it will weird being back in Santiago, I feel like I have been gone for so long (5 1/2 weeks). I am eager to get back and see the other kids in my program and see my little brother and sister. But I am also really going to miss my family here, they are really incredible. But I think the weirdest part is that going back also means the end is really really close.

My ISP is due on Friday...but thankfully I am done! On Saturday night we have a farewell dinner with all of our families at a restaurant and then on Sunday we all head to the beach (the same place where we had orientation) for our oral presentations and our re-orientation back to the states. It is actually unbelievable that just a little over 3 months ago I was crying at the airport not sure if going abroad was the right decision for me and now it is hard to imagine leaving. How did the semester go so quickly? And now I am stuck wondering did I do everything I wanted to do? Did I make the most out of every experience I have had here? But I guess these are typical "it's coming to an end questions". But maybe I am getting ahead of myself...even though the program ends in just 10 days I still have over a month left in the southern hemisphere and although I am sad about saying goodbye to the people that have been my support system for the last 3 months I am so excited for the next leg of my trip and to see my family!! 14 days till my dad comes!

Besos y abrazos,

Ana

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I had to post today cause I am missing my family, friends, and the USA so much today! Although I just got back from stuffing my face with some incredible argentinean meat, it didn't quite make up for missing Thanksgiving. We all went out for a delicious lunch today and even though it wasn't the same it was nice to be able to spend the day with great friends and we even went around the table telling each other what we are thankful for.

I am very thankful for the wonderful experience I have had and am still having in South America, learning and exploring a new and totally different culture. I am thankful for my family who always supports me and my incredible friends, new and old. I didn't feel quite so far from home knowing I have family and friends who love me.

I wish I could say that I am taking a break from school, but it is quite the opposite right now, I am nearly finished with the first draft of my ISP and just need to write one more section and then get it edited by my advisor. It is crunch time here and I can't believe how quickly my time here in Buenos Aires is coming to an end (I leave Monday night...LOCO!)

This is just some of the meat they were cooking at Sigue La Vaca today!

This is where you stand and point to the meat that you want...normally the whole grill is FILLED with so much meat but I took this at the end of the lunch rush so there wasn't that much meat left.

And I had to add this cause it was just SO beautiful today (although very humid)

Happy Thanksgiving,

Love and Miss you all!

Game Time!

Well it is game time here in Buenos Aires, no, not soccer game time, but Ana writes her ISP in record time game time. I just finished up a meeting with my advisor and promised her a finished (although rough) copy of my ISP by Thursday (yes not tomorrow, but the next day). You may be shaking your head thinking, no she can't do it, but I must. This is because we are writing our final papers all in Spanish and it is required that our advisor reads through it to check for our grammar mistakes so that our director who gives us or grades in Chile doesn't have to deal with grammer issues when grading. This will be incredibly helpful when I hand the paper in to UPS for credit (they will think I am brilliant) but not helpful that I have to finish this thing up in the next two days. And on top of this deadline nearing I am fairly positive I will not be able to get any work done on Thursday because I will be mourning the lack of my dad's turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, apple raspberry pies, and of course missing my family. But to try and combat this looming sadness the 5 of us who are still in Buenos Aires will be going back to Sigue La Vaca for a delicious meat filled meal...it will be tastey but not like home :(.

Although I have just less than one week left here in Buenos Aires, things are really feeling like they are starting to come to an end, and every time I sit down to dinner with my mom and dad here they sadly remind me that this will be the last time I eat breakfast on a tuesday with them. !Que triste! (how sad)...and oddly being told this at every meal is not getting old...I am really going to miss them too.

Obviously I am sitting at a cafe right now, with my half eaten ice cream next to me trying to think of more things to write about so I don't have to get back to writing this paper but I am running out of anything interesting to say...so I will go and try to keep plugging for just a little longer...I am fairly certain tomorrow will be a rough day scrambling to get things done.

Sending all the love I have back to the states and wishing everyone safe travels this week!

Ana

Work?

Wow, I cannot believe it has been over a week since I last posted…doing a whole lot of nothing really makes the time fly.
Not too much to report here, but I am starting to realize why they say this ISP part of the program is so hard, and it is not the fact that the majority of my communication is in Spanish or that I am visiting schools on my own and forming my own relationships with students and teachers but that I have no deadlines, except the one on Dec. 4th…that is really far away, aka motivating myself right now to do the work is really hard. But I am trying to push myself. I am trying to work hard and enjoy my last few weeks in this awesome city.
I have been doing a little work, spending a good amount of time on the computer researching the different laws about sex education here in BsAs and in Argentina as well as reading a few blogs that teachers have created here about their views on sex education in the school systems. I also spent a morning interviewing the rector (principal) and one of the sex ed teachers which was very informational. Bright and early this morning I went back to the same school and got to talk with about 5 students about their thoughts on sex education and its effectiveness. I am getting lots of information but now I need to figure out how to narrow it down to write a concise paper. I have been pleasantly surprised with how wonderfully helpful and kind people have been and by their willingness to help me. I am crossing my fingers that tomorrow I will have an interview with someone in the ministry of education to help me better understand the laws and what is being taught in the classroom.
Last week me and 3 other people who have stayed in BsAs went to a restaurant called Sigue La Vaca (follow the cow), it was INCREDIBLE. The restaurant is buffet style and you have all you can eat salad bar, all you can eat grill (with everything from steak to chicken to heart to chorizo…all muy rico!), everyone gets there own dessert and you have your choice of your own bottle of wine, pitcher of beer, or pitcher of soda, and bottled water is free (that in itself is pretty incredible). Not only was the food absolutely incredible and full of wonderful flavors but it cost a total of $15. Can you believe it? I still can’t. And let me tell you it is true what they say, Argentinean meat is truly delicious! Before dinner we took a little walk on the wharf and in the picture below that is Abigail, Sussy, and me! Needless to say we had an absolute blast at this restaurant and already have plans to go back before we head back to Santiago (only in 14 days ☹).

Now I am going to re-listen to all of my recorded interviews and try to jot down the important quotes...sounds fun? I think yes.

Besitos y Abrazos,

Ana

Fake Money and Monedas

Fake money, apparently something I need to be weary of here...who would have thought that. Two girls from my program weren't able to pay for their items at a restaurant because the 100 pesos (roughly $25 ) weren't real. Apparently there is a lot of fake money that moves around this city after the economic crisis spanning from 1999-2002. This is also the reason that there are very little monedas (coins) in circulation. And if I didn't already hate the bus system enough the moneda situation just makes it worse. There is a black market to buy monedas and you can also by them on the street for more then they are worth. People are really worried that there will be another economic crisis here so they apparently hoard all their moneda and small bills. The buses only take monedas and you can't just walk into a store and get change for a bigger bill and most things are priced so that they won't have to give monedas back. Needless to say my hunt for monedas has been ongoing since I arrived in this beautiful city, and I will be checking my big bills to make sure I am not carrying around fake money.

This weekend was amazing, incredible weather, sunny days and warm nights. On saturday the small group of us that are staying in BsAs went to the gay pride parade in the center of Buenos Aires. It was pretty amazing, especially because gay rights are so minimal in South America, although Buenos Aires is very progressive compared to other countries here. There were tons of people and a good time was had by all! I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, but I will try to do that tonight. After the parade we went out to dinner and then spent the rest of the evening relaxing at a bar...although the sun was rising when I took my cab home we had a nice and relaxing time. Oh and I finally joined a gym...it is no Malibu or UPS gym but it will suffice for a few weeks. It is going to be a struggle trying to get back into shape! Sunday I relaxed and tried to figure out my trip back to Argentina with my dad.

Today officially marks the first day of my ISP, although all I have done today is slept in, gone to the gym, enjoyed a rather large lunch with my Argentinean mother, and now I am posting on the blog. I suppose I should at least be some what productive today...

Sending lots of love,

Ana

Goodbyes and Tango

Greetings from hot and humid Buenos Aires! Lots of changes haven happened in the last week. To start, yesterday marked the last day of classes, seminars, group visits, and our days of traveling as a group of 15 are over. And this morning I had to say goodbye to 8 of my friends because they are heading back to Chile to spend there last month in Santiago and Temuco. I was more sad than I thought I would be…it is a weird feeling to know that I won’t see these people until Dec. 4^th because I have pretty much seen them all everyday since I have been in South America. I am sure this next part of the trip will be wonderful and I am so happy that there are still 7 of us who decided to stick around in Buenos Aires but the rest of the group will definitely be missed.

Last night we had our final dinner her in Buenos Aires, at a wonderful restaurant with all of our host families. We had empanadas, beef, chicken, ice cream, enjoyed live music, and a tango show (I was in it!!). For the past two weeks I have been taking a Tango class from a girl in my programs host sister. There were 5 of us in my program who went to the 4 private classes where we were taught many basic steps of the Tango. I was excited to show my skills off to everyone when I got home but I didn’t think I would be debuting my new skills (if you could call it that) to anyone here. During our last class our teachers choreographed a skit for the 5 of us to Tango to! We didn’t tell anyone else in the program that we were going to put on a short show so when we started our little show everyone was pretty impressed…I think we impressed ourselves too. It was very cute and we all did really well. I am going to have to keep practicing if I want to remember anything for when I get back! Even though I could possibly be the worlds worst dancer and I normally don't have the patience taking classes and putting on our little performance was a wonderful experience that I will never forget about my time here in BsAs. After our amazing dinner the whole group, all 15 of us, went out to a bar and a club for one last hurrah before some of them head back to Chile...it was a blast and by the time I got home the sun was about to rise! If you go out before 2:30 here people think you are crazy and let me tell you, leaving a bar or club before 8am is also crazy...not sure I will ever make it that late (well I guess early but you get the picture). At the club there was a great show of break dancers...they were so impressive!!

So some of you are probably wondering what I will be doing with my next month here since I have no more classes or seminars or what not. Well, Monday officially starts the Independent Study Project (ISP) portion of my study abroad program. I am both excited to have this whole new world of independence and lack of structure but also incredibly nervous. On Monday I handed in my ISP proposal and was very happy to have it approved. I am going to study sex education in the public school system in Buenos Aires. In 2006 a law was passed that sex ed classes were going to be a requirement in all schools in Buenos Aires but right now there is no developed curriculum and sex ed classes tend to consist of one class a year with older students talking to the younger students. With teen pregnancies and teen parents being so common here and abortion being illegal here, I thought this would be an interesting subject to investigate. I am going to visit two schools who claim to have a sex education class and I will observe the classes, interview the students and teachers, as well as hold interviews with people in charge of sex education in the ministry of education here in BsAs. I will be conducting all my interviews in Spanish and although I think I am ready I am sure it is going to be exhausting…the whole process is going to be exhausting but so rewarding I am sure. By the end of the month, Dec. 4^th to be exact, I will hand in a 20+ page paper in Spanish about my investigation…wish me luck?

In other news I am slowly being to learn my way around the city. Buses, although still ridiculously challenging, are getting a bit easier. I don’t get lost every time I try to leave my apartment and things are starting to look familiar. The shopping is just as great as it was last week although my wallet is getting lighter and lighter.

I hope everyone is well, wherever you may be in the world.

Besitos y Abrazos,

Ana

Tango and Uruguay

Well it has certainly been a while since I have last posted and I have lots to update everyone on!

To start, I am completely settled in here in Argentina and I am absolutely loving it. Seriously, everyone needs to visit this city once in there life...or more...it is outrageously wonderful! It is on a totally different spectrum than Santiago, much more european with a latin american flare. I have been keeping a list of some of the great things about Buenos Aires:

1. Nike outlet stores...and just in general a plethora of beautiful clothes to choose from!

2.There is toilet paper in all the public bathrooms...I may not have mentioned this but in Santiago if you have to use the bathroom you better have brought some tissues because there is no toilet paper to be found any where in that city.

3. The stop lights here go RED=STOP, YELLOW=Start moving your car, GREEN= GO...pretty legit huh?

4. It is a 1 hour bus ride to Uruguay (more to come later)

5. There are hardly any stray dogs which means far less dog poop for me to step in walking down the street.

I could go on and on but those are probably my top 5 as of right now! Something I do not love about BA is that they have a weird accent where they pronounce everything with a double ll as j's. Weird. I normally have to have someone repeat themselves a few times before I realize what they are saying. And the worst part of BA is there stupid transit system! I may have been spoiled because of Santiago but I don't know who thought of the one in BA but it is terrible! There are 5 or 6 metro lines which all meet at one spot in the south part of BA, so there is no way to go "across town" without going all the way down town and then back up on a different line, so a commute that should take 20 minutes takes over an hour. And then the buses, don't even get me started, they are impossible. Thus far I have not gone anywhere without getting lost, I normally get off to early or stay on the late and then when I try to walk home I almost always walk in the wrong direction and get frustrated and just take a taxi home. My goal for the next 4 weeks is to figure them out...wish me luck.

Well since I have been here I have been very busy with seminars about education...duh, and some school visits. This past thursday we had to opportunity to go the Plaza de Mayo, where every Thursday the mothers who lost their children or husbands or family members march to remember those killed during one of Argentina's dictatorships. We marched in the 1661th march by the Madres de Plaza de Mayo. Although it was blistering hot is was beautiful to see these very old women walking and know that they have done that every Thursday since the end of the military dictatorship.

We have also had a good amount of free time since we have been in Buenos Aires, which has been great for exploring this wonderful city or basking in the hot tropical weather that I am quickly becoming accustomed too. On Friday it was over 90 degrees here and I couldn't help but think how unbearably hot it is going to be when I am back in Argentina with my dad is mid-december. YUCK! We get a lot of free time these two weeks because about half of the people on the program will be leaving Argetina next Friday to go back to Santiago to conduct there ISP. I have chosen to stay here, I am really excited to share with everyone what I am going to be studying and researching for the next month but I want to wait until I get my idea approved before I tell everyone all about it! Keep your fingers crossed!

I am living with another family here in BA, this is family number 3, becasue moving in with a new family every few weeks is just a really fun thing to do...at least it is getting easier! Here in BA I am living with an old but wonderful couple! They have hosted 40 students in the past, so they really really know what they are doing. Although they are lots of fun I think I am going to switch to a new family for my last month here, just so I have some more space...this is also not positive yet so again, keep your fingers crossed!

Today I went to Uruguay, yes I said Uruguay. It is weird because if I were in Europe, I would be doing lots of traveling to different countries, but here that is just not as normal, so when a group of 10 of us left for Uruguay this morning we were all pretty pumped! We took a speedy fairy to Colonial Sacramento, a strictly tourist town in Uruguay, we paid a little extra for an all inclusive tour, including a delicously large lunch. Although it was cloudy it was still an amazing experience. And besides the fact that I got to spend a day in another country and explore a new place, probably the best part was how much I am noticing my understanding of Spanish improving. We had the tour in Spanish and when I paid attention I was really able to fully understand everything the said! While we were in Colonial we saw the oldest standing (well somewhat standing) wall in Uruguay, I learned that prostitution is legal and we walked down the street where prostitutes are most commonly found at night...cool I guess. We ate a huge and delicious lunch in the campo (country-side) of Uruguay where we say the WORLD'S LARGEST PENCIL COLLECTION!!!! And of course I got some good shopping in!

This week is going to be very busy with lots of school visits and really starting to plan my ISP...scary!

Happy Halloween!

Buenos Aires

Well I am officially in the Paris of South America, otherwise known as Buenos Aires. Not much to report yet, but I am spending the night in a hotel and will be meeting my host family tomorrow. We had a delicious lunch today and sat through many hours of orientation.

We arrived early this morning and I am overloaded with emotions. Excited to be in a new city and to have the opportunity to explore and learn about a new culture. Nervous about starting over in a new family and dreading those inevitable awkward moments. Sad to know that about half of the kids on the program will be heading back to Santiago in about 2 weeks and I won't see them for a month.

But I guess being overloaded with emotions is normal when studying abroad! Wish me luck tomorrow.

Chau for now

Besos y abrazos

Mapuzugukantuayiñ

Mari Mari (hola),

Early yesterday morning I arrived back from my one week rural home stay in Chapod, Chile, it is a small country town outside of Temuco, a bigger, but still rather small and gritty city. I had the most incredible time during this past week and there is so much I want to share but for fear writing too much I will keep it as short as possible.

I will start in the beginning, when we left Santiago two Saturdays ago after Chile had just won a huge game which allows them to go to South Africa this coming summer for the Soccer World Cup, people went crazy! Trying to take the metro with my backpack and luggage for the week while people were screaming, singing, and jumping up and down was quite the adventure. After finally making it to the bus terminal a little overwhelmed we got onto our pimped out coach bus. The bus was a double-decker bus and each seat reclined, with a foot rest, to an almost perfectly horizontal position. We were given a blanket and a pillow, along with some snacks and we all quickly dozed off for the remainder of the 8 hour bus ride. We arrived in Temuco at about 6:30 am and headed to Chapod, about a 20 minute car ride where we were quickly taught how to say hello in Mapuzugukantuayiñ (we pronounce is as Mapundungun), which is Mari Mari. We were introduced to our host families for the week and all went our seperate ways with our families for the rest of the day.

I moved in with a papa named Estaban and a mama named Maria. They are both Mapuche, Chile's group of indigenous people. Although most chileans have Mapuche in their lineage and background many chose not to associate with it. This week all 15 of us in the program lived with Mapuche families. Unfortunately the Mapuche culture is quickly dying as the Evangelical church has become a big part of many of the Mapuche lives. Most families no longer speak Mapuzugukantuayiñ (or as we would pronounce it, Mapundungun) and there is only 2 hours of Mapundungun class a week for the children who live in Chapod. I was very lucky because my papa is one of the profesors of Mapundungun so he tried to teach me a lot during the week. The language is very different than any language I have ever heard, it has a mix of spanish and asian influence in its sound. During the week we were able to take a 2 hour Mapundungun class as well where we learned a few basic phrases and it was really cool to go back and impress my papa with what I had learned.

Throughout the week we partook in some really great activities. The first day we drove 2 hours west (towards the coast) and spent the day at Lago Budi, which was absolutely beautiful and breathtaking even though it was cloudy.

We spent the day learning about Mapuche culture, traditions, and religon, as well as the impact turism has had on these small Mapuche communities.

Tuesday we spent the day at the local school in Chapod, which only had 35 students. We observed some classes in the morning and then in the afternoon had the opportunity to teach the kids in our class english. My group and I had 6-9 year olds so we stuck to some pretty easy songs that we could translate back and forth from english to spanish. I am not sure if they actually retained anything but it was fun to work so directly with the kids.

Wednesday morning we helped build a ruka, a traditional Mapuche House, which are not really used as much for living in becaue most families have actual homes but are used for parties. We worked all morning just building the base of the ruka, which included digging up lots and lots of dirt for a 8 in. dirt floor. In the afternoon we learned how to play Palin, a traditional Mapuche sport, which is just the same as hockey, but with a few obscure rules. It was a lot of fun but quite dangerous, think flying wooden sticks at shins. After Palin we played soccer with a bunch of the adults and kids in the community...it was so amazing to play soccer and everyone was really good, even some of the old folks!

The first picture is what a real ruka looks like and the second one is as far as we had gotten on the Ruka that we helped start to build, it doesn't look like we did much, but it was a lot of work! The door to the ruka always opens up to face the sun rising in the morning.

Thursday we went to another rural town and visited a different school and then spent the afternoon shopping and exploring in Temuco. Friday we ate a traditional Mapuche feast, which included lots and lots of bread and lots and lots of meat...SO DELICOUS! In the afternoon we played more soccer and then in the evening we celebrated my friends 21st birthday in the pitch black, minus the stars, it was a really fun experience. Saturday was our last day which consisted of playing lots of basketball and a ton of soccer and of course another incredible Mapuche inspired feast! I ate so much food all week, and the biggest part of my diet was bread and sopapillas (aka fried dough)!

Although I only washed my hair once in a small bowl full of freezing water and never washed my body, and woke up each morning shivering it was absolutely incredible. The people were so warm and made me and the rest of the people on my program feel right at home and unbelievably comfortable. My favorite part of the trip was playing soccer with the community of Chapod and getting Here are a few more pictures from the wonderful adventure:

A waterfall near my house in Chapod
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Mama Maria and I outside our house

The view from my backyard in Chapod.

I will be here in Santiago until Friday, I will be running around trying to get myself organized for the next 6 weeks in Buenos Aires, I am looking forward to the next chapter of my adventure but I am certain I will miss how comfortable I have become here in Santiago.

Besos y Abrazos,

Ana

To the Country and Beyond

Well this past week just flew right by, yesterday (friday) we finished our spanish class and handed in our final papers for our seminar class. I cannot believe that the class portion of my trip is over...now on to excursions and independent studies!

Tonight at 9 pm I will be getting on a bus to travel 9 hours south to Temuco where I will start the rural part of my trip. Me and my friend Jackie will be living with a Mapuche (indigenous people of chile) family for the week, most likely without running water and electricity. Temuco is actually a fairly big city but we are going to be staying just south of it in a small country town named Chapod. Over the week they are keeping us very busy, busing us from rural schools, to lectures about the mapuche and education, we will be taking a crash course in an indigenous language and learning how to play a popular indigenous sport. I am not worried about not eating well because our directors have informed us that they eat a lot in the south. I sprayed all the clothes that I am going to be brining with special flea spray so I hope to avoid the fleas and I have packed all the medicine I could possibly need. We have also been told that the water should still be okay for us to drink down there especially because we have gotten used the water in Santiago and it is not much different.

I have really been looking forward to this part of the trip so I am glad that it is finally here. I will be taking lots of photos and can't wait to share the experience with all of you when I get back.

Besos y abrazos,

Ana

Cajon del Maipo

Hola,

It has been another crazy and long week here in Santiago and I cannot believe that I only have 2 more weeks left in Santiago! Here is a quick update on my timeline for the rest of the semester:

10/5-10/10: Santiago (last week of spanish and seminar classes)

10/11-10/17: Rural home-stay in Temuco Chile (10 hour drive south of Santiago)

10/18-10/23: Preparation for Buenos Aires (last week in Santiago and Chile)

10/24-11/6: 2 week group excursion to Buenos Aires

11/7-12/4: 1 month Independent Study Project (ISP), I will most likely be spending this time in Buenos Aires

It is crazy to think that I have already been here for 6 weeks and the half-way mark is just around the corner!

This weekend was another wonderful adventure. A group of 7 of us went to Cajon del Maipo, a mountain area just outside of Santiago. We left late Friday night and after being stranded at a bus stop for over an hour we finally made it to La Bella Durmiente (sleeping beauty) where we stayed in a 7 person cabana or cabin as we would say in the US. We got settled in and pretty much headed straight to bed. The next morning a few of us early riser took a nice little walk down the road and enjoyed the many mountains that were surrounding us. In the afternoon all 7 of us went HORSEBACK RIDING in the mountains (aka the Andes!)!!!! Can you believe it?!? We went on about a two hour trek essentially straight up the mountains and then straight down. I think the last time I went horseback riding was when I went to a camp in Long Island with my aunt...and I am sure that was when I was 7 or 8...it was a little bit of a struggle. One of my friends, Meg, horseback rides a lot and she made the rest of us look pretty bad, and another friend, Abby, almost fell of her horse when one of our guides whipped it for eating too much. It was terrifying riding these horses because we were so close to the edge of the mountain the whole way up and down. I had to keep telling myself to breathe and try to enjoy the view even though I was terrified...going down was even scarier!! It was pretty dangerous, which may be why horseback riding is against the rules, but it was totally worth it...check out these photos and tell me if you disagree:

After horseback riding we were all terribly sore and exhausted so we went back to the cabin and relaxed a little. That night we cooked ourselves a delicious dinner of my personal favorite, chicken, pasta, and lemon (thank you gabby), steak, a delicious salad, and grilled vegetables! It was amazing!

This is a picture of all of us right before dinner! We were so hungry, I never realized horseback riding was so exhausting!

We spent the rest of the night relaxing and laughing a lot. It was great to get away from Santiago and the stress of the program, we had all been feeling pretty down last week, they call it the 5 week slump, but having the weekend hidden away in the mountains definitely did the trick for all of us!

As you can see from the schedule above things are coming to an end here in Santiago and this is the last week of classes, which I am so happy about! I have two projects due this week as well as two papers so I will certainly be busy. There are many places I still want to explore in Santiago so I am going to do my best to fit everything in these next few weeks!

Muchos besos y abrazos

Valparaíso!

Hola,

I can't believe it has been a whole week since my last post, I have lots to update everyone on!

This weekend (Friday-Sunday) I went to Valparaíso with the program to observe some schools and explore the city of Valpo and Vina del Mar. We left Santiago early Friday morning and went straight to an all-girls technical high school. There were over 1,000 girls attending this school where during their first 2 years the girls study all subjects and during their last 2 years they prepare specifically to either work in textiles, computer graphics, cooking, or work with kids. Most of the girls that graduate do not go on to college because this school prepares them to graduate and start working right away. There were roughly 150 girls who were either pregnant or already had children. We were given the opportunity to sit and talk to a class of girls for about an hour and it was fascinating to hear how different their lives are. Here is a picture of me with some of the students that I met:

After visiting the school we went to a famous restaurant in Valpo where we ate the most disgusting but DELICOUS meal! See picture below:

This plate consists of really really greasy french fries, grilled onions with melted cheese and then pieces of the tastiest steak ever! It was literally the best thing I have ever eaten!

Friday afternoon we met with the director of a teachers union in Valpo and they talked to us about education and how it has changed over the past thirty years.

On Saturday we headed outside of Valpo to a rural town to visit a small school. The school had about 4 classrooms and was for 56 kids, because it was a Saturday we didn't get to see the school in action but a few kids came in nice and early to help the director show us around. The school had their own gardens that each kid tends too, it was so quaint and wonderful.

Saturday afternoon we were free and the whole group went out to an incredible seafood restaurant right on the water, we stuffed ourselves with delicous food and then by foot explored a little bit of Valparaíso. Later that night we headed to a four floor discotheque to dance the night away!

Here is a picture of the beach:

Last week I had lots of class and finally started visiting a school that I will visit for the next few weeks. I observed a language and composition class and was able to talk with the teacher and the students. The school is a rather large public school where most of the children come from struggling families...and the biggest problem that they have is the disorganization and the problem with discipline. It was very different than how I remember elementary school.

This week is lots more class and more school visiting! Only two more weeks of spanish so I just have to keep plugging, although the work is really starting to pile up!

Muchos besos!

FOOD FOOD FOOD AND MORE FOOD!

There is lots to update you on but it also occurred to me that I have hardly spoken about the all the delicious foods I have been eating since I arrived here (practically a month ago??!?!?)...so I am going to share, get ready to drool.

First, possibly the most popular chilean food (besides meat) are empanadas, there is no way to explain an empanada to someone and do it justice...the taste of it is like a party in your mouth...a really good party with lots of people and dancing. Empanadas are either baked or fried (both are delicious) and could have just about anything in them, the most popular in Chile are Pino (some sort of mixture of meat and onions, this is the chilean empanada), cheese, mushrooms and cheese, and just plain meat. And if the empanada wasn't good enough it is like a little surprise every time you eat one because they shove a little green olive in each one and you always know it is coming but you never now when :)!

Next, MEAT, if you are a vegitarian and are visiting this country or living in the this country I feel so bad for you because the meat here is INCREDIBLE, it's another party in your mouth for sure. I have tried all kinds and most of the time I am not even sure what type I am eating but it all just tastes so good. In fact I had my first or second piece of chicken since I have been here because all the meat they serve here is red! And this weekend for the first time in my life I ate raw meat, now I am not just saying I tried it, or it was a small bite, no, I mean I had a whole bowl of red meat. It is a very common meal here and the name is slipping my mind but it is doused in lemons and onions and the lemons are supposed to make the raw meat safe to eat (i don't get it but maybe someone who is science savvy can help me out). When I ate it all I could really taste were the lemons so I tried to pretend I was just eating cooked meat, I think that I have been told my whole life that eating raw meat was bad so it was hard to overcome my fear. A while back I also tried something even more interesting. Again, I wasn't quite sure what I was eating but my mom's boyfriend assured me it was tasty, I should have said no because of the look on my moms face but I thought I had nothing to lose. Afterwards I found out that I had just eaten horse...now I clearly have no problem eating certain animals but horses is where I draw the line. Although it tasted yummy (sort of like beef jerky) I told my moms boyfriend that one taste of it was good enough for me.

FISH! Fish is also all over the place here and I LOVE IT! This weekend I had raw fish with onions and lemon (the same as the meat dish above but with fish instead). That was delicious and I had less of a problem eating a bowl of raw fish because I love sushi so much. I had less of a problem until we found a little red worm floating around in the leftovers. We tried to kill the worm with different types of alcohol, because if it died from a certain type we all said we would take a swig of that alcohol to ensure that the worm wasn't alive inside our stomachs. It didn't die until we cut it in half. No problems with my stomach yet (keep your fingers crossed please)

Bread, the amount of bread that is eaten here is redic, I guess it is no more than what I remember in Spain, but it is just so much. They eat bread for breakfast and bread for dinner. In Chile most families eat a small breakfast and a small dinner which they call once, that usually consists of bread and avocado, and then they eat a fairly large lunch. Thank goodness my mom and boyfriend eat a big dinner because I love food to much to just have bread for dinner.

Fruits and vegetables: I know I told many of you who are reading that I would be unable to eat most fruits and veggies, but I was wrong, it turns out the water here in Santiago is much better than the rest of Chile and other places in South America so we can eat all the fruits and vegetables we want. I have been eating tons of bananas and apples because they are so cheap and SO much avocado. Fresh salads consists of cut up iceberg lettuce with lemon and oil, although they are somewhat tasty I am missing the delicious salads I am so accustomed to at home.

Obviously I am eating lots more types of food than listed above but those are some of the favorites.

Since this weekend was Independence weekend and I was at the beach with my family we had many bbq's (or asado). My mom and her boyfriend rented a house about 5 minutes from the beach and about an hour and a half away from Santiago in the town where I had orientation back in August. It was nice to revisit the same place and feel like something was familiar. We spent lots of time relaxing in the house and lots of time walking along the beach. Unfortunately it was too cold to even touch the water but I founds lots of beautiful seashells that I had never seen before (i found purple ones!).

This week will be a busy one, with seminars and visiting the schools that we will spend about 7 sessions with. I am very excited to spend some consistent time in a classroom and get to some students as well as the teacher. This weekend I will be heading to Valparaiso with the program to explore! I am so excited! Here are a few pictures and I swear this is the week I will get more pictures up on snapfish ( I think there are about 500 more to put up, get excited!).

Beach that I walked around on Saturday and Sunday!

The house that my mom and her boyfriend rented for Independence weekend at the beach!

I had to put a picture of this because those strange line of buildings in the back of the picture is the hotel that has the biggest pool in the WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD (mom and dad can we please go there).

MUCHOS BESOS!

Skiing and Birthdays

Two very important things have happened since I last posted...first, I went skiing in the Andes and second, I turned 21!

Skiing in the Andes was by far the best thing I have done here thus far. It was painful to leave the mountains and head back to smoggy Santiago. The day began bright and early where I met up with 6 other people from my group to get on a van that would take us up the mountain. The drive to the mountain was about an hour and a half and over an hour of it was spent going up a very steep mountain on switchbacks, we were lucky none of us puked. Even though we were all getting pretty car sick we were too excited to think much of and the view wasn't too bad either. Once we finally got up to the mountain we spent about an hour renting gear and buying lift tickets before we hit up the mountain! The mountain was small but had some of the most incredible views I have ever seen. I took tons of photos and need to get them up on the snapfish account so you all can enjoy them as much as I am. I hope these two suffice for now.

We happened to go skiing on the most gorgeous day that we have had here and I skied in leggings, a t-shirt, and a raincoat. The sun was shining all day which made an already perfect day even better. The other 6 people that I went skiing with hadn't skied or snowboarded in a few years so for the most part we took it pretty easy, the mountain was pretty intermediate so no one had too many problems. The last run of the day was the most incredible one we had, we took a run that circled the top most peak so we were able to see a 360 degree view of the Andes mountains. It was SO hard to leave, I was seriously considered staying in a hotel for the night and skiing on Sunday too!

Monday night I went to a sports bar with some of my friends and we watched the Patriots game, it was fun to do something American for a change.

Tuesday was my birthday and it was wonderful. During our break at school my director and classmates came in with a birthday cake and card and sang for me. My director also serenaded me with a classic Chilean birthday song, it was very very nice! Then last night my mom was kind enough to invite all the other students in my program (14 others) to our house for empanadas and pisco sours. Besides the fact that my sister was sick it was a lot of fun. We ate another cake and then headed out of the bars so I could celebrate my 21st in style. We had a ton of fun and needless to say were very safe! Although the day was lots of fun it made me miss home and friends a lot!

Tonight I am heading out to my directors house with the rest of our group for food and some good spanish conversation. It should be a blast

This weekend is Independence weekend so I have about an hour of class tomorrow and then we are done until next Monday! I will be leaving for la playa (the beach) tomorrow night and I will be there for the whole weekend with my mom and her two kids and then my mom's boyfriend and two of his kids. It should be interesting. I have a good amount of homework to do and can't wait to relax after this busy week of carrete (partying).

Muchos besos (kisses)