At the Host House

I made it to my host mother’s house. Her name is Monica and she is a very nice woman, however she does not speak any English what so ever so communicating is a little bit difficult right now. I figure after a couple of days it will be better, I at least recognize basic commands. It’s the full length conversations that are getting to me. She seems like a really nice lady (it’s only been a couple hours though) but strangely she doesn’t want me to really help with anything around the house. She has two children who are moved out and married, so I think she enjoys taking care of someone. I offer to help of course, but she refuses.

My room in my host mother's house.

My room in my host mother’s house.

The house is a bit away from the university, so I’ll have to walk in the morning for a while to get to classes which means I get to wake up early. Yay! I was originally going to take four classes here, but after talking to the professors here they convinced me to take three. Their argument is 16 credit hours, when you meet every day for class, is a bit ridiculous. Even with three classes I’m in school until about 2 o’clock. Also, Monica bought me a phone for my stay here. It’s a pay as you go phone, mostly so I can call her if I need to. I just showed up and there it was ready for me to use. Tomorrow she’ll be taking me down to the store where I pay to use it so I can talk to the other kids in the program.

I’ll try and post something tomorrow about what the classes are like here.

Argentine phone Monica bought for me.

Argentine phone Monica bought for me.

At the Ariston Hotel

I finally arrived in Rosario, and what an adventure it was. I got to wake up at the lovely time of 5 o’clock am to get to the airport by 6. My flight was at 7 and I wanted plenty of time to get to my gate. My taxi driver, a sweet man who spoke limited English and indulged my terrible Spanish, escorted me to the check in line so I wouldn’t get lost. From there it was pretty easy.

When I open up the window, this is what I get to see.

When I open up the window, this is what I get to see.

I got through security pretty well, the security officer just stared at me when I tried to take off my shoes like I was a very special snowflake. But still I managed and got into the waiting area. They loaded us onto a bus to take us to the plane, a tiny little thing, and I then proceeded to sleep through the entire flight. After I landed I took another taxi to the hotel, and again the driver was very nice. He kept asking me questions about California and I tried answering them as best I could but I think I just confused the poor man.

Everything worked out on the check in, and I went up to my room where I slept for about three hours before a girl from my program, Naomi, came in. We’re going to be sharing the room with one other person, Laney. After that, Naomi and I left the hotel with two other people and we went out for dinner at an upscale sports bar called Las Palmas. I split a sandwich with Michelle, something called chorizo which was delicious. Jason, the other person with us, wanted a beer but what came wasn’t a small bottle. No, this one was about the size of a liter of coke.

 

Dinner, chorizo,  with the other study abroad kids.

Dinner, chorizo, with the other study abroad kids.

Dinner with everyone at Las Palmas.

Dinner with everyone at Las Palmas.

 

The most exciting part of the meal wasn’t watching Mexico beat Croatia at soccer. It was when all of a sudden during the meal a parade walked by us. About fifty kids who looked to be in college with drums and signs, all chanting the same thing as they walked by. It was bizarre but really cool. Again, looking at the buildings around me is strange. Half of them are upscale and modern, while the others are old and slowly falling apart. The pavement looks alright from a distance, but it is broken up in a lot of places. Also, during our walk, we learned that dogs do their business on the sidewalk and the poo is left behind.

 

Random parade outside the restaurant.

Random parade outside the restaurant.

 

Well, after lunch we returned to the hotel for a quick evening meal as we met the entire group for the first time. Little sandwiches and empanadas were out for us to eat as we talked to our future professors. My Spanish must have been up to their standards because none of them laughed in my face. Once the reception finished I went on a walk with Laney and two other girls. Isamar is from WOU and I think the other girl is named Lauren (not sure on that one). We went to the Argentinian Wallmart where I got shampoo and body wash before walking down the main avenue of the town. It was gorgeous surrounded by trees and beautiful buildings. We were out for about an hour, and during this I learned one important thing.

Argentinian’s have no fear when it comes to cars. People were running around the street, one guy nearly got hit. There were no turn signals, lot’s of honking, everything was really fast and the four of us just watched in a kind of horrified awe. It was a little terrifying. The strangest thing is that there was this one juggler we saw, who when the light turned red ran into the middle of the street and began to perform. When the light turned green the cars would go and he would run through the cars back to the street. It was one of the most bizarre things I have ever seen in my life.

Taking a walk on the main avenue in Rosario.

Taking a walk on the main avenue in Rosario.

Tomorrow I meet my host family and have orientation, so I’ll try to update after that.

 

First Night in Argentina

I got off the plane to Buenos Aires, and at first it seemed like no one was there. That might have had to do with the fact that the flight landed at 8 in the morning. Well, as soon as I got through the international check there were people everywhere. Swarms of people just talking and laughing, getting their bags, walking into stores. Being surrounded by that much Spanish was overwhelming, I forgot everything I knew and just stood there for a solid minute before moving on.

Baggage pickup was very nice, in a completely unexpected way. There were just lines of people waiting, some for baggage, some for customs, some I didn’t even know why they were there. All my bags came through which is always a relief and I met someone in line in the same situation.

Relaxing in Atlanta before my ten hour flight.

Relaxing in Atlanta before my ten hour flight.

Her name was Ashley, and she was studying in Cordoba, Argentina for the summer. We quickly bonded as being the only two people who did not speak fluent Spanish in the near vicinity (she is from Scotland, and I am from the U.S. in case that was apparent already). We both enjoyed knowing there was one other person who had no idea what was happening around them.

Customs gave me no problems, they let me go pretty quickly. And then I entered the horde. I thought the international terminal was bad in EZE, but when I left it the rest of the airport was just packed with people. Once again, the shock of that many people just made me shut down a little before I got help.

This help came in the form of a taxi company. The woman who booked my cab (which was only 20 dollars in US dollars) wrote out directions to the money exchange. She then waited for me at the booth the entire time it took to complete the transaction before escorting me to my cab driver. That’s what really struck me in the airport, how wonderful and nice everyone was. Everyone was so pleasant and it was great. If they had all been super cranky I’m not sure what I would have done, especially at the hotel I’m staying at. They were all so wonderful, putting up with my mangled Spanish and helping get me checked in for my flight tomorrow. This poor guy, one of the concierges, had to help me for two hours because I couldn’t figure out how to work their computers.

I loved the ride over from the hotel. I spent the entire time looking out the windows and just studying how different the trees around me were. They are similar enough to California trees to be comforting, but just different enough to draw attention. I haven’t seen any birds yet, but they are loud out there. Another thing I didn’t realize was how humid it is here, it just feels like it should be raining at any second.

What really struck me though, and what is going to stick with me, was the strange mash of buildings on the drive. There were some ancient churches we drove past that were absolutely gorgeous tucked right up against state of the art soccer stadiums. Ranches sit right next to golf courses, a stunning white cathedral sits across from my hotel right next to an actual hovel. One of the walls was caving in, chickens and horses were running around it, and standing above it is this display of wealth. This striking mismatch shocked me. From my window, there’s a perfect example of this. A brand new soccer stadium sits proudly, while next to it is a concrete bridge for pedestrians that looks to be slowly falling apart.

One of many such projects I saw on my drive to the hotel.

One of many such projects I saw on my drive to the hotel.

My hotel in Buenos Aires.

My hotel in Buenos Aires.

 

And while I feel that these are important to point out, it was some of the ruins that really had a chilling effect. On the drive to my hotel, I noticed there was a little cute picture of a police man that said 30km. He appeared again at the 20km marker and counted down to something, I just wasn’t sure what. In about thirty seconds though I found out. The remains of a police check point was what I saw, the glass broken and burn marks on the concrete. I don’t know what it is from, and it happened to fast to take a picture of, but it was enough to make me curious about why it was so damaged.

But what really made my night was dinner. So the only restaurant is this really nice fancy one. And it was the only place I could eat tonight so I went. I felt so bad for the manager, here he is trying to keep it all fancy as people are there with their dates and families. I went there directly after getting off the plane. So its been about two days since I showered, my hair is disgusting, and I have no makeup on. I am sitting in his fancy restaurant eating a delicious meal looking disgusting while he tries to deal with it. It should not have been as funny to me as it was. Must be the lack of sleep.

A really nice place where I had dinner.

A really nice place where I had dinner.

Heading Out Tomorrow-Jen Hight

Last post right before I head out, tomorrow I am going to board the plane and head to Buenos Aires. I’ll be sure to keep contact up. I already wrote about what I expected once I went, so I decided to post about who I was leaving behind when I left. The picture on the left is of my and my friend Taylor, we’ve known each other since we were nine. I’ll miss hanging out with her, but am excited to go. The picture on the right is my family. They’ve been amazing dealing with my anxiety about heading out, lucky for them it’s over in about ten hours.

So I’m off soon, but will keep everyone posted at least once a week.

 

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Jennifer Hight: Pre-Departure Rosario Argentina

My name is Jennifer Hight, and this is my first blog post before I head to Argentina. I am a student at Western Oregon University, and by the time I go abroad I will be a junior. I am a history major, and a literature minor. I am required for my B.A. to complete two years of Spanish, and decided to go abroad for my second year over the summer.

Quite honestly, I haven’t put a lot of thought into what I am feeling before I go. Mostly I am just trying to get everything taken care of, like tonight I get to pay my tuition to the program. Good news is I have my flight booked and everything else taken care of, so my stress is mostly gone.

Below there is a picture from Buenos Aires, and I must say when looking at the city it was not what Iw as expecting. Every picture I’ve seen from Argentina has been the ranch hands at the ranchos or the cowboys riding out in the desert. There are never any pictures of cities of urban centers so to find out I was going to be living in and urban center was a big adjustment to my view of the country.

I don’t know a lot about Argentinean culture, just that they like soccer and are catholic. I have the catholic part down, so now I get to work on the soccer part. Honestly, I decided to go to Rosario because I don’t know anything about the culture there. I thought it would be amazing to learn a lot about an outside culture that I had never really encountered so I can come in open and ready to learn.

Next week I plan on writing about my life here at Western and back home in California before I head out. I look forward to posting again so soon!

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires