Dream in the Making?

The chances of my moving to New York have just been increased! It's an amazing feeling, but I wonder if it is the right time? In all this wondering and future predicting, I downloaded some software that lets me draft up layouts of rooms. I almost figured out how to create what almost looks like a couch on it. Is my interior design dream slowly developing some kinda seed? I hope so! Otherwise, it might have never been a dream to begin with. Which would be incredibly sad.

Good Internet means More Stories: LA BOCA

So sorry it has taken me forever to blog!

My trip in Argentina so far has been full of ups and downs, with new experiences every single day, big and small. Like what I would think life should be like back home but for some reason is not percepted to be so.
For the sake of my Spanish blogs too, I will try to list out all the places so far that I have been to in Argentina as well as some key experiences here that I hope to never forget:

La Boca

Meeting my classmates at Plaza Italia was a challenge. We all want to save money on phones since you have to keep recharging your minutes here at a kiosko which was always annoying since we had large bills all the time, but really.....communicating with not super high speed Internet and limited phones was a challenge. We ended up waiting for a classmate for an hour and even miscommunication along the way. But while we waited at Plaza Italia, I took a picture of a plaque that had been broken . . . we speculated it was from the activist / advocacy activity from the night before. Anyway, I especially liked the word "La Resistencia" chipped off of the rest of the plaque. Seemed very ironic to me as we stood in Plaza Italia . . . (and I would later find out that some Argentinians have different definitions of irony, sarcasm, and yes, even jinxs.)

Spanish, er, Castellano which is the specific language spoken in Argentina, is definitely not like English culturally.

TANGENT! Anyway, we took an hour long bus for the first time where I spoke with another fellow student on politics or Argentina (which we knew very little about), and politics at our own University. Basically, we get along very very well by analyzing why other people do not, and how we ourselves add that fire. Nothing stupid about that! It was an intellectual conversation on the autobus "collectivo", in some very well versed Spanglish with sporadic periods of "umms", "errs", and giggles.

LAST TANGENT! We saw the famous La Boca during a class trip. The weather was slightly gloomy and about to rain, but whatever, we do not care because it is an awesome trip! When we went I was really excited to see all of the colorful buildings, even though I would have preferred to see them when it was sunny as a nice contrast to the already freezing cold Argentinian weather (because I am from SoCal, and there is not such thing as freezing cold in SoCal so this is my definition point for it).

La Boca was a very tourist area as I had read in many tourist publications. Street performers were willing to perform in the cold for a speculating audience, but more so for some tips that they well deserved, as Tango is not a dance meant for 40 degree F weather. But me being a tourist and not caring, I took the following pictures and videos in my 2-Dimensional TravelChannel tv moment come to life! It was evident that La Boca had been historically a place of colonization, merchant labor, artistic creation, and tourist attraction. I wish I knew more about the history of all these places but I will have to edit that in later. All I knew was that we were impressed with the Google images coming to life in our 10 minute introduction to La Boca, which quickly ended as hunger hit for the 15h time and we sat down for pizza with olives. I do recall having an interesting conversation with the woman of the restaurant, talking about churros and fruits popular in Argentina different from Mexican culture, as well as cultural differences between the Recoleta culture compared to laid back culture of the North and South of Argentina. Hearing different perspectives definitely hit me for the first time in La Boca, which is always great for the weary traveler.

After that I went on the bus and I fell asleep, almost falling asleep on some old guy, and then we took a cab back home since we were still not use to the bus system and not inclined to get lost for the 10th thousandth time.

I tried going to a phone store to buy a phone, but of course, the miscommunication made it difficult to even understand that I had to wait for them to open the door and they were in fact, open for business, with closed doors for weather. Interesante . . . and in my sadness I wandered to discover an adorable cafe called Tea Connection for the first time. And in my fascination and boredom, I took the following pictures and videos.
2 Items ordered worth remembering: Apple Tart with Costa Rican cinnamon Ice cream, and peach rose tea. Take that CHA.

After waiting forever like a stupid American to pay the bill, I walked around Callao Street to find an activist march! Finally! There were a lot of marches going on at this time, where spectators bang pots and pans and trucks drive by and honk like crazy in solidarity. The real passerbyers take their empty water bottles, add a few centavos, and shake away to add to the noise of the night. It literally looked like a block party, I felt like I had reached the promise land, OH . . . HAPPINESS. See the following videos for proof:

Once I got home, I reported my encounter with the other side in fascination to my family, in which their unimpressed and somewhat distateful expressions indicated this isnt a favorite dinner subject, as my host brother joked that these were the "rich activists". Oh the disappointment. I would later explore what he meant in more detail later on in the week.

As for the Spanish, the entire first week was difficult since I barely spoke anything, and the family isn't very patient with trying to understand AND speak English all the time. I understand, my head hurts from speaking and translating Spanish!

First Impressions

Buenos Dias!

I have been in Buenos Aires for about 4 days total now, and it has been the most bittersweet experience.

First of all, being in a new city like Buenos Aires is an adventure and a pain all its own. I have been lost many times in the city, and it really sucks when trying to get to class. The bus system here is way better than Irvine, yet it takes a while getting used to and many parts look so similar. . . But! I do get a chance to see more when I am lost. And when I do get lost without any meaning to be at any place in any time, I feel more alive than I have ever felt in the past year. Its so urban, and classic at the same time. In Buenos Aires, the city is divided into multiple regions, in which I live in Recoleta. Recoleta is known as the Second Paris, or the French side of Buenos Aires. It is really fancy, and I live right next to a shoe store where I purchased my first leather boots with flojos! I hope to bring this style to the U.S. But Recoleta also has museums, parks, and theaters! I have yet to explore, and I cannot wait to experience the fancy-ness of this side of town.

My homestay is lovely. It seems to come out of a very Elle-decor kind of design, very white and bright inside with white soft furniture and summer florals. Last night was my host mom's birthday, and the whole family came to celebrate and greet her. It was such a pretty sight, almost from a movie because of how fancy everything looked.

Costs are high currently in Buenos Aires. Utility bills have tripled starting from two  months ago so energy conservation is necessary. In its regular form, this apartment is like the size of a house, and feels very homy, just like my old house before. I heard shouts and chants from the rallies and marches below, closer to Plaza de Maya with the long-awaited for truck drivers protest yesterday. The expected count was 150,000 people. It is interesting hearing both sides of the issue here, and Argentinian politics are probably one of the more confusing ones for me because of this, but it has more perspective.

When the night is quiet and I am in my room, painted green with a weird painting of two Argentinian prostitutes from some kind of bougie age, I miss everyone greatly. I think of the my work, and how we were so lucky to be working with the people that we do, especially since many Argentinians are actually more updated with Hollywood celebrities than any American I know! I miss my boyfriend of course, and here I love to talk about "mi novio". But I miss my family too, it is not the same without them this summer. I have felt frusteration and stress in many ways here, but I have also felt the most amount of growth within a short span of time, and self-discovery in that, wow . . . I really am a princess! I suck at being spontaneous and adventurous in places where it does not even need to be sought out for, but its right there in front of you! I hope to improve this soon.

My classmates are great and very supportive. I was talking with one of the girls in my group, and we talked about some of the things we have gone through in the past. She told me when I am scared, to challenge that pain I went through before into a fighting force for present fears! And she said that we are much stronger than we think, and we really do not need to seek out any form of medicine or healing, but it is more about what is inside ourselves, and this can be fostered by anything as long as we do what we love and have no regrets for the decisions we make.

And with that, I will go on with the day, hopefully more organized, but more positive too. We are going on a trip to La Boca today as a group, I am so excited! More updates on that! Until then, Ciao!