Semester Reflections

Sitting in the JFK airport with a terrible cold/cough and eating the last of my delicious LAN snacks, I'm glad that I'm finally taking a rest from my vacation. Traveling, while amazing, is hectic and even though I don't want to admit it to myself, it's time to be home.

While it's probably the most cliche thing to say (ever), I have to admit that this experience really did change me as an individual. I now have the courage to travel to foreign places alone, try mysterious meats with grace when they are placed in front of me, and know that no matter how alone I may feel at any moment, a friend is only a "hello" away. I can't think of another experience that has given me this much freedom to explore who I am as a person and to grow from it. So how, exactly, have I changed? Well..

-When I got to Chile I was the most stereotypical American in regards to time: I was always at least 10 minutes early, I had a set schedule that I followed without deviation, and I liked to have a plan several days in advance. Thankfully, this kind of behavior is not very well accepted in Chile, and I was forced to adjust. Now, while I'm still early to everything, I don't have a schedule beforehand-it's so much more relaxing.
-Before going to Chile, I was very conservative with the physical contact I would have with other people, especially strangers. The idea of kissing strangers on the cheek made me very uncomfortable, and I wasn't sure how well I would be able to adjust. However, now I'm fairly certain that I'm going to lean in for cheek kisses every time I meet someone new, which will be sufficiently awkward.
-I have learned the pleasure of traveling alone. I don't know how well this will translate into the culture of the USA, but in Chile it was ok to go to events and places solo, as you could just start talking to people there. At Ithaca I avoided going to a lot of events solo because I didn't want to be the awkward girl in the corner, but I think I will be able to change that now, for the better.

There's a lot of other profound changes I could try to describe, but it's better to just go yourself and see what there is to see while in a new country!

Week 24

Wow. I can’t believe that I’m leaving Chile. Arrived on a Monday, leaving on a Sunday evening, 24 weeks later. It’s been an amazing 6 months, and the experiences have been life-changing. However, read my conclusions post for more about that-for now I’ll summarize my week!

Noe’s town in Argentina is what I would consider to be the most stereotypically Latino that you can get these days. Everyone knows and supports everyone else in the town, and the sense of community is extremely strong. There is a very strong Catholic presence, and siestas are a must. (The streets are literally abandoned during the siesta, something I had always heard about, but never experienced.) Horses roam the streets as carefree as moped drivers, and life just slows down. That being said, I spent my next days with Noe just relaxing and enjoying life. She taught me the Argentine way to eat a grapefruit (it’s very amusing to watch) and that frozen peaches with dulce de leche is an amazing afternoon desert. We visited with her friends to just sit and chat, as well as cook some typical meals. It was a great break from the stresses of traveling in big cities, and I had a really wonderful time in Presidencia la Plaza.

Wednesday night I took a bus back to Cordoba, to spend a day before heading back to Chile. I decided to check out the Museo de Bellas Artes there, which turned out to be a good pick, as it was free that day! (I still don’t know what the occasion was, but no complaints!) While I’m not a huge fan of art, one of the exhibits did catch my eye: an artist had saved up $1000 and decided to systematically shred and re-construct it into a mural. The mural was pretty cool, and his diary fairly insightful, but I still have no idea what kind of political statement he had intended with it.

 

Thursday brought me back to Chile and the familiarity of Santiago. The director of my program invited me to a lunch, where we dined on a delicious pot roast accompanied by a special smoothie, bright orange from the carrot juice used in it. She was wonderful company, and I very much enjoyed my lunch. That night I headed over to the Teatro Municipal for the opera. A German opera, Tannhauser, was playing for the night. I have never seen an opera before, so it was a very unique experience. Luckily all the text was translated on a large screen into Spanish so I had half a clue what was going on!

Friday I went to Patronato to do some shopping (clothes are pretty cheap there) before meeting up with a Chilean friend for lunch. The night brought a fun carrete, although it meant a lack of sleep for me! Saturday I met another friend for lunch (this one from my IES program) and we shared stories of our travels over the break period. That evening I went to visit my host family for the last time, which was really sad, as I will miss them terribly. Sunday I woke up early to head to church, with the intention of surprising another Chilean friend of mine. When she spotted me after the service, her face was totally worth the hour-long sermon about sheep, as the look was of utter surprise! We were able to grab lunch together before I had to gather my stuff and head on off to the airport to go back home. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to say good-bye to all the amazing people I met here, but I know that with the amazing power of the internet we’ll be able to stay in touch, and who knows if our paths will cross in the future!

Week 23

After a week with the Porteños I have come to the educated conclusion that Buenos Aires is crazy, but it’s people are some of the friendliest in the world. I arrived in BA on Sunday evening, and decided to try some of the famed beef. Certain restaurants have specials that allow clients to pay a flat price for all the beef they want to eat, so I ordered a plate of mixed meats and went at it! Doing as my mom always advised, I tried everything first, before asking what it was. Turns out I had sampled (and didn’t like) both cow intestine as well as a weird-textured puree of meat and blood. Luckily there were other, more satisfying dishes, which I enjoyed immensely.

My original plan for Monday was to head to Uruguay and check out that country, but when I got to the docks it turned out the prices were three times what I expected (my guide book is out of date due to high inflation in Argentina), so instead I took time to get to know the city and it’s transport systems better.

Tuesday I signed up for a deal, in which I could hop on and off buses that traveled on a pre-destined route to all the main tourist attractions of the city. It was complete with audio commentary in 10 languages, so I was all set on that front!


Highlights included visiting the grave of Evita and the Jesuit church next to it, and going to the Boca Junior (soccer club) stadium and getting a tour while it was free of fans. That night I also went to see a Tango show, accompanied by dinner, and a (surprise) free wine tasting! The man leading the tasting was very informative, and now I officially know how to taste a fine wine in its greatest glory. The show itself was quite entertaining, and a great way to spend the evening.

Wednesday I met up with a fellow traveler I had met, a girl from Spain who lives in Brazil and does translations for a living. She invited me over to her hostel to eat tortilla Espanola with her and to share stories. It was a really nice time, and great because she spoke English and Spanish. That evening we went to a discotec together, and I got to experience Buenos Aires night life-people dress soooo nicely just to go out to dance, so I was terribly underdressed (due to the fact that in my opinion, jeans and a t-shirt is good for pretty much every occasion) but it was still a lot of fun.

Thursday I did some more touristy things, looking around Buenos Aires and seeing what there was to see. During the evening I tried to go to a concert I had heard about that was to take place in a local bookstore, but unfortunately it was canceled due to the weather and difficulty of transporting instruments. However, I relaxed and even tried an Argentine (actually Italian, but very popular in Argentina) drink called Fernet. Truth be told it tasted like toothpaste to me, but even so it was pretty tasty when mixed with Coca Cola and enough ice.

Friday I did a Tango lesson at a studio, which was a lot of fun and really, really hard. The techniques necessary for dancing smoothly are extremely difficult, as the form is very rigid and yet relaxed-it must take years for the professionals to perfect this form, but as for me, it was just fun to try for an afternoon!

Saturday I headed in bus to visit my friend/host sister Noe, who lives in Northern Argentina, in the region of Chaco, near Resistencia. The plan was to overnight on Friday and arrive Saturday morning, but due to a huge accident on the highways

I didn’t arrive until Saturday evening. However, having a nice, long bus ride to sleep turned out to be a good thing, as the two of us went to a birthday party that night! In true Argentine style, the party was a dance in one of the rooms of the friend’s house. It was a ton of fun, and all the other guests were super nice, even though I stood out like a sore thumb as the one gringa and stranger among fifty people who had grown up together!

Sunday I continued acting as the youth of Latin America do, and slept for the majority of the day. Granted, it was a portion of sleeping between 7:30am and 1pm and then lunch, and then a siesta until 6pm, but still, it was a lot of sleeping! Luckily it was worth it when I joined Noe and her friends for dinner the next evening, just sitting and chatting like we do in college.

 Sunday officially marked the “1 week left” point in my trip! While I’m excited to go back to my comfortable and predictable life in the US, I will certainly miss S. America, and thus plan to enjoy every last minute I have left here!!!