Photos

On my way home...poor guy. In retrospect.... I really hope this dudes alive.

This dog killed another dog the day we arrived at Nelson's house. 
Un asado:

Saskia, Gus, Maggie, Julianne all indulging in an asado at Nelson's house

Nelson's backyard pool:
View from floor 15 of hoteL:
The pool at the hotel by my house:

Me gusta Wednesdays

(Note: I started this post last Wednesday and wrote a SUPAlong message and the wifi at the mall got a little naughty and only saved some of it...so I'm going to finish it up pretending it was Wednesday and then fill you all in on more recent activities)

Wednesdays I dont have class. On Wednesdays I wake up around 1 or 2 and only because someone calls me to go do something. On Wednesdays the mall isnt that busy and I can find a table to use free internet. BUt this Wednesday, I noticed I lost my debit card. After skyping Wamu though, I was pleasantly surprised to learn they can send me a new card by Friday to my apartment here. Impressive, right? (note, its now Sunday and I'm still debit card less)

I forget what I last blogged about. Last weekend I went out on Friday and enjoyed a typical maybe not so typical Argentine night.  At around 11, headed over to friends apartment. The german girls who live there cooked their favorite soup which Cathleen would love! (not) It had arugula, tuna, 2 kinds of olives, garlic other yummy stuff. I continued the marathon of tomato eating downing a good 4 or 5 that night. Anyways the soup was delicious (thank you Saskia and Julianne) There were 15 of huddled around the kitchen table sweating and enjoying the hot dinner in teh 80 degree argentine weather. Later that night we went to this party that was really cool! It was outside of this old buildling, free to get in, and a breath of fresh air (pun intended) Their was a dj setup that didnt play electronica music (surprise!) and random couches, a broken tv and awesome art on the wall of this old building. It definitely was more my scene as the clubs here are kinda overwhelming. Anyways, apparently there was no license for the dj and bar so the police shut down the party even though it was pretty tame. Maggie and I and others took cab to Ojo Bizaro this dancing boliche in Alabasto, the artsty neighborhood of Cordoba. Danced till pretty late (early) in the morning. Next day we were all pooped, Maggie Saskia and I went to hotel and hung out by the pool...a lovely afternoon. Watched the princess bride and went to bed. SUnday went to VIlla Allende, where our Argentine friend Nelson lives. He has a really nice house with a pool and freaking cute dogs. Had an asado, ate, enjoyed good company and alas, Monday arrived with 2 classes and my continuing struggle to understand everything my professors are saying.

Per the request of my brother

Apparently I dont blog enough. Its about 730 here and hot as hell. I had my one Friday class today, Seguridad Internacional and felt mildly retarded considering Argentines were asnwering questions more accurately regarding US history than I was. Last night Charli and I went to the movies to see 2001 A Space Odyssey at the independent theater here, which freaking rules by the way: this month is sci fi month they play the coolest movies. Im going to become a member, its 10 pesos a month and 5 cents to watch movies and free to rent out books and movies. Its probably one of my favorite places Ive gone to in Cordoba. Anyways, after that, we went to Maggie´s roomate Ramiro´s party (man a lot of possessives there) It was at a friends apartment and in honor of Ramiros resignation.. he quit his job to apply to grad school in Austria to be near the gf. Anyways, he made the dankest mexican tacos and this bizarre pasta dish that Cathleen would love (not, peep it)- spaghetti pasta with a creme sauce, pinapple, and tuna. It actually was pretty good, but I preferred the tacos and fernet-cocacola beverages. After that, Charli and I went back to my apartment and played music and after questions about my family, pulled out my iphoto. He thinks serena is hot, my dad looks cool, and that I dressed nice on new years eve jaja. Maggie, Eduardo and Ascher stopped by for some drinks and socializing because the club we were all supposed to go to stopped the free entry right at 2am and no one wanted to pay 20 pesos to listen to electronica. Luckily my class isn´t until 2 pm on Fridays....

Yesterday I had history with other exchange students and spent too much money on tomatoes and empanadas...then...frustration of the weeK!!!!!!! I invited some classmates to my apartment before lunch to chill , drop my school stuff off etc. One of the guys from Mississippi found my poloroid camera in which i have only 10 pictures for my entire trip. Without a word peeps around the corner and says smile before I can even tell him to put it down. He wasted apicture on me with a deer in the headlights wtf are you doing look and 2 girls. Man, I was so pissed but i guess its just a photo. GUH

Okay, I´m over it, really. Hmmm what else. This weekend I´m going to get out of the city for the day which I´m stoked about. Playa de los hippies, is what its called. Also I´m growing out my leg hair to get it waxed because its really cheap and everyone does it here. Overshare? Also, friends....thoughts on me with dreadz?
I´m craving thai iced tea and clean clothes...both of which seem far too out of reach at the moment.

I´m going to take a nap, eat some cheese, go to Maggies for soup, go to a club at an old historic theater and shower..all in no particular order. Well I´ll probably nap first.

Cyber cafe music and I have an interesting relationship...rocky rollercoaster like if you will. Right now, things are good with old school Nsync SICK! Un beso de argentina. -tere

Hola hola

Alright, I'm finally putting together my first post on day 6 here in Argentina. Its Sunday which means I start school tomorrow. Let me get the boring stuff out of the way: I'm taking 4 classes, one history class through the exchange program with other exchange students and the other 3 with all Argentines. ahhhh. I live on Bv San Juan, which to my current understanding is a"main street" in the city. The mall, Patio Olmos, is right across the street and this is where everryyyonnne gets together. I took a cab home last night for example around 1-1:3o Am because I was feeling kinda sick yesterday and when I got out the streets were filled with people. Right now I live alone in an 2bedroom apartment with a big living/dining room and janky ass kitchen. Todo bien though. I also thought I didn't have hot water for the first couple days, but I have since learned how to light this machine thing in the kitchen that makes it work.





Some initial observations of Argentinians etc:


1. Everyone smokes cigarettes here. Everyone, everywhere, every 20 minutes. Coming from California, a state that banded smoking indoors long ago, it was weird seeing people put their cigarettes out on the floor right next to me in a boliche.

2. There are some definite "cool" things right now for teens/young adults, besides cigarettes. Graphic tees with sayings on them in english. Today I saw a pink one that said I love my cat in rhinestones. I thought of Lara. Mullet type haircuts for most guys. For a certain group, emo hair, piercings and high top chucks are totally the fashion. Also, being thin for sure. Women here are gorgeous, no doubt. They are also so skinny. Teeny little waste etc. I feel like the fat American who eats too much fast food. Oh they love McDonald's here. I can see one right now because Im in the mall food court. Hey, free wireless.


3. PDA is the norm, maybe even encouraged.


4. Electronic house music is really cool...because as someone told me "its european..." ahhh right.


5. They don't have a sleep gene. I'm convinced that there are some people who need a lot of sleep, and some can get by with 5 hours and function. of course, youth, motivation, etc affect the necessity of those precious restful hours. But I for one have always needed at least 9 hours to function. Well, Argentinians apparently don't. An example. The other night I went over to Maggies, had a little Fernet, their national liquor, and Coke. Its pretty nasty. Anyways, we went out to go dancing at like 1, 130 maybe. Went to a couple different places. Of course all played thumping house music. At about 430 Kelly, an exchange student who lives in my same building, and I were en route home and I hear "teresa". It was 2 Argentine friends of course, Charli and Chino. They parked their car, came up with a guitar and a bottle of wine and played music all night. At around 730 in the morning, the question was not....alright should we get to sleep. but where should we go next....should we go get some cafe (coffee)? We did as such, went to this pretty park watched as the 8 Am hour rolled around, with some winding down, others preparing for work. Ok, this is turning into a story. Basically. These people are nocturnal.

Last night I went to a reggae concert with Lucio, Charli, Chino, Maggie etc and it was soo legit: Kameleba is the name of the band. I took some videos and cool pictures that I´ll post at some point. They played until way early in the morning from what I hear. I left around 530 to get some sleep.

Anyways, I hear I missed a beautiful San Francisco day, but today was just as beautiful Dia de Los Mujeres aca en Cordoba. I dont remember ever celebrating a womens day in the states...