THE CHARACTERS OF MY LIFE

Ladies and gentlemen, readers who never comment, I have only a matter of hours left in this wonderful country. I am currently running on 4 hours of sleep and I'm about to get about that amount tonight. It has DEFINITELY been an epic last week. So, currently I would like to do a run through of all the wonderful characters in my life her in Argentina. Some have photos, others do not. Enjoy.

INES HERCOVICH
My host mother. Nationally renowned sociologist who wrote the first academic work on how Argentine society perceives rape victims. Lover of opera, classical music, and cute clothes. Classiest woman I have ever met. The lady just radiates class, like it is in her aura. She is a widow and has been for 15 years, speaks fluent English and has more of a social life than I do! Wonderful woman, really. I got SO lucky with my host family.

NATALIE ASHBRIDGE

20 years old. Junior at Pennsylvania University in Philadelphia. Natalie enjoys studying as much as I do, has the same love of buying school supplies every year, and is pretty much as big of a nerd as I am. We both enjoy Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and lots of chick flick movies. She is one Penn's Division 1 Crew Team, and between my Spanish and her sense of direction we have taken this city by storm!! I met her because she was sitting next to me on the flight from Miami to Buenos Aires and we have been pretty much inseparable ever since. She's definitely someone who I will be staying in touch with and I am so glad to have met her.

THE REST OF MY HOST FAMILY

Mariano and Natalia Bilinkis, Ines' two youngest children. Mariano is an electronic engineer who just finished mastering an album for one of the more famous bands in Argentina. He also plays in an electronica band, but I am not sure what he plays. Natalia is a pastry chef by trade, but I think she last worked in a travel agency. Both are great people, so much fun to talk to and with hearts of gold. Santiago Bilinkis, whom I mentioned in previous posts is 40 years old and is the coordinator of Staples for all of Latin America. He created the first business in Argentina that sold office supplies and guaranteed 24-hour delivery anywhere in Argentina. Ines did a GREAT job with her kids and they are nothing but points of pride for the family. Great people.

DARIO VACARRINI AND GABRIELA BONTEMPI

These two are the reason that my work with Argentinos Juniors went so incredibly well. I met Dario by coincidence, and when he heard that I was an American interested in Argentinos Juniors he made up his mind to make my experience with the team the best it could be. I came to Argentina not knowing anyone from the team, and I left feeling like I was leaving a family, and these two are the reason for it. They introduced me to so many people and provided me with so much useful information. I also left with a free centenial book (normally 80 pesos) and a free jersey as gifts from them. Their generosity and hospitality is absolutely incredible and I literally could not have pictured my 5 months in Argentina without them.

MARIO TREJO

Mario Trejo. What can I say about this man?? 83 years old and the biggest character you'll ever meet. I met him at Nestor Astarita's jazz concert, and he invited me and Natalie over for coffee. I kept in contact with him all 5 months I was in Argentina and even did a poetry reading in English for him at a prestigious poetry presentation at one of the premier book stores in the city. He's a renowned poet, and one of the deepest minds I met while in Argentina. He's failing mentally and physically but still has the wit of a 20 year old, but ask him to remember a name and he'll be thinking for 5 minutes before forgetting what you asked him to remember and then continue talking. He's "married", I put that in quotation marks b/c Natalie and I still don't know what kind of relationship they have, to a woman in her late 30s early 40s. And they're both just GREAT people. Sooo hospitable.

UNIVERSITY TORQUATO DI TELLA SOCCER TEAM

These ladies are soo funny. It's a small picture from a game that wasn't the best, but they were just such a group that we found reason to celebrate anyway!!! We got knocked out of the championships at the semis, but most still left smiling!! From left to right, me, Elizabeth, Dani, Jess, Giselle, Agustina on the top row, from right to left on the bottom, Karla, Maria, Paula, Vicky, Alejandra, and Flor. Luli and Karolina weren't there. I'll miss Tuesday and Thursday practices, but we had some GREAT times.

THE REST OF MY ARGENTINOS JUNIORS FAMILY

This is from the Museum Inauguration. The president, Luis Segura, is top row third from the right. All of these people spent nights putting the museum together, and some even agreed to be interviewed for my paper! It was a great experience, and I am so glad that I met every one of them.

My Vacation from My Vacation: Mar Del Plata

So for those of you who thought that studying abroad was one fiesta/siesta after another...when one chooses to "study" abroad (as oppposed to "party" abroad) it can get kind of hectic!! So, after having submitted my thesis on Argentinos Juniors for a grade, I took a couple of days and went to the beach to relax!! Mar del Plata is located in the province of Buenos Aires along the coast line but much farther south. In all it was a 5-6 hour trip to get there.

It's definitely a city that just happens to have beaches (think Miami or Los Angeles) and has loads of other life other than the beach. That had its good side and its bad side. The good side was that the city was still very much alive even though it's not yet prime beach season here in Argentina, and the bad side is that it wasn't exactly the serene beach get-away that I had anticipated.

I stayed in a hostel called the "Hostel Urbano", and for 85 pesos a night (a little more than US$20) I had my own room plus a private terrace! Granted I didn't have any parties on that terrace or anything, but it's still something cool to say. Hahaha. So basically for three days I did what I wanted when I wanted and just relaxed. I got there Monday and walked along the coast a little before taking an EPIC nap. I got tickets to a ballet at the Colon Theater (and no, Mom not like colon your intestine... :-P) which was good! Let's just say it's one of the few ballets that have kept me completely interested the whole time. I'm not qualified to judge the dancing but it did peak my interest.

After, I met up with this guy that drove the taxi that took me from the bus station to the hostel and he invited me out for dinner. He was a nice guy and overall he made me feel pretty comfortable, considering I had never met him, until he suggested we go back up to his place. He had originally wanted to eat at his place, but since I would never ever do that I convinced him to eat on the beach. We had pizza on the beach the first night and he kept saying like "Why don't you come up for a while?" and then I knew it was time to leave. Interesting conversation but like I'll only take certain risks when traveling alone.

Tuesday I roasted out on the beach for a while. It was soo nice but REALLY windy. To the point where I left covered in sand like I'd been buried but all I had been doing was just sitting. Got a little bit of a tan though. Then I read a lot of my book "The Death of Artemio Cruz", and wrote some of my novel. At night I walked along the coast and found a good place to eat. I met this Argentine-American family, the daughter, the mother, and the grandmother were dining there too. yeah...they sent the gnocchi back TWICE because it wasn't how they wanted it and spent the rest of the time complaining in Span-glish about how horrible the food was. I personally had a GREAT meal. EPIC, I would say. Appetizer, wine, fresh squeezed orange juice, a plate piled high with sea food, and a delicious dessert. On the way back I REALLY had to use the bathroom, so I stopped in the casino thats right along the coast. The guy wouldn't let me past even to use the bathroom w/o ID! Luckily I brought my military ID with me. When I showed it to him he was like "Oh my god you're american!? I spent 3 years in NY where are you from? What are you doing here? How do you speak spanish so well?" I was like, sir, nice thought, HOLD IT TIL I USE THE BATHROOM. Ha. I did talk to him afterwards though.

Wednesday it poured so I slept til kingdom come. It was glorious. Then when it cleared up I walked around and saw some of the city!! Went to a museum and inside 2 churches. Then sat on the beach a while and read some more. I'm on page 98 of a book completely in Spanish. Yay!

Thursday I slept, did all my souveneir shopping, and walked along the beach some more. I love the beach. The waves are just soooo peaceful. And my bus left at 2:30PM. Didn't get back to Buenos Aires til 8:30...AND...I was almost robbed going from the bus station to the train station. Horrible neighborhood to be in at night, but I didn't have change for a 100 peso bill and Argentines are VERY touchy about breaking hundreds. So I risked it. They didn't get anything, it was something they try on tourists where they spill something on you (in this case a CRAPLOAD of mosquito repelent in lotion form) and while you're disoriented trying to figure out what happens they either approach you offering to help clean it or just pick pocket you in the process. Luckily I realized what it was right after I turned around and just started walking as fast as I could. They didn't get anything, but managed to cover the back of Natalie's vest in mosquito repelent. Needless to say Igot some very interesting looks on the train ride home.

And...what more do I have. Due to the decrees of the head of the Latin American Studies/Spanish department I will not be able to use the 31 pages I wrote on Argentinos Juniors for my thesis. This woman is, to put it lightly, difficult. Rather than fight her (because she was going to be my thesis advisor for this work) the whole semester, I moved to chose my topic so I could work with someone else. I am now researching whether or not the Union Patriotica in Colombia could be considered a legitemate political party or if it was just another branch of the FARC, Colombia's most powerful terrorist organization.

Fascinatingly deep topic. Will require another semester's work. Ugh. Oh well. Can't win them all, and at least I don't have to work with this lady.

The Buenos Aires Jazz Festival began last night and I'm off to hear some great jazz tonight! 7 more days, so look out for some fun-packed entries!

INAUGURATION DAY

First of all let me say I hate selfish people. The inauguration of the museum for Argentinos Juniors wasn't quite what I expected. Let me clarify, I went for two reasons. First, that the man heading the creation of the museum is the same one that has helped me soooo much with my thesis, Dario. So I thought that helping with this was the LEAST I could do to repay him. Second, obviously because soccer gods from past years were going to be there. ugh. Ok. Well I got there early...simply b/c I wasn't on the guest list I was afraid if I didn't I wouldn't be able to get in. I was looking for something to do so I wouldn't feel completely useless. I did a last minute sweep of the floor, helped move some supplies out of the room, and one of the women on the committee, Mariana, says to me, "Help me operate this stand where we're going to sell some of the books written by members and some other little museum trinkets? I'd like another pair of eyes. I'm only one person and they're going to be a lot of people there. Don't want anyone to just walk up and take anything." Ok...so originally I was like "Good. I can make myself useful."

Um...more like she meant to say to me, "Can you operate the stand yourself while me and my boyfriend go take pictures with all the famous people that are going to be there??" I did not get ONE photo in until after all the super oober famous players had all gone in. 5 players from the 2009 team were there, Maradona was there for like a second and a half, but all his family stayed there a while, Peckerman, Peterzoli, Sainz, 3 players from the 1960 team, a couple of mayors, Redondo...and they were ALL posing for photos. Did I get out of this stand to get any pics?? Oh no. Meanwhile I stood watching this woman get all these photos in and of course I wasn't going to leave b/c then anyone could've taken anything b/c I was the only other one watching it. It just burned me up so much.

I mean...this woman is on a first name basis with everyone on the team. She's sat down and talked with like all of the coaching staff...like I HAVE TWO MORE WEEKS HERE. She'll have the rest of her life time to take those pics. but noooo....lets put the american to watch the stand. Ughhh.

Dario also forgot to name me among those who had collaborated with the museum. So the hours I spent shining trophies and cleaning the dirtiest places in the museum went unrecognized. That kinda ticked me off too.....but I can forgive that because Dario has had sooooooo much on his mind this past week that I understand he was nervous and preoccupied. Plus, he must've apologized like 10 times.

So I have a few pics of the last minute preparations. I also got to chat briefly with the man who holds the record for the most goals scored during a single game for the team and got a picture with him. Also...the man who is the official historian for the team (who originally really ticked me off by not showing up to an interview after I had traveled over an hour on public transportation in 90 degree weather) who is also a doctor agreed to look at my knee and my shins...which are currently bothering me again. :) So it wasn't a total waste.

I got in all the pictures of the whole museum committee which will go on the team's official website...so you could say I went down in the clubs history. But the whole picture dilemma was still a little bit of a let down. *sigh* Guess i can't have everything, right??

So I"m finished with all my work now and I have the next two weeks to really enjoy myself!! That's all for now in Buenos Aires.

Some lists...think of it like Letterman's Top 10s but without all the marital scandals!!

Top 10 Argentine Things That Would NEVER Fly in the USA
1. Jorge Videla- Enough said
2. A police officer blowing kisses at you and telling you "hey beautiful"-- any American officer would lose his badge and there might be a law suit
3. Being told you can't get into a casinio because you dont have original documentation
4. Being asked for original documentation ANYWHERE
5. 48 hour subway strikes
6. Cartoneros going through peoples garbage on a daily basis--they'd definitely be arrested
7. The Barras Bravas (anybody whos confused feel free to ask)-- no one chants at American sporting events and there'd be a huge outcry if a certain group were given free tickets and not everyone...I smell a law suuuit!!!
8. Kioscos not taking credit cards--lets be honest...7-11 is like the only place in Gettysburg that takes credit cards without a minimum!
9. Hamas--- don't quote me but I do believe it's legal here to be a Hamas member
10. Corruption--- since most people are poorer here than other places corruption is a generally excepted fact of life...there'd be no Bernard Kerik trials here b/c people would slap him on the wrist, shrug their shoulders, and congratulate him for finding people who'd build his country house for free!!!


Top 10 American Things That Would Never Fly Here In Bs As
1. Professors starting classes five minutes early
2. Suing McDonalds for excessively hot coffee
3. Starting ANYTHING on time
4. Barack Obama-- while Argentines seem overwhelmingly supportive of the Obama presidency in America, pigs would fly out of my nose the day a black man is elected in Argentina! (no racism- just truth)
5. Retardedly high prices for tickets for sporting events--- the best seats in the house in Argentinos Juniors Stadium are the equivalent of US$ 15
6. Excessive traffic ticketing----just does not exist here!!! Cops don't sit in wait for some unsuspecting speeder here plus when they do catch you I'm told you can just pay them off.
7. Hummers---people are on the most part very fuel economical with their cars...people do drive sports cars but I have not seen a Hummer in all my 5 months here. We'll consider it a symbol of American over the top-ness.
8. The Ghetto Fabulous Culture---you know the one that told Plaxico Burress that its ok, with all his millions, to carry around an unregistered gun and then shoot himself in the leg with it?? The same one that tells so many kids every year that it's cool to talk like you're from the hood and where your pants half way down your a$$??? Yeah, overall people from poor areas here do not wear their economic status around their necks and being "hood" is not at all fashionable.
9. Weight watchers--- obesity here is not something that is nationally broadcast and overweight Argentines sometimes do not even go out of the house because they are so looked down upon by Argentine society.
10. Getting your food wrapped to-go at restaurants---just doesn't happen here.

Top 10 Things I Miss About Cranbury
1. Late night excursions to Dunkin Donuts(Dunkin Donuts and coolatas in general)
2. CLEAN AIR
3. QUIET
4. Cranbury Pizza---any one who has tried it would know there's nothing like it in the world
5. Bagels and cream cheese
6. Cheese steaks and other such LARGE sandwhiches
7. My car!!!!!
8. My parents :)
9. Advanced cellular phones
10. Banks that keep regular hours...none of this 10-3 Monday to Friday business

And that's all for now! Hope you got a kick out of my Top 10s!

How many endangered species of insect meet their death everyday on a tourbus?

Hahaha. Ladies and gentlemen, I am officially back from my trip to Iguazu Falls! And yes, I did spend more time on a double decker bus than I actually did at the falls, but let me tell you it was SO worth it, and I am SO glad we went!



First of all Natalie and I had planned to go a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately we were both piled with work that just could not be put off. So we postponed it. I had made these reservations a week before I found out I had mistook the date to hand in my final paper for my Political Science class. A week before I found out I had 2 weeks to research and write a 15-20 page paper in Spanish. But Iguazu was a trip that just could not be put off! We told ourselves that if we didn't go this weekend we were never going to go!



So the weekend started Thursday at 6:45 PM when we left for the bus station, which was a short train ride away. Nat and I decided to pack all of our things together in my big red bag, because I had to bring that due to lack of anything medium sized to put my clothes in. It was hilarious because we got there and both realized that we had no idea exactly where the bus station. We got there 10 minutes before the bus came, and 15 minutes before the bus left!!! Yup those big bus companies do not play! I mean, Nat and I thought that of course everything was going to be on Argen-time (read: Argentine time), but the bus pulled in at 7:55 and was out of there at 8:05!



So, I really wish someone had told me that these big bus companies do not do a straight shot from the Retiro station in Buenos Aires to Iguazu falls (which is located in the north-eastern most province of Misiones)!! That's what I had anticipated. On the way up there we must have stopped like 8 times to pick up more passengers at various stations. At times we were stoped for like 45 minutes! So, the ride up there took like 21 hours!!! I was DYING of boredom by the time we got there, simply because I can do nothing else on a bus other than sleep because I get severely motion sickness. Since Nat and I took the cheapest bus up that the company had to offer the seats were far from comfortable.



So we got there Friday afternoon and it was HUMID. I read the weather when we got to the hostel (which was really more like a low-end hotel, it had a pool, internet, wi-fi, pool and ping pong tables, and a tv in every room) and the humidity was at 94%!!! We did homework all Friday night and went to bed early. Then we blocked out all Saturday for the park!!! It is safe to say that Iguazu falls was the most beautiful natural landmaark I have EVER been too. It even tops Macchu Picchu in Peru!



But you know those places that give you the illusion of being in the middle of nature, which is in reality, nothing but an illusion?? Yeah, this place was obviously one of them.



Iguazu falls is located in the National Park of Iguazu. It costs 60 pesos to enter. I swear there must be like 5 or 6 restaurants spread out throughout the park plus a Sheraton Hotel and I do believe another hotel as well. There are miles and miles of cement and asphalt walk ways and steps as well as miles of metal walkways that cross waterfalls and such. Needless to say, with the tourism this place receives every year the animals definitely know where the people are. So..we didn't see too many "exotic" creatures. A couple of kuwatis (think tail of a racoon, and body and head a quarter of a size of a regular ant eater), a lizard, some crazy spiders, and some birds, and LOTS of butterflies!

It POURED for the first 2 hours but after that it was gorgeous! I don't have pictures yet, because only Natalie took her camera (it was raining when we left the hostel, so I figured why get two cameras wet?) and her internet isn't being too kind to her now. But really? I don't need pictures. I can safely tell you that Iguazu Falls is the most beautiful natural wonder that I have seen in my 21 years on this earth. Absolutely incredible magnitude that just makes one feel small in the face of this beautiful earth God has created for us.

I'm glad we went too! Because from today there is 1 month and 2 days left until I board the plane for Miami. I'm trying to do one interesting thing every day to make my time here worthwhile. Today I went to this drum show called La Bamba with Quiana, a friend from Gettysburg College who is here visiting from Chile. The rhythms were complicated and intertwined, the show was exciting, but the atmosphere was absolutely horrible. I left early.

So that's all for now in Buenos Aires!

Coronel Juanjo and Leiutenent Hernan take the troops to do battle in San Nicolas

Ok well let's be honest, it wasn't really a battle. It was more like a massacre. We lost 15-0, but I get ahead of myself.

To remind new readers, I am playing on a soccer team here. The female football team of University Torquato Di Tella. The coordinator of sports is Juan Jose (Juanjo), and our coach's name is Hernan. We're a group of girls from 19-24, only one of whom actually goes to Di Tella now! Ha! The rest go to different schools or have already graduated from Di Tella! We play for fun, in all honesty. Some games get competitive but it's mostly for kicks. A couple of months ago we were told that we were going to play a tournament in Mar de Plata. That is supposed to be a really nice beach town! I was so excited! Then we were told that this university we were going to play couldn't get enough girls together to form a team. Sadness. Then Juanjo said he had received an email from the coach of a girls team in San Nicolas, west of Buenos Aires inquiring about the possibility of playing a scrimmage.

This team is part of a foundation that, through soccer, works with girls from extremely poor neighborhoods helping them to finish school. The team is called the Pumas. The team has two divisions, one of girls 12-16 and the other from 16-26. They're a great bunch of girls and they were so nice, but WOW were they good. They played a different kind of soccer than we did, with noticeably rehearsed plays and it was obvious they were used to playing a field for 11 v 11 when we only play on a field for 8 v 8. We never stood a chance.

I fought hard though! I hurt my knee when one of the girls ran into me and I fell quite badly. But after some ice and advil it's feeling better. I'm sure it's nothing serious. I was flying too! But those goals just kept going by! It was good that they one though. I mean, of all times I don't mind losing that badly it would definitely be this one. It was interesting to see some of the real Argentina too, I mean like Argentina outside "the paris of south america", which is what they call Buenos Aires. It was really something to think that these girls come from absolutely nothing and could do soo much on a soccer field! It was neat too that, when we got to talk to them afterwards plus the day after, they were sooo fascinated by the fact that most of Di Tella's team can speak more than one language and have traveled extensively. They asked me and the other exchange students all about what America was like and they thought it was the coolest thing that one of the exchange students could speak Japanese!

So we came home with some battle wounds. One of the forwards sprained her ankle, another had a HUGE welt on her left shin, and of course I'm still icing my knee. But I think everyone enjoyed the comraderie and the learning experience and I know the Pumas enjoyed smashing us on the soccer field.

In other news I have a 15-20 page paper due in a week, and five pages due by Wednesday for another class, and four for another class. I've basically forgotten what sleep is, but I'm reading some poems tonight at a huge bookstore for the famous poet Mario Trejo that I wrote about a long while ago! Come on folks, who really needs sleep when you're in the Paris of South America??? I come home in 6 weeks and I feel like I've got sooo much left to do here!

Anyone interested can follow the link to the album of photographs. Sorry all the captions are in Spanish!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2060126&id=19304269&l=14a9d6a8ad

Hooray for Updates!

So midterms are finally done here! Think I mentioned that in my last entry. To celebrate my friend Natalie and I had a jam packed weekend! We went to the racetrack Friday, where I had absolutely no luck, but sadly could not get into the casino! Stupid Argentines still think they have the right to ask us for original ID when that law was nullified along with Jorge Videla. Saturday I went and played a scrimmage with Di Tella, then went to see Chacarita Juniors play Huracan in Argentinos Juniors stadium. After that we had a wonderful at home dinner (i.e take out from the grill around the corner), and then went out for some drinks! Sunday was by far the best day, though. Why? Well because I was on the radio.

This man Dario and his wife are really totally making my life right now! As a part of the group of fans that they run, they have a website and a radio show. So the Sunday before last Dario had announced on the show that there was an American girl studying in Buenos Aires doing her thesis on Argentinos Juniors! Apparently people actually called in and said like "Oh is that the girl I saw you with at the game?" or "yeah I'm pretty sure I saw her at the press office at the polideportivo". So it happened just as I thought, everyone knows me as "the american doing the research."

Well they invited me this week, I couldn't go last week, to the radio station for their weekly show. Now, radio is much more widely listened to in this country than in the USA. Principally because many people don't have the money to buy a television and many businesses don't have a place to put one! It was really interesting, though. I had envisioned some big building in the center of town. Nope. It was a small house right across the border between the province and the city. There was no sign outside, but there were about three recording rooms. I believe 1 downstairs and 2 upstairs.

We went in to the room, which was sound proofed, and there was a table with one microphone hanging in the middle. There were about 6 of us in total. They just talked about Argentino's chances against the team they played Sunday afternoon, and some people called in. It's amazing the amount of ways that people can call into a radio show these days! There was a computer that was practically in the table. I don't know how they configured it. But the show was getting messages on Facebook, on MSN Messenger, and e-mails! Plus, there were 2 phone lines, and you even could txt the station! We were talking, and then when someone called in we put on these headsets connected to these outlets that in turn connected to something in the middle of the table and we could hear what the caller was saying. Unfortunately, my hour of fame was not quite as huge as it should have been. Ha ha! The station was experiencing problems so lots of people only heard music on the station instead of the show.

But yeah, Dario had me say a few words about my thesis and why I chose the team. He asked me my predictions about the game (which they ended up tying 1-1), and had me end the program in English! Ha. He said they were looking for something to liven up the program. He had asked me, well can you say this that and the third (but he asked me in Spanish) in English at the end of our program? I couldn't put my finger on the direct translation and I didn't want to get it wrong, so I originally told him no. Then they were about to end the program and everyone just stopped talking and looked at me! So I said, "Stay tuned in next week, Argentinos Pasion will be back on at the same time!"

The program cut, everyone started laughing, they asked me, "Um what did you just say!" Guess they thought they'd be able to understand me! Ha.

Well after that Natalie and I went to San Telmo and were very cultural. We walked around the fair, we went to the Saint Telmo Museum. And of course, I got loads of pictures!

San Nicolas is Saturday with Di Tella's soccer team! I'm so excited! Sooo much work to do though! Oh well. I mean, who really needs sleep anyways?

Machismo at it's best....working on the museum and other thesis stuff

So as a part of my thesis research I have been invited to help put together the very first museum about the history of Argentinos Juniors. The opening date was set to be October 31, but they're shooting for November 16 now, since there have been some delays. There are about 10 people on the committee, all fans, all (except Dario, who of course has a position at the club, but who of course does not get paid for his overtime work on the museum) are volunteers. There are three females on the committee, including myself, and one who is an artist not affiliated with the club who's being paid for her work. My experiences in the museum have been quite interesting so far.

Saturday before the game Dario said that the group was getting together to work on the museum. Ok, so I hiked over at 11:00AM to be there. Now, out of the four men and two women who were there, take a WILD guess who was ACTUALLY working. Yup, Dario's wife Gabbi. She was putting names with all the photos to make placards telling the names of the players on each team that the museum has photos for. The others? "Discussing" or "Debating" about different things...none of which brought an actual decision.

Fast forward to yesterday. Another meeting. I suppose I'll be down there a lot because the opening date is so soon and there's SOOO much to be done. Anyway. Dario told me 7:00 PM. An actual somewhat organized meeting did not start til 8:15. Who was responsable for organizing the chaos? The female artist not affilliated with the club. She got everyone's attention, presented her ideas, and then the men had to debate them. And who took notes? Who thought of writing everything down so said debate didn't have to happen all over again the next meeting? Another female, of course. Seemed to me that the men just argued, debated, and planned. The women did all the concrete work, which of course they presented to the men for their opinion.

And what did I do, you might ask? Well. I shined trophies. Hence the picture. Small job. But of course as a foreigner I was just there to observe, and grateful for the chance to do it! It was phenomenally interesting all the tiny details that go into the planning of a museum. Personally I don't think they'll be able to fit everything they want to in such a small space, but I suppose we'll see what happens. Apparently the opening was supposed to be like in mid October, which means they're really pushing the clock moving it back a month. They've had to deal with a lot of delays and everything, and of course money problems. They pay for it all out of pocket and then later get reimbursed by the club, provided they can show receipts.

In other thesis news. I do believe my interview with the president of the club is going to be tonight! I have ten questions to ask him and I'm quite excited!!! I've heard great things about the man, so I'm sure I'll learn lots. Last night I also procured another interview with the man that owns the Merchandising business for the club. He's 78 and can remember games since he was 4, according to him at least. That's all for now in thesis land. Mid terms are done and this weekend is my fun weekend!

That's all for now in Buenos Aires.

The meeting took place on this really old set of bleachers! Ha. ->

Field Research Really Pays Off...SOOO Happy With the Reception This Team is Giving ME!!

I had such a great weekend and it's only Saturday! As I believe I told you all, a couple of weeks ago I met the head of marketing for the entire club, whose name is Dario Vaccarrini. This man and his fiance Gabi have like single handedly MADE my thesis. Dario, I suppose, was floored that I knew about his team from 5000 miles away and has just been telling EVERYONE about me: to the point where I had two people say to me today (one who was the former press secretary of the club which was neat), "Oh YOU'RE the American doing the thesis!" And everyone is just enchanted with the fact that I chose this small team to write about. As such.

I got into the stadium this morning to help Dario with the museum preparations. The team's FIRST try at a musuem is set to open by the end of the month. From there, a friend of Dario's took us down to the soccer training complex in a neighborhood called Bajo Flores (like 20 min. car ride) to watch the junior divisions play. I had NEVER seen this complex. I was thinking about hopping on a colectivo and just going down there. Now, I'm glad I didn't. It's in a pretty rough neighbhorhood just a block away from a shanty town.

Ok, so, the reception that I got at this complex. For example. For those of you who haven't been reading the persistent complaints on my Facebook status, I've been having the worst shin splints. I remember asking someone about two years ago what shin splints were. They told me it was when the muscle there begins to slowly separate from the bone. Ok. I took that at face value and tried to explain to Dario why my legs were hurting (a literal translation for shin splints seems to be beyond everyone's grasp). While I was explaining this, one of the many trainers at the complex walked by. Dario stopped him, asked him what it was called when the muscle separted from the leg in the shin. He looked at him puzzled. Dario explained what I was trying to tell him. The man took me into the medical exam room, sat me up on one of the beds, and checked me out right then and there! He asked me where it hurt, felt my shins to see about the muscles, and took a look at the bottoms of my feet. Apparently it's not the tendons in my shin, it's my feet that are the problem. But I was FLOORED that he would do that for someone that was so far from in any way related to anyone of the athletes!

Later we went back for the game, which began at 6PM. Now last Thursday I became a member of Argentinos Juniors (the first American citizen with such an honor, might I add, in the club's HISTORY), so I could have gotten into the popular section for free. Dario, however, had other plans. He and Gabbi gave me a press pass that they normally use for their fan group that they run, and so I got into the plateas with them! Seats were great, and the team played GREAT! So after the game, I figured out that with said press pass, one would be allowed, no questions asked, into the area where the players leave...for after the game commentary. So...I followed Gabbi down the stairs (leaving before everyone else, because with a press pass you can do that), and was right in the central hall when everyone was leaving.

So there was this German tourist who also met Dario at one point. He was with the group. All the sudden I hear him speaking in German with this older man who's nicely dressed (like, not atheletic apparel) but with an Argentinos Juniors shirt. He was also standing outside the press limits. This man got very interested when I pulled out my membership card and told the german man in our group. Turns out...he's the presidents cousin and his name is Carlos Sanchez! Now, I already met Luis Segura, the president of the club, who agreed to be interviewed for my paper. But, it's thanks to his cousin that I owe this great picture with me and mid-fielder Nestor Ortigoza!!! Nestor was SOOO nice. He obliged both me and Carlos in taking pictures.

Oh it was a great day. Got so much useful information!!! WOW

A List of Questions I'm Sure I'll Never Figure Out

I am currently at the polideportivo of Argentinos Juniors with massive shin splints, no will to take notes on political science before the press office opens at four, and feeling like another bon-o-bon alfajor. As such...thought I'd write another blog entry about the "Whys" of Argentina.

Upon leaving this country December 11 I am sure I will not have figured out....

1) Why fotocopiadoras exist if photocopying here is just as illegal as it is in any other country.
2) Why there are people that walk 15 dogs at a time and don't pick up the poop from any one of them.
3) Why people wash their sidewalks IN THE RAIN!!!
4) Why no one pays attention to no smoking signs.
5) Why I Argentine men don't know how to holla at a woman correctly. (I mean, let's be realistic, I have only met one Argentine man who doesn't think he's doing a woman a favor by cat calling at her in the street)
6) Why NO ONE is ever on time to anything regardless of whether or not they're taking public transportation to get where they're going.( I swear the time thing gets worse proportional to how far south of the equator you are)
7) Why the first part of the asado at restaurants is always delicious and the second piece is always fat.
8) WHY IN THE WORLD YOU GET ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING DELIEVERED HERE.
9) Why NO ONE ever answers e-mails.
10) Why blind people would ever be allowed on subways (not trying to be discriminatory here, people, but lets get real, that's kinda dangerous!)
11) Why the dogs are dressed better than I am.
12) Why on earth all Argentine dogs are so well behaved and can walk around without a leash.
13)Why Maradona is still considered a god if 1) his career was cut short by his own stupidity and 2) he can't even coach the national team correctly and should be thanking God day in and day out that they beat Uruguay yesterday
14) Why the candy here is sooo much more delicious than in the USA.

and most of all...

15) WHY CHRISTINA KIRCHNER IS SO DUMB...WHERE IS THIS WOMAN'S HEAD AT???

So that's my list. I'm sure there are more unresolved questions that I will go little by little adding. But yes this is a very interesting company full of compexities.

Personal Updates and My Adventure to Tigre!

Ladies and gentlemen, my apologies for the lack of an entry this weekend! Things are getting pretty hectic for me right now and my priority is of course, finishing this semester!!!! So what's been going on in this great city? Let's see if I can relate with a hint of cohesion here.

Well on my part, I realized about a week ago that if I really try, I can be finished with the entire semester by November 25. Something that is absolutely astounding, considering the Gettysburg College calendar puts finals starting on December 13! But it's mostly because I am a foreign exchange student, and because Universidad Salvador (where I am taking classes) has students take their final exams the semester after, foreign exchange students OBVIOUSLY must take them before they leave. So, I have papers for my political science class and my literature class instead of final exams. And.....just about ten minutes ago I finished my final paper for Literature!!! The bad part about doing it this way is that, at least for Literature, I am going to have to defend my paper orally (almost like the thesis defense on a master's level, but I'm ASSUMING/hoping/praying that it's going to be a weee bit simpler because, well, they said it only had to be 8 pages!) in one week! But anyway...I'm hoping that I can get everything done, and realizing that I have only like 7 or 8 more weekends here! Where in the world did the time go???

My plans, you ask? Well next Friday afternoon will be some sort of Museum trip. Because lets face it, every tourist must hit up a few museums on the way and be cultured and classy and the like. Next Saturday and Sunday will be spent with my nose in the books. The NEXT weekend however, oh the next weekend. THAT will be spent at the RACETRACK!!!! There so happens to be a racetrack about six or seven blocks from my house WITH a casino. For anyone who doesn't know me that well, I'm an ace better and have had some pretty big victories at Freehold Raceway, not to toot my own horn or anything. But we shall see what Argentine Raceways are like! The weekend after that is Mar de Plata with the soccer team. The weekend after that is Iguazu!!! The following weekend is up in the air, the weekend after that will be homework, and the weekend after that is four days in Uruguay (if not more!!). Ines says I should go on to Montevideo and not stay in Colonia (where everyone from our program is going for Thanksgiving dinner and the director's ESTATE there), but lets face it... after 6.5 weeks of hell I'll need the beaches to relax me!!!

So, I'll be absolutely everyone wants to know what I did this weekend!!! Well, the majority of it I spent with my nose in the books, BUT...I did get out of the house! I thought it best I get some sun that did NOT come from a soccer field. So on Sunday Natalie and I ventured forth to Tigre, a town about an hour train ride from my house. Tigre, I believe, was the original site of the founding of Buenos Aires. When it failed, they moved the second site farther south. I BELIEVE, but please, don't hold me to that. It's famous for its proximity to the River Tigre and it's fruit market!! There was LOADS of stuff we could have done. Well, we took a forty five minute ride out on the river for the equivalent of 7 US $, and took lots of pictures of course. We walked around the huuuge market (but didn't see much, lets face it... we totally need a whole day to see everything. I kid you not it's just that huge), had a verrry luxurious lunch, and sat in the sun for a while. It wasn't much, but we definitely considered it a well deserved study break. I found a little shop in the market that sold old issues of the best sports magazine of the country (when I say sports, think soccer) called El Grafico, and I bought the issue when Argentinos Juniors was fighting for the Copa Libertador en 1985. I also picked up a couple of souveniers! Hope you like the picture!!

That said, my research has hit a roadblock and I'm fighting the lack of sources in this country to help me understand the development of the neighborhood. I've gone on several wild goose chases hitting up the two biggest libraries in the country and found 9 pages, a power point slide show, and a map with interesting points in the neighborhood along with several email addresses that have led to absolutely NOWHERE. My contact? The one that gave me the tour? It's been a week since he answered my email. Thinking about sending him another one. It's been difficult and really impeding my writing. I know I'll work around it somehow, though!

As for what's going on in this city? I don't know if anyone's heard about the situation with Terrabusi, the company that Kraft just bought. The situation is that, during the week this summer when much of the country shut down due to the rampant spread of Swine Flu, a portion of the workers in this factory started demanding better working conditions (b/c from what I've heard the conditions were horrible) and to be allowed the week off, just as other factories were giving their workers off. The company refused, and when those workers did not show during this week, they were counted as just not having come to work and they were fired accordingly. Now, in this country one cannot be fired without compensation of the equivalent of, I believe, two months salary. Terrabusi has ADAMANTLY refused to pay these workers there compensation and the 150 workers and their supporters have taken to the streets. Of course, they tried legal methods first, but as no one answered and the government has done nothing, the workers have begun periodically blocking the biggest route into the city, La Ruta Panamericana. It's getting critical here, people. I've been told that it isn't like the US when, if you get fired, you just look for and find another job relatively quickly. You get fired here, and you're out of work for a while.. if not permanently. This is a matter not just of principal, but it is a matter of whether or not these 150 families will be able to survive. To me, a sad example of greed on the part of Terrabusi and something the government should have been involved in a looong while ago. They intervene to bring the country their football, but not this? I have no idea where Kirchner's priorities are at.

So, that's how it is in Buenos Aires.

"Dale, loco!" What a life I live!

What a life I live, folks! It's Sunday morning and I've already had a great weekend! Well on Friday, I was super productive. I did homework from around 10AM until 12:15 at night with minimal breaks. Why? Principally because I knew I would be doing no homework Saturday. And what did I do Saturday?

Well.

Saturday morning University Torquato Di Tella played against Universidad Catolica at the fields of the University of San Andres. I didn't play goalie, though. They let me play in the field! But the bad part about that was that I didn't get to play the whole game. So many of us were there that we made a lot of substitutions. We won, though! 1-0, and my friend Jess from the same exchange program (IFSA) scored the goal! It was great, because she had missed a penalty kick before, so she got to redeem herself. Unfortunately, though, I could not go out to eat with the team to celebrate. Why? Well. That's the second part to my day.

Last Thursday, I pretty much wondered into the stadium of Argentinos Juniors, the team I'm doing my thesis on. I got to watch them practice. Later that day, I also stopped by and asked about the museum I had heard about before. The two men whom I asked (one who I later figured out was the coach of the junior divisions) went in, found the coordinator of the construction of this museum. He was floored when I told him I was from the USA and was doing my final thesis on his team. He took me up to the museum (which was not even open yet) , showed me around, answered some of my questions, promised to help me with my paper, AND invited me to the team's game Saturday! Said he could get me platea seats for 50 pesos (around $USA 12). Of COURSE... I said, SURE.

So after the soccer game at San Andres, I hopped the train with one of the other girls who had to get home, and with my friend Natalie, hopped on the colectivo to get down to La Paternal where the stadium is. Well. It turns out, that he didn't have to pay anything for the tickets, so we got in FREE. Frankly, I was FLOORED that he didn't try to make some money off of us by not telling us. He's a REALLY nice guy. He and his wife are HUGE fans of the team. And he's also the Head of Marketing for the whole club!

So we got platea seats. The difference between platea and popular is that platea is the typical stadium seating that we think of in the United States. Popular, while much less expensive than platea, is a space where people stand to watch the game. Our seats were absolutely great! We got there early so we watched the reserve divisons play. The first division of the club ended up winning 1-0!! It was a really good goal too.

Then...we got a stadium tour!!! We got out on the field. We were in the central hall when some of the players and the coach (who played on their 1985 championship team) were being interviewed by the press. We got to see the press room, the locker rooms, and the museum! It was absolutely incredible! And all for 30 pesos! I definitely plan on working with this head of marketing on the museum. It's just INCREDIBLE. This would never have happened at the stadiums of the bigger teams, and it certainly would have never happened in the United STates!!!!

Part 3 of my day? Ines and her friend invited Natalie and I to what is called a Pena. A lot of people come together and dance folklore music from different regions of Argentina. It was sooo interesting. Of course, I was incredibly tired. But I just found it sooo interesting that these things still exist today! Ines is such a classy lady. She radiates class. And this was definitely something that would have been right up her alley, if it had been done right. Hahaha. The place was great (an old restored theater), and the food was absolutely delicious. Everything was homecooked. The music? Not so hot. Well, it is to say, the performers. The first two must have been friends of the house, because they weren't at the program. The third, the first performer on the program, played with a lot of enthusiasm, but the sound was far from the best. We left relatively early, except I was soooo tired!!! =)

So that was an excellet day I had here. The game was absolutely awesome. Hope you enjoy the picture! It's me and Natalie on the team's benches!!!

Maaany VERY choice words for the Argentine Immigration System

To begin with, there is absolutely NO earthly reason why I should be leaving Migrations at 11:05AM when I arrived 15 minutes early for my 7:45AM appointment. Yes, folks. 3.5 hours. Three and a half hours and SIX HUNDRED PESOS LATER I am basically assured residency for 2 years in this WONNNNDERFUL country.

So apparently, Argentina considers whatever country you were born in your nationality. So while most Americans would consider me an American born in Colombia, Argentina considers me a Colombian with an American passport. Soooo..... I get there, and think "Yes! I'm first in line for the entire day!" It was like 7:50 and I had the ticket 001. Ok. I go up to the window and the guy takes my passport, he said, "You were born in Colombia?" I said "Yes". He said, "This is the wrong counter." So he went with me to the counter where they were giving out numbers, and told the two women that since I was born in Colombia I had to go through the MercoSur (Market of the South- the Southern Cone's entity similar to the EU, which other countries in South America, including Colombia, are also an affiliate) procedure.

So then they give me ticket 012 for the Mercosur counter. I wait like 6 or 7 minutes and my number is called. Now, IFSA (the exchange program I came with) said that we had to bring 300 pesos. LUCKILY I withdrew lots from the ATM, to avoid the absolutely gigantic ATM fees they charge. So, they told me the fee would be 600. I asked why. They explained that since I am Colombian BUT do not possess a Colombia passport, I have to go through the Mercosur Process, BUT they have to charge me in a category called EXTRA-MERCOSUR. Which basically means, those applying for residency that were born OUTSIDE Mercosur.

Mind you...it took like 30 minutes to figure this out. I wasn't going to pay them 300 pesos extra just because they said so, and luckily just as this was happening, the Migrations Head for IFSA was coming into the building. So, I asked him to come over and asked him why they're saying they want twice as much as IFSA said to bring. He said that even though I was MERCOSUR that I was applying for Transitory Residency, and therefore should only be charged 300. Well, they said I was at the wrong counter for Transitory Residency. So they took me BACK to the counter where they give out the numbers. Ugh. I don't even want to waste energy describing this whole fiasco, which, may I add, attracted the higher ups in the corner offices to come and resolve. We got the final verdict from the man in the very corner office. Then of course I had to wait about 2 hours for them to do God knows what with this piece of paper that I signed. I swear they gave me back the exact same piece of paper I signed except with my photo stapled on, and of course THAT took 2 hours.

I would wager that this was more of a fiasco that most DMVs in the US. There were SOOO many people behind these glass windows, yet it seemed only a quarter of them were actually working!!!! They were ALL taking their SWEET time drinking their mate and having their croissants, and it just really ticked me off!

Besides. Wouldn't you think that my exchange program IFSA would have KNOWN how this works??? That those born in Mercosur countries have to pay extra if they're naturalized USA citizens??? Oh, of course not!!!! Their excuse?? "Well, it's really not that common."

In addition.....of course I took the wrong train home. I had to walk 8 blocks then catch a bus, when I should've gotten off at a station 4 blocks from my house. And the most confusing thing??? I was on the right line. Needless to say I really just felt like crying when I FINALLY got home, which was about six hours after I left my house. This has definitely NOT been one of those days where I'm just too good at this country.

But yesterday was!!!! And this Saturday will be as well! Stay tuned for blog entires detailing everything! As I think I have already ranted enough for one entry and getting on to how great of a Saturday I am going to have would be rather confusing.

All I can say. That's how it is here in Buenos Aires!!!!!

Differentiating between Liberty and Freedom: Intellectual and Classy Pursuits in Buenos Aires

I had a wonderful weekend! Pretty busy, too. On Friday, Nestor had his last concert in the series that the Sarmiento Museum presented. It was his trio with him on the drums, of course, a man with the last name of Baraj on saxaphone, and Remus on bass. Baraj played tenor saxaphone, soprano saxaphone, and flute all at different points during the trio's hour and forty-five minute performance. And yes, I did get to play one song with them! Although he managed to surprise me with it.

Natalie and I arrived at the Museum and we saw Nestor on our way to the bathroom. One of the other audience member who had been there last week also passed, recognized me, and said hi. Then asked Nestor if he was going to let me play again this week. He shook his head and said that unfortuantely this week was much more of a definitive program (whereas last week was specifically called "Jam Session"-> Love the Spanglish- don't you?) and that he would unfortunately not be able to let me play. Oh well. So Natalie and I made our way to the bathroom, then back to our seats, figuring at least we'd come to see a great night of jazz. We were talking with some of the audience members, who of course loved that I came back. Such a welcoming reception as an American, I have never received. When I mentioned that I would be traveling to Mar del Plata with my soccer team, one of the women even inquired if I had a place to stay, as she had an apartment in Mar del Plata. Can you believe that?? Such hospitality.

Anyway, so the concert. In his introduction when he was recognizing people, and thanking everyone for coming out, he said, "And there's a drummer in the audience, here with us all the way from the United States. We had hoped to fit her in tonight, so we'll see what we can do." And of course, he asked me to stand up.

Then, during the intermission, someone reminded him that he always forgets to do the raffles he likes doing at each one of his concerts where he raffles off one of his CDs. So he picked up the microphone, looked straight at me, and said, "Is there a particular young American in the audience who would like to pick this raffle ticket for me?" So I came up and drew it. Then he said, "Jill, why don't you go accomodate yourself behind the set. Make yourself comfortable." At this point Baraj and Remus were still back stage, so he said, "Hey boys! Come on out here I've got a surprise for you. We're going to let this fine young lady sit in and play a song with us." So we played a blues! They let me solo, and Remus' mouth almost dropped to the floor. Hahaha. Although, I didn't think I played that well. The adrenaline kind of got to me. So that was Friday night.

Saturday started early. I got up at 6:15AM and was out of the house by 7:15. The Law School Admission Test started at 8:30 at the Instituto Cultural Argentino Norte Americano (ICANA) building in the center of town. It was my second time taking the LSAT, because the first I didn't do wondefully well. The test was four hours, starting from around 9:00, so I got out around 1:00PM. I left feeling much better about the test than the last time, and I get my score by e-mail in three or four weeks so we'll see what happens.

I went home and took a nap. At 6:00PM I went with Natalie to the house of Mario Trejo and his wife Maria Fernanda. Mario Trejo is 83 years old, he's an EXTREEEEMELY (all those e's are worth it) accomplished poet, journalist, playwrite and literary critic. He's interviewed some of the TOP figures in Latin American and world history (think: Che Guevara, Jorge Luis Borges, Salvador Allende, and Yassar Arafat), he's published mountains of works, and taught and lived all over the world. He's completely fluent in all 5 (yes, that's FIVE) romance languages, and is close friends with many of the huge names in jazz all over the world today. We met him last week at Nestor's concert, and he invited us over for coffee.

Mario is quite the character. He's half blind, but his hearing is exceptionally sharp. He's got a mind that is so many levels above my comprehension that it's almost comical. He started telling us about how important knowing one's ancestry was. He asked Natalie her ancenstry, and then that got him started talking about England and how much he loved it there. Then he was suddenly talking about the Romans, then quite suddenly about the Greeks, the Greeks some how brought him to democracy, which somehow led him to the Jews. Then, as if out of nowhere, he informed us that Trejo meant "to flee" in Greek (or Hebrew), and that he had strong Jewish ancestry. He asked us what we thought the difference between Liberty and Democracy was, which produced absolute crickets because I have never thought about something that profound in my life. Which led him to Latin American systems today and Chavez, and how the Kirchners were getting ever more similar to Chavez, and that somehow brought him to Colombia which led us right back to my ancestry. The man thought so fast I could hardly keep track.

Then his neighbors came for a visit. A 25 and 24 year old Dominican couple who is here in Buenos Aires to study. The guy is studying literature and the girl is studying cinema. The guy is evidently studying privately with Mario, and he brought over his newest collection of books, which Mario had read them all of course. I hadn't heard of any of the authors, of course. And of course I felt super ignorant when apparently some of them were American. They were really nice, but Mario kind of imposed on them to come over and it was a wee bit awkward.

So yes, that was coffee with Mario Trejo and Maria Fernanda. We were there for four hours. Mostly basking in complete awe of his genious but near the end he did open himself up to questions, if you will. Ha. So we got to ask him about some of his experiences. Mario is one of those people who, when they talk, they just emit this sense that you should not interrupt them. So yes, he talked for quite a while. He was so nice though. And when we excused ourselves (we tried to catch the subway home but were unsuccessful as the last ride is at 10:15 and we didn't get out til 10:25), he said he really hoped we had found this chat with him worthwhile and said that we shouldn't be strangers and come back.

This picture of him is from a loooong while ago. His wikipedia entry (that he wrote himself, typical Mario) has more on him for those who are interested. So that was my weekend. I'm doing work now. What a life I live here in Buenos Aires!

Globalization

In the effort to procrastinate the mountain of homework that is slowly burying me, I have decided to write another blog entry.

Last Sunday, I had a very interesting morning. My friend Natalie and I went to the only Walmart in Buenos Aires, and then we went to Burger King. I had a strange sense of deja vu while eating my Double Whopper and fries. It felt like I was still in the United States. Then I came back to my apartment and my host mother Ines told me that she had finally watched the TV show I had been telling her all about; NCIS. And in addition to Gilmore Girls, which she also likes, she thought I had a very good taste in TV shows. And I still felt like I was in the United States.

Of the things "Made in America" that have made it down to Buenos Aires, I can count: Wonka Candy Company (and all its delicious creations including Nerds), McDonalds, Burger King, Walmart, Jeep, Gilmore Girls, Law and Order, NCIS, Criminal Minds, iPods, Staples (which my host brother runs in Latin America, !?!?!, just learned that), every kind of American music imaginable (let's get real, I was in the club last night and they played entirely English 70s - 90s music for like an hour and a half with no Spanish songs in between!), Skittles, Myspace, Facebook, Starbucks, Walmart, Singerland drums (although I imagine most musical instruments are sold internationally), blackberry phones, American football (one of my host brothers watches the Giants), Northface, Columbia Sportswear, and tennis racket companies.

It's enough to make this American feel like she's never left home at times! Of course all these things are definitely on the expensive side in pesos. Some people I've met will have pretty much heard of everything in the last paragraphy I mentioned. And then of course there are the families of homeless people I pass everyday on the streets, the man that walked past me yesterday (when it was like 30 degrees out), in nothing but tattered rags with no shoes. Buenos Aires is a place of striking opposities. The rich live right beside the poor. And that's just this city. I"m told out in the country it's like going back in time: that it's a whole other world.

And You All Thought I Was Joking When I Said I'd Conquer The World

Ladies and Gentlemen, my life is now complete. I can die a happy woman. :) As of now, I am on a first name basis with one of the most famous drummers in Argentine jazz who has played international festivals that I could name til I'm blue in the face. And a famous Argentine poet's taken an interest in me and wants to have coffee next week. So, yes, Argentina is going pretty well for me! How did all happen?

Well my friend Natalie and I saw a flier on the stop for one of the colectivos on her street. "Nestor Astarita and Friends" and it said he was playing the 5, the 18, and the 25 of December at the Museum right down the street from Natalie's house! So I said of course we'll go see him the 18th! Now I had no idea what kind of concert this was going to be, if tickets were going to be sold out, or what. So Natalie and I went a half hour early, and sure enough, Nestor was out in the front setting up his CDs for sale. I didn't recognize him at first. But when I did I said, "Wait, are you Nestor Astarita?" Dumb introduction, I know. But what can I say? The guy's a genious I was star struck.

He said, "Yeah." I said, "Wow. It's a real pleasure, sir. I've heard excellent things about you." He said "Where are you from?" (everyone asks me that because of my accent), and I said, "My friend and I are from the United States. I'm a drummer so I thought we'd come and hear you play." He said, "You play jazz?" and I said, "for 13 years." He said, "Well then of course you''ll play tonight."

So I played two songs with Hector Vaso, the bassist who played for a time with Georgian Jazz and has a voice almost exactly like Louis Armstrong, and Ricardo Pelican who founded Swing 39 and is a genious guitar player, and two other guitarists who were not named anywhere in the program (welcome to Argentina, hahaha) and I fascinated the audience. Girl drummers are enough of a rarity in the US, I can't imagine Argentine's have ever heard one. And you know what Vaso told me? He said I have excellent tempo and he felt very comfortable with my time!! So yeah, I was on cloud 9 for the night. And of course, I was invited back next Friday.

And behind me sat the very interesting character that is Mario Trejo. I believe he's 83 now. In is early 80s, at the very least. He was fascinated with two things; that I played the drums so well, and that I was Colombian. He's a poet, and he composed the words to some of the songs that Astarita played with this group of tangueros (Tango musicians) that were like from 19-22 years old. When I was leaving, he asked me "You live around here?" And I said, "Yeah". His daughter took down my contact information. He said, "We'll have coffee this week. I'd be very interested to hear about your stay in this great country."

So that's that. I'm slowly taking this country by storm. Hope you like the picture!

The Bilingual Phenomenon

It has been my experience as a native English speaker coming to a non-English speaking country with other native English speakers, that we tend to not want to fulfill the sterotype of the typical American- the loud and obnoxious tourist who doesn't speak a word of the language of whatever country they're in, and then gets louder and more obnoxious and angry when noone in that country speaks English! Well it's quite eerie to be in a city where one out of every three or four people you meet speaks basic conversational to advanced English.

For example. My host mother Ines had her three children and their four second cousins over last night. I walked in and they were discussing something. Ines told me that her oldest son, Santiago had planted a logic riddle. They continued discussing it and I was confused because no one actually said what the problem was. So I asked Ines. She said, "Santiago tell Jill the riddle." He got beet red and said, "No, mama, deciselo vos. No tengo confianza con ella todavia." Meaning, "Mom, you tell her. I'm not that comfortable with her yet." Of course I looked around extremely confused. Without missing a beat, he said, "No, es que, es un poco R- Rated" Just like that. Span-glish in its purest form!

Later, they were talking about the filters that Santiago put on the internet and television for his three children. One of the cousins, Fede, asked Santiago, "But is pornography all it filters?" And he began, "No, tambien violencia, drogas, gore. Como se lo dice en Castellano?" He didn't even know the word for "gore" in Spanish! It was sooo weird to be sitting in a room of people who were talking in one language, and knowing that if they wanted to, they could carry on the exact same conversation in a different language! Santiago speaks perfect English, Ines' other two children speak medium to perfect as well. One of the cousins was just in Princeton NJ working for Bristol Meyer Squibb, and the other works in international advertising.

Outside of the family? I play soccer at University Torquato di Tella with a team of about 13 or 14 girls, half of whom are lawyers, and most of whom speak perfect English! They understand me when I talk, and if I don't know a word in Spanish I can just say it in English and most everyone knows just what I mean.

I don't know why this interest me so much. I guess it's because it's something that would never EVER happen in the United States. I mean, with places like Ginos in Philly that have signs specifically saying you must speak in English to be served, Americans are so centered on themselves such widespread multi-lingual-ness (?) would never ever be found.

Well it's Friday and I'm doing what? No surprise, I'm about to go play soccer. I got a call from one of the girls on my team who started playing for another league, but the team does not have a goalie. It means I'll get a chance to practice in a setting that's not as highly competitive as the other league I play in.

Classes are insanely difficult. But, I guess its nothing different from the US. Just scares me because its in a different language. Well that's all for now, folks!

Of honorable losses, train rides, and unpublished books

Ladies and gentlemen! What a weekend I had, and it's only Saturday! Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Polideportivo of Argentinos Juniors and took a look through their unpublished centenial chronicle. The book goes from the beginnings of the team until 2004. It was so interesting! It's definitely going to help me with my paper! I just really hope that there's a photocopier in the library at the club, because if not, I'm going to have to take all the notes on my laptop or by hand! Because the book is not published, I'm not allowed to take it out of the complex. But the complex, wooow! It's enormous! A smaller stadium, pool, three or four gymnasiums, the housing complexes for the younger divisions that come from the provinces, a library, hockey rinks, basketball courts, tennis courts, it has EVERYTHING! The people there were very nice!

A couple of hours after I got back, the shenanigans began! Jess, another girl from the IFSA Butler exchange program, and I went on a train to San Isidro. We slept at the house of a girl on the team, so we didn't have to get up incredibly early this morning, and also because it wasn't definite that we'd have enough cars to transport everyone. Now, my host mother Ines had told me something before, when having a conversation with me about the racial dynamics of this country. She said that if I didn't dress as nice as I did and carry myself like I do, because of my skin color I'd be subject to what I would phrase as Argentina's version of "racial profiling", that is to say, being the first one in a particular situation to be stopped by the police and asked for documentation. Now, on the train, there were these group of boys with darker skin dressed like they were from the slums (no political incorrectness intended) who looked to be no more than 14 at the oldest. Some of them looked as young as 10. So, about two stations after we boarded, I see a man dressed very officially (that is to say, in clothes indicating he was a conductor or in some manner worked on the train) walking very fast from car to car. Next station, the train stops completely. The police board our car, and one of them asks the man I saw, "Which ones?" and then man points to this group of boys. The police man (with another who came after) start questioning the boys. One of the officers hurried one boy off the train, and frisked him right then and there! It ended up that the group was allowed to stay because someone spoke up and said the troublemakers the conductor was looking for had moved to a different car, but when they started mouthing off to the police officers after the train left that station, they were kicked off at the next stop. The police man left with them so I have no idea what happened after that.

And why am I telling you all this? It just interested me immensly because (granted, I don't know if they somehow got on without paying), they were not doing anything, and practically everyone on the train told the conductor and the police officers that the group of boys had caused the trouble. Sure, maybe one was playing the music on his phone loudly, but nothing more. All because of how they were dressed and how they carried themselves. The rest of the train ride was fine, and I guess it makes me feel more secure in a manner of speaking, because police can board the trains, but I was still very surprised that this group of boys was pointed out so rapidly!

We got to Victoria, one town over from San Isidro, to the house of my friend Paula. It's just her and her mother, and the house would definitely fit America's qualifications of a mansion. She has 6 dogs, and some fish. They were very hospitable, and I felt completely at home! I had a lot of fun playing pool, playing cards, and watching movies, and this morning... our soccer team (Universidad Torquato di Tella) played against the University of Buenos Aires. We ended up losing 6-3, but WOW did we put up a good fight. It was a game I could be proud of, as opposed to last weeks. I'm still learning my new position of goalie, and maybe after a couple more games I won't make so many mistakes! The girls were very nice and respectful. Apparently, they had a good reason to be. They are first place in the league, and they've played 8 games so far with only one goal against them in the entire 8 games. Today we scored 3 against them! UBA trains a lot more intensly than we do, but I kind of would prefer it that way!

Well, that's all the updates for now.

'You know...the american girl doing the research"

Well no one's said that about me yet, but I know it's just a matter of time! Today, I went to visit the Polideportivo of Argentinos Juniors. For lack of an English translation, the Polideportivo is where all the other sports of an Athletic club are housed. Tennis, skating, basketball, boxing, volleyball, and many more. It took forever and a day to get there, because the colectivo driver (with the best intentions) thought he'd missed the place and told me take another colectivo to the other side of the bridge (which goes over the railway tracks) right near the club. I took a colectivo, got off, and people told me it was the other side of the bridge. I finally got there, and what a welcome I received!!!!

All I had to do was tell them I was a student doing a research project on the club and the guard was off telling me how great the club was and his experiences, and football in Argentina, and how close a community the smaller clubs are and what a welcome I would find. He pointed me in the right direction with phone numbers and everything to find the materials I needed, he let me in to the complex and showed me where the pool was. The pool was GIGANTIC, and there were loads of people. He also provided me with some valuable information about what other activities happen at the polideportivo besides soccer. He told me all about how sometimes musicians come and play at the smaller stadium that's inside the complex, and how there's a small library inside, and oh just so many useful things. In addition, when I mentioned I was going to call a cab he said, "No, don't do that." and took me inside a little farther to speak with the group of guys that run the Remis company for the club. A remis, I've gathered, is something like a taxi service, but only for those at the club. It's cheaper, I believe, than a taxi, and I'd wager probably safer because, as the guard Ruben, told me, everyone knows everyone at the club.

And it wasn't just the guard who was really nice. I was having a look inside the locker rooms, trying to find my way to the pool, and the young woman working in the small office (I guess coordinating activities for the pool and such) asked me if she could help me because I obvioulsy looked kind of lost. I explained to her that I was a student doing research about the club and she smiled, asked me what I was looking for ,and pointed me in the right direction!

I have a feeling that by the time I finish this project I will know a lot of people at the club, and instead of trying to pronouce my name (which half the world apparently finds absolutely impossible to pronouce) I have a feeling they'll just refer to me as "that american girl doing the research"!

Buenos Aires: An Organized Student's Worst Nightmare

Why, you may be asking is Buenos Aires (notice, I specify, what I say does not apply to the whole country) is an organized student's worst nightmare? Read on.

1. Colectivos: The public transportation. The subway here is reliable enough, but the colectivos? Sometimes you have to wait twenty minutes for one, and then after twenty minutes, four pass at the same time. Drivers don't have to stop to pick you up, and there's no definite schedule of when they will! You need change to pay your fare (where as the subway takes bills), which means if you have none, you have to go to a nearby kiosco to buy something just for the change! Meaning, if you want to be in class on time, lets take this morning for example. I had an 8:30 class. It was my first class so I wanted to make sure I found the building and the room. Had to give myself twenty minutes to get down to the ground floor, go to a kiosco (sometimes obtaining 1.25 pesos is the most difficult thing in the world), and for the colectivo to come, I gave the colectivo between 30 and 40 minutes to get to USAL, and 15 to find my classroom. All in all? I had to leave at 7:15. But why did I bother? I don't know. Why don't I know? Read #2.

2. The academic system: A student gets her schedule. It says she has an 8:30 class Monday morning. If this student were American, she'd wake up and make sure she was in class by 8:25. If she were Argentine she'd be walking into the building at 8:30. Why? Because Argentine students know that Argentine professors start class whenever Argetnine professors want to start class! I was so prepared for this class this morning, only to be thrown off by the fact that the professor did not arrive until 8:46. Not even considering class times. No one uses books here. They're all photocopies. You're asking, isn't that illegal? Why yes, it technically is. Doesn't stop every professor from requiring an obscene amount of photocopies to be read. They're not expensive, but chances are, when you get the reading from the Photo Copy Shop (Fotocopiadora), you'll be missing a page or two (at minimum, if you're lucky).

3. Argentines LOVE to protest. Now: don't get me wrong. I remain, as of now, ignorant of the deep reasons why people take to the streets in this country, and I'm sure most of them are completely legit. However, when I've decided to be economical and hoof it 26 blocks from USAL to the Plaza de Mayo to make photocopies of the one section of the book from the National Library of the Legislature that I didn't get the last time I was there, and I arrive 26 blocks later only to find the entire building completely blocked by riot police in case the MASSIVE protest taking place outside the building gets out of control, yes, I get a LITTLE peeved. Twenty-six blocks, folks. A bit of a hike. I asked one of the crowd controllers who looked to be from the group that was protesting, and I found out that it was a union, I believe that's what he said, from the province of La Matanza (I think) protesting for jobs. Mind you this was in provincial Spanish over the noise of about ten drums. It was only a little later that it hit me that I was just in the middle of one of the protests of the Piqueteros- the social movement I'd learned about in class two semesters ago. Groups of people, from different organizations, block of roads in the capital, for a time, to make a point. Kind of ironic.

On another note. Finally got my final class schedule. Latin American Political Systems Compared, Iberoamerican Literature, and Advanced Spanish. All this plus my research paper will be quite a load this semester.

On yet another note. The soccer team I play for, at the University Torquato Di Tella won last Saturday 2-1. I played goalie! To keep up with my soccer team just keep checking http://www.diversica.com/adau/dpinfo.php?dp=futbolfem&mn=r and look for UTDT. The girls on the team are great, and practicing gets me out of the house once in a while!

Another note: I am currently in possession of 12 pesos in CHANGE!!! *gasp*...the mint finally opened back up. I haven't had this many one peso coins in my posession EVER.

And on another note, last note, I promise. I obtained, through the woman helping me with my research paper, a promise of a personal interview with the current president of Athletic Association of Argentinos Juniors- the club on which I'm doing my thesis! I"m so excited!

So that's the news from Buenos Aires!

Porque Boca le dale, Boca le dale, OH!

Barracades, police officers everwhere, crowds of people, strategically placed swat teams with bullet proof, botons and tear gas, and checkpoints. What am I describing? An accident? A hostage stand off? No. None of the above. I am describing a large section of the neighborhood of La Boca on the night of the first game of Boca Juniors.

Boca Juniors. Absolutely no words can describe the following that this soccer team has in all of Argentina. The stadium, La Bombonera, is located in La Boca, and is entirely painted blue and yellow. The team is currently such a powerful commercial enterprise that it forced Coca Cola to change its colors if it wanted to advertise inside the stadium. Red, White, and Black are not allowed. Those are the rival colors of River plate.

Most soccer teams here are also athletic clubs. As such, members of these athletic clubs get first priority (and some cases free entry) to some of the team's games. In Boca's case? el Club Atletico de Boca Juniors has 80,000 members. La bombonera has 50,000 seats. Boca Juniors currently only sells tickets to members. There are two sections in almost every stadium. La Platea, and la Popular. Platea is what most americans think of as stadium seating- seats. The section where, here, families come, older folks, and most women who come to see the game. Popular is where the chaos is. No actual seats, people stand the whole time.But tickets are also about a third as expensive, and the only ones that remain on game day. Boca's policy is to open ticket sales on game day (except for the HUGE games: read- Boca vs. River) and usually the only tickets that remain that dont cost 700-800 pesos a piece are the popular.

A couple sections of the popular in the Bombonera are exclusively for members of La Barra Brava, the sections that waved the flags and the signs Jugador No 12 (read- 12th player). Don't know much about what it takes to become a member, although I do know most are in their teens and 20s, but members of the Barra get free tickets to the Popular section for most games. How does this happen? Well, CABJ denies any official affiliation with the Barra, but someone inside has to be paying for the tickets! La Barra Brava does all the chanting that Argentine soccer is so very famous for (title of this entry is one of the chants). When I went last night, I kid you not, the Barras chanted the ENTIRE 95 minutes of the game. It's incredible to see entire sections of the stadium jumping up and down at the same time. When it's full, they say la Bombonera shakes. And after what I saw last night? It doesn't surprise me.

Last night Boca Juniors played Velez Sarsfield and tied 1-1. In the first two minutes, Boca scored. In the first fifteen, someone from the small Velez section threw a fire cracker that almost hit a police officer. There were police surrounding the field and the stadium all during the game (the field was glassed in with spikes at the top, talk about protection for these guys!), and at the end of the game, police in full riot gear with plastic shields and everything came onto the field. A detterent, I guess?

People were very nice, and the row of what were probably life time Boca members (all 80+ years old) behind us was interested in how 3 American girls came to get tickets for Boca Juniors. We sat in the Platea, where tickets for foreigners are nearly impossible to get, so we definitely got a good feel for "La Pasion Boquarense" (read- Boca Mania...literally translated- Bocan Passion).

It was intense, amazing, and so exciting! I'm definitely going back.

Miscelaneous happenings...

Everyone has dogs in this country. Absolutely everyone. And while every American laughs at Paris Hilton for dressing up Tinkerbell (her little Chihuahua, for those of you who didn't know), I'm pretty sure that half the dogs I've seen here are better dressed than I am. From the biggest greyhound, to a chihuahua so small it could fit in my purse, a huge portion of dogs here sport sweaters, and....drum roll please.........I've seen some wearing pants too! When we went to visit la Boca and the Bombonera (Boca Junior's stadium), some guy was walking around with both his greyhounds sporting blue and gold Boca sweaters and pants!! My only question....what about shoes? I mean, when my dog PJ was still alive I know we bought him booties when it snowed so his paws wouldn't freeze, but I have yet to see a dog here with shoes! Weird!

On another note. Protests erupted throughout the downtown area two days ago when the electric bills came. Apparently the electric bills are really fixing people good raising bills as much as 600% this month. For what reason? Well, I'm not entirely sure. But people were ANGRY. And the police of course were not just going to sit around and let people protest. Policemen in full riot gear (masks, bullet proof vests, those long sticks they use to hit people with, and cans of tear gas and of course guns) on every corner of the plaza yesterday, in addition to a whole slew of regular police in the middle of the plaza. Now granted, this wasn't anywhere near the scale of 2001, when Ines told me that the main avenue four blocks from us was blocked with protestors nearly every afternoon, but I feel like I'm definitely here at an exciting time!

On yet another note, Argentine football and the AFA are experiencing an unprecedented crisis that has actually never happened before. The details are still quite a mystery to me (the newspaper lying nxt to me promises to explain more), it had something to do with some channels exclusive contract to show the AFA football games. The AFA broke the contract, and because of that, Boca's first match has been delayed yet another week. *sigh* But apparently this is the first time EVER this has happened and footballers and sports shows talk of little else!

So that's how it is here in Buenos Aires.

Long Awaited...Personal Updates

Hi, folks! I have been in this wonderful country for three weeks now, and every day I wake up feeling so glad that I decided to come! Some classes have started, while others have not. With the IFSA (Institute for Study Abroad) program that I came with, students are allowed a shopping period, where we can try out courses at a number of different universities. We can try courses at 1) the University of Buenos Aires (UBA), 2) University Torquato Di Tella (UTDT), 3) Catholic University of Argentina (UCA) and 4) Salvador University (USAL). The literature program at USAL has already started, so I've been to one class there, and the political science program at UCA starts this week. I'm excited to start classes because that means I'll have a regular routine down instead of having to look at my planner every day!
Saturday nights have been great, because on that day I go out and make an event out of eating. I've tried three different restaurants so far. The first Saturday I was here I went with my new friend Natalie to try a classic Argentine asado (steak!) which was absolutely delicious. Then the next Saturday Natalie and I went to a very chic Mexican restaurant where I tried shrimp tacos. The food was good, but the portions were too small. Last night, Natalie, Noah, Zac, Kate and I tried a restaurant called "Estilo Campo" which is near UCA, about 40 minute bus ride away from my house. I had steak, which was again, absolutely delicious. Plus, you can not beat the prices. Since the peso is still 4 to 1 with the dollar, the most I've spent on a meal here is about 40 US dollars for two people!
My birthday is in three days! I'll officially be in my "Early 20s". Wow. It's rather anti-climactic because of course I can drink legally here already, but I'm thinking I'm going to go with a few friends to a nice restaurant for a good meal. Well, that's basically all the updates for now.

The Military (Cue the Suspensful Music)

Other than updating you all on my adventures here, which I promise I will do quite soon, I wanted this blog to be able to convey to friends and family in the USA certain aspects of Argentine culture that are perhaps still a mystery to most. For this entry, I've chosen to write about the Argentine armed forces and their lasting impression on the people of this great country.
For most of the last century, Argentina alternated between military and civilian governments. The military has always been an institutionally strong entity and has thus had the power to "relieve" any president of his post for any reason they chose. The periods of military government, however, never involved horrificly harsh repression until the early 1970s. A quick mini-history lesson before arriving at 1976.
Juan Peron was a populist president elected in early 1940s and who served for about ten years, if my memory serves me correctly. However, as the economy began to falter, the military staged a coup and allowed Peron to go into self imposed exile in Spain. For 18 years Peron lived in Spain, and in 1973 when absolutely nobody could save the country from economic and social unrest, they asked him to come back because they knew he was such a unifying figure. Who "they" are, well that's still a bit of a mystery and it might involve some research, but we'll say for now "they" are the powerful whos who in Argentine government. Well, Peron came back in either 72 or 73, ruled for a few months, then died. His third wife Isabela took over, but she did not have the capacity to govern a country so "threatened" (note quotation marks!) but communist infiltration. Let it be known that Jorge Videla did not start dissappearing people after he staged a coup d'etat in 76. My research for my paper last year indicated that the military, under Isabela Peron first began these covert operations in 1974 or '75.
Jorge R. Videla, along with several other heads of military, took over the government in 1976. They ruled until 1983. During this time the military was all powerful. They could take anyone they wanted for the smallest reason (long hair, dissent in school, even if they just didn't like their appearence!) and hold them without trial for as long as they pleased. Over 30,000 people were simply "dissappeared" during this time, many of whom were university students or professors.
Coming back to the present.... I live in a neighborhood with a huge military population. We are two blocks from the national military hospital, and the National School of War (think School of the Americas but in Argentina). And something eerie I just discovered last week... the biggest detention center used during the last military dictatorship, and by big I mean it is rumored to have dissappeared the most people by the most gruesome methods, is right down the street from me. Its called "La ESMA", which is an acronym for the National Naval Academy.
Argentines today are still very wary of anything or anyone associated with the military. While having a conversation with my host mother, Ines, she asked me what I wanted to do with my degree and I told her I was thinking about military law. She listened politely as I told her about my family's history in the military. Then after I was done, suggested to me that I not let it be openly known that I was from a military family and wanted to join because in many settings I would not receive the best of receptions.
The military and police forces today are still very present in Argentine society, although deprived of a lot of their institutional power. Cops are all around, on foot, on horseback, and in cars. All cops carry guns, and all guards I've seen to military institutions carry weapons that look larger than I am tall. The atrocities committed by the military in this country during the 70s and 80s are a very taboo subject, but a few very brave souls are beginning (almost thirty years later) to speak out about what happened to them inside the detention camps. Its a dark stain on this otherwise great country.