Como Se Bailan Los Tangos... and Course Registration

Yesterday, the moment we've all been waiting for finally arrived. Yes, I had my first tango class, and it was SUPER. So I'll tell you about it right now.

It is Orientation Week at UCA, and every afternoon we've had activities to do. Yesterday they brought in two professional tango dancers who have toured around the country to give us awkward exchange students a beginner class. We started with walking. Walking, you say, I do that everyday, it can't be that hard. Nope, in tango there is a specific standing pose you start from (shoulders forward with your chest out, feet together) and move forward with your feet following your hips. I lost my balance a couple times and couldn't help laughing at myself, but imagine my excitement when finally I got a "muy bien!" However, then we had to pair up. I was asked to dance by a Frenchman who smelled like cigarettes and hair gel and who told me he only came to the tango class because his friends were. This was disappointing since I had been looking forward to it all week. We practiced walking for a little before one of the teachers intervened and had me dance with him for the rest of the time. This was much better, and I was able to concentrate on getting it right rather than making conversation, which sounds rude but is true. After getting the walk down pat, it was time to move on to a "paso clasico," apparently one of the most basic steps in tango which involves one step to the side, two steps backward, one step where you cross your feet and another step to the side. At this point I was paired with another Frenchman who was a much better dancer, and we got the hang of it quickly. We even got another "muy bien!" In all, it was a very successful first tango experience and I cannot wait to learn more. We got a recommendation for a tango club in Palermo from one of the teachers and plan to check it out soon.

Today was course registration, which was an... experience. I am used to the GW way of doing it which is all online and done from the comfort of your dorm room. Here, they herded all the exchange students into an auditorium where each facultad, or department, had set up a table. From there you had to go to each facultad you wanted to take a class in to find out the time and days of the classes you wanted. The schedules with the timetables were unique as well. The classes are organized by year (out of 4 years), and then by "tema," or section, A B or C, and then by whether the class was offered in the morning or in the afternoon. Any given class could have been on 10 different sheets, but you don't know which one until you've looked at them all. Then you had to fill out a registration sheet with your first and second time choices and the code of the class, give it to the advisor, and hope he doesn't lose it. Ayayay. Anyway, I went to the Political Science & International Affairs table, the Communications table, and the History and Literature table before I found a few classes that fit with my required Spanish class and a Spanish literature class that I had already chosen. I am only going to end up staying in one of them since I only need 3 classes to transfer to GW but since we have a 2-week shopping period before we are locked into our classes I thought I'd go to a few and see which ones I like best. Right now the one that sounds most interesting is a poli sci class called "Politica Exterior Argentina," which loosely translates to "Argentina Foreign Policy." It also works nicely with my other two classes, giving me mainly afternoon classes.

Next week we have off for a week before classes start on March 10, and some friends and I are going to Mar del Plata, the biggest resort town in Argentina. I am really excited to go to the beach and get a tan, as well as see more of the country. I don't know what the internet situation will be, but I'll update when I get back as well as upload pictures of the last month.

Besos!!!

N

"How do you say, "Life Skill" in Spanish?"

On Thursday I took my first excursion outside Buenos Aires city limits, to a town on Rio de la Plata called Tigre. I was looking forward to it, since I'd heard a lot about how pretty Tigre was, and also since we had been informed that the trip involved kayaking. I have been a fan of any kind of boating since my summer camp days, so I was stoked. One damper on the situation: my intensive class has been from 2 to 6 in the afternoon, and to accomodate the trip to Tigre they had moved class up to 9 in the morning. This meant I had to wake up/ leave my house by 8:30, the earliest I had done anything here in Argentina. Needless to say, class was excruciating. I had not had time to grab my customary "cafe doble solo" which sounds like an oxymoron but isn't (more on the magic of Argentine cafes in another post) and subsequently was unable to form a coherent English sentence, let alone conjugate past perfect subjunctive in Spanish. But I digress. Finally we got to Tigre, which was as beautiful as advertised. In the first half of the 20th century it was where portenos went during the summer to escape the city. It has been eclipsed by Mar del Plata, but beautiful mansions and wide avenues remain. After a scenic ramble to the Tigre Art Museum, my boat buddy, Sailee, and I were anxious to get in the water. We had not been floating for more than a few minutes before I realized our rudder, which they said should be controlled from the back seat where I was, was not in the water. The problem was compounded by the fact that motorboats sped by every couple minutes, shaking the kayak with wake and throwing us pretty far off course. I managed to steer with my crazy canoeing skills left over from Camp Treetops which involve shoving your oar in the water on the opposite side of the direction you want to go in. For example, if we wanted to go left, I'd leave my oar in the water on the right. This slowed us down considerably but at least we didn't hit any motorboats, and we managed not to be the last ones back to the dock. Unfortunately we didn't get to enjoy scenic Tigre from the water, but thank you summer camp.

On Sunday we went to the fair in San Telmo, where I wanted to practice another life skill, one I am not so adept at: haggling. I know that at open air markets prices are jacked up considerably for tourists, and my accent makes me an easy target, but usually I feel too badly to argue with someone who is just trying to make a living. In this case I had made up my mind to find something and bargain, but the San Telmo market is not your average crafts fair. The economic crisis of 2001 caused many families to sell their heirlooms just to survive, and their belongings ended up in San Telmo. The place was full of beautiful chandeliers, tapestries, china sets and jewelry. The thought of bargaining for someone's family heirloom with someone who obviously is not in great economic straits themselves got the better of me, and I decided to leave the haggling to a different fair. I didn't end up buying anything, though seriously considered an antique black beaded evening clutch priced at $40 (about $11 U.S). 

The intensive course ended on Friday, and I did well on my final which means I'm in the "Advanced" Spanish grammar class for the regular semester (YAY!). Also on Friday we found our favorite club so far in Buenos Aires, a place called "El Living." They have both a bar area and a dance floor which is good since I am not much of a discoteca person, and played awesome music. Most places here in BA seem to think everyone loves techno but at El Living we heard everything from Jock Jams to The Killers. It was nice to actually be able to talk and meet new people rather than randomly dancing with strangers. It's definitely my new go-to place to have fun. This week is Orientation Week, which involved informational meetings in the morning and fun cultural activities in the afternoon. For example, tomorrow afternoon we are playing "traditional Argentine games," whatever that means, and Thursday I register for classes. I'll let you know how it goes.

Besos

N

Nunca Más

I just got back from an exchange student activity entitled "Tango Orchestra," which was without a doubt the most political thing I have seen/heard/been to since arriving here.

About 30,000 people "disappeared," or were killed, under the military dictatorship here between 1976 and 1983. Imagine if your brother or sister or husband or child just suddenly disappeared one day, you had no idea where, and you couldn't go to the authorities because they were probably the ones behind it. I can't. Most of the political history of Argentina since then has evolved around coming to terms with this past. 

Though the junta is such a huge part of Argentine history, our program told us not to bring it up unless it is brought up for you. I haven't, and thus haven't really gotten a sense of what modern Argentines think. Tonight at the concert, however, all the music with lyrics revolved around it. It was extremely powerful to hear the singer say in introduction "this song is dedicated to the generation before us, for whom we are still searching." Though I could only understand phrases here and there, sentences like "I can hear your absence" finally made personal for me what I have been reading about for so long. It is one thing to read about statistics, quite another to be sitting in a smoky cafe listening to a man in a fedora warble about his empty barrio. The Argentine culture has been extremely friendly, warm and welcoming, but there are innumerable layers to uncover. I am so excited to keep exploring and learning about this intensely proud, intensely complex culture.

N

Nothing Gets Done With Dust in Your Gun

What a week. I'm sorry I haven't updated but things got crazy on Monday and haven't slowed down til today. So...

I've decided that transportation here is analogous to the general Argentine psyche in general: chaotic, emotional and disorganized but with the very best of intentions. On Monday we went on a bike tour of the city, that I thought was going to be just a quiet nature tour of the Ecological Reserve. How wrong I was. We ended up dodging buses and motorcycles on highways and overpasses, on cobbled roads and narrow streets, and I think we gave new meaning to the phrase "dumb Americans". The 20 of us must have made quite a sight, rickety orange bicycles in a line trouping down Avenida del Libertador, among other highways. Stopping only for quick photo ops mostly at places I had already seen, the main attraction of this experience was the first hand look at Argentine driving practices. Especially concerning speed limits and traffic lights, they don't follow the rules. Usually in the States vehicles will yield to people on bikes, but not here. Numerous times our group was separated and once I almost got hit by a bus. Our tour guide seemed indifferent to the mortal danger we were all in and rarely looked behind her to see if we were keeping up. The entire debacle was quintessentially Argentine, crazy and chaotic but with the seemingly implicit knowledge that everything would be all right in the end.

I also took the "collectivo" or bus system, for the first time this week. This, too, is a system uniquely porteno. The Subte, or Metro, is not as convenient as in DC because there are 5 lines that all generally start near the Plaza de Mayo and go in straight lines outwards, almost like a hand. So if you don't happen to live near any stops, you take the collectivo. There is a guide to the system called the Guia T which tells you which lines run where and supposedly where the stops are, but to find them you usually have to ask someone. My experience was relatively painless, I got lost but managed to find myself again and get where I was supposed to be. 

On Friday I went to my first tango show!!! Ohmigod. There is nothing I have wanted to learn more in my entire life, except maybe how to waterski. The place we went to was kind of like a dinner theater, with a prix fixe meal and the show after. I'm a sucker for a sparkly extravaganza, and this fit the bill. The whole thing was done in a sort of 40s style costume, and the dresses were incredible. The dancers were amazing as well. Tango is a beautiful dance to watch because the man and woman move so seamlessly together. I will have to overcome my WASPy awkwardness to even be a fraction as good but it will be worth it. Some friends and I are going to a club for lessons on Tuesday. 

Other news... we had our parcial for the intensive course on Thursday. It was easier than I thought it would be, which is good because it means my Spanish is getting better. I have not really made any Argentine friends yet to practice with (everyone in the intensive course is American) but the security guards in my building are super nice and love to talk to me. Surprisingly, taxi drivers are pretty chatty too. I had a great conversation with one on Friday about how much George Bush sucks. Also, for some reason they always ask me if I'm single and when I say yes they start talking about how great Argentine guys are. Super...

I started running again on Tuesday, after a week hiatus. There is no gym at UCA and not one near my apartment building but I feel safe running around the neighborhood since the Naval Prefect guys are everywhere. The Ecological Reserve is as great as I thought it would be for running, also the diques are beautiful to run around and there is always a nice breeze. However, while in the U.S. you would see joggers everywhere in such an area, I am only ever one of a few and always the only woman. For how thin the women are here, I would have thought I'd seen more. I've been told about four times now that Argentina as a country has the highest rate of eating disorders among women, which seems pretty credible to me. There are many girls I've seen who definitely need to start eating more, and have not yet seen an overweight Argentine woman. It is another Argentine paradox: most of the food is meat, carbohydrates and cheese but instead of eating more vegetables I guess the women just don't eat anything. While I guess it's a norm here, it doesn't make it any easier to see and breaks my heart. I'm doing well though since Nancy is relatively health conscious and keeps plenty of fruit and veggies around for me. 

There is so much more to say but this post has gone on too long already. I've realized that you cannot put the experience of being abroad into words, you can just pick experiences and thoughts to expound upon. If it gets boring, or anything you're dying to know about that I haven't written about, let me know!! 

Le extraño muchisimos! (I miss you guys super a lot!) Besos,

N

N.B. title of the post: line from the song "Going North" by Missy Higgins. No, I have not seen any guns here.

Reflections on the First Week

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAMA!!!!!!!!!

I'm sitting in the cafe across the street from my building, since they have wireless internet, marveling at the fact that I've been here over a week. I can't decide whether it feels like forever or a minute since I arrived, but I do know that my days have been full and fun.

Thoughts so far...

Class has been a great constant this week, I am a creature of habit and having a place to be every day at the same time has helped my adjustment to life in BA. The people are cool, my professor is fun and there's not too much work so we have lots of time to explore the rest of the city. On Wednesday we went on a city tour sponsored by UCA and visited La Boca, the Plaza de Mayo and Recoleta. Tangueros wander the streets in La Boca, taking pictures with tourists for pesos. I tried to take a picture of one pair dancing, but the woman took my camera and before I could realize what was happening the man had grabbed me and held me in the tango pose! The woman took what felt like forever to take a picture, and I didnt have any pesos on my to give them. It was probably the most awkward 5 seconds of my life, but also hilarious.

Things have become more and more comfortable with my homestay. The girls visit their father on the weekends so Nancy and I had a great conversation over dinner on Friday about our social lives, the men in Argentina, and college life in the U.S. Since then things between us have been much less formal and more on a friend level than a adult-kid level. As I predicted, the girls are more and more fun to play with as I get more comfortable in the house. They have made up a song concerning my shoes and perform it for me about every day. One day I'll try and get a video of it.

After my first two weekend nights here, I can say that the nightlife is as insane as everyone says. On Friday we went out with my friend Laura's host brother, (who is a model!) and he took us first to a bar to hang out and then to a "boliche" or club which didnt open until 2 am and quickly was packed. I am not much of a club rat but this was the funnest night I've had in awhile, notwithstanding unwelcome attention from sketch Argentines. Everyone is much more focused on the dancing rather than the drinking, and it was fun to see people tangoing and salsaing the night away. I tried to imitate but it will take a few more nights at a boliche to learn these dances. When we left at 7 in the morning the place was still full and showed no signs of slowing down. Saturday night we decided to take it a little more easy and went to the Argentine version of an Irish pub which had all the usual decorations but played techno music. It was great to just chill and chat and get to know Laura and Sailee (the two other GW girls) better.

Today we thought about going to the antiques fair in San Telmo but decided to just take it easy and get ready for the school week. Tomorrow we have a bike tour of Puerto Madero and the Ecological Reserve which I am soo excited for since I haven't been yet. I tried to upload some photos but the bandwith here apparently is not strong enough so I have to figure out how I'm going to upload them in the internet cafe. Hopefully soon!

To my doves who read this, I miss you more than you know. Mom & Dad, I'm sorry Skype hasn't worked out as well as we hoped but hopefully it well get better!!! Soultwin, thanks for the pep talk, I love youu

Besos,
Naty

"mi vieja, gardel y boca"

... just one of the many colloquialisms I have learned from my professor. It apparently represents the three things porteños hold most dear in their consciousness: their mothers; Carlos Gardel, a famous tango singer; and the Boca Juniors soccer team.

The curso intensivo is not as intensive as I thought it would be, we spend a lot of time going around the room repeating vocabulary words she throws at us. I think she´s trying to develop our Argentine accents, which are completely different than most other Spanish I´ve heard. My professor is a cute little grandmother who has a habit of asking questions really fast and then looking at us mischievously to see who understood her, and laughing. I am definitely learning quickly. She is also a lot more laid back than most professors I have encountered: today she answered her cell phone in the middle of class to talk to her cousin. If all professors at UCA are like her I think it´s going to be a fun semester.

This morning I had coffee with the "padrino," or buddy, that UCA assigned to sort of acquaint me with the city. Rodrigo is a business management major who has been a padrino for 3 semesters, so I think I´m in good hands. He told me everything there was to know about UCA bureaucracy, which is good because no one told me that grades are from 0-10, not ABC, and also gave me tips for some fun bars. I think tomorrow we´re going to try them out.

I´ve also been able to explore a little bit more of Palermo and Recoleta, and though everyone I´ve met lives in Recoleta I have to say that I like Puerto Madero a lot better. It´s cleaner and newer and there is much less street noise than in those neighborhoods. Also, the Coast Guard guard it since it´s a port, making it the absolute safest neighborhood in the city. My walk home is along the water ¨diques,¨or dikes, which are beautiful and much better than city traffic. So though I have to take a taxi to Recoleta to meet up with people, it is definitely worth the hassle.

Every day is a continuing adventure and I´m definitely still getting adjusted to the city. I love comments so post away!

¡Besos!
Natty (my new nickname since most porteños have trouble pronouncing "Natalie")

¡Bienvenidos a Buenos Aires!

I have heard that phrase so many times in the last few days! If there was one thing that was not exagerrated about this city, it would be the friendliness of porteños (Argentines who live in Buenos Aires.)

I arrived on Friday morning after a very pleasant flight (I got moved into first class!) and got to the Hotel Etoile where I spent two days exploring the Recoleta neighborhood on my own. I have flown by myself before, but never stayed in a hotel alone, so the experience was novel. I´ll have to say it´s not my favorite. I was relieved to get to orientation yesterday and see the staff and other girls who came early for the intensive program.

We left orientation with our homestay families. This has been the most challenging experience of my (short) time here thus far. I can communicate with my host mom, Nancy, as well as the older girl Oriana, fairly easily though they speak a little fast for me. But the younger girl, Giuliana, speaks rapid fire and in an accent that is even more difficult to understand than usual. I am afraid of offending her but usually I have to just smile and nod whenever she tries to tell me something. It is also going to be more difficult than I imagined to adjust to living with a family. Nancy and the girls are incredibly sweet, but they obviously have different customs, and until I feel more comfortable I am afraid to do anything to mess up their routine. Last night we didn´t eat dinner until 11:30pm and I thought I was going to faint. The girls´room is right next to mine, and they don´t have any qualms about coming in without knocking. Nancy also told me she wants me to tell her where I´m going when I go out, even to school, and when I think I´ll be home. Since I´ve been getting lost about every other block in this city, this might be a problem.

But it´s definitely a cultural thing and I think the benefits of living with them outweigh any annoyances. Nancy is a very open, warm person, and she knows the city well. I´m sure I will be able to appreciate how fun the girls are when I´m not so tired and overwhelmed. My room is beautiful, if small, and I have a picture window with a nice view. We met the rest of the "estudiantes intercambios" today for a placement test for the intensive course, and the ones I met are all very nice. I can´t wait to get to know everyone better and keep exploring this amazing city.

¡Besos!
N

PS: I´ve only been here 3 days and already been to the Recoleta Cemetery and the Plaza de Mayo. New things on the to do list: Understand Giuliana better and finish unpacking.

PPS: I don´t have Internet in my homestay, so until I get more acquainted with the neighborhood (internet cafes, etc.) access is limited.