A legitimate Turkey Day in BsAs!?

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  Buenos Aires, Argentina
Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Hi everyone!!

I have LOTS to catch you all up on! Let's just hope this entry doesn’t turn into a book J

Let’s begin way back with the middle of October when I went to the province of Chubut with GW.  This is a 2 hour plane ride south of here, along the coast.  I saw some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen in my entire life.  The thing that got me the most was that the Atlantic can actually be pretty!  What happened with you Mr. Jersey Shore?!  While we were in Chubut we spent most of our time in Puerto Madryn where we saw penguins (!!!), sea elephants, sea lions, went whale and dolphin watching.  It was an incredible weekend filled with amazing fresh air, blue water and the funniest looking animals, ever.  The penguins we saw are not penguins that live with ice; they live in a moderately warm climate near the water.  And yes, they do waddle like crazy!! (I have some funny videos of them walking; I’ll have to show all of you!).  

The sea elephants that we saw kind of look like a mix of a seal and a walrus.  They were all up on the beach (we were up high on the dunes because they are dangerous animals) soaking in the sun and lying around.  They are some funny animals.  When they speak with each other, it just sounds like an elongated burp.  Very gross, but hilarious.  We watched the dominant male (who was HUGE) squirm around and take various females underneath him and just stay like that for a while.  Then he would move on to another female (we watched several try and run, or rather, squirm away).  Our guide told us that the dominant male does this to let the various female sea elephants know that they will be mating, later.  It was very interesting to see.

We went whale watching on the most gorgeous dark blue water I had ever seen.  We didn’t see any whales jump, but we saw a bunch bob their heads and tales in and out of the water.  We saw an albino whale, which the guide said is very rare, so that was really great to see!  When we went dolphin watching, we saw dolphins that are black and white!  They look like small orca whales.  I didn’t know there were dolphins like that!!

My favorite part of the weekend was when we drove to this isolated cliff that over looked the water and was the best view I think I have ever seen in my life.  Everything was so calm and untouched.  We ended up hiking down a part of the cliff that wasn’t too steep, and when we got to the beach below, I realized that the beach wasn’t a sand beach, but was full of beautiful little stones.  I had never been on a beach like that before.  It was truly incredible.  Walking along the shore was quite a challenge with the stones, but the sound that was made as we walked was great.  Along our walk we saw various animals, mostly without others of its kind, except when we saw sea lions.  There were about 4 of them, and it looks like they have manes, just like lions.  They were all sitting on rocks in the water sitting up, arching their backs, with their head facing toward the sun.  They were very funny animals as well.  We sat on the stones, in the sun for a while and enjoyed the beauty and calmness like I’ve never experienced before.

A few days later was my 21st birthday, yes that’s right, TWENTY ONE!!!!  Don’t feel old anyone, it just happened!!  My friends and I went out to a great restaurant for dinner and enjoyed the night which turned out to be great.  It was fun having a spring birthday for once, but I have to saw, it was strange not being able to have apple cider and have the leaves falling all around me.  But, it was very fun and cool nonetheless.

A few days after THAT, dad came to visit!!!!!!!!  We had the best time!  We spent a few days in BsAs, brought dad to one of my Hillel events, toured around and ate the best food in the city (obviously J) and then we went off to Iguazu falls which is at the border of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.  These water falls are the most insanely large things, ever.  You MUST see pictures of them (let google be your friend).  There was a huge storm there a couple days before we got there so the water was so full, it was almost absurd.  We spent the first day walking around the argentine side where we walked extraordinarily close to the falls and on bridges over some of the falls.  The following day, after lots of hassle, we managed to get visas to go to the BRAZIL side which gives you a panoramic view of the falls which is absolutely amazing (AND we got to go to Brazil!!!).  Our third and last day there, we went on a boat ride that brings you very close to the falls, need less to say we were soaked by the time the ride was over, but it was so fun!  All in all, the falls were amazing and I could not be happier that we went!  When we came back to BsAs, we continued our glorious food tour throughout the city and saw all the important places and just had the best time together and probably each gained about ten pounds J. 

After dad left I had lots of work to catch up on, but for a couple of days I had a lovely distraction because Maggie Lissy was on a tour in BsAs so I got to spend some time with her which was fabulous.  Having family abroad, is truly the best of both worlds.  Shortly after Maggie left, Devra came to visit for a week!  We had such a great time together!  We went to Uruguay for two days, one day in the capital, Montevideo and one day in La Colonia a cute colonial town just an hour ferry ride from BsAs.  Montevideo is not the most exciting city in the world and especially on Mondays, the day we were there, because nearly everything was closed. 

Devra had printed out 36 hours in BsAs from the New York Times that suggested various places to go, one of which was this little hot dog place in one of the main plazas.  I know this is going to sound weird, but I have always loved hot dogs from random places like that.  Strange, I know.  But once I read about it in the article, I just couldn’t get the idea out of my mind because the NYT made them sound like something ridiculously special.  We find the place, sit down and ask the waiter for the special hot dogs with their special mustard (that was written about in the NYT).  He had a little smile on his face when we asked for that, so we were really excited.  About a minute later, the waiter brings over a plate with two, very pitiful looking hotdogs, on buns that weren’t even full buns, they were cut!  Devra and I just look at each other, then back down at the hotdogs, and then back at each other.  We were in shock.  Did the NYT really suggest this place!?  We take the mustard that was on the table, tried a bit and realized that must have been the "special" mustard.  It wasn’t a bad meal, but we were just a little shocked at what they served us.  But, it makes for a good story, right?   (And teaches you to not trust the NYT 36 hours in X city.)  Later that day we spent a couple of hours walking along the water which was really nice and had some really good coffee and talked to this very odd German guy who was staying there for a few weeks, doing what?  I have NO idea.  La Colonia is an adorable little town.  There is not much to do there either, but it is so cute that just walking around is great.  We spent a while sitting on a dock looking at the water and at one point we stumbled upon the cutest café in the world.  It is run out of a woman’s home and had the best looking salads and sandwiches.  Unfortunately we had already eaten lunch, so we ordered tea and a dessert to share; both of which were fabulous. 

Back in BsAs we spent time with my friends, shopping and of course eating lots.  It seems like that’s all I do… how sad! Every Thursday in BsAs in Plaza de Mayo, the main plaza surrounded by various government buildings, the mothers walk.  You may be wondering what the hell I am talking about, mothers???  Well, a little piece of history for you.  In the 70s and 80s there were a lot of desparecidos, or “disappeared” in South America.  People were taken by the government if they didn’t agree with what the government was doing, and were never seen again.  (I actually studied this a lot in Chile and Peru last summer through talking to forensic anthropologists).  Argentina by far had the most “disappeared” out of all of South America.  Anyway, if you don’t know about this, you should really do some research.  Now, every single Thursday, various mothers of the “disappeared” march in Plaza de Mayo.  I had class at that time every week so I could never go.  When Devra was here, I finally had the opportunity to go, and am so glad I got to see this.  There are a handful of women who still march with banners about the disappeared and have various other groups (looked like workers unions) march behind them.  It was very sad to see, but very incredible at the same time.  The mothers are getting so old, and yet they still get out there every Thursday to show what they believe in and what is important to them.  I think Devra was also very glad we went. 

Other than family visiting, I have been super busy enjoying the city and spending the last few weeks with my friends before heading back to the states.  One thing that I did recently that is so of note is that my friends and I went to the gay pride parade which was amazing.  Everyone says that being gay here is accepted and out in the open, but I can probably count on one hand how many gay couples I have seen.  At this parade, there were so many couples out holding hands, walking around together; it was so great to see.  There were so many guys/girls/who knows dressed up in the most absurd outfits, and more post-surgery boobs (I later found out) were just out in the open.  It was a ridiculous couple of hours.  My friends got some beers and sat down on the grass and people-watched.  Some of the best people watch, I’d say.

At the end of classes every year, the seniors in the various departments at my university have parties at clubs to celebrate their graduation.  So during my last week of my geography class, one of the girls came up to my friends and me and told us about the huge party at this awesome club here that was happening that coming Wednesday night. Now you have to keep in mind, that people donīt leave to go to clubs here until about 2 or 3 am and I had that geography class the next morning at 10:15.  But I decided to suck it up and not get much
sleep for that night and have a true Argentine experience with my classmates.  Hannah, one of the other international students in the class, and I were invited to join our classmates at one of their apartments for a pre-boliche party, or in English that would translate to a pregame party. When Hannah and I arrived at around midnight, everyone in our class was there and were all thrilled to see us.  It was like we were their little sisters and they were looking out for us, it was actually kind of hilarious and really cute.  We got tickets to get into the club for free, which was a big deal because this club is very pricey to get in to, for whatever stupid reason.  It was such a great night and I had so much fun hanging out with all of the Argentines!!

    Remember in my last blog entry I wrote about volunteering with Hillel at a place for people with disabilities?  Well, if you donīt remember, I did, and it was a fabulous experience.  A couple of weekends ago, we hosted the same group of people at Hillel for the day.  We planned a bunch of activities and luckily the weather was nice so everyone could use the pool.  We had a magician come as well which everyone loved.  It was another great experience, although one of the guys that we were hosting got into his head that I was his girlfriend, so that became a little uncomfortable.... but otherwise it was fabulous.  We had lots of music that everyone danced to, food and fun guests.  It is for sure a day I will always remember.  (And now that Iīve written it down in this blog, I will for sure never forget!) J


Ok, I am almost done, I promise!!!  As we allll know, last Thursday was my favorite day of the year, Turkey Day.  I was really upset that I wouldnīt be at Uncle Richardīs for Thanksgiving, or with that family for the first Thanksgiving in my life.  My friends and I decided to have a potluck Thanksgiving dinner at my friend’s apartment because her host parents had never celebrated Thanksgiving before and wanted to host us! (Which was so nice).  I unfortunately had class that day (first time in my life) and had a HUGE final the next day (which I just got my grade back for and I am very happy about it!!) so I sadly couldnīt help cook, so I offered to bring drinks.  How lame!!  I knew we were going to have a turkey but since none of my friends had actually ever cooked a turkey before, I was a bit worried.  BUT when I arrived at my friends apartment, there was a turkey fresh out of the oven, stuffing, gravy, they were in the process of making mashed potatoes, there was casserole AND apple pie.  I was blown away!!  Also, my friend’s sister was visiting for the week, so her mother sent her down here with Thanksgiving napkins with turkey’s on them (Aunt Marlene, you would have loved them!) and cans of this cranberry jello stuff, which was surprisingly really good, and is apparently what most people eat on thanksgiving, but I had never seen it before.  All in all, it was a great night and took my mind off of all of the wonderful cheese, and real cranberry sauce, and smoked turkey, and Grammy’s pumpkin pie, (and those turkey mints) that I was sadly missing out on.  But being able to talk to lots of the family helped lots and it was so great to hear Uncle Richard answer the phone with “Hi sweetie!!!!”  So in the end, it turned out to be a good day.

    This past Sunday we had a going away (pool) party at Hillel, well it was supposed to be a pool party but the clouds didnīt want us to enjoy ourselves.  We had TONS of food, music, movies and Maetal (one of the other interns) and I made a slide show of all of the events from the semester.  About 40 or 50 people came and someone even made a cake for us, to thanks us (the 3 interns) for all of our work this semester.  It was really so great to be there with everyone, but was very sad saying goodbye to some of my closest friends here.  Most of whom, I know I will see again, but some of the Argentines, I may not :(  But I am crossing my fingers that I will!  All in all, my internship was fabulous.  Yes at times, it was very stressful and time consuming, but the experience was incredible.  The friendships I have made through it and the feedback I have gotten from various students has made it WAY more than I could have ever asked for.

    I have just finished with all of my classes and finals (thank goodness, no more disorganized South America university to deal with!!) and I’ve gotten my grades back all of which I am very
happy about.  Tomorrow I am leaving to go on a trip with two of my friends down to Patagonia.  We are starting off in El Calafate, which is verrrrrrry far south, where we are going to walk on glaciers!!!!!  I CANNOT wait!  Iīve never seen a glacier before!!! After a few days there, we are heading to Bariloche, which is farther north than El Calafte, but still in Patagonia, but in the Lake District.  There we hope to kayak, hike and eat the apparently amazing chocolate that they make down there.  After a few days there, we are heading to Mar Del Plata which is a beach only 5 hours (by bus) south of BsAs where my friends and I will soak up the sun for a few days before returning home miserable winter (which, other than the weather, I am SO excited
for!!!! You know, the whole, returning home thing for the first time in 7months!!!)

I will write one last blog entry after my trip and then you guys wonīt have to read my entries (that are turning into novels) any more!

Besos

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