WILL YOU BANG THAT DRUM

Yesterday Will, Jessie, Susan, Susannah, and Carrie went to a Boca Jr. game. I wanted to get there early so we go be in the crazy section but that went out the window. We had trouble getting everything going and we had to catch two cabs. The cars took longer than expected to get there and we had a bigger group. We managed to get into our seats but everything was packed. I think we would have enjoyed the game more in the other section but it was good either way.

After the game the group split and Will and I went to Florida to get some food. We got Ugi's pizza. After we ate we were walking along the street just chewing the fat and Will says "I wonder I if I can find a band to play with down here." and I said "Go to the where they play live music where the musicans hang out." About five minutes later we got on the red line to go home and we heard some nice music in the sub way. Two guys were playing drums and singing. We sat down for a while and enjoyed the music. A girl sat down with us and we started talking in Spanish. We were enjoying ourselves so much we decided to catch the next train. Will decideds that he wants to try and play with the band. So we ask and the guys are totally cool. The drummer sits Will down and gives him the drums. After a little warm up Will starts to ROCK OUT (check the photos). People start to come up to listen and Will is killing all the little cross moves and the band memebers are amazed. The whole thing was awasome all the way around. Will and I left pumped. I felt a rush just taking the photos so no telling how pumped Will was. He said it was the coolest thing he had done in Buenos Aires.

Row, row, row your boat

Yesterday the group went for a relaxing walk near the zoo. When we got the park David the activity coordinator said in Spanish "After a week in such a huge city I thought you might like to relax in a place with a little more natural environment." I'm glad someone else thinks so also. We all walked around for 30 minutes, took some pictures, and enjoyed the park. There were a bunch of statues (check the pics) and a bunch of cats. After the park we headed for another park with paddle boats. When we got there we had to pair up to use the boats. I wanted to take a row boat. I was a little worried that I would be the only one. After a few minutes wait I finally found someone to ride alone. Blake, Jessie G. and I all set out. Just leaving the dock was a chore. There was a bunch of traffic and steering the little row boat was much more difficult than expected. After a few minutes of trial and error we finally made it to open water. Besides the splashing it was a really nice ride. We all took turns rowing. The guys were getting hungry so we went back to the docks to get food. I waited in the boat, took some pics (check the photos), and tried to get used to rowing. After Jessie and Blake got the food they did not want to row anymore. David decided to come along for a ride. The second time our I manged the rowing much better. David and I ran into (literally and physically) the other members of the group near the bridge. We all had a good time laughing it up and playing pirates. I really felt the group bonding. After all the rowing I was spent so left the group at the park and took the green line back to my room to chill for a while.

Goooooal for gold!

Argentina won the gold in soccer tonight. I watched it at a bar not that far from the dorm. I loved the whole night. The scene was awesome. This place had all of your traditional games (darts, pool, fooseball, board games) but tonight I noticed they also have archery. Yes you heard right archery. There were people in the upstairs part of the bar shooting bows and arrows. When you think of a bar in Buenos Aires you don't think of shooting bows and arrows but this place had it. The game was good. 1-0 Argentina won. The only goal was on a one on one break away and the scorer lofted the ball with his off foot over the goalie. The bar went nuts. Everyone started chanting and banging the tables. I normally do not watch soccer but I must say I really enjoyed the entire expereince. When time ran out everyone sang and chanted. I wish I knew all the songs that they sang I enjoyed everyone else sing. I'm sure the soccer team is going to be the buzz of the town for the next two weeks or so. I guess I should brush up on my soccer words. Dale Argentina!

Now walk it out, now walk it out

I just got back from a little jogging/walking with Carrie Jensen. It was great - just what I needed. We left for the tail around 10A.M. I'm surprised I woke up that early considering how late I stayed out last night. I got a little water and trail mix and met Carrie at school. The trip over was pretty interesting. We were both decked out in running gear on the subway. Of course the subway cars were shoulder to shoulder and I had a huge back pack on. Carrie seemed surprisingly cool considering how much we stood out and how packed the Subte was. When we finally make it to the trail it was a beautiful thing. I let Carrie take the lead b/c I knew I would not be able to keep up. After about 3.5 minutes of 1/2 a mile I was winded and Carrie had hit her stride. It was great to see her in her zone. At one point she said to me "This is what I have been looking for since I got here." That really made me happy. I know the feeling. I almost made it to the half way point when I spot Carrie headed back in my direction to walk with me. We walked to the fork in the road and for the rest of the trail. I was glad for the rest, the conversation, and the views. I hope I can share similar moments with all my new friends.

Pool Hall

I just got back from the pool hall. I had a great time. Blake and I walked about six blocks to a cool place called jobsbar. I had been there before. I was happy to know that the place was so close. We played a couple of games of pool and just chilled out. I was glad to have a slow night. In fact we actually did our homework before we went to play pool so it was kinda like a reward. While we were there the table kept eating our coins so we ended up talking to two girls. They were similar in age, very cute, and friendly. I did most of the talking but I was glad to know that Blake followed the whole conversation. We talked for about 30 minutes and called it a night. I really enjoyed myself and the conversation that we had.

We barely knew eachother

Yesterday was a huge day. I met everyone from the program. What a group we have! I'm super excited.

I met my host family. It was one lady living along. She was great. We chatted for a while and I was looking forward to living with her. Everything was going great. She gets a call from one of the other mothers and she said that other members of the group are going out (Jessie). So I go to look for them. We all end up have a big night of adventure where nothing really happened but the night seemed huge. I ended up going home around 4:00AM. I thought I knew where the house was but I spent 30 minutes looking for the door. I never found the place and ended up going back to my hostel for the night.

Of course there was hell to pay the next day. The program director was not happy. I explained that I got lost, and I didn't want to wake anyone, and that I had a key to my hostel, but the damage was done. My host mother did not want me to live with her anymore! So now I live in a dorm with a bunch of kids from Argentina. I guess it doesn't matter to me one way or the other. I deserved to be kicked out - I don't blame her one bit. I just hate that I "left a bad taste in her mouth."

More posts coming.

Meet the Parents

Tomorrow I go to meet my exchange family. I did not know exactly where the meeting place was so I took the subway to find it. The building was not that far from a mall that I had been to before. I was really surprised that I managed to make it there without getting lost. I did have to check the map a few time but I was always in the right place. The only think I'm worried about is the meeting time. My professor told me 9:45. Is that A.M. I think it is. But I could also see why it would be at night. I'm going to go in the morning just to be sure. Why would anyone meet that late at night. I'm really excited. I bought my host family a medium sized box of chocolate. It came in a little box with a bow and then the lady put it in a pretty bag with sting handles and sealed the top. Perfect. I'm most interested to all my classmates. I hope we have a good dynamic. I really think we will based on everyone's facebook profiles. I wonder what time everyone lands in B.A. Tomorrow should be really interesting. I'm going to make sure to charge my camera.

The Subway

I have been on the Subway four of five times and I really like it. Besides just taking you from place to place it is like an interesting little world. Here are some of the cool things about the subway.

Today I saw a girl that could not have been 10 years old juggling in the subway cars. She would go from car to car and juggle for change. When I say she juggled she really juggled. Here is how she did it. First she just did something simple. Then she turning it up a little bit. I was not really impressed at this point. Interested but nothing I had not seen before. Then (while the subway car was at full speed and with people standing all around) she started juggling off the wall of the subway car. At any one time she would have a ball in her hand, a ball in the air, and a ball bouncing off the roof of the subway car. Then she started bouncing the balls off of her feet and off the ground. This went on for about two minutes. I was impressed. Everyone gave her a round of applause. Some people gave money.

People will just walk up to you and put little items in your lap. They hand out pens, stickers, hair clips, all kinds of cheep items. They even put them in the lap of people who are sleeping. Then they walk around for a little while and if you look like you are interested they sell you the item. I guess you would exit the train and not pay but they don't seem to worry about that. If you don't want to buy they come back around and collect the item. You also see many poor kids doing the same thing at cafes.

The whole experience of being in one place and then being in another when you get off the train is amazing. When you walk up the stair to street level it is like you were teleported to another world. The whole feel is different. I also like how the whole system is set up. You just find your color and direction then get off at the right stop. 1, 2, 3, easy.

Past few days

The past two days have been really relaxed. Two days ago my buddy Jon from North Carolina took me to the walking trail - I loved it. We walked and just enjoyed the sound of the water and all the trees. The views were really cool. You could see tall grass and cat tails and behind them huge buildings. What a contrast. We must have walked about 3 miles in total.

I got a new roommate from Colombia. Talking to him is very difficult. I have never heard an accent like his and he uses words that I have never heard. I try to talk to him b/c he is very talkative but I get frustrated.

Yesterday was my sister's birthday. I missed it. =( I do have a present for her but it will be a while before she gets it.

Last night I got a chance to "chew the fat" with a group of guys from the hostel. I really enjoyed joking around with them. At one point in the night I said that I was glad I asked them a question b/c I don't have many chances to talk to the "nativos" from Colombia. Well what I wanted to say was "native speakers" (nativos del lengua Espanol) but I was in a rush. They had a good laugh at my expense. They went on and on about how I think they are walking around with hand tools with feathers in their hair. It was good fun.

Today I took the subte to the campus of the University of Buenos Aires. I was very interested to see how they set up their university. When I walked in the one building that we needed to go to there were huge banners all over the place. The banners must have been 30X20 feet.

I think the UGA group arrives tommarrow and I have to meet my family on Sunday. I still need to get my hair cut and shave before then. Also I'm going to buy my family a little gift. I hope they are nice and I hope they cook well.

Stupid Americans

I had a rough night last night. Two guys from my hostel and I had such a great day in Recoleta. We should have quit while we were ahead. They are about to leave so I MADE them go to Recoleta Cemetery. We did not just visit - it was a full out adventure. We took the subway, got lost, walked, talked, ate ice cream. We were traveling in the purest way, as much as you can in the city. When we got to Recoleta I knew they would want to see Evita's grave. I knew exactly where it was. I couldn't tell them. If I told them they would not get as much from the experience. I told them that I wanted them to search for her - just as I did the first time I was in Recoleta. This way they could say they really KNOW Recoleta and Evtia. To my surprise they both embraced the idea (there are about 5000 tombs). We walked around the Cemetery for two hours. We talked about the past. We talked about the history of Argentina, what Evita means to the people of Argentina. We took photos. I really enjoyed seeing them search for Evita. You could see the desperation in there faces. I could not hide my excitement as they got closer. They knew they were close. I just let the moment happen for them. I walked around to the other side of the grave so I could see them find what we had been looking for. We stood there together and just enjoyed the moment. We all left feeling inspired and accomplished. I enjoyed watching an important moment in their journey more than when I did it myself.

Many hours later I starting looking for something to do for the night. As we were getting ready we ran into my Mexican neighbor (Lilia is her name) - the same one I took to lunch a few days ago. Of course I invited her to come along to the bar. She said she was tired (typical). So we ate and drank for a little while. Just before we are about the leave my buddy from the hostel made one last ditch effort to drag her along (I had given up long ago assuming she was not interested). She said yes. I didn't really expect her to accept naturally I was excited. The night was beginning to take shape. We took a taxi to the bar (we could have walked) b/c we had a girl with us. When we got there the scene was dead except the bar we were going to. When we got there everyone was stoked b/c there was live music and we ran into a group of friends from another hostel. The night was in turning for larva to pupa. We all drank and talked and joked. I was so happy with the way the entire day went that I decided it was worthy of a Yetti call (my happy noise, very loud, very embarrassing for those around, very fun for me). I explained the whole yetti culture to everyone in English and Spanish. This would have been the first Yetti in Argentina and an event on the Tango List. I knew all this and still decided to do it. So I release the beast. Not one minute later the girl was pissed - she walks out. The whole dynamic changed. I could not believe she was pulling this shit. She was an invited guest (not paying) and received special treatment (she sent her martini back twice) now after I use my first Yetti in Argentina she messes up the whole night. I could feel the blood rushing to my head. I just shut everything down. I paid the tab, caught a cab, and didn't say a word in Spanish to her the whole ride home. We got to my hostel to drop off the Mexican girl and left to go to another hostel to wind down (and bitch about the girls rudeness). On the way over we ran into the other group from the bar (bunch of people from Europe). I wanted to vent. I was pissed (so were my buddies) that she ruined a great night. Unfortunately, some of the European girls overheard us bitching and complaining. I didn't really give a damn so I pretty much said what I was felt. In in an effort to change the subject we started talking about linguistics and European languages. They were all breaking down the origin of various names. I chime in with this little jewel:

"Where is the name Haagen-Dazs from?"

I knew they would not have an answer b/c it is a made up name by an American company in order to sound European. They take the bait. So I go off on a little rant about American marking to European...Foreign Branding...bla bla bla. I think they misunderstood my intentions - they left. I think they were offended too.

My buddy smartly decided we should call it a night. Talking with him on the way I understood how much of a fool I made of myself and how poorly I represented my country. I never wanted to be the drunk obnoxious American. Last night I was. I fell asleep feeling ashamed. I just wanted to sleep and forget the whole second half of the day.