Day 19
Today, Martina, Miguel and I went to La Plata, which is a town about 30-45 minutes away, while Marcela was working and Mercedes was out with friends. We got lunch when we got there at this small place that cooks in massive stone ovens outside the little shop, and then we went to this museum of history! The museum was a lot bigger than we thought it was, and by time we finished lunch we only had 2 1/2 hours to explore. Needless to say, we didn't get to see everything, but about 20 minutes after arriving there was a free guided tour, so we took that and got to see a lot of things.
After the museum we got popcorn for Miguel and Martina and cotton candy for me, and the cotton candy was seriously ginormous. Take note all you fairgrounds people in the US! (see my photo on facebook--it was about twice the size of my head...)
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Day 20
We just chilled today :)
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Day 21
Today I went with Martina and Mercedes to Malba, which is a huge, famous art museum. It was really cool and definitely my favorite museum here yet because it had so many cool things to see. They even had 2 galleries that were completely in the dark, and depended on things like plastic and metal to reflect light in certain ways to make the art. There was this one that had a big curved wall onto which was projected reflections from chunks of plastic (maybe glass) and the reflections were seriously mesmerizing. With the huge wall being curved like it was, it seemed like you were almost in a different dimension with the strange shapes all around you, and because the light was reflected off of different pieces, there were different tones of light on the wall and it seemed even more 3-dimensional, and yeah. I easily could have stood there for an hour or more just watching. As it was I was probably there for 15 minutes :)
But anyways, after we left the museum, we found a Subway and had dinner there and then came back to the house.
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Day 22
We went to Uruguay today!! We took a ferry across the river (which is the widest in the world, apparently, so it took an hour) and then spent the day in Colonia doing a guided tour of the city and exploring a little on our own. It was so pretty, and everyone was so friendly, and they had some really neat stuff to buy for souvenirs. I even got these great fur-lined leather gloves (that fit me and my short fingers perfectly, which is a big deal) for only $20. You just can't do that in the US :D I also got a few more presents for friends and family, and am almost done shopping :)
We didn't get back to the house until around 11pm and we all pretty much went straight to bed :)
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Day 23
Today Mercedes, and I went to another art history museum and then we met Marcela at Hard Rock Cafe! I've been wanting to go there since I got here since it's tradition for my mom, sister and I whenever we can find one to go, and it was sooo good! I had a California Burger (cheesburger with cucumber, guacamole, and lettuce), french fries, and peanut butter chocolate pie. Yeah, I was stuffed because the food was seriously huge, but it was so worth it :D
So now, I am done gift shopping and chilling and watching stuff online :)
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Day 24
Today I thought we were just going to hang out, but a little after 4 we decided to go out. We ended up in Chinatown and explored around there for a few hours. Surprisingly, I've never been to any Chinatown before and I really liked it! It definitely needs to be something I do a lot more often with Mom living so close to DC because the food is so yummy and there are some really cool things to buy! I ended up finding a couple more things for Dad and Paige that I absolutely could not pass up, and now I am done shopping for real :)
There are these things called Empanadas Chinos that they have here that are a lot like egg rolls in taste, but that are not fried and I really like them a lot! I need to figure out what they are called in English so I can find them in the States. I also tried Bubble tea for the first time today and that was interesting. It's not my favorite, but it is decent enough I would probably have it again.
So yeah, I only have 4 days left in Buenos Aires! Tomorrow we are going to El Tigre (a river port about an hour away that has more touristy things to do), and then on Monday I think we're going to tour Teatro Colón, and then on Wednesday I leave! This has gone by so quickly, but it has been such a neat experience that I know I'll remember for a long time to come :)
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Days 13-18
Okay, so days 13-15 were really chill--we just hung out at the house and watched tv because Miguel and Marcela were both working. They were just good ole' summer vacation days, so I'm not going to say anything else about them for now :)
Day 16
Today we went to a small tourist area called La Boca, which is called that because it is the mouth of a (pretty big) river. But anyways, this place has been around for ages, but has been beautifully preserved because of the intense color of the buildings and because that is an area where tango is a big part of the culture. Like, studying music at Julliard (almost), or learning to cook in Italy. Like that, but more performance-for-tourists-focused. Anyways, it was pretty cool. It was an old neighborhood from the 1880s turned into a mixture museum and shopping district. If you see my photos on Facebook, each room where there was a shop was where 1 family lived. This was a huge immigration zone, so almost all of the families were pretty poor and couldn't afford anything bigger than those little rooms.
But yeah, here I almost finished souvenir shopping because there were TONS of neat things to buy.
Oh! I also got to try a freshly-made alfajor from a street vendor and it was even better than the boxed kind--Pretty similar, but bigger and fresh :)
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Day 17
Today we got up early and drove almost 3 hours to the Gaona's house in the country side. It was really big and really pretty. There are a few photos of the outside, but I forgot to take some inside. They even had one of those big plaster-type stone ovens outside that we used to cook chicken and beef for lunch, and I got to help Miguel keep the fire going long enough to get the coals hot.
The town was really small, but it was really nice to be in the country side with not much more than a park, a church, and an abandoned train station to see, and no traffic or sirens going all day long. That being said, Mercedes and I went exploring while the food was cooking and took some pictures :)
There was a little boy from the neighborhood, whose grandmother is friends with Martina, and the two of them came over not long after Mercedes and I returned from the walk. Once they arrived Mercedes and I were having fun keeping the boy (Josue) entertained while Martina and the lady talked and I didn't get anymore photos after that. He was (only) 4 yesterday, but today was apparently his birthday and now he is 5. :D
So yeah, once it was dark, we drove back to Buenos Aires, and when we got back Mercedes and I watched the first half of Frozen in Spanish before she started falling asleep from exhaustion (she had never seen it so I made her stay up to watch it with me and she fell asleep anyways.. :P ) :) Haha it was interesting because there was no option of subtitles in English, but I've seen it enough times and understand just enough Spanish that between the two I was okay to understand everything.
More and more I am realizing that, like one of my professors said about knowing Portuguese, I know a little more than enough Spanish to get me into trouble, and I don't think I know enough to get back out of it again. It has been really frustrating trying to understand when my brain is automatically trying to do everything in English, and it is making me severely doubt my previous desire to learn like 5 languages because it is a lot more work than even I had thought before. Which, in a way is a relief because it gives me a teeny bit more direction of what not to do with my life, but at the same time it scares me because with it being this hard, I am more reserved about trying to enter the job market and say "Hey! I'm pretty good at Spanish, so you should hire me as a liaison" or something like that and I have no clue what else to do with my life when I graduate next year...
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After that we went to see the House of Government, which is where President Kirchner does a lot of her work. Here, unlike in the US, the president doesn't live where she (or he) works. The president's house is about 15 minutes away, and she doesn't work on weekends, so tourists are able to visit during the weekend and explore almost the entire building, including her office. I got maybe 60 pictures today, so I'll post them online here in a bit.
After that, we got dinner and then came back to the house. It is definitely going to take getting used to when I return to the states to eat at normal meal times and to eat less. It seems like Martina is always trying to get me to eat something, and half the time I do to make her feel better (she worries I don't eat enough but I feel like I eat SO much!!). So if you come to Argentina and if you stay with people, this is your warning to come hungry! Haha.
But yeah, it's been really cool here and although I've been feeling a bit homesick the last couple days, I know I'll miss it when I leave. :)
Day 16
Today we went to a small tourist area called La Boca, which is called that because it is the mouth of a (pretty big) river. But anyways, this place has been around for ages, but has been beautifully preserved because of the intense color of the buildings and because that is an area where tango is a big part of the culture. Like, studying music at Julliard (almost), or learning to cook in Italy. Like that, but more performance-for-tourists-focused. Anyways, it was pretty cool. It was an old neighborhood from the 1880s turned into a mixture museum and shopping district. If you see my photos on Facebook, each room where there was a shop was where 1 family lived. This was a huge immigration zone, so almost all of the families were pretty poor and couldn't afford anything bigger than those little rooms.
But yeah, here I almost finished souvenir shopping because there were TONS of neat things to buy.
Oh! I also got to try a freshly-made alfajor from a street vendor and it was even better than the boxed kind--Pretty similar, but bigger and fresh :)
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Day 17
Today we got up early and drove almost 3 hours to the Gaona's house in the country side. It was really big and really pretty. There are a few photos of the outside, but I forgot to take some inside. They even had one of those big plaster-type stone ovens outside that we used to cook chicken and beef for lunch, and I got to help Miguel keep the fire going long enough to get the coals hot.
The town was really small, but it was really nice to be in the country side with not much more than a park, a church, and an abandoned train station to see, and no traffic or sirens going all day long. That being said, Mercedes and I went exploring while the food was cooking and took some pictures :)
There was a little boy from the neighborhood, whose grandmother is friends with Martina, and the two of them came over not long after Mercedes and I returned from the walk. Once they arrived Mercedes and I were having fun keeping the boy (Josue) entertained while Martina and the lady talked and I didn't get anymore photos after that. He was (only) 4 yesterday, but today was apparently his birthday and now he is 5. :D
So yeah, once it was dark, we drove back to Buenos Aires, and when we got back Mercedes and I watched the first half of Frozen in Spanish before she started falling asleep from exhaustion (she had never seen it so I made her stay up to watch it with me and she fell asleep anyways.. :P ) :) Haha it was interesting because there was no option of subtitles in English, but I've seen it enough times and understand just enough Spanish that between the two I was okay to understand everything.
More and more I am realizing that, like one of my professors said about knowing Portuguese, I know a little more than enough Spanish to get me into trouble, and I don't think I know enough to get back out of it again. It has been really frustrating trying to understand when my brain is automatically trying to do everything in English, and it is making me severely doubt my previous desire to learn like 5 languages because it is a lot more work than even I had thought before. Which, in a way is a relief because it gives me a teeny bit more direction of what not to do with my life, but at the same time it scares me because with it being this hard, I am more reserved about trying to enter the job market and say "Hey! I'm pretty good at Spanish, so you should hire me as a liaison" or something like that and I have no clue what else to do with my life when I graduate next year...
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Day 18
Today we went to buy tickets for a short visit across the river to Uruguay. (eep!) We ended up getting ones only as far as Colonia because going all the way to Montevideo would have been really expensive, but I'm excited anyways! I thought it would be a few years before I got to go to Uruguay at all, and now we're going to go to a touristy spot, yes, but that's fine with me--it is vacation and we all are tourists :D
After that we went to see the House of Government, which is where President Kirchner does a lot of her work. Here, unlike in the US, the president doesn't live where she (or he) works. The president's house is about 15 minutes away, and she doesn't work on weekends, so tourists are able to visit during the weekend and explore almost the entire building, including her office. I got maybe 60 pictures today, so I'll post them online here in a bit.
After that, we got dinner and then came back to the house. It is definitely going to take getting used to when I return to the states to eat at normal meal times and to eat less. It seems like Martina is always trying to get me to eat something, and half the time I do to make her feel better (she worries I don't eat enough but I feel like I eat SO much!!). So if you come to Argentina and if you stay with people, this is your warning to come hungry! Haha.
But yeah, it's been really cool here and although I've been feeling a bit homesick the last couple days, I know I'll miss it when I leave. :)
Monday, July 14, 2014
Days 8-12
Okay, so posts are getting farther between and I'll try to stay more on top of it for the rest of the trip, but not much has happened the last few days and last night my allergies were really bad from loving on Feli's kitty cats, so I didn't feel great and went to bed early. But anyways, here goes.
Day 8
Not much happened today at all--I slept until 11 because I had been up late from the celebrations at El Obelisco and by the time I got up and got a shower, Miguel and Marcela were at work, and Martina was at the hospital with Mercedes. Also, since both sides of the front door are openable only with a key, I was locked in all day and couldn't exactly go anywhere until someone got home.
Once Miguel and Marcela both got home, Marcela and I met up with Felicitas. We walked to Pablo's house in Palermo, and on the way there did some shopping for little things and I got Andy his souvenir. When we got to Pablo's house, he cooked spaghetti for us American-style and it was good! :) Then, after dinner we got Gelato at a nearby shop and then went our separate ways and I got to bed at 2am.
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Day 9
Today I woke up knowing that I didn't want to do anything, so I lounged around pretty much all day, except to help Martina prepare dinner and some Milanesa to freeze for later. The dinner turned out really well! It was a sort of stew that Martina paired with a pasta and it was yummy.
Then I got caught up with the Legend of Korra online (until 3 am.. haha whoops) and went to sleep.
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Day 10
Today I went to San Antonio de Areco (about 2 hours from Buenos Aires) with Martina and Miguel. It rained seriously all day so I really didn't get many pictures, and almost the entire city was shut down because of the rain so we couldn't even do much. But oh well, it was cool to see a little history of how the old Gauchos here in Argentina used to live and I got Mom a souvenir too :)
Around 3 we had seen most everything that we wanted to see that was open (again pretty much the whole city was closed), so we went to find food and then left.
About an hour after getting back from San Antonio I went with Marcela and Felicitas to Carolina's house and it was really good to see her after so long. We ordered some really yummy Chinese food and just hung out. Also, Mercedes came home today! She really can't move very quickly still, but she seems to be feeling a lot better than she was before.
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Day 11
Today was the final match of FIFA 2014 between Argentina and Germany and it was CRAZY! Both teams were making it difficult for the other, and the goal that Argentina scored (that should have counted!!!!!) didn't count because either the player was too far from the goal or there was not a second player close enough to the one that did score (not sure between the two).. I was so mad about that, especially when Germany didn't score anything until it scored in the last 7 minutes of overtime and won.... But anyways, it was a great game!!
But anyways, after the game I was super tired from staying up late the previous 4 nights and my allergies were acting up from loving on Feli's cats (she has 2 babies that I haven't really been reacting to much the last few times I've gone over so I was cuddling them a little more than usual and yeah...). Fortunately though, after getting back to the Gaona's house, washing my face and hands really well, and being away from any cats for a while I was okay :)
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Day 12
Today, I slept in a little later again, and around 1 I left with Martina and we spent all afternoon shopping at the huge mall a short distance from the house. I got a new shirt that is a gorgeous royal blue, a tiny pillow with an Argentine spirit song (sung at things like fútbol games and the like), a souvenir for Dad, and a wide headband to hold my bangs back while I wash my face. It was a really good day and I got some yummy Chinese food for lunch so I'm pretty happy :)
The rest of the evening I've spent looking at internship opportunities online and sending emails, and there's some things that look pretty promising, so we'll see what happens!
Also, I changed the comment settings on the blog so you should be able to comment now if you were having trouble before. :)
Day 8
Not much happened today at all--I slept until 11 because I had been up late from the celebrations at El Obelisco and by the time I got up and got a shower, Miguel and Marcela were at work, and Martina was at the hospital with Mercedes. Also, since both sides of the front door are openable only with a key, I was locked in all day and couldn't exactly go anywhere until someone got home.
Once Miguel and Marcela both got home, Marcela and I met up with Felicitas. We walked to Pablo's house in Palermo, and on the way there did some shopping for little things and I got Andy his souvenir. When we got to Pablo's house, he cooked spaghetti for us American-style and it was good! :) Then, after dinner we got Gelato at a nearby shop and then went our separate ways and I got to bed at 2am.
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Day 9
Today I woke up knowing that I didn't want to do anything, so I lounged around pretty much all day, except to help Martina prepare dinner and some Milanesa to freeze for later. The dinner turned out really well! It was a sort of stew that Martina paired with a pasta and it was yummy.
Then I got caught up with the Legend of Korra online (until 3 am.. haha whoops) and went to sleep.
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Day 10
Today I went to San Antonio de Areco (about 2 hours from Buenos Aires) with Martina and Miguel. It rained seriously all day so I really didn't get many pictures, and almost the entire city was shut down because of the rain so we couldn't even do much. But oh well, it was cool to see a little history of how the old Gauchos here in Argentina used to live and I got Mom a souvenir too :)
Around 3 we had seen most everything that we wanted to see that was open (again pretty much the whole city was closed), so we went to find food and then left.
About an hour after getting back from San Antonio I went with Marcela and Felicitas to Carolina's house and it was really good to see her after so long. We ordered some really yummy Chinese food and just hung out. Also, Mercedes came home today! She really can't move very quickly still, but she seems to be feeling a lot better than she was before.
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Day 11
Today was the final match of FIFA 2014 between Argentina and Germany and it was CRAZY! Both teams were making it difficult for the other, and the goal that Argentina scored (that should have counted!!!!!) didn't count because either the player was too far from the goal or there was not a second player close enough to the one that did score (not sure between the two).. I was so mad about that, especially when Germany didn't score anything until it scored in the last 7 minutes of overtime and won.... But anyways, it was a great game!!
But anyways, after the game I was super tired from staying up late the previous 4 nights and my allergies were acting up from loving on Feli's cats (she has 2 babies that I haven't really been reacting to much the last few times I've gone over so I was cuddling them a little more than usual and yeah...). Fortunately though, after getting back to the Gaona's house, washing my face and hands really well, and being away from any cats for a while I was okay :)
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Day 12
Today, I slept in a little later again, and around 1 I left with Martina and we spent all afternoon shopping at the huge mall a short distance from the house. I got a new shirt that is a gorgeous royal blue, a tiny pillow with an Argentine spirit song (sung at things like fútbol games and the like), a souvenir for Dad, and a wide headband to hold my bangs back while I wash my face. It was a really good day and I got some yummy Chinese food for lunch so I'm pretty happy :)
The rest of the evening I've spent looking at internship opportunities online and sending emails, and there's some things that look pretty promising, so we'll see what happens!
Also, I changed the comment settings on the blog so you should be able to comment now if you were having trouble before. :)
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Days 4-7
Ai ai ai it has been a crazy few days....
Days 4 and 5
I honestly don´t even remember what we were doing on Sunday (day 4) and I forgot to write things down, but I don´t think it was too crazy. Monday, however, I woke up to a scared and hurried Martina because apparently Mercedes had to go to the hospital in the wee hours Monday morning (~4am) because her stomach was hurting her very badly, and Martina wanted to get back there before they decided they needed to operate. Turns out her appendix needed to be taken out, although it wasn´t an emergency so it ended up being like 3 or 4 pm before they operated on her.
After I woke up all the way and Martina left, however, Miguel came home and I went with him and Marcela to a bank about 30 minutes away to try to do some paperwork that needed to be done after Marcela´s wallet was stolen last week. (I found out about this Sunday night--her wallet was stolen from her job by a customer who was snooping where they weren´t supposed to be, and then spent a lot of money that they don´t know if they will be able to get back). So that took a few hours, and around 3 we arrived at the hospital, just a little bit before they took Mercedes away to be operated on.
The rest of that night was pretty chill.
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Day 6
Today was crazy!!! Martina came home around mid-morning and took me to visit Mercedes at the hospital in the early afternoon, so that was good. However Mercedes was in a lot of pain and her doctor had told her that she had to walk around because she had gas that was stuck in her intestines. However, walking only made it hurt a lot worse, so the doctors did a bunch of tests (I don´t know if the found anything or what they found).
While we were at the hospital, the Germany-Brazil fútbol game started and Oh. My. Goodness. It was so insane--In the first 10 minutes, Germany scored. Okay kind of a big deal, but whatever, right? At 21, 23, and 24 minutes into the game, Germany scored again. And again. And again. And again at 28!! It was so crazy. At that point they already beat World Cup history (I think) for number of goals scored during a World Cup match that were actual goals during the game (not penalties that had to happen from no one scoring during the normal time, or in over-time).
At that point, Marcela and I left with Felicitas and Pablo, who came to visit Mecha later in the afternoon, to go hang out for a little while. We saw the end of the game at a TGI Fridays, where we stopped for a snack because dinner wasn´t going to be until 9:30 pm (it was only 6:30 then). Germany went on to smash World Cup history with not only scoring 7 points during a World Cup match, but also keeping the other team from scoring more than 1. In case you don´t know, a 6 point lead in a professional soccer game is almost unheard of--most teams are doing really well to get 2 goals, much less 7!
We went back to Felicitas´ for a little while before going back out with Marcela´s other friend, Florencia, to a nice little restaurant where I had Penne pasta mixed with Salmon and some creamy sauce. I ate wayyyy too much but it was so good, and after that we went our separate ways.
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Day 7
Today I got up early to go with Miguel to find a jersey in Argentina colors, and I ended up finding a really nice one for really cheap! After that, we found me a small notebook to carry in my purse and write all of the new words I´m learning, and then we came back to the house for a few hours.
Around 4 pm, Marcela got home and we headed towards Felicitas´ house to watch the Argentina game against the Netherlands. It was a hard game--both teams had a really good defense and really bad offense. They both had several great shots at the goal, but each time either team tried to make one, either the goalie made an awesome save, or the player completely missed the goal. Like, really badly. They even ended overtime (another half hour on top of the 90 minute game) at 0-0 and had to decide the game with penalty shots.
Apparently when they resort to penalty shots, each team gets 5 tries to make a goal with only 1 player from 1 team against the goalie of the other team, and the best out of 5 wins. Well the Argentina goal keeper blocked 2 shots by the Hollanders and Argentina made 4 goals, so won 4-2 and then the world went crazy. Think New-York-City-on-New-Years insane. Of course, Feli, Pablo, and Marcela decided they wanted to go out in the melee, so we all put on face paint and went out to join the crowd that was surging toward the Obelisco.
It was about 2 miles to the Obelisco and it was a lot of fun because everyone was singing and playing music and dancing and honking car horns the whole way, and eventually the crowd took over all of the streets and the police had to shut the roads down from vehicle traffic anywhere near it. After wandering around in the crowds there, we headed toward Palermo where Pablo lives, and a little more than 1/2 of the way there we finally got a bus.
Just from the house to the obelisco and out to Palermo, it was about 8 kilometers (~4 1/2 miles), so I think it is safe to say we walked at least 6 miles today because we walked for a long time after getting to Palermo too, but it was definitely a good day!!
P.S. Argentina has a song to Brazil called "Brazil, Decime que se Siente," or "Brazil, Tell me how you feel" ( see here --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlD0lsWm8N4) that I heard maybe 60 or more times today. It was constantly being sung over and over all night, but everyone was having fun with it. Yesterday people were even joking saying "Brazil, decime que Siete, oops I mean Siente" because the #7 (siete) sounds like siente (feel) and it was funny... :)
So yeah! More later
Days 4 and 5
I honestly don´t even remember what we were doing on Sunday (day 4) and I forgot to write things down, but I don´t think it was too crazy. Monday, however, I woke up to a scared and hurried Martina because apparently Mercedes had to go to the hospital in the wee hours Monday morning (~4am) because her stomach was hurting her very badly, and Martina wanted to get back there before they decided they needed to operate. Turns out her appendix needed to be taken out, although it wasn´t an emergency so it ended up being like 3 or 4 pm before they operated on her.
After I woke up all the way and Martina left, however, Miguel came home and I went with him and Marcela to a bank about 30 minutes away to try to do some paperwork that needed to be done after Marcela´s wallet was stolen last week. (I found out about this Sunday night--her wallet was stolen from her job by a customer who was snooping where they weren´t supposed to be, and then spent a lot of money that they don´t know if they will be able to get back). So that took a few hours, and around 3 we arrived at the hospital, just a little bit before they took Mercedes away to be operated on.
The rest of that night was pretty chill.
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Day 6
Today was crazy!!! Martina came home around mid-morning and took me to visit Mercedes at the hospital in the early afternoon, so that was good. However Mercedes was in a lot of pain and her doctor had told her that she had to walk around because she had gas that was stuck in her intestines. However, walking only made it hurt a lot worse, so the doctors did a bunch of tests (I don´t know if the found anything or what they found).
While we were at the hospital, the Germany-Brazil fútbol game started and Oh. My. Goodness. It was so insane--In the first 10 minutes, Germany scored. Okay kind of a big deal, but whatever, right? At 21, 23, and 24 minutes into the game, Germany scored again. And again. And again. And again at 28!! It was so crazy. At that point they already beat World Cup history (I think) for number of goals scored during a World Cup match that were actual goals during the game (not penalties that had to happen from no one scoring during the normal time, or in over-time).
At that point, Marcela and I left with Felicitas and Pablo, who came to visit Mecha later in the afternoon, to go hang out for a little while. We saw the end of the game at a TGI Fridays, where we stopped for a snack because dinner wasn´t going to be until 9:30 pm (it was only 6:30 then). Germany went on to smash World Cup history with not only scoring 7 points during a World Cup match, but also keeping the other team from scoring more than 1. In case you don´t know, a 6 point lead in a professional soccer game is almost unheard of--most teams are doing really well to get 2 goals, much less 7!
We went back to Felicitas´ for a little while before going back out with Marcela´s other friend, Florencia, to a nice little restaurant where I had Penne pasta mixed with Salmon and some creamy sauce. I ate wayyyy too much but it was so good, and after that we went our separate ways.
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Day 7
Today I got up early to go with Miguel to find a jersey in Argentina colors, and I ended up finding a really nice one for really cheap! After that, we found me a small notebook to carry in my purse and write all of the new words I´m learning, and then we came back to the house for a few hours.
Around 4 pm, Marcela got home and we headed towards Felicitas´ house to watch the Argentina game against the Netherlands. It was a hard game--both teams had a really good defense and really bad offense. They both had several great shots at the goal, but each time either team tried to make one, either the goalie made an awesome save, or the player completely missed the goal. Like, really badly. They even ended overtime (another half hour on top of the 90 minute game) at 0-0 and had to decide the game with penalty shots.
Apparently when they resort to penalty shots, each team gets 5 tries to make a goal with only 1 player from 1 team against the goalie of the other team, and the best out of 5 wins. Well the Argentina goal keeper blocked 2 shots by the Hollanders and Argentina made 4 goals, so won 4-2 and then the world went crazy. Think New-York-City-on-New-Years insane. Of course, Feli, Pablo, and Marcela decided they wanted to go out in the melee, so we all put on face paint and went out to join the crowd that was surging toward the Obelisco.
It was about 2 miles to the Obelisco and it was a lot of fun because everyone was singing and playing music and dancing and honking car horns the whole way, and eventually the crowd took over all of the streets and the police had to shut the roads down from vehicle traffic anywhere near it. After wandering around in the crowds there, we headed toward Palermo where Pablo lives, and a little more than 1/2 of the way there we finally got a bus.
Just from the house to the obelisco and out to Palermo, it was about 8 kilometers (~4 1/2 miles), so I think it is safe to say we walked at least 6 miles today because we walked for a long time after getting to Palermo too, but it was definitely a good day!!
P.S. Argentina has a song to Brazil called "Brazil, Decime que se Siente," or "Brazil, Tell me how you feel" ( see here --> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlD0lsWm8N4) that I heard maybe 60 or more times today. It was constantly being sung over and over all night, but everyone was having fun with it. Yesterday people were even joking saying "Brazil, decime que Siete, oops I mean Siente" because the #7 (siete) sounds like siente (feel) and it was funny... :)
So yeah! More later
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Days 1-3
Day 1
Well, I´m here! After 24 hours of travelling, I have arrived in Buenos Aires safely. I had a short stop in San Salvador, El Salvador (the first plane left Washing an hour late because of the rain and arrived a half hour late, but I ran to the next gate and made it in time), then an 8 hour stop in Lima, Peru, and then I arrived in B.A! Mercedes, Miguel, and Martina Gaona came to get me at the airport, and when we got to the house, we waited for Marcela to arrive and then went to get dinner. We ate at a small diner near the apartment, and I had something like a ham, egg, and cheese pizza that was so, so good. We then returned to the apartment and went to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 2
Today I got up a bit earlier than planned but it was okay. After breakfast, I went to the supermarket with Martina while Mercedes studied for her exams and Miguel and Marcela were at work. It was a great chance to practice my Spanish because Martina doesn´t speak English much at all. I had to take and use my dictionary, but it was okay :) When we got back to the house, we had lunch and watched some of the fútbol game (soccer) and other tv before I took a nap.
I only meant to sleep for ~45 minutes, but my alarm didn´t work and I slept for 2 hours. O.o Then Miguel got home around 6:30 and Martina made gnocchi and beef for dinner with a type of gravy that she made. And then, after Marcela got home much later, we went driving around the city to see the Obelisco (which is basically a smaller version of the Washington Monument), the House and the Library of Congress, the Pink House (like the White House but the president does not live there), and other things. My phone was dead so I couldn´t take pictures, but it is charged now and I will take it next time.
When we got back to the house it was around 10:30 but the girls and I watched "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer." I thought I´d seen it, but apparently I hadn´t and it was a good movie.
I am learning a lot of Spanish, and more about the uses of the different tenses and it´s really neat. Even now as I write this, some of the words are coming to me in Spanish first and I have to think a moment about the word in English, so it´s kind of cool in a way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 3
Wow! what a day! Today was very relaxing in the morning because everyone slept in a long time. I don´t know what time Martina and Miguel got up, but I didn´t get up until almost 11, and Mercedes got up even later. Around 2 though, we went a friend´s house of Mercedes and Marcela named Felicitas to watch the soccer game between Belgium and Argentina. Argentina won 1-0 and we had a lot of fun. In addition to Felicitas, Mercedes, Marcela, and me, there was Pablo, Cecilia, and Florencia, so it was really exciting.
Did you know that here they can order empanadas like pizza or Chinese food?? We had empanadas for lunch and even though it was take-out, I think those were the best empanadas I´ve ever had. There was beef, chicken, and ham/cheese ones, and I didn´t know what was better so I got one of each and the beef one was my favorite :)
After the game, everyone was being very silly, and eventually we decided to go explore the city. Cecilia and Florencia had to go home, but the rest of us walked a long ways. The first place we went into was a small shopping mall -->it was 4 stories tall, but very, very short and narrow. Even so, it was very fancy inside and had a good selection of shops to choose from. Then, after exploring that for a while, we went to a famous cemetary that was next tot the mall where many famous people are buried. Every person in the the cemetary had a tomb--a mausoleum--and there were no basic grassy spots with a simple headstone, like in the U.S. It was really nice, but the day was very gray and rainy, so it wasn´t as nice as it might have been.
After the cemetary, we saw a small art gallery with some cool abstract art and then we found a Starbucks! (haha) They even had Chai Tea, so I was really happy :) We sat there talking for almost 2 hours, before heading home. On the way home we found a Hard Rock Cafe and we will definitely be going back for that at some point :) And now we are back to the Gaona´s house.
We saw the end of the soccer game between Holland and Costa Rica, and Holland won so they will be going on to the semi-finals to play against Argentina. Apparently, the queen of Holland (who married into the family) is from Argentina, and now she will have to cheer for her new people against her old people.
And now Martina is making Milanesa and green beans for dinner. It´s really strange that all of the meals are set back a few hours, so it is now almost 9 pm and Martina only began cooking about a half hour ago. She is a very good cook though and I´m really looking forward to it!
Oh yeah, I also completely forgot about the 4th of July yesterday-- I haven´t had phone or internet service, so I didn´t even see Facebook as a reminder. But oh well. I will celebrate both with Argentina during their independence day next week! (A fun side note, Argentina´s Independence Day is the 9th--the same day they play Holland for the Semi-Finals, so I hope they win even more!!)
(After Dinner--> The Milanesa was really good!! Now I see why Momma likes it so much!)
Well, I´m here! After 24 hours of travelling, I have arrived in Buenos Aires safely. I had a short stop in San Salvador, El Salvador (the first plane left Washing an hour late because of the rain and arrived a half hour late, but I ran to the next gate and made it in time), then an 8 hour stop in Lima, Peru, and then I arrived in B.A! Mercedes, Miguel, and Martina Gaona came to get me at the airport, and when we got to the house, we waited for Marcela to arrive and then went to get dinner. We ate at a small diner near the apartment, and I had something like a ham, egg, and cheese pizza that was so, so good. We then returned to the apartment and went to bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 2
Today I got up a bit earlier than planned but it was okay. After breakfast, I went to the supermarket with Martina while Mercedes studied for her exams and Miguel and Marcela were at work. It was a great chance to practice my Spanish because Martina doesn´t speak English much at all. I had to take and use my dictionary, but it was okay :) When we got back to the house, we had lunch and watched some of the fútbol game (soccer) and other tv before I took a nap.
I only meant to sleep for ~45 minutes, but my alarm didn´t work and I slept for 2 hours. O.o Then Miguel got home around 6:30 and Martina made gnocchi and beef for dinner with a type of gravy that she made. And then, after Marcela got home much later, we went driving around the city to see the Obelisco (which is basically a smaller version of the Washington Monument), the House and the Library of Congress, the Pink House (like the White House but the president does not live there), and other things. My phone was dead so I couldn´t take pictures, but it is charged now and I will take it next time.
When we got back to the house it was around 10:30 but the girls and I watched "Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer." I thought I´d seen it, but apparently I hadn´t and it was a good movie.
I am learning a lot of Spanish, and more about the uses of the different tenses and it´s really neat. Even now as I write this, some of the words are coming to me in Spanish first and I have to think a moment about the word in English, so it´s kind of cool in a way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Day 3
Wow! what a day! Today was very relaxing in the morning because everyone slept in a long time. I don´t know what time Martina and Miguel got up, but I didn´t get up until almost 11, and Mercedes got up even later. Around 2 though, we went a friend´s house of Mercedes and Marcela named Felicitas to watch the soccer game between Belgium and Argentina. Argentina won 1-0 and we had a lot of fun. In addition to Felicitas, Mercedes, Marcela, and me, there was Pablo, Cecilia, and Florencia, so it was really exciting.
Did you know that here they can order empanadas like pizza or Chinese food?? We had empanadas for lunch and even though it was take-out, I think those were the best empanadas I´ve ever had. There was beef, chicken, and ham/cheese ones, and I didn´t know what was better so I got one of each and the beef one was my favorite :)
After the game, everyone was being very silly, and eventually we decided to go explore the city. Cecilia and Florencia had to go home, but the rest of us walked a long ways. The first place we went into was a small shopping mall -->it was 4 stories tall, but very, very short and narrow. Even so, it was very fancy inside and had a good selection of shops to choose from. Then, after exploring that for a while, we went to a famous cemetary that was next tot the mall where many famous people are buried. Every person in the the cemetary had a tomb--a mausoleum--and there were no basic grassy spots with a simple headstone, like in the U.S. It was really nice, but the day was very gray and rainy, so it wasn´t as nice as it might have been.
After the cemetary, we saw a small art gallery with some cool abstract art and then we found a Starbucks! (haha) They even had Chai Tea, so I was really happy :) We sat there talking for almost 2 hours, before heading home. On the way home we found a Hard Rock Cafe and we will definitely be going back for that at some point :) And now we are back to the Gaona´s house.
We saw the end of the soccer game between Holland and Costa Rica, and Holland won so they will be going on to the semi-finals to play against Argentina. Apparently, the queen of Holland (who married into the family) is from Argentina, and now she will have to cheer for her new people against her old people.
And now Martina is making Milanesa and green beans for dinner. It´s really strange that all of the meals are set back a few hours, so it is now almost 9 pm and Martina only began cooking about a half hour ago. She is a very good cook though and I´m really looking forward to it!
Oh yeah, I also completely forgot about the 4th of July yesterday-- I haven´t had phone or internet service, so I didn´t even see Facebook as a reminder. But oh well. I will celebrate both with Argentina during their independence day next week! (A fun side note, Argentina´s Independence Day is the 9th--the same day they play Holland for the Semi-Finals, so I hope they win even more!!)
(After Dinner--> The Milanesa was really good!! Now I see why Momma likes it so much!)
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