100 days

Ayo amigos!

It has been 100 days since I have been in Argentina (don't judge me - I was bored in class one day and counted how many days I had been here)

Wow, where do I start? Seems like I've been lacking on my blog posts lately - mostly because I'm so busy! This past weekend was FULL of paper writing, and lucky me, this weekend will be the same!! :/ The past few days have been especially stressful for me! The amount of work is building up and as some of my classes are starting to finish up, I'm realizing just how much I have to do before I can rest (un)comfortably on my plane back to New York, er actually Chile first, then Canada, then New Jersey: then FINALLY Garden City, New York!

So, the past 100 days, let's see!
-Well, I have avoided stepping in dog poop for 100 days! And believe me, this is a major feat here in Buenos Aires, and I'm proud to say I still have not fallen prey to the poop that litters the streets!
-I've made porteño friends :)
-I have finally become more accustomed to and comfortable with riding the colectivos (buses)
-I've learned to love mate!
-I haven't painted my fingernails or straightened/curled/blow dried my hair (it's a big deal for me)
-I've watched good friends graduate from Gordon College thanks to the Live Streaming graduating ceremony!
Oh, who am I kidding? There's a ton of things that have happened in the past 100 days and I'm certainly not going to recount them all to you right now!

I have about 5 weeks left here in Buenos Aires, which is both comforting and scary at the same time. I know I'll miss this city, but I am looking forward (so much) to getting home and seeing my friends and family. At the same time, the number of papers I need to write and exams I need to take is starting to stress me out! Oh boy!

Well friends, continued prayers are always appreciated! Gracias for continuing to follow my Argentine journey! Can't wait to be back home!

Chau chicos,
-C




Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12

3 months later!

Well friends, here I am!! I have officially been in Argentina for THREE MONTHS! Whaaaat?! I know, right?

I feel like I say it everyday, but I'm not sure if it's gone by fast or slow! What's even more crazy is that I have less than 2 months left here in Buenos Aires!! Don't get me wrong, I have greatly enjoyed my time here, but I am getting ready to be home with friends and family! I just miss you all so much!

One week ago was my 21st birthday! I actually never dreamed I'd be celebrating my 21st in another country!! Bot's parents were here and they took me out to a restaurant I've been wanting to go to for the past few weeks: Siga La Vaca - translated Follow The Cow! Anyway, what was SO great about this place was that it was a buffet style BBQ/grill ... meaning UNLIMITED meat - we're talking beef, chicken, sausage etc! Basically, my dream come true! I felt so loved on my birthday, even thousands of miles away from home! My wonderful roommate in Italy, Alyssa, sent me a birthday package, my best friend from Long Island, Emily, sent me a birthday package as well! And my Mom, in true form, had left a bunch of gifts for Bot to give me on my birthday! And of course, Bot coordinated it all, along with giving me a gift!! And, there were many loving letters in my mailbox that day from friends and family! Oh, may I also mention my wonderful Skype session with 3 of my bests in Italy, Alyssa, Drey, and Getz which made me miss them even more-but I felt so incredibly blessed to see their faces and hear their voices (and laugh incredibly hard) on my birthday!

Oh, and my host mom baked me a delicious cake, with my favorite-Dulce de Leche-in the middle!! 

Oh hey, I'm 21! (My Mom (in a nice note) demanded I wear this headband)

Since my birthday festivities, I've been very much so caught up in school work! I've come to the realization that my next 7 weeks here in Buenos Aires will mostly be filled with writing papers and studying for exams . . . and of course anxiously awaiting to get home while soaking up the last that Buenos Aires has to offer!

Well, signing off!! Homework is calling my name, unfortunately!

Missing you all terribly!

Thanks for following my Argentine journey!

Chau, chau

-C

Thanks for the View

How could you LOOK at (let alone actually see these falls) this picture and not believe that a great Artist crafted this?!

Iguazu Falls!! How amazing, and full of surprises! 

We headed to Iguazu early Friday morning, only to land on the runway and see our airplane windows streaked with water droplets: it was raining! NO!! 

As we walked out on the catwalks to La Garganta del Diablo (Devil's Throat) we were SOAKING! The Schundler's bought stylish ponchos while I wore my rain jacket. And STILL we were soaking wet within minutes. Honestly, we might have been better off jumping into the river! But, thank God, we all had good attitudes and laughed as we trekked out to see the falls up close! Due to the rain and cold weather, we cut our time short at the park that day and headed to our hotel to rest up before Day 2 at the falls.

Acting on a suggestion from my parents (who had been to Iguazu a few weeks before) we headed into town later that night and dined at a parrilla (the equivalent of a grill/BBQ place in the US). Bot and I finally ordered sangria, which we've been looking for here in Buenos Aires for almost 3 months. And we got a platter of meat to split between the 4 of us: much to our surprise, this platter included intestines and brain - yum (not) but I am proud to say that I tried both - can't say that I liked either!

Day 2 was looking good, until, on our way from our hotel to the park, it started sprinkling! God, please no! Thankfully, by the time we got to the Falls, the skies cleared up and we had a beautiful day ahead of us! We walked most of the paths that weaved through different waterfalls! It was incredible! Each waterfall was breathtaking in its own way!

Gordon repping in Igauzu

Now, back to the daily grind in Buenos Aires!!

But first, a very Happy Mother's Day to my mom and any other mothers reading this!

Love you so much Mom, thanks for being such a wonderful example of a loving, generous, kind, selfless, and God-fearing woman! Can't wait to see you in July!!

Thanks for following my adventure, friends!!

-C

Back to reality

Well, yet another week gone by in Buenos Aires - the city of Good Airs (?)

This past weekend CIEE (my program) took us on a trip to Jujuy! Jujuy is the northwestern-most province in Argentina, nestled in between Bolivia and Chile. It was such a great weekend, and the best part - it was all paid for by our program!

We started off our trip by getting to the airport at 4am on Thursday morning! A few hours later we were on a plane headed to Salta, the province just south of Jujuy. From Salta, we boarded omnibuses to our hostel! We were all so tired that most of us slept the whole way! Thursday was a relaxing day for us, we didn't have anything planned except for a quick introduction to what we would be doing the next few days! Lunch and dinner were provided and the rest of the time we were free to relax and catch up on sleep!

Friday, we took a short trip to some ruins of the indigenous people that once lived in Jujuy. Our tour guide, Pablo (who LOVED to hear himself talk) provided us with plenty of information!

After that, we headed to a town, where the vendors sold everything! Most famously, anything made from alpaca/llama wool! We were also able to see a cemetery which was pretty interesting! Dinner that night, we were able to choose a place in the town that we wanted to go to; Bot, Sam, and I choose a pretty fancy restaurant with DELICIOUS bread and our main meal: LLAMA! It was absolutely delicious!

Mine happened to be wrapped in bacon! YUM

Saturday, we again got on our buses and headed up into the mountains! We stopped at the top of one to offer sacrifices for safe travel! We were 4,170 meters above sea level - pretty crazy!

4,170 meters above sea level

Sam, Bot and I

Then, we were onto the SALT FLATS! This was incredible! As we were driving towards them, it looked like snow, but when we finally got outta the buses and onto the flats, it was crazy! We were standing on top of SO much salt! Our whole group had fun taking pictures and being silly!

So much SALT

TEBOWing

Finally, Saturday night we headed to a Peña - a restaurant/bar where we got to enjoy live folklore music! It was so great! The band was fun and we had fun dancing the night away. STORY OF THE WEEKEND - after the band had been playing for a while, still none of us had gotten up to dance, a very drunk older man came onto the dance floor and starting busting some moves. Slowly, he started making his way over to all of us Americans, keeping his eyes on some of the blondes in our group. Unfortunately, he found me, grabbed my hands and pulled me onto the dance floor. I was terrified as he started pulling me closer and closer! Eventually, my coordinator from CIEE had to step in and tell the man to leave me alone! The rest of the night was so much fun!

Sunday, we took a hike through some of the mountains, which were incredible! The views were spectacular!! I feel so have blessed to go on this trip! It truly was incredible! I couldn't help but look at all the views and mountains and wonder how anyone could not think that a great Artist created all of this! God is good!!

Now my friends, it's back to reality! A full week of classes! Bot's parents come on Thursday and we head to Iguazu Falls for a night! That'll probably be our last exciting trip for our remaining time here. Believe it or not, I have 2 months until I'm home! 

Chau chicos

-C

My address here in BsAs

Christa Coners
CIEE Program - FLACSO
Ayacucho 555
(1026) Ciudad de Buenos Aires
ARGENTINA

here goes. . .

Well, I feel like I owe the world a blog post!
Can't really say I have too much exciting to say, but it's been quite a while since my last post, so here goes!


Argentine life is really rolling! It's hard to believe that I have about 2 months left here, give or take. It's sorta hitting me that as much as I miss home and can't wait to be back, I'm gonna miss my Argentine life when I leave. And now that it's MAY, leaving doesn't seem all that far away!


I'm in the process of changing my flight so I can return home a little bit early (and be able to do some dress shopping for Miss Laura LaPierre's wedding!) My finals end well before my program officially ends, so I figured I'd head home a tad bit early!


This past Friday, Bot, Sam, Jaime, John, and I went to Julieta's (our Argentine friend) new apartment! Julieta and a few other 'young adults' from the Methodist church we've attended a few times are trying to get a group of people together to meet every week to hang out! It seems really awesome and we Americans love the fact that the Argentines are incorporating us into their lives! It gives us a chance to practice our Spanish as well as get in some good, solid fellowship!

Our "young adults" group

Jaime and John (our American friends) head home this Saturday, so we got to hang out with them a few last times this weekend/week! Monday and Tuesday were national holidays in Argentina, which meant no classes for us! Bot and I spent the weekend going to different ferias (fairs) looking for souvenirs and just enjoying our time off! On Saturday, we headed to the Recoleta Feria to meet up with John and Jaime to drink mate together but it was an awful, rainy, cold day! So, we postponed until today! Today was gorgeous and we finally were able to enjoy the sunshine, mate, and guitar players performing on the lawn!

Mate in Recoleta

Saying goodbye to John and Jaime

Today, my host family came over and made empanadas while I worked on some homework! But they of course invited me out when the empanadas were ready! Between the 6 of us, we must have gone through 3 or 4 bottles of wine and 30 empanadas! Fantastic!!

Well, this Thursday, bright and early at 4am, we head out with our program to Jujuy, which is Northern Argentina! Apparently we're going with students from another Argentine University-not really too sure on the details since I wasn't able to go to the informational meeting! We'll spend Thursday to Sunday in Jujuy and then a full week of classes next week! Bot's parents come to Argentina on Thursday and Friday we'll head to Iguazu Falls!

Good news: for those of you who didn't already know, I discovered an app (stole it from Sam) on my iTouch a while back that let's me text phones in the US for free! So, I've been able to keep in contact with some of you back home. Unfortunately the app only works on wireless internet which I DO NOT have in my apartment, BUT I just discovered that this app also works on my laptop! So, if you need to reach me: my number is: 516-331-4352 Feel free to send me a text :)

Thanks for following my (uneventful, for now) Argentine life!

Besos,

C