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
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