weeks two and three.

Saturday, 6/12.
Rainy day, boo. (My dad was telling me how when the weather gets gray here, it usually stays for at least several days, which kinda happened that week. I like sunshine! :( )
Anyway! Rain did not deter us from trekking out to Plaza San Martin (which is showing every single World Cup game on a giant screen) to watch Argentina's debut in the 2010 World Cup!!! (vs. Nigeria)
:D So exciting. There were definitely not as many people as would show up in the later games due to the inclement weather (aka cold and wet), but we stayed for the entire first half and got to scream and jump during Heinze's awesome header goal! :D (Haha, I love this)
Saskia and me with Zakumi before the game! :)


After the first half, everyone else wanted to go inside somewhere, so we found a cafe where we watched the second half of the game. Argentina won (of course! XD), 1-0 :)
Later that day, I got my laundry done at a lavanderia (my first time doing that XP), trekked around in the rain (which soaked my sneakers...dumb idea), and watched the U.S. vs. England game at home. At night, all five of us went to watch a modern dance set to the music of Carmina Burana, which is some of the most epic music ever!! (I also went to see the piece done by the DSO in the spring, which was amazing. :D). The performance was filled with such strength and beauty...really breathtaking.

Sunday, 6/13.
Maija and I woke up early and crossed the border to Colonia, Uruguay! And spent the day there at museums and just walking around. More on that day later. It was chill but still enjoyable :) Returned that evening.

Monday, 6/14.
Had my first milanesa with Saskia at lunch, which is sometimes translated as wiener schnitzel or chicken-fried steak, but I've never quite had anything like it--it's yummy!



For our culture class (second week's focus was on the arts), we went to the Palacio Barolo, a magnificent building that had 23 stories! It was really beautiful (just a single representation of all of the wonderful architecture that's EVERYWHERE in this city :D), and we got to go to the top of the tower and see Buenos Aires from a 360 degree view. Whoo! Good thing I'm not afraid of heights XP



Tuesday, 6/15.
We took our second tango class at the Centro Cultural Borges. It was very different than our first one (where we made up three of the four students!), but it was helpful because we actually paired up and got a little more used to the feeling of following the man's lead. It's hard! XP
Afterwards, I wandered around Palermo (another barrio) with Saskia until we found La Dulce Esquina, on recommendation from Jenny :) I watched a World Cup game (Brazil and...someone, I don't remember) while munching on the drink she demanded I get, a capricho (?) and some chocolate cake. Nom nom.
In the afternoon, we met at the Bicentennial House, a museum erected this past year in honor of Argentina's bicentennial (yep, we really hit the jackpot by coming this year XD), and it had a temporary exhibition on women and their role in (Argentinian) society and history. Pretty interesting...might write more on that later.

Wednesday, 6/16.
After Spanish class, I visited St. Pilar Church, which was pretty impressive, and then Recoleta Cemetery...I've never seen a cemetery like that! The graves are more like small houses, very decorated and ornate. I also visited Eva Peron's grave, hehe.



I also stopped by the Museum of Beautiful Arts, which is very large and awesome (and free!). I wish I had more time there, but we met up for class at the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires (MALBA; my translations suck >.<) later in the day, so I did get to see more cool art. Art in general is just something else completely. I can't comprehend it or create it very well, but it's pretty awe-inspiring what some people can come up with :)

Thursday, 6/17.
I woke up early to watch Argentina beat South Korea, 4 to 1!! :D At Plaza San Martin once again (at 8:30 a.m.!), which was standing room only this time. Craziness XD Had a fried creamed corn empanada (first time for that flavor) for lunch, along with a smoothie (called "licuado" in Spanish and translated in all sorts of ways here...haha, such as "softie" and "juice" XD). They're really expensive here, too! =\
Anyway, after lunch was an appointment at the Museum of Xul Solar. He was one trippy but creative artist! His artwork is really out there, but I don't know, I kind of like it :) although I can't begin to understand it, haha.
That night, I went with the girls to El Beso, a place where people get together to dance tango...and we realized just how noob we are at tango >.< I danced with one person, but most of the time, we just sat there. Sigh...but I liked being able to just watch the others dance. Such skill!

Friday, 6/18.
I met up with Saskia and Andrew early in the afternoon to head to Jorge Newbury Airport (the other one in the city) for our flight down to Calafate. (Needless to say...) our flight was majorly delayed, but it's okay! We got to go to this REALLY amazing restaurant called Siga La Vaca (Follow the Cow! XD) and then flew out to Calafate. As I said, more on the airport adventures later...haha.

Saskia wanted me to take this picture...of four flights leaving at the same time. XP


Saturday, 6/19.
I'll probably blog more about our weekends in the next few days (and include more pictures), so I'll just briefly touch on what we did in Calafate (as well as Iguazu the most recent weekend!). We woke up early to go out to Lago Argentino and went on a boat to see all the glaciers and icebergs! So breathtaking and unique. I was definitely in awe (and freezing cold, too!). :)


Sunday, 6/20.
Since we got our return flight extended until later in the day, we went on a horseback ride through the nearby countryside with some genuine gauchos of the Patagonia! It was really cold but definitely a blast. :D (I can't NOT enjoy myself around horses XD). After lunch, we went briefly to ice skate on REAL ice! On part of the lake. That was pretty sweet, too :) after which we headed back to Buenos Aires.

Monday, 6/21.
Holiday! Day of the Flag in Argentina, so no classes for us :) Instead, Saskia and I went on a bike tour of San Telmo and La Boca, some of the older barrios in Buenos Aires. Fun stuff! La Boca, especially, with all its colorful buildings.

We also visited the ecological reserve here...which I didn't know existed in the city XP Yay green space!
Later in the afternoon, I visited the Artisans' Fair in Recoleta and bought some souvenirs. Yay trinket shopping! :D

Tuesday, 6/22.
Our schedule switched for the second two weeks, so Spanish class is/was now in the afternoon. Thus, we met with Dr. Demello Tuesday morning for a short lecture on national identity (the theme of our third week) and then went to an exhibition of photos from the Chaco Central, a region where a lot of indigenous people in Argentina (and neighboring countries) still live today.
We had Spanish class with our new professor, Mercedes, in the afternoon, but thankfully, we got out early to go watch the second half of the Argentina vs. Greece game (Plaza San Martin, once again)! So exciting. And once again...SUPER crowded XD
After dinner, I went with the girls to go watch Toy Story 3 in Spanish! It was so good (I cried! XP), and I actually understood a good portion, praise God :) I would definitely see it again (in English, preferably XD)!

Wednesday, 6/23.
No class in the morning => I slept in. I also took the free time to go visit the Buenos Aires Zoo! :D Hehe. What a kid, I know (Haha, when I told my family later at dinner that I went to the zoo, my host mom told me that my siblings hadn't been in many years XD oh well!). There were a lot of these curious little animals wandering around the zoo grounds, and they were like a mix of rabbits and dogs? I don't know how to describe it, haha. But it was fun, and good weather to boot :)

At 3, we all met up to go on a tour of graffiti and street art around the city (especially in Palermo). It was really neat! A ton of different artists and styles--very impressive and different, especially coming from a culture where graffiti is banned and usually only carries negative/violent meaning with it. On the contrary, street art here is not banned (and sometimes even requested!) and helps to brighten up old buildings. Neat stuff :)


Thursday, 6/24.
I took the free morning (again XD) to bake chocolate chip cookies for my family! (However, I found out yesterday that when they got home later that day, they were kinda upset that I used the gas oven without them there to supervise, so my surprise plan kinda backfired :X boo...but praise Jesus, I wasn't harmed at all! Because apparently it's really easy to get burned >.<)

After Spanish class, Maija, Andrew, and I hopped onto a cochecama ("bed-bus"? Haha, for overnight trips) to go to IGUAZU!! :D I watched a couple of movies and slept the rest of the way.

Friday, 6/25.
We arrived in Iguazu around midday. After dropping off our things at our hostel, we went on an excursion into the forest to do some ziplining and rappeling!! So awesome :D (again, I'll do a longer post for Iguazu because of all the fun stuff we got to do). At night, we went on a tour to Garganta del Diable (Devil's Throat), the main waterfall attraction at Iguazu National Park, by the light of the full moon. Gorgeous :D

Saturday, 6/26.
We spent the day at Iguazu National Park, wandering around and taking pictures at all the different waterfalls. In addition, we went on a short boat ride in the late afternoon that took us right up to a couple of the smaller waterfalls next to San Martin Island, and we got totally soaked! XD So much fun. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel and then back to the bus station for our return to Buenos Aires.



Sunday, 6/27.
Arrived back in Buenos Aires around noon on Sunday. On the way home, I was EXTREMELY blessed in the form of grace from strangers :) (but that's for another post)
After lunch, I headed back to Plaza San Martin to watch Argentina beat Mexico!! It was actually my first full game at the Plaza :D and so much fun. The energy here is really like no other. I love it :)


After the game, I went to Citi Opera to watch La Bella y La Bestia (as mentioned a couple of posts back). So good!! The costumes, sets, designs, and singers were all so amazing :D Mmmm Disney.



WHEW! And then today...
Monday, 6/28.
Visited the Chinatown of Buenos Aires! XP It's tiny, haha. I tried the tapioca here! It tasted a bit funky, but oh well. At least now I know. It was a bit startling to hear the vendor talking to me in Chinese, haha XP Also went to the supermarket there to get some stuff for my family--gonna cook some Chinese food for them for dinner tomorrow! :D (please pray for me XP and that they like it!)
Definitely took advantage of public transportation on my way back...supte --> bus --> Fundacion, haha, since I was running a bit late. After Spanish class, we went as a group to do some volunteer work with...I forget the name of the organization, but they basically take care of some 8-10 kids after school in this small building in La Boca (?). All we basically did was spend time and play with them. I'll write more about that later, but it was pretty interesting. (and getting hit on...not so much -_-)


WOWW. I finished! Can't believe it. Er, well, updated my basic summaries, anyway XP Now onto those topical posts I keep talking about...tomorrow, since it's getting late. Hopefully they won't be as long as this one!! Goodnight, all :)