So many things, So little time

Hello from down south. Wow it has been far to long since I last wrote in my blog, I have alot to talk about. Starting with the 10 K race I did here in Rosario a week ago. The race was on Sunday morning at 9. It took place on the bridge between Rosario and Victoria, El Puente Rosario Victoria. Here is a picture of part of the bridge.

The night before the race I had a few people over to my house for dinner. A pasta night to get fueled up for the big race. Devin, Andrea, and Anna all came over for dinner with me and my host mom Cristina. It was a fun night, but a long one. I found out that Argentines love entertaining their guests. So instead of just having dinner talking a bit and then everyone going their seperate ways as is common in the US for pre-race dinners like this. We ate, then my host mom got out ice cream for desert. She talked us all into playing games and in the end I didn´t get to bed until some time after 1 A.M. I got up for the race around 7 so I could eat a light breakfast. Efriam a professor at UCEL picked me up around 7:30 and we made our way to pick up the other participants; Anna and Andrea. We arrived at the race just after 8. Here is a picture of Andrea, Anna and myself from left to right.

The starting point for the race was up on the bridge so we had to climb a hill. It was pretty steep, and a little caotic getting to the top because there were so many people. In all there were over 3,000 people that competed in this race, and almost everyone wore their race shirt. A little different from the races I´ve done back in Iowa, were there is hardly anyone who wears the race shirt the day of the race.

When we got up on the bridge we could see Rosario. It was a nice view but would have been better had it not been so hazy in the city. I took some pictures of the city, but due to the haze the pictures are not very clear. Below is a picture of the bridge.

The race went really well for the most part. It was alot of fun, and probably would have been more enjoyable if I had been in a little better shape, but it sure made me appreciate the finish line more hence the picture.

After the race I went home showered, and went back to bed. Later that night I had a ¨Ma-Te¨ date. To try and explain this simply mate is a very popular drink here in Argentina, and it is similar to tea kind of. It is made in a special cup and drank with a metal straw called a ¨bombilla¨with a filter on the end. The drink is shared with all kind of like how the Native Americans used to share the peace pipe. Mate is made by putting ¨yerba¨ (ground leaves) into the cup called a mate. Then water is poured over the yerba. You then drink the mate with the bombilla. Mate can be made with hot water or with cold water, but hot water is more common. Here is a picture of some of the group chilling in the park enjoying some mate. I have found that I really enjoy mate. It has a little different taste than tea but it is good and the way it is shared with all is kind of neat. Sharing mate is a cultural thing here, it is a time to spend with friends and just relax and talk.
I also have been doing some studying while I have been in Argentina. Hard to believe huh? Well I have been studying alot too, and while it sounds boring classes and studying have taken alot of my time recently. I almost always have home work to do during the week and often I have homework to do on the weekends. Right now I am taking 5 courses; reflection, economics, español, oral and written communications, and Argentine history. By far the hardest class for me right now has been history. The class is taught in spanish. I know very little about Argentine history to begin with so trying to learn it in spanish is very difficult. Also I have found that alot of the verbs and words in my history book I do not know, this is because the words are specific to history. Not the same things I have learned in my spanish courses that are geared toward communication. But I am starting to adapt to the class and I have been asking alot of questions to clarify things. Overall my classes have been going well. I would talk about each class individually but that would get kind of boring. All you really need to know is that the spanish course has been very helpful and I feel like my spanish has imporved alot since I arrived in Rosario. The oral and written course is also a spanish course working on my writing and speaking skills, Economics is taught by Jim in English. Thank God! And in reflection class everyone on the trip converses about our experience here and we discuss the similarities and differences between back home and here. Below is a picture of part of our group before spanish class.
Well thats about all for now. Hopefully next time you dont have to wait so long for an update. Now that I have got the uploading pictures thing down I will try and get at least one new picture up each time as well.

-Nick

PHOTOS

Finally, I got some photos up on here for you all! Sorry it took so long, and sorry there are so few. Let me briefly explain the pictures. The first picture is from Buenos Aires. It is the Congresso. Or the congress. And as you can tell it looks similar to our Congress. The following picture is the Obiliseco. It is in the middle of the largest street in the world, "El 9th de Febrero." And this is in BA as well. The final picture is of thte Asado. Well part of it, this was in the begining when the cook was still roasting the peppers. The other meats were added later.

Sorry it took me so long to get these up.

-Nick

Eat More

Comés Comés! I hear this all the time here in Argentina. It means Eat Eat! My host mom seems to think that she should make a meal for four, eat one portion and then I will eat the rest. As much as I love food, and as much as I enjoy the food here I am simply unable to do this! Its funny, because back in the United States I am often teased for how much I eat, and for some reason I cannot live up to the expectations here. I wonder if part of this is a result of a common bad stereotype of US'ers.

(I dont know if I have explained this earlier so let me explain the term US'er. As citizens of the United States of America we simply refer to ourselves as Americans. This however upsets many of the people that we share the hemisphere with. They too see themselves as Americans because they live on the continent of North America or the continent of South America. People living in the countries of North America and South America find us to be quite arrogant when we claim that we are Americans as if there are no other ¨Americans.¨ Therefore I've begun to use the term US'er. It dosent have the same ring as American, but it is more politically correct and therefore makes people here in Argentina think at least a little higher of me when I'm butchering their language.)

There is a common misconception or stereotype that US'ers are fat, that we eat alot, that we are lazy, and so on. The stereotype that we have all heard before. I would hope that after meeting me my host mom didnt find that stereotype true. However it still puzzels me why I am expected to eat so much even after I have told her that I cannot eat that much. It seems like every night, I am telling her that I am full and cant eat anymore. I guess having to much is better than not having enough though.

Generally for breakfast I eat pretty light. I always have coffee for breakfast and usually have a several media lunas, a banana, or a little bit of a breakfast desert. The desert is a cake more or less with bits of apple in it and chocolate on top. It is good, but not as good as the media lunas! Media lunas are a cresant more or less, they have the same shape and size, but they are much much better! The ones I like the most have a little bit of a sugar coating on top. They are amazing!

I live 28 blocks from UCEL (the college I am attending here in Rosario). So for lunch I eat out every day. I have tried several places around the college, and have tried many different types of food. Today for example I had empanadas. Empanadas are a specialty here in Argentina. They are kind of like a hot pocket, except amazing! They consist of a dough that is stuffed with different kinds of fillings, then cooked in the oven. Today i had carne suave, pollo, and cantimpalo. So I had an empanada with smooth meat (meaning not spicy), chicken, and pepperoni. They were awesome. I have also had alot of pizza, because Argentina has alot of Italian roots, so they love pizza and pastas. I have eaten alot of hot dogs, because they are cheap, and actually really good too. I only pay 5 pesos for about a foot long hot dog, which equals out to about 1.25 USD. I have had alot of other things for lunch but that is just a general idea of my normal lunch.

For dinner I have had many different things as well. On sunday nights we almost always have pizza. Sunday is the day that my host mom dosent cook. Other nights we generally have some form of meat with potatoes, or vegetables. She loves diceing up tomatoes and putting salt and oil with them. Occasionally she puts cheese on them as well. Supprisingly I have enjoyed this some. I say supprisingly because I'm not a really big fan of tomatoes. One of her favorite things to make is milenesa. This is some type of meat, generally pork or chicken breaded with bread crumbs and eggs then either baked or pan fried. I have also had an omelet, carlitos (ham and cheese with ketchup on toasted bread), pasta, and much more.

The food has not seemed to different from the food in Iowa. I mean its different but not drastically different. What is different is the time that is taken for breakfast, lunch or dinner outside the home. When you go to a resturant in Argentina you can expect to spend 2+ hours there. The waiters do not bother you and rarely stop by the table unless they are brining you your food, taking your order, or if you call them over. This has been kind of hard to get used to since at home if the waiter dosent check in every now and again we consider them do be doing a bad job. Here though the opposite is true, if a waiter stops by the table to much it is considered rude. It has also been hard getting used to going without refills. In the US if you get a drink and its not full all the time the waiter has not done their job very well. I am so used to this concept of refills I have gotten used to drinking as much as I want with my meal. Here however, I order my drink it come in a glass bottle which is then poured into my glass, and if I want more to drink I have to ask for and pay for another drink. This has probably been one of the hardest things for me to get used too.

Finally I want to talk about my first experience with an asado! An asado is a large gathering of friends and family to eat together, and meat is the main course. There are several differnt kinds of meat and there is alot of all of it. In a sense it is like a bar-b-que back in Iowa...except different. I will post pictures on my Facebook of the asado so everyone can get an idea of this. And i will try and post pictures on my blog for those who do not have facebook. Its kind of hard to discribe what exactly an asado is. It is mainly a socail gathering but there is a ritual about how the meat and meal is prepared. The grill is started very early, and is just a fire. The cook then takes hot coals out of the fire and puts them under the first things that are being cooked. At my asado they started by roasting some red peppers. The cook continues to put coals under the food until they get the right temperature that they want. And different meats are added to the grill continually. The night of the Asado I had chorizo (a type of sausage), pork ribs, beef steak, and another cut of pork. All were delicious! The cook serves everyone and brings different meats at different times during the dinner. The whole process is very long. The Asado began around 8:30 or 9 and didnt end until after 1 in the morning! It was alot of fun though and the food was Amazing!

This seems to be the general consensus about the food in general here in Argentina. I have found a few things that I'm not particularly fond of, but for the most part everything has been very good.

I hope that everyone is still doing well back home!

-Nick

Buenos Aires

After a long and amazing week in Buenos Aires, I have some time to sit down and write again! First I want to address Chile. In case anyone doesn't already know, there was a very large earthquake in Chile last week. I want everyone to know that I'm doing fine, and unfourtuanetly I didnt feel a thing. I would like to experience an earthquake some day just to see what one feels like or even just experience an aftershock. Being from Iowa, I've seen pictures of what earthquakes do, however I can not imagine the earth moving so violently that it toppels buildings and destroys roads.

The bus ride to Buenos Aires takes about four hours. Its hard to know where to start, there were so many things in Buenos Aires. It is an amazing city, and there is always something going on. On my first day in BA (as it is called here) we got set up in our hostile. All of the group was a little on edge when we first got our rooms. Not because the rooms were bad, but because the group had been split up kind of oddly. But everything worked out ok in the end. In my room there were two other simpson students, myself, and three other guys from all over the place. One was from Germany, one from Brazil, and one from Italy. After gettting settled into the hostile we visited Puerto Madero. It is beautiful, so beautiful infact that I returned at night later in the week to see everything all light up. The first night we were in BA was very interesting too. We went out, without our fearless leader Jim Palmieri. We walked up to the Obelisco and had drinks. It was a little intense for a bit with such a big group. I worry it interrupted the feel of the cafe. But it was alot of fun sitting right beside the Obelisco and sharing some wine with everyone.

The second day in BA we traveled and visited many different places. We went to the Casa Rosada, the Malba museum of art, the Congress of Argentina, and the mothers of the disappeared restaurant. After a long day a couple of us went down to Puerto Madero again and had dinner. The port was very beautiful at night.

Thursday was our third day in BA and we visited the plaza in front of the Casa Roasada. This is where every Thursday the Mothers of the Disappeared have a protest. The protest is against the atracities of a former Argentine government. During the time of this regime many people who opposed the government were rounded up and never seen again. Some people were taken for no reason at all and killed. It was a very dark time for Argentina. The mothers, wifes, and friends of these people gathered together and began protesting these actions. They began the protests when that regime was still in power. So this group is made up of very strong and courageous people! This was a very powerful and moving thing to see! That same day i visited Boca, which is a touristy part of town but very neat too. The houses there are all painted bright colors and there are tango dancers in the street. There are lots of little shops with souviners and trinkets. It is a very cool place to visit.

Friday was a free day for all of us. And since we were leaving the next day I decided to go visit a place that many people had recomended. Its funny, because it is not something unique to BA because most major cities have one and even Des Moines has one. I went to the Zoo! LOL. But it was a really cool Zoo, and I'm not even a big fan of Zoo's. I got to see animals that are native to Argentina learn their names, as well as learn names of animals from all over the world like ¨mono¨ which means monkey. That was about the extent of my day on Friday, I did relax a bit more, shopped some, and more or less just took in BA.

Saturday was my final day in Buenos Aires. We got up early and checked out of the hostile. Then we went to the Cemetary in Recoleta. The cemetary is similar to the one in New Orleans because the graves are above ground. This was pretty cool, because I've really only seen pictures of a cemetary like this. The graves are beautiful and some are very large, housing more than one person. Many have entire families, with plaques indicating when each member was born and when they passed away. After visiting this we made our way back to the bus station to return to Rosario. Once again it was a pretty uneventul bus ride. I slept most of the way. Its really odd, because the scenery along the way is more or less the same as Iowa in the summer. There are lots of corn and soybean fields, as well as cows, horses, and other farm animals grazing in pastures.

I really wish I could post pictures in this Blog, but for some reason it is not working now. I will try to upload some pictures tomorrow at UCEL.

Sunday when I was back in Rosario I went to the main park in Rosario with several other Simpson students. We layed out in the sun, walked around, and just enjoyed the beautiful weather. It is really neat too see the park though because unlike many parks in the US. The park is very important here. There was alot going on in the park and alot of people were utilizing it. I thought it was neat anyways. So today I started classes. It was more or less an introduction to one of my main courses. But it went very well. I got put in the intermediate Spanish group which I'm very happy about. I'm excited to get going with classes because its been so long since I've had a class. I ended classes in December! Well I'm sure that the classes will keep me busy, but I hope to still have time to do some traveling and to explore Rosario.

I think in my next blog I'm going to talk about the food here. If anyone has questions or things they want to know about Argentina, my trip...etc. Please leave me a comment. I want to share what I have experienced here. I hope that everyone back home is doing well!

-Nick